I’ve been a fan of the Be Good Tanyas for a while now. One of the reasons is Frazey Ford’s gorgeous voice. Here’s a new solo piece from her most recent album, Indian Ocean. The track’s called “September Fields” and my only complaint about it is that it wanders away with a fadeout at the end. Still good, though. Enjoy!
Well, as promised, here’s video from the band I got to see while I was in Boston the weekend before last. These folks are a Canadian quartet consisting of two brothers (the guitarist and the drummer) and two unrelated folks (the harpist and the keyboardist/percussionist). They played “Half Crazy” at the show and I found it to be… well, transcendent was the word that came to mind at the time. Hope you like it, too.
So, I considered myself a Grateful Dead fan (never had the teddy bears on my car, so technically not a deadhead?) long before this song came out, got huge, and the dreaded word “sellout” was being bandied about. Continue reading
Happy November! The weather is changing into winter before our eyes up here in VT. I’m still in a spooky-ish video mood, though. Continue reading
Well, October is almost over. This is its last Monday, and I’ve only posted one spooky video in honor of Hallowe’en. That’s disappointing, at least to me. I’ll try to make up for it with a trio of videos today.
First up are the Brian Sisters, a singing trio successful in the 1930s and 1940s. Here they are in 1942 performing the tune “The Boogie Woogieman” with the Will Osborne Orchestra on a soundie called The Boogie Woogie Boogie Man (yeah, I don’t know with the titles)
Next up, another fun old clip: Louis Armstrong singing “Skeleton in the Closet.” This one’s from the 1936 Bing Crosby film Pennies from Heaven. I love Armstrong’s horn playing and the dancing skeleton.
And finally, something in color, although still kinda old. Let’s finish up with one from Siouxsie and the Banshees. Here’s “Spellbound” from 1981.
Happy Hallowe’en!
And another Monday morning has zoomed by me. But it’s still Monday. And! It’s the first Monday of October, which means it’s time to start posting Hallowe’en videos! Continue reading
Sorry to not have anything musical for you last week. Crazy busy weekend with Monday as recovery day.
And now another Monday has arrived. I decided to go back in the stacks for this one: an old prog rock tune from that odd little band, Klaatu. Here’s “Long Live Politzania.”
Why this song, you ask? Ah, well, I play Nation States and got to name my capital city this morning. So, there you go.
Sorry for the delay getting music to you this Monday. It’s been a busy one. Plus I couldn’t make up my mind which song I wanted to share today. I finally decided to go with something by Club d’Elf.
I reviewed Lydia Millet’s Pills and Starships last week. One of the things I liked about the book is that music is important to the protagonist Nat. Brain Eno, in particular, is one of her favorites. Continue reading
It’s another Labor Day here in the U.S. The workers actually had a bit of a victory in Massachusetts recently with the whole Market Basket thing. Nice to see working folks (employees and customers, in this case!) using their power to defeat corporate interests. We’ll see what comes of it. Having followed the case for a lot of the summer, and getting more of the local point of view than the business propaganda the national news presented, I’m somewhat hopeful. Continue reading
Piper Deez and the Case of the Winter Planet
To Shape the Dark
Substitution Cipher
M. Fenn 