Late Night Confidential #9

We're still here, surprisingly! Artists this time include The Veils, Kelly Willis, Gillian Welch, I Was a King, Alice in Chains, Adding Machine, Takako Minekawa, The History of Apple Pie, Blood Diamonds (feat. Grimes), Wilco and Adrian Belew.

Sort of a random assortment, mostly just stuff I've been spinning lately.

 

Late Night Confidential #9 by Robot_Hero on Mixcloud

It's like we've never met

Wilco's You and I features a guest vocal from Feist, and is one of the prettiest songs I've come across in recent years. I love the sentiment, it almost makes me wish I could fall in love.

Wilco - You and I


Also, make sure you check out the video of their performance on Letterman here, from which the above image is taken.

California Love #2: Billy Bragg & Wilco > California Stars

California Stars comes to us from Billy Bragg & Wilco, by way of Woody Guthrie. The story goes like this; Woody had left behind something like a thousand songs, just lyrics without music. His daughter had approached Billy Bragg and asked him to pick out some of the songs and set them to music. Bragg then asked Wilco to join him. The resulting album was the excellent Mermaid Avenue, which is named after one of Woody's songs and also the name of the street in Coney Island, where Guthrie had lived.

The song, to me, is just about the peacefulness of being outside. Maybe he's hiking across the state and sleeping outdoors at night, dreaming of someone he loves, wishing she were there. It just feels like a really nice sentiment, to me, especially the line:

So, I'd give this world
Just to dream a dream with you
On our bed of California Stars

Pick up the album if you're even half interested, it's very much worth it.

Billy Bragg & Wilco > California Stars

I'm coming home, via Chicago

I'm off to Chicago for the long weekend. Laters!
Wilco > Via Chicago