Reason For Living

The Exquisite Music Of Roddy Frame
Friday, December 23, 2011
For Margaret Ann, who always got it

It's a cruel irony how the Christmas season can be an especially difficult time of year for those who are neurologically predisposed to clinical depression. It's roughly a six week window of time that's intended to be filled with joy, peace, warmth and glad tidings, yet invariably it falls short on the spiritual fulfillment that is promised. I should know. I happen to be one of those people, easily reaching my threshold somewhere around November 20th --- nearly a full week before the season 'officially' begins and one solid month plus before the holiday actually arrives. During those long weeks I usually just want to disappear into a dark corner with my face to the wall and wait until the hubbub is over, yet something within me truly wants to believe in the 'spirit' that should prevail, but never materializes. It's a complex paradox that I wrestle with each year, struggling to deal with the ideology of Christmas versus the reality of what it's become. Blame it on being maladjusted, a lapsed Catholic, or maybe just something I don't really understand. I'm not certain. But in my attempt to come to terms with the season, I must admit that I do try to reflect on the things in life that give me reason for living. In the broadest sense it's stuff like friends, family, and relative good health --- things that are actively cultivated, hopefully to remain with me. I consider myself lucky for having them, but I do realize that they're also subject to ebb and flow. In the more personal and subjective sense, it's the stuff that comes into my life quite by accident. The things that have touched me in profound ways. Things that you can return to time and time again and because of their permanence, they stay with you forever. A few of my reasons include the writing of Kerouac and Steinbeck, plus an occasional delight in the works of Raymond Chandler and Damon Runyon. It might also be the photography of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Lee Miller, Garry Winogrand, and more recently, Vivian Meyer. Additionally I count the scent of perfumed hair on girls with short dresses. And I might possibly die a happy man if I croaked in the environs of Desolation Wilderness, The Blue Ridge Mountains, New Orleans, or Jack London's 'Beauty Ranch' in Sonoma Valley. And then of course there's the music of Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Nick Drake, Laura Nyro, Van Morrison, Randy Newman, Maurice Ravel and Tom Waits to name a few, plus the subject of this very post --- singer-songwriter, Roddy Frame.

Some of you might remember Roddy as 'Aztec Camera,' who for lack of a better description was 'a band in name only.' For all practical purposes, the moniker was merely a revolving door of complimentary musicians who served to showcase Roddy's incredibly gifted songwriting. And yes, admittedly there were one or two musical missteps that might dog anyone with a decades long career --- mistakes which might be better forgotten --- but all-in-all, Frames songwriting style and chops have remained remarkably consistent and top-notch since his debut in 1984. And what comprises that style and those chops? Superior, well crafted pop songs that brim with honesty and conviction, set in clean, uncluttered, linear arrangements that get straight to the point, allowing the songs to breathe and develop without force. And within them is clever wordplay nearly on par with that of Elvis Costello's. In the aftermath of Britain's unspeakable 'New Romantics' movement with its synthesizers, drum machines, ghastly haircuts and horrific outfits, Frame's 'Aztec Camera' provided more than a glimmer of hope for redemption from the horror of synthpop with his organic and intelligent, largely guitar driven folk-rock. Why he never achieved the level of critical and commercial success of the aforementioned Costello is another matter and one that poses both a sad and perplexing mystery to me even today. Like a few other talented songwriters of a certain ilk --- Paddy McAloon, Danny Peck, and maybe to a lesser degree, Mike Scott --- Roddy Frame almost remains a secret begging to be discovered, particularly here in the States. In Frame's case, perhaps it was the disastrous 'Love' which was to blame, an over-the-top recording from 1987 that ironically seemed designed specifically to make inroads to the American consciousness.* At a point in his career where Frame needed to establish a stronger presence outside of his homeland, ill-advised he abandoned his jazz infused folk-rock for something entirely different and insincere only to be met with complete indifference and rejection on these shores (despite MTV), and apparently U.S. audiences have never looked back. Pity. Most have no idea what they've been missing.

*Oddly, it was a smash in Britain. The recording is not entirely without merit however. The writing is strong, but the arrangements suck. Ditto 'Dreamland.'

For me, the music of Roddy Frame is one of those special things that give me reason for living, and that's not just hyperbole. I mean it. It's a compliment and endorsement of the highest order. And just why are his songs so meaningful to me? Well, that's hard to put my finger on. Without diving too deeply, I think it's simply because I like the way his music makes me feel when I hear it. Happiness is a fleeting thing you know, and I'm met with an overwhelming sense of cheer when Frame's music begins. It may be as basic and as uncomplicated as that. That's not to imply however that his music is some sort of bouncy, lighthearted fluff. You know me by now. You don't really think I'd be moved by something like that, would you? Roddy's songs resonate fairly deeply with me. First there's his songcraft. Witness 'Here Comes The Ocean.' Much like it's title, the song builds like the swell of a wave by the simple use of adding additional instruments one by one, increasing the song's momentum with every subsequent verse. Halfway through, the song opens up wide, propelled by its own velocity and finally crests with a coda that raises the hair on the back your neck by use counterpoint to spectacular effect. We're not talking advanced music theory here, just basis songwriting techniques that are tastefully employed for the most optimum impact. And although I've described his music as 'jazz infused folk-rock,' the guy can really rock too. Check out tracks like 'The Crying Scene' or 'What It Is' for evidence of his prowess. At the other end of the spectrum there's the uber-cool, tear stained jazz ballad, 'Over My Head' that easily could've fit into the repertoire of either Chet Baker or Nat King Cole had either of them been alive when it was written. You can almost visualize the cigarette smoke coiling through the air as Frame croons of heartbreak, silhouetted in a solitary stage spot on a darkened stage. And then there's his lyrics. Wallow in the beauty of 'Big Ben' from his CD, 'Surf' released in 1992:

