tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26009035418390830432024-03-14T01:02:06.045-05:00romantic and square is hip n' awarekenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16285739142620247530noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600903541839083043.post-3718548358828209322009-04-10T13:54:00.004-05:002009-04-10T14:13:12.690-05:00When I cross over, I will shout and sing...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYhaon2scmWK8mf0hD9Uuuzm2VlnA2TFBFqXJuRQFGxBuBKx72VDewGmDn-Iqt78MCxZA_va0vRCJSKxQ4m8_koq12oDGIjFOdZXr6SolGf-RrGcrkW67FQI64KlGaDRF6xyLoDgzyssZa/s1600-h/Easter_Morning.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5323141894632117954" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 310px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYhaon2scmWK8mf0hD9Uuuzm2VlnA2TFBFqXJuRQFGxBuBKx72VDewGmDn-Iqt78MCxZA_va0vRCJSKxQ4m8_koq12oDGIjFOdZXr6SolGf-RrGcrkW67FQI64KlGaDRF6xyLoDgzyssZa/s400/Easter_Morning.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>I will know my Saviour</div><div>By the mark where the nails have been</div><br /><div></div><div><em>By the mark where the nails have been</em></div><div><em>By the sign upon his precious skin</em></div><div><em>I will know my savior when I come to him</em></div><div><em>By the mark where the nails have been</em><br /></div><div> </div><div>A man of riches</div><div>May claim a crown of jewels</div><div>But the king of heaven</div><div>Can be told from the prince of fools</div><br /><div><em>By the mark where the nails have been</em></div><div><em>By the sign upon his precious skin</em></div><div><em>I will know my savior when I come to him</em></div><div><em>By the mark where the nails have been</em></div><br /><div>On Calvary Mountain</div><div>Where they made him suffer so</div><div>All my sin was paid for</div><div>A long, long time ago</div><br /><div><em>By the mark where the nails have been</em></div><div><em>By the sign upon his precious skinI</em></div><div><em>will know my savior when I come to him</em></div><div><em>By the mark where the nails have been<br /></em><br /><strong>By the Mark</strong><br /><em>Gillian Welch</em></div><br /><div><em>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</em></div><br /><div><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7RMOv6fQKS4&hl=" fs="1" width="425" height="344" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></div><br /><div></div><div>From the hands it came down </div><div>From the side it came down </div><div>From the feet it came down </div><div>And ran to the ground </div><br /><div></div><div>Between heaven and hell </div><div>A teardrop fell </div><div>In the deep crimson dew </div><div>The tree of life grew</div><br /><div></div><div><em>And the blood gave life </em></div><div><em>To the branches of the tree </em></div><div><em>And the blood was the price </em></div><div><em>That set the captives free </em></div><div><em>And the numbers that came </em></div><div><em>Through the fire and the flood </em></div><div><em>Clung to the tree </em></div><div><em>And were redeemed by the blood</em></div><br /><div></div><div>From the tree streamed a light </div><div>That started the fight </div><div>'Round the tree grew a vine </div><div>On whose fruit I could dine </div><br /><div>My old friend Lucifer came </div><div>Fought to keep me in chains </div><div>But I saw through the tricks </div><div>Of six-sixty-six</div><br /><div></div><div><em>And the blood gave life </em></div><div><em>To the branches of the tree </em></div><div><em>And the blood was the price </em></div><div><em>That set the captives free </em></div><div><em>And the numbers that came </em></div><div><em>Through the fire and the flood </em></div><div><em>Clung to the tree </em></div><div><em>And were redeemed by the blood</em></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>From his hands it came down </div><div>From his side it came down </div><div>From his feet it came down </div><div> </div><div>And ran to the ground </div><div>And a small inner voice<br />Said "You do have a choice." </div><div>The vine engrafted me </div><div>And I clung to the tree<br /><br /><em>And the blood gave life </em></div><div><em>To the branches of the tree </em></div><div><em>And the blood was the price </em></div><div><em>That set the captives free </em></div><div><em>And the numbers that came </em></div><div><em>Through the fire and the flood </em></div><div><em>Clung to the tree </em></div><div><em>And were redeemed by the blood</em></div><br /><div><br />From the hands it came down </div><div>From the side it came down </div><div>From the feet it came down </div><div>And ran to the ground...<br /><br /><strong>Redemption<br /></strong><em>Johnny Cash</em></div><br /><div><em>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</em></div><br /><div><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/TmKeDs6D-UQ&hl=" fs="1" width="425" height="344" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter...</div>kenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16285739142620247530noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600903541839083043.post-59752220762320687662009-03-18T13:50:00.000-05:002009-03-19T14:24:06.006-05:00In eighteen hundred and forty-six and on March the eighteenth day...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhZ73ONGFofAIO_lGHZb8MLKvhI_X4Lpb0NSZ9sI3_mvAormo218GkfuMaj4L8LfwOulr5ySyZJ2e3_I9JsuNkQc38GYIeOUWupmHgbiCWujS7CbupvlVOq3g7KI6X5YVMggMpYijrgdPT/s1600-h/1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314978258837236722" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 391px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhZ73ONGFofAIO_lGHZb8MLKvhI_X4Lpb0NSZ9sI3_mvAormo218GkfuMaj4L8LfwOulr5ySyZJ2e3_I9JsuNkQc38GYIeOUWupmHgbiCWujS7CbupvlVOq3g7KI6X5YVMggMpYijrgdPT/s400/1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">...We hoisted our colors to the top of the mast<br />And for Greenland sailed away, brave boys,<br />And for Greenland sailed away.<br /><br />The lookout, in the crosstrees he stood<br />With spyglass in his hand;<br />There's a whale, there's a whale,<br />And a whalefish he cried<br />And she blows at every span, brave boys<br />And she blows at every span.<br /><br />The captain stood on the quarterdeck,<br />The ice was in his eye;<br />Overhaul, overhaul! Let your gibsheets fall,<br />And you'll put your boats to sea, brave boys<br />And you'll put your boats to sea.<br /><br />The harpoon struck and the line played out,<br />With a single flourish of his tail,<br />He capsized the boat and we lost five men,<br />And we did not catch that whale, brave boys,<br />And we did not catch that whale.<br /><br />The losing of those five jolly men,<br />It grieved the captain sore,<br />But the losing of that fine whalefish<br />Now it grieved him ten times more, brave boys<br />Now it grieved him ten times more.<br /><br />Oh Greenland is a barren land<br />A land that bears no green<br />Where there's ice and snow, and the whalefishes blow<br />And the daylight's seldom seen, brave boys<br />And the daylight's seldom seen.</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;"><em>Greenland Whale Fisheries</em></span><br />~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br />Sometimes things seem to connect with a past they don't actually belong to, but perhaps maybe should have. The Neil Gaiman/Charles Vess masterpiece <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stardust_(novel)"><span style="color:#996633;">Stardust</span></a> seems as though it were the work of a nineteenth century disciple of William Morris. The iconic British <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ploughman"><span style="color:#996633;">Ploughman's Lunch</span></a> conjures visions of medieval farmworkers relaxing from their heavy toil over a wholesome and filling mid-day refreshment, but it was apparently conjured up by the English Country Cheese Council in 1960.<br /><br />Red Roses For Me (absolutely my favorite Pogues album), with its organic marriage of Shane MacGowan's brilliant compositions and rowdy performances of traditional Irish drinking songs and rebel balladry seems to embody hundreds of years of Ireland's musical history.<br /><br />This astounding debut appeared fully-formed and gloriously unique, preceded only by their single “Dark Streets Of London” (in a slightly different version to that on the album), its surface shambolics belying a solid musical and lyrical depth and maturity. Red Roses For Me was produced by Stan Brennan, who ran Rocks Off Records in West One, where Shane sometimes served behind the counter. It was his long term mission to get the band off the ground, and he managed to pour the Pogue magic, unspilled and distilled, into the flagon at Wapping's tiny Elephant Studios.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3KsiPWKLyBlSRnmg42ZQ2I826ag1_3w3WaehhAj6eN6ykFFT36ENF8cO8EITV7-A-Hf6LzrrIyMKWa8cfcRH36pAE4FmYxt7gfyP5_b5PUFm3lawDc0Hbp8ZO-6co9ASXcRiva_tpFFzh/s1600-h/41.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314978390749764914" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 317px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3KsiPWKLyBlSRnmg42ZQ2I826ag1_3w3WaehhAj6eN6ykFFT36ENF8cO8EITV7-A-Hf6LzrrIyMKWa8cfcRH36pAE4FmYxt7gfyP5_b5PUFm3lawDc0Hbp8ZO-6co9ASXcRiva_tpFFzh/s320/41.jpg" border="0" /></a>The former <a href="http://www.pogues.com/PastPogues/SMacGowan/SMacGowan.html"><span style="color:#996633;">Shane O'Hooligan</span></a> is the first to acknowledge his debt to the poets Brendan Behan and James Clarence Mangan, and musically to the Dubliners – not that a Dubliners record would ever be mistaken for one by the Pogues. The Anglo-Celtic sound of the Pogues, fermented in London's King's Cross, is a mixture of pub and punk - both Shane and Mancunian Maestro Jimmy Fearnley having been veterans of punk band the Nips - but played with an exuberance and an excellence that proved nearly impossible to resist (despite the rising tide of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Romantic"><span style="color:#996633;">New Romanticism </span></a>which threatened to overwhelm the London music scene of the early eighties). There were/are a number of the old guard Irish purists who despised this hybrid sound which they thought perpetuated the stereotype of the drunken Irish paddy…to be fair, it is rumoured that Shane likes a drink.