First time I've listened to this in a while. IMO it is an album that suffers from the inclusion of pointless remakes and a couple of weak songs. It would have been a much stronger single album if it had just included:
Down Among the Wine and Spirits
I Felt the Chill
My All Time Doll
How Deep is the Red?
Sulphur to Sugarcane
Red Cotton
The Crooked Line
Changing Partners
I could not agree more. I certainly cannot see the point of the remakes of Hidden Shame and Complicated Shadows.
Just bought The Harry Smith Project: The Anthology Of American Folk Music Revisited so I am also enjoying Nick Cave's mellifluos voice at the moment. This makes version number 3 of "John The Revelator" for me.
It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think that you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt
- M. Twain
not John Mayer. not that i ever have. i saw the headlines w/ him whining, but didn't pay any attention, till i got my lame dirty book i still get cause i can't change in the mail this weekend and saw he was the interview. figured that must be it so i started reading it and couldn't stop. what an imbecile this guy is. i don't even know which part he is apologising for, cause it coulda been any part. he is an 8th grade knuckle-draggin trainwreck of a dick this guy.
Johnny Cash: American VI
Ron Sexsmith: Time Being (had overlooked this one; love it!)
Preservation: A Benefit for the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (features Tom Waits, Pete Seeger, Steve Early and others all backed by the PHJB)
I am with you Pophead2k regarding "American VI'. Place it there with Levon's "Electric Dirt" as a consistent pleasure. Ever defiant, Cash sings as if one foot is in the grave, so what!, and that defiance radiates through the 10 songs on the album. "Ain't No Grave" has the feel of someone saying okay, bring it on. When compounded with "I Corinthians 15:55" with it's refrain of "oh death, where is thy sting?" you have a powerful one two punch- I only hope I face my end with such energy. I love that sentiment 'ain't no grave gonna hold my body down". I like the life assessments that emerge in "Satisfied Mind", "Redemption" and "I Don't Hurt Anymore". Love that this man went to his end still singing and with some piss and vinegar in him. This record is a testament to " raging against the dying of the light".
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
That is such a 'fun' record and such a surprise from earlier this year. Have been continuously playing it since I bought it the first week it came out. Interesting sounds and electronic effects combined with strong Mercer songs. Really like "The High Road", "The Ghost Inside", "October" and "The Mongrel Heart". It is on my ten best for the year so early on in the year.
"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'
