For The Sake Of The Song

Grab this bag!

2008-02-22T22:43:00.007+01:00

Friday means grab bag time in this neck of the woods. So here we go again with six great songs that caught my ear this week. Got some early punk, some pubrock, and some neo-country from Nashville. Also there´s room for roots reggae, an oldie from the Mountain Goats and Mr. Johnny Cash... What else could you possibly need?

Let´s start with Richard Hell & The Voidoids. Hell was one of the visionaries of New York´s CBGB´s scene. He played in the first line-ups of the Heartbreakers and Television, invented the ripped t-shirt look along the way and made a name for himself with the classic album Blank Generation. "And when I want to write a song that says it all at once..." That´s the late great Robert Quine on guitar btw. You can find it on the Time compilation (Matador records).

Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Time MP3

Here´s a brand new song for you. Spiritual Family Reunion have just released an album called Goodbye Ceremony on Tract Records, a label to watch. They operate out of Nashville, have former Calexico and Silver Jews members among them, and I think Coral Reef sounds mighty fine.

Spiritual Family Reunion - Coral Reef MP3

I´ve been a fan of the Mountain Goats ever since they released Beautiful Rat Sunset way back when on the wonderful Shrimper label. For my money head-Goat John Darnielle is among the most original songwriters working today. The new album Heretic Pride hasn´t reached me yet, so we´ll make do with an oldie. There Will Always Be An Ireland is from the Jack & Faye ep, which never came out as the label that was supposed to release it went belly-up just a little too soon. Shame.

Mountain Goats - There Will Always be An Ireland MP3

Roots reggae time. Max Romeo is best known for his Lee Perry produced War In A Babylon album, but he released many more amazing sides in the seventies. Check out Valley Of Jehosaphat/Version for example, from the excellent compilation Open The Iron Gate (Blood & Fire). Red hot indeed.

Max Romeo - Valley Of Jehosaphat/Version MP3

Dr. Feelgood was the archetypical pubrock band. They set any venue on fire in ten minutes flat with their no-nonsense mentality. Milk and alcohol: a great diet. You can find it on the Singles - The U.A. Years compilation. This one´s dedicated to my brother in law by the way, who has seen them live more times than I´d like to count.

Dr. Feelgood - Milk And Alcohol MP3

And last but not least here´s Mr. Johnny Cash. Need I say more? "For on the wall there appeared a hand..." He´s best when biblical. From the extremely nicely priced but excellent 3 cd box Walking The Line, The Legendary Sun Recordings (Union Square).

Johnny Cash - Belshazzar MP3

A Sailor´s Life...

2009-12-04T21:15:00.007+01:00

...it is a merry life. That fado about Portuguese sailors in the post below made me think of other songs about that romantic but slowly disappearing profession. So while it seems that everybody else is busy blogging Christmas ditties (I won´t, promise...) here´s a six pack of delicious sailor songs for you. All hands on deck, lift the anchor, and hoist the main sail. The Titanic sails at dawn.

The alternative bluegrass trio Bad Livers tells all about Pee Pee The Sailor, in a hilarious Butthole Surfers cover. Anyone got the original btw? Never could track it down. Sandy Denny shines in Fairport Convention´s beautiful lament A Sailor´s Life, and master picker Leo Kottke finds a sailor´s grave in the strangest of places.

The Detroit Cobras do the marinero rock, while Tim Buckley goes way out there with some stellar vocal improvisation on Starsailor. Bob Dylan, in a rare live performance from ´92, relates of a female sailor. "In her jacket blue and trousers white, just like a sailor neat and tight, the sea, it was the heart's delight, of the female rambling sailor..." Heave ho!

Bad Livers - The Adventures Of Pee Pee The Sailor MP3

Fairport Convention - A Sailor´s Life MP3

Leo Kottke - The Sailor´s Grave On The Prairie MP3

Detroit Cobras - Hey Sailor MP3

Tim Buckley - Starsailor MP3

Bob Dylan - Female Rambling Sailor (live in Perth ´92) MP3

Affectionate Tides

2009-12-02T11:58:00.015+01:00

Time for something a little different now: the fado of Portugal. Beautiful, timeless music. The special kind of sadness (a.k.a. saudade) that´s inherent to the genre never fails to move me, especially when Amália Rodrigues is behind the microphone. Amália (1920-1999) was the undisputed queen of fado, or in Portuguese, rainha do fado. An amazing singer, she laid down the rules that modern fadistas still respect today.

