What are you listening to right now?

[Otis Westinghouse]

Are there you are!


I don't recall anyone on the board ever liking Regina, but I thought about half of Begin To Hope was outstanding. Great songs, well produced, awesome voice. I also developed an entirely teenage crush on her as a result.

The above cover and some of the reviews made me a bit anxious about the new one, but I can relax, it's more than worth listening to. Doesn't have the same killer singles, but overall is probably more coherent. Above all, it's her voice. She has lots of quirky tics, and I can entirely see why a lot of people might not dig it (she's probably a love or hate kind of artist). One review laid into 'Laughing With' for its 'No one laughs at God in a hospital' sentiments, but the song is entirely gorgeous. Her words are often interesting. I'd like to see her live. I've already played it more times than SP&S, put it that way.

[Jack of All Parades]

My daughter adores her-purchsed the new one with bonus material for her for her birthday earlier this month- have listened to it several times and it stays with you-definitely agree it has received more airplays than SP&P in this household- strong piano playing and a quirky- almost childlike singing style that has grown on me- like the image of the legs poking out of the piano keys- she and her sister will be seeing her live in Boston this September for the second time. They are strong fans.

[LessThanZero]

OTIS REDDING

[Who Shot Sam?]

I like the one single I've heard on the radio. It's funny. We were driving from Brooklyn to the Red Bulls game over in Jersey with a friend of ours who is a Brooklyn cop - buzz cut, ex-Marine hard as they come - and he asked us to turn up the new Regina Spektor song on the radio. So she's doing something right.

[Otis Westinghouse]

I'm in good company!

[Jack of All Parades]

As to photos I am more taken with the cover of "Soviet Kitsch"-but still like those legs coming out of the black keys.

[pophead2k]

I've also been a big fan since the Soviet Kitsch days. A bit of an acquired taste, but a singular talent. Haven't heard the new one yet.

[bambooneedle]

re: Nick Cave

I think, and this is speaking as a long-term Cave sceptic, that the word 'masterpiece' isn't going too far with The Boatman's Call. The two beauties 'Into My Arms' (surely one of the best love songs ever) and 'Are You The One I've Been Waiting For?' are on that Best of, which I also have, but the whole is full of impressive moments and works very well in its totality. 'Brompton Oratory', 'Black Hair', 'Where Do We Go From Here?', for example, are all superb. It's one of the classic break-up albums, along with Blood On The Tracks and Grace and Danger.
....

If you don't have TBC, I can't recommend it highly enough. Genuinely a must-have for anyone's collection.

I've had it for years and agree it is good, if you're in a certain mood or else I find it a bit sleepy.

I've not seen him live, but would like to. People do say that you have to to really appreciate what he's all about.

I might go for this next:

http://www.answers.com/topic/abattoir-blues-tour

[ice nine]

Cesaria Evora: http://www.amazon.com/Voz-dAmor-Cesaria ... 467&sr=1-7

If you are a fan of the Buena Vista Social Club or any of the Afro-Portuguese-inlfluenced music genres you will enjoy this lady. I was just introduced to this CD and she has an exquisite voice.

[Who Shot Sam?]

Over the last few weeks I've had the chance to really dig into the new Wilco album and I feel kind of bad about my original assessment of it. It's still probably a cut below Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, if only because it's a bit less experimental and not quite as deep. But the new one does have some stunningly beautiful songs. "One Wing" has quickly become a favorite of mine. I also love the George Harrison-esque "You Never Know," "Sonny Feeling," "I'll Fight" and the lovely duet with Feist "You and I". "Bull Black Nova," which is the first single off the album (I think) is the only tune that does not really do anything for me, as it doesn't seem to go anywhere.

But the rest of the album is fantastic and probably a cut above Sky Blue Sky, which I liked more than a lot of other people did.

[Jack of All Parades]

I can only echo your sentiments-love the George quotes in "You Never Know"- would add "Country Disappeared" to your list for my favorites-do not stop playing "Bull Black Nova" and "You and I"- they are on heavy rotation-the sounds of that saturday night not to long ago still play in my head- it was one of my more pleasurable concert experiences in the last decade. My daughters have added it to their Ipods as they plunder Dad's music stash for the coming college semester.

[Boy With A Problem]

Good God this record is great - what an unexpected treat - hooks all over the place - in fact I was singing along to half the songs on first listen. Play loudly, or at least until your wife says, "what the fuck is going on up there?" ......and a cover of "The Mighty Quinn"!

