listen.

she works hard for her money

guys. work is really getting in the way of my blogging career.  it's verging on the ridiculous.  the past few weeks in particular have taken a lot out of me, and I've hardly found the time to rigorously curate daily, or even weekly, helpings of fresh tracks for the likes of you all. thank god geo's around to keep it real.

but today i thought we could all commiserate over our shared hatred for our day jobs by way of some songs about ... hating our day jobs.

we'll start with some old songs from Quasi, who hail from Portland, Oregon, where some of us boys may or may not be trekking to in the new year.  Quasi is Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss, they used to be married, and then they got divorced, but they're still in a band together.  Janet also was the drumming third of Sleater-Kinney before they went on indefinite hiatus.  Both of these songs are from the late '90s:

quasi, the happy prole

um, "everyday, we earn our meager pay, but it takes its toll, to play the happy prole."  yes, yes it does.

quasi, smile

that one's not so explicitly about work, but it is about feeling sorry for yourself. which i usually do, when i'm at work. or going to work. or leaving work.

now for some smiths.

the smiths, frankly mr shankly

this position i've held, it pays my way, and it corrodes my soul.

the smiths, work is a four letter word

this is a cover of a song originally performed by Cilla Black (think along the same lines as Petula Clark).  I tried to find the original version but no dice.

and a lovely song from our favorite Glaswegians about a man who's put up with enough bullshi* at work.

belle and sebastian, take your carriage clock and shove it

so good.

and to conclude, probably the best song ever written about white collar malaise. she ain't no dalai lama...

dolly parton, 9 to 5

and on this note, I leave you:

 

go. run free. enjoy your weekend before you have to be back in that office chair monday morning.

(ps - if you haven't been to someecards.com yet, go now and send at least 5 inappropriate ecards to your friends and exes.)

xoben

amy and dolly, together at last.

i am not sure how it happened. but it makes sense.
amy sedaris is in the new dolly parton video.

oh dolly.

the two ring master costumes?

priceless.

i also like how she says she not the dali llama.  the understood, and not spoken, alliteration/assonance of the names is priceless.

enjoy.
g

pretend it's nov 22!

okay.
so let's pretend in november 22 and you just woke up and it's about 10.30 am.... and you wander to your tv and turn on the macy's thanksgiving day parade - and if you're me -- you spend some time thinking that all those people had to get up so early today and do all this work - when most people are just chillaxin'....

then you think - why don't i check my email? i'm bored. i'm drinking coffee...

so you do, then since you're online you think -- well - i may as well check listen - maybe they posted music.

(now if this actually happened on NOV 22 - you wouldn't have found anything. But i was in boston and ben was preparing a meal -- so GET OFF OUR J's!)

in this fantasy NOV 22 of today - this is what you would find:
----------------------------------

hey listen.ers!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
ben and i have picked some songs that offer thanks to share with you all!
and we've found some nice pictures of turkeys and pilgrims, etc.

so enjoy!

thanks you for the music, ABBA

it was almost MADE for to be posted on this blog for thanksgiving, no?

gracias a la vida, Joan Baez
here's to life! yes joan, here here!

i like these images of pilgrims and indians amiably enjoying feasts (as the indians sit in the grass of to the side) and trading beads for corn or whatever... Remember in kindergarden when everyone dressed up as pilgrims and indians for thanksgiving? I was an indian.

do you know the horn of plenty dates back to ancient greek mythology?
well it does.

thank you baby, matt brown
that's some sweet northern soul for you all.

amazing grace, sufjan stevens

THANKS FOR LISTEN.ING!
g and b

Blue Monday* redux

Before we begin – let me say that I am quite a happy fellow lately.

It’s just this rain.

These gray skies and wet sidewalks.

It just begs me to fall down the (aforementioned) rabbit hole of somber folk and blues.

And fall I do – gladly.

Blues run the game, Jackson C Frank

It doesn’t get much sadder than this man’s life. And this song is just so gorgeous.

"wherever you go, the blues are all the same."

