you only want me when i get over you

[elle]

interesting blog - talks about monday morning, hold me, the ledge, it was i, and promises more LB tomorrow:

http://www.fluxblog.org/

April 19th, 2011 1:00am

You Only Want Me When I Get Over You

Fleetwood Mac “Monday Morning”

Lindsey Buckingham is a hopeless romantic, and writes almost exclusively about love and relationships. His lyrics are conversational, but usually aren’t the things you actually say to someone. In “Monday Morning,” his first track on a Fleetwood Mac album, he really lays it on the line with some very frank words about a relationship that has run its course without ever really starting. He comes off as more bitter in later songs but here he’s very warm and sweet, expressing his frustrations while quick to remind the woman being addressed that he has nothing but love for her. I love that this song is so kind despite being about someone leading him on and toying with his heart. The sound is so sunny too — it gallops along, a bit chunky in its tones but still light and breezy. Mick Fleetwood’s drumming is key to pulling this off; his fills keep the piece snappy and brisk, particularly when the song seems to plunge into that excellent “I don’t miiiind” bridge into the chorus.


Fleetwood Mac “Hold Me”

“Hold Me” is a Christine McVie song, but Buckingham is the dominant figure on the recording. Technically the song is a duet between Christine and Lindsey, but her cool voice recedes into the mix as his more passionate phrasing takes the lead. He brings all the fire to this song — after he finishes singing, his guitar solo carries much of the emotion in the piece. This is a breathtaking composition; harmonically sophisticated and atypical in structure without calling much attention to its form. There are so many dazzling bits of melody here — McVie’s piano figures, the lead vocal part, the cascading harmony in the chorus, the subtle chug of John McVie’s bass line. I love the way this plinking percussive part is the earthy counterpoint to the ethereal quality of the chorus. This is a truly an ensemble performance, but I credit Buckingham with getting it all to fit together so perfectly. This is what happens when a brilliant piece of songwriting is realized by a thoughtful producer and a group of musicians who play to their strengths but not necessarily their usual habits.

Stay tuned, there will be more Lindsey Buckingham tomorrow.
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April 18th, 2011 1:00am

What It’s Really All About

Fleetwood Mac “The Ledge”

A huge amount of time and effort went into crafting and recording Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk, and yet its sequencing seems totally random. For example, I can’t think of many first tracks less suited to opening an album than “Over and Over,” a country rock ballad by Christine McVie that is so minor and low key that she may as well sing “bury this on side four” in the second verse. This song, one of the most square soft pop tracks in the entire Fleetwood Mac catalog, is immediately followed by “The Ledge,” a Lindsey Buckingham tune that is probably their all-time weirdest recording. The only reason you would front load these two tracks would be to deliberately confuse and alienate the band’s audience, which at this point in time was something in the neighborhood of 16 million people in the United States alone. So yeah, it’s not too surprising that about 15 million of those people took a pass on Tusk.

“The Ledge” isn’t very representative of Lindsey’s material on Tusk — and has virtually no aesthetic connection whatsoever with McVie and Stevie Nicks’ contributions — but it sets a tone for the record and establishes him as something of an eccentric. “The Ledge” is a like a caricature of Buckingham’s persona, exaggerating his trebly tone and high-strung character to the point that it becomes funny and a little grotesque. It’s also a radical deviation from his band’s established aesthetic, casting aside the polished perfection of Rumours for this perverse, intentionally sloppy and manic sound. It’s not as if Lindsey invented weird, arty pop, but there’s something about his weirdness that strikes me as particularly human and distinct. Even when he lets it all hang out, he sounds uptight and wired. That overcharged quality carries through the rest of his Tusk material, even the really pretty ballads. I’m sure you can chalk some of this up to the amount of cocaine he was snorting at the time, but if you look at his entire body of work, it’s obvious that this odd energy is essential to his personality. It’s just dialed all the way up for “The Ledge,” that’s all.


Lindsey Buckingham “It Was I”

This Gary Paxton cover from Buckingham’s first solo album Law and Order is another good example of his willful perversity. It’s a really sweet and straightforward pop song, but Lindsey pitches everything up a bit for a peculiar effect. It seems a bit more child-like, but also really cheap and plastic. (It’s almost Christmas-y.) The sound is just slightly off, but it makes a huge difference. It’s so much more colorful and evocative than if it had been played entirely straight. You really feel the youthful romance here. You know how in movies flashbacks are often shot with a different film stock or filter or something to signal to the audience that they’re in a different time and place? The treble-heavy tonality of this track does a similar trick.


Stay tuned. There will be more Lindsey Buckingham tomorrow.