After a tumultuous couple of years, 2010 saw the Philly underdogs in Marah return with their finest collection of battered rock & roll anthems in a decade. Life is a Problem borrows its title from a collection of obscure, religious country blues music that lead singer Dave Bielanko found in a Williamsburg record shop in 2008, providing him with some degree of comfort after his band more or less imploded on the eve of the world tour to support Angels of Destruction!. With the musical inspiration covered for a new start, Bielanko and keyboardist/vocalist Christine Smith soon discovered an old farmhouse deep in Pennsylvania’s Amish country that became a refuge to write, rehearse, and record new material. The resulting album captures the audacious, ramshackle spirit that has always marked Marah at their very best. It’s one of my favorite records of the year, and their most consistent collection since 2000’s seminal Kids in Philly. Check out the brand spankin’ new video for “Within the Spirit Sagging”:
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MP3 :: Valley Farm Song
(from Life is a Problem. Buy here)
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Marah is about to begin a string of holiday shows with their friends Jesse Malin & The St. Marks Social. Please see this band live if you have the ways and means – Marah never fail to put on sweaty, beery, glorious rock shows that’ll leave you absolutely breathless. Bielanko took the time to put together a unique look back on some of the music that inspired him this year – it’s a typically great read:
MARAH PARTY ON THE CHEAP
Ten musical revelations as experienced by MARAH
(who bought a record player) in 2010
The following music can be acquired for pennies and can change your life:
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1) Jerry Lee Lewis's "the country era" - Here the Killer says "fuck rock, you can have it back" just like Dr. Dre only 1,000 times more gangsta...Jerry returns to "his music" and he's out to rip some fucking hearts apart. The record "Sometimes a Memory Ain’t Enough" is the bomb…I’ve found several copies for a quarter....when Jerry sings Billy Joe Shaver’s "Ride Me Down Easy" it's like the credit rolling music to the movie of life.
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2) The Ferko String Band (The Mummers) - I have always loved Philadelphia String Band music but this year I went a little nuts with this one, playing it over and over again for my captive guests at the Overlook Hotel...it's a real game changer. The album is called "The Happiest Music in the World" (or "Happy Days are here Again" depending on which thrift store rack you snag a copy from). Do yourself a favor and listen to "Sing a Little Melody" " Alabama Jubilee" and " Hello! Hello! Hello!" BUT if ya wanna really blow your mind do a little reading up on James A. Bland. He's my new song writing hero...born in Queens, NY, BLACK! and wrote the biggest Mummers Strut ever called "Golden Slippers". Check out this sweet vid! www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejkcNdjAfg0
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3) The Exciting Lloyd Price - The essential Rock & Roll version of "Stagger Lee" opens this record. This year (and every year pretty much) I drag band members to The Green Mill in Chicago...I'm pretty sure that this is the nightclub where the very black story song "Stagger Lee" first hit white ears, and it is a huge, huge song. Listen again. Also check out "Talking About Love" and "Lawdy Miss Clawdy".
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4) The Ramsey Lewis Trio’s "The In Crowd" - With the exception of the joyous and live forever "In Crowd" which opens this one, you can't do much talking during this album, you kinda just shut up and listen...by the time these three bad-asses get to the third track "Tennessee Waltz" you're dead. Maybe the best live album ever made...black underground jazz takes on a "dress code" ballroom on the streets of Washington, DC. Hard as fucking nails.
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5) Roger Miller - I bet a lotta people (myself included) thought they knew Roger Miller cause they heard " King of The Road" on the radio...well F that. Listen to “Dang Me” “England Swings” “Atta Boy, Girl” and “Buffalo Herd”...Now I'm thinkin' Roger Miller might've invented Chuck Berry By Accident.
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6) Willie Nelson’s "Shot Gun Willie" - Hey Texas!...Fuck a lot of arresting Willie Nelson on pot charges. National Treasure, give him a spliff and roll tape. We always joke around about what the vibe must've been like in the studio control room when Willie was cutting " A Song For You"...heartbreaking, pin drop silence, please don't fuck up Mr. Tape Machine...greatest solo vocal/guitar recording ever made? Sinatra stands in the wings.
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7) Rod Stewart – OK, talk some shit on Rod Stewart and we fight. As a songwriter alone (something he gets almost no credit for) he is simply untouchable...know why? He's sentimental...he's sentimental'er then hell. “…swallow up my silly country pride" " …a little old fashion, but that’s alright". He was self-deprecating, wise, kinda tipsy and charming as only an English country boy could be. He put the mandolin on the FM radio and no one even noticed. Yo Rod, call me up! Let's make an album. We’ll call it “You Can’t Take It With You”.
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8) Johnny Mathis’s “Merry Christmas” - There is nothing casual about these recordings. This is a dead serious Christmas Atomic Bomb. It's magic like an old Walt Disney Cartoon come to life. We all know it from the tiny speakers in CVS but get yourself a 25 cent copy at a yard sale and blow up “Sleigh Ride” at home, it's a fucking killer. People don't work this hard anymore, why would they?
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9) Polka!!! - Don't like polka? Guess what? You're an idiot. Get some beer, hang out with cool people and listen to some polka records…it feels great and you'll forget all about Face Booking yourself. My current fave is Frank Yankovic's "Polka Party"…the thrift store will actually pay you to take this one home.
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10) I gotta be honest, sometimes it's all too much for me...one song leads to another so fast that I hit an emotional wall...bedtime? Not quite. Growin’ up my favorite album was "Sounds of the Haunted House" - a collection of creaking doors, footsteps, wind howling and people yowling into the reverb tank. It's a great album, everyone knows that, but I've moved on....nowadays after a long night in the "record bar" when you simply can't top a song (say Cat Stevens “Peace Train” or “Philadelphia Morning” off Bill Conti's Rocky Soundtrack for instance) do you turn off the lights and go up? Nah, you turn to “Railroad (Steam and Diesel): The Sounds of a Vanishing Era". I guess ya gotta be a little nuts to play the simple sounds of old trains coming and going but whatev....go listen to music at someone else’s house, cause around here when Dave gets out his "Steam & Diesel" you shut the hell up and listen youngin'...(we might need something stronger than beer, however). G’night.
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Dave Bielanko & MARAH
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