Kate Rusby — Let Them Fly

I was going to write something here but fuck it. Just listen instead. It’s better that way.

Anna Ternheim - Bow Your Head

Of course it’s a risky thing to go where your music takes you. Anna Ternheim went to record in Nashville and despite that it doesn’t sound like Nashville, I’ve read about people being dismayed. You know, the usual “Why did you turn your back on your loyal fans? Why?!” As if the fans are what decides what directions an artist is supposed to take.

Me, I like the new album. The previous one — Leaving on a Mayday — was better and excellent and I love that one to pieces. But to expect the same thing about the new one would have been silly. It’s a bit more like her first two in tone and texture.

Then again, I abandoned the preconceived notion that country must be bad years ago. Sometimes the songs on The Night Visitor have that same feeling as Greg Edmonson’s Firefly soundtrack. That’s not a bad thing. At all.

Cats Laughing — Black Knight’s Work.

They appeared as themselves in Excalibur #5 as well as the Excalibur: Mojo Mayhem as Kitty Pryde’s favourite band. Obviously mostly drawn without references, the singer Emma Bull is the one most recognisable. This song was written by the late great author John M Ford.

Perhaps posting music can be used as an example that people do learn. There’s more assumed readers now than before but earlier I could have lots of more people who listened to the music — I think some went up to a few hundred. But on the same time, it can also be used as an example that people do not learn. The last time I posted a The Gilmore song it had zero, nought, none listens and here I post another one with It All Gets Buried In the End.

My argument though is that it’s good music and some of you are just plain in the wrong. Learning the wrong behaviour is… lamentable at best and a downright shame when it means good music is ignored. Until you relearn there will be Thea songs.

I haven’t written about today, and there’s been these reasons for it. Self-censorship and I don’t want to be more annoying than I am. There’s too much things I take personally and at the same time I assume — there’s no basis for this — that others do it too and that I disappoint them. I think there’s small amount of paranoia too that springs from abandonment issues, not much really but it’s there (and I don’t want it to but some things are hard to get rid of).

There’s this line in this song, one of many, “I will think of all the ways next time I will try not to let you down / I thought that I’d live long enough / that the light would come shining through” and it feels true you know? Despite that it’s not. First off, I’m not that sure what I’m doing can be called living. And deep down in my mind I’m not sure I do let people down except when I occasionally fuck up. It happens just not as often as I imagine. 

Don’t This Look Like The Dark? It does, but that’s not the whole world. A flash-light would be nice though.

Up the country: I like that it takes the three Americans, two Englishmen and a Welsh from the Waco Brothers in order to make some damn fine drunk tavern music. Of course, I’m partial since two of the members are also in the Mekons — objectively the best fucking band on earth. This might be more down the country than up, but that’s how it is: “the Fox River flows wherever it wants to go / past prefabricated homes, geodesic domes.”

You know that old saying “if you don’t have anything nice to say it’s best not to say anything at all?” I don’t think that’s true in most cases¹, but I do think at times it’s appropriate. Like when writing about music. There are lots and lots of bad music out there but you know what? Everybody know this. Writing about how bad the bad is, it’s the music fan equivalent of Dane Cook. Don’t be Dane Cook. Please. Instead try and spread the good stuff. I honestly think that would make a better difference.

As a kid, and some of you would probably be offended if I said a specific age because to you that’s not a kid, I listened quite a lot on New York punk and hardcore. I don’t do that often now, I’m too restless I guess. I want to discover new music. Anyway, me as kid would have been appalled by what I listen to now. Me as a kid had not the biggest scope of taste, occasionally this meant that I was a moron. Me as a kid would not have liked the Unthanks, me today though, I think their Last is one of the best albums of the year. This song from that album is called Close the Coalhouse Door.

_{1) But on the other hand, if I did believe in “don’t say anything mean” I would never be able to write about myself here. I’m sure some would like that, to have me just focus on inane pictures but fuck you. I need this as therapy.}

William Elliott Whitmore — Not Feeling Any Pain

All the long introspective songs that tend to be the last of almost all of William Whitmore’s albums have been great but I think this one is the best. Not sure, because I do love Porchlight so much it’s almost silly.

Mekons — I Fall Asleep

New album with the Mekons! Ancient & Modern (1911-2011). So far I haven’t heard the drunken harmonica from natural, which is a bit sad because I loved that. But over all, so far, despite the more focused theme it is more diverse than Natural musically — which I suppose is a good thing since some people thought that the songs on that one was a bit too samey. I think they’re nuts though, the only drawback then was that Lu couldn’t bring all his instruments along for the drunken recording out in the woods.

I’m a Mekons’ fanboy and I think more people should listen to them. Many more. Not all the songs on the album are utter fantastic, but some are. And that’s enough for me.

The Fine Arts Showcase adn Theoretical Girl — You knew I was trouble from the start

For whitember who hadn’t heard this collaboration. I have a bit of a hard time listening to The Fine Arts Showcase still, but damn they were good.

For The Mekons, Et Al.

Will Oldham is a fan of the Mekons after all, just like me. But Will doesn’t do things the easy way, so this tribute is twisting and turning and it’s not a straight tribute as such. Instead it is as if he’s tried to write a song the way the Mekons would, and I think he succeeded somewhat — they’re a hard band to mimic.

Listen to the recording of the Mekons Doctors Without Borders gigs in Chicago 2007 where Will and Ted Leo and some others took over for the missing Tom Greenhalgh (his wife was giving birth in London.) Downright brilliant stuff.

But this song is here performed by Unbunny. Don’t know if Jared Del Deo is a the Mekons fan, but that doesn’t really matter does it? It is a lovely rendition anyways.

Hey girl’s name: Chainsaw Kittens — Shannon’s Fellini Movie

I’ve never known someone with the name Shannon, nor have I ever had my own Fellini movie. Deep down, I think both these are failures. Failures of circumstances sure, but still failures. People here don’t have names like Shannon and I’ve never been to Italy so the chances of me getting a Fellini movie has always been rather slim. Especially since he died when I was 15 or so. Never mind that! I still think it’s possible! It might happen! A lost masterpiece dedicated to an awkward Swedish teen with lots of potential to be wasted.

The fingers are, as they say, crossed and deep-fried.

tousledbirdmadgirl:

lepoinconneurdeslilas:

Tom Waits ~ Bad As Me

Currently choreographing this song. Because, really, how could I not?

October can’t come fast enough! (Both new Tom Waits album and seeing PJ Harvey live.)

Air guitar god: this is added to a growing list of things I’m not. Air guitar gods take those notes and bend them, me? I strum even with air guitars, and I try to get the right chords with my left hand.  Impressive? No, but damnit, it’s the right way. Just try it to Billy Bragg’s A New England.

1996 was the year Patti Smith returned, when  R.E.M. did their last good album and Unbunny released their first. It was also the year I graduated from gymnasiet, turned 19, and became loathed in the local parts of the business I’ve spent three years in school for. (Printing press operator!)

I had a summer job at Ljungby Grafiska and later in the autumn I jumped in whenever they needed to. One day I was really sick, high fever and all. No way I could drive in and operate machinery, I told them this and they seemed to accept this. It was also the last time I heard from them directly. In 1997 I bumped into one of the people who studied the same things but in a younger class. I got spat on and called a traitor. It was odd and I was as you might imagine very perplexed and asked why. Apparently, being sick is a crime against the community.

The joys of an industrial small town filled to the brim with pettiness… I swear, had this been in the US it would have been trailer park county.

(Beth Orton — Live as You Dream from the 1996 album Trailer Park.)