Basically his school furnace blew up – covering his adolescent body in burns, he started playing the guitar, moved to new york, and was drawn into the folk coffee house scene of Greenwich village  - then he came into money through an insurance settlement – and moved to London, released an album – which never caught on in the US – his money ran out so he had to go back to nyc and fell into a deep depression and was then cripple with stage fright.
Broke, he lived on the streets, eventually he grew very unhealthy and became a ward of the state.
A fan found him in a housing project in the Bronx and took him to woodstock, ny where he started to sing and write songs again. he died in 1999.  i mean, the man has a right to sing the blues.

fountains of sorrow, joan baez
the title says it all.  If this isn’t an evening-commute-ipod-on-repeat kinda song – I don’t know what is.

both sides, now – joni mitchell
My good friend rebecita brought this song into my life.  And shortly after being introduced to it i listened to it whilst smokin grass – and my body almost shut down. i don't listen to joni stoned anymore.  talk about a coming of age song. 

court and spark – joni mitchell
my dear friend/collaborator jesica brought this album into my life. And I am ever so grateful.

that’s a nice trend – wonderful woman bringing the wonderful joni Mitchell into my life.

Ne Me Quitte Pa, jaques brel
literlally translated it means – do not leave me – but the English version of the song is called IF YOU GO AWAY. which works – but I think do not leave me is more tragic – it’s really desperate. – especially repeated at the end.  my french pen pal, lo, sent this to me. he's filled my ipod with a lot of great music -- expect a paris-post soon...

-----------------

my knowledge of classic rock and musical tastes were heavily defined by my parents - my mom's peter, paul and mary and donovan albums (not to mention linda ronstadt and sinatra) - my dad always listening to jethro tull and the stones (and some patsy cline or hendrix) -our family taking a drive while listening to loggins and messina or gordon lightfoot.   one artist they never listened to all that much was neil young, i am not sure why - they just didn't; or they did - but i don't remember it.  as i've grown, and my tastes have matured into my own, i've folded all sorts of new genres and artists into the mix.  for whatever reason, neil young never found it's way into my music library. then this cute guy, named sean, started playing him for me -- and i am really digging it.

one day, sean and i were on our way to the MoMA and we wandered down into the york street station to hop on the F.  the platform was empty - save for one dude waiting for the train and a subway musician (an "official" one, with the MTA sign, etc.) sitting on the bench - singing harvest moon. he was really good - and the york station is so unique and the song is so beautiful - it was like a scene out of some less polished looking wes anderson movie. definitely a moment when i was very happy to be living in this city.

harvest moon, neil young

have i posted this song:

ticket to ride, the carpenters

i mean, really? just the saddest cover of this song ever, ever, EVER. if a sadder one exists - i shan't listen to it. my head might implode.  "i think i'm gonna be sad, i think it's today."  mateo, for better or worse, emailed it to me one day - and i really appreciate it.

and what somber rabbit hole would be complete without a little indigo girls?

ghost, indigo girls.

"And the mississippis mighty
But it starts in minnesota
At a place that you could walk across
With five steps down
And I guess thats how you started
Like a pinprick to my heart
But at this point you rush right through me
And I start to drown"

enough said.

 

and for good measure - here's the wonderful rosemary clooney:
blues in the night, rosemary clooney

i love music. 

to prove i don't ONLY listen to sad music -- i'll post happy stuff tomorrow.

enjoy

g

*yes, it's tuesday. i was supposed to post this yesterday - but, you know, sometimes you just don't get around to it....

 

monday blues

.....as i sit, about to head off to work.  drinking my coffee, eating my toast with peanut butter - i try to focus on the fact that this work week promises to be short one -- there's some time off on the horizon.

but that cold, wet, gray monday morning (that, ultimately is such a beautiful, november occurrence) just wanted me to lie under my blankets, listening to wnyc until it was time to get out of bed and make a grilled cheese sandwich.  alas - i did none of that.

but i did listen to some music on my subway ride. (and seriously folks - can the subways not handle a slighty drizzly morning? i had to wait half and hour for the E train at court sq.)

best song to walk down the street to first thing in the morning
hazy jane II

the first song on bryter later.  such a good album

"...what will happen in the morning when the world it gets
so crowded that you can't look out the window in the morning.

