Discography Year Two - Week 47

OK, this is definitely a light week, and that's entirely my fault. Since the esteemed KA and I put together the mad dash to Michigan (with stops in Toronto and Hamilton) on the fly I didn't really have the opportunity to plan the Discography this week.  Doubtless, we'll have a jam-packed Week 48 this week, even as we plan around Saturday's Four Sport Triathlon.  And with that in mind, I should let you know that I'll be heading down to Miami in a couple weeks to visit the truly excellent Jack Schultz. If the last year has taught me anything it's that you should never put off visiting a dear friend.

Dave Wallace

James - Laid

I recently heard Laid by James, which I hadn't listened to in a long time.  It reminded me how much I loved the song, which dictated its inclusion in today's blog, 

Dave Kelley

"Sonica USA"  Alejandro Escovedo. 

Escovedo has had a long and varied career spanning punk, Americana, traditional Hispanic music, and garage rock to name a few.  He cites the MC5 and The Stooges as huge influences, and he is channeling those artists on his advance single off of his upcoming release.  Thanks for introducing me to this essential artist, GB.

Gary Scudder

John Mellencamp, Jack and Diane

This is definitely an odd week for me because I'm not a John Mellencamp fan. I don't hate his music, but I've never owned any of it and can't imagine I will.  To be fair, this is probably more a reflection of my own tortured relationship with my home state than a commentary on Mellencamp's music.  Certainly he ended up being a much better singer and songwriter than anyone would have ever imagined.  I chose the song this week because of a wonderfully odd and oddly wonderful trip to Hamilton that was part of the excellent KA's and my trip to Michigan to see Sylvie Maple Burkhardt (I can't quite remember the names of her parents, some librarians or something).  We decided to head across Canada on both legs of the journey, which, to be fair, is always my answer.  Since we would be passing through Hamilton, and since I am Vermont's Leading CFL Fan, it made perfect sense to pick up some tickets for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats game vs. the Ottawa REDBLACKS on Saturday afternoon.  I had driven through Hamilton but never made it into the city proper until this trip.  It's a rugged, beat down steel city that has seen better days, sort of a combination of Pittsburgh and Buffalo. Even the Tiger-Cats uniforms are a very Steelers gold and black (I'm going to do some research on their early history because I have a feeling that there are definite connections between Pittsburgh and Hamilton, and that gold and black are probably the colors of some Eastern European secret society).  In the picture below you can see the steel factory and the Orthodox Church which gave the whole city an eerie Deer Hunter feel. The stadium, newly renovated, is packed inside of an old working class neighborhood.  We ended up parking in the driveway of some guy's house. Everybody there was thoroughly toasted before the game ever started, and a ten year old kid collected our money and was clearly the only one responsible enough to hold down that job.  The game itself was fairly uneventful, other than Kevin continually discovered new peculiarities of CFL football.  We saw two rouges, so it was a win.  It was essentially the exact opposite of attending a Montreal Alouettes game, which is played on a university field - and has a bunch of fans who look like they simply ended up with free tickets and figured it was a good place to go before heading to a trendy bar.  Tiger-Cat fans clearly lived and died for their team. Early in the fourth quarter they paused the game for a singalong, and we both had this feeling that they played the same song every time (sort of like the Red Sox and Neil Diamond's Sweet Caroline).  Anyway, it was Mellencamp's Jack and Diane, and the fans sang along lustily.  My initial thought was that these guys clearly had never truly listened to the song, but then I quickly turned it around in my head and determined that they completely understood: that these were the most self-aware and intentionally ironic people in the world.  The line they sang the most boisterously was "life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone."  While my goal is to see a game at every CFL stadium (Toronto and/or Ottawa are up next year) I think you can tell that I'm definitely looking forward to heading back to Hamilton for another game.

Here's a view from the top of the stadium.  In the distance you can make out the huge steel factory that takes up most of the horizon, and up closer you can see the Orthodox Church. I'm not certain you can see the house where we parked our car, but it's over on a cross street behind the scoreboard somewhere.

