Join us this Saturday 9:00 PM at Silvies for Uke Zoologica, a four-string celbration of the animal kingdom. With 14 acts already signed up, this promises to be the best Ukulele Cabaret yet. We Hope to see you there! Thanks to Tony B for sending this track in.
In continuing with Leonard Cohen, here are some of my favorite covers of his songs. Part of what was emotional about seeing the show last night was listening to songs I’ve experienced as very personal in a communal space. For me, it brought home how universal Cohen's subject matter is. The two performers I’ve picked, Jeff Buckley and Antony, understand that Cohen's songs at their best are about nothing less than the human condition, and perform them with appropriate reverance. As a bonus, I’ll throw in “Suzanne” as performed by French chanteuse Francoise Hardy.
Tonight is the long anticipated Leonard Cohen show at The Chicago theatre. The 74 year old bard has been on the road for nearly a year now, with another one yet to go. It will be interesting to compare tonight's show to the one Heather and I saw last year in Toronto, which was the first of the tour. Perhaps he will again open the second set with Tower of Song, accompanied by himself on the Casio.
Tony B hooked me up with this Double Vinyl LP from the terrific Numero Group label. Home Schooled, The ABCs of Kid Soul, a collection of tracks from 1970's kid soul bands is an inspired gift for someone who runs a youth pop band workshop! The album caught my attention right out of the gate with this Kids Rights Anthem "Trust Your Child" from Patrizia & Jimmy
Join us tonight, dear listeners, for an Intonation Music Worskhop benefit at The Hideout featuring local indie stalwarts David Singer & The Sweet Science and Horse in the Sea, both of whom count IMW instructors among their members. Stick around afterwards for a dance party with DJ Solucien and witness yours truly upgrading to 4.0 at midnight.
Today's track is "Mosquito King" from Horse in the Sea's 2007 album I Order The Sun To Shine on Everyone
Like a lot of T. Rex fans, for a long time I overlooked the album Tanx (despite its amazing cover), assuming that The Slider was the last album worth spending time with. Granted, Tanx did mark the beginning of the end of T. Rex. Made in 1973, the very height of the “T. Rextasy” phenomenon, it was the last album recorded with the classic T. Rex lineup, and Bolan’s legendary ego--fueled by brandy, money, and cocaine--was stratospheric by this point. One would assume this would all make for a disaster of an album, but in actuality the louche decadence of the record’s sound is its greatest virtue, perfectly suited for Bolan’s spaced-out lyrical non sequiturs.
John King, Who Made Ukulele Ring With Bach, Dies at 55 By DOUGLAS MARTIN
John King adored Hawaii, though he lived there for only a few years as a boy. The “Hawaiian room” in his Florida home was stuffed with hundreds upon hundreds of hula dolls, leis and other artifacts. He once owned 400 Hawaiian shirts, more than enough to wear a different one every day of the year — which he was proud to do. Is it a surprise that Mr. King played the ukulele?
And boy, did he play that ukulele. His huge hands and stocky wrists darted and danced up, down and across the tiny instrument’s strings in a way that few, if any, players have ever attempted.
Mr. King resurrected a guitar technique from the time of Bach to play a piece that was almost certainly never before tried on a ukulele, Bach’s Partita No. 3, and went on to play other difficult classical works with dazzling mastery. He opened pathways of sound unimaginable to those whose memories of the ukulele involve Arthur Godfrey, Elvis Presley and, of course, Tiny Tim.
The Journal of the Society for American Music last year called Mr. King “perhaps the world’s only truly classical ‘ukulele virtuoso.’ ”
Mr. King’s death at 55 on April 3 at his home in St. Petersburg, Fla., sent shock waves through the ukulele universe, which has widened with enthusiasts now clustering on the Internet and at festivals around the country. His wife, Debi, said that Mr. King died of a heart attack, suddenly and completely unexpectedly.
