If we make it though December

Merle Haggard's 1974 track, If We Make It Through December (from the album with the same name), tells an all too familiar tale of a man who's been laid off from his job just before Christmas. He's obviously have a rough go of it, he wants to do Christmas right by his daughter but now he's just hoping she'll understand if it doesn't happen the way it should. Timeless, this song could easily have been written today. The backup vocals, the violin (fiddle?) and the piano flourishes really make the song for me. No doubt that Haggard could have played it as a "fuck you" to The Man, with the narrator going on a drunken and destructive binge; he takes the high road instead, it's poignant, elegant and understated, with a dash of optimism.

Merle Haggard - If We Make It Through December

Repost: No One Makes Me Feel The Way You Do

A repost from a couple years ago. Seeing as how Kate Bush just released an album of new material for the first time in 6 years (and before that album, there was a 12 year gap; so 2 albums in 18 years), I thought I'd bring this one back.

Say hello to the magical, Kate Bush. I love the sweet and lilting feel of this track, it's a perfect little gem. Songs like this are the reason that b-sides were invented.

Home For Christmas is a b-side from the Rubberband Girl single, which was taken from her 1993 album, The Red Shoes.

Kate Bush > Home For Christmas

My heart froze many years ago

Today, I stumbled upon This is Christmas, by Emmy The Great and Tim Wheeler. These are mostly original tunes and it's a really catchy pop album. If you know me, then you know I like my Christmas tinted blue and served up with a side of heartbreak. This tune couldn't be more catchy, perfect or fitting.

Emmy The Great & Tim Wheeler - (Don't Call Me) Mrs. Christmas

All alone at Christmas time

I once saw Aimee Mann and Michael Penn perform this, but I can't remember if it was on one of their Acoustic Vaudeville tours or one of Aimee Mann's Christmas shows that she did for a few years straight. It had to be an AV show. It was originally recorded for Paul Thomas Anderson's Hard Eight, which I believe was scored by Michael Penn and Jon Brion. Anderson later wrote the screenplay for the film, Magnolia, based, in part, upon hearing Aimee Mann's Deathly, which would also be featured on the soundtrack. In any case, it's a cool song; kinda bittersweet, by a couple of my favorite musicians.

Aimee Mann & Michael Penn - Christmastime

Repost: Come On, Santa

This is a repost from a couple years ago. Way back when, I was young and I used to want to write; I used to think I could do it, but I'm actually terrible and full of cliches. If I'd actually kept at it, I'd more than likely be labeled a hack. Maybe I'd have gotten good, who knows, I just didn't have the patience to wade through all of the crap that pours out of my brain. Blog and Twitter posts, however, are a different sort of animal and I feel more comfortable in these mediums.

Every once in a while, however, inspiration strikes and this is one of the more interesting posts I've written of late. I even received a really nice compliment on it, from someone whose opinion I hold in high regard, no less, and it made me feel all fuzzy. It's late right now, nearly 2am on a Friday morning, and I don't feel up to a new post, so I thought I'd push this back out into the world.


You're sitting in a booth in an old greasy spoon, eyes staring into the eternal darkness of the coffee that sits before you. It's Christmas eve and there's a sad little Charlie Brown Christmas tree by the door. There's one other patron, a man sitting at the counter, wearing a faded baseball cap, ignoring his plate of sausage and eggs while he drinks from a flask of Wild Turkey that he intermittently pulls from his shirt pocket.

She walks through the doorway and the open doors momentarily allow the wind to announce her presence. She slowly drifts to your booth and the music starts as if it were cued for this moment. For a second she's standing there, staring down at you with big blue eyes shrink-wrapped in tears, and it feels like forever. You give a barely perceptible nod and start to get up. As your frame unfolds, she takes your hand and leads you for a few steps and then stops. She whirls in slow motion to face you and takes a hold of your hips, pulls you close and you both begin to slowly sway to the music. Her arms snake their way up and drape themselves around your neck, her head resting on your shoulders while she breathes sighs into your ears. "Come on, Santa..."

The Raveonettes > Come On, Santa

Christmas is a rockin' time

Good ol' Tom Petty steps in with Christmas All Over again. This was on the soundtrack of the godawful Four Christmases, which I've never seen and I never want to see it, based on the terrible trailers. Despite not having seen it, I have no problem judging this film. Vince Vaughn? C'mon. Reese Witherspoon? Please. If the best thing about your movie is a Tom Petty Christmas song, then you'd better get back to the drawing board. Either that or just go remake Miracle on 34th Street, since you can't write your own movie.