Here´s a selection of some of her best songs, including my personal favorite: the rather upbeat yet still vaguely melancholic Fado Marujo. For those who´ve never been to beautiful, ramshackle Lisbon: the Madragoa, Bairro Alto and Alfama mentioned in the lyrics are old city quarters.

"Chega a Lisboa, salta do barco num salto,
Vai parar à Madragoa ou então ao Bairro Alto,
Entra em Alfama e faz de Alfama o convés,
Há sempre um Vasco Da Gama num marujo Português...

(...)

Sempre que passa um marujo português,
Passa o mar numa ameaça de carinhosas marés..."

Which roughly translates as:

"He arrives in Lisbon, hits the quay in one jump,
He´ll end up in Madragoa or later in the Bairro Alto,
Goes to the Alfama and pretends the Alfama is his ship´s deck,

There´s a Vasco Da Gama in every Portuguese sailor...

(...)

Every time a Portuguese sailor passes by,

the sea passes with a threat of affectionate tides..."

Amália Rodrigues - Fado Marujo MP3

Amália Rodrigues - Coimbra MP3

Amália Rodrigues - Fado Malhoa MP3

Amália Rodrigues - Céu Da Minha Rua MP3

Amália Rodrigues - Fado De Adica MP3

Classy

2009-12-01T00:00:00.007+01:00

To celebrate my beloved Barça’s´s impressive 1-0 win in yet another steaming edition of El Classico last night, I proudly present... the cool ruler. Here´s to Puyol, Valdez, Ibra and the rest of the squad. "Extra classic that´s what you are..."

Gregory Isaacs - Extra Classic MP3

Gregory Isaacs - Classy Dub MP3

Sun Shines Down On Carlisle Wall

2009-11-28T21:12:00.011+01:00

It´s no big step from Joanna Newsom to Alasdair Roberts. They´re labelmates on Drag City, pals with and championed by Bonnie Will Oldham and they both operate in what some people call the freakfolk genre. The former Appendix Out vocalist is a lot less freaky than Newsom though, preferring a more traditional approach to folk. And that´s cool, too.

On my fave album of his for instance, the Scotsman shows a lot of reverence for ye olde ballads he takes on. Following in the footsteps of Shirley Collins, Planxty and Nic ´Penguin Eggs´ Jones, there´s not a trace of postmodern irony here. Tastefully and sparsely instrumentated in a no-frills Oldham production, No Earthly Man simply sounds pure and timeless. For proof, listen to the beautiful infanticide ballad The Cruel Mother, starring Isobel Campbell on cello and John McCusker on fiddle amongst others. "And the lion shall be lord of all..."

Alasdair Roberts - The Cruel Mother MP3

Better Late Than Never

2009-11-24T18:04:00.007+01:00

"There's a bell in my ears,
There's a wide white roar,
Drop a bell down the stairs,
Hear it fall forevermore..."

The coin suddenly dropped. People had been telling me for ages I´d love Joanna Newsom´s Ys album, but I never quite got it. And I honestly don´t know why, but yesterday night I easily connected the dots from Memphis Minnie to Billie Holiday to Karen Dalton to Sandy Denny to Patti Smith to Lydia Lunch to... Joanna Newsom, and it all made sense somehow.

"Then I hear a noise from the hull,
Seven days out to sea,
And it is the damnable bell!
And it tolls - well, I believe, that it tolls - it tolls for me!
And it tolls for me!"

Joanna Newsom - Sawdust & Diamonds MP3

Back (More Or Less)

2010-01-03T20:41:00.006+01:00

And wishing you a prosperous and inspired 2010, dear readers. Just a short post to start the new year, as I just got back from a short but very sweet trip to the weird and wonderful country that is India, and it kinda feels like my mind is still lingering somewhere on the Bay of Bengal coast. Fear not though, as business as usual will be resumed real soon. And as I managed to score a new album by Ghulam Ali there, one of his beautiful songs will of course be today´s soundtrack.

Ghulam Ali - Jiska Koi Nahin Hota MP3

On Donner, On Blitzen...

2009-12-23T19:51:00.004+01:00

...but never on smack. I usually avoid christmas songs like the plague, but I´ll make an exception for Martin Mull. "That´s right boys and girls, Santa Claus turns on in his own way..." This whacky ditty stems from Cough Syrup For Elvis Impersonators, a hilarious compilation in the Wavy Gravy vein. Hard to find, but well worth it.