In one of the tributes that pervade this online universe, Jim Beloff, a leading ukulele player, calls Mr. King’s work in classical ukulele “the finest in the world, and the finest we will ever see in a long time.”
Tom Walsh, a board member of the Ukulele Hall of Fame Museum, said in an interview last week that Mr. King was “adored by the ukulele community,” most of whom faced an inescapable realization: “I could never possibly play like that.”
The foundation of Mr. King’s achievement was reviving a Baroque guitar technique and applying it to the ukulele. The technique involves playing each succeeding note in a melodic line on a different string. The ukulele — which is tuned so that the four strings go not from the lowest to the highest note but instead run G, C, E, A — turns out to be great for doing this. (An illustration of ukulele tuning can be found at theuke.com.) The result is a bell-like quality of sound in which individual notes over-ring one another, producing an effect that some compare to a harp or harpsichord.
“The people Bach originally wrote this music for must have been fabulous musicians, because this stuff is really hard to play,” Mr. King wrote in an essay. “My heart is in my throat whenever I play these pieces in concert.”
In another essay he expounded on the sheer difficulty: “The truth is it’s a crazy way to play the uke; ease of execution is all but sacrificed, subordinated to whatever it takes to get that shimmering, harplike sound. It works for me, because when I play it that way, the ukulele sings.”
John Robert King was born in San Diego on Oct. 13, 1953, the son of a naval officer. The family moved a lot; when John was 6, they lived in Hawaii. His mother took up the ukulele to get a feel for local culture, and John imitated her. He noticed two things: it was difficult, and he had “absolutely no talent.” So he took up the guitar and progressed impressively. He ended up taking lessons from Pepe Romero, the classical guitarist, and Pepe’s legendary father, Celedonio.
He picked up a ukulele occasionally, but not successfully. Then he learned that the diminutive ancestors of today’s guitars were tuned like ukuleles. He tried Bach on the ukulele and was deeply intrigued. He soon commissioned Gioachino Giussani, the Italian luthier, to make a ukulele expressly for classical music. After a decade of practice, he put out a record, including the Bach partita, on his own label in 2001.
Pepe Romero concluded in the liner notes: “The sound of the ukulele is exquisitely well suited for Bach’s music, and I delight in this discovery.”
Mr. King made a second record, again on his own label, Nalu Music. It was music composed in the later part of the 19th century by the members of the Hawaiian royal family, in the decades before the state’s annexation by the United States. Many pieces had not been played for a century.
He also wrote books of arrangements for the ukulele, including works by Mozart, Chopin and Scott Joplin. At his death, Mr. King was working on a book about ukulele history, beginning with its introduction to Hawaii by the Portuguese in the late 19th century.
Mr. King liked to pick his uke at his neighborhood Starbucks, where he said he did not feel nervous, because people had no expectations.
He often said that his fondest desire was to move to Hawaii and live in a shack in the mountains near the beach.
Transa, recorded in 1972, is my favorite album by the legendary Brazilian artist Caetano Veloso. This was the last album he released while living in political exile in London, and there's a bramble of seemingly incompatible ideas clashing on the record: exile, anonymity, hope, memories of Brazilian music, British pop music, lyrics sung in English, lyrics sung in Portuguese. I love how Veloso embraces these contradictions with a celebratory defiance.
On the other side of the universe from these two funkmasters is Neko Case, who gives good advice for those celebrating Earth Day. From her new album Middle Cyclone:
Let's continue our funky-bassist-gone-solo series with P-Funk legend Bootsy Collins and two tracks from his 1976 solo debut album "Stretchin' Out in Bootsy's Rubber Band". Both tracks here lay out a template for the tremendous success of Outkast almost 3 decades later
Heather and I commemorated Record Store day by scooting on over to Recordbreakers on the 2100 block of South State. $10 coupon in hand, we scoured the bins for an hour while some truly abominable bands assaulted our senses with live in-store performances. I came across this sealed copy of Graham Central Station and had to have it. Larry Graham was the bass player for Sly and the Family Stone, and I had heard from many that his solo material was top notch.
