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I could have been somebody else/But now I'm me this time" ("Intro")
Like a memory on the cusp of consciousness or a dream barely recalled, Pete Yorn's second Columbia Records album, Day I Forgot, is like the return of a welcome friend, occasioning a flood of nostal |
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| Life on a Chain
by Pete Yorn
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Media: Audio CD
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I could have been somebody else/But now I'm me this time" ("Intro")
Like a memory on the cusp of consciousness or a dream barely recalled, Pete Yorn's second Columbia Records album, Day I Forgot, is like the return of a welcome friend, occasioning a flood of nostalgic reminiscences. It is the logical successor, the second chapter to his critically acclaimed, RIAA-certified gold debut, musicforthemorningafter, the emotional hangover now clearing, a clean slate. Yorn once again played many of the instruments, co-producing with R. Walt Vincent and Scott Litt, who mixed several tracks, as did Andy Wallace and Ken Andrews. "I wanted to get back to a straight-up rock sound, and let the vocal melodies and songs speak for themselves."
" Come back home for another year/And ask yourself if you could handle this" ("Come Back Home")
It was a hectic two years of activity for Pete Yorn since the release of his debut album, which produced the alternative hits "Strange Condition," "Life on a Chain," and "For Nancy." Within 18 months, he went from a label showcase at L.A.'s Viper Room to headlining and selling out New York's 4,000 seat Hammerstein Ballroom. Among his highlights: playing drums for a set with Iggy Pop at the Shortlist Awards in Los Angeles, contributing his version of "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" to the We're A Happy Family - A Tribute To Ramones album, having his song "Murray" in the hit indie film "Igby Goes Down," and touring the world with his beloved band, Dirty Bird (Luke Adams, drums; Terry Borden, bass; Jason Johnson, guitar; and Joe Kennedy, piano/guitar).
The new album's first single, "Come Back Home," captures the whirlwind of Yorn's life with a wall of fuzz-toned acoustic and electric guitars which evoke his Anglo-rock influences -- like T. Rex and the Smiths -- while creating a sound uniquely his own. The song is about remembering who you are and where you come from, a cautionary tale about keeping one's feet firmly planted while following your dreams.
" Yeah take my hand/It was good in the beginning" ("Crystal Village")
The New Jersey native started singing and writing his own material after crooning the Replacements' "Talent Show" during a, yes, talent show, at Montville High School in 1990. He's never looked back. After graduating from Syracuse, Yorn migrated to L.A., and attracted admirers with his shows at CafÈ Largo. After four years of gigging around on the LA club circuit, Yorn was offered a deal with Columbia Records after a senior exec heard an acoustic version of his song "Life On A Chain." When a Hollywood producer caught his act, he placed several of Pete's songs in the Farrelly Brothers movie, "Me, Myself and Irene." musicforthemorningafter would be released eight months later in March 2001.
"Don't talk about this/If you know how to sing it alone" ("Carlos [Don't Let It Go To Your Head])"
Day I Forgot features a wide variety of different instruments, many, but not all, played by Yorn himself. Listen to the string machine on "Crystal Village," the wheezing harmonium on "When You See the Light," the harmonica break in "Committed," the haunting piano at the close of "Turn of the Century," and the toy glockenspiel that rings subliminally underneath "So Much Work." "I just try to capture it as I'm feeling it, when it's inspiring me, " says Yorn about the recording process. "I want to get it all down quicklyÖ that's rock & roll to me. You can spend too much time in the studio tweaking those initial basic tracks until you suck the life out of it."
" The words you never cared to say/I want to find a better place" ("Pass Me By")
" This record is about remembering," says Pete. "Day I Forgot is the opposite of what it actually states. If I try to forget something, that's when I end up remembering it. It's all about simplicity. People can get too caught up in the drama of their day-to-day lives and lose their perspective, their focus. I just wanted to remember the state of mind I was in before I put the first album out. How it was pure and about the music."
" I don't think I'll ever come to hear it all" ("Committed")
" Music is about a feeling," Yorn insists. "When you first hear a particular song, it's like a bookmark in your life. I'll put certain music on because it makes me want to drink beer in the woods or call some girl on the phone. If you're really into music, it becomes a huge part of your life."
" I think I'll take a long way down from here" ("Long Way Down")
The experience of traveling around the world and playing shows every night was a dream come true for Yorn, something he vows never to take for granted. "I remember saying, all I ever wanted was to not have to pack up my own gear after a show and schlep it around in the truck," he laughs. "I'll never forget the first day we got a tour bus. To this day, whenever the bus pulls up, I get out the camera and take pictures in front of it. I still haven't gotten over the thrill of it yet."
" And when you tell those words to him/Just be sure to start all over again" ("When You See the Light")
" I'm ready," says Pete about getting back on the road for the next chapter of his career. "This record is starting to make a lot of sense to me. Having it in sequence puts it all together. I left some tracks off I was in love with, but it was important for me to make a tight record this time. Shorter, more concise, like two good album sides. I wanted these songs to make sense as an album."
" Saw my reflection, covered in glass/How it reminds me of you" ("Turn of the Century")
" Momma says, 'You only fall in love once'" ("Burrito")
Yorn's status as pop's romantic troubadour is confirmed, from the wistful idealism of "Crystal Village" to the longing for true friendship and family in "Pass Me By" and the admonition to leave a bad relationship in the George Harrison-like "When You See the Light." The unabashed emo-core punk rave-up of "Burrito" is autobiographical, about "hanging out in front of the 7-Eleven as a teenager while I waited to go over to my first girlfriend's house." The mournful Neil Young melancholia of "Turn of the Century" was inspired by director Baz Luhrmann telling Pete about a film he was planning to make about early 1900s Paris, which turned out to be "Moulin Rouge." "Man in Uniform" urges transcending the routine of everyday life to rediscover the initial passion that inspires us in the first place.
" If it's we who choose/I'll reach another level" "Man in Uniform"
" There are realist painters and abstract artists," explains Yorn. "And I think I fall somewhere in between as a musician. I like to leave things open-ended and try to make them seem universal, even if they're not."
" All at once/I break my silence" ("All at Once")
" I like when people interpret the songs for themselves," says Yorn. "So that it means whatever it means to them. I won't say what it has to be about. I'm just trying to create a catalyst to make you feel somethingÖto connect with yourself or someone else."
" You don't have to settle/Don't have to say you won't" ("So Much Work")
" I just want to create music that makes me feel good," says Yorn. "I was trying to make a record that I would be proud to listen to ten years from now."
Like the memories Pete Yorn taps for his inspiration, Day I Forgot lingers long after the music is over.
Source: http://www.peteyorn.com/ |
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