listen.

rainy days and mondays always get me down...

oh KAREN! so true....

Rainy Days and Mondays, The Carpenters

Well, rainy days don’t always get me down, I rather love them, BUT a rainy Monday can sometimes get one down.... rather a good song for a day like today.

Let’s indulge in some rainy day music, shall we?

It’s Raining, Irma Thomas
Drip drop....a great soul tune. 

I Think It’s Gonna Rain Today, Nina Simone
Yes Nina, I do too.

Early Mornin' Rain, Peter Paul and Mary
Sigh.

You’re Gonna Need Me, Dionne Warwick
my friend just shared this tune with me.... perfect for a monday, no?

That’s all. Just some good tunes for gray day.

it is good friday after all....

hey listeners.

I had a bigger post in the works, but I figured as it is good friday we may as well enjoy some Mahalia Jackson.   Now, I say it time and time again every time i post gospel: i am not trying to spread some religious doctrine, i am not part of any organized religion, BUT as a musical genre it is pretty amazing when done right.

And you know who does it right? The Queen of Gospel -- widely regarded as the best singer in the history of the genre -- Mahalia Jackson.

Supposedly, and by supposedly I mean: according to wikipedia, she was constantly asked to record secular music throughout her life but refused.  While I feel like I should respect an artist standing up for themselves I kinda wish Mahalia had recorded a standard or two: Anything Goes, It's Too Darn Hot, Little GIrl Blue.... the list goes on...

I digress. This woman has soul. Lots of it. And she lets it out on that stage. Enjoy her live recordings - the two I have are: In Concert Easter Sunday 1967 and Live At Newport 1958

From the Easter Sunday Concert:

Come on Children, Let's Sing - Mahalia Jackson

Elijah Rock - Mahalia Jackson

There is Balm in Gilead - Mahalia Jackson
(isn't this one just so beautiful?)

I'm On My Way - Mahalia Jackson

Didn't It Rain - Mahalia Jackson
(this is my favorite song of hers)

It Don't Cost Very Much - Mahalia Jackson

Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho - Mahalia Jackson
("You make me feel like a star!" Well, Mahalia, you break my heart.)

okay... that's all.  ENJOY!

g

i sold my heart to the junkman

as with most of my posts this is two days late but not a dollar short.

but i was mostly done with it so i figured i would still post it so it wasn't a waste of time.

pretend as you read this that is between 11 am and 6 pm on thursday feb 14th. THANKS!

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

hey hey listeners.

so, unless you live somewhere where the government has outlawed a lot of western things you are somehow plagued with (or celebrating) valentine's day.

for most post modern young cynics like myself this is just a greeting card gimmick in order to make money and force people buy more stupid crap that will end up floating in that garbage landfill island in the pacific. 

that being said i figured we could enjoy some 60's girl group songs about love with a little emphasis on the  heart break aspect of love.  i really love songs about heart break -- you could say i am melancholy by nature but i think mainly i just love the juxtaposition of heart break and doo wop in a song.  they are also pretty dramatic which is hard not to enjoy.

(all these songs were brought into my life when my friend micah made me a copy of his collections of girl group songs. it was a really wonderful addition to my music library and i have become rather obsessed with some of the songs.)

OKAY! so let's start with some truths:

the first cut is the deepest, pp arnold.
she was a back up singer for tina turner and then she had a solo career. and damn if this isn't a song for the history books. first, it's true: the first cut is the deepest but you'll always try to love again. second, the trumpets.   i just can't get enough of this song.

every little bit hurts, brenda holloway
a great motown singer and a great song.  every little hurt counts. ah, life.

okay. moving on. i call this next section REALIZATION:

you don't love me no more, madeline bell
rockin song, intense back up vocals.  similar to the magnetic fields' song i don't want to get over you it's good to have this song in your music library because there may be a time when you'll need to listen to it a lot.  it'll make you feel better or it will allow you to wallow - either way IT will never leave you.

