Honorable Mentions (In alphabetical order): Al Green, Bart Davenport, Cat Stevens, Daniel Johnston, Elliott Smith, The Four Tops, Ghostland Observatory, Herbie Hancock, Iron and Wine, Joanna Newsom, Kings of Convenience, Leonard Cohen,Marvin Gaye, Nick Drake, Otis Redding, Prince, Queen, Ryan Adams, Sufjan Stevens, Tom Waits, The Unicorns, The Velvet Underground, Wilco, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Zero 7)
Sounds Like
Imagine a punked-up mid-70s Joni Mitchell. Give her a band that crosses the heart Motown and Classic Rock. There you have it: Fiction Like Candy.
July 4, 2009
This Summer I'm doing a cover each week, each song requested by a fan. This next one was inspired by my recent attendance of a Phish show. A longtime Phish naysayer, I went with Tim to Alpine Valley to catch them and the whole spectacle, and lo and behold became an instant fan (phan?) What can I say? It was a little bit of musical magic...
July 2, 2009
Although it hasn't been a week yet since my last post, requests have been pouring in (not surprisingly) for me to do a cover of a Michael Jackson song as a tribute. Daunting as it is, I decided to go ahead and do it, choosing "Girlfriend" from Off the Wall. One reason I probably like it so much is that it was written by Sir Paul McCartney, who in my opinion is a fabulous songwriter. That said, I love what MJ brings to this song, and hope I bring some of my own energy and character to it. Enjoy!
June 29, 2009
"Beyond Belief" by Elvis Costello off of his Imperial Bedroom album. Thanks to Joly Herman for the request. It is a beautiful song by one of my favorite artists, and it was a lot of fun doing it!
When Genna Giacobassi, singer/songwriter of Indie band Fiction Like Candy, followed love from San Francisco to Chicago, she didn’t know what to expect. Neither did her fans. She had left a lot behind in the Bay Area--a community of admirers, a satisfying music scene, and a band she was lucky enough to feel close to, collaborate with, and hit the road alongside, and that had been integral to her rise on the Indie circuit.
Giacobassi’s self-imposed year of isolation, set aside for personal songwriting as well as some exercises in the realm of soundtrack composition, might have felt like an eternity to fans of her music, but the flowering of her efforts has yielded surprising results well worth the wait--a new body of emotionally explosive and idiosyncratic material that reflects a mood of striving, confusion, doubt, revelation, and of course, her characteristic candor and whimsy. And lots of piano. “I was still drawing from my old favorite inspirations--Motown, Joni Mitchell, Elvis Costello…but add to that a lot of moody stuff like [California Freak-Folk harpist] Joanna Newsom and Edith Piaf, and then a little Weezer thanks to my boyfriend, and some really cold and dark winter days, and I suddenly started going in a totally new direction,” she muses from the console of her bright, cozy home studio in the heart of Chicago, Illinois.
It’s clear that the acquisition of some key pieces of music software helped facilitate her choice to add textures of orchestration to many of her new songs, and that in turn seems to have inspired a shift in her vocal performance. While she retains her virtuosity, her singing is generally much gentler and warm--even raspy-- despite her choice to, as she says, “escape from smoking cigarettes.” And as we’ve come to expect, variety still abounds on her upcoming record, titled “The Wrong Girl.” In each song, she could almost be a different character, sounding in one like a chanteuse you could imagine playing in a smoky German cabaret, in another like a free-spirited flower child tripping the light fantastic. She is quick to point out that variety extends to her backing musicians, most of whom are friends and family. With over a dozen different players lending their talents and influences, it seems Giacobassi's greatest joy is in experiencing the alchemy that is the result of collaboration and sharing her music with others.
Releasing old styles and paradigms suits Giacobassi. She’s still refreshingly and effortlessly playful and down-to-earth. Yet it could never have been said that Genna and her songs weren’t theatrical, and that remains true. Her flair for the dramatic swirls through the music ambitiously, yet the drama now seems more honest, the sentiment sweeter and more vulnerable. The most recent incarnation of Fiction Like Candy is a little less fiction, a little more candy. And it will still leave you craving more…
you sound fantastic...have you ever considered writing for a theater? maybe as musical director? Your writing is so eclectic and interesting that it deserves a visual accompaniment. Just a thought!!!
I'm babysitting tonight so can't talk, I'll call tomorrow, maybe moving close to you soon, love your video, will post comment, stay tuned for love and adoration....
Where in the world indeed. I was so excited to find flc on you tube so now I can watch u perform live on my page:) I'm feeling anxious about calling you on Tim's phone, is that silly? I love you so much and think of you always.
i must be on your shitlist now for not showing up friday at dolores. all hell broke loose last week. i'm so sorry, it was just a bad few days that prevented me from being a good person. so sorry......
In the spirit of St. Valentine's Day: Watch the entire movie – “No. My Other Possessed-Zombie Girlfriend” right now for free!
http://redgiantproductions.com/zombieflashtest2.html
The film is Unrated and runs 24 minutes.
p.s. for all you Fiction Like Candy fans reading this, they are featured on the film's soundtrack.
I'm playing Hotel Café in Hollywood on February 20th. It's a big night. I'm opening for Johnette Napolitano from Concrete Blonde and... It's the CD release party for "Little Revolution!" Yes, my album is finished and you can pick it up at the show or download it from Snocap right off my Myspace page.
Elvis Costello
Joni Mitchell
Johnny Cash
Fab 4
Bob Dylan
Edith Piaf
Jaco Pastorius
Stevie Wonder
Miles Davis
Phish
Nina Simone
Thelonious Monk
Sonny Rollins
Rivers Cuomo