Discography Year Two - Week 46

It is hard to believe, but this week marks our last Theme Week of the second year of our Discography music discussion. The esteemed Phil Seiler gave us these directions:

"So here is the link to the article that was kicking around last summer:

I wish the list existed as one page rather than 15 pages of 10 each but welcome to the monetized future where even with public resources we cannot have nice things. 

In any case, the challenge of this theme week is to find a song from the album that did not make this list that is a tragedy of epic proportions. As but one example, (And I really should re-verify this list to confirm) but my recollection is not a single album by Suzanne Vega made this list which considering how pivotal she was to the neo-folk movement, is disappointing.

So that's my proposal. Do with it what ye may."

Now, it's the very definition of click bait (and, as I proposed to MK the other night at the Gillian Welch show, we have a click bait president for a click bait age) and, as several of you have pointed out, many of the choices are odd.  That said, I can appreciate it as a teacher; we often choose flawed texts solely to inspire conversation. 

There are some great choices, and consequently it is declared a Week of Excellence.

Dave Wallace

Tift Merritt - Shadow in the Way

Interesting theme for this week, and the list of Best 150 Albums by Female Artists is incredibly comprehensive.  With that said, I did find a notable omission.  I've previously expressed my love for the Tambourine album by Tift Merritt, which is not on the list.  Merritt has made some good albums, but this is easily my favorite by her.  An irresistible mix of country, blue-eyed soul, and pop, every song is great, her singing is superb, and her back-up band is firing on all cylinders.  For today's blog, I've selected album closer, Shadow in the Way.

Kevin Andrews

Imagine my surprise seeing The Roches on the first page of the list. I bought this record when I was 18 and have loved it ever since. Then I noticed it’s placement at #150. This, in the words of the excellent Sanford Zale, is a travesty. Another questionable call is The Spice Girls at #64. I won’t go into it but I’ll just say my daughter was six when this album came out and I heard it more than a few times and even saw their movie. Yes, they made a movie, their tour bus driver was played by Meatloaf. I may be biased against it. 

Lists like this tend to say more about the selectors than the selections. The list isn’t for the most influential or the most popular, it’s the greatest. Of course, this is subjective. You can disagree with the order but most deserve to be somewhere on the list. Several I was pleasantly surprised to see include Patty Griffin, Alison Krauss, k. d. lang, X, Rosanne Cash, Cassandra Wilson (#65, which I’d highly recommend), Rickie Lee Jones, Gillian Welch, and Kate Bush. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, it’s an NPR list after all.

Who is missing? Three artists come to mind, Sarah McLachlan, Shawn Colvin, and Dar Williams. I’ll go with Shawn just because I love this song, Polaroids  from her second album Fat City. She describes the song as a travelogue and it seems autobiographical. She’s joined on the album by a ridiculous cast of musicians: David Lindley, The Subdudes, Richard Thompson, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Bela Fleck, Bill Payne, and a lot more. I’d certainly put it ahead of The Spice Girls.

Alice Neiley

This, my friends, was a difficult theme week. The reason for the difficulty is two-fold. One: the linked list Phil included in his theme description was quite impressive and comprehensive, surprisingly so, as articles like that are usually missing more than a few deserving artists. I was particularly impressed with numbers 1 and 2 on the list -- Joni Mitchell's Blue and Lauryn Hill's Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Yes. Yes. And yes. Two: my main issues with what the article was missing are about artists who are already on the list who have more than one ALBUM that should be there. The list did an excellent job with Joni Mitchell and Nina Simone, for example, by including more than one of their albums. 

However, I would say the list did Patty Griffin a great disservice by only including one of her albums, namely at the expense of Impossible Dream which includes the haunting "Rowing Song" (and I'm alone/all of the way/all of the way/alone and alive) and the ever-accurate and beautifully poetic "Useless Desires" (and the sky turns to fire/against the telephone wire). 

