Wow, less than a month is left in this year's Discography year, and I have to somehow fit in around fifteen songs (even considering my reckless crimes against rules and math this week). It's been a sad year, but also a great year for music and friendship.
This time next week I'll be visiting the esteemed JS in Florida. As NY was wont to opine on the famous/infamous Tonight's the Night tour: "Pure Miami." This means that I'll be leaving the nano overlords in charge of publishing the Discography. So, if you could get me something by Wednesday afternoon I'll program the system before I head out Thursday morning.
Amy Winehouse, Just Friends, Back to Black, Love Is a Losing Game, Tears Dry On Their Own, Wake Up Alone
OK, so I've gone completely rogue this week, although, strange for me, unintentionally. First off, let me make a prediction: by the time we've finally finished our various seasons of the Discography we'll have championed every song on Winehouse's brilliant Back to Black album. Of course, since I'm featuring half of the album this week I guess that's not that audacious of a prediction. In fact, some of these songs have been celebrated before by Noted Musicologists with a much more expansive musical encyclopedias than me (which adds to my crime); my memory is that GB wrote on Back to Black (as well as I'm No Good) and DK featured Tears Dry On Their Own. Initially, I was going to write on Just Friends, and discuss, clumsily no doubt, what a great affair song it is. There are affair songs that celebrate desire (Lucinda Williams's Right In Time or even Sara Evans's Four-Thirty, which tops my list of Even Nice Girls Get the Itch set list) or hopelessness (Williams's Those Three Days or Minneapolis - or, well, just about any Lucinda song) or even redemption (Kathleen Edwards's Summerlong), but Winehouse's Just Friends does a great job expressing the terrible "logic" of an affair. However, as I was listening to the album again yesterday at the gym what struck me was not simply the beauty of this song on this album, but the power of an album, a true album, as compared to a collection of songs. I've never been much of a fan of greatest hits albums although some of them are actually great albums in their own right, most notably Uncle Tupelo's Discography and NY's Decade (although definitely not the first volume of the Archives). Part of the reason is my own snobbishness in that greatest hits albums are owned by posers who can't be bothered to put in the time and effort to research and own the original albums. However, the biggest problem is that a greatest hits album, by definition, can't approach the narrative integrity of a great album. Marvin Gaye's What's Going On and NY's Tonight's the Night are the two best albums of the 1970s (AARTIK) because they contain great songs but hold together organically (of course, as my son insists, I'm only on social media and, for that matter, I only teach for a living, so that I have a platform to champion Tonight's the Night). Which brings me back to the five songs in the Winehouse album. Taken together, they form a a beautiful and devastating narrative arc. Even at the end, even when her tears dry on their own, the lover is still filling her with desire and dread. And even if you read the entire sequence as a metaphor and the desired lover is drugs and alcohol, it still hangs together.
Oh, and last night I finally got around to watching the heartbreaking documentary Amy (which led to a late night Twitter discussion between Erik Esckilsen and myself about whether we hated her father or her husband more). I came across her recording of Moon River. She was 16 when she recorded this (WTF?!). How is someone that young so self-aware (and at the same time so horribly un-self-aware)?
This time next week I'll be visiting the esteemed JS in Florida. As NY was wont to opine on the famous/infamous Tonight's the Night tour: "Pure Miami." This means that I'll be leaving the nano overlords in charge of publishing the Discography. So, if you could get me something by Wednesday afternoon I'll program the system before I head out Thursday morning.
Dave Wallace
Amanda
Shires - Take on the Dark
Amanda
Shires just put out a terrific new album, To the Sunset. I've
found Shires's previous albums to be OK, pretty standard alt-country
fare. But, To the Sunset is completely different.
More a rock album than anything, it's tough yet compassionate, insightful yet
not brooding. It also has a far broader musical palette than her previous
efforts. The whole album is excellent but, for me, the highlight is Take
on the Dark.
Dave Kelley
Sometimes the best
antidote for the blues is spending time with friends, grabbing dinner and
drinks, and then seeing a cathartic live show. IMHO, The Old 97's are as
predictably great a live act as any band this side of E Street. If
they roll through your hamlet, I urge you to check them out and enjoy.
They have been a band for twenty-five years now and clearly still love every
minute they are on stage. Plus, they are as tight as you would expect from
a band that has played together so long.