And what will happen in the evening in the forest with the weasel
with the teeth that bite so sharp when you're not looking in the evening.

And all the friends that you once knew are left behind they kept you safe
and so secure amongst the books and all the records of your lifetime.

What will happen
In the morning
When the world it gets so crowded that you can't look out the window
in the morning.
....
Let's sing a song
For Hazey Jane
She's back again in my mind.
If songs were lines
In a conversation
The situation would be fine."

sigh. i agree nick, that would make the situation fine.

LIFE!

now - knowing i needed more spring in my step before i fell down the rabbit hole of somber folk (a rabbit hole i am quite fond of -- but not every morning.)  i turned to smokey robbinson.
i want to hear songs about heart break - but i want it to be motown and a little upbeat.

tears of a clown, smokey robinson and the miracles

don't let me glad expression give you the wrong impression. A.M.E.N.

track of my tears, smokey robinson and the miracles

and how can you not appreciate  this song:

cruisin'

gwyneth paltrow (sp?) and huey lewis did their best to ruin it for a nation with their HORRIBLE movie about karaoke.  but it didn't work. so there.

and for good measure the ever-so-amazing etta james and her song

seven day fool.

love it love it love it! those back up singers?
i want to be soul singer and i won't rest until i am.

 

and i shall also direct your attention back to older melancholy post with some somber then upbeat tunes.

happy monday.
g

back in the habit and on repeat

hey kiddos. my apologies, most especially to my blogmate, for being a tad MIA -- and i don't mean the groundbreaking genre-defying English-born Sri Lankan musician -- over the past week (or so).  life just keeps on HAPPENING, you know?

anyway. i went over to Danny's the other night, and while he worked some tailoring magic on a few of my garments, we watched My So-Called Life and listened to Chris Garneau, among other things, and ever since, I've basically had this song on 24-7 repeat.

Chris Garneau - Black & Blue

it takes him about 1:45 to kick into full voice, but man, that moment kills me, each time he sings "oh, oh, i want to catch my death of cold, oh, oh, cause i'm scared i'm growing old."  be careful listening to this song on headphones late at night while it's raining and you're walking home alone to an empty bed. i'm just saying.

interesting interview with mr. garneau here, and here's a terrific video from the blogotheque takeaway show series:

#42.4 - Chris Garneau - We don't try
Uploaded by lablogotheque

on a totally unrelated note, did anyone else see the disaster otherwise known as Amy Winehouse in this clip from the Euro MTV music awards? [ADDENDUM: The clip i posted first ceased to work, so here's another with a corny intro. but it's the same performance.]

i don't know whether to cry, or laugh, or throw my computer against the wall in a fit of rage.  i mean, she's just so talented, and i'm afraid she's going to waste it all away.  look at her.  AMY: Get. Your. Shi*. TOGETHER.  Please.  if not for your sake, then for the sake of all the classic soul-revivalist lovers out there.  Please?

also, i don't remember quite how, but yesterday i ran across the myspace profile for this Brooklyn band called the Homophones.  And I wouldn't be so presumptuous as to think that a bandname like that or lyrics like "I wanna lick your popsicle" necessarily confirm that they play for my team, but... let me just say that i had a hard time finding many details about them, but they are officially on my radar.  expect more info to be relayed to you as it lands on my desk.  i like this song.

the Homophones - Everyone's Dead

on a non-musical note, here are some beautiful photos (i did not take them) from the amazing secret underground dinner party my dance group performed at over the weekend.  and more photos here.

that adorable boy-girl banjo-accordion duo were a real highlight, and apparently they perform under the name Fall Harbor, but i haven't been able to find any info about them so far.

that's all for now. bye.

