Finally. Finally. FINALLY! June 19, 2009
Posted by admin in : Songs , add a commentFinally.
I give you one of the most haunting, spine-chilling, affecting songs of 2009. Even of the 2000’s. Florence and the Machine’s “Cosmic Love”, currently finding an audience through being featured on an O2 ad. As soon as I heard this for the first time many weeks ago, I spent hours trying to track down the song, to no avail. But now – finally.
With the voice of Kate Bush. Of Bjork. With the ability to paint soundscapes of Tom Waits. Of Nick Cave. With music that features harps, choirs, drums, string quartets, sighing, electronic wailing.
Soaring. Epic. Heart-breaking.
Even simply reading the lyrics will give you chills.
It’s time to lose yourself. This will affect you deeply.
A falling star fell from your heart and landed in my eyes
I screamed aloud, as it tore through them, and now it’s left me blindThe stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I’m always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heartAnd in the dark, I can hear your heartbeat
I tried to find the sound
But then it stopped, and I was in the darkness,
So darkness I becameThe stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I’m always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heartI took the stars from our eyes, and then I made a map
And knew that somehow I could find my way back
Then I heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too
So I stayed in the darkness with youThe stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I’m always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heartThe stars, the moon, they have all been blown out
You left me in the dark
No dawn, no day, I’m always in this twilight
In the shadow of your heart
Florence and the Machine – Cosmic Love
www: Florence and the Machine official site and MySpace
Drunk And Fucked Up. May 24, 2009
Posted by admin in : Songs , 4commentsA number of years ago, way back in the mists of time (well, the early 2000’s), I came crashing out of a relationship, and into a year in college, making friends and socialising. Naturally enough, my music tastes leaned, even for me, towards the more melancholy, and a mix CD I created at the time spent months on repeat. It’s name? “Drunk and Fucked Up”.
From D&FU (volume 1 – although I never did end up making a volume 2…), I give you two of my friends. Two people who got me through tough times. Two men who let me wallow until I healed. Now, I listen to these songs with a wonderful wistfulness.
Up first, the man who has been with me through a few break-ups, Tom McRae, with his cover of Alain Bashung’s “La Nuit Je Mens”. I’m currently searching for the proper English translation – expect an update soon. For now, I’ll let Tom take it…Piano, guitar, that voice, and a building swell…
On m’a vu dans le Vercors
Sauter à l’élastique
Voleur d’amphores
Au fond des criques
J’ai fait la cour à des murènes
J’ai fait l’amour
J’ai fait le mort
T’étais pas née
A la station balnéaire
Tu t’es pas fait prier
J’étais gant de crin, geyser
Pour un peu, je trempais
Histoire d’eauLa nuit je mens
Je prends des trains
A travers la plaine
La nuit je mens
Je m’en lave les mains.
J’ai dans les bottes
Des montagnes de questions
Où subsiste encore ton écho
Où subsiste encore ton échoJ’ai fait la saison
Dans cette boite crânienne
Tes pensées, je les faisais miennes
T’accaparer, seulement t’accaparer
D’estrade en estrade
J’ai fait danser tant de malentendus
Des kilomètres de vie en rose
Un jour au cirque
Un autre a chercher a te plaire
Dresseur de loulous
Dynamiteur d’aqueducsLa nuit je mens
Je prends des trains
A travers la plaine
La nuit je mens
Effrontément
J’ai dans les bottes
Des montagnes de questions
Ou subsiste encore ton écho
Ou subsiste encore ton échoOn m’a vu dans le Vercors
Sauter à l’élastique
Voleur d’amphores
Au fond des criques
J’ai fait la cour à des murènes
J’ai fait l’amour
J’ai fait le mort
T’étais pas néeLa nuit je mens
Je prends des trains
A travers la plaine
La nuit je mens
Je m’en lave les mains
J’ai dans les bottes
Des montagnes de questions
Où subsiste encore ton écho
Où subsiste encore ton échoLa nuit je mens
Je prends des trains
A travers la plaine
La nuit je mens
Je m’en lave les mains
J’ai dans les bottes
Des montagnes de questions
Où subsiste encore ton écho
Où subsiste encore ton écho
And from Ryan Adams, I give you “The Bar is a Beautiful Place”. Ryan, a piano, and a piece of music that will raise the hairs on the back of your neck. Given Ryan’s own history of heavy alcohol intake, this song takes on even more resonance.