We knew we were in for a treat when we threw on side A and the acapella album opener "We've Been Waiting" came at us like some soul version of Bohemian Rhapsody. From that point forward, the album plays like a cross between The Staple Singers, Sly and The Family Stone, and Funkadelic, with some of the most astoundingly hot bass playing ever put to tape (listen to the beginning of "Hair".
“Every Little Bit Hurts,” written by Ed Cobb and originally recorded by soul singer Brenda Holloway in 1964, is one of those songs that just keeps coming back. Small Faces, The Clash, George Clinton, The Jam, and others have covered the song with success, and, like “The First Cut is the Deepest,” the song seems to weather any interpretation that’s thrown at it. I found my favorite version, by the Jamaican group The Rulers, on a MOJO compilation that came out a few years back. As a bonus, I’ll throw in the other Rulers song that was on the compilation, “Wrong Em’ Boyo,” which was also covered by The Clash.
When Phil Spector was initially acquitted in the 2003 murder of Lana Clarkson, I posted Pistol Packin' Papa from Jimmie Rodgers right here on this page. Now that Spector has finally been convicted of the murder, its only right to commemeorate it with "In the Jailhouse Now" another track from "The Singing Brakeman".
New music today from Bonnie Prince Billy, who recorded his latest record, Beware, right here in Chicago at Engine Studios with our friend Neil Strauch manning the boards. Its an ambitious effort, with arrangements incorporating Leonard Cohenish female choral backing vocals, fiddle, banjo, cornet, accordian, manolin, and pedal steel into a sound that blends americana, rock, chamber, and spiritual styles.
BPB's incredibly prolific with his output, releasing a new record every 7 months or so , and like Neil Young and Van Morrison (Pre-millenial), its the sound of BPB's voice alone that draws me in, regardless of the record or its approach.
I listen over and over again to the opening track "beware your only friend", especially in the morning. Don't miss this one!
Speaking of Crazy Hoes(?) I did see "Lez Zeppelin" Saturday night at the Double Door, and well, it rocked. On paper it sounds like a gimmick: 4 women playing Led Zeppelin covers, including a front-woman who is almost as hot as Robert Plant himself ...
And it would be, except they are really, really good at it (though Quickdraw's Robert Plant might still be better!), especially the guitar player Steph Paynes, who makes me think I could have been hearing Led Zeppelin.
But it got me thinking of some other hard playing / hard singing women-fronted bands like 70's prog-rockers Babe Ruth, and Ohio's Heartless Bastards, who played the Bottom Lounge saturday, as well. "The Mountain" is the title track of their new record ...
P.S. Do check out this Babe Ruth video for intense 70's costumes and visuals - esp. around minute 1:30 or so."
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Noir Doo Wop gets the choral treatment on the debut single from Swedish women's choir The Sweptaways' forthcoming sophomore album The Sweptaways Show. Sign Your name
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Unpacking those boxes from storage, I came across the countless mixtapes I made back in the 90's. One of the oldest of these was entitled "Neil Young and Crazyhoes", which alternated Neil Young tracks with those by the plethora of female indie rockers exploding onto the scene in the early 90's...Liz Phair, Bettie Serveert, Sonic Youth, Throwing Muses, and The Breeders to name a few. Tanya Donelly had stints in the latter two before making her bid for pop stardom fronting Belly whose pop confection "Feed The Tree" captured the airwaves in 1993. Today's double daily download covers boths ends of Donnelly's spectrum, from the sugary indie pop of that track to the dark swing of "Honeychain" from Throwing Muses' The Real Ramona. Donnely's rare writing and lead vocal contribution to that band is my pick for best Throwing Muses song ever, despite the fact that half-sister Kerstin Hersh was primary songwriter and frontwoman for all those years.