Merry Xmas and a happy new year, readers. I´m off to sunny India tomorrow. Can taste them hot curries and cold Kingfishers already. Back in 2010, with lots of goodies.

Martin Mull - Santa Doesn´t Cop Out On Dope MP3

There Were Moments When

2009-12-21T20:27:00.012+01:00

The past...

"Past... well now, let me tell you about the past,
The past is filled with silent joys and broken toys,
Laughing girls and teasing boys,
Was I ever in love? I called it love... I mean, it felt like love,
There were moments when, well, there were moments when..."

This is such an amazing, weird song... In 2 minutes and 44 seconds the writers trio of Jerry Leiber, Arty Butler and Shangri-Las discoverer/producer Shadow Morton manages to conjure up a mysterious mini-opera in three parts. The song´s clever arrangement winks at classical music, setting the perfect scene for leadsinger Mary Weiss´s close-to-tears, spooky spoken vocals, which alternate from the - almost - resigned to the downright desperate.

Present...

"Go out with you? Why not...
Do I like to dance? Of course...
Take a walk along the beach tonight? I'd love to,
But don't try to touch me, don't try to touch me,
Cause that will never happen again...
Shall we dance?"

What´s going on here? Just when you thought this was just another song about a past romance gone wrong, the ´don´t try to touch me´ line hints at something darker, something far worse and traumatic. Rape maybe? And that´s probably one reason why the Shangri-Las, undisputed queens of melodrama, never scored a big hit with this ´66 masterpiece, as they did before with predecessors like Leader Of The Pack and Give Him A Great Big Kiss.

The future...

"Tomorrow? Well, tomorrow´s a long way off...
Maybe someday I'll have somebody's hand,
Maybe somewhere someone will understand,
You know, I used to sing - a tisket a tasket a green and yellow basket,
I'm all packed up and I'm on my way and I'm gonna fall in love,
But at the moment it doesn't look good,
At the moment it will never happen again...
I don't think it will ever happen again..."

Phew.

The Shangri-Las - Past, Present And Future MP3

Funtown

2009-11-22T20:34:00.010+01:00

To paraphrase Steve Earle´s famous remark on Townes Van Zandt: Will Oldham aka Bonnie Prince Billy is one of the greatest modern-day musicians around, and I´ll stand on Beck´s coffee table in my Onitsuka Tigers and say that. But hey, he´ll probably agree.

Anyway: Bonnie Prince Billy will soon release his second album of the year, and that´s great news. Entitled Funtown Comedown, and available on vinyl and as a download only, it´ll feature a mix of Bonnie classics and covers performed live with Louisville locals The Picket Line. So you´d better hoof it pronto to these fine folks over at Drag City, one of my fave record labels for well over a decade now, as they´ve got an exclusive track not on the album available for free download. You´ll be amazed by the remarkably loose and upbeat sound I guess. Very promising.

While we´re waiting, here are some fun guest appearances of the prolific lion of Louisville. Covering a Buck Owens tune with Susanna, building bridges with Angie Hart, hiphopping with Sage Francis, going ambient in Iceland with Valgeir Sigurðsson, doing the lofi with the Sundowners, or comforting Scout Niblett: it´s all good.

Bonnie Prince Billy & Susanna - (I´ll Love You) Forever And Ever MP3

Angie Hart - Little Bridges MP3

Sage Francis - Sea Lion MP3

Valgeir Sigurðsson - Evolution Of Waters MP3

Sundowners - Turkey Vulture MP3

Scout Niblett - Comfort You MP3

One Bird, Two Lists

2009-12-15T21:51:00.014+01:00

If Americana, alt-country or whatever you may call it is your thing, do head over to the Bird List, where thirty of the ´web´s leading aficionados of twanglike music´ picked the best albums of the year. I participated as well, but my list didn´t make much of an impact on the final outcome I guess. Oh well. Maybe I´m just not twang enough.

For the record, here´s my personal top 15 of 2009 as submitted to the Bird List´s totally cool politburo. On the whole, I wasn´t too impressed with what I heard this year to be honest. Quite a few great songs, but not too many consistently great albums. Cool with me though, as that gave me the time to discover tons of amazing older stuff to keep me busy. More about that in a later post.