Tom Petty - Christmas All Over Again

I make all the little girls happy

Since Thanksgiving crept up on me and is now just over a week away, I figure it's time to bust out the Christmas tunes. We're gonna start off old school with Clarence Carter's Back Door Santa; smokin' hot. The horns from this song were sampled in another Christmas classic, Run-DMC's Christmas in Hollis.

Clarence Carter - Back Door Santa

50 Words for Snow

As anyone around here knows, I am a huge fan of Kate Bush. I thought I'd let whomever is around that NPR has the new album, 50 Words for Snow, streaming right now. The album itself will be released in a week, on the 21st, but you can get a head start on the listening, if you so desire. I've listened a few times already and I seriously had chills; it's that good. But don't take my word for it, listen for yourself!

Adieu

I just stumbled upon a new Coeur de Pirate track, it's really great. She has a new album out called Blonde. I'm so all over this.

Coming into a dark world

I wanted to check out Chrysta Bell's This Train because I'd heard that David Lynch was involved with the album. I don't know how much of this story is true, but from what I've read, Lynch met Bell when she was 19 or 20ish and wanted to work with her on a long term project. He wanted to turn her into a chanteuse or something. She's a bit over 30 now; this album is finally seeing the light of day and it's a pretty good one.

If you're familiar with Lynch at all, you'll immediately be able to tell that his fingerprints are all over this album. Apparently, he wrote all of the music and lyrics; all that's missing are Angelo Badalamenti arrangements.

Chrysta Bell - Bird of Flames

When I was seventeen

I've only just discovered Youth Lagoon's The Year of Hibernation, but it feels like I've known these songs forever. There's a child-like sense of wonder, a haunting quality and a hanging sadness (or maybe a feeling of longing) that pervades each track. I like the way the vocals are pushed back into the mix. You have to fight to make out the words, sorta like catching fleeting glimpses when you're looking for something and trying not to blink so you won't miss it.

Another aspect of this album I really like is that it's just over half an hour long. Some artists really don't know how to self-edit (Hello, Tori Amos) and put out albums that become endurance tests. Just because you can fit an hour and twenty minutes on a disc doesn't mean that you should. The Year of Hibernation is already one of my favorite albums of the year. Viva, Youth Lagoon.

Youth Lagoon - Seventeen

Sing a song for me

I recently, and randomly, came across The Great Book of John. I really like them, they have this sound that kinda conjures up an expansive American countryside; gritty, earthy and rural. To me, it sounds like the south. Their self-titled (second?) album just released last month, I'm hoping to pick up a copy on vinyl (I've been wanting to buy more vinyl lately). Whet your appetite with this gorgeous track, Ashes Over Manhattan.

The Great Book of John - Ashes Over Manhattan

REM: An American band

REM called it quits this week. This band meant a lot to me for a long, long time. I engaged in a couple little email conversations regarding them, so I decided to sorta piece them together into a longer post, which is what follows.

The first time I saw REM, they were on this TV show called Solid Gold. Marilyn McCoo hosted. Andy Gibb shared hosting duties at one point. Some of you Americans might remember it.

The premise of the show was to countdown the week's top ten hits, they'd play parts of the songs which featured interpretive dancing by the Solid Gold Dancers. They had the odd musical performance from whatever artist/band was hot that week. I saw Blondie on there once, playing Heart of Glass.

In any case, REM came on, Stipe was wearing this ridiculous paisley shirt, I remember wondering if it was a pajama top, and they played South Central Rain. I couldn't make out the lyrics except for when he wailed I'M SORRYYYYYYY, I'M SORRYYYYYYY.

I kinda forgot about them after that, but started listening more when Fables of the Reconstruction hit, so I had time to enjoy that mysterious weird kinda Americana. Document, was the first one where you could make out everything Stipe was singing. It sounded cleaner and bigger, but it was still REM. Document got them notice, Green put them in orbit, and Out of Time sent them into another dimension.

Just as an aside, U2 had that same 3-album explosion. I wanna say it was roughly around the same time, but I'm too lazy to research it. War kinda made everyone sit up and take notice, The Unforgettable Fire shot them into space, then Joshua Tree opened up another galaxy for them. Kinda weird, huh.

The moment I noticed they had changed for me was when I bought Out of Time. This was back when I was still going to the record store every Tuesday and grabbing the new releases I wanted. So I grabbed OOT, went home and listened to it and was promptly blown away. I remember telling my roommate, this guy named Rick who once subpoenaed me (after which, we had a huge and very public falling out in a courthouse waiting room), that this album was gonna make REM monolithic huge. It's just such a great album and it has a little something for everyone.