Here's a couple of tunes to flip your wig! The first track, "Bald Head", from New Orleans Boogie Woogie King Professor Longhair, concerns a poor lass who can't keep her wig on her head. The second, "Give Me back My Wig", is from Chicago Blues legend Hound Dog Taylor, known for his all out two guitars and drums (no bass) sonic assault.
I watched a DVR’d episode of Elvis Costello’s Spectacle the other night and it did not disappoint. Say what you will about Elvis as an interviewer with his need to grandstand over his guests, or his penchant for relating every question asked to one of his own personal experiences, but I think the show and its format are terrific with carefully chosen guests who seem to really enjoy themselves almost as much as Elvis does singing over them.
This episode featured the offspring of famous musicians. Guests included M. Ward & Zooey Deschanel (She and Him) Jenny Lewis (Rilo Kiley) and the subject of this post Jakob Dylan. There was a deep sadness is Dylan’s semi-off interview and performance that has bothered me all week. I have been struck by the actual weight placed on that man’s shoulders considering the sperm that brought him into this world.
Let’s get one thing straight. The Wallflower’s grammy award winning single “One Headlight” is a fist pumping jam. The perfect summer radio hit of 1997 was one part Bob Dylan, one part Tom Petty and perhaps one part Counting Crows (!?) with an anthemic chorus so plaintive and enthusiastic it’s virtually impossible not to sing along with it. The Wallflowers then went four years without recording anything only to follow up with a handful of post-millennium material that was largely ignored. So what happened? Where did he/they go and why did Jakob Dylan stop putting out music after such a promising start?
Dylan’s new LP “Seeing Things” features stripped down guitar/vocals production and lays his songwriting chops and sandpaper voice on the table. During the Costello interview he speaks candidly about "no longer being able to keep up" with the comparisons and resisting the urge to distance himself from his father which he has done for so long. Perhaps this is the only thing you can do when you’re Bob Dylan’s son and you want to be a musician? Resistance is futile.
The song he plays with Elvis “On up the mountain” is the perfect track to sum up the interview and the emotional state and direction he’s headed in as he not so much comes out of his father’s shadow but allows himself to be comforted by life inside it. In the live performance his voice was a little off and his guitar was slightly out of tune, but there’s a Landslide-esque beauty to this track that makes it hard to deny the DNA double helixing inside this guy’s body.
In other news the rendition of the Clash’s “Straight to Hell” they do together is one of the worst covers of all time.
There’s a certain kind of sad-bastard-in-a-bar song that I really love. I sometimes fantasize about owning a dive bar with a jukebox filled with old forty-fives, and if I did, I would definitely have more than a few sad-bastard-in-a-bar songs on there to cue up as closing time approached. These songs would be about country music themes like unrequited love and drinking, or, in the case of the Del Shannon song I’ve posted below, both. It would be a grave injustice to do this post without including something by Lee Hazlewood, who may well be the patron saint of sad drinkers everywhere. So many Hazlewood songs fit the bill that it’s tough to choose one, but I’m going to go with “After Six” for the laconic perfection of its deadpan lyrics.
Last weekend was spent Spring cleaning and getting ready for the QD to move in. In the process, I came across many boxes still unpacked from my last move, over two years ago. The first thing I found was all of my CD's and a five disc changer. After 2 years with LPs only in the living room, I hooked up the player and threw on one of the long packed CD's- Elliot Smith's Figure 8. I had nearly forgotten about the album and what a gem it is. It also turned out to be the perfect house cleaning soundtrack.
