Wild Weekend Vol. 11

Edition number 11 of Wild Weekend is upon us. If you go for that sort of thing, eleven is a master number in astrology and numerology, signifying invention, refinement, fulfillment, vision and congruency. And believe it or not, this probably rings true for the whole sixpack of songs my iPod shuffle queued up for you today. As a Kashmiri proverb states: one and one are sometimes eleven. Chew on that for a sec.

For starters, here´s David Crosby. He of the characteristic drooping ´stache. Founding member of the Byrds and Crosby Stills Nash & Young. Dopefiend supreme. His ´71 solo album If I Could Only Remember My Name is rightly seen as a minor classic. Cowboy Movie is a cool rocking epic that reminds one of Crazy Horse. "And Eli said let's take her back to the cabin, I said you don't know, she might be the law, yeah..." Phosphorescent is slowly but surely becoming a household name in Americana circles. This one-man band improves by the album, and I predict that the new Here´s To Taking It Easy will end up in many an end of year list. But the talents of Matthew Houck were already apparent on the a tad uneven debut A Hundred Times Or More (´03), as the gripping dirge Salt & Blues shows.

David Crosby - Cowboy Movie MP3

Phosphorescent - Salt & Blues MP3

Jamaican producer Winston ´Niney´ Holness got his nickname after he lost a thumb in an workshop accident. But with only nine digits left he could still twist the knobs of a mixing board better than most of his contemporaries. Blood And Fire is such a classic roots track that one of the best reggae reissue labels named itself after it. Let it burn. Lydia Lunch was the undisputed queen of the New York underground in the late seventies. Her ´79 album Queen Of Siam was remarkably accessible for her no wave standards. "If this is the real thing there´s just no need to fake..." Lydia´s rumoured to live in Barcelona now, but so far I haven´t seen her around. I´ll keep you posted about future sightings.

Niney The Observer - Blood And Fire MP3

Lydia Lunch - Lady Scarface MP3

And yet another one-man band performer up next. In addition to 12 string guitar, kazoo, harmonica and hi-hat, Jesse Fuller played the fotdella, a foot-operated percussion bass of his own invention. A wonderfully strange contraption, it helped to make San Francisco Bay Blues into a timeless gem. And for dessert, there´s Lowell George, who´s got my heart on permanent loan. From his only effort away from Little Feat, Cheek To Cheek is a Mexican flavored ode to the lovely Chiquitita from Rosarita. "Yo soy amoroso... what could be wrong with the hombre who sings so slow, from up in Californio..."

Jesse Fuller - San Francisco Bay Blues MP3

Lowell George - Cheek To Cheek MP3

Fever pitch Grab Bag

Welcome to Grab Bag, that weekly roundup of songs that got a lot of airplay here over the past week. And what have we got for you this fine Friday night? Tom Waits of course, as I´ve got my tix for his July concert in Barcelona, plus a great Waits cover by the one and only Lydia Lunch. Ole Hank gets some airplay again, just because he´s the undisputed number one in my all time top ten of country artists. Saint Nick makes an appearance with a ship song, while those brilliant freakfolkers called Tunng sing a song of the sea. For all you blues lovers out there we take a look at the magnificent Skip James Today! album. And good news for the footy haters among you: the Speedtwins provide a fitting soundtrack to the upcoming European Championships madness... I probably won´t be posting here as much as I´d like to in the coming week, as we´ve got friends coming over and there´s loads and loads of football matches to be watched. Fever pitch! Bring it on.

They may have been way expensive, but I´m still very excited that I´ve got tickets to see Tom Waits here this July. So let´s celebrate with a great Waits cover by no wave godmother Lydia Lunch. She makes the song her own almost effortlessly, like Tom wrote it especially for her. And those trademark semi-bored vocals crack me up every time. Find it on the tribute album New Coat Of Paint - The Songs Of Tom Waits (Manifesto ´01). "Well this stuff will probably kill you, let's do another line, what you say you meet me down on Heartattack and Vine..." And here´s the goateed master himself, live in Stockholm back in ´99. "See that little Jersey girl in the see-through top, with the peddle pushers sucking on a soda pop, well I bet she's still a virgin but it's only twenty-five 'til nine, you can see a million of 'em on Heartattack and Vine."

Lydia Lunch (featuring Nels Cline) - Heartattack And Vine MP3

Tom Waits - Heartattack And Vine (live in Stockholm 14-7-´99) MP3

Over at the very interesting Star Maker Machine blog, this week´s theme is ´boats´. Check it out, as the ever growing army of contributors has posted a lot of interesting songs with a nautical flavour there. And here´s one more, with a solemn Nick Cave advising you to burn your bridges and let your hair hang down on this impressive single (Mute ´90). Next week´s theme on Starmaker is ´advice´ by the way, featuring songs that tell you what to do, or what not to. Can´t wait what everybody will come up with...

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - The Ship Song MP3

"Bring me a song of the sea, sing me a song of the sea." Let´s stay in the briny for a bit longer with Tunng, purveyors of fine freakfolk since 2005. A gorgeous melody, with just enough electronica and samples to keep things interesting. Everybody even remotely attracted to the genre should buy their debut album This Is... Tunng (Static Caravan ´05) immediately. And as a bonus track, here´s the equally impressive Wolves by Tunng side project The Accidental. Find it on the recently released There Were Wolves (Full Time Hobby ´08).

Tunng - Song Of The Sea MP3

The Accidental - Wolves MP3

Bluestime now. Skip James made his most legendary recordings back in the early thirties. Amazing stuff, but the sound quality is hard to handle for some. That´s no problem with the best album James recorded after his rediscovery by blues scholars in the sixties. Skip James Today! (Vanguard ´65) is one of these records I can listen to almost every day. What a voice! Most tracks find Skip on guitar, like the exquisite Cypress Grove. "I will drink muddy water, I'll sleep in a hollow log, before I stay up here, honey, treated like a dog." But seated behind the piano - as on How Long for instance - the results are just as fine.

Skip James - Cypress Grove MP3

Skip James - How Long MP3

If you haven´t done so already, please submit your votes over at the Setting The Woods On Fire blog. The Motor City cowboy who runs the place is on a blogging hiatus at the moment, but in the meantime he´s desperate to know your favorite country artists. Johnny Cash is currently in the lead, with Hank Williams hot on his heels. Now I love the man in black of course, but I maintain that the title should go the the father of them all: ole Hank. Here´s my all time favorite Hank Williams song, Weary Blues From Waitin´. "Oh sweet mama, please come home..." Sadness incarnate. Find it on 40 Greatest Hits (PolyGram).

Hank Williams - Weary Blues From Waitin´ MP3

Tension mounts here as it´s only three days until Holland takes on Italy, the current champion of the world, in the European Championships. Its´gonna be a tough one, but I´ve got plenty confidence in the lads. Forza Olanda! For those of you who are not into the beautiful game - hey, nobody´s perfect - here´s an anti-footy song for you. All together now: "We... hate... football!" The Speedtwins were one of the first Dutch punk bands around, and this song is actually directed at the Argentinian junta that organised the ´78 World Cup. Find it on the exemplary compilation I´m Sure We´re Gonna Make It (Epitaph ´96, sadly out of print).

Speedtwins - Football Song MP3