Friday some friends
and I saw them at a relatively small venue in Cincinnati. I am
always happy for a week or two when I know I will be seeing them. We
grabbed dinner at a little place next to the venue. Who do we see in the
restaurant eating by himself? Why none other than Rhett Miller the lead
singer and primary songwriter in the band. He could not have been any
cooler. He talked to us for about five minutes and was as pleasant as he
could be. He posed for a picture with my friend Kara (other then being a
great musician, Miller is lusted after by most of my female and gay male
friends.) Kara even asked if he could play a favorite song that
night. He said "We really don't play that anymore, but I am working
on the set list now. Let me see what I can do."
Needless to say, the
show was amazing, and they did play the song!!!!! A great version of the
song that had the place bouncing. I am cheating this week and choosing
two Old 97's songs. The first is the song they played by request.
The second is a staple of their live shows. Both rock in a very garage
band sort of way and are extremely cathartic live. Ladies and
gentleman, from Dallas Texas...……
"Four Leaf Clover" The Old 97's
"Friday Night" The
Old 97's
Phil Seiler
Fantastic
Negrito
Upper
management and senior male anchor harassers notwithstanding, CBS News remains
my preferred source of news for their obvious commitment to good story telling
and diversity in their shows and anchors. CBS SundayMorning used to be
must see TV for me and I still enjoy it when I catch it. However, the Saturday morning
broadcast has become my don't miss show. And one main reason is host Anthony
Mason's clear love of interesting music. They close every show with a three
song set by the artist of the week. They have featured a ton of artists that I
either love (Violent Femmes, Wye Oak, Decemberists) or artists that I wanted to
learn more about. Last week they introduced me to Fantastic Negrito. I'm been
grooving to this album all week. Enjoy the retro jam and let's break out these
chains and burn it down.
Gary Scudder
Amy Winehouse, Just Friends, Back to Black, Love Is a Losing Game, Tears Dry On Their Own, Wake Up Alone
OK, so I've gone completely rogue this week, although, strange for me, unintentionally. First off, let me make a prediction: by the time we've finally finished our various seasons of the Discography we'll have championed every song on Winehouse's brilliant Back to Black album. Of course, since I'm featuring half of the album this week I guess that's not that audacious of a prediction. In fact, some of these songs have been celebrated before by Noted Musicologists with a much more expansive musical encyclopedias than me (which adds to my crime); my memory is that GB wrote on Back to Black (as well as I'm No Good) and DK featured Tears Dry On Their Own. Initially, I was going to write on Just Friends, and discuss, clumsily no doubt, what a great affair song it is. There are affair songs that celebrate desire (Lucinda Williams's Right In Time or even Sara Evans's Four-Thirty, which tops my list of Even Nice Girls Get the Itch set list) or hopelessness (Williams's Those Three Days or Minneapolis - or, well, just about any Lucinda song) or even redemption (Kathleen Edwards's Summerlong), but Winehouse's Just Friends does a great job expressing the terrible "logic" of an affair. However, as I was listening to the album again yesterday at the gym what struck me was not simply the beauty of this song on this album, but the power of an album, a true album, as compared to a collection of songs. I've never been much of a fan of greatest hits albums although some of them are actually great albums in their own right, most notably Uncle Tupelo's Discography and NY's Decade (although definitely not the first volume of the Archives). Part of the reason is my own snobbishness in that greatest hits albums are owned by posers who can't be bothered to put in the time and effort to research and own the original albums. However, the biggest problem is that a greatest hits album, by definition, can't approach the narrative integrity of a great album. Marvin Gaye's What's Going On and NY's Tonight's the Night are the two best albums of the 1970s (AARTIK) because they contain great songs but hold together organically (of course, as my son insists, I'm only on social media and, for that matter, I only teach for a living, so that I have a platform to champion Tonight's the Night). Which brings me back to the five songs in the Winehouse album. Taken together, they form a a beautiful and devastating narrative arc. Even at the end, even when her tears dry on their own, the lover is still filling her with desire and dread. And even if you read the entire sequence as a metaphor and the desired lover is drugs and alcohol, it still hangs together.
Oh, and last night I finally got around to watching the heartbreaking documentary Amy (which led to a late night Twitter discussion between Erik Esckilsen and myself about whether we hated her father or her husband more). I came across her recording of Moon River. She was 16 when she recorded this (WTF?!). How is someone that young so self-aware (and at the same time so horribly un-self-aware)?
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