In 1997 Ween went to Nashville and hired that town's legendary session musicians (Charlie McCoy, Bobby Ogdin, The Jordanaires etc.) to make 12 Golden Country Greats, an album that captures the sound of the golden age of country music while still including Ween's usual trademark collection of lyrical themes ranging from gay pool parties ("you were the fool"to drug abuse "Help me scrape the Mucous off my brain", and more. The finest moment on the album comes in "Powder Blue" when the band gives an old-fashioned vocal introduction to each musician, followed by a short solo from each. The last introduction is for none other than Muhammad Ali, which is followed by a lengthy rant from the boxer recorder earlier in his career. Apparently, Ween was denied permission to use the clip, but Elektra accidentally released it anyway in the first pressing, then deleted it from all future versions. I had that version in my collection at one time, but alas, I've misplaced it and cannot find it anywhere on the web. If any of you have it, please send it to me, I'm dying to have it!
Instead, please enjoy "Japanese Cowboy" until we have the Ali clip for your listening pleasure.
On the occasion of Sub Pop's Re-release of Red Red Meat's Bunny Gets Paid, the band played a couple of shows at the Empty Bottle this week. Cautioned by memories of the occasional snoozefest watching the band in that venue back in the nineties, I decided to walk down to the corner and give it a go. The show was terrific, the band on task and focused for the most part, with disjointed silverware scraping sound collages kept to a minimum. There were many sweet spots during the show, when Tim Rutili's bluesy art rock slide work and Brian Deck's floor tom heavy just-behind-the-beat drumwork locked in to create the perfect demented blues blend. One such moment was during "Chinese Balls", from the band's last album, There's a Star Above The Manger Tonight.
This Doris Duke song is sadder than a thousand dying dogs. I found it on one of legendary British soul expert Dave Godin’s “Deep Soul Treasures” compilations, and it’s a perfect example of the deep soul genre. The narrative goes from bleak to bleaker, detailing the hardships of a former millworker who turns to prostitution. The vocal performance is an absolute killer, almost scary-authentic, and I love how the spare instrumentation turns lush during the chorus. If you like this, the I’m A Loser album pictured above is definitely worth checking out.
Most beach vacation spots have that perfect island tinged soft rock station to provide the getaway soundtrack, and Miami is no exception. I heard this one on my way to pick-up QD from the airport and was immediately struck by the thought that Jens Lekman stole it wholesale for his "The Opposite of Hellelujah", one of my faves.
The song "Give Me Just A Little More Time" is from Detroit Soul outfit Chairmen of the Board, and it hit #3 in 1970.
I’m pretty obsessed with this David Bowie cover of the Velvet Underground classic “I’m Waiting For The Man.” Like the best covers, it allows you to experience what it’s like to hear a canonized song all over again as Bowie truly makes the song his own. I love how he adds texture to his interpretation by employing both the laconic cool of the original and his own glam swagger--the move from the former to the latter makes for an irresistible build. While we’re on the subject, I’ll throw in another of my favorite Velvet’s cover, this one of “Femme Fatale,” by Big Star. Here, Alex Chilton utilizes the same aching innocence you hear on the band’s classic song “Thirteen.” Whereas the original comes off with sneer, Chilton’s ache here brings out the unrequited love lurking beneath the song’s accusations.
The Replacements released this toss off country punk curiosity in 1983, just a year before masterpieces Let it Be and Tim would come ut in quick succession. The liner notes state that is was recorded"Oct 82-Jan 83 in a warehouse in some godawful suburb north of Mpls." The album features everything from a Beatles Parody "Mr. Whirly" to a verbatim want add "LoveLines", to a throwawy on which the band all switch instruments (opening title track).
Towards the end of his life, Cool Jazz legend Chet Baker made a guest appearance on an Elvis Costello's 1983 album Puch The Clock to play the trumpet solo on "Shipbuilding". Just a few years later, Baker would record this version of Costello's "Almost Blue" for the academy award nominated documentary film Lets Get Lost, released just months before Baker would be found dead after falling out of his second story hotel window in Amsterdam in 1988. Baker struggled most of his career with heroin addiction, and his delicate, withered vocal performance here tells the whole story.