They put out a few more really good albums after that; Automatic for the People, Monster and New Adventures in Hi-Fi (the latter two were/are very underrated, I thought). The turning point came when Bill Berry left the band and the others decided to continue on. They had some very good moments (I'd rate At My Most Beautiful easily with any of their best songs) but it was never really the same.

These guys are one of my all-time favorite bands, one of the best American bands, and one of the best bands, period. Despite the last 10-15 years, even if I wasn't really a fan of the post-Berry stuff, they had a really fucking good run and I wish I could thank them for being there.

This is probably my favorite REM tune, check it out. And if you don't have any album and perhaps were curious, start at the beginning with the IRS stuff. It's really, really good. There's also a very good compilation album called And I Feel Fine... The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987, which is worth it if you want to start off with a sampler.

REM - Fall On Me

Swinging with the old stars

The other day, I stumbled across Lana del Rey's Video Games and I was simply stunned. This song is ten kinds of wonderful. Haunting, aching, longing, pining; the whole nine yards. I love it. The 7" single hits next month, pick it up here if you're so inclined. Check out the video here, it's pretty cool.

Lana del Rey - Video Games

Someone still loves you

So, today is the birthday of Freddie Mercury. Queen is one of the bands I wish I'd seen in their heyday. The first time I'd heard of them was around 75-76ish, around the time of A Night at the Opera. Bohemian Rhapsody, of course, was all over the radio. I bought the You're My Best Friend 45 and '39 was the flipside. My god, I loved those songs and I played that record to death. I remember they came through the Bay Area when Jazz was released, that must have been sometime in 78 or 79, but my dad wouldn't let me go. The Game came out after that and I loved it, but I somehow missed that tour as well. I probably would not have been allowed to go, anyways; dad wasn't into that scene.

I lost track of Queen for a good chunk of the 80s; The Flash Gordon, Hot Space and The Works era. A Kind of Magic came out in 86, they had a couple songs in the movie, Highlander, and that made me take notice again.

So yeah, Queen is probably my biggest musical regret, as in not having seen them live. For some people, it might be Led Zeppelin before John Bonham died, or The Who with Keith Moon. Mine is Queen with Freddie Mercury. A few years ago, they came through here with Paul Rodgers, but I couldn't convince myself to attend. It's just not the same without Freddie Mercury. Thankfully, we still have the music.

Everything looks like a giant cupcake

This song is so cute. It's from the upcoming M83 album, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming. Part of the music reminds me of something by Jean Michel Jarre, but no matter. I really like this. I could listen to this kid all day.

M83 - Raconte-Moi Histoire

They cut out her heart when she was a little girl

Bat For Lashes' Sarah, from her stellar album, Fur and Gold, has a brooding sing-song kind of feel, with the bass line and the drums guiding the listener along. Other instruments and voices join in along the way for brief periods of time and then fade and show up again. It's sort of akin to driving on a lonely two-lane road in the black of night. The rhythm section is the highway, it's always there, twisting and turning. The other voices and instruments are like billboards, popping up every now and again. Natasha is the driver and her voice is the headlamps, illuminating what's in front of us. Shine on, Bat For Lashes, shine on.

Bat For Lashes - Sarah

If you need a friend

It's funny, the first time I saw Napoleon Dynamite, I hated it. I had flown to Denver to hang out with my friend, Rick. Neko Case was playing a couple nights at the Bluebird Theater and we were planning to go. So I get to Rick's in the evening, we chat and have a few beers, blah blah. Right? He's someone who goes to bed at a fairly "normal" hour, so he recommends ND to me as he's off to bed. I put it in and watch it. In the words of Napoleon himself, "This is pretty much the worst video ever made." I don't know if I was tired from the flight or whatever, but the movie didn't click with me at all.

Fast forward to a random weekend, ND is on Comedy Central, I believe, and I'm too lazy to change the channel. The movie is brilliant. Now, it's one of my favorites.

One of my favorite scenes is the tetherball scene with Deb at the end. It's just so perfect.

You wanna play me?

When In Rome - The Promise

I never knew what I had

I had a Bob Dylan evening yesterday. That dude, he sings about life. Somehow, he just knew about everything. This is one of my favorite songs.

Bob Dylan - I Threw It All Away

Dial up

A friend posted this on FB, it's really bizarre. It's the sound of a dial-up connection that's been slowed to a crawl. It sounds like a lost demo from Brian Eno and Robert Fripp's No Pussyfooting album.