But, surprise surprise, my discography song this week is not Patty Griffin. I figured I'd choose an artist not on the list who absolutely should be: Audra McDonald. I've written about her before here and there, but she's one of the most brilliant Broadway singers in existence. She was trained classically at Julliard, but ultimately decided theater was more her game, and thank goodness. She would have been lovely at arias, of course, but she's even more breathtaking in Ragtime and Parade and a host of other musicals (including a show dedicated exclusively to Billie Holiday). However, it's her second solo album, How Glory Goes, that should be included on this list. Either near or perhaps (gasp) before anything by Barbara Streisand. 

There are so, so many tunes on this album worthy of a discography post ("Bill", "How Glory Goes", "When Did I Fall In Love".....), but since the directions ask for just ONE (seriously, Phil? ;)), I suppose I can abide by that. This is the first track on the album, "Anyplace I Hang My Hat is Home", lyrically about a wanderer, a strong woman who can make her bed anywhere she lands, led by a strong, rich voice that will airlift you into another world. 

Phil Seiler

When I was a teen, one of my main weekend activities was riding around with a couple of other guys listening to music, sipping some beverages, and looking for a place to throw a frisbee around. We had all the conversations you do when you are young, stupid, and still figuring things out. Mostly you lamented why you never had dates which, with the benefit of hindsight, is now fairly obvious. Most of those conversations are lost to time and memory. But one still remains to me. I was discussing some musician or band I was recently into who happened to be female. And our driver for the evening stated "I don't like female singers." At the time it seemed like a simple preference like "I don't like horror movies" or "I can't eat peas". However it stuck in my mind like a thin sliver and eventually I came to conclude that it was a really indefensible position born of sexism and nothing else. One would miss out on so many fantastic pieces of art if they held to this position. What a travesty.

So that was the genesis of this week's theme and the NPR list of 150 albums just gave us a convenient launching off point. Lists are ultimately fruitless as tastes are subjective and there will always be omissions. I don't have any major complaints about the included 150 albums (Okay, maybe the T. Swift.). They are good and worthy. But so many amazing artists are missing. No Neko Case? Jill Scott? Wye Oak? Suzanne Vega? Elizabeth and The Catapult? Aimee Mann? L7? KT Tunstall? And on and on and on...

For my choices, I will return to an artist I have already featured once on this blog and who is in my mind a vastly underrated pop genius. Kirtsy MacColl's Tropical Brainstorm album was to be her last before she was tragically killed in a swimming / boating accident. She had already made a name for herself as the other half of the Pogues duet "A Fairy Tale of New York" and having listened to various covers I can safely say nobody can hold a candle to her version nor would anybody else be such a perfect match for Shane's voice. She also recorded a fair number of super catchy pop tunes that really should have been hits. "Free World", "Titantic Days", "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis". But Tropical Brainstorm was something new. Steeped in the sounds and styles of South America, Kirsty finds a new, exciting backing for her voice and talents. I already featured "Us Amazonians" from this album a while back but the whole album just sparkles with joy, rhythm, and sex. This is the album of a mature woman, unapologetic in her appetites. Just writing that makes me realize how few examples of this we have! Is there any album similar in theme and from a mature perspective on that list of 150? 

I will pick just one song, the wonderfully sultry "Autumngirlsoup". I am too clumsy to write about this song and would probably just spoil it so just enjoy it for exactly what it is.

Dammit. I can't do just one. Enjoy "In These Shoes" too. This was almost a hit. What an eff-ed up world we have that it wasn't in the top ten. Those horns.

Appreciate the whole album as an album because it is a complete piece of art.

Dave Kelley

Kathleen Edwards, Independent Thief

"Independent Thief" is my favorite song off of "Back to Me" which is easily my favorite Kathleen Edwards release.  The fact that she has also served G coffee only adds to it!