I hang my head down on Hollywood
‘Cause either way you look down it’s just stars
And I’m making my way down the Cherokee
To get drunk in a bar
And I know my friends, they worry about me
I can see it written on their face
Despite anything that I said before
The bar is a beautiful place. . . . sha na na na, sha la la la laI got a cold in my heart that the doctor can’t feel
He said “go get you a beer”
But they don’t let the sunshine come in here
Sha la, sha la la laWhere the hookers and thieves and the junkies play
It’s a circus round here for sure
And I worry about how I’m fitting in
If I only had her
And I know my friends they worry about me
I can see it written on their face
But despite anything I might have said before,
The bar is a beautiful place. . . . sha na na na, sha la la la laAin’t it strange, I see your face in the window of a store
Holding me back from throwing my bottles out at the cars
Sha la, sha la la laSo hey there, Mrs. Samuels
Hey Laura, I’m thinking of you
Would you take an old drunk as-is
If he was sweet to you
And tomorrow, you’ll probably give up on me
I won’t blame you, hell I’ll celebrate
‘Cause despite anything you may have said to me
The bar is a beautiful place. . . . sha na na na, sha la la
Ryan Adams – The Bar Is A Beautiful Place To Be
www: Tom McRae , Ryan Adams
What A Wicked Game To Play. Oh, Hang On. May 24, 2009
Posted by admin in : Songs , add a commentBefore reading any further, go listen to the song below without looking at the picture. Or reading the text. Or looking at the name of the artist when clicking on the “Play” button.
Okay, I know. That’s probably bloody hard to do. But you’re missing my point here. As you listen to this song, you’ll think, “That’s kind of familiar”. And then, 1 minute and and 20 seconds in, you’ll go, “Ah! Wicked Game! Hang on, is he still around?”
Yes folks, Chris Isaak is not only still around, but has recently released “Mr. Lucky”. Now, having never listened to a Chris Isaak album before, for some reason, this album struck me as exactly how a Chris Isaak album would sound like, in my head. Which, at the best of times, is a weird, weird place to be.
So, from “Mr. Lucky”, I give you “We Let Her Down”. A song about a woman who…oh, you know what’s going to happen.
Is it a good song? Well, I guarantee you’ll tap your foot, you’ll hum along, and you’ll try to sing the high parts. And by the end of it, you’ll have completely forgotten it. Until it comes back into your head in an hour, and you won’t remember who sings it, or where you heard it. But you’ll be humming it.
Chris who? “Wicked Game” was a great song, though.
Her mother, her father
Never showed her any affection at all
I wonder if it hurts her now
Now that it’s too late they callWe let her down
It’s true
We let her down
It’s trueI told her I’d be there
It’s easy to say what you want to believe
I told her I’d love her
And now that it’s too late I seeI let her down
It’s true
I let her down
Let her down
Let her down
We let her down
Let her downSo helpless, pretending
Hoping that somehow somebody would see
So desperate for someone
I guess that she thought that someone was meI let her down
It’s true
I Let her down
I let her downLook at her, look through her eyes
Close to the hurt and the pain
I hope now she’s somewhere
Where they’ll never hurt her again
www: Chris Isaak
One Of Those. May 9, 2009
Posted by admin in : Songs , 2commentsI don’t know if this song will have the same effect on you, but, for me, this is one of those songs.
You know – those songs.
The ones that crawl under your skin. The ones that play in your head again and again and again. The ones that leave you caught in your chest, wondering what’s just happened.
Colin MacIntyre was better known as part of a band called “The Mull Historical Society”, who were responsible for wonderfully twee, at times a little more unsettling, tunes, from 2001 to 2005. While there were a number of band members, the group were described as a one-man, with MacIntyre that one man.
Now, Colin is back, under his own name, with “The Water”. And from that album, I give you the song “The Water” – somewhere between a Scottish folk dirge, and a…uhm…ehm…Okay, it’s mainly a Scottish folk dirge. And bloody haunting.
I bet you’ll be back to this one more than once.
I married a girl, I married the one that I want. I married a girl, I married the one that you were.
If you could come out of the water, the water. If you could come out of the water, the water, the water, the water, with me.
I married a boy, I married the boy that I want. I tried to belong, I held on with both feet at ground.
If you could come out of the water, the water. If you could come out of the water, the water.
If I could come into the water, the water, the water, the water, with you.
And all that I want is you. And all that I need is you. And all that I want is to know that it’s you.
I married a girl, a time for me heart to be stilled. I’ll slide in the storm, till I float to where I belong
If you could come out of the water, the water. If you could come out of the water, the water.
If I could come into the water, the water, the water, the water, with you. With you
And all that I want is you. And all that I need is you. And all that I want is to know that it’s true.
I married a girl, I married the one that I want.
www: Colin MacIntyre
My First Duet. April 26, 2009
Posted by admin in : Songs , 1 comment so farContinuing on from the intermittent series of songs that are my favourites of all time, I’d like to introduce you to my first ever experience of a duet done perfectly, and also still, in my opinion, the greatest “you and me against the world” song ever written – Pater Gabriel and Kate Bush, “Don’t Give Up”, from one of the greatest albums ever, Gabriel’s 1986 classic, “So”. Interestingly, the lyrics, 23 years on, echo with truth in the current economic climate.
