‘Tis about that time so let’s launch Festive ‘Spill 2010. Continuing the tradition established by the late, great John Peel, when we sort out our fave tunes of the year to listen to over the festive season.
Quick reminder of how to play The ‘Spill version:
- Each ‘Spiller (or RR lurker) can nominate 3 songs.
- Songs should be new releases from 2010 (or late 2009). If you don’t have any faves from this year, you may pick 3 tunes that you think are fitting for the occasion. Please be clear which pick is which (#3,#2 or #1), as we playlist everyone’s choices countdown stylee, a few days before Christmas.
- Send your nominations to shoemail@earthlink.net. Your e-mail should contain URL links to actual mp3′s (You can use your private folder in Dropbox; Don’t use the RR folder as this will spoil the surprise.). Please leave the files there until you get a confirmation from me that I’ve got them. If you are fearful or inadequate with the technology, just send me a list of picks and I’ll see what the elves can do.
- Nominations are on a first come, first served basis. So vote early. If one of your picks is taken, I will e-mail you back so you can make another one.
- Now that we’ve done this twice before, it is now an official ‘Spill tradition. Please take part if you can.
Adam Haworth Stephens – The Miles We’ve Marched
Following Dylan last week, here’s the harmonica heir apparent. Stephens (one of Two Gallants) may just be the best songwriter going, although his latest is mostly lame. This song (about gay rights?) is from the stark, gut wrenching Vile Affections EP that was sold mostly at concerts and is sacrilegiously out of print. It is a rare flawless album. – tincanman Patsy Gallant – From New York to LA
Sometimes, a ‘Spiller wants to feel fabulous, when I want to strut my stuff swaggering down the street and random choreographies take place around me, this is what I put on these days. (For all disco aficionados around, I strongly recommend the Disco Discharge series of compilations. This is from the, er, Pink Pounders volume, but there’s a little for all disco tastes.) – ejaydee Buick 6 – Statesboro Blues
Buick 6′s take on Blind Willie McTell’s Statesboro Blues claims to be a live recording, but I don’t think so. Unusual rhythm for a blues; the National slide pushes it along, and the mandolin is applied judiciously. All the bits hang together well, and no-one gets ahead of himself. Roger Hubbard, main man, opened his own blues club in Lewes at 18, and booked both Jo Ann and Dave Kelly, as well as Tony McPhee. Good people to learn from, evidently…. – williamsbach Richard Thompson – Here Without You
I was a bit miffed when derwic said, in motorbike week, that RT’s voice wasn’t all that… so here he is, harmonising along of Christine Collister and Clive Gregson, on the Byrds’ Here Without You. (Much better than the original!) – treefrogdemon Sugar – If I Can’t Change Your Mind
Because it’s an early-90′s US alt-rock classic and has been on repeat on my i-pod for the last few days. – panthersan Guy Clark – Black Diamond Strings
I came across this song at the ‘No Depression’ website, on Guy’s birthday. I played it once and found myself paying close attention to the lyric. Then I played it again. Then a third time. More plays followed in quick succession. I couldn’t seem to stop going back to the beginning. Something about that tune – it’s so familiar it could almost be the palm of your hand. It sounds like a Hank Williams tune or a Gram Parsons lyric, but a fresh one. I’ve always rated Guy Clark, who I learned about through listening to Townes Van Zandt from a very young age. For a long time, I thought Townes was better. After listening to Guy’s ‘Dublin Blues’ album so much recently, I am beginning to wonder. One of the best storytellers ever to pick up an acoustic guitar. – notsosourpus
earworm@tincanland.com
Now, in true Maki style, I had an idea the other day and before really thinking it through, suggested the possibilty of doing Christmas earworms for the 20th December post. They should, of course, be songs that you like but they don’t have to be songs that like Christmas. I’ve got two in the hamper – thanks Mitch and Bishbosh – let’s see if we get enough for a full post!
after the jump a few tracks from 2010 – really wouldn’t bet my life on them being strictly on theme – reasons for arguing/ disagreements and a bit of a tiff maybe.. but a proper full blown argument on vinyl- not really.
just thought a playlist from this year keeps me from repeating myself – do hope you enjoy.
if you fancy some more there is an argue BOX down the side of the sane asylum
that really completes my self indulgence.