Gary Scudder

Neko Case, Margaret vs. Pauline

Well, let me start off with the obvious comment: Dave Kelley is a complete and total bastard.  He completely stole Kathleen Edwards out from underneath me (if only).  To me she's the singer who was most jobbed on this list.  Any of her first three albums are better than 90% of the artists/albums championed on the list. Of course, we can take this all with a tremendous grain of salt since, just as I am Vermont's Leading Montreal Alouettes Fan, I am also America's Leading Kathleen Edwards Fan.  I was tempted to go with a different Edwards song and album, but I stuck to the original directive (because, as my friends can attest, no one follows the rules more assiduously than I do).  Actually, I'm quite happy to choose a Neko Case song (I was also considering Nicole Atkins, but I've written on several of her songs recently so I took a different direction).  I really like Fox Confessor Brings the Flood and Blacklisted (as I've opined in the past, both of them are like living in a David Lynch alternative universe).  In the end I went with Margaret vs. Pauline from Fox Confessor Brings the Flood.  It's one of the great quiet songs about privilege and the general unfairness of life.  As Case sings, in her atmospheric way:

Two girls ride the blue line
Two girls walk down the same street
One left her sweater sittin' on the train
The other lost three fingers at the cannery.

Discography Year Two - Week 45

I'll apologize in advance for the short and uninspired opening (as compared to my weekly lengthy and intensely uninspired opening) this week. I'm way late getting the blog up and running today because I've been running around pestering people for donations for the Zanzibar computer project.  Three amazing students - Anna Matich, Abbey Barr, and Jackie Noborikawa - collected the computers and arranged financing for solar panels and generators, which left Wehmeyer and I to lean on people.  As you know, I'm a timid soul by nature so I'm trying on this more outspoken, pushy personality for size.

Oh, and we're coming up on to another theme week, probably our last one of year two (although it's hard to say, life is unpredictable for those living under the Scudderite junta).  This is provided by the consistently excellent Phil Seiler, who is at this moment living the sweet - although also bittersweet - life in Hawaii:

"So here is the link to the article that was kicking around last summer:

I wish the list existed as one page rather than 15 pages of 10 each but welcome to the monetized future where even with public resources we cannot have nice things. 

In any case, the challenge of this theme week is to find a song from the album that did not make this list that is a tragedy of epic proportions. As but one example, (And I really should re-verify this list to confirm) but my recollection is not a single album by Suzanne Vega made this list which considering how pivotal she was to the neo-folk movement, is disappointing.

So that's my proposal. Do with it what ye may."

Dave Wallace

Linda Ronstadt - Long, Long Time

As I was preparing for next week's theme selection, I saw that a Linda Ronstadt album made the Top 150 list.  In general, I'm not a huge Ronstadt.  She has a wonderful voice, but I don't find her to be a very creative song interpreter.  With that said, I love her version of Long, Long Time.  Just a great, great performance, and the longing in her voice is devastating.

Kevin Andrews

After spending the week writing next week’s entry I’m left with a last-minute-pull-it-out-of-the-air submission. Fortunately, that time included thinking about 150 of the so called greatest albums made by women ever, EVER. This is from #65.

Many years ago while listening to VPR’s Jazz show I heard a cover of a Robert Johnson song that blew me away. You may remember the story of Mr. Johnson selling his soul at the crossroads in exchange for his guitar talents, seems like a fair trade to me. He left us with some iconic songs, this one has been covered by Eric Clapton and David Bromberg at least. Cassandra Wilson’s version of Come On In My Kitchen is the return on Mr. Johnson’s investment where he gets his soul back. Apparently it's not a great as #64 Spice Girls. Hope you enjoy. 

Dave Kelley

"Madman Across the Water"  Elton John

In honor, or more precisely in dishonor, of our own madman who is currently across the water, my selection this week is one of my favorite Elton John songs.  Unlike some of his bigger hits, this one is not overplayed, and I have not gotten burnt out on it like "Candle in the Wind."  I always have had a soft spot for 70's soft rock so this tune is right in my comfort zone.  It is just one of those songs that transports me back to happier and simpler times.

