listen.

Country Romance

hey listeners.

if there is one thing we get here at listen it's A LOT of reader mail - mail that asks a lot of questions and demands that we give you what you want.  and one of the things you've all been demanding is a return of the Barbrablogger.  SO WAIT NO MORE you desperate, DESPERATE, lonely people.

The Babrablogger -aka- Mateo is back with a country romance post.
drum roll please...............................

COUNTRY ROMANCE!


1.  Reba McIntire, "You Lied"

I listened to this song CONTINUOUSLY when I was 16.  I wanted so much to be living the tortured, angsty life that Reba gets to sing about in this song.  She's trapped in a loveless marriage with a man who can't even look her in the eye and tell her the truth.  Just wait for the first time she sings that beautiful chorus at 1:04.

2.  Garth Brooks, "Shameless"

One of the best songs he ever recorded.  The backup singers are classic mid-90's country.  This song probably should be sung at some point by a really amazing soul singer.  Geo?

3. Dolly Parton, "Love is Like a Butterfly"

Such a pretty, disarming song.  When I listen to it, it feels like Dolly is right behind me, softly singing into my ear.

4. Joni Mitchell, "Help Me"

Well, there's no way she's country.  But this was recorded right in the best part of the 70's, when everything kinda sounded country.  This is one of the best songs recorded in that decade.  And I thank my Joni-friend Jes for sending it my way.

enjoy!

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....

 

Guest listen.er mateo with the BARBRABLOG you've been waiting for!!

Hello, listeners, guest poster Mateo here.  Today at the listen blog, we have the post that you have all been begging for.  We've read your comments, poured through the thousands of emails, and decided it was finally time to give you what you want:

 

THE BARBRA STREISAND POST

 

Today we'll be picking a few favorites from throughout Barbra's career.  From old standards to funky 70's covers, this post runs the gamut.  But what do they all have in common?  The voice of a beautiful, Jewish angel.

 

Happy Days are Here Again
Starts out sad, ends up angry, this song is a beautiful paradox.

 

Come to the Supermarket (In Old Peking)
Without a doubt, the most dramatic song you'll ever hear about grocery shopping.

 

Time and Love
If your dentist has taste, he'll be playing this in his waiting room.  A masterpiece of Easy Listening.

 

Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered
She.  Was.  Born.  To.  Sing.  This.  Song.

.....
Addendum: i'd actually never heard this solo version of Happy Days, but if it's not QUITE gay enough for you, here's Barbra singing it as a medley-duet with Get Happy sung by Judy Garland.  Delicious. >ben
Judy and Barbra - Get Happy/Happy Days are Here Again
.....

melancholia

so.
the fall is good for so many things:
pumpkin ravioli, squash soup, wondrous bicycle weather, all hallow's eve, trips upstate, fun clothes, reading poetry in prospect park - among other things.
it's also a good times for those that enjoy being melancholy.

you know - take a long bike ride listening to joni mitchell, then stop down by the grand st. water front and read an ee cummings poem -- then maybe watch annie hall.... which i may or may not LOVE doing.

even when it's 70º and i have to pretend is it brisk and autumnal outside.
(on a side note: this weather?)

anyway - i have found some new fall tunes i am SUPER into. i'm talkin: play-on-repeat-for-an-hour into.

the first came to me via another paste magazine sampler.
fionn regan - an acoustic folk singer.

according to his myspace music page he is from wicklow, ireland.

the song i found:
put a penny in the slot

is a truly beautiful song about a relationship ending.  on his myspace you can sample some more before you log on to the itunes store and buy the album. 
this song, obviously, got me thinking about all the random things you wind up with in your apt during/after a relationship - suspenders, books, cds you don't like, the list goes on.  i remember once - i sent this guy i was dating a postcard that i found at an art gallery that i thought was really funny - it was three naked woman wearing skeletor masks- all of whom were ENORMOUSLY pregnant with giant breasts and they were wading in the ocean. ANYWAY, i wrote: "dear _____,  vacation is wonderful - wish you were here! xo geo" (or something to that affect.) they next day - homeboy dumped me. the point? well a day or two later he received the post card. ha. i found that knowledge funny.  so - he wound up with a naked skeletor woman postcard (and my yoga mat.)
_______________
The Limes
this cool mp3 blog said the gramophone tipped me off to this cool band/music project happening called The Limes.
what are the limes you ask?
well, according to myspace they are:
"..an inter-continental band consisting of Toy Fight, Orouni, Mina Tindle, John Hale and Henry Sparrow. Started with the simple idea of sharing musical ideas between the Atlantic, members submit material to each other to interpret and record. A large amount of "musical trust" (we like it that way) is placed in each other, as well as the hope that fresh and interesting music can emerge from the crossing of borders."