Just over a year ago, I had to choose between the RR Northern Social in Leeds, or a gig by The Unthanks at Halifax Parish Church (now Halifax Minster). Whilst I’m glad I decided to go to The Pack Horse for a fine evening of drinking and chat, I did retain a touch of regret that I’d missed a rare chance to hear some modern music in a very different gig environment.
Well, WOO-HOO! I’m going there now in January. Sneaking a second advance pass from DarceysMam in the same month, by the underhand ruse of me and DarceysUncle buying each other a ticket for our respective birthdays before Christmas, I will be spending the evening of Friday 21st January 2011 finally getting to see I Am Kloot.
I just realised that this record is almost 20 years old. Staggering. Was it really twenty years ago that the band I was then an enthusiastic part of released this as a single? Most of us had already been playing in bands for more than ten years by the time of its release. We felt like veterans. Seems funny now.
Quite an uncharacteristic song for us – we normally always went for a more ‘classic’ sound, not so poppy. But our manager was ambitious for us, wanted a hit single – so we attempted to oblige. Our overall goal though was to carry on making records that would still sound good 20 years later. We almost got there. Almost.
I heard this on the radio, and it seemed, lyrically, to be banishing the song I’d had in my head for weeks. And I like it! But guess what’s stuck in my head now?
I should write a long diatribe about how good this is, but being musically illiterate that is a non-starter, all I want to say is this is Blue Note at its finest provided by tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson.
Accompanying Joe are such BN heavyweights as Lee Morgan (trumpet), Curtis Fuller (Trombone), Bobby Hutcherson (Vibes), Cedar Walton (Piano), Ron Carter (Double Bass) & Joe Chambers (Drums).
Recorded in 1966, this is straight ahead groovy jazz, with everyone putting in stellar performances. From ‘A Shade Of Jade’ to ‘Free Wheelin”, there is not a duff track on this album.
Have a listen whilst admiring the fab Reid Miles cover …
I still have an massive soft spot for stuff that looks and sounds like it was on the Chart Show Indie Chart in the early 90s (as you know), so it was more than a pleasant surprise when one of my fave bands came out with this new video. They’re called Ringo Deathstarr, and I defy you all to give me an example of a band with a better name that that.
My latest post-jazz post features a French based, Korean singer whose new album is doing well in the French jazz charts (though it received a lukewarm reception in the Guardian).
It’s de rigueur for post-jazz artists to cover grunge or metal hits, and I think Youn Sun Nah delivers one of the best recent efforts, stripping this song back to its skeleton to focus on the quite decently creepy lyrics, and indulging in some tasteful Purim-esque screaming midway through.