For The Sake Of The Song´s fave albums of 2009:

1. Mountain Goats - The Life Of The World To Come
2. Bonnie Prince Billy & The Picket Line - Funtown Comedown
3. Bob Dylan- Together Through Life
4. Son Volt - American Central Dust
5. Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit - s/t
6. Molina & Johnson - s/t
7. Espers - III
8. Port O´Brien - Threadbare
9. King Creosote - Flick The Vs
10. Drive-By Truckers - The Fine Print
11. Iron & Wine - Around The Well
12. Simon Joyner - Out Into The Snow
13. Bowerbirds - Upper Air
14. The Western States - Bye And Bye
15. Magnolia Electric Co - Josephine

Which brings us to the moment you´ve all been waiting for: today´s soundtrack, featuring a few choice cuts from my personal hitlist.

Mountain Goats - Psalms 40:2 MP3

Molina & Johnson - Twenty Cycles To The Ground MP3

Espers - Caroline MP3

Drive-By Truckers - George Jones Talkin´ Cell Phone Blues MP3

The Western States - The Water Remembers My Face MP3

Ramblin´ Bonny

2009-12-19T14:45:00.014+01:00

"My hat don't hang on the same nail too long,
My ears can't stand to hear the same old song..."

Now we´re talking. After the somewhat lackluster crooning of Beware, Will Oldham returns to form in the dying days of 2009 with a mighty fine live registration. Funtown Comedown (vinyl and download only for some reason) is credited to Bonny - with an y this time around - Billy & The Picket Line, and features the lovely Cheyenne Mize on shared vocals. The Picket Line is a bluegrass band from Oldham´s hometown, whose loose and ramshackle sound brings out the best in the Louisville Lion.

Funtown Comedown features delightful new takes of some old Palace and Bonnie Prince Billy classics like Ohio River Boat Song and a wonderful The Glory Goes/Wolf Among Wolves medley, plus fun covers of songs by Ralph Stanley and Merle Haggard. Now I don´t know what attracted Oldham to Haggard´s Ramblin´ Fever in the first place, as the original is pretty much Hag by numbers, and features a rather corny sax to boot. But when the Picket Line gets a groove going and Billy starts whoopin´ it up, it suddenly makes sense.

"Ramblin' fever, the kind that can't be measured by degrees,
Ramblin' fever, there ain't no kind of cure for my disease..."

Bonny Billy & The Picket Line - Rambling Fever MP3

Merle Haggard - Ramblin´ Fever MP3

I Can Hardly See In Front Of Me

2009-11-19T17:22:00.004+01:00

The pure beauty of Robert Wyatt´s wavering tenor taking on Chic´s At Last I Am Free is something to behold. Can I get a witness? I´d sure like to testify.

Robert Wyatt - At Last I Am Free MP3

Ghulam´s Ghazals

2009-12-17T14:29:00.008+01:00

When I was in India for the first time, which seems like ages ago, I just had to find me some Indian and Pakistani sounds. Basically raised on Dylan, the Stones and punk rock, I didn´t know anything about that kind of music back then, and hadn´t even heard of giants like Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, The Sabri Brothers or Lata Mangeshkar yet. Someone back home had told me though that ghazals would probably appeal to me. No sitar doodlings going on for ages, but actual songs - poems set to music really - accompanied by traditional Indian instruments such as tabla, sarod and harmonium. And featuring great vocalists to boot. Needless to say, that sure got me curious.

At a cassette stand somewhere in the centre of New Delhi I asked the guy behind the counter what he could recommend and he immediately came up with a tape of Ghulam Ali. This what was I was looking for, no doubt about it. So I bought it of course. Cost me about a dollar, loved it ever since. Play loud, to dig that wonderful, deep, ´underwater´ tabla drum sound.

I´ll soon be back in India for a week, escaping a Christmas at home, and will surely go on another musical shopping expedition one afternoon. Here´s hoping I´ll bring some new exotic treasure home with me. Watch this space.

Ghulam Ali - Hum Tere Shahar Mein Aaye Hain MP3

Ghulam Ali - Kachi Deewar Hoon Thokar Na Lagana MP3

Keep On Dubbing

2009-11-17T17:40:00.010+01:00

Dread at the controls taking over... High time to dub it to the top here a bit. One of my fave musical genres, dub basically means stripped-down, instrumental versions of regular reggae songs. Featuring heavy, heavy bass, snippets of vocals, and tons of added sound effects. From echo, tape delay and reverb to animal sounds, ringing telephones, crying babies, gunfire and blaring sirens... Everything goes really, just as long as it pleases Jah.

