Lily's top 10 songs she likes me to play for her

Having a baby has brought guitar playing back into my home life. For years I've only really played at rehearsals and gigs. Lily has changed that, and I've really enjoyed relearning and playing these great songs for her. These are rated on a scale that is a mix of how Lily responds to the songs and how much I like to play them.

1. "If I Needed You" Townes Van Zandt
She recognizes and responds to this one the most. It's one I feel I'm really singing to her. Even has her name in it.
2. "The Water is Wide" traditional
Rather bleak, but beautiful. Have memories of my parents singing this.
3. "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?" Joan Baez
Sort of hippy-ish, but hypnotic and clever.
4. "True Love Will Find You in the End" Daniel Johnston
The line, "Don't be sad. I know you will." has a dichotomy that chills me every time I sing it to her. I don't know if it means "I know you will- be sad" or "I know you will- find love." Both are true and both are incredibly hard to sing to a little girl.
5. "East Virginia Blues" Carter Family
I've been playing both the Damien Jurado and Gob Iron versions of this one.
6. "Motor Away" Guided by Voices
I've made my own arrangement that's slow and sleepy.
7. "Froggy Went a Courtin'/Crawdad Song" traditional
pretty standard. Adapted a verse about her nickname: Chapperoo.
8. "Game of Pricks" Guided by Voices
This was the song that first made her "crazy head dance" start. Punkrock power chords.
9. Murder Ballads like "Waitin' Round to Die" by Townes Van Zandt or "Silo" by Scud Mtn. Boys
Jill prefers I don't play these, but they're sort of upbeat in rhythm and fun to play.
10. "Sweet Baby James" James Taylor
I like this one more than Lily. Reminds me of growing up, learning to play bar chords to this song when I was 16/17 out of my dad's James Taylor songbook.

Kathleen Edwards- Asking for Flowers

On her third full length offering, Asking for Flowers, Kathleen Edwards breaks her sure-thing formula. Rather than bouncing between rockin' bar brawlers and super soft sleepers as she has on her prior two albums, Kathleen keeps it all pretty much right in the middle. Mid-tempo, mid-tempered tunes like the title track and "Oil Man's War" are the bread and butter of this record, with little chances taken. For one, it keeps her from making the same record thrice. But I think the beauty here is that the listener is compelled to find the subtleties and the artful turns of phrase in this record. The tongue-in-cheek Nashville romp entitled "I Make the Dough, You get the Glory" is the the tasty bite in the middle and "Goodnight, California" is the sweet piece you save for last, with Kathleen sounding like she's fronting Wilco. The letdown here is the attempt at recreating that same badgirl hit single with "The Cheapest Key", where she misses the mark, but it's reassuring to know that Kathleen's still got that same good ol' fowl mouth. The sang detracts from the polish gems that make up the rest of the album that prove Edwards is really is a tough badgirl without being so obvious. If you're expecting the third coming of Failer, you're out of luck, but if you're willing to let this seasoned and mature collection of songs grow on you, you're in for a treat.

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Season 6 was hilarious. The ending was so funny, I couldn't believe it. Sometimes the season wrap-ups are a little contrived, but this was perfect, surprising, and funny. Oh Larry....

NCFOM

At least that's what all the kids are calling it.
Netflix sent No Country For Old Men to us even before it came out. We never get that treatment from NF. I've yet to watch it, but you know I read the book. I was just reflecting on a statement I had made to a friend. I claimed that the Coen Bros (I'm a huge fan of them, too. The Big Lebowski?) always make films where the little guy has so much good in him, that he's able to survive ("abide", for you Lebowski fans) and sort of conquer evil; or at least his own struggles (i.e. Big Lebowski, O Brother Where Art Thou). The main theme being that the common man is full of good and can, therefore, abide (in the parlance of our times). I claimed that McCarthy is too dark for the Coens. A common McCarthy theme is the idea of the antichrist as a common character. The embodiment of evil, rather than good. The term anti-hero does not suffice. I originally thought this was a strange project for the Bros to take on.