On Sunday nothing opens late, the clock across the river chimes
It towers above the bridge, we cross, we're bound for better times
We join the flow that's headed west and start
Letting go of what's kept us apart

Arriving at forgiveness, free to face the wintertime
Where memories rise out of the dark and play and shadows climb
While we decide what still applies and what can go
Clouds curl across the sky and the wind moans low

And I'm free to find some understanding
What used to be my world's expanding
I see the city in her eyes, the river's rushing and the lights have changed

And I suppose it's just my jealous streak
Draws out a word and makes it last all week
And turns and shapes it all into a noose
'Cos I can't bear to have the ends left loose

But at my best, I do believe in love
I can't conceive of only sky above
Seems to me we get to choose this stuff
Let's pick the path that's true, though the road is rough

And we'll be up where the stars are streaming
Glittering trails across the sky, still gleaming
The city shivering below, all lit up,
Dreaming of the Spring's soothing hand

Don't scratch the surface for the sake of it
Just because you know the ache will fit
The hole inside this soft and soothing thing
Where the soul is worn away and love still stings

Like the wind that leaves the trees all standing
Shy and naked as their leaves are landing
Who knows where, carried on the air
Life lends a hand and then it all starts again

When Frame sings these lines to the haunting melody they accompany, he makes the words sound like pure poetry, falling somewhere between bewitching and beguiling. Man, I'd gladly give my own... or more certainly my noisy next door neighbor's left nut to be able to write any of the songs I've just described.

Listen, it's Christmas weekend. You've probably got better things to do with your time than sit in front of a computer monitor reading me gush about the virtues of Roddy Frame's songwriting. So do yourself a favor. Download the two sets of his music I offer below. Grab the bonus tracks too. Then live with them for the next couple of weeks. I think you'll end up agreeing that these are extraordinary songs and you'll come to agree with my admiration for Frame's talent and handiwork. Consider it a Christmas present from me to you. But don't thank me for any connection that may arise after having heard them. It's all Roddy's doing. He puts them out there for anyone who's open to receive them. I just happened to accept delivery and am now sharing them with you. Believe me, his is not the sort of music that I treat lightly. We all have our touchstones and Frame's songs have become one of them for me --- a reason for living and that's something I don't take glibly. I may be hiding in the shadows now, but hopefully that'll all be over come December 31st. In the meantime I'm offering them to you with the hope that these songs might affect you in the same meaningful way that they've touched me. Merry Christmas.

Roddy Frame

Reason For Living, Vol.1

1) Backwards And Forwards (Live)
2) Jump (Live)
3) The Bugle Sounds Again (Live)
4) Mattress Of Wire (Live)
5) Back On Board
6) Dow The Dip
7) Orchid Girl
8) Knife
9) Stray
10) The Crying Scene
11) Over My Head
12) How It Is
13) Western Skies
14) For What It Is
15) Sister Shadow
16) Crazy
17) The Gentle Kind
18) Crossing Newbury Street
19) Debutante
20) Small World


Roddy Frame
Reason For Living, Vol.2

1) Black Lucia (Live)
2) We Could Send Letters (Live)
3) The North Star
4) Killermont Street
5) How Men Are (Live)
6) Back To The One
7) Oblivious
8) Phenomenal World
9) Let Your Love Decide (Live)
10) Here Comes The Ocean
11) Reason For Living
12) Your Smile Stops The Hands Of Time
13) Pillar To Post
14) Dolphins (Live)
15) Big Ben
16) Turning The World Around
17) Rainy Season
18) Marble Arch
19) Bigger Brighter Better
20) Autumn Flower
21) Surf
22) Worlds In Worlds
23) Dry Land


Roddy Frame
Pillar To Post: Bonus Tracks

1) Hymn To Grace
2) Abloom
3) Mixed Up Love
4) I Can't Start Now


Source material for 'Reason For Living, Vols. 1&2' and 'Pillar To Post' come from the following:

As 'Aztec Camera'
High Land, Hard Rain (1983)/Knife (1984)
Backwards And Forwards (1985)/Love (1987)
New, Live And Rare (1988)/Stray (1990)
Dream Sweet Dreams (1991)/Covers And Rare (1993)
Dreamland (1993)/Frestonia (1995)

As 'Roddy Frame'
The North Star (1998)/Surf (2002)
Western Skies (2006)/Live At Ronnie Scott's (2006)