The legendary Osbourne Ruddock alias King Tubby remains the undisputed master of dub, but other producers such as Lee "Scratch" Perry, Joe Gibbs, Erroll Brown, Herman Chin Loy and Keith Hudson - to name but a few - mixed some mean ones too in their time. And the realization that all these amazing tracks were made with rather limited means, as Jamaican studios didn´t exactly feature state of the art equipment, makes their soundboard wizardry all the more impressive.

The players vary, but often feature reggae revolutionaries Sly Dunbar on drums and Robbie Shakespeare on bass. Without further ado, here´s a well charged dub ten pack for all you brethren out there. No recent stuff here mind, all strickly roots, ´cause that´s the way I like it. Seen?

Herman Chin Loy - Jah Jah Dub MP3

King Tubby - Satta Dread Dub MP3

Augustus Pablo - Keep On Dubbing MP3

Aggrovators - Rockers Almighty Dub MP3

Upsetters - Black Panta MP3

The Revolutionaries - M.P.L.A. MP3

Joe Gibbs & The Professionals - Freedom Call MP3

Vital Dub - Roof Top Dub MP3

Keith Hudson - Black Right MP3

Scientist - Babylon Fight Dub MP3

Nothing About Nothing

2009-12-14T16:07:00.008+01:00

"San Francisco´s fine.
You sure get lots of sun...
But I'm used to four seasons,
California's got but one."

Sometimes pleasant surprises come from an unexpected source. NCIS is some American tv series I´ve never heard of, but the freshly released soundtrack - NCIS: The Official TV Soundtrack Vol. 2. - brings us a brand new old Dylan song: California.

California´s more or less a blueprint for what would eventually become Outlaw Blues, and was recorded at the sessions for Dylan´s landmark album Bringing It All Back Home in January ´65. The song was in circulation among collectors already, and although I´m not completely sure I guess this is a cleaned-up version thereof.

Anyway, it´s always nice to have one more Dylan song to listen to, but California hardly is Bob´s holy grail. Back then, at the top of his game, he could write a song like this in his sleep. Makes sense that he traded it in for the far superior Outlaw Blues, keeping only the closing verse:

"I´ve got my dark sunglasses

And for good luck I´ve got my black tooth,

Don't ask me nothin' about nothin',

I just might tell you the truth..."

Bob Dylan - California MP3

Bob Dylan - Outlaw Blues MP3

I Know He Let You In

2009-11-15T20:12:00.006+01:00

"I was sitting around the other day, tapping my feet,

A publication came to my door, said you´d died and gone to sleep...

But I couldn´t shed a tear I never knew you well..."

A moving elegy from Minutemen successors fIREHOSE on the death of blues singer extraordinaire Elizabeth Cotten. Haven´t a clue why Mike Watt & co spelled her name wrong btw. Anyone?

"...But I´m missing you just the same,

Libba please rest easy down on Chestnut Street..."

fIREHOSE - In Memory Of Elizabeth Cotton MP3

And then there´s the object of their admiration herself: Elizabeth ´Libba´ Cotten (1895-1987). Lefthanded and self-taught, she held her guitar upside down, playing the bass lines with her fingers and the melody with her thumb: the Cotten picking technique.

"When I die Lord bury me deep,

Way down on old Chestnut Street,

So I can hear old Number 9 as she comes rolling by..."

Elizabeth Cotten - Freight Train MP3

Ghost Ships

2009-12-12T10:30:00.008+01:00

"Ghost ships are sailing on empty seas, the light in the darkness don´t shine on me..." As an addendum to last Thursday´s post, here´s another - and in my eyes even better - version of the Saints track Ghosts Ships. Found on Saints vocalist Chris Bailey´s first solo effort Casablanca (´83), and with a beautiful semi-acoustic guitar sound, it´s the same song under a different title: Wait Till Tomorrow. "So wait until tomorrow and we will see, I don't know about tomorrow..."

Chris Bailey - Wait Till Tomorrow MP3

And as a bonus, here are a couple more tracks from that slightly overlooked and long out of print album. Bailey trivia fact: although everybody thinks of him as a full-blooded Aussie, he was in fact born in Kenya and carries an Irish passport.