you're no good, dee dee warwick
until i got these cd's from micah i just assumed this was a linda rondstat song. oops.  you left someone for a tool bag who winds up being no good. i'm sure you're friends warned you not to.  you live and you learn, right?

let's call this next section PRIDE:

crying in the rain, carole king
i love carole king. i enjoy this song. i think the flight of the concords song i'm not crying (is that what it's called?) is a modern answer to this song. i'll just go out in the rain and sob and then you won't be able to tell - unless you're really sobbing and your face contorts in that ugly crying face, then everyone will be able to tell you are crying carol, sorry...

girl don't come, sandie shaw
does this fit in the pride section? maybe.  why do you keep asking this girl out? she keeps standing you up!  i think it's your pride. i love this song: dramatic story, brass and string instruments and her voice is really awesome.   i love how the song never gets to a point where the person realizes they are better than this girl - the girl just never shows up. ha.

and since not everything is doom and gloom the final section is LOVE:

cause i love him, aldar ray   

isn't that nice?

oh, and for good measure here's the song that gave me the title for the post:

i sold my heart to the junkman, the starlets

i believe in love
g

oh patsy!

every now and then i go through a phase where i want to listen to is patsy cline.

and for some reason i am in that phase right now.

there are many reasons to appreciate this woman.

for one, you can't really beat her in terms of songs about heartbreak.

and let's face it - whatever your feelings about contemporary country music are - old country is great.

and patsy cline is pretty amazing. her voice is unreal.  it's kind of a surreal sound -very theatrical -- as if it isn't from the late 1950's but rather something david lynch created for a movie.  and, like i said, if you're looking for songs about heart break and not being able to get over your man who left you - well, you have come to the right post!

get ready for it.

CLEARLY we must start with one of her iconic songs:

walkin after midnight, patsy cline
i can, and plan on, posting all the other covers of this song - because they're all great.  is it because we all know what a lonely walk at night looking for our lover is like? probably.
it's kind of a bizarre story either about a woman so lovesick and forlorn she has to walk at night due to her solitary insomnia or it's a song about a prostitute? either way it has universal appeal.

i fall to pieces, patsy cline
one of her biggest hits that features some of the dramatic heart ache i was talking about earlier: "i fall to pieces each time some one speaks your name." damn. that's intense. and i can judge because i've never been unable to see or be near someone because they couldn't return my love.

back in baby's arms, patsy cline
there is hope! i'm back where i belong! back in baby's arms!  i need a relationship in order to feel complete!

okay no let's take it up a notch, patsy:

these songs all get a little rockabilly twangy, and it's awesome - there's even a hint of yodeling.

they are currently the most played on my itunes.  (with the staples singer's i'll take you there coming in 4th)

seven lonely days, patsy clines

blue moon of kentucky, patsy cline
i love this song.

lovesick blues, patsy cline

here's a rather fascinating tidbit* i found whilst researching patsy cline:  both dottie west and june carter cash recall cline telling them about feeling a sense of impending doom in the months leading up to her death.  she began giving away personal possessions, writing out a will and arranging for care of her children.  she then died in a plane crash on march 3, 1963.  (march 3 is my birthday, so there's also that.)
isn't that interesting?  kind of creepy, kind of sad, sort of makes me want to write a play about it.

okay. before we go here's one more classic patsy tune that i love:

crazy, patsy cline.

have a good day!

*take that with a grain of salt: i found that on wikipedia. so it might not be true at all. (i kind of don't trust that website.)

My wild sweet love

So lately I've been really into the Jimmy Webb song "Do What You Gotta Do".  I've known the Nina Simone version for a long time, and was vaguely aware of Roberta Flack's.  But then I ran across two more recent versions, along with a Linda Ronstadt take from the early '90s! 

It's just such a heartbreaking song.  Sort of a more complex take on that old "If you love something, set it free" cliché, it's all about letting someone go do their thing and figure their shi* out, even though you still really love them.  And you know you might "never kiss those sweet lips again."  Sigh.