New music today from M.Ward, one of my favorite artists. The album title Hold Time perfectly describes the timeless quality of the man's music, which could have been recorded in the twenties, yesterday, or anytimne in between. Sure, this effect feels a little too contrived at times, but overall, his records have a lush and lovely sound with terrific guitar playing and great songwriting too.
Vinyl lovers are going to want to drop coin on this one. The packaging is stunning and it comes with a free download of the album too. Galpal and She and Him cohort Zooey D. joins him on this catchy track.
The mercurial Slim Smith (born Keith Smith) was rumored to have bled to death at the age of twenty-five from a hand wound caused by smashing out a window. Others say he simply committed suicide after a rocky sojourn in a sanitarium. Regardless of his early demise, Smith is undoubtably one of the great vocalists in Jamaica’s considerable musical history. His unique, raggedly intense falsetto stands out even when Smith sings, as he sometimes did, as a part of a vocal ensembles like the Victor Youth Band and the Techniques. My two favorite solo tracks of his are “Please Stay,” and his cover of the Curtis Mayfield song “Gypsy Woman.”
I've been digging on this track Paper Planes from M.I.A.'s second album. The song, also featured in Slumdog Millionaire and Pineapple Express, uses a sample from the Clash's Straight To Hell from Combat Rock as its main basis. Paper Planes
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Here's a nice little ditty that Sherm brought to Hayward rehearsal last night. Real twangy in a Steve Earle kind of way. I resolve to learn it to play to my niece Katie when I go east to visit in April.
At a dinner party this last weekend, we discussed top concerts through history that we wish we could have attended. Berthy suggested early seventies Parliament/Funkadelic, and I had to agree that P-Funk would be a top choice, especially during the Mother Ship Connection/Dr. Funkenstein era. Check out this clip from 1978 and imagine attending.
Today's track is from Funkadelic, the funk rock side of George Clinton's musical empire. The track is from the band's 1971 album Maggot Brain, and has a rock/gospel tinged groove that brings to mind music from The Staple Singers and the Band. I Dig the interplay throughout between all the voices, especially, the baritone lead in the third verse.
Today I’ve got my two favorite covers of the Beatles song “And I Love Her.” The first, from Os Mutantes member Rita Lee’s first solo album, is definitely the grower of the two. Lee gives a full-throated, sci-fi cabaret treatment to the song that’s a bit shocking at first, but ultimately insanely winning. While David Bowie is watching the cruisers below, he should be listening to this. The second cover comes from a young Bob Marley, who turns the pop song into a deep soul number by pouring his heart into it. Without losing the sweetness of the song’s underlying sentiment, Marley sings it almost like a lament. He aches, but with what pleasure.
Swiss electronica Band yellow is probably best known for "Oh Yeah", which has been used in countless films, most notable Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Their 1983 album You Gotta Say Yes to Another Excess was a staple in my high school soundtrack. The single "Swing" falls somewhere between The Sparks and The Cure's Love Cats, released the same year.
Start your weekend off right and join Hayward Bluegrass for Honky Tonk Happy Hour from 6-8 PM tonight at Uncommon Ground at 1401 W. Devon. Don't burn the place down, though, k?
One doesn't think of the Everly Brothers exploring their psychedelic side, but sure enough, there they are on cover of 1967's Roots wearing love beads, frilly neo-Victorian sleeves, and pants that surely would've looked at home on Carnaby Street. This wasn't just about fashion, though. In the late sixties, the Brothers Everly churned out some oft-overlooked masterpieces of psychedelic folk up there with the best of the era. Check out their re-make of their early hit "I Wonder if I Care As Much," and "Lord of the Manner." I love the marriage of pop perfection that brought Don and Phil fame at an early age with the expansiveness of an out sixties soundscape, and wish there was more of this to go around.