Judy Sucks A Lemon For Breakfast - Cornershop

[ice nine]

A Hangover You Don't Deserve - Bowling For Soup - Very, very 'pop'-py. In the same vein of Fountains of Wayne

[carriestar44]

Slow Motion by Third Eye Blind

[Jack of All Parades]

Have been revisiting Teddy Thompson's "Upfront & Down Low"-I have now been listening for over 2 years to this record-it is that good example of an artist who successfully extends himself into a genre he is not noted for on a regular basis-on this record he channels George Jones and revisits real C&W with close harmonies, aching pedal steel and his evocative voice-the song selections are idiosyncratic-avoiding the cliche- and run the gamut from Felice and Boudeleaux Bryant or Ernest Tubb to Dolly Parton's "My Blue Tears"[I love that magic word 'Blue']-he does a tremendous version of that old warhorse "My Heart Echoes" with Iris Dement singing harmony-it mirrors the work she did with John Prine-he is ably assisted by his father, Marc Ribot, Rufus Wainwright, Tift Merritt and Greg Leisz-it is a record that I would gladly give to people if I had hundreds of copies.

[Otis Westinghouse]

But the rest of the album is fantastic and probably a cut above Sky Blue Sky, which I liked more than a lot of other people did.

Encouraging me to go out and get it. I found SBS to be a real grower. Their newer work is subtler, but often deeper and more lasting. A lot of artists seem to be like that.

Unfortunately the Cornershop LP ain't on Spotify, dammit! I expect everything to be these days. Teddy T is, so am checking that out instead. When the vocal opens on 'CHange of Heart', it sounds pretty darned similar to Ron Sexsmtih. Nice song. Saw him live as a support (to Martha W, I think) a few years back and it was good.

[mood swung]

[Jack of All Parades]

Have spent the last week revisiting, for my own 40th anniversary celebration, "Let it Bleed"- I never cease to be amazed at how well this album holds up-it never sounds dated- I was a soon to be high school freshman when I first played it- it seemed the coolest, sexiest and druggiest album I had ever heard-the guitars were sinuous and nasty and the songs just grabbed you- they still do-I still marvel at how Keith instilled in the album the influence of his time with Gram Parsons-the reinvigorated blues of "Love in Vain" and "Monkey Man"- "Let it Bleed" is the sexiest song I know-Flower power was definitely over-"Gimmie Shelter" still denotes the end of the 60's for me-this is still my favorite Stones album and Mr. Jimmey is still standing in line for drugs and I still cannot always get what I want.

[Otis Westinghouse]

I don't really know it, just the famous ones. Must check it out. Delia Smith, grande dame of BBC TV cookery and trusted kitchen guide to middle England, made the cake when she was unknown and in her late 20s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_It_Bleed

Sunday morning listening:

I've been GLUED to the amazing Mozipedia, and I just had to hear 'You're Gonna Need Someone On Your SIde', and once you've played that, there's only 36 mins of glory left, so you may as well... Is it his best solo LP? Probably the most totally consistent and satisfying. I haven't explored yet Goddard's take in the above on the whole Union Jack / racism / 'National Front Disco' thing, but he's such a good and smart writer, it's sure to be fascinating. I've always had a very uneasy relationship with both NFD and the preceding 'We'll Let You Know' in terms of how much wistful admiration Morrissey seems to show for 'the last truly British people' wanting 'the day to come sooner' when they can 'settle the score', but recognise that there's a lot of typical Mozzian ambiguity to the whole issue, much as with sex ('Is he/Isn't he?', 'Does he/Doesn't he?), and that he means what he says when he says the notion that he of all people could be racist is ludicrous.

There's quite a lot in common between the above and Years of Refusal in terms of sound and style, not so much lyrically, and I continue to play and relish the new one. Haven't heard anything stronger this year.

[bambooneedle]

Just because you don't really know it it doesn't mean it's not famous.













---


This, and Still Feels Good, are a must for everyone who prefered him in The Doobie Bros to Michael McDonald. Johnston was always The Man.

