LSD for Sale!

I would like to discuss a very important songwriter. His name is one we all know and could never forget. He had been making music from 1957 until he was murdered in 1980. He was best known as one of the primary songwriters for the legendary and revolutionary band best known as The Beatles. His name was John Lennon.

It was recently released that John Lennon’s original handwritten lyrics for “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” would be put up for auction. On Wednesday, April 13^th, it was expected that the lyric sheet would sell for over $200,000 next month at a sale in Beverly Hills.

The contents of the lyric sheet are:

1. The opening lyrics of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”.

2. A sketch of four people in a room with curtains draped over the window.

This song is very memorable to me. I’ve heard it millions of time since I was a child. The opening notes always bring a calm over me. Sometimes I like to think of it as a lullaby for adults.

“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” was released in 1967 on the classic album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”. Everyone, including the media and listeners, believed the song was a transparent metaphor for LSD [better known as acid]. Part of this belief was derived from the song’s title “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”; however, on many occasions, John Lennon claimed that they notion was false, though he and The Beatles were known to experiment with psychedelic drugs recreationally. He claimed that he initially did not notice the sequence of the letters when the song was written/released. However, this is still in debate. Many continue to believe the song is about LSD due to it’s mesmerizing melody and wildly creative lyrics.

According to Lennon and others, the muse for “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” was John’s son Julian. When we was a child, he drew a picture of one of his classmates. Her name was Lucy. Julian showed his drawing to his father and stated, “That’s Lucy in the Sky with diamonds”.

The classic song was noted as one of the most popular songs in Rolling Stone magazine. It ranked as no. 1 on the list of 500 greatest albums of all time.

In 2007, Lucy Vodden (originally O’Donnell) spoke out and revealed that she was the initial inspiration for the song. Unfortunately, she passed in 2009.

“The draft ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ lyrics will be sold at an auction scheduled for May 14 and 15 at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills.”

Now, if only I can muster up $200,000...

Sources:

http://www.billboard.com/#/news/john-lennon-s-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-1005133172.story 

Björk: The Infinity of Innovation

On March 17, 2011, renowned Icelandic singer, Björk Guðmundsdótti, announced her upcoming album entitled Biophilia. This is her first album since 2007’s masterpiece Volta. She will be release the album in an interesting format: as an app.

This is certainly not the first time that Björk has been innovative. She always keeps an open mind and tries new sounds and new formats with her music. She does this on each of her albums. She first went solo in 1992 after The Sugarcubes broke up. She transitioned from her more rock aesthetic to the Dance sound of her debut album, Debut, in 1993. She released her second studio album in 1995 entitled Post. She began moving into a more electronic style. After this she embraced the use of beats and strings, which helped great one of her most memorable albums Homogenic in 1997. Some of the album’s good reviews came from Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke who would eventually become one of her many collaborators.

In her 2001 follow up, Vespertine, she added chamber orchestras, choirs, close-mic vocals, and new themes to her repertoire. In 2004 she created her most innovative album, Medúlla. During the album’s production, Björk decided that the album needed to be completely vocal based. She enlisted the vocal skills of hip-hop beatboxer Rahzel and many other talented artists including throat singer Tagaq. This has been her most innovative album to day. Three years later, she released Volta: her most recent album. She began experimenting with African beats and a new colorful tribal image. The album featured collaborates Antony Hegarty (“The Dull Flame of Desire”) and famous producer Timbaland.

Her seventh studio album, Biophilia, is still incomplete. It has been recorded on the iPad and is planned to be releases as a number of applications. It is going to be the world’s first app based album. Björk has been collaborating with Apple. Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Green Hornet) is the director of this project. Björk has described it as “encompassing music, apps, internet, installations and live shows”. Some of the album’s material will debut at her summer concerts at the Manchester International Festival.

Some of the music of Biophilia has already appeared in an iPad app called “Solar System” (developed by Touch Press, Faber and Faber and written by Marcus Chown). It is an eBook that contains 3D interactive objects, movies, diagrams and animations. It is all based upon real life scientific data. It contains images from NASA, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and the European Space Agency.

I have always said that it was a matter of time until someone releases an app album. It all has to start with one person making the initiative and Björk (with the help of Apple) has stepped up to the future of music.

References:

http://consequenceofsound.net/2011/03/bjork-readies-ipad-album-biophilia/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/mar/18/bjork-albarn-manchester-international-festival

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bjoerk-to-debut-new-biophilia-songs-at-residency-in-england-20110317

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2011/01/bjork-song-used-in-solar-system-ipad-app.html