Nina's is by far the most robust of these takes.  I like how she doesn't bother herself with protocol, and just kicks off the song by jumping straight into the chorus.  Her delivery strikes me as pretty self-assured - not quite as vulnerable as one might expect from the lyrics.
Nina Simone - Do What You Gotta Do

As much as I love Nina's, I feel like Roberta's version comes a little closer to capturing the essence of the song.  Her confidence seems like it's on the verge of cracking, while assuring her man that he's doing what's right.  It's mostly quiet and pretty understated, but when she decides to wail she'll break your heart.  I love her slight variation of the melody on "come on back and see me when you can" near the end of the song.
Roberta Flack - Do What You Gotta Do

Linda's definitely sounds like the year in which it was released (1993), but despite our collective distaste for early 90s adult contemporary (i know i don't speak for everyone!), she's got some good things going here.  I like the contrast between the delicate breathlessness on the verses and the force on the choruses.  And when she holds out - for 10 full seconds - the "can" on "see me when you can" at the end, that's pretty awesome.  I'm not crazy about the backup vocals or the instrumental arrangement, but you can't really blame her.  It was '93!
Linda Ronstadt - Do What You Gotta Do

Running across this Meg Baird version is what kicked off my whole obsession with this song.  Meg Baird is in the (awesome) band Espers, but she released a solo album last year called Dear Companion with this track.  Totally different from the versions above, she makes it a lilting acoustic folk ballad. Gorgeous.
Meg Baird - Do What You Gotta Do

And finally, a man!  Okkervil River does a bang-up job on this song.  I particularly love that frontman Will Sheff doesn't change the gender in the "girl like me" line at the beginning.  I think this might be the most emotionally vulnerable vocal performance of all these. I love it.
Okkervil River - Do What You Gotta Do

xoben

ps - Geo and Amanda and Ricky and I are seeing Mavis Staples tonight at BAM!  In her honor, I'll leave one more track from her.  I don't think she ever recorded DWYGD, so... here's my favorite track of hers.
Mavis Staples - How Many Times

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!

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

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

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

love is (not so) simple

somehow i missed the precise moment that this album came out, so i'm a little over a week behind here, but the new Akron/Family outing, Love is Simple, has spent the last few days blowing me away.  It also has one of the more beautiful album covers I've seen in a while:

it kind of sums up the whole album, that delicate, vulnerable, complex beating heart, just floating there in a void of white.

anyway. it's all about love. love. love. and it's wonderful and heartbreaking and optimistic and full of surprises and deceptively complex.

the album is bookended by two versions of its anthem, "Love Love Love (everyone)", entreating its listener to go out and do just that. please do. listen, and then do.  Love everyone!  Here's the opener:

Akron/Family - Love, Love, Love (everyone)

my other favorite track features the album title in singalong:
...
don't be afraid, it's only love
love is simple
don't be afraid, you're already dead
love is simple
...

Akron/Family - Don't Be Afraid, You're Already Dead

i first listened to this song on the subway on my ipod and had the inspiration that if i were ever to make a music video of this song, it would start on the subway, morning commute, people annoyed and tired and crowded, during the don't be afraid part. and then when "love is simple" comes in, people would slowly start singing, until the whole subway car was repeating "love is simple" with smiling joyful faces. and then during "don't be afraid, you're already dead", the train would pull into union square, everyone would get off the train and run up the stairs, and for the final "love is simple" repetition, everyone would emerge into union square, the sun would be shining, and EVERYONE would be smiling, and singing "love is simple" and holding each other, and loving each other. the entire video would all be one shot, and at the end the camera would rise above them all high into the sky, and look down on a union square full of singing, smiling, loving people.

can someone please give me $3 million to make that?  please?

here's my favorite song from their 2005 debut.
Akron/Family - I'll Be On The Water

They're playing this Sunday at Bowery Ballroom (click if you want to see them all in their swim trunks).

Buy the new album here please.

love, love, love everyone,

xoben