[Jack of All Parades]

Otis-I too share a deep disgust for anything smacking of facisim-from a personal moral bent and for the fact that my wife has lost family members to those thugs-Hannah Arendt and Karl Popper are right-it is the most invasive threat that came out of the 20th century-I have always hoped that Moz was just feigning and fawning in the lyrics-were it true I would be disheartened and disgusted-I have to put "Bona Drag" at the top of my Moz best list-but "Your Arsenal" is not far behind-I will have to save my funds for the Mozapedia-spent some yesterday in a last of summer Rhino run with my daughter to stock her musical larder for the coming semester in Boston-I came away with mostly Jazz though, Hank Jones/Joe Lovano, Horace Silver and an early Herbie Hancock-"Years of Refusal" is strong- it takes up from "You are the Quarry" and runs with it-I am always playing "Mama lay softly on the Riverbed", "One Day goodbye with be farewell", 'That's how people grow up" and "All you need is me" along with my anthem for the summer "I'm thowing my arms around Paris"- I have always tried to argue with my daughters that he is the closest my generation has to a song stylist in the manner of Frank Sinatra-I am not winning.

[Otis Westinghouse]

There's an entry on his appeal to Latin Americans which refers to his crooning being part of this, which you'll enjoy. Moz himself has cited his embracing of Mexican immigrants to the US as an example of his non-racism. I just think he has some pretty complex takes on Britishness and identity, and whilst I admire the overall attempt in his work to avoid black and white simplification, I think he definitely took the whole thing too far on this topic, and he think he's acknowledged that too. The book, bizarrely, ain't due for publication in the US for another year, but I'd order from Amazon UK if I were you! It's seriously good.

Glad you too are liking Y of R, and 'Mama...' is arguably my favourite. Classic Moz railing against 'bailiffs with bad breath', and the heart-breaking contrast of waving away the mother's suicide with 'life is nothing much to lose' with the hurt of 'it's just so lonely here without you'. Played 'Ringleader...' again today in its entirety and whilst it contains some huge highlights ('Dear God...' is one of my favourites of his entire career, and 'Pigsty', which Goddard is sniffy about, whilst I would compare it's epic miserablism with 'How Soon Is Now'), it's generally not as strong as a whole. Still very good. Don't have Bona Drag, though I know most of the songs, and in fact yesterday picked up the Hulmerist DVD for all of £2 in Fopp, which contains the 7 most well-known songs of BD. They're fun promos, often a bit silly (e.g. the moment where Moz is driving a tractor in Fairmount, Indiana, paying homage to his hero Jimmy Dean), but what makes it truly great is that the promos are all intercut with amazing footage of the fans sleeping out overnight and queuing to get into Wolverhapmton Civic Hall for the first ever Moz solo gig, which was free, and then with later concert footage including 'Sister I'm a Poet' live. Incredible testament to the adoration of the man, and a real cultural record of the clothing and hairstyles of the time, with a general tendency towards quiffs, glasses and cardigans! Highly recommended for Moz fans.

[Jack of All Parades]

Have spent the first week of my vacation moving kids and listening to the new John Fogerty "The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again"[questionable grammar]-first impression is one of limited excitement-it is tasteful, well executed and undeniably 'cold' to the point of being antiseptic-he is too referential with this material-he takes no real chances-[ably assisted by some crack musicians-Buddy Miller, Greg Leisz, Kenny Aronoff and Herb Pederson] he could have cut loose but he holds it in frequently only doing seeming rote versions-too few highlights-John Prine's "Paradise". Buck Owen's "I Don't Care", 'Heaven's Just a Sin Away" and a rousing version of the old Everly Brothers warhorse "When Will I be Loved" with an assist by Bruce Springsteen-it has caused me to revisit Dave Alvin's "King of California", a cd that accomplishes what Fogerty's might have-that is revisit old material in a fresh, engaging manner- in this case old Blasters and solo material, refashioning the songs into spare, lean and beautifully realized ballads and blues with, ironically the assist of Greg Leisz- Alvin's voice[never an asset] is here just right as it punctuates his lyrics and is not buried by electric noise, just his able playing on an accoustic guitar-he is nicely assisted by Syd Straw on a George Jones cover "What Am I Worth?" and Rosie Flores on "Goodbye Again"-I have consistently played this record since I first purchased it in 1994; it contains what I think are definitive readings of some of his classics like "Border Radio", "Blue Wing", "Little Honey", "Fourth of July"and "Every Night About This Time"-something I fear will not be the case with Fogerty's-there I will have to keep listening to "Blue Moon Swamp" which is now already twelve years old and still spins consistently on the CD tray.

[mood swung]

why doesn't summer last forever?

[mood swung]

because then I wouldn't be in the mood for this.