An absolutely haunting song of worry, pain, fear, love, redemption, faith, trust. I dare you to not get shivers down your spine when Gabriel contemplates the flowing river, as the song changes tempo, and you know, you know, what he’s really thinking about – before Bush’s faith and love pulls him back from the brink.
In this proud land we grew up strong.
We were wanted all along.
I was taught to fight, taught to win.
I never thought I could fail.No fight left or so it seems.
I am a man whose dreams have all deserted.
I’ve changed my face, I’ve changed my name, but no one wants you when you lose.Don’t give up, ’cause you have friends.
Don’t give up, you’re not beaten yet.
Don’t give up, I know you can make it good.Though I saw it all around.
Never thought I could be affected.
Thought that we’d be the last to go.
It is so strange the way things turn.Drove the night toward my home, the place that I was born, on the lakeside.
As daylight broke, I saw the earth. The trees had burned down to the ground.Don’t give up, you still have us.
Don’t give up, we don’t need much of anything.
Don’t give up, ’cause somewhere there’s a place, where we belong.Rest your head.
You worry too much
It’s going to be alright.
When times get rough, you can fall back on us.
Don’t give up.
Please don’t give upGot to walk out of here.
I can’t take anymore.
Going to stand on that bridge.
Keep my eyes down below.
Whatever may come, and whatever may go.
That rivers flowing. That rivers flowing.Moved on to another town, tried hard to settle down.
For every job, so many men, so many men no-one needs.Don’t give up, ’cause you have friends.
Don’t give up, you’re not the only one.
Don’t give up, no reason to be ashamed.
Don’t give up, you still have us.
Don’t give up now, we’re proud of who you are
Don’t give up, you know it’s never been easy
Don’t give up, ’cause I believe there’s a place, there’s a place where we belong.
Peter Gabriel with Kate Bush – Don’t Give Up
www: Peter Gabriel , Kate Bush
What Do You Do On A Bad Skin Day? March 23, 2009
Posted by admin in : Songs , 2commentsThere’s something overshadowing my life at the moment. Looming large, I’m struggling to overcome it. Every day is a challenge – some days are better than others. There is an end in sight, but sometimes, just sometimes, it seems a long, long way away.
I guess I feel a little bit broken right now.
It’s been a long 14, 15 months now – I’ve faced more than I’ve had to face for years, and it’s been a non-stop rollercoaster of emotions. What I would like now, more than anything else, is a quiet few weeks of nothingness. To work; to spend time with my girlfriend, friends and family; to spend time on my hobbies; to sleep. To recover. To catharsise. But this seems a while away yet, so I’ll keep on keeping on.
So, with this, I give you Bell X1, and “Bad Skin Day”. For me, one of their two standout tracks from X’s “Flock”, “Bad Skin Day” is my catharsis in vocal form.
When I wake in the morning of a bad skin day.
And I can’t face my lover on a bad skin day.
Am I this alone?
Volcano has erupted, and the ash sails down. And I’m a poor soul of Pompeii.
Oh Christ, I’m such a drama queen on a bad skin day.
And you’re far from me. You’re all far from me. Right where I want you to be. Far from me
I could’ve got a job. I could’ve been a contender, when I never. But the streak is only so long.
They’re all different shades of the same song.
There’s a wind in these sails. Feels like I’m always waiting for the gold in them there hills, feels like I’m never…them there hills.
And they’re far from me.
Someday we’ll all wear a crown.
Far from me.
Someday we’ll be the fairest of them all.
So far from me.
Someday we’ll have an open top bus parade.
Far from me.
Someday we’ll do the sorry sorry charade.
It feels like we’re always waiting. It feels like we’re never leading.
www: Bell X1
Melancholy, Irish Style. March 2, 2009
Posted by admin in : Songs , 2commentsIn a time before I knew who Daniel Lanois was, my tape collection left a lot to be desired. I refuse to name some of the names, but if you saw it, you’d wonder how a woman in her mid-thirties with a fetish for ballads had gotten her hands on some obscure local rock acts (or vice versa).
But there was one tape I was proud of. As myself and my family left for a holiday in 1993, my parents said that my sister and I could choose one tape each to buy in the music shop in Dublin airport. I came across a white-covered tape, with a man’s silhouette in a doorway.
During that holiday, I listened to that tape again and again. And again. And again. Then, when I returned home, within a few weeks, the tape lay forgotten as my very short attention span drifted.
The years passed, my tape collection gather dust. CD’s and MP3s filled my room and computer, respectively. Until a couple of years ago, when I went through my tapes