>ben

killing me softly.

some days it's kinda gray out and you're a little sleepy and maybe a little overwhelmed with life.

on days like this (today) i turn to my music (well either that or my friends or my couch and muppet dvds)
but we deal with music here. so....

more often than not i turn to nina simone.
and more specifically - her softer side.

i let it cradle me.

which is why we are going to enjoy her singing some lullabies

here are songs from FOLKSY NINA

You Can Sing A Rainbow, nina simone

hush little baby, nina simone

here's aretha singing a different version:

mockingbird, aretha franklin

now how about some oh, susanna?

oh! susanna, carly simon
the first time i heard this song (on jonathan schwartz's saturday show) i cried. i think i was really emotional that day.  it's really beautiful - it's from her album into white.

oh susanna, james taylor.
from sweet baby james. such a good album.

now let's let nina sing about love:

i want a little sugar in my bowl, nina simone

cotton eyed joe, nina simone

this song KILLS ME. i love it. we've all known a cotton eyed joe one way or another.

and let's have nina sing us out - with a rousing little number?

in the evening by the moonlight, nina simone.

it's not the cleanest file (it makes weird sounds) but i love this song so -- it from her live at newport festival.  oh, to have been there!

okay. that's my playlist for a day like today.

enjoy

g

berlin without walls

all this week wync (93.9 fm or wnyc.org) is are doing a series called BERLIN WITHOUT WALLS - exploring east and west berlin (obviously) through their programs. a few of the music programs are focusing (again: obviously) on the wonderful music that has, and is, coming out of berlin. 

the ubertalented ute lemper (alliteration!) hosts Evening Music, delving into cabaret music, from Brecht and Weill to Jacques Brel and Lou Reed. Berlin Without Walls accompanies Carnegie Hall's 16-day festival Berlin in Lights. tonight she continues with more brecht -- 7pm - she is even going to play recordings of brecht being interrogated for being a communist.     she also pointed out that she thinks brecht was the only marxist to drive a mercedes (or was it a bmw? either way it's amusing)

so last night, as i cleaned my bathroom i listened to all these amazing recordings of the fruits of collaborations between brecht and weill, something i was already extremely fond of, and i thought i would share some of my favorites.

pirate jenny, nina simone

probably one of the most amazing songs ever, ever, ever.  from it's chilling story of hatred and revenge to that unbelievable piano vamp to the anger of ms. simone - this song is unstoppable.  the use of this song for the story of the movie dogville is probably what made me appreciate that movie so.  i mean: when nicole kidman's character is making the bed and suddenly looks up and says "none of you will sleep here tonight." i freaked out.

pirate jenny, lotte lenya
it would be ridiculous to post about brecht and weill and not share some lenya.  lenya sang these songs in numerous productions over the course of many years -- even when she was way too old to play the role - and they would have to lower the songs for her.  i love that.

pirate jenny, judy collins.
another reason to love judy collins. she sings brecht and weill. she doesn't have the  intense controlled rage of ms. simone, but i enjoy it all the same.

i love pirate jenny so much i sang it in my singing class during my undergrad theatre studies years at BU and my teacher said "i can't tell if you're singing it as a man or as a woman." and i told her since i am, in fact, a man, i am singing it as A MAN. (i had already changed the pronouns). i have no patience for snarky-ness.

in the threepenny opera (Die Dreigroschenoper) mac sings the knocking shop tango with jenny. it's about the whore house they used to live in and how he used to pimp her out. a new translation of threepenny premiered in london several years ago.  the translation kicks ass.
here is the song from that recording:
knocking shop tango, Tom Hollander, Tara Hugo

another amazing song from threepenny is the barbara song. polly sings it to her parents when she tells them she is married to mac the knife.  there is character in threepenny named barbara.
(but: brecht's daughter was named barbara and he also liked the name for it's relation to the word barbaric, he thought all humans were barbaric.)

barbara song, sharon small

bea arthur was the original polly peachum when threepenny opened on broadway. she shared a dressing room with lotte lenya. amazing. no?

barbara song, bea arthur

they created so many wonderful songs -- here are a few other favorites:

from their show HAPPY END
surabaya johnny, lenya (it's german)

surabaya johnny, julie wilson (english!)

damn. is there a better subject for a brecht/weill song than a spurned lover? for artists into exploring the dark sides of human nature - a broken heart is a wellspring.  their songs work best when sung by someone with a nontraditional voice (read: smokey, deep, harsh, old, "bad", etc).  i mean - more often than not, you have to make some ugly sounds when you sing these songs. i love it.