But I call take-backs. I was overlooking Barton Fink, a Coen Brothers masterpiece. John Goodman's character in that movie was much like the Judge in "Blood Meridian" by Cormac McCarthy. Barton Fink is a film not unlike many McCarthy novels. So I call do-overs and say that I was wrong- this was the perfect project for Brothers Coen to take on. And I'm so excited to watch it.

Friday night to-do idea: rent Barton Fink, or NCFOM, or the Big Lebowski, or read NFCOM, or read Blood Meridian. Basically, I've just planned out your whole weekend!

Looking forward to these...

Sun Kil Moon "April" out April 1
Will Oldham does some vocals on it.
I'm excited.




Mates of State "Rearrange Us" out May 20
Here's what the record co. has to say about it:
"Though conceived as a duo, Mates of State have never failed to generate a trademark wall of sound built on dozens of varied voicings of keys, drums, and alternately lushly-layered and playfully-dueling vocals. On re-arrange us they move beyond these boundaries (their traditional organ sound is a distant memory, replaced with organic piano and synth sounds) with additional instrumentation — not to mention a quantum leap in songcraft apparent on instantly indelible gems like now, jigsawget better. Throughout re-arrange us, Kori's piano and the emergence of both Mates' lead vocals from their trademark harmonizing signal the next stage of Mates of State's evolution."

Funny Blog

Stuff White People Like

Alt. Country in 60 seconds

My hairdresser (don't laugh) asked me what "Alt. Country" is. I muddled through my own definition, but here's a funny video that explains it.

Counting Crows "August and Everything After"

OK, back to the topic of albums that first made me fall in love with albums. Now, mind you, these are not records I would necessarily consider my favorite. These are just albums that I got in highschool that got me totally hooked on being a record collector.

Keith and I often would buy tapes together. If a tape cost $9.99, we'd each pay $5.00. I don't know what made us buy this record. There used to be a great radio station in the Bay Area called KOME. In th early 90s, KOME played new Alternative stuff and they weren't bent on commercial stuff only. They played more stuff and took more chances than LIVE105, but they folded after a couple summers.

I remember the day we bought it, we laid on Keith's double bed and listened to the tape repeat and repeat. This was alternative music that wasn't angry, but full of emotion. It was not there for shock or gimmick, but for art's sake. The lyrics were abstract, but not so abstract that they were silly or meaningless. In these ways, it was so different than the other alternative music out there. I mean, the guitar solos are country telecaster twang solos! It had organ, slide/steel instruments, dobro.

I think the most important thing this record did was get grungy little alterna-boys off of the Nirvana/Metallica teat and expanded people's perception of what "alternative" music was.

JUNO

So it turns out this movie is not about one of the best analog synthesizers ever made- the Roland Juno 106. In fact, it's not about synthesizers at all. It's just about a girl who was named after a synthesizer.

U2 "The Joshua Tree"

I want to stay on this topic of albums I first fell in love with. I blogged below about hearing a podcast on "the death of the ALBUM" and in response to that grim news, I am posting a series of blogs about albums that made me love albums (the Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits post below was the first of these blogs).

In highschool, I was riding in a car with a much older guy and he was just tickled about a new tape he had. It was called "Rattle and Hum" by a group called U2. He was driving on a windy country road and his enthusiasm for rewinding the tape to play specific excerpts for me surpassed his interest in safe driving. "Wait, did you hear that line?!" he would ask, "Lemme rewind it. Did you hear what he said? You gotta pay attention to this part!" I remember that in the spoken word part of "Bullet the Blue Sky" he was so excited as he recited along with Bono, that he even had motions that he did and gestured as if dealing invisible playing cards as he let go of the steering wheel completely and mimicked, "Shhhlappin' um down. One hundred! Two hundred!"

I figured that anything that made someone so passionate was probably a decent piece of art. And I asked for it when my parents asked me what I wanted for my birthday. They replied that they weren't going to buy me "heavy metal" and referenced a time when I requested "anything by Morrissey" and they got to the record store to find that one of his albums was called "Kill Uncle". What could be worse? Morrissey was probably out to convince me to kill one of their brothers. I purchased a Rattle and Hum cassette on my own dime. It and a subsequently rented VHS documentary by the same name won my parents over with its B.B. King cameos, gospel choirs, and songs about MLK Jr.