Emily Portman – Two Sisters
Is there a more bewitching instrument than the harp? There’s magic in Emily Portman’s take on a traditional ballad of sororicide, revenge and unconventionally manufactured musical instruments. See if it doesn’t melt your own heart. – barbryn Roachford – The Way I Feel
Why do I love/hate it so much? Andrew has always had a voice and way with phrasing that (to me, anyway) sounded authentic. Chuck in a decent tune, and some faux-gospel backing vocals, and you have a “pleasant” song which could hit on any of us. So I like it. But from the 3min mark on, I BLOODY WELL LOVE the guitar solo, and BLOODY WELL HATE the producers that first buried it in the mix, and then cut it off in full flow. – darceysdad Bob Dylan – If You See Her, Say Hello
Bob’s not usually the best person to break up with if you want to come out of it well when he writes a song about you, but this is an exception. This is so good, in fact, it makes you want your currently blissful relationship to end so you can experience exactly what he’s singing about, right down to travelling around from town to town and telling people that your now ex is welcome to “look me up if she’s got the time.” – May1366 Jo-El Sonnier – Vien Dans Mu J’oin
This is a bit of cajun (as far as I can tell, to be Zydeco, the artist has to be black). I think it’s a really good “feel good” instrumental that you can’t help smiling to. – rockingmitch Regina Spektor – Fidelity
In a lot of ways, this is not my thing, musically. Not at all. But I love it and it makes me weepy every time, and it’s currently lodged in my brain. If I could do anything as well as Regina Spektor writes a song I’d be a happy woman. – steenbeck Chet Baker and Gotan Project – Round Midnight
I have 49 versions of this tune in my iTunes folder [for reasons previously mentioned here] I think this is one of my favorites, it got more airplay than most. I love the way Gotan Project have fused Chet’s original solo with street sounds and an accordion to create a totally new piece. – goneforeign
OK, here’s the beginnings of chapter one. I asked Maki to give me his list of instructions for posting music and then I added my thoughts and re-wrote it all, hopefully in a manner that’s foolproof. I’ve tested this and it worked. If this is acceptable we’ll continue and add instructions for posting titles, artists, pictures, videos, youtubes, text, links etc, plus posting links, pics and music into the comments area. For the benefit of potential new users or current ones who’re not clear about Dropbox I thought it would be helpful to start there.
Before I start to try to do a posting for the Spill I find it useful to place all my MP3 music cuts, JPG pictures and pre-written text into a labeled file on my desktop, it makes it easier later on. There’s another advantage to this, you’ll be copying & pasting http code for each cut into the ‘new post’ page at WordPress, it’s handy to also paste it into this folder for reference in case you need to come back to it, WordPress has been known to cause frustration by occasionally not not playing by the rules and it’s handy to have those html codes handy if you need to start over.
Begin by registering with Dropbox, [https://www.dropbox.com/home#:::] thereafter you’ll be asked to log in. You can upload music to Dropbox and anything you upload will be kept in your ‘My Dropbox’ file, next to that you’ll see ‘Public’: to use music on the Spill you need to have it in the Public folder so transfer it from your dropbox into Public. If you’re considering multiple cuts it’s a good idea to keep them in a labeled folder.
Having got this far, now click on one of your titles in Dropbox and you’ll notice a blue downward arrow off to the right, click on this and you’ll see a dropdown menu that has ‘Copy Public Link’ as one of it’s options, click on this and a window will open that contains a line of http code with an option to ‘copy to clipboard’, do so.
Now open WordPress [you may be required to log in] and on the left you’ll see a column that includes ‘Posts’ and below it ‘Add new’, click on that. A window will open that contains a rectangle with ‘Visual’ and ‘HTML’ at the top right corner, choose HTML. Now is the time to decide how you want your post to look, ie the placement of text, pictures and music, for now lets say that the music player goes at the bottom and you’re only having one tune. Type
If you now click on ‘Preview’ [top right] you should see a player icon situated at The Spill which if you click it should play your tune!
If you want to add more tracks:
1. Do not close the player – ignore the bit about closing the code with another square bracket.
2. Place a comma and a space after the first code.
3. From the public folder in Dropbox click your second piece of music and repeat the instructions above re. copying and pasting it into WordPress.
4. Paste it immediately after the comma after the first code, add a comma and a space and repeat ad-nausium ’til you have all the music cuts pasted.
5. When you have added the last html code don’t add a comma, just close it with a square bracket.
6. For 5 cuts it should give you a player that looks like this:
All these commas, spaces and square brackets are crucial, miss any one of them and you’re doomed to failure.
