He is an alien. A really fucking clever alien. He does these things with guitars and words that make the rest of the universe look stupid. Nobody human can produce something that perfect while making it look like it wasnt even hard. ALIEN
He writes really cool chord structures in a way that are always dancing with the melodies.. did I mention the melodies? They're so refreshing. There's no one who writes like this, at least to my mind. So unique 😍
I think you meant chord progressions. Hes pretty much playing barre chords and open chords aka "cowboy chords" which are known as beginner chords and very basic.
@@babyyoucanridemybike Yea the chords are simple chords, sure. But the arrangement of them with the melody is what makes it unique. Try it yourself. Take these 5 or so chords, and try write an original and interesting melody. It ain't easy.
Yes, he does. I love his music, in all it's incarnations, (The Shins, Broken Bells, his completely solo projects; etc.) But if you've never listened to The Smiths, then you should check out how deep their influence is in his early music. Which is most certainly; a good thing.
@@babyyoucanridemybike Oh the chords may be simple, but the chord progression is not a stereotyped or common one, and more importantly, the melody is (IMO) fantastic. After the initial opening scale, check out where it goes. It goes all over the place. We have lots of 'non-chord tones' (including IMO pretty ones), suspensions, wide leaps, and all kinds of things. But the melody doesn't do all that to show off... he is telling a story, and like most good music, phrases in one part do relate to phrases in other parts, even if the musical relationship isn't immediately obvious the first time.
I disagree, I sang "Kissing the Lipless" at kareoke night at OCC circa 2011. They are not EASY songs with all the wide interval leaps, and sometimes difficult-to-hear intervals, but if you know them well enough and have good pipes, you can do it. I have to transpose most Shins songs down an octave because I have a very low voice.
Love this song ! I attempted to learn it and got through it just barley !! it's all bhare chords except for the refrain at the end...I think maybe the action on my acoustic is a little too high...anyhow, great song ! I also like the live version on Letterman... Jessica Dobson was in the band at that time, good player and vocalist.
God. I love James he's so captivating... wish I could get his solo acoustic songs on an album or something... you can only find them as the Shins but honestly I just perfer Mercer's beautiful voice and guitar
Foals in winter coats, White girls of the North, File past one, five and one They are the fabled lambs of Sunday ham, The ancient norm And they can float above the grass, In circles if they tried, A latent power I know they hide, To keep some hope alive, That a girl like I could ever try, Could ever try. So we just skirt the hallway sides, A phantom and a fly, Follow the lines and wonder why There's no connection. A week of rolling eyes, And cheap shots from the tribe, And we're often on Marcus' porch again, Another afternoon of the goat head tunes, And pilfered booze. We wander through her mama's house, And the milk from the window lights, Family portrait circa ninety-five, This is that foreign land, With the sprayed on tans, And it all feels fine, Be it silk or slime, So, when they tap our Monday heads, Two zombies walk in our stead, This town seems hardly worth our time, And we'll no longer memorize or rhyme, Too far along in our crime, Stepping over what now towers to the sky, With no connection. So, when they tap our Sunday heads, Two zombies walk in our stead, This town seems hardly worth our time, And we'll no longer memorize or rhyme, Too far along in our crime, Stepping over what now towers to the sky, With no connection.
if you pause this at 0:01, that's exactly how he looked in high school, same expression - minus the beard, and just missing the flat top. Good on you James
Yeah he certainly is someone who doesn't rely on the studio tools to sing well in pitch. So many gimmicky bands now days where the singer's are lost without some form of pitch collection. I prefer singers who don't show off their vocal ranges and actually just sing with full emotion and non gimmicky.
The Alice in chains song of the same name captures my feelings of clicking on this accidentally. No hope of rescue I'm trapped here alone If I don't dig my own way out, I'll die here