Chris Bailey - It´s Only Time MP3

Chris Bailey - Home Again MP3

Ok ok, here are some classic Saints tracks as well... No Time comes from their punky debut (I´m) Stranded, while Know Your Product (check out them horns) stems from follow-up Eternally Yours, and Temple Of The Lord from All Fool´s Day. "Drag out your chains, let's all be citizen Kane's, and go dance on the edge of disaster..."

The Saints - No Time MP3

The Saints - Know Your Product MP3

The Saints - Temple Of The Lord MP3

Ship Comes In

2009-12-10T17:10:00.005+01:00

"A song will lift as the mainsail shifts...". As the final part of a triptych about the sea, here´s a sixpack about ships. Again, picking only half a dozen songs wasn´t easy, but here goes.

Chris Bailey and his Saints were once known as a first generation punk band, but these Aussies were a great white soul combo all along of course. The blistering Ghost Ships is further proof of that theory. Meanwhile, John Cale gives new life to the old allegory of the Ship Of Fools. Find it on Fear, one of his stellar seventies albums.

Asakawa Maki is a Japanese artist I know nothing about really, but her jazzy Shipwreck Blues goes down a treat. As for David Ackles, he´s unjustly forgotten. Ballad Of The Ship Of State comes from his ´72 masterpiece American Gothic. "Is the ship going home? Will you take some old young men for crew?"

Tyler Ramsey´s contribution was part of last year´s impressive debut A Long Dream About Swimming Across The Sea. Hey Tyler, how about a follow-up dude? And for a closer, there´s Dylan´s majestic When The Ship Comes In. This piano-driven version stems from The Bootleg Series 1-3 treasure trove. "And the sun will respect every face on the deck... the hour that the ship comes in."

The Saints - Ghost Ships MP3

John Cale - Ship Of Fools MP3

Asakawa Maki - Shipwreck Blues MP3

David Ackles - Ballad Of The Ship Of State MP3

Tyler Ramsey - Ships MP3

Bob Dylan - When The Ship Comes In

Insurrection And Sex

2009-11-12T14:58:00.007+01:00

Confidential 1-A: Director´s Eyes Only. Speaking: Director Hoover, Special Agent Dwight C. Holly.

JEH: Good morning, Dwight.

DH: Good morning, Sir.

JEH: Before you ask, the answer is yes. Expedite Operation Baaaad Brother in the manner you described in you memo.

DH: Thank you, Sir.

JEH: The title possesses a sublime jungle quality. As in "That brother John Edgar Hoover, he baaad."

DH: You are baaad, Sir. And I might add "inimitably so."

JEH: You might, and you should. And, on the topic of jungle artistry, I heard a very disquieting song on the radio this morning.

DH: Yes, Sir.

JEH: It was called "The Tighten Up". A negro ensemble named Archie Bell and the Drells performed it. The song carried the air of insurrection and sex. I´m sure white liberals will find it authentic. I told the Los Angeles SAC to open a file on Mr. Bell and to determine the identity of his Drells.

DH: Yes, Sir.

From the new James Ellroy book I just can´t put down. Blood´s A Rover indeed.

Archie Bell & The Drells - Tighten Up MP3

Songs Of The Sea

2009-12-07T11:33:00.005+01:00

"Bring me song of the sea... sing me a song of the sea." After a sailor´s theme, a six pack of songs about the sea is so obvious I almost opted out in the end. But as there are simply too many great songs inspired by the briny, I had no choice really. Selecting six beauties out of a truckload of candidates was hard enough. Here´s the ones that made the cut.

Robert Wyatt´s contribution stems from his terrific Rock Bottom album. "You look different every time you come from the foam-crested brine, it's your skin shining softly in the moonlight... partly fish, partly porpoise, partly baby sperm whale..." Great stuff. Postrockers avant la lettre Codeine succeed in matching the rhythm of the waves, while freakfolkers Tunng are stuck in the big city, transistor radio buzzing, longing for the sea.

Iggy finds himself in the service of the bourgeoisie and threatens to jump into The Endless Sea. A gem from New Values, his last really good album. The protagonist of the Hüskers´ classic punk opera Zen Arcade finds himself at a desolate shore. "The waves kept on repeating, each one crashing to the shore, and my footprints nowhere leading, as they disappeared once more..."

And last but not least here´s Sandy Denny again, this time making an appearance with the great Fotheringay. "Sea flows under your doors in London town, and all your defences are all broken down... you laugh at me on funny days, but mine's the slight of hand... don't you know I am a joker, a deceiver? And I'm waiting for the land."