Carrying on from last week’s EoTWQ – it seems a lot of fellow ‘spillers would like some sort of instructions manual in order to make posting here a little easier. I for one am missing names I was used to seeing and their posts, which I was used to enjoying before we moved over here. Now, GF (he of the delusions of grandeur) and I (no less so, in that respect) have had an idea. We want to put together a guide to how to post on WordPress. The idea is very simple. Someone who seems to find it very easy (me) is going to send poorly written instructions to someone who finds it infuriatingly complicated (GF). GF is then going to try using those self same instructions and let me know just where the pitfalls lie. We’ll clear up any doubts / grey areas and then come up with a foolproof guide (we hope). This is obviously going to take time but we want to do it a) because we care about the ‘spill and b) because we think it could be useful.
We’re going to start with the music player. Part one will be on how to put together a player just with songs. Part two will be how to put song titles and artist names into the player. We’ll probably move on to how to put pictures into posts and comments.
So, any further requests?
And one from us: Blimpy once we’ve sorted this is there anyway that these guides can be made available on the sidebar?
Well I suppose it serves me right for volunteering my services to Blimpy …
I was not alone in being surprised and delighted to learn that The ‘Spill is now offered music to review, but being asked (for once) to put my money mouth where my mouth is gave me a bit of a moment, I can tell you. I hope I carry out my duty to the required standard!
St. Thomas is the new album from The Scottish Enlightenment, a four-piece from Fife. I (unsurprisingly) had never heard of them, but our curator-in-chief Dropped me this bunch of songs with the open-ended invitation of “I remember that you’re an Aereogramme & similar fan … if you want to give [TSE] a ‘Spilling …”
OK, so I was intrigued enough to take the bait, and played the album through a couple of times. Then again the next day. Then burnt it to CD knowing I had five hours to come in the car the following day (it stayed on the whole time). Then on my return home on Thursday night, I even played it again DURING the RR MFF. So before you go any further I reckon you can see I was either (a) taking my responsibilities as reviewer far too seriously, or (b) I like it a lot.
The correct answer is definitely (b). So how do I put that into words well enough to convince some more of you to seek it out? Well, adding a link to at least one song would help, but as I keep saying, that part of posting on WordPress continues to frustrate me. Maybe Blimpy will add something in as an Edit after I post this (done! Blimpy).
As I’m no proper journalist, maybe I can be forgiven the lazy reviewer’s sin of description by comparison? Blimpy hooked me with a mention of Aereogramme (think Mogwai-lite with designs on Snow Patrol or Coldplay crossover success); my email to him, after first listens, promising to post this review said simply “iLiKETRAiNS play Dakota Suite“. During my motorway slog to and back from Birmingham, the names Sigur Rós, Nick Cave, even Stuart Staples also wandered across my thoughts. Pigeonholes suggested themselves: rock, post-rock, slowcore, indie, folk, shoegaze, pastoral … Hang on, PASTORAL? Yeah, I’ll come back to that in a minute. But again and again and again, one word returned to my brain: stately. This album is dignified, serious guitar-based music in which to lose yourself for fifty minutes or so.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not pompous, it’s not unapproachable, and it certainly isn’t brash or arrogant. It’s more like an aural equivalent of Robert Duvall’s Lt.Col. Kilgore in the beach-trashing scene of Apocalypse Now – calm, commanding and demanding respect whilst chaos and destruction abound. That there might just be a hint of madness behind the façade just adds to the mystique, in my opinion. For instance, is the decision to open your first album in around five years with a simple 2min+ instrumental that of a sane band? It’s very GIAA/Mogwai, but hardly attention-grabbing. But The Scottish Enlightenment know what they’re doing, as Gal Gal‘s repetitive guitar motif twists neatly into the one-string riff of Earth Angel – With Sticks In Crypt, and the tone and pace are set. EA-WSIC is one of two songs that have forced others off my Walkman to make room for them, and would be my first choice to insert into the review as an mp3.