<br /><br />From the opening sounds of "Transmetropolitan" you're transported to the seedy underbelly of London, and its landscape of broken bottles and broken dreams, inhabited by folk even the dredges look down upon, and Shane McGowan channels each and every one of them. He does it with such conviction that whether the character is living in 1983 or 1843, you swear he was there and that he's recounting the story first hand. There is so much pain in his voice as he sings "The Auld Triangle" over guitar and tin whistle, that it's impossible to ignore, "Poor Paddy" could be his own old man working on the railway, and Shane is a bard in the most traditional sense of the word, as he retells the story within "Greenland Whale Fisheries."<br /><br />It's not too hard to imagine McGowan and Company floundering amidst "Streams of Whiskey," or stirring things up with "The Boys From The County Hell," or wandering "The Dark Streets of London," accompanied with his band of merrymakers and miscreants. Despite the desperation, there is an attitude of defiant charm in the delivery these songs. The Rhino reissue embellishes the album’s original songlist with six vital bonus tracks. “And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda”, Eric Bogle's chilling account of Gallipoli, was revisited on Rum, Sodomy And The Lash, but this is the original flipside of their debut single, “Dark Streets of London” - you may know the song as performed by Eric Bogle or maybe June Tabor, but not like this. “Repeal of the Licensing Laws” was the B-side of the (cleaned-up) “Boys From the County Hell”. The band returned to Elephant in 1985 to record the B-sides “Whiskey You're The Devil” and “Muirshin Durkin”, both for the single “A Pair Of Brown Eyes”, and “The Wild Rover” and “The Leaving Of Liverpool” backed up “Sally MacLennane”.<br /><br />Whether they're new interpretations of traditional tales, or original compositions, Shane is able to channel the spirit of a fighter and a survivor struggling against destiny and the drink while his bandmates provide the perfect musical accompaniment: a whirlwind assembly of banjo, tin whistle, acoustic guitar, rapid-fire percussion, and accordion, that is the equivalent of a punch in the face, a kick in the arse, and a raw shot of whiskey.<br />~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /><br />Resources<br /><a href="http://www.pogues.com/"><span style="color:#996633;"><strong>The Pogues</strong></span></a><span style="color:#996633;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.rhino.com/store/ProductDetail.lasso?Number=74071"><span style="color:#996633;"><em>Red Roses For Me (reissue)</em></span></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIEk12D_0EuT7bXXDLFIAmZAoWHbknxfcABsrvpLUcetZ8kyjCNGlXEZEgDRGejCYRiwLG9Fnyht9a9bjDCwqTZNrODwxY2S8BXWepReu3wvwNcAR3ot2gGe6hSh-0JQFlWXh1XXBolYhj/s1600-h/album.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5314978571213467922" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIEk12D_0EuT7bXXDLFIAmZAoWHbknxfcABsrvpLUcetZ8kyjCNGlXEZEgDRGejCYRiwLG9Fnyht9a9bjDCwqTZNrODwxY2S8BXWepReu3wvwNcAR3ot2gGe6hSh-0JQFlWXh1XXBolYhj/s200/album.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />(2007 – Rhino Records)<br /><span style="font-size:85%;">1 Transmetropolitan<br />2 The Battle Of Brisbane<br />3 The Aud Triangle<br />4 Waxie's Dargle<br />5 Boys From The County Hell<br />6 Sea Shanty<br />7 Dark Streets Of London<br />8 Streams Of Whiskey<br />9 Poor Paddy<br />10 Dingle Regatta<br />11 Greenland Whale Fisheries<br />12 Down In The Ground Where The Deadmen Go<br />13 Kitty<br />14 The Leaving Of Liverpool (Bonus Track)<br />15 Muirshin Durkin (Bonus Track)<br />16 Repeal Of The Licensing Laws (Bonus Track)<br />17 And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda (Bonus Track)<br />18 Whiskey You're The Devil (Bonus Track)<br />19 The Wild Rover (Bonus Track) </span><br /><br />Watch Greenland Whale Fisheries (Peel Session)…<br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ps5urGLKrYg&hl=" width="425" height="344" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" fs="1" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed><br /><br />Click <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=4312f0840ad68417d2db6fb9a8902bda"><span style="color:#996633;">HERE</span></a> to download two Peel sessions from 1984…</div>kenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16285739142620247530noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600903541839083043.post-27093088472454269502009-03-06T15:26:00.006-06:002009-03-06T15:49:44.393-06:00Ladies of Grace, and Ladies of Favour, and Ladies of Merciful Night...<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBuddaYsfHZBB4AyYChf3Hh9xa41UD9ynwR_9kntjIsxuLt0SuZj8ZFepiYjDo9nq-L3Fh7ga7bqrKMqNoYD2EPJx1b7lAbIzoEh5dG_DqWBI-zHPdIFEA5MsC0KwzpZubdkmzI6imYnNx/s1600-h/blueberry-girl-art+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310195000187277698" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 238px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBuddaYsfHZBB4AyYChf3Hh9xa41UD9ynwR_9kntjIsxuLt0SuZj8ZFepiYjDo9nq-L3Fh7ga7bqrKMqNoYD2EPJx1b7lAbIzoEh5dG_DqWBI-zHPdIFEA5MsC0KwzpZubdkmzI6imYnNx/s400/blueberry-girl-art+2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5310195129766850370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 352px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj32CW852OHDF5BTOqXQEDKO8voXlX5Toe_0ExHk680fCs_MArQ8-gOJRlJvQdEEwFaIylzhqTQpXJvCwW1h64oVzVC5jqSNmtf6EA0WIsOgFaSiMvBZBovhiOu-iifEuGvyJcFFjT8edWY/s400/blueberry.bmp" border="0" /><br /><div><br /><div><div><div><div>...to Lily and all the other blueberry girls out there, <a href="http://www.internationalwomensday.com/default.asp"><span style="color:#339999;">happy international women's day!</span></a></div><div>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div><br /><div>This was written by <a href="http://www.mousecircus.com/"><span style="color:#339999;">Neil Gaiman</span></a> nine years ago for a friend who was expecting a long-awaited baby girl. As word of this lovely poem spread, Gaiman found himself doling out copies to many other mothers-to-be who could see the magic and kindness of it. Eventually, his friend <a href="http://greenmanpress.com/news/"><span style="color:#339999;">Charles Vess</span></a> (artist extrordinaire) read it and fate took over.<br />The result - now it's a beautifully illustrated book that all can enjoy.<br />~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br /></div><div>The publisher has put together a wonderful video that combines Vess’ images with Gaiman’s reading of the text…the beautiful words almost sound like a magic spell.<br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QH4lyJWa_84&hl=" width="425" height="344" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" fs="1" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed><br /><br />If you plan to be in New York this Saturday (March 7) Messrs Gaiman and Vess will be signing copies at <a href="http://www.booksofwonder.com/events030709.asp"><span style="color:#339999;">Books of Wonder</span></a> between 1:00pm - 4:00pm…<br /><br />If you (like me) can’t be there, you can <a href="http://www.booksofwonder.com/prodinfo.asp?number=101613"><span style="color:#339999;">order a signed copy</span></a>…</div></div></div></div></div></div>kenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16285739142620247530noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600903541839083043.post-34063046741897646312009-02-26T15:35:00.009-06:002009-02-27T13:56:08.804-06:00and the whirlwind is in the thorn-tree...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGqy_Se2UwMIboyZhwxUo1yG4q8rd7DN7HnsRWXD0v9ixF1KmCJ8v1TeiqZeKOHx0mtY78SmZHIcwn32Xlj3IkqWnU5HIZYUrvmIXdUSMCnEucyqStDJSRyrQyackkjHOt3VNqNGaoTEWn/s1600-h/jc+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307567517858320930" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 247px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGqy_Se2UwMIboyZhwxUo1yG4q8rd7DN7HnsRWXD0v9ixF1KmCJ8v1TeiqZeKOHx0mtY78SmZHIcwn32Xlj3IkqWnU5HIZYUrvmIXdUSMCnEucyqStDJSRyrQyackkjHOt3VNqNGaoTEWn/s320/jc+1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div><strong>The Man in Black</strong></div><br /><div><em><span style="color:#cc0000;">Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,</span></em></div><div><em><span style="color:#cc0000;">And tell the world that everything's OK,</span></em></div><div><em><span style="color:#cc0000;">But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,</span></em></div><div><em><span style="color:#cc0000;">'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.<br /></span></em><span style="color:#cc0000;">- Johnny Cash</span></div><br /><div>He'd always been there. A brooding presence emanating from radios and televisions that bore witness to all the evil that people could do to each other. Even when he was a younger man, you swore he'd lived hundreds of years already. The black hair couldn't belie the creases and lines on that face or in a voice scraped raw from shouting at the devils that pursued him night after night.<br /></div><div>Yet, I look at pictures of him in the last years of his life; the hair has gone white, his hands are gnarled and twisted by age as if he'd become a grand old oak tree that weathered many a storm, and the years have been stripped away. If some of us are born young to age and gradually be beaten down by the world, he was born old to learn innocence and to find his way home.<br /><br />Johnny Cash's black clad figure has been as much a symbol of rugged American individualism as any other man in the last hundred years. Unlike other figures that have let their image be co-opted by various political movements or philosophies, he was never brought into any fold.<br /></div><div>The music establishment in Nashville wanted nothing to do with him, but couldn't ignore the fact that he appealed to more people around the world than most of their other acts combined. They would try to claim him as one of their own, but the reality was that as they stretched out one hand in welcome they used the other to try and shove him under the rug.</div><br /><div>I have often wondered what they used to say behind June Carter's back about her relationship with Johnny. I doubt if anybody would have dared say anything to her face, but I'm sure there were things said along the lines of "How could a girl from such a good family…" or "He's only with her because of who she is". </div><br /><div>June was the hand that reached out and brought Johnny back to safety when he was drowning in a sea of drugs and fame. But even she wasn't enough to keep all his demons at bay.