So, my good friend Will requested a "where are they now" on Edie Brickell after my 80's Sunday Rewind post (because apparently his Google is broken) and since I am here to educate as well as amuse, here's the update.
It's been 20 years since Edie Brickell and New Bohemians had their hit "What I Am" and New Bohemians have had two good follow-up albums: 1990's Ghost of a Dog and 2006's Stranger Things. Edie's band showed a great deal of promise with their hit album Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars, but Ghost of a Dog didn't come close to matching that kind of success, as is the usual thing with sophomore albums. The only song released from that album was "Mama Help Me" and I bet you don't remember it. Still, it's a good album. My favorite song off Ghost of a Dog is "He Said," have a listen.
On the personal front, Brickell married Paul Simon in 1992. I know, seemed weird to me when I learned this back in the day -- but wait -- it's going to get a little weirder. They met when she was performing on Saturday Night Live and according to Wikipedia she says he was standing by the cameraman, "He made me mess the song up when I looked at him," she said with a smile. "We can show the kids the tape and say, 'Look, that's when we first laid eyes on each other.'" Makes me wonder what would have happened if Steve Martin would have been hosting that night.
By 2005, Brickell was headed for one-hit-wonderland when Microsoft put her song "Good Times" on the Windows 95 cd-rom. Nothing says indie-bohemian like Microsoft. Anyway, there it was and Brickell was in the spotlight for a bit with the song going to #22 on the Adult Contemporary chart. "Good Times" was from Brickell's 1994 solo effort, Picture Perfect Morning. In 2003 she put out Volcano, which didn't fare well at all.
Now for the good news (and that weirder part I was talking about).
Last year Edie Brickell and her step-son, Harper Simon, formed The Heavy Circles and recorded an album of the same name. I don't know what the band name means, they could have called themselves Harper and Edie for all I care because this collaboration is pretty fantastic. I'm just glad they didn't call themselves Oedipus Complex. Harper has inherited his dad's talent and the album showcases the best of what Edie does -- haunting vocals, and then surprises you with rockin' vocals in songs like "Dynamite Child."
The Heavy Circles album is definitely worth getting if you've enjoyed any of Brickell's past work or if you just like good music. It's well-produced, multi-layered, and soulful. I really haven't heard anything like The Heavy Circles in recent years. The album is decidedly different from her work with New Bohemians and the songs are full and interesting, a little poppy, a little rock and roll. I had to look at my iTunes to see what they were classified as and they're under Alternative, which proves Alternative has come to mean anything that doesn't easily fit a category.
A good example of not fitting any of the standard classifications is the first track, "Henri," which needs to be in the David Lynch film about Henri Matisse's paintings. What? It could happen.
"Better" is a fun song reminiscent of The Beatles with fun piano and guitar, so of course I love that. Oh, did I mention that Sean Lennon did some work on this album as well? He did, but I can't find any information on what he performed on.
My favorite song on the album is "Confused." It's ethereal and lovely. I super love the melodies on this one. By the way, I would SO put it in the title sequence of a film where the heroine is deciding between two men. Seriously, will someone please give me a job picking music for movies? I'm adding this to the list of jobs I'd be perfect for -- this is not a long list, believe me (but that's another post).
Everyone's going to get The Heavy Circles now, right? Good. It's good stuff. I hope y'all feel bathed in knowledge now, I'll be back to my usual shenanigans later. I'll dig up something for 80's Sunday Rewind tomorrow and I've planned something special for Tunes You Need Tuesday (although this post would definitely suffice). Y'all have a superfantastic weekend, download The Heavy Circles, jump in a pile of leaves, have a nap, and take a drive: this is the stuff autumn weekends are made of.
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