Next track Little Sleep gets the DsD thumbs up for two reasons, (i) the understated way the rat-a-tat-tat drum riff doesn’t overwhelm the song, but adds to it, and particularly (ii) the line “All we need’s a little sleep and we’ll be fine”, which I think is going to be my new motto! This is the song that gave me the iLiKETRAiNS comparison. Taxidermy Of Love, on the other hand, is musically as ethereal as anything Sigur Rós produce (is that a harp I hear?), but has to content itself with merely looking at the stars instead of being up there with them because singer David Moyes is no Jónsi Birgisson.
The next two songs, Pascal (listen to the fingers sliding up&down guitar strings – is that a good thing or a bad thing? I never know.) and Necromancer continue the theme, though the latter raises the volume and darkens the mood nicely.
Remember I said both Nick Cave and ‘pastoral’ up above? The First Will Be Last is partly responsible for both of those. If we can add a link to it – hint, hint, Blimpy – I highly recommend a listen to the lyrics, though in truth the music and vocal tone here try to undermine my earlier “stately” argument by feeling almost urgent in pace. List Right returns us to Aereogramme territory. The Soft Place chucks some glockenspiel, trumpet and falsetto backing vocals into the mix, kinda reminding me of HUGE DsD faves, Guillemots’ Redwings & Songs Of Green Pheasant’s Alex Drifting Alone.
Then we have My Bible Is, which is indeed “filled with love and beauty”, forming a suitable climax to an album I’m really glad I was sent. But in a last little perverse and enigmatic twist, it isn’t the last track on the album. Cogito is fifty seconds of piano noodling, heavy on the echo effect. Not one that anyone is going to target their 79p at on iTunes, but does it leave you, er, pondering? Or is it a smartarse reference too far? I’ll plead the Fifth and leave it to others to decide!
So that’s a big thumbs-up from me. Call it post-rock, call it shoegaze, call it whatever you like – iTunes calls it “Ecclesiastical Rock”, ffs; all I ask is that someone tells me I’ve done enough to make at least one more person want to buy it.
The above player has Necromancer, The First Will Be The Last, Little Sleep.
I mentioned here recently that I was having delusions of grandeur, I was thinking of doing a regular reggae post, but not just a regular post, what I was fantasising was something like a radio broadcast plus a continuous slideshow of images relevant to the music and perhaps multiple audio tracks overlapping and me blathering on. Well an extended period of frustration trying to just post this pitiful effort and assisted by Maki knocked the shine off some of that.But, I did spend quite some time investigating GarageBand and of course got sidetracked, instead of learning how to assemble multiple tracks etc I found myself playing silly games, even thinking that somewhere I had hidden musical talents, I composed my masterpiece! Well actually it was opus 1, my first ever effort, but I found it quite intriguing and even thought ‘That’s not bad for a beginner”. So, here it is, I call it Reggae Jam.
1. I never even tried to learn to ride a motorbike. Most of the time I feel OK about having missed out on this but there are times that I see people on bikes having a lot of fun and wish that I had. Is there any essential or peripheral life skill that you didn’t bother to acquire when you could have and that now, at times, you wish you had?
2. Moving on from number one. I have tried, god knows how many times, to learn to water ski. And it is beyond me. I have been dragged along behind countless motor boats and have probably swallowed more sea water than can possibly be good for anyone. All my family can do it but I can’t. Is there anything that you have really tried and wanted to learn to do that you just couldn’t master?
3. I am, on the other hand, good at languages. Many people here in Madrid don’t realise I’m English until I tell them. I don’t feel proud about this, just lucky. Is there anything that you are effortlessly good at?
4. I’m a teacher and I love my job. What would you enjoy teaching the rest of us ‘Spillers to do? (Looking for a skill you’d like to share with us not a list of reproaches, please. Although I suppose answers directed at me would be fair, given that I asked the question!)
