MVI_1139 Mekons 07 OCT 2011 Bell House Orpheus.AVI (by SinistreUSA)
Orpheus! Live! What I’d give to have been there. (Random thoughts while watching: Lu on the far right looks damn cool no matter what he does — see clips of him with PiL, he’s the punky odd one — and Tommy channeling John Waters is damn funny.)
I’ve considered moving to the US or UK only to be able to see them live.
Source: youtube.com
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.
WXPN: Free At Noon: the Mekons
Hear a concert live Friday at 12noon ET from WXPN and NPR Music
Broadcast live Fridays from the stage at World Cafe LiveListen to the Concert Live Friday on the Radio and Online at XPN.org/listen.
Wrapping up a list of tour dates in the Midwest and Eastern US, the Mekons will be visiting World Cafe. Come see one of the longest-running, and still rocking, bands in the history of punk at XPN’s Live Friday on October 7. It’s free and it’s undoubtedly the best way to start your weekend.
So now you know what to do in an hour and a half. (Right?)
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.”
Bert Jansch — The Waggoner’s Lad.
Bert Jansch died today, aged 67. This is a bit of a shock. I saw him play in July.
Oh crap. I loved his guitar and had hoped to have seen him live some day. What a horrible day this is.
Kate Bush — Cloudbusting.
Pretty music.
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.
This is called Magnolia Drugs. It’s something I wrote in a New York apartment that only came equipped with a four-string guitar. I actually didn’t finish the song in the city though. It came into form, one day back home. I usually sing the end portion a bit differently, but ya know, the camera makes me shy I guess.
Listening to this made me realise that I need you in my mp3-player. There’s a slight space problem, I know, and there’s hardly any furniture but I think we could work around that.
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.
Nick Cave: Fire Down Below (by wolfgpunkt)
I’m on a boat: yeah, so here’s a sea-shanty to lull you into nightmares.
Source: youtube.com
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.
Sierra Hull - Tell Me Tomorrow (by rounderrecords)
God damnit Matt, why haven’t you mentioned Sierra Hull earlier?!
Source: youtube.com
