Stuff I Own

17 May

As I’ve mentioned a couple of times, I’m in the process of getting rid of almost every CD I own.  I’m saving a couple that have amazing artwork (hello, Joseph Arthur) and others by dead friends (hello those above and below, you know who you are) and some that are, in my head, valuable, but for the most part, as soon as I digitize, they’re packed up.

It’s been a bit of laborious process, but there has been a huge upside.  I forgot so much of what I owned because quite frankly I don’t remember the last time I actually listened to a CD.  And while I didn’t own a humungous amount,  it’s still been an awful lot to forget about.

God knows what I’ll find when I get to the digitizing process of all the many, many, many albums and singles.  But since I can’t imagine getting rid of those, that’s a job I can put off for awhile.  I guess that’s both good and bad.

I’ve rediscovered tons of amazing gems.  And a bunch of guilty pleasures, which luckily have remained guilty pleasures.  And then, for some insane reason, I’ve also realized I owned way too many CDs that I know I never, ever liked.  Why were they even in my home?   (I’m speaking directly to you, Real World Records catalog.)

I would never post something like that for you though.  You only get pure goodness.  As proof, here’s a bit of deliciousness I just pulled in:  the best Madonna cover in the universe.  You really hear the beauty of the song so much on this version. Here you go – John Wesley Harding’s version of “Like a Prayer.”

I’m sure it will make you want to run out and buy a case of Pepsi immediately.

Share

Tags: , , , , ,

Mole People

16 May

The Australian band The Moles never got the attention they deserved.  Their 1991 debut album, Untune the Sky, was virtually ignored upon release, which is kind of odd, in retrospect, since it’s a treasure trove of solid sounds.  While it really doesn’t matter, Untune the Sky also just sounds cool as a name, don’t you think?

Part pop, part absolute dissonance, it was probably too experimental to be a hit.  But the record is full of wonderful melodies, even at its scruffiest.  It’s just that sometimes you have to look for them a little.  I like to think of it as a audio scavenger hunt, only one where you always find the prize if you just pay attention.

Although it’s been long out of print, it was re-released (on vinyl!) last year.  If you see it, do not pass go, buy immediately.

Here are the first two songs off that record so you can get a glimpse of the extremes within.  First up, the lovely pop song, “Bury Me Happy” and then the second track, “Tendrils and Paracetamol,” which is kind of a melodic wall of noise, in the best way.

The Moles are slightly schizophrenic but always rewarding.  Kind of like me, right?  Right??!

Share

The Language of Flowers

15 May

I came across an advance copy of a book called The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh recently.  It’s the story of a girl from the foster care system who communicates best through the nearly dead language of flowers.  (Apparently in the Victorian era people expressed themselves through the various meanings of flowers.)  It is so vividly written and the plot is so compelling, that when I cracked it open around 11a this morning, I resented all the moments the rest of the day when I wasn’t reading it.

I read it on the train and hated when my stop came.  I read it while I was doing laundry and hated when I had to fold.  Most importantly, I read it on my way to Whole Foods, where I incidentally tend to buy my flowers.  Today I wouldn’t let myself buy ones that I normally would have chosen:  peonies (anger) and hydrangea (dispassion).  I hadn’t realized I’ve been inviting negativity into my home!

Whole Foods was sold out of my beloved tulips (declaration of love), but I was able to get lilacs (first emotions of love) and ranunculus (you are radiant with charms).

I finished the book.  Of course I am annoyed that I didn’t make it last longer.  I can’t stop thinking about this secret language.  Imagine, we have all been miscommunicating on a whole other level and haven’t even realized it.

In my head, all the while, I’ve been hearing Public Image Ltd.’s “Flowers of Romance.”  I’ve always loved this percussion-heavy era of PiL and now the song’s tale of utter lack of communication makes me think maybe they were commenting on the whole subtext of flower talk.