<br />I wouldn't presume to assume I know what demons possessed him, and it's none of my business anyway. But I know that when I look at photos from certain points in his life the smiles seem to be hiding desperation. The unguarded pictures, the ones not posed or planned, transmit heartbreaking pain. Fatigue that goes beyond the physical emanates from every line etched on his face and tells more of his life's story than any biography ever could. Finding solace in drugs isn't a solution to anything, but when you feel like you have nothing else, it's an easy out…but it’s not the only way to find a measure of peace. </div><br /><div><strong>Redemption<br /></strong><em><span style="color:#cc0000;">How well I have learned that there is no fence to sit on between heaven and hell. There is a deep, wide gulf, a chasm, and in that chasm is no </span></em><a name="AdBriteInlineAd_place"><em><span style="color:#cc0000;">place</span></em></a><em><span style="color:#990000;"><span style="color:#cc0000;"> for any man.</span><br /></span></em><span style="color:#cc0000;">- Johnny Cash<br /></span></div><div>Johnny gained victory through the redemptive power of his personal faith. But when Johnny talked of redemption, you understood what he meant and you knew he was sincere.<br /></div><div>He never talked about it like it was a treat that could be taken away from you if you didn't behave, or that it was only available if you sent in your box tops and twenty-five dollars. Not only was he seeking to redeem himself in the eyes of God, he seemed to spend his whole live trying to redeem himself to the man who looked out at him from the mirror everyday.</div><br /><div>You also knew that the only person that Johnny would ever sit in judgment on would be himself. He didn’t seem self-righteous or holier than thou. His faith gave him strength and offered him a way home. Peace for a troubled mind is sometimes salvation enough that the additional promise about saving your immortal soul is almost too good to be true. </div><br /><div>When listening to Johnny sing a gospel song, I always feet a bit like I’m intruding upon a personal conversation, eavesdropping on a man's personal prayer. He wasn't singing to impress anyone or to convert them. He was genuinely giving thanks.<br /><strong></strong></div><div><strong>Legacy<br /></strong>I never met Johnny Cash; I listened to his music, I saw him <a href="http://kens-scrapmetal.blogspot.com/2009/02/in-distance-she-saw-man-bending-over.html"><span style="color:#996633;">perform live one time</span></a> and I watched him on television over the years – I knew <em>of</em> him but I didn’t <em>know</em> him. Most of the time all I ever would see of him was the carefully presented image of The Man in Black. It's only been in recent years, the almost three since his death on Sept. 12, 2003, and the couple of years before that when he was recording those last amazing records with Rick Rubin, that I began thinking about who he was beyond that cut-out figure of the lone gunman. </div><div></div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh20FLv5jKuvaAFCpI6-nuhqZEu36MC4Gaa0JXJKOJIYpABDysJS0cfxoFWJmoADx1K7UCnFLLZ9JEuzuamXSKu8_TOD164lEbvk01c7pUZT49gHcSb_65U3Xk-hNytdO6qoGfwTwbatvik/s1600-h/jc+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307231744717859442" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 192px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh20FLv5jKuvaAFCpI6-nuhqZEu36MC4Gaa0JXJKOJIYpABDysJS0cfxoFWJmoADx1K7UCnFLLZ9JEuzuamXSKu8_TOD164lEbvk01c7pUZT49gHcSb_65U3Xk-hNytdO6qoGfwTwbatvik/s200/jc+2.jpg" border="0" /></a>It's truly amazing how just because someone is a public figure we think we know them personally. We refer to them by their first names when we either talk about or write about them, and we make casual assumptions about what their opinions on matters would be. We act like we have an intimate association; even though it's more than likely we've never even met them or exchanged a single word of conversation<br /></div><br /><br /><div>No human being is so one dimensional that we can claim to know them just by what is presented as their public face. We can know facts and tidbits of information that will allow us to draw conclusions, conclusions that stand as much chance of being wrong as right, but nothing that justifies our proprietary attitude towards them.</div><br /><div>On very rare occasions an artist comes along who allows little pieces of their soul come through in their work, but even then, we aren't privy to their innermost thoughts and dreams, their fears and joys. </div><br /><div>Johnny Cash was one of those who bared quite a bit of his soul through performance, song writing, and his willingness to talk about himself and his life with a great deal of honesty. But last night as I watched the documentary “Johnny Cash’s America”, for the first time, I realized (for all my familiarity with his work) that I didn’t know him at all, really. </div><br /><div>He was cool and tough and sang songs about real life and real people. He was an outlaw and a patriot and a man's man and no one wanted to know anything different…and that's a real pity because he was also a husband and a father, he was a farmer and woodworker, he made ridiculous mistakes and he had remarkable triumphs, he was just like you and me. </div><br /><div>Johnny Cash was born on February 26th, 1932 and died September 12, 2003. His wife of thirty-five years, June Carter, preceded him in death by four months. They are together and at peace, forever. </div><div>They deserve it. </div><br /><div><strong>Resources</strong></div><div>2009 should see the long-awaited release of the sixth (and final) album from Johnny Cash's remarkable "American Recordings" sessions which he recorded in the final years of his life, right up to just a week before he died. The first five albums are rightly regarded as masterpieces, as is the subsequent 5 cd box set <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Unearthed-Johnny-Cash/dp/B0000TLA9Q"><span style="color:#996633;">"Unearthed"</span></a>, which is a collection of other tracks recorded during the same sessions. The <a href="http://hardcountry.wordpress.com/2007/03/17/news-on-cash-american-vi/"><span style="color:#996633;">rumoured track listing</span></a> for American VI is:</div><br /><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• San Antonio</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• Redemption Day</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• Here Comes a Boy</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• That's Enough</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• 1st Corinthians 5:55</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• I Can't Help But Wonder</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• Nine-Pound Hammer (the old </span><a href="http://www.rambles.net/monroebros_soul.html"><span style="font-size:85%;color:#996633;">Monroe Brothers</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"> song)</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• North to Alaska</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• His Eye is on the Sparrow (great old hymn)</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again (another great old hymn)</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• The Eye of an Eagle</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• Don't Take Everybody for Your Friend</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• Belshazzar</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• Loading Coal</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• A Half a Mile a Day</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• Flesh and Blood</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• I Am a Pilgrim (another great old hymn)</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• Beautiful Dreamer</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• Ain't No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down (another great old hymn)</span></div><div><span style="font-size:85%;">• Family Bible (another great old hymn)</span></div><div></div><div>Watch a video for the song “When the Man Comes Around”…</div><br /><div><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/gmsA-yaLKw8&hl=" width="425" height="344" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" fs="1" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Watch an excellent biography produced by <a href="http://www.marshillchurch.org/"><span style="color:#996633;">mars hill church</span></a>…<br /><embed src="http://www.marshillchurch.org/v/djnykenm3j4p" width="400" height="275" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed><br /><br />His studio albums are legendary, but his live shows were just incredible – the way he and the audience would feed off of the emotional content of the music elevated the experience to the sublime… For your edification and enjoyment <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=4312f0840ad68417d2db6fb9a8902bda"><span style="color:#996633;">here's</span></a> a wonderful live set from the Newport Folk Festival, 1964 – the American recordings era wasn’t the first time that Johnny connected with America’s youth…<br /></div><div>buy his <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Johnny-Cash/e/B000APLVFI/ref=ntt_mus_dp_pel"><span style="color:#996633;">recordings</span></a>...</div></div>kenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16285739142620247530noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600903541839083043.post-76470072880555763542009-02-12T14:34:00.007-06:002009-02-12T16:27:56.739-06:00In your eyes there's a sadness enough to kill the both of us...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU7ofB8FXwhLaztCG2a-VJdPYUfYMs8Vy1Y0BC9pCJNByJntSXBOe3Yw1hTaWdjBtAIevkoHxUipnrHeUzBaTxzUgPKdFL1i-Hp3JprB2_Spre1kjncrxanDCe4SAM9lTh4M1CgiBVUaKi/s1600-h/my+maudlin+career.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5302040780009078786" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 284px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU7ofB8FXwhLaztCG2a-VJdPYUfYMs8Vy1Y0BC9pCJNByJntSXBOe3Yw1hTaWdjBtAIevkoHxUipnrHeUzBaTxzUgPKdFL1i-Hp3JprB2_Spre1kjncrxanDCe4SAM9lTh4M1CgiBVUaKi/s400/my+maudlin+career.jpg" border="0" /></a> Oh What Joy! Oh What Bliss! A Brand New Camera Obscura song! <div><div><br /><div>This morning started out on a gloomy note, but you know, there's nothing like a little dreamy twee-pop to get you through one of those days…and no one makes music dreamier than Glasgow’s Camera Obscura. Once again, vocalist Tracy Anne Campbell manages to make sadness sound sweet and romantic in a way that most of her contemporaries just can't match...