November 9, 2004 | Posted by David B. at 11:16 PM

'til you heard the voices in your ears

Jon Brion

What with all this talk of Jon Brion going on in the comment section of Oliver's excellent song ("It's Thinking" below), I thought I'd post a couple more tracks from Brion's solo album Meaningless. I posted a few a long time ago, and I figured new visitors to the site would be well-served in hearing these. First things first. If you don't know much about Brion, check him out; he's one of the best producers working today. He's produced records by Aimee Mann, Rufus Wainwright, Fiona Apple, Michael Penn, Eels and Badly Drawn Boy. All of his records have subtle touches, like how he sticks in a little Born To Run riff on bells when Aimee Mann sings "Ted came in from Jersey" in I've Had It. Brion's Meaningless is one of my favorite records ever. As a musician, I was amazed when I heard this, because it's so close to the music I want to write and perform. It's just written really well, musically and lyrically. It's constantly moving somewhere, and the relationship between the words and music is completely perfect. I think you could listen to any song on this album and be satisfied, but I'll pick these two:

Walking Through Walls

Voices

Co-written by Grant Lee Phillips of Grant Lee Buffalo, the first song is a bouncing exhibition of being a wimpy bad-ass. (My favorite part by far is when "motherfucker" suddenly comes in from Brion's backup vocals.) The second is a Cheap Trick cover, and it's not only gorgeous but shows Brion's producing genius: listen especially for those radio-static bits of gibberish during the chorus.
You can pick up Meaningless here.

Comments

Awesome record. I could listen to "I Believe She's Lying" on repeat for a week. The vocoder backing vocals get me every time.

Posted by: j at November 10, 2004 1:05 PM

ahh... jon brion. i love the "get out of my wayyy..(motherfucker..)" line too. heh. and i love how much this song reminds me of the original kfc theme song. anyone remember it?

Posted by: anna at November 10, 2004 1:21 PM

i'm loving these jon brion tracks - even made me allmusic him. i have to admit to not being familiar with anything other than his soundtrack work. these are great.

Posted by: james at November 10, 2004 7:57 PM

Yes! good call - I'm a huge Brion convert/fan thanks to my friend at work, Dave - his production is totally top notch... and you didn't mention his amazing soundtrack work, including I (heart) Huckabees, Eternal Sunshine and Punch-Drunk Love. Amazing all of it.

Posted by: robot blair at November 10, 2004 9:09 PM

I'm really starting to like Brion, I already liked him for his soundtrack work but his solo stuff is so good. "Voices" is just so pretty. Thanks!

Posted by: caley at November 10, 2004 11:42 PM

If you're ever in LA, Job Brion plays every Friday night at Largo. Usually some guest stars show up. Last time I saw him, E from the Eels opened up the show.

You think his songs take long days to produce? Wrong. Brion can make gorgeous productions on the spot by playing and then looping drums, keys, mellotrons, guitar and vocals. In 10 minutes it sounds like a beautiful production it would take months for most mortals to produce. He's a musician's musician. Don't miss it if you're ever in LA.

Posted by: Alex at November 11, 2004 12:45 AM

Yeah, I have heard about Largo - if you go to [http://www.largo-la.com/largohome.html] you can hear some of his stuff at Largo, as well as stuff by other people.
And yeah, his film work is also incredible. My favorite of his movie stuff is "Here We Go" from Punch-Drunk Love.

Posted by: David at November 11, 2004 8:01 AM
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