Beyond Blue

"when we were young we wore rose colored glasses."
sing it sister.
what a rad song - i've listened to it about 30 times today. i get obsessed, what can i say?
i LOVE the percussion.

attractive little group, no?

anyway - go to their page -- you can listen to other songs.  and then you can go the members own pages and enjoy their music.  and then sit and marvel about how much new, good music just came into your life.

anyway: i hope this project yields many, many more songs.

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

i also came upon this ABBA track (now this song is sad too, but it's abba sad - meaning up beat.)
but it is sooooo dramatic. i love it. really fun to dance to in your apt.

ring ring
lady - get some self worth. you just sit by the phone waiting for it to ring?
at least go for a walk. i love it!
my friend jordan drunkenly described it as "bye bye birdie meets nothing" when i played it for him on the L train the other night coming home from a bar. i think that fits very well.

and since we're talkin melancholy love - here's a little walt whitman and an indigo girls song.
(side note - the other day ben mentioned that people hate on the indigo girls. call me a lesbian trapped in a gay man's body - (actually my old boss, chezza, said i was a straight man trapped in a lesbian's body, trapped in a gay man's body....) i digress - THERE IS NO NEED to hate on these wonderful women and the music they brought us.

the wood song

  As I Lay With My Head In Your Lap Camerado

  As I lay with my head in your lap camerado,
  The confession I made I resume, what I said to you and the open air
     I resume,
  I know I am restless and make others so,
  I know my words are weapons full of danger, full of death,
  For I confront peace, security, and all the settled laws, to
     unsettle them,
  I am more resolute because all have denied me than I could ever have
     been had all accepted me,
  I heed not and have never heeded either experience, cautions,
     majorities, nor ridicule,
  And the threat of what is call'd hell is little or nothing to me,
  And the lure of what is call'd heaven is little or nothing to me;
  Dear camerado! I confess I have urged you onward with me, and still
     urge you, without the least idea what is our destination,
  Or whether we shall be victorious, or utterly quell'd and defeated.

oh. walt. sigh.

okay. wow. i guess this is what happens when you spend all night and day listening to the above three songs - you wind up reading whitman to the soundtrack of the indigo girls. not a bad place..

peace
geo

wednesday = friendsday

sometimes we get a little busy with our non-blogging lives here at listen.  (how does one become a professional music blogger? can we send our resumes somewhere?)  so today we get by with a little help from our friends.

with some more melancholy covers!

derek "ice man" r. turned us onto another sad bowie cover (so much thematic unity here!) from one of our favorite modern troubadours, M. Ward.

M. Ward - Let's Dance (David Bowie)

and julia "i like my yoga hot" h. showed us the way with a sad version of the already sad Jackson Browne-penned, Nico-popularized These Days.  This one from St. Vincent.

St. Vincent - These Days (Jackson Browne/Nico)

A few more we'll throw into the mix:

Antony and the Johnsons cover Beyonce (you heard me right).  Both of us Listen.ers (and Ms. Julia H.!) actually saw him perform this with the Brooklyn Philharmonic back in March, but this version is from Sweden I think.

Antony and the Johnsons - Crazy in Love (Beyonce)

Nina Simone takes on Leonard Cohen's Suzanne. and it hurts. a lot. in the good way.

Nina Simone - Suzanne (Leonard Cohen)

and to wrap it all up -- a slightly more upbeat one -- the theme song for today!

Sergio Mendes and Brasil '66 - With a Little Help from my Friends