I have long enjoyed my copy of The Fireman’s 1998 release Rushes, which is relaxingly ambient and a bit sexy, so when I discovered last December that they had a new release, I put it on my Christmas list. Santa obliged me, and I found Electric Arguments under the tree.

To my surprise and pleasure, vocals are to the forefront on Electric Arguments. To be specific, they are mostly Paul McCartney’s vocals; he has worked with UK musician Youth as The Fireman since 1993. The tracks are also in a more traditional “song” format than in previous releases. As a longtime McCartney fan, I get the distinct feeling that he is now using The Fireman to release songs he doesn’t feel confident releasing under his own name (even though everyone who listens to The Fireman knows it’s him), as they might not fit what longtime pop-Paul fans like. They are, overall, experimental as compared to his recent solo releases; however, as far as quality, Electric Arguments is at minimum on par with Chaos And Creation In The Backyard and completely blows away Memory Almost Full.

The first single, “Sing the Changes”, is easily my favorite track. The somewhat exotic intro gives way to what I can best describe as a “pop chant”. There is almost no melodic movement, the lyrics are repeated ad nauseam, but it is catchy and I always find myself bopping along to the beat. The video is at right. “Sun Is Shining” is more dynamic but still gives me the same happy feeling. There is a lot of uplifting on this album.

The Fireman have used a bit of harmonica in this release as well, not an instrument that I can recall McCartney using previously (maybe on “Run Devil Run”, a retro rock album). It lends a bluesy tone to “Nothing Too Much Just Out Of Sight” and “Highway”. Where “Nothing Too Much” is a more ambient jam, “Highway” is a blues-rock number that reminds me of several popular early-80s blues bands. The exploration of American niche genres continues with “Light From Your Lighthouse”, a jugband hymn that could easily be re-arranged into a modern worship song.

For those who do love a little dance and/or ambient, skip to the end of the album. “Is This Love”, “Lovers In A Dream”, “Universal Here, Everlasting Now”, and “Don’t Stop Running” are quite enjoyable and make an excellent backdrop for a run around the neighborhood (totaling over 26 minutes, they’re perfect for my short laps). “Don’t Stop Running” actually contains a “hidden” track after a lengthy pause; the last two minutes consist of a bit of spacey synthesized fun.

Overall, there isn’t a track on Electric Arguments that I don’t like. This isn’t going to be for everyone, but if you’re up for a bit of trip (the acid kind) it’s definitely worth checking out.

Given my admiration for James Taylor and Cat Stevens, it probably is not surprising that I’m also a fan of Carly Simon. 

As a singer/songwriter, she paved her own way in the early 70’s and was able to almost seamlessly achieve and blend critical and commercial success – not an easy feat.  Of course, her success is even more impressive given that she’s rarely toured, suffering through bouts of debilitating stage fright throughout her career. 

Interestingly, when I listen to Carly’s music, it sometimes doesn’t feel right for the stage anyway; her delivery and lyrics are so intimate and personal, often, that it feels more like you’re sitting across the table from her sharing a cup of coffee and that she’s not really singing so much as speaking to you – not some generic audience, but YOU – with her carefully crafted words.

While she, indeed, possesses a distinctive voice – you know it as soon as you hear it – Carly’s gift isn’t necessarily her vocals per se, but her ability to tell stories through her songs, stories that draw you in, but always remain open to interpretation, and never offer an easy resolution.  I love that about her music.  That 30 years after the fact, people are still guessing the mysterious subject of her hit, “You’re So Vain,” is a testament to her ability as a storyteller. 

Many artists sing about relationships gone bad, or cheating lovers, but there was something about Carly’s composition and delivery of this song that raised the stakes somehow – people just HAD to know, and they still want to know.  “You walked into the party, like you were walking onto a yacht…” — one of the best opening lines of a song ever.

Speaking of opening lines, while each of her songs, as a whole, tells a story, her brilliance as a songwriter is showcased in the power of her individual lyrics to tell stories of their own, apart from the larger narrative of the song.  I’ve been moved sometimes by a simple lyric – a phrase or two that plays over again in your mind and evolves and becomes imbued with new meaning each time you hear it. 

One of my favorite songs of Carly’s is one of her earliest hits, “Anticipation,” a song that she wrote (no lie) while getting ready for a date with Cat Stevens (yes, this all geeks me out).  The song is interesting because given that it was written by a songwriter in her early 20’s,  it’s so smartly reflective about love, lust, the angst of dating, and the heady mix of elation and insecurity one often feels in the early stages of a relationship.  The line I love best in this song, though, is the last line of the final verse:

And tomorrow we might not be together
I’m no prophet, I don’t know nature’s way
So I’ll try to see into your eyes right now
And stay right here, ’cause these are the good old days.

Normally, you hear mature songwriters pining away about the stolen days of youth or the innocence they lost along the way – if they’d only have known then, what they know now, they would have appreciated those “good old days.”  But it seems like Carly always knew, and this is what makes her so special.

One of my favorite songs by two of my favorite artists:

Here’s another of my favorite Carly songs, that she wrote about her children, featuring her son Ben in the video: