As many of my readers are undoubtedly aware, Lindsey Buckingham is, most famously, the guitarist in 70s superultramega bestselling group Fleetwood Mac, writing... pretty much of all of my favorites among the group's songs. He also has done some solo work, including the (in)famous "Holiday Road", featured prominently in National Lampoon's Vacation. Prior to the past year, he hadn't released any new solo material in over a decade.
Fortunately, that came to an end with the release of last year's Under the Skin. I am not going to pretend it's a perfect album. The production is corny and dated, and the songs are somewhat hit and miss. At the end of the day, though, the man is a great guitar player and clearly has some top-notch songs left in him. The best song on Under the Skin is appended to this post, in a live version taken from Buckingham's performance at Philadelphia's Theatre of the Living Arts, soon to be rechristened with the unfortunate moniker "The Fillmore Philadelphia." *Shudder*. Anyway, enjoy the tune.
Lindsey Buckingham - Not Too Late (live 3-27-07)
4.22.2007
4.15.2007
Staring Straight Across the Silence
Jason Molina is a complicated musical entity. On the one hand, his songwriting and voice are so distinctive as to be instantly recognizable in virtually any context. On the other, he has gone through more stylistic shifts than Radiohead in the last ten years. The self-titled Songs:Ohia "black" album, everything was just Molina and a tenor guitar. As time went on, the music got more ambient and the tenor guitar disappeared, a period exemplified by the excellent The Lioness and the more challenging, but still very good, Ghost Tropic. From there, his music went through a period of rapid changes, moving through my two favorite Molina albums: the blues-folk Didn't It Rain and the heavier blues rock Mi Sei Apparso Come Una Fantasma. More recently, Molina has focused his attention on Magnolia Electric Co, a Neil Young-inspired country-rock band, who put on a pretty damned good live show.
Appended to this post, you will a track from one of those transitional albums, the live Mi Sei Apparso Come Una Fantasma (English: "You appeared to me like a ghost"), recorded in Italy and released locally. The record is, unfortunately, out of print. Well worth finding if you can get your hands on it. The track is entitled "Are We Getting Any Closer?" Enjoy.
Songs: Ohia - Are We Getting Any Closer?
Appended to this post, you will a track from one of those transitional albums, the live Mi Sei Apparso Come Una Fantasma (English: "You appeared to me like a ghost"), recorded in Italy and released locally. The record is, unfortunately, out of print. Well worth finding if you can get your hands on it. The track is entitled "Are We Getting Any Closer?" Enjoy.
Songs: Ohia - Are We Getting Any Closer?
4.10.2007
It's You My Love, You Who Are the Stranger
I am going to open this post on a controversial opinion: Leonard Cohen is the greatest lyricist in the history of modern music. Not "one of the greatest." Not "up there with Dylan." The greatest, end of story.
I used to be a Dylanite, to be sure. As I alluded to in my last post, I was raised that way. In ninth grade, I wrote a paper about "It's Alright Ma" as an embodiment of the spirit of the 1960s. But while Dylan was readily accessible, Cohen took me a long time to get into and an even longer time to fully appreciate.
I probably first heard Cohen's music by way of Judy Collins's cover of "Suzanne," although I was too young to appreciate it at the time. Like most people of my generation, what got me interested in Cohen was Jeff Buckley's cover of "Hallelujah," which I first remember hearing at about seven years ago.
From there, it was another four years until I took it upon myself to look deeper into Cohen as an artist, starting with the excellent "Famous Blue Raincoat." I think the inspiration was David Bazan and TW Walsh's constant interview and stage talk about him that finally did it. Gradually I came to understand a basic fact: you simply cannot top Cohen's lyrics. Despite each song's incredible complexity and often considerable length, almost every one holds the listener's attention. Pure poetry, and unlike Dylan, especially post- Another Side Dylan, you actually get the impression that Cohen understands everything he's writing.
The song appended to this post, "Stranger Song," from Cohen's first album, is a personal favorite. In some ways, it's a common, almost archetypal theme: a girl won over by a man's false promises who ends up heartbroken. Cohen manages to make it his own, however, with a recurring gambling metaphor and stunning imagery. Lyrics are here, if you are interested, and you should be. I will note that this version comes from an unreleased BBC session, and except for the slightly lower audio quality, I think it's actually much better than the studio version.
Leonard Cohen - Stranger Song (live at the BBC)
I used to be a Dylanite, to be sure. As I alluded to in my last post, I was raised that way. In ninth grade, I wrote a paper about "It's Alright Ma" as an embodiment of the spirit of the 1960s. But while Dylan was readily accessible, Cohen took me a long time to get into and an even longer time to fully appreciate.
I probably first heard Cohen's music by way of Judy Collins's cover of "Suzanne," although I was too young to appreciate it at the time. Like most people of my generation, what got me interested in Cohen was Jeff Buckley's cover of "Hallelujah," which I first remember hearing at about seven years ago.
From there, it was another four years until I took it upon myself to look deeper into Cohen as an artist, starting with the excellent "Famous Blue Raincoat." I think the inspiration was David Bazan and TW Walsh's constant interview and stage talk about him that finally did it. Gradually I came to understand a basic fact: you simply cannot top Cohen's lyrics. Despite each song's incredible complexity and often considerable length, almost every one holds the listener's attention. Pure poetry, and unlike Dylan, especially post- Another Side Dylan, you actually get the impression that Cohen understands everything he's writing.
The song appended to this post, "Stranger Song," from Cohen's first album, is a personal favorite. In some ways, it's a common, almost archetypal theme: a girl won over by a man's false promises who ends up heartbroken. Cohen manages to make it his own, however, with a recurring gambling metaphor and stunning imagery. Lyrics are here, if you are interested, and you should be. I will note that this version comes from an unreleased BBC session, and except for the slightly lower audio quality, I think it's actually much better than the studio version.
Leonard Cohen - Stranger Song (live at the BBC)
4.07.2007
No Regrets
Tom Rush is one of the musicians I grew up listening to. My father, though a fan of rock, and, to a lesser extent, classical music, was first and foremost a folkie. Though he was big on Dylan, John Prine, Phil Ochs, etc, his favorite was Tom Rush. I can't say as I blame him. Rush has a spectacular voice, and an impressive guitar style, not to mention excellent taste in covers and a number of high-quality originals.
Of those originals, perhaps none is better than "No Regrets," perhaps one of the kinder breakup songs ever written. It was a minor hit when it was issued on 1968's The Circle Game (titled after one of his great Joni Mitchell covers). That version is a little schmaltzy, with string arrangements that distract from its power. My father told me repeatedly that the song had to be heard live, with just Rush's voice and guitar. I finally got that chance twice in 2004: the first at the Sellersville Theater, which is historic and has great sound, though it's a little fancy for folk music; the second at the now-defunct Bryn Mawr venue The Point, which was pretty much the perfect place for this type of show.
At the time, Rush was giving away about half a dozen free tracks on his website. He no longer does this, instead opting for one a month plus a digital music web store. One of the best free tracks that did not make its way to the web store was an excellent demo of No Regrets. I have appended it to this post. I hope you enjoy it.
Tom Rush - No Regrets (early version)
Of those originals, perhaps none is better than "No Regrets," perhaps one of the kinder breakup songs ever written. It was a minor hit when it was issued on 1968's The Circle Game (titled after one of his great Joni Mitchell covers). That version is a little schmaltzy, with string arrangements that distract from its power. My father told me repeatedly that the song had to be heard live, with just Rush's voice and guitar. I finally got that chance twice in 2004: the first at the Sellersville Theater, which is historic and has great sound, though it's a little fancy for folk music; the second at the now-defunct Bryn Mawr venue The Point, which was pretty much the perfect place for this type of show.
At the time, Rush was giving away about half a dozen free tracks on his website. He no longer does this, instead opting for one a month plus a digital music web store. One of the best free tracks that did not make its way to the web store was an excellent demo of No Regrets. I have appended it to this post. I hope you enjoy it.
Tom Rush - No Regrets (early version)
3.14.2007
Excuses, Excuses
I have been sick and busy. I realize I am doing more apologizing for not posting than actual posting lately, but hopefully we'll be back in the swing of things soon.
3.05.2007
Tides
Keeping with the previous post about Jesu, the sort of metal-slowcore band, here is a post about a hard rock post-rock band. Tides hail from Boston. I first heard them in a pretty random fashion pretty much totally by accident. The story begins with my former roommate Mike, who plays in a hardcore band called Attrition. Even though hardcore is not exactly my scene, I do like the music from time to time, and Mike's a good guy all around, so I would go to his shows in the area when I got a chance.
At one particular show, Attrition were second on a bill of five that was headlined by Good Clean Fun, the posicore legends, if such a term even makes sense. First on that bill was a band called Backstabbers, Inc., who frankly kind of sucked. Maybe they were just having a bad night, who knows, I haven't heard anything by them before or since, but I'm calling them like I see them. Anyway, one of the dudes from that band had at the merch table samplers from his DIY label, TDB (Teenage Disco Bloodbath). I picked one up, as they were free and all. Not the worst sampler I ever owned, but not the best either. Most prominently featured though was an amazing instrumental band called Tides, from Boston. Picture Explosions in the Sky, only really really heavy, and that gets you somewhere in the ballpark. Or better yet, download this:
Tides - Resurface
You can buy their records here. Everything they've put out is pretty cool, particularly the limited edition etched vinyl EP, which I picked up at a show in University City (Phila) last summer. They are touring in late spring. They put on a good (loud!) show, which I recommend checking out. Dates are on their MySpace.
At one particular show, Attrition were second on a bill of five that was headlined by Good Clean Fun, the posicore legends, if such a term even makes sense. First on that bill was a band called Backstabbers, Inc., who frankly kind of sucked. Maybe they were just having a bad night, who knows, I haven't heard anything by them before or since, but I'm calling them like I see them. Anyway, one of the dudes from that band had at the merch table samplers from his DIY label, TDB (Teenage Disco Bloodbath). I picked one up, as they were free and all. Not the worst sampler I ever owned, but not the best either. Most prominently featured though was an amazing instrumental band called Tides, from Boston. Picture Explosions in the Sky, only really really heavy, and that gets you somewhere in the ballpark. Or better yet, download this:
Tides - Resurface
You can buy their records here. Everything they've put out is pretty cool, particularly the limited edition etched vinyl EP, which I picked up at a show in University City (Phila) last summer. They are touring in late spring. They put on a good (loud!) show, which I recommend checking out. Dates are on their MySpace.
3.01.2007
Sorry, Part Deux
I have been very busy and also sick. It has not been conducive to posting. However, since I am not inclined to go out and make other people sick much this weekend, hopefully I will get a post or two up. Thanks for your patience.
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