After playing holiday songs, Chicago Blues, motown, and obscure movie tunes for the past several months, teen band Trace's guitarist Elijah is ready to get back to his first love-classic rock. Maybe Back in Black...or Voodoo Chile...or Paint it Black...or Sunshine of Your Love. When we brought Cream's SOYL in to play for the band, they roundly voted it down. So I went in search of an R&B version of the song to sneak in some cred on Elijah's behalf. The only two I could find were Bobby McFerrin's insufferable acapella take and this curiosity from Ella Fitzgerald, a late career effort to get hip to what the kids were listening to in 1969, the year of its release.
The World of Garage Rock lost one of its strongest voices last week as Cramps Lead Singer Lux Interior died at the age of 60. Apart from holding one of greatest stage names in the history of music, LI was a pioneer in blending punk and rockabilly into a new genre which would become psychobilly. The band took the rockabilly and surf guitar sounds of Link Wray and Dick Dale, and fused them with early garage bands such as the Sonics to create a sound that would influence countless bands. Both The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and the White Stripes built on the sound by mixing it with the blues idiom to create the punk blues genre that would become popular in the late 90"s.
1984's Bad Music for Bad People is a stone cold classic, and a must for any record collector.
Though less celebrated than Joe Strummer, ex-Clash co-mastermind Mick Jones went on to a distinguished career with Big Audio Dymanite after being ousted by his bandmates post 1981's Combat Rock. B.A.D furthers expands on the third world dance floor sound that the Clash explored on Sandanista, and to great success. Included here are two tracks. The first is The Bottom Line from the 1985 debut This is Big Audio Dynamite, a dancefloor anthem for tough economic times. The second is Rush, from 1991's The Globe...see if you can spot the Who Sample. If I were a DJ, I would bust these both out from time to time.
Today I've got some reinterpretations of Jamaican dub from the early eighties. First up is the Clash's "Shepherd's Delight," which comes from their sprawling 1980 album Sandanista. I never get tired of the mix of sounds here, especially the one that sounds like the squawk of a baby dinosaur. "How Much Are They?" is a solo effort by Can's legendarily eccentric bassist Holger Czukay. There's a Can documentary I saw once where Czukay gives up the bass to play an assortment of what appear to be ham radios. The rest of the band members sort of shrug, maybe because occasionally his knob-twiddling produced something as singular as this. As a bonus, I'll throw in something closer to the source: "Justice to the People," from Lee "Scratch" Perry's album The Upsetter. Dub Interpretations
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
New music today from Antony and the Johnsons. Like Patti Smith, while I really love Antony in theory, he's not always easy to listen to. I like this track quite a bit though, and a title like that requires a listen! Also, I'm taken with the lyrics:
Epilepsy is dancing Shes the Christ now departing And Im finding my rhythm As I twist in the snow
All the metal burned in me Down the brain of my river That fire was searching For a waterway home
I cry glitter is love! My eyes pinned inside With green jewels Hanging like Christmas stars From a golden vein
As I came to a screaming Hold me while Im dreaming For my fingers are curling And I cannot breathe
Then I cried in the kitchen How Id seen your ghost witching As a soldering blue line Between my eyes
I cry glitter is love! My eyes Pinned inside Sea green jewels Hanging like Christmas stars From a golden vein
Cut me in quadrants Leave me in the corner Oh now its passing Oh now Im dancing
Fans of Blue Eyed soul should pick up the 1974 debut album Sneakin' Sally Through The Alley from Robert Palmer. Best known for his 80's supermodel megahit Addicted to Love, SSTTA has a less slick, more organic sound, with RP backed by the Meters, Little Feat's Lowell George, and Allen Toussaint.
Produced in the early seventies, the Sparks song “Fletcher Honorama” strikes me as a loving parody of some of the excesses of early sixties psychedelia: it isn’t much of a stretch to imagine Syd Barret singing this song while being chased by a giant lobster wearing a monocle. Like the best parodies, the song is more than strong enough to stand on its own, and creates its own sort of parallell universe where wit isn't absent from the fifth dimension. Fletcher Honorama
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