Robert Wyatt - Sea Song MP3

Codeine - Sea MP3

Tunng - Song Of The Sea MP3

Iggy Pop - The Endless Sea MP3

Hüsker Dü - Standing By The Sea MP3

Fotheringay - The Sea MP3

Wavy Gravy

2009-11-07T14:29:00.009+01:00

If wild novelty songs from the fifties and early sixties are your thing, the Wavy Gravy series is the one to get. The two volumes (For Adult Enthusiasts and Four Hairy Policemen) contain a truckload of hilarious rockabilly and country ditties, interspersed with weird radio ads for obscure B movies. The joke tends to wear rather thin when you spin this stuff too often, but for the first couple of plays it´s a real hoot. All together now: "I started using L.S.D., it gave me quite a kick, better than booze and easy to use, but it made me mentally sick..."

Selvyn Cox - His Name Is Jesus MP3

Wendell Austin - L.S.D. MP3

The Leather Boy - On The Go MP3

Ding & Bat - Hearse On A Surfari MP3

We´re Comin´ To Get You

2009-11-10T22:16:00.006+01:00

As a rule, I´m not much of a Zappa fan. Too many virtuoso guitar solos for my liking, too much of that pseudo neo-classical Edgar Varèse stuff. And although humor certainly belongs in music, Frank can often make you overdose. Sometimes you can´t help but love the guy though. Cue Flakes, from his ´79 album Sheik Yerbouti. Its vivid description of Union-protected ´handymen´ out to get you never fails to bring a smile to my face.

"All what we got here is American made,
It's a little bit cheesy but it's nicely displayed,
Well we don't get excited when it crumbles 'n' breaks,
We just get on the phone and call up some flakes,
They rush on over and wreck it some more,
And we are so dumb they're linin' up at our door..."

Everytime there´s somebody over at our place to fix the telephone line or the plumbing, I´m away humming this tune within seconds. "You can stab 'n' shoot 'n' spit, but they won't be fixin' it..."

Bonus points go to guitarist Adrian Belew for his really funny Dylan persiflage, harp and all. Take it away, Bob...

"I asked as nice as I could,
If my job would somehow be finished by Friday...
Well, the whole damn weekend came and went, Frankie,
And they didn't do nothin',

But they charged me double for Sunday..."

Frank Zappa - Flakes MP3

Lift Us Up

2009-11-05T21:01:00.006+01:00

"People don't you wonder,
how the lord has brought you under...
And demons lied I´m dreaming,
to the nakedness I´m scheming..."

Thanks to the power of iPod shuffle, I realised only yesterday night what a great song this actually is. I bought the fine Superwolf album - a collaboration with guitarist Matt Sweeney - when it came out a couple of years back, but this particular track never really jumped out to me until now. A sparse arrangement that´s just right, in comes Billy with a remarkably solemn vocal, and then the unsuspected hornyness of "and when I wrap around you, ain´t it wonderful I found you..."

"Oh and I...
Lift us up...
Lift us up...
Lift us up."

Bonnie Prince Billy - Lift Us Up MP3

As a bonus track, here´s a song from a brand new release by British folk musician Brian Harnetty called Silent City. Our Billy contributed vocals to a couple of songs, and with great results. Ambient folk for the now generation, or something like that.

Brian Harnetty feat. Bonnie Prince Billy - Sleeping In The Driveway MP3

Roky´s Ghosts

2009-10-31T09:54:00.006+01:00

If you have ghosts, you have everything... Halloween never interested me all that much, but it´s everywhere these days, so what can a poor boy do? Compile a halloween-themed Roky Erickson six pack for ya I guess...

So here goes. Featuring a zombie, a creature, some demons and ghosts, and last but not least a two-headed dog. "Winds quiet in the night, her body just blows messiah, sickening sweet sight left and right... is all right does not please my appetite..."

Right on Roky, right on.

Roky Erickson & The Aliens - I Walked With A Zombie MP3

Roky Erickson & The Aliens - I Think Of Demons MP3

Roky Erickson - If You Have Ghosts MP3

Roky Erickson - Creature With The Atom Brain MP3

Roky Erickson & The Aliens - Red Temple Prayer (Two Headed Dog) MP3

Roky Erickson & The Aliens - Stand For The Fire Demon MP3