Gary Scudder

Edith Piaf, Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien

OK, I don't know how a person who is an unrepentant film whore (and especially foreign film whore) took so long to watch La Vie En Rose. Obviously, the title song itself, La Vie En Rose is utterly brilliant and inspiring and heartbreaking (even if you speak around two words of French) but I chose Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien. If you, like some fool, hasn't watched the film definitely check it out.  It's not completely true to her life; the film dodged the controversy around her time in Paris during World War II by just having her elsewhere, but it touches upon most of the points that make her life seem like that of a Dickensian character: abandoned, growing up in a brothel, working in a travelling small circus, singing on the street for change, drinking and addiction, being in love with a married boxing champion that ended when he died in a plane crash, etc. Getting back to French or lack thereof, it is amazing how you can not understand a word of the language spoken in a song but not only love the song, but somehow feel utterly connected to it; it's like the first time you listen to the Buena Vista Social Club.

Discography Year Two - Week 44

As hard to believe as it is, we've reached that 44th week of the second year of the Discography music discussion which means that we only have two months left.  At the very least this will get us through the summer and into glorious Vermont fall (one of the few redeeming qualities of living in the #YankeeHellHole).  Another highlight, of course, is going to Lake Monsters games, and I should give a shout out to KA for inspiring us to face the 97 degree temperature to watch the Monsters in a required Event of Excellence. There are three 25 cent hot dog nights on the LM schedule and attending at least one is required for membership in the GOE.  We also have the Summer Four Sport Triathlon to plan . . .

Oh, and we're coming up on to another theme week, probably our last one of year two (although it's hard to say, life is unpredictable for those living under the Scudderite junta).  This is provided by the consistently excellent Phil Seiler, who is at this moment living the sweet - although also bittersweet - life in Hawaii:

"So here is the link to the article that was kicking around last summer:

I wish the list existed as one page rather than 15 pages of 10 each but welcome to the monetized future where even with public resources we cannot have nice things. 

In any case, the challenge of this theme week is to find a song from the album that did not make this list that is a tragedy of epic proportions. As but one example, (And I really should re-verify this list to confirm) but my recollection is not a single album by Suzanne Vega made this list which considering how pivotal she was to the neo-folk movement, is disappointing.

So that's my proposal. Do with it what ye may."

The esteemed PS has also compiled this into a pdf which I'll be sending around.

Dave Wallace

Fairport Convention - Matty Groves

As the song blog nears its end, another omission by me to date that needs to be addressed is a song from the great British folk-rock band, Fairport Convention.  A band that included Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny, they were tremendously influential on a generation of English musicians, but didn't get a lot of traction in the US.  Matty Groves, based on an old English ballad, is one of their best.

Alice Neiley

I had fully planned on writing about Alison Krauss last week, as I'd just attended her transcendent outdoor concert in Ottawa and frankly am still walking on air from it. However, Karen and I decided to go completely insane (as usual, of course) and drive two twelve hour drives in a row followed by a 6 hour drive from Ottawa to Saskatchewan so we could get out to the prairies for part of Karen's twin sister's vacation. So, I didn't post at all last week, and as transcendent as Krauss was/is, I've now become obsessed with something else. 

Well, I guess it's re-obsessed. Ages ago, in 2011, when the world was relatively sane and seemingly compassionate, I made a 7-volume mix CD I entitled "Melt in Your Mouth: Songs One Must Never Skip". It was inspired by a friend who made an 8 volume mix called "Super Delicious"...but I digress. I've been listening to Melt in Your Mouth recently with a substantial amount of sadness and nostalgia for simpler times, but an even more substantial gratitude for friends, music, drawing pencils, books, and lakes to swim in, especially in this tropics-on-crack heatwave. 

Thus, this weeks song choice: "Dimming of the Day" performed by Bonnie Raitt, track number 12 on Melt in Your Mouth Volume 6. Incidentally, track number 13 is the same song performed by Emmylou Harris, because both are equally good and completely different interpretations. It depends whether you prefer a fuller instrumental and vocal background (harmonies and all, some of which sung by Richard Thompson who wrote the song) as well as Raitt's deeper, stronger female vocal timbre, or whether you prefer the angelic Harris with her one guitar (later some simple vocal harmonies sung by Gram Parsons). Both versions pull a person in, both versions melt everything around the soul and leave a person completely exposed, without even sleeves on which to wear the heart. 