<br /><br />Entitled <strong>My Maudlin Career</strong>, this is the band's fourth studio record, and will see release on April 28. By all accounts, it promises to pick up where <strong>Let’s Get Out of This Country (2006)</strong> left off…and I can’t tell you how happy that makes me. </div><br /><div>The song-list for the album is as follows: </div><div><span style="font-size:85%;color:#336666;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-size:85%;color:#336666;">1. French Navy 2. The Sweetest Thing 3. You Told A Lie 4. Away With Murder 5. Swans 6. James 7. Careless Love 8. My Maudlin Career 9. Forest And Sands 10. Other Towns And Cities 11. Honey In The Sun</span><br /><br />The advance track, "<em>My Maudlin Career</em>", is a wee bit of wistful melancholy, filled with all those deliciously layered sound-scapes that make their music pure pop perfection. </div><div> </div><div>Who knew that persistent despair could be so charming and cute! </div><div>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div><br /><object id="embedmp3player" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=" height="90" width="300" align="middle" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000"><param name="_cx" value="7938"><param name="_cy" value="2381"><param name="FlashVars" value=""><param name="Movie" value="http://camera-obscura.net/embedmp3player.swf?myLoad=http://camera-obscura.net/audio/my_maudlin_career.mp3&myImage=http://camera-obscura.net/images/mmc_player.gif"><param name="Src" value="http://camera-obscura.net/embedmp3player.swf?myLoad=http://camera-obscura.net/audio/my_maudlin_career.mp3&myImage=http://camera-obscura.net/images/mmc_player.gif"><param name="WMode" value="Window"><param name="Play" value="-1"><param name="Loop" value="-1"><param name="Quality" value="High"><param name="SAlign" value=""><param name="Menu" value="-1"><param name="Base" value=""><param name="AllowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain"><param name="Scale" value="ShowAll"><param name="DeviceFont" value="0"><param name="EmbedMovie" value="0"><param name="BGColor" value="CCCCCC"><param name="SWRemote" value=""><param name="MovieData" value=""><param name="SeamlessTabbing" value="1"><param name="Profile" value="0"><param name="ProfileAddress" value=""><param name="ProfilePort" value="0"><param name="AllowNetworking" value="all"><param name="AllowFullScreen" value="false"><br /><br /> <embed src="http://camera-obscura.net/embedmp3player.swf?myLoad=http://camera-obscura.net/audio/my_maudlin_career.mp3&myImage=http://camera-obscura.net/images/mmc_player.gif" quality="high" bgcolor="#cccccc" width="300" height="90" name="embedmp3player" align="middle" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" allowfullscreen="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed></object><br /><br /><div><strong></strong></div><div><strong>resources</strong><br /><a href="http://www.camera-obscura.net/"><span style="color:#996633;">website</span></a><br /><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/camera_obscura_"><span style="color:#996633;">twitter</span></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myspace.com/cameraobscuraband"><span style="color:#996633;">myspace</span></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.resonancemusicstore.com/cameraobscura/index.html"><span style="color:#996633;">for sale</span></a></div><br /><div>watch the video for the song "<em>If Looks Could Kill</em>" from <strong>Let's Get Out of This Country...</strong></div><br /><div><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/U44XU2qVli0&hl=" width="425" height="344" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" fs="1" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></div></div></div>kenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16285739142620247530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600903541839083043.post-34139784833043883802009-02-05T15:17:00.010-06:002009-02-10T12:14:44.922-06:00and I wanna dive in an ocean of pink tourmaline...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFjVQf806oLrLQGQh7Qa5RmkVi3vVpOp_nFKfg8XpHQP2lQw9IH0EcYXO7qqxBRTkDy8DUSLHen3LBQu879oo5MDk_iQM_4_yIH-b-ZydylIkz7lseVdZElrR34b5JiG74AehzRPBiBhGq/s1600-h/Audrey+Hepburn+&+Gary+Cooper+in+Love+in+the+Afternoon+(1957).jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5301233467767878962" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 260px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFjVQf806oLrLQGQh7Qa5RmkVi3vVpOp_nFKfg8XpHQP2lQw9IH0EcYXO7qqxBRTkDy8DUSLHen3LBQu879oo5MDk_iQM_4_yIH-b-ZydylIkz7lseVdZElrR34b5JiG74AehzRPBiBhGq/s320/Audrey+Hepburn+%26+Gary+Cooper+in+Love+in+the+Afternoon+(1957).jpg" border="0" /></a> <span style="color:#663333;">Come tell me your story to unload your glorious grief<br />Where you are the valet of honour and I am the thief<br />And don't ever mention the stains that you left on my track<br />How from a beautiful girl I became someone ruined and wrecked<br />It was all in your back<br />All in your back<br /><br />So I spin in the dance of your absence and put on a show<br />But why do I smile baby, you of all people should know<br />The one that you loved<br />Died a long time ago<br /><br />You can't do me wrong with charity until<br />You'll exhaust your lies and remedies, you will<br />But with your voice and melodies you kill, you kill<br />Your version of glory is dark and it's covered with sin<br />And I wanna dive in an ocean of pink tourmaline<br />I've seen the pure souls they exist and they fly<br />I think I could live with it, I know I can now<br /><br />You can't do me wrong with charity until<br />You'll exhaust your lies and remedies, you will<br />But with your voice and melodies you kill…you kill<br /><br />It's funny how now that I'm not in the palm of your hand<br />You're still running blindly to save me again and again<br />But I don't need a friend<br />No, I don't need a friend<br /><br />You can't do me wrong with charity until<br />You'll exhaust your lies and remedies, you will<br />But with your voice and melodies you kill…you kill<br /></span>--<em>In Your Back</em>, Keren Ann<br /><div><div><div><div><div><div>~~~~~~~~~~</div><div> </div><div>Romance...now certainly the French culture didn’t invent the notion of romance, <em>but</em> their pop music tradition <em>has</em> perfected the art of infusing romantic music with just enough melancholy to stir an emotional response that lingers long after the song is over. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Birkin"><span style="color:#339999;"><span style="color:#339999;">Jane</span> Birkin</span></a>…<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Françoise_Hardy"><span style="color:#339999;">Francoise Hardy</span></a>…<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serge_Gainsbourg"><span style="color:#339999;">Serge Gainsbourg</span></a>…<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Piaf"><span style="color:#339999;">Edith Piaf</span></a>…<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_Gall"><span style="color:#339999;">France Gall</span></a>…the legacy of these artists, and others, bear out this premise quite clearly while the work of <a href="http://www.myspace.com/casadeberry"><span style="color:#339999;">Berry</span></a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Gainsbourg"><span style="color:#339999;">Charlotte Gainsbourg</span></a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Biolay"><span style="color:#339999;">Benjamin Biolay</span></a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Émilie_Simon"><span style="color:#339999;">Emilie Simon</span></a>, <a href="http://www.fillessourires.blogspot.com/"><span style="color:#339999;">etc.</span></a> all promise that this tradition will continue to flourish, and that’s a good thing. For me, this notion of romantic music nears perfection in the work and the voice of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keren_Ann"><span style="color:#339999;">Keren Ann Zeidel</span></a>.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ApjwX2HatTpI6EprKYJfCLswkk2Y2DBqYGwyxXi4St3FE9L8Lszu_MnxWP1bFoLjWDdWVsVFeKYq9rBlKRh4Fnfx7FuwYVrtgwpNkG_8foR-IFV-fbboN8bYqKdkj7Uwt08j-o_z35w0/s1600-h/ka+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299429554150884978" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ApjwX2HatTpI6EprKYJfCLswkk2Y2DBqYGwyxXi4St3FE9L8Lszu_MnxWP1bFoLjWDdWVsVFeKYq9rBlKRh4Fnfx7FuwYVrtgwpNkG_8foR-IFV-fbboN8bYqKdkj7Uwt08j-o_z35w0/s200/ka+1.jpg" border="0" /></a>Legions of indie-pop boys around the world have a Texas-size crush on Keren Ann. As for me, let me assure you, <em>I’m</em> merely appreciative of her music and have nothing but respectful admiration for Mlle. Zeidel, she of dual passports (French and Dutch), she of French-Russian- Javanese- Dutch- Israeli descent, she of softly cooed ballads on landmark albums like <a href="http://www.buymusichere.net/rel/v2_viewupc.php?storenr=13&upc=72435712112"><span style="color:#339999;">Not Going Anywhere</span></a>, <a href="http://www.buymusichere.net/rel/v2_viewupc.php?storenr=13&upc=72435634632"><span style="color:#339999;">Nolita</span></a>, or her 2007 <a href="http://www.buymusichere.net/rel/v2_viewupc.php?storenr=13&upc=09463851032"><span style="color:#339999;">eponymous</span></a> masterpiece. <em>However</em>, there is a good reason for all this fan-boy fervor. She’s a refreshing presence in the pop music world - her musical persona is feminine in the perfect way: She’s smart, not frivolous…attractive, not arrogant…vulnerable, not insecure…creative, not boring or pretentious.<br /></div><br /><div>When I first heard her sing four or five years ago, I was immediately struck by the power and beauty of her voice. <a href="http://fillessourires.blogspot.com/2007/12/filles-fragiles-competition-winner-4.html"><span style="color:#339999;">As I’ve pointed out before</span></a>, her music works like a tonic for those times when the stresses of life are working hard to bring you down. Her dreamy songs, sometimes barely rising above a whispery voice and a delicate melody, will compel you to stop and listen and join her for a few moments. </div><br /><div>Keren Ann has one of the most beautifully emotive voices I’ve ever heard. The world kind of melts away when she starts to sing, each song lulling you into a pleasantly dreamlike state…drifting into moments both beautiful and genuine, but vaguely unreal. Her music is infused with a gracefulness that is both soothing and seductive all at once - her words float through your body and hit you in the heart…she can break your heart or mend it with one shift of her voice.</div><br /><div><strong><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299430274723273890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 172px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNuS94QZxlbkhOjS7WW37At8iEmbacKKHjlaC8G-l6yS_60slG_I9Cp8O46ipwfaGCBKjAJ__nWoMmOlEsrd8pev50hWq8EHBuFh4PV2rZ1M8By7xNYSbqV0GlT0dEmG_rv-KPyDWRDBYK/s400/ka+4.jpg" border="0" />Tribute<br /></strong><br /><span style="color:#663333;"><em>So many days have been away<br />that I once abandoned Keren Ann for her straight power which reached my heart.