The Language of Flowers is being released in August and I suggest that everyone immediately pre-order it right now.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I Believe the Children Are Our Future

14 May

Last night, A Girl Story, a PSA project that I helped work on, won a Gold Pencil at the One Show Interactive Awards.  It was pretty great.  Not just the winning, which of course was great, but the winning specifically for this piece.  We did it on a budget of negative numbers and every single thing by every single person who worked on it (for months!), without exception, was done completely for free.

It was a tiny little website and for it to win alongside huge brands and huge budgets made us all giddy.  The reason I’m writing about it now is to try to hit you all up for money.  I mean, c’mon, a few dollars here and there?  I don’t have many readers, I’m sure, but if each one of them could give a teensy bit….well, that’s a teensy bit more than we had before.

Here’s the dealio.  Nanhi Kali is the organization and their mission is to send Indian “girl children” to school.  Most likely you’re probably reading this here in First World, where you wouldn’t dream of not educating a girl just because she’s a girl.  But please, just think about that for a second.

Our creative concept was to create the World’s First Donation Based Film Series.  Until each segment reached a certain dollar amount in donations, you couldn’t view the next chapter.  The whole film is unlocked now, so you can see it in its entirety here.  But I really hope you will still think of donating.

While you’re hopefully digging out your credit card information, here’s the Margauxville download of the day – The Langley Schools Music Project’s version of “Good Vibrations” – which is exactly what all the Indian girls are sending to you right now.  I just know it.

Share

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Friday the 13th

13 May

I’m one of the most superstitious people out there.  It’s a wonder that I didn’t convince myself that it would be bad luck to post a song about bad luck on Friday the 13th.  The funny thing is, for someone who is so concerned about attracting bad luck, I’m mostly lucky.  I probably just jinxed that.

You know who isn’t lucky, in song at least?  Memphis Minnie, that’s who.  Download “I’m a Bad Luck Woman” and you’ll see what I mean.  Have you ever heard of someone unluckier in love?  Even I don’t hold a candle to her on that front.
But in life, oh boy, what a different story.  She was an amazing woman, a pioneer.  She is one of the only female blues singers and guitarists to ever be considered equal to the bluesmen greats.

She was born in the late 1800s!  Women were supposed to work in the house and the farm.   Instead, she recorded for 4 decades, which is pretty impressive for a woman or a man.  Big Bill Broonzy claimed she was one of the best blues guitarists he ever heard.

I’ve already posted people who were from litters of children or who were child prodigies.  Memphis Minnie was also both of those things.  But I’m pretty sure that she’s the first Margauxville artist who ran away and joined the circus when she was 14 in order to perform.

She’s so cool she almost makes today like a Friday the 14th.

Share

Tags: , , , , , ,

Sky Blue

12 May

Last weekend, unmanipulated Blue Skies

Jessica Lea Mayfield is one of those musical prodigies that make me scratch my head.  She started performing at 8 years old and by the time she was 15 she had recorded an album in her brother’s bedroom.  They printed up 100 copies and one of those somehow got to Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys.

You can guess the rest; he ended up producing her next record.  Now she’s up to her second (or third if you count the one she did on her own) album.

Here’s a song from this latest release, “Blue Skies Again.”

Oh, by the way, she’s only 21 now.  Maybe youth isn’t wasted on the young.

Share

Tags: , , ,

Field of Dreams

11 May

The other day a friend and I were discussing what the worst job we ever had was.  Mine was a telemarketing gig for Lawn Doctor.  I didn’t make any money since I only got paid if I booked an appointment.  And I never did book a single one.  That job is notable also for starting me on my lifelong road of rejection, but I suppose that’s a subject better suited to my other (horribly neglected) blog.

Oddly enough, my second worst job also involved the phone.  One summer I worked for an answering service that covered doctors, plumbers and other folks.  You know, the professions that people only call after hours when they’re freaking out.  I’d relay the messages to the doctors and plumbers and other folks, but inevitably they wouldn’t return the calls right away.  And then I’d get called back and yelled by the person freaking out.  I’d call the doctor, plumber or other folk again and remind them to call the person and then they’d yell at me for disturbing them twice.  Fun.  Come to think of it, this job is also fodder for the future rejection post!