5. And what would you like to learn from a fellow ‘Spiller?
The pull of a good story or a tale of the tortured genius, or the insane recluse has always been seductive to music fans. Bon Iver gets dumped by his bird, goes off to a cabin in the woods up a mountain somewhere in the middle of nowhere and writes an album about it – city dwelling music fans go insane. Jeff Mangum records, what I too regard, one of the best albums ever (Neutral Milk Hotel’s “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea”) and is hardly heard of again – the odd sighting here and there – and not another note recorded. Is he insane? Does he live in a cave with Kevin Shields trying to recreate the sound of angels crying? The myth grows, as does the stature of the music.
I’ve been listening to “Method” by 30 Pounds Of Bone now for weeks, long enough that the facts about Johnny Lamb (it’s a one man band) no longer get in the way of the beautiful collection of songs that make up the album. Still, before I attempt to describe the moving beauty of the album, let’s get the facts out there.
He’s the son of a clergyman, brought up on the remote isle of Unst in the Shetland isles, a childhood obsessed with the sea and the fisheries that surrounded him. He once spent so long in the hospital as a child, he was made to go to school there – leaving with one kidney. He now lives in a van on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall, and can most often be found in- or on- the sea. Notoriously prickly and utterly unapproachable – unless armed with copious amounts of whiskey – he’s basically a drunk travelling vagrant – pinned down only for the four days that it took to record “Method” upon which he played all the instruments.
“Method” isn’t so easy to describe easily – it veers from sparse folk, to soft and sad sea shanties, to the occasional layered guitar freak out. There’s the sad accordion of King Creosote, some of the fuzz of Neutral Milk Hotel, amid tales of loss at sea and gallons and gallons of alcohol. Oh yeah, the booze – oh the booze! This album is soaked in it. Drowning in the false hope of the first few shots, the accordion squeezes the dripping whiskey out on every push, as the sodden trumpet cries last orders at the bar.
Lamb has a good emotional range to his voice, and a story-tellers nature with it – this isn’t a record of dirges by any means. In fact he’s pulled that great trick, disguising some perfect catchy three-minute almost-pop songs, in such heart rending broke-down messed up folk trappings that stick in your head and demand repeat listens. My favourite songs on this album have changed many times over the last few weeks, which is a sign of a fab record.
The opener (above) to the record is “Crack Shandy In The Harbour” - a recounting of when Lamb worked in a Plymouth cafe where the local Narcotics Anonymous held their meetings, nipping out as they did for a crack shandy (heroin & crack smoked together). The song, catchy as heck, puts a modern spin on the folk tradition and finishes within the perfect pop timing of three minutes, painting a vivid and desolate picture of that time in the singer’s life. “I’m lonely” he sings, and you relate, “…for crack shandy, in the harbour” – and you’re completely thrown.
There’s one cover on the record, “All For Me Grogg” – a traditional song I wasn’t familiar with, one that seems to be a perky staple in sets of bands like the Dubliners. “Where’s my shoes” they sing, and it gets a laugh. When Lamb reinterprets this, it’s the saddest lament for a life out of control that I’ve ever heard. Amazing.
“The Fishery” (above) sings about “send fables down, cables down” into a storm of guitars and you know he’s drowning not waving from a sea that will “take me in…over and over… I never learnt to swim”.
Unless Shields and Mangum release that collaboration I mentioned earlier in the next few weeks, I can’t see how this isn’t going to be my album of the year. Ten stunning songs, in less than 40 minutes. it’s a treasure chest of sad beauty, taken under as the ship sank, miles from home and very alone. Alone but for the sailors’ grogg.
“Method” by 30 Pounds Of Bone is available from the cracking indie label Armellodie Records (you can hear all the songs from the record there too), only 7 quid in a sweet cardboard sleeve, out on the 6th of December.
Shall we have an album of the week? It’s been a while. OK then…
In their minds, Jack are Artists with a capital A, true Bohemians, the last of the great romantics. They rub shoulders with Warhol and the Velvets, are on first name terms with Pasolini and Fellini, discuss Satre and poetry in Left Bank cafes and woo starlets in underground clubs in Berlin. They’re “behind in the rent and ahead in evolution”. They find romance in cheap booze and tragedy in cigarette embers.