bilbao song, julie wilson

this is also from HAPPY END.  it's kind of like what's happening in williamsburg/greenpoint. 

in case you don't know who julie wilson is CLICK HERE!

there was a revival on broadway of HAPPY END in 1977. with christopher lloyd and meryl streep.  do we think she sang Surabaya Johnny? ugh. i would invent a time machine to see '77 meryl singing that song.  time for a trip to the library for the performing arts, no?

from THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY
alabama song, georgia brown
(yes, the doors sang this, but it was a cover)

we need more talented artists to sing these songs in english -- so all of us non-german speaking people can fully appreciate them.

enjoy
g

Día de los Muertos

¡Feliz Día de los Muertos muchachos!

what a wonderful holiday

really any holiday that would make building something like this

part of the rituals of the holiday - is a holiday for me.

it's also nice to celebrate life and honor those that have died.
plus you get to eat sugar skulls.
did i mention the skeleton dioramas that everyone makes?
it's also a joyous holiday (well, according to wikipedia).
i should again mention skeleton dioramas.

anyway - today's post is in honor of the day of the dead.
sort of.... or rather INSPIRED by.

i said to derek this morning: what songs should i post for the day of the dead?
and without blinking an eye he said: Marianne Faithfull's The Ballad of Lucy Jordan.

so here it is:
The Ballad of Lucy Jordan, Marriane Faithfull

he also shared this Calexico Vocal Mix of the Goldfrapp song HUMAN

human (calexico vocal mix), goldfrapp

me gusta.

i think this Johnny Cash song is quite day of the dead as well
from the AMAZING mariachi-like trumpets to the wonderful carnival that is falling in love -- it is such a great song.
ring of fire, johnny cash

the taste of love is sweet, when hearts like ours meet
i fell for you like a child
ooooh, but the fire went wild.

i fell into a burning ring of fire
i went down, down, down and the flames went higher.
and it burns, burns, burns, the ring of fire.


cat stevens. oh cat.  this is another one of mom's albums from my childhood.  i just couldn't get enough of teaser and the firecat when i was wee lad.
tuesday's dead, cat stevens

the other woman it brought to mind was Kate Bush.
now, i don't appreciate her as much as i should (but derek has supplied me with all the essential tracks)

and she also sings about ghost loving (that's what that novel is about right?)

wuthering heights, kate bush

has everyone heard of the puppini sisters? they sing andrew's sisters-like close 3 part harmony.  they do a lot of covers, and i DIG THEM, A LOT.
here's their version of this song:

wuthering heights, the puppini sisters.

do you not know why you should appreciate kate bush?
well. i'll let my friend micah break it down for you:
-----------------------------------------
Dear Geo and Listeners:

Kate Bush is, quite simply, the mother of all.

Kate Bush's works are the grand harbinger of the works of any female
(and even male) artist working in pop music today.

Even Tricky says that he carries a copy of her debut album "The Kick
Inside" EVERYWHERE he goes and has bought dozens of copies because he
scatters them all over the globe. Seriously, TRICKY himself cops to
this.

And you know who wouldn't exist without Kate? Tori Amos. Yep.
Goldfrapp. You bet. BJÖRK. Darn right, I went there.

Kate's genius goes so far, that she was only able to tour ONCE and
then never did it again. That's an ARTIST. And, even without touring,
her single "Hounds Of Love" knocked Madonna's "Like A Virgin" out of
the number one spot on the UK charts. Holy cow.

Right now. No, I mean it. RIGHT NOW, get your hands on the following
ESSENTIAL tracks:
"Wuthering Heights"  (you have this now!)
"Babooshka"  (now you have two!)

"The Infant Kiss"
"The Wedding List"
"Hounds Of Love"
"Cloudbusting"
"Army Dreamers"
"Running Up That Hill"
"This Woman's Work" (No, not the Maxwell version. Come on.)
"Wow"
"There Goes A Tenner"
"Rubberband Girl"

I'll be looking forward to the thank-you notes.

Love,
Micah!
-------------------------------
well, that's enough music for any esqueleto, no?

happy day of the dead!
g