But all that aside, my friend had a much worse job.  His was hard manual labor working the cornfields.  I bet you thought I lived in an ivory tower and didn’t have migrant worker type friends.  Don’t be so quick to judge.  I’m actually much more well-rounded than I get credit for.

So although the my fieldhand friend only touched on it briefly, I couldn’t get his story out of my head.  Imagine a summer sweating, straining, reaching high up and getting eaten alive by bugs in the blistering sun.  I can’t believe I complained about being hung up on or yelled at.  At least I was sitting in an air-conditioned office.  I guess it’s good to walk a mile in someone else’s hot sticky sneakers once in awhile.

Why am I  telling you all this?  Well it’s really just an appropriate preamble to today’s song, “Workin’ in a Cornfield” by Junior Murvin.  It’s from the classic album, Police and Thieves, which is probably the song for which he’s most famous.  But that album is chock full of goodies and this one is proof.

And, later on, when you complain that you have so many emails to answer, just remember, it could be a lot worse.

Share

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Am I the Same Song?

10 May

I really love the studio systems of the old record labels.  I’m sure it wasn’t the best for the artists, but there are so many things I think just wouldn’t happen today that I am so glad happened back then.

For instance….

Barbara Acklin recorded “Am I the Same Girl” in 1968.  It was co-written by her husband, Eugene Record, who was the lead singer for the fabulous soul group, The Chi-Lites.

Before her version was even released, the producer removed her vocal track, had a piano track added and released that instrumental as “Soulful Strut.”  It was credited to Young Holt Unlimited, but legend has it that neither Young nor Holt were even playing on the recording and that it was actually just the work of the record company’s session band.

“Soulful Strut” was a monster hit – and, incidentally,  the absolute perfect thing to play in your headphones when you’re walking around a very sunny NYC.  Yes, indeed.

But back to the story.  A few months later, they ended up releasing the original Acklin vocal version.  It did well, but not nearly as well as the instrumental version.

Of course so many people are familiar with this song because of Swing Out Sister’s hit decades later, but I’ll pretend I don’t know that.  These are really the only two versions you need.

Now, go on.  Download, sync and take a walk…a soulful strut.

Share

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Margaux, R.I.P.

9 May

Illustration by Howard Margulies

Today is the 119th anniversary of my, um, Margaux’s death – and the 118th anniversary of my, um her ghost doing its once a year visit.

Don’t believe me?  I certainly don’t say this lightly.  I have proof right here:   “Margaux (The 9th of May)” by The Browns.  Please, download now.  It’s the least you can do for my reincarnated self, um, my namesake.  You’ll hear how the grisly death occurred on what should have been a very happy wedding day.  I have to admit, I kind of like that.  It’s such a romantic tragedy.

In between the death, in 1892,  and the present, there existed a little device called an answering machine.  And for eons,  the song’s refrain – “Margaux…Margaux…Margaux’s gone away” (beep) –  was my outgoing message.  It was so perfect – and this perfection made it obvious my, um, her death wasn’t in vain.

Of course I love this song.  But I think you will too.  And a huge thanks to Howard Margulies for his utterly fantastic illustration commemorating this all-important date, the 9th of May.

Share

Tags: , , , , , ,

Happy Mother’s Day!

8 May

Happy Mother’s Day!

Don’t think for one second that I’m not aware I stiffed you yesterday, but I was away and had no access to internet.  I’m making it up by giving you T-W-O songs for Mother’s Day.  Please forgive me?

First up, one of the the very best songs for this special day that I can think of, “Mama Used To Say” by Junior.  I have loved this song since the moment I heard the 12″ single years ago and every time I’ve heard it since, I have felt the exact same way.

Let’s keep it in the same vein for the second song with The Jackson Five’s “Mama’s Pearl.”

This Mother’s Day entry feels so musically cohesive now that you probably think yesterday’s lack of posting was actually intentional.  Phew, I feel forgiven!

Share

Tags: , , , , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started