They are unashamedly pretentious and faintly preposterous. Their liner notes contain “Further reading” lists. Their third album boasts the immortal line “I am the ‘and’ in Tolstoy’s War and Peace“.
And yet – they carry it off superbly. Suspend your disbelief for 50 minutes, and you’ll discover an incredibly accomplished debut album. The brooding seven-minute spoken-word opener “…of Lights” (yes, they’re the kind of band who start song titles with an ellipsis) is a panoramic, apolcalyptic vision of London on “the eve of the revolution”. “Wintercomessummer” sounds like The Fall colliding with early REM. Brett Anderson would kill to write a song like “Filthy Names”. The Tindersticks are another point of reference, with the string arrangements and Anthony Reynolds’ rich baritone. There’s some gorgeous guitar work, smart lyrical turns and widescreen production from Scott Walker producer Peter Walsh.
The follow-up, The Jazz Age, is equally impressive (my first paragraph above probably applies more to that album). But if a semi-malevolent genie made me choose, I think I’d have to plump for this one. I know bethnoir and tracyk are fans, and former RR-er CraneSpire used to nominate them a lot. The rest of you… it’s boxed, or listen below (and if anyone has the 10th anniversary edition with the bonus CD, let me know…)
Matthews Southern Comfort – Road to Ronderlin
I bought this album in 1970 and it’s one of my favorites of that era. Iain Mathews split from Fairport Convention and formed this group, they released two albums that first year and had a number one in UK with ‘Woodstock’. I like his voice and the gentle tone of this song, there’s a 70′s review here. – goneforeign We’re Leaving – Devotchka
Just because it’s beautiful, and sad, and gives me goosebumps whenever I
hear it. – blimpy The Royals – Free Speech And Movement.
The Royals survived for about 20 years until the mid-80s. Free Speech And Movement is one of my fave reggae tunes. Its hypnotic groove hangs around for days after I listen to it. A recurring guitar figure, cowbells, and a series of futuristic synthesiser and organ bleeps carry the familiar Rasta message. Before fading out the song morphs into a brilliant up-tempo dub. No surprise that founder, singer, composer Roy Cousins now concentrates on producing other artists. – webcorewebcore Electronic – Forbidden City
Five things that make this the perfect pop single:
1) The cryptic title; 2) the unflagging urgency – from Barney’s blurted vocal opening to the final drum kickoff; 3) a lyric encompassing heartbreak, resentment, homesickness and a desperate yearning for (parental?) love; 4) Johnny’s distorted guitar solo; 5) the fact that its parent album was so disappointing in comparison! -bishbosh Robert Wilkins – Old Jim Canan’s.
Robert wishes he was down the pub with his baby and his whiskey, beer, cocaine and gin. Bit naughty for a Reverend, I’d say. Still, the guitar playing is jaunty, with that ‘delta bend’ in evidence just before the chorus (at 1:15, spoons too!). Great Friday night song, even if Maki’s going to put it out on a Monday! – williamsbach Anita Baker – Sweet Love
No apologies for posting a classic : from Anita Baker’s 2nd LP the multi-million selling Rapture from 1986 here is the opening track Sweet Love which became her first mainstream hit, winning a Grammy to boot. It’s a brilliant slice of 80s soul from one of the finest voices America has produced. ‘Twas also the soundtrack to the early days of my wife and I courting… – magicman
Coupla things…
1.) Today is Mrs Maki’s birthday so one of her all time earworms is nº 7 in the player this week. Happy Birthday to my beloved wife!
2.) Our texts are getting a bit too long methinks. Some of the recent posts have been a bit too word heavy. Now, I’ve never been one to use three words when I could get away with ten! Consequently, I’m probably not the best person to edit your texts. I don’t know where to start! Let’s try to keep it to around fifty words per submission. Thanks!
And finally, thanks for your submissions. Keep ‘em coming: earworm@tincanland.com