<br />But When I come back I find that I'm still in love with her.<br />She comforts me, yes she did. And her voice was my safe harbor.<br />I hided myself in the cold winter night on my bed with her music<br />that I was sure I was not afraid of any separation.<br />Will the days come back again? Let me kiss myself with those pains.<br />And dying in the music.</em><br /></span><br />Keren Ann not only writes beautifully, she inspires beautiful writing…I <a href="http://hellomystrangers.spaces.live.com/Blog/cns!3C56B33168D996E1!351.entry"><span style="color:#339999;">stumbled</span></a> across this poem several months ago - I’m pretty sure it was originally written in mandarin and then processed through <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate_t?hl=en"><span style="color:#339999;">google translate</span></a> or something similar.<br /><strong></strong></div><div><strong>Resources</strong></div><br /><div>Here’s a video for <em>In Your Back</em> (live)…<br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1a2bFfRiBAc&hl=" width="425" height="344" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" fs="1" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed><br /><br />Visit Keren Ann at <a href="http://www.myspace.com/kerenann"><span style="color:#339999;">myspace</span></a>…</div><div>Click <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=4312f0840ad68417d2db6fb9a8902bda"><span style="color:#339999;">here</span></a> for a short live set…Click <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Keren-Ann/e/B000APPWRG/ref=ntt_mus_dp_pel"><span style="color:#339999;">here</span></a> to shop for her music…</div><div>~~~~~~~~~~</div><div>...and this post completes the epic Valentine's Trilogy...and in record time!</div></div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div>kenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16285739142620247530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600903541839083043.post-52752893084668893682009-02-04T13:54:00.012-06:002009-02-05T09:33:36.783-06:00life is ever changing, but I will always find a constant and comfort in your love...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOF32rGuRuaUgosug7tTnmWgAbb8XIgtQL-j62NsOgZqmqgMz1EphigB3cVaaN6K8YTdisE5yZPR49B5EJ0v_1IYCU9Dkvog7v3DZs4CDXO57PvvfUurDJpQLKPU0wSpTvyQuyuF3dr9Wq/s1600-h/Robert+Doisneau,+Les+Coiffeuses+au+Soleil.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299037822444739442" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 272px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOF32rGuRuaUgosug7tTnmWgAbb8XIgtQL-j62NsOgZqmqgMz1EphigB3cVaaN6K8YTdisE5yZPR49B5EJ0v_1IYCU9Dkvog7v3DZs4CDXO57PvvfUurDJpQLKPU0wSpTvyQuyuF3dr9Wq/s400/Robert+Doisneau,+Les+Coiffeuses+au+Soleil.JPG" border="0" /></a> Sometime over the past couple of years, The Avett Brothers became my favorite band, and I mean “favorite” on a level I haven’t felt towards a band since my angsty years in high school with the Clash and REM. Their songs will bring you laughter, heartache, love, or rage, sometimes all in one song.<br /><br />The Avett Brothers (Seth and Scott Avett with childhood friend Bob Crawford) are a band from Concord, North Carolina and they play a combination of old-time Appalachian, bluegrass, punk, pop melodies, folk, rock and roll, hard country, and ragtime. No, really I’m serious – you can hear elements of all these genres on all of their albums…The Washington Post has described their sound as “post civil-war modern rock”- the Avetts themselves prefer to be unlabeled, feeling that “none would do the music the justice. It's simply left up to each person to extract his or her own <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGJpJoO8G3dGrUEX4oNTxgq7TxjbsyWxfHjk49CM6b_vglEKpFr8DvZBR3Ygn2WmUmgxAe5sMiE85z8SLSz_VW-o82PZv_haMGvEyGopFZ7ivm-L_C2a3jTGTJT9SBoVlfchbrBEolJlOA/s1600-h/avetts+2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5299038119981688562" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 252px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGJpJoO8G3dGrUEX4oNTxgq7TxjbsyWxfHjk49CM6b_vglEKpFr8DvZBR3Ygn2WmUmgxAe5sMiE85z8SLSz_VW-o82PZv_haMGvEyGopFZ7ivm-L_C2a3jTGTJT9SBoVlfchbrBEolJlOA/s320/avetts+2.jpg" border="0" /></a>account from the Avetts music.” Mainly, their music is simple and honest. They offer up both confession and advice. They lament over love, but emerge defiant against apathy. They rejoice and celebrate the small things in life, but they’re not afraid to address the big questions.<br /><div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div><strong>Resources<br /></strong><br />Over the years, the Avetts have developed several topics that they return to again and again in their songwriting – they like to sing about family…they explore the consequences that come with making choices…they stress the importance of personal responsibility…and often they combine some or all of these themes in a series of songs written to pretty girls. <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=4312f0840ad68417d2db6fb9a8902bda"><span style="color:#cc0000;">Click here</span></a> to try out a few of my favorites - a compilation of the songs to pretty girls, and then go get <a href="http://www.theavettbrothers.com/store/product/163/Emotionalism"><span style="color:#cc0000;">Emotionalism</span></a> or maybe <a href="http://www.theavettbrothers.com/store/product/219/Mignonette-Cd"><span style="color:#cc0000;">Mignonette</span></a> …aw, just go ahead and get them <a href="http://www.theavettbrothers.com/store/cat/AvettBrothersMusic"><span style="color:#cc0000;">all</span></a>!<br /><br />Watch a live video for the song Pretty Girl from Chile…<br /><div><embed src="http://www.onetruemedia.com/share_view_player?p=7ff2d8da92f9b5515e217f" quality="high" scale="noscale" width="408" height="382" wmode="transparent" name="FLVPlayer" salign="LT" flashvars="&p=7ff2d8da92f9b5515e217f&skin_id=701&host=http://www.onetruemedia.com" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><div style="margin:0px;font:12px/13px verdana,arial,sans-serif;line-height:20px;padding-bottom:15px;width:408px;text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.onetruemedia.com/share_player_link?p=7ff2d8da92f9b5515e217f&skin_id=701&source=emplay" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.onetruemedia.com/share_player_link_image/7ff2d8da92f9b5515e217f/701.gif" style="border:0px;" width="408" /></a><br/><a href="http://www.onetruemedia.com/landing?&utm_source=emplay&utm_medium=txt1" target="_blank" style="text-decoration:none;"> </span></a></div></div><br /><br />Check out the Avetts on <a href="http://www.myspace.com/theavettbrothers" target="_blank"><span style="color:#cc0000;">myspace</span></a>…</div><div>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div><div>This has been part two of a monumental three part Valentine’s special…I hope I can get the third one finished up!<br /><br />For more information on the main image, visit the photographer’s website - <a href="http://www.robertdoisneau.com/"><span style="color:#cc0000;">Robert Doisneau</span></a></div><div>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div><div><strong>Epilogue<br /></strong><br />My original intent for this post was for it to be a brief overview of the Avetts that would, hopefully, peak someone’s interest in what has become my favorite band…but I’m gonna head off down a rabbit trail for a bit, so bear with me – it’s a fairly short one, as rabbit trails go…<br /><br />Getting up in the morning can be tough sometimes, most especially when I've spent the latter part of the night tossing and tumbling from one strange dream to another – not really bad dreams, just unsettling ones. Tucked away amongst these fleeting dreams, sometimes, is the song of the morning, a melody that’s persistently strumming away in the back of your mind from the moment I first awaken. Maddeningly, I don't always realize what song it is. Sometimes I don't even hear it clearly – and then suddenly the chorus comes crashing in while I'm shaving or the final few chords will be whispered softly as I take a final turn around the house before I leave for work, wondering what I've forgotten to do <em>this</em> morning. Sometimes it's hours later before I figure out what the song is, when I hear it playing on my computer at work while I’m sunk chin deep in paperwork and reports. This is just what happened this morning with the Avett’s beautiful ballad "Murder in the City". As the first chords came out of the tiny speakers, it was like having cold water dashed in my face, and as I listened to the song that I’d been humming all day I was struck by the truth captured in this quiet pop song. Sometimes it's not enough to simply get up in the morning and go through the day taking care of the duties and responsibilities that have fallen to me for resolution. Some days it’s good to wake up and engage a more personal set of obligations, ones we tend to take for granted all too often. I don't want to ever take the <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/robot-jitters/3253317243/"><span style="color:#cc0000;">people in my life</span></a> for granted...not ever.<br /><br />Now watch the video for Murder in the City – this is why I love the Avetts so much…<br /><br /><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NNxoBdMYuC8&hl=" width="450" height="276" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" fs="1" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></div></div>kenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16285739142620247530noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600903541839083043.post-65827903796172672202009-02-03T15:13:00.009-06:002009-02-03T15:46:04.682-06:00…drifting…drifting…and floating around through chocolate bubbles<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAUVqb0oCMeq_Ja1dXvLlDfombOnew1K4ceeb-S1HbgZT4FQyzq8iEghmfThT9CYs1AS6bplO4e7otnUz1HWdLHUeXdcLNZ8Z5NJPtgOLchpVhIA8JCPgxD-d_PedZPJkIIuFw2Klldosp/s1600-h/at.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298686786326778370" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAUVqb0oCMeq_Ja1dXvLlDfombOnew1K4ceeb-S1HbgZT4FQyzq8iEghmfThT9CYs1AS6bplO4e7otnUz1HWdLHUeXdcLNZ8Z5NJPtgOLchpVhIA8JCPgxD-d_PedZPJkIIuFw2Klldosp/s320/at.jpg" border="0" /></a> I may as well admit it - I'm a closet Anglofile with a sweet tooth for for sixties-inspired, super-cute go-go pop. if you have leanings in that direction, let me introduce you to a former chambermaid who is the holder of the musical grail - Angela Faye Tillett . As the bubbly British voice behind the groups Lollipop Train and Death By Chocolate, Angie leads the way through an enchanted world of childlike imagery, bubblegum singalongs, and giddy psychedelia - kinda like the Yellow Submarine on a detour through Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.