Phil Seiler

Carry Me, Ohio

Sun Kil Moon

I post this song with some reluctance. It is a beautiful, haunting composition sung with such earnest longing and regret that I tear up any time I indulge myself in truly connecting to the lyrics and the melody. However, Mark Kozelek is a problematic individual and I don't know what to do about that.

The "separate the art from the artist" problem is real and complex and I vacillate on where I fall. So many great artists (ok, MALE artists) produce(d) amazing work while being absolutely despicable human beings. How do I relate so closely to these pieces of work while being so repulsed by the artist's worldview? In the age of Papaya Pinochet, this seems a first world problem to wrestle with but some times we must take a break from the literal torture of human children to indulge in our own realities. 

So, Carry Me, Ohio is just a gorgeous composition full of longing, regret, and love. "Sorry that, I could never love you back / I could never care enough / in these last days" So simple and so stunningly raw. Enjoy it for what it is.

Cyndi Brandenburg

I know I haven’t posted in a while, so I thought I’d offer up this late entry for the week.  As some of you know, I have been away helping my parents after unexpected surgery for my dad.  And while there were challenges, there was also something strangely comforting, reminiscent, good and grounding, about just the three of us spending our days together (albeit in an independent living retirement community).  

On my last night, I stole away to my sister’s house, and we drank negronis and listened to NPRs Wine & Whine playlist (32 Sweaty Sticky Sings for Your Sweaty Sticky Life).  The song In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel made me especially happy.  There is beauty to be found everywhere in all this life if we look hard enough.  And I’m happy to be back home.  

Dave Kelley

Perhaps the quintessential song about America is "This Land is Your Land" by the great Woodie Guthrie.   I have chosen a cover of the song Bruce was doing live in the 1980's.  I was not alive in the 1930's and was still a child in 1968.  However, I have never been more pessimistic about this country's future than I am right now.  I know the nation as a whole, and certainly not this abhorrent administration, are anywhere close at the moment to living up to the ideals expressed in this song. 

Gary Scudder

Buffalo Springfield, Out of My Mind

As the most musically illiterate member of the Discography family my choices week to week are the easiest to predict: Neil Young or jazz.  Out Of My Mind is a song that I often forget about which is unfair because it really is a great song.  It's also one of those songs which shows why NY eventually left Buffalo Springfield (and Crosby,Stills, Nash & Young - and Stills/Young - he was always coming from, and going to, another place from the rest of the band). Oh, and here's a nice stripped down solo version from the 1968 Live at the Canterbury House recording that was released as part of the first Archives compilation. On the most basic level it's another one of those songs where Young is struggling with the demands of celebrity; he's obviously talking less about insanity (although so much of the early NY publicity connected him to tortured artists like Van Gogh or Gauguin, you just need to look at the cover of his first solo album) but instead about how stardom was consistently taking him out of himself. The seeds of the Ditch Trilogy were sewn early.  I guess this song came back to me as we passed another 4th of July and how utterly conflicted it left me.  It seems that the crimes of the Trump junta, but also my own anger in response to it, is consistently driving me out of my mind in the sense of Young's song.  Marcus Aurelius assured us that there is the peace of green fields, that quiet place, at our core which we can always reach if we understand what really matters.  Lately I've found myself withdrawing from the world more and more and trying to find that evasive peace of green fields, and maybe that's what was behind my conversion a few years ago.  Of course, I'm my own worst enemy because I perpetually create new challenges to keep me busy and out of trouble (think border collie), and then grouse about how my life is too complicated. I've talked before about righteous deeds and how I think they're actually just an endless series of times when you're trying to do the right thing in reaction to the wrong thing (the polar opposite of micro-aggressions). Truthfully, I need to devote more time to little projects like the Yemen blog or bringing computers to Zanzibar and less screaming into the vacuum of Twitter.