themusic

Ron Wood, Mystifies Me

Who knew that the best Stones song was a Woody tune, from his I’ve Got My Own Album to Do in 1974 before he was a Stone. Woody at the time clearly felt like he had something to prove, guess he got tired of playing behind Rod Stewart, Jeff Beck etc, but then went on to play behind Mick and Keith. In my fantasy world Jagger/Richards, after listening to this song, knew they had to hire Woody, but also knew they could never write a song as tender as this.

Bob Dylan - Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie

Every word of this poem is an expression of awe. A treatise on searching, a plea for certainty, a love letter from a man to his hero. Every breath, hushed and astonished.

David Thomas Broughton - Execution

Earlier this week I put Twitter to work finding some new and unfamiliar music to ease me through the working week. One of the recommendations I received (from themusic’s own pootytang) was David Thomas Broughton’s album The Complete Guide to Insufficiency.

I didn’t get around to listening to the album until a couple of mornings later, as I was going through a backlog of emails. When my headphones went silent, I suddenly realized that I was no longer reading or typing, and I had no idea when I had stopped.

Hypnotic? Yes. Drone? Sort of. Soothing? Curiously so. While it’s largely his voice and guitar, he pulls in samples of himself, effects, and other sounds that transform his songs into something…different.

Execution gives you a little taste of the experience.

Harmonia - Arabesque

This is such a great album. Harmonia are a Krautrock supergroup, and this track is from a recently released 1974 concert. So good for writing code, or zoning out on the couch, or driving, or riding the subway, or travelling the spaceways….

Here is the only track that fits the under 10meg tumblr upload constraint. The track is primarily psychedelic guitar work (Michael Rothner?) backed with a repetitive keyboard vamp (Definite similarities in the repetitive keyboard work to the Terry Riley tracks I posted the other day). If you are prone to drooling, you might want to get a napkin ready :)

download the whole album here.

Grateful Dead - Bird Song (6/10/73)

Hate me for it, but this version of this song is one of the great live Dead moments ever - the looseness of the band (the acid rush days a few years past) evident throughout, strong bass lines, jazzy drums, and prototypical Garcia slinky guitar, soloing on top of a band content with hanging back enough to let him play but not enough to stop the propulsion.  A good example of how he was one of the most original guitarists ever - the guitar work is just beautiful, warts and all.

Birdsong was written for Janis Joplin btw.

The Fiery Furnaces - Don’t Dance Her Down

The Fiery Furnaces freak me out.  They may be the best band in the world.  Or not.  They are utterly insane, electric and uncategorizable.  Their latest “live” album Remember slices and dices songs in a remix heaven/hell scenario.  I don’t know what to make of it, it could be epic.  Or not. Either way it’s wholly original.  This is from that album.

Phil Ochs - My Life

I find this to be the most tragic of songs, which is not apparent by the music, but is through the lyrics, considering that Ochs’ life ended by suicide:

My life is now a myth to me
Like the drifter, with his laughter in the dawn.
My life is now a death to me
So I’ll mold it and I’ll hold it till I’m born
So I turned to the land
Where I’m so out of place
Throw a curse on the plan
In return for the grace
To know where I stand
Take everything I own
Take your tap from my phone
And leave my life alone
My life alone.

Shangri-Las - It’s Easier to Cry

Simply, a perfect song.

Koko Taylor & Willie Dixon - Insane Asylum

Find me a better vocal than this one, anywhere, anytime.