I needed more and bought the Joshua Tree at a shopping mall music store. I distinctly remember taking off the cellophane and taking in the album art and knowing that this was something magical. Talking about The Joshua Tree and using words like expansive, cinematic, or soundscape is just preaching to the choir. I hope we all know the Joshua Tree to be these things, but hear them in a way that is much more individual and personal.

A deluxe edition was just released like at Christmas time. It was remastered by The Edge himself and a second disc, incredible packaging, and a cool little booklet were thrown in. You know I bought it. A review I read, which claimed that the bonus disc was an album in and of itself and on par with the Joshua Tree, prompted me. That reviewer was wrong. The bonus disc is full of disappointing B-sides and outtakes, which didn't make it on the album for a reason. The better tracks are ones that incorporate a spooky sort of "world" feel, like "Race Against Time" and "Wave of Sorrow". Its downside is the overuse of spoken word, especially on the final track which is just my least favorite poet ever, Allen Ginsberg, reading a poem.

Bob Dylan "Greatest Hits"

I was working as an apartment complex manager/groundskeeper and finishing up highschool when I broke up with my girlfriend of almost two years (or she broke up with me, depending on who you talk to). I dealt with it by immersing myself in the "Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits" cassette tape I had. I wore it out in a maroon walkman I listened to at work while I tended the garden, which contained shaped shrubs, rare tropical plants and trees, multi-level lawns, a pool, and several different courtyards.

I think I understood the cliche' of the first three tracks (Rainy Day Women, Blowin' in the Wind, and The Times They are A-Changin') and took them with a grain of salt, but when "It Ain't Me, Babe" and "Like a Rolling Stone" came on at the end of Side 1, I was sure that Bob had felt what I felt and maybe was even singing about my story! If my 1971 VW Squareback had a tape player, I would have driven past her house blaring the lines:

You got a lotta nerve
To say you are my friend
When I was down
You just stood there grinning

from "Positively 4th Street". But I don't think I ever spoke to her again. I think it was the first time I really fell in love with an album. Not a bad trade at all.

Death of the CD? Death of the album?

On a music podcast I frequently listen to, this morning, they had an entertainment industry analyst on as a guest and this guy said bluntly that the CD was a dead medium and that people who refused to agree with him were crazy. He aslo suggested that the album as an art form was also dead, due to the fact that technology allows people to just download a song or two at a time.

This made me very sad. I love CDs and I love whole albums. The war in Iraq, a failing economy, and now this.

This was on repeat in my ipod for the last 30 minutes.

Morrissey- "The More You Ignore Me"

Sedan Delivery

Last night I was cool at the pool hall.
I held the table for eleven games.
Nothin' was easier than the first seven.

--Neil Young

This is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Ever.

If Raymond Carver had a band.....

Vampire Weekend- great video, no vampires

Drama

Johnny Drama is definitely my favorite Entourage character. I love how he's so insecure and awkward and full of self-doubt, but he's a sage of wisdom to the other guys. The most complex character in a pretty simple show. Loving it!
Currently Listening to: The National, Dylan, and "Pet Sounds" by the Beach Boys

Once...

is how many times I'll watch it.

barefoot, in the snow, uphill both ways

Yes, this is a "Back in my day...." lecture. Back in my day, the way we got our records (yes I mean records) and CDs went like this:

We read zines that were published by pretty organized and business-wise punkrockers. They were usually printed on newsprint. You might read about a band that kind of sounded cool to you, so you would search through the zine for the advertisement from that band's record label. The ad told you where to send the cash. When you received the CD, inside would be a folded up piece of paper that was a catalog from a "distro" (distribution company) that was just some punks probably running a little business out of their step-mom's garage. The catalog would be in tiny print. You would choose a CD or record and the catalog told you where to send the cash.

Even when the internet came around. Record labels' sites, bands' sites, and distros' sites were just long lists of text [in courrier font] that told you the music they carried and.. once again.... where to send the cash.

What with corporations taking over the the world and all, indie distros on the web have disappeared and basically the only place to get indie music from real live indiekids was on a site called Insound. All that said, I recently read that Warner has bought them out and when I heard that, I thought everyone needed a "Back in my day..." lecture.