<br /><br />Angie clearly has a fondness for sweets, which evoke powerful sensory memories for her -- as do colors, letters, breakfast cereal… She recites these reminiscences of pop culture, in the bored voice of a British schoolgirl delivering a report before class, while giddy pop keyboard lines bubble and eddy around her. In addition, she offers '60s spy movie instrumentals, quirky bubblegum psycedelia, and a few unusual covers, including a decidedly twee version of Cat Stevens's "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out."<br /><div><strong></strong> </div><div><strong>Discography<br /></strong><br /><a href="http://www.siesta.es/pags/disco.asp?codigoSiesta=110"><span style="color:#ff6666;">Lollipop Train – Junior Electric Magazine</span> </a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">1. strawberry ?<br />2. i want it now<br />3. junior electric magazine<br />4. johnny shopping<br />5. banana milkshake<br />6. mr. bizarro<br />7. janet´s birthday party (hipster)<br />8. holiday in malta<br />9. theme from "daisies"<br />10. wowie zowie<br />11. presents prizes sweets & surprises<br />12. johnny johnny<br />13. let´s imagine<br />14. variation on a keyring</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.siesta.es/pags/disco.asp?codigoSiesta=136"><span style="color:#ff6666;">Death By Chocolate – S/T</span></a><span style="color:#ff6666;"><br /></span><span style="font-size:85%;">1. mustard yellow<br />2. magpie<br />3. sky blue<br />4. the land of chocolate<br />5. orange<br />6. my friend jack<br />7. daddy's out of focus<br />8. olive<br />9. ice cold lemonade<br />10. the is bumble bee<br />11. a b & c<br />12. red<br />13. rainbow with a underneath & an elephant<br />14. who needs wings to fly? (from the flying nun)<br />15. the salvador dali murder mystery<br />16. if you want to sing out sing out<br />17. is bumble bee (the bee is coming)<br /></span><br /><a href="http://www.siesta.es/pags/disco.asp?codigoSiesta=156"><span style="color:#ff6666;">Death By Chocolate – Zap the World </span></a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">1. vox wah wah pedal<br />2. zap the world chorus<br />3. while i´m still young<br />4. bentley corniche<br />5. cutoutgirlscout<br />6. lime green fitted blouse<br />7. a b & c- part two<br />9. bridgit riley<br />10. artplay<br />11. cinammon grahams<br />12. bibi gin<br />13. the togetherness marriage bureau<br />14. zap the world<br />15. quite quite fantastic<br />16. swinging london<br />17. guru indian takeaway<br />18. john steed swordstick</span></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKw-V3yg4EQavoywEOYU8OSATP0-cHCZM8dRCDhZIVk8-tZnTDFogKT_9_1EcIYct_jaQ5YXvROcijjCHBokslD3FQh2S2NpPGxdw3zI7FPZ8A7RG-TF1R42Xa3QdwoDqYDrlqpc4gMXtJ/s1600-h/Angie+Tillett.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298687238223243698" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 132px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKw-V3yg4EQavoywEOYU8OSATP0-cHCZM8dRCDhZIVk8-tZnTDFogKT_9_1EcIYct_jaQ5YXvROcijjCHBokslD3FQh2S2NpPGxdw3zI7FPZ8A7RG-TF1R42Xa3QdwoDqYDrlqpc4gMXtJ/s200/Angie+Tillett.jpg" border="0" /></a><br />Sadly, Angie must have lost her inspiration following the release of Zap the World (or else she just grew up and got a real job), and so it seems that there won’t be anymore daydreamy, poetic meanderings or pretty little pop songs full of charmingly inspired mania…<br /><br /><strong>Resources</strong><br /><br />Try a little sample – download some <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=4312f0840ad68417d2db6fb9a8902bda"><span style="color:#ff6666;">extra chocolate love</span></a> (a tracklist may be found in the comments)<br /><br />a nice fansite - <a href="http://www.myspace.com/thelandofchocolate"><span style="color:#ff6666;">here</span></a><br /><br /></div><div>here's a video for <em><span style="color:#663300;">the land of chocolate</span></em>...images are from <a href="http://www.flickr.com/search/?z=t&w=all&q=valentine+chocolate&m=text"><span style="color:#ff6666;">flickr</span></a></div><div><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aP-kqYkttCM&hl=" fs="1" width="425" height="344" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed><br /></div><div>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div><div><br /></div><div><em><span style="color:#cc0000;">This is the first of a (hopefully) three part special that takes its inspiration from the three things that have always made Valentine’s Day fun for me: chocolate, pretty girls, and a little bit of romance…I hope you enjoy them all!</span></em></div>kenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16285739142620247530noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600903541839083043.post-3877317154470526492008-12-30T12:57:00.008-06:002009-01-05T08:08:39.163-06:00and he met a Warsaw girl, with lips as red as cherries dipped in wine…<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqqsKE9WHSUmDl73rNvLCC4d2r-z72auCjc5yHxWuR6g5kEXWSJlIQq6aLynbc9d9UoRxUgPoCSm5Rd85GX8TZEKh4jsjRSyAc5xvFBypK5H1KYQYuzUitso4XI8gCHhQXjXyLqDO9CRD3/s1600-h/golem_810_082706.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285662234453579490" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left; width: 320px; height: 240px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqqsKE9WHSUmDl73rNvLCC4d2r-z72auCjc5yHxWuR6g5kEXWSJlIQq6aLynbc9d9UoRxUgPoCSm5Rd85GX8TZEKh4jsjRSyAc5xvFBypK5H1KYQYuzUitso4XI8gCHhQXjXyLqDO9CRD3/s320/golem_810_082706.jpg" border="0" /></a>Starting the new year with a new band to love - what joy…what fun…what bliss…lucky me (and you, too)!<br /><br />Here’s how it happened…<br />I got home last night and was greeted by the sounds of <a href="http://www.xmradio.com/onxm/features/holiday_radio_hanukkah.xmc">Radio Hanukkah</a> – Kelley and Lily had been surfing Direct TV’s XM channels and they had struck gold – fiddles, accordions, clarinets, and trumpets all swirling wildly together like the dream of some mad Dervish…and I had never heard of any of the musicians - <a title="The Klezmatics" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Klezmatics">The Klezmatics</a>, <a title="The Cracow Klezmer Band" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cracow_Klezmer_Band">The Cracow Klezmer Band</a>, <a title="Beyond the Pale (klezmer band)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beyond_the_Pale_%28klezmer_band%29">Beyond the Pale</a>, <a title="Veretski Pass" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veretski_Pass">Veretski Pass</a>, and what has instantly become one of my favorite bands: <a title="Golem (klezmer band)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golem_%28klezmer_band%29">Golem</a>.<br /><br />What do you get when you combine the exotic instrumentation of <a href="http://www.myspace.com/gogolbordello">Gogol Bordello</a>, the frenetic energy of the <a href="http://www.myspace.com/snzippers">Squirrel Nut Zippers</a>, and the instincts of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Django_Reinhardt">Django Reinhardt</a> with the energy of ’77 era punk? You get New York’s <a href="http://www.golemrocks.com/index.php">Golem</a> – a decidedly non-traditional Jewish <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klezmer">Klezmer</a> band. I don’t know a whole lot about them, but here’s the biography from their website…<br /><br />“<span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">Contrary to popular belief, Golem is neither a towering Jewish Frankenstein who defended the Jews of 17th Century Prague, nor a creature from “Lord of the Rings.”<br /><br />Golem is a 6 piece Eastern European folk-punk band.<br /><br />Fronted by Annette Ezekiel Kogan - singer, accordionist, and 5-foot powerhouse; and vocalist, tambourine player, crazy-man Aaron Diskin; violin virtuoso </span><a style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);" href="http://www.myspace.com/brooklynfiddler"><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">Alicia Jo Rabins</span></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">; trombonist extraordinaire </span><a style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);" href="http://www.curha.com/"><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">Curtis Hasselbring</span></a><span style="color: rgb(255, 204, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">; elegant upright bassist Taylor Bergren-Chrisman, and unstoppable drummer Tim Monaghan, Golem’s sound evokes wisps of old-world elegance filtered through the successes and disappointments of new-world dreams. Spending nights in Lower East Side immigrant-owned bagel shops and summers in Eastern Europe, Annette collects Jewish, Gypsy, and Slavic folk songs, and, with Golem, rewrites, adds, edits, and rearranges them along the way. These are the songs to which Eastern European grandparents danced over a century ago, and now Golem has its unwrinkled fans moshing to the same pulsing beats.<br /><br />Unrequited love stories? Check. Drunken dances? Check. Warnings to future sons-in-law? Check. Dysfunctional families forcing kids to sell bagels on the street? Their songs have ‘em all. And they may be in Yiddish (or Russian or French), but when Golem wails that the rent is too high, everybody understands</span></span><span style="color: rgb(255, 153, 102);">.</span>”<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6tofZPaVMHsq3aQhJsZIT0pvOdn0xVnE3aEUBHre9XqL0yU2ENxC_94TpNlmlPaATNh24otbYX0nF_zyaLr-2hgK8Ccxwn3dKuD1JRUdpWj-kV5SplUGqv2f2ZdNbGwgx4ve9D6pDhIth/s1600-h/golem_projection.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5285663335196175106" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; float: left; width: 200px; height: 150px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6tofZPaVMHsq3aQhJsZIT0pvOdn0xVnE3aEUBHre9XqL0yU2ENxC_94TpNlmlPaATNh24otbYX0nF_zyaLr-2hgK8Ccxwn3dKuD1JRUdpWj-kV5SplUGqv2f2ZdNbGwgx4ve9D6pDhIth/s200/golem_projection.jpg" border="0" /></a><strong></strong><br /><strong></strong><br /><strong>resources</strong><br /><a href="http://www.klezmershack.com/articles/aboutklez.html">learn</a> a little more about the Klezmer revival…<br />visit Golem at <a href="http://www.myspace.com/golemrocks">myspace</a>…<br /><a href="http://www.nhpr.org/node/19788">listen</a> to an interview with the girls of Golem…<br />download a <a href="http://www.divshare.com/download/6209980-3db">five-song sampler</a><br /><a href="http://store.jdubrecords.org/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=7">buy</a> their incredible album, “Fresh Off Boat”…<br /><br /><br />watch their great video for Warsaw is Khem…<br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/9KlO2Rc4nR4&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/9KlO2Rc4nR4&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br />Happy Hanukkah (sorry, just a little bit late!)kenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16285739142620247530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600903541839083043.post-73215908932811348152008-12-17T15:21:00.007-06:002008-12-17T16:30:12.161-06:00...kisses, sweeter than milk<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxLONHjFn3trDPm_NLMXTXLl3pnk7xvjzGH3Ze7f2kN723gROFqI5gdSCzhMhShPuGnzn8EQgmJisdoG5VnSQDMxqibeElS95cBoVq1TnosbrYxn_5BS-Lu3DE3FY1BiKunTtuh8207F_q/s1600-h/suzie+5.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280872786186009298" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 214px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxLONHjFn3trDPm_NLMXTXLl3pnk7xvjzGH3Ze7f2kN723gROFqI5gdSCzhMhShPuGnzn8EQgmJisdoG5VnSQDMxqibeElS95cBoVq1TnosbrYxn_5BS-Lu3DE3FY1BiKunTtuh8207F_q/s320/suzie+5.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Sunny-sounding Oh Susanna, she of the girlish giggle and warm personality, likes her literature dark and, when possible, slightly morbid - when she takes you down to the river it's less likely to be about tea and oranges than moonshine and murder.<br />Oh Susanna is actually Suzie Ungerleider, an American-born, Canada-raised Concordia graduate who's upping the ante on '80s cowpunk by taking dramatic inspiration from the sombre songs of the old West, rural Appalachian ballads and the public domain tunes of Americana. And while Oh Susanna is "punk" only in D.I.Y. spirit, there's something decidedly contemporary amid her straight-up strumming and spare acoustic arrangements.<br /><br />From her stark debut, a superb seven-song EP from 1997, through 2003's self-titled gem, Suzie has always made her home in the arms of emotionally searing material. Her fifth and latest album, <em>Short Stories</em>, is no less harrowing, though its inspiration came from a variety of sources, some of them terribly unlikely: Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Carl Sandburg, oral historian Studs Terkel and documentary maker Michael Moore. </div><br /><div></div><div>One of my favorite songs on the album, Filled With Gold tells about the bond between teenaged lovers and their determination to build their life together – like many of the songs on Short Stories, it is concerned as much with what’s not being said. The idea of being young and broke and in love, and that somehow that partnership carrying you through - it's a very romantic idea. A lot of times that doesn't work, but sometimes it does. </div><br /><div></div><div>Elsewhere, she relied on previously published work as a framework for her own lyrics, which are by turns both heart-breaking and heart-warming. The inspiration for Beauty Queen came from a poem by Sandburg, It's a first-person narrative of a girl who married a guy, a brute, and he came at her one too many times, so she knifed him. At the end, she's sitting in prison, defiantly unremorseful.</div><br /><div>Her songs speak of an America that exists down the backroads and blind alleyways frequented by Tom Waits and Neko Case, but Suzie follows her own vision - she tells her stories like no one else.<br />..................<br /><strong></strong></div><div><strong>forever at your feet<br /></strong><em>A locket on a chain </em></div><div><em>a bow that's made from rain </em></div><div><em>a briar grows entwined with rose </em></div><div><em>I've come to be forever at your feet. </em></div><br /><div><em></em></div><div><em>A blossom pages pressed </em></div><div><em>a knocking at my chest </em></div><div><em>Oh winding road please take me home </em></div><div><em>I long to be forever at your feet. </em></div><br /><div><em></em></div><div><em>And I hope that you won't mind, my dear </em></div><div><em>when you see my eyes are lined, my dear </em></div><div><em>It's because I've waited all these years </em></div><div><em>for your kisses sweeter than milk </em></div><br /><div><em></em></div><div><em>and your touch that's softer than silk </em></div><div><em>for your treasures I will be </em></div><div><em>forever at your feet.</em> </div><div><br /><br /><strong><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju1aYcpmKJ0I3Ih_0yWLbix_KEveX626FXDlJMhUIrPE-XuV4f4qQQIDosXCNMs6sw6EJPuwFv2UBFPPAa8ItUjl6FSx8OI1jV2wUKLFw7IYUI22EHDnD3gPSGxWNuSUgXxvtgmGCRw9i5/s1600-h/suzie+3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280875927277323378" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 162px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 200px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju1aYcpmKJ0I3Ih_0yWLbix_KEveX626FXDlJMhUIrPE-XuV4f4qQQIDosXCNMs6sw6EJPuwFv2UBFPPAa8ItUjl6FSx8OI1jV2wUKLFw7IYUI22EHDnD3gPSGxWNuSUgXxvtgmGCRw9i5/s200/suzie+3.jpg" border="0" /></a>resources<br /></strong><a href="http://www.myspace.com/ohsusannamusic">myspace</a><br /><a href="http://www.ohsusannamusic.com/">website</a><br /><a href="http://www.maplemusic.com/artists/osu/default.asp">label</a><br /><br /><strong>discography</strong><br /><a href="http://www.maplemusic.com/artists/osu/disc.asp">Oh Susanna EP (1997)</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.maplemusic.com/artists/osu/disc.asp">Johnstown (1999) </a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.maplemusic.com/artists/osu/disc.asp">Sleepy Little Sailor (2001)</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.maplemusic.com/artists/osu/disc.asp">Oh Susanna (2003)</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.maplemusic.com/artists/osu/disc.asp">Short Stories (2007)</a><br /><br /><strong>similar artists<br /></strong><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gillian_Welch">Gillian Welch</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Edwards">Kathleen Edwards</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neko_Case">Neko Case</a><br /><br /><strong>sample</strong></div><div>download a selection of Suzie’s wonderful <a href="http://www.divshare.com/download/6114057-c93">songs…</a> (tracklist in comments)<br /><br />listen to a couple of newly-recorded Christmas hymns…</div><br /><div><div><br /><object id="mp3playerlightsmallv3" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=" height="25" width="210" align="middle" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000"><param name="_cx" value="5556"><param name="_cy" value="661"><param name="FlashVars" value=""><param name="Movie" value="http://www.podbean.com/podcast-audio-video-blog-player/mp3playerlightsmallv3.swf?audioPath=http://robotjitters.podbean.com/medias/play/aHR0cDovL21lZGlhMS5wb2RiZWFuLmNvbS8xNDgxNy91L29oc3VzYW5uYS1pdGNhbWV1cG9uYW1pZG5pZ2h0Y2xlYXJnb3RlbGxpdG9udGhlbW91bnRhaW4ubXAz/ohsusanna-itcameuponamidnightcleargotellitonthemountain.mp3&autoStart=no"><param name="Src" value="http://www.podbean.com/podcast-audio-video-blog-player/mp3playerlightsmallv3.swf?audioPath=http://robotjitters.podbean.com/medias/play/aHR0cDovL21lZGlhMS5wb2RiZWFuLmNvbS8xNDgxNy91L29oc3VzYW5uYS1pdGNhbWV1cG9uYW1pZG5pZ2h0Y2xlYXJnb3RlbGxpdG9udGhlbW91bnRhaW4ubXAz/ohsusanna-itcameuponamidnightcleargotellitonthemountain.mp3&autoStart=no"><param name="WMode" value="Transparent"><param name="Play" value="-1"><param name="Loop" value="-1"><param name="Quality" value="High"><param name="SAlign" value=""><param name="Menu" value="0"><param name="Base" value=""><param name="AllowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain"><param name="Scale" value="NoScale"><param name="DeviceFont" value="0"><param name="EmbedMovie" value="0"><param name="BGColor" value="FFFFFF"><param name="SWRemote" value=""><param name="MovieData" value=""><param name="SeamlessTabbing" value="1"><param name="Profile" value="0"><param name="ProfileAddress" value=""><param name="ProfilePort" value="0"><param name="AllowNetworking" value="all"><param name="AllowFullScreen" value="false"><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <embed src="http://www.podbean.com/podcast-audio-video-blog-player/mp3playerlightsmallv3.swf?audioPath=http://robotjitters.podbean.com/medias/play/aHR0cDovL21lZGlhMS5wb2RiZWFuLmNvbS8xNDgxNy91L29oc3VzYW5uYS1pdGNhbWV1cG9uYW1pZG5pZ2h0Y2xlYXJnb3RlbGxpdG9udGhlbW91bnRhaW4ubXAz/ohsusanna-itcameuponamidnightcleargotellitonthemountain.mp3&autoStart=no" quality="high" width="210" height="25" name="mp3playerlightsmallv3" align="middle" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /> </object><br /><br /><a style="PADDING-LEFT: 41px; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 11px; COLOR: #2da274; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://robotjitters.podbean.com/2008/12/16/oh-susanna-christmas-hymns/">oh susanna – christmas hymns</a><br /></div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>watch a video for the song "right by your side"</div><br /><div></div><br /><div><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HiTQZS4nPRk&hl=" width="425" height="344" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" fs="1" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></div>kenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16285739142620247530noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600903541839083043.post-19479038526409138552008-12-17T12:39:00.004-06:002008-12-17T16:33:12.858-06:00You can't own a mountain any more than you can own an ocean or a piece of the sky...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPvD4Q7o_e4cYxOLn9PNQz91Lwt1hQuY_Axw1dYNztLEqeVqHUj2dZEDtDrIEi85iKfm0SiRRLw94rFIJEegXXh3Qj68f29Rl60JHO-GN4amJWaAq8k9bYfkZ-laenwZcDpBA3D-9XBHAc/s1600-h/homecoming3.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5280871240811217250" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 181px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPvD4Q7o_e4cYxOLn9PNQz91Lwt1hQuY_Axw1dYNztLEqeVqHUj2dZEDtDrIEi85iKfm0SiRRLw94rFIJEegXXh3Qj68f29Rl60JHO-GN4amJWaAq8k9bYfkZ-laenwZcDpBA3D-9XBHAc/s200/homecoming3.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>You hold it in trust. You live on it, you take life from it, and once you're dead, you rest in it.</div><br /><div>.......................</div><br /><div><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Homecoming:_A_Christmas_Story">The Homecoming: A Christmas Story (CBS,1971)</a> </div><br /><div><br /><span style="color:#006600;">It’s Christmas Eve ‘33 in the Virginia Mountains. The Walton’s await their father whose return is threatened by a worsening snowstorm. John-boy sets out to find his father and in the course of the journey discovers something of the nature of his dad. When his father finally returns, he brings a special gift for his son that reveals an unexpected understanding of the dreams and aspirations that one day will lead John-boy far from the mountain.</span></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><span style="color:#006600;">Graceful yet harder-edged than the subsequent TV series (which ran for nine years), The Homecoming reveals much about the importance of family, of faith, and the strength and closeness that comes through sharing and enduring hardship.<br /></span><br /><em><span style="color:#990000;">“Christmas is the season where we give tokens of love. In that house we received not tokens but love itself. I became the writer I promised my father I would be - and my destiny lead me far from Walton's Mountain. My mother lives there still, alone now for we lost my father in 1969. My brothers and sisters, grown with children of their own, live not far away. We are still a close family and see each other when we can. And like Miss Maime Baldwin's fourth cousins, we're apt to sample the recipe and then gather around the piano and hug each other while we sing the old songs. For no matter the time or distance, we are united in the memory of that Christmas Eve. More than 30 years and 3,000 miles away, I can still hear those sweet voices.”</span><br /></em><span style="color:#990000;"><strong>Earl Hamner, Jr.</strong></span><br /><strong></strong></div><br /><div><strong>resources</strong></div><br /><div>Read Earl Hamner’s wonderful <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Homecoming-Novel-About-Spencers-Mountain/dp/0394419294/ref=ed_oe_h">novel...</a></div><br /><div><br />It’s a sad fact but it’s been YEARS since I’ve seen this on TV, and I honestly can’t figure why it’s failed to become a classic – you might check your local listings, but you probably won’t find it…however, you can order a copy <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Homecoming-Christmas-Story-Patricia-Neal/dp/B0000AQS5E">here...</a><br /><br />and you can watch the trailer for it right here…</div><br /><div></div><br /><div><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oojeQoVedB8&hl=" width="425" height="344" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" fs="1" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always"></embed></div>kenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16285739142620247530noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600903541839083043.post-72137779053116851542008-12-05T16:58:00.006-06:002008-12-05T17:10:52.947-06:00endless drawings, countless sketches on my windowpanes...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS0GY3WMZiUcjMfo72wpgq1R6dQ4g1XelP9HHKxfwLxC2kEQVuvK3uJM9SC0sAkK0RY5DUL5RohG-VtrhuGVIcXaE7_qhjn8S8UTaJLSFKLAhq6XUKhm11OuHuQidkwPzSD5yRN2mSepCd/s1600-h/150551.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276445170698662658" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 316px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS0GY3WMZiUcjMfo72wpgq1R6dQ4g1XelP9HHKxfwLxC2kEQVuvK3uJM9SC0sAkK0RY5DUL5RohG-VtrhuGVIcXaE7_qhjn8S8UTaJLSFKLAhq6XUKhm11OuHuQidkwPzSD5yRN2mSepCd/s320/150551.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>Waterson:Carthy</div><div><strong>Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man</strong></div><div><em>Topic Records (2006)</em></div><div><em>..........................</em></div><div></div><div><a href="http://www.watersoncarthy.com/">Waterson:Carthy</a> – their music is unrepentantly traditional. Folks who prefer their Christmas songs to have a rustic, handmade feel to them will enjoy <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Heathens_and_the_Old_Green_Man">Holy Heathens and the Old Green Man </a>immensely. Given how the same Christmas songs tend to get played over and over again starting earlier and earlier every year, it’s wonderfully refreshing to find that <a href="http://www.watersoncarthy.com/">Waterson:Carthy</a> were able to breathe some life into what can sometimes be a stagnant genre – and they do it, ironically, by resurrecting some material that’s even older than many of the seasonal songs with which we’re so familiar.<br /><br />Now understand, this is not JUST a Christmas album. Yes, most of the songs have a yuletide flavour, some others are hymns sung at Christmas or New Year, but there are songs on here from all year round and it would be more accurate to describe this as a festive, celebratory album. Joining Waterson:Carthy for this festive album are folk trio <a href="http://www.thedevilsinterval.co.uk/">The Devil's Interval</a> and a number of tracks are further bolstered by the inclusion of some brass and cello. Overall, these additions give this disc a wonderfully full rousing sound, a little added depth and a more formal choral quality than is found on most Waterson:Carthy offerings.</div><div><br />The opening track “Residue” (a New Year’s carol), sets the albums tone with authority. A wonderful, rousing, cheery number with a full chorus sung with gusto and good cheer –you just know this is going to be a great album! As ever with Waterson:Carthy, Martin Carthy’s booklet notes give you fascinating insight into the songs and their sources – I wish someone would publish all of Martin’s anecdotes in a collected volume…maybe someday.</div><div><br />There are plenty of highlights: “Reap, Hook and Sickle” with its name check for Waterson:Carthy’s home of Robin Hood’s Bay; “On Christmas Day It Happened So” –Tim Van Eyken at his melancholy vocal best; “Gloryland” –the final track, a beautiful Baptist hymn.<br />However, none of these come anywhere close to eclipsing “Jack Frost” (written by Mike Waterson and sung by Eliza Carthy).</div><div><br />It will stop you in your tracks. </div><div></div><div>It will make the hairs on your neck stand on end. </div><div><br />It will, like Jack Frost himself send shivers down your spine. </div><div><br />Repeat. Play. Repeat. Play.</div><div><br />The long winter nights will just fly on by. </div><div><br />Try a touch of Jack Frost.</div><div></div><div><div><br /><object id="mp3playerlightsmallv3" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=" height="25" width="210" align="middle" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000"><param name="_cx" value="5556"><param name="_cy" value="661"><param name="FlashVars" value=""><param name="Movie" value="http://www.podbean.com/podcast-audio-video-blog-player/mp3playerlightsmallv3.swf?audioPath=http://robotjitters.podbean.com/medias/play/aHR0cDovL21lZGlhMS5wb2RiZWFuLmNvbS8xNDgxNy91LzA5SmFja0Zyb3N0bTRhLm1wMw/09JackFrostm4a.mp3&autoStart=no"><param name="Src" value="http://www.podbean.com/podcast-audio-video-blog-player/mp3playerlightsmallv3.swf?audioPath=http://robotjitters.podbean.com/medias/play/aHR0cDovL21lZGlhMS5wb2RiZWFuLmNvbS8xNDgxNy91LzA5SmFja0Zyb3N0bTRhLm1wMw/09JackFrostm4a.mp3&autoStart=no"><param name="WMode" value="Transparent"><param name="Play" value="-1"><param name="Loop" value="-1"><param name="Quality" value="High"><param name="SAlign" value=""><param name="Menu" value="0"><param name="Base" value=""><param name="AllowScriptAccess" value="sameDomain"><param name="Scale" value="NoScale"><param name="DeviceFont" value="0"><param name="EmbedMovie" value="0"><param name="BGColor" value="FFFFFF"><param name="SWRemote" value=""><param name="MovieData" value=""><param name="SeamlessTabbing" value="1"><param name="Profile" value="0"><param name="ProfileAddress" value=""><param name="ProfilePort" value="0"><param name="AllowNetworking" value="all"><param name="AllowFullScreen" value="false"><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <embed src="http://www.podbean.com/podcast-audio-video-blog-player/mp3playerlightsmallv3.swf?audioPath=http://robotjitters.podbean.com/medias/play/aHR0cDovL21lZGlhMS5wb2RiZWFuLmNvbS8xNDgxNy91LzA5SmFja0Zyb3N0bTRhLm1wMw/09JackFrostm4a.mp3&autoStart=no" quality="high" width="210" height="25" name="mp3playerlightsmallv3" align="middle" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br /> </object><br /><br /><a style="PADDING-LEFT: 41px; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 11px; COLOR: #2da274; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://robotjitters.podbean.com/2008/12/05/jack-frost/">jack frost</a> </div></div><div>.....................................<br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Holy-Heathens-Old-Green-Man/dp/B000IFRR2Q">buy it</a></div>kenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16285739142620247530noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2600903541839083043.post-11512873476817040642008-11-06T10:07:00.008-06:002010-09-24T09:08:15.586-05:00giant robots make me nervous, sometimes<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAudIkohABeLO97TS99NVAsoI7qalidzniuVL3pzIIhNb3hY8ga_xKK1166QLvkvYQg9ytBgS-mF67dmRjI34O2kY1E5NIEfmcRCR1CHk3zl_ThD1roOA3LIAJPkZi91GZBrGdaj8Txvio/s1600-h/giant+robots.png"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266021895473306978" style="float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px; height: 320px;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAudIkohABeLO97TS99NVAsoI7qalidzniuVL3pzIIhNb3hY8ga_xKK1166QLvkvYQg9ytBgS-mF67dmRjI34O2kY1E5NIEfmcRCR1CHk3zl_ThD1roOA3LIAJPkZi91GZBrGdaj8Txvio/s320/giant+robots.png" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT3GYwk0NVsU2OuFUtigdsaYmR6uM6gBG-gHYr-M15Ngi9hSFujJ_dcr0lIhubPz7lZ1ZoOw_LrSgePk65JoLBfh3DeqJ_9jq7_yOq4wfeGsnF5lQim68Bp_QQSKtMMfv3VFA-HVD0DMHS/s1600-h/71598536_96dedc5964_o.jpg"></a>Welcome to the spot in blogland that was once known as "giant robots make me nervous, sometimes." Apparently, Google had been telling me for months that support for my template was about to end and that I needed to update, but their warnings sat unread in my junk folder until one day a few weeks ago - poof! it was all gone...and so I start again. </div><div> </div><div>Honestly, I'm glad for the chance to reboot, as the place had begun to turn into a standard book blog and that was never my intent or desire. Over the coming months, I'll repost some of my favorites essays from the old days (let me know if there's anything in particular that you'd like to see), but I plan on mostly writing about the things that are currently bouncing around in my head - you have been warned.<br /></div><div></div><br /><div></div><div></div><div>...oh, and in case you were wondering about the new title, it comes from a phrase etched into the run-out groove on the Smith's single for "William, It Was Really Nothing." I had planned on using it as the title of an upcoming essay about the band, but I was kinda stuck for a new name and so here we are...</div>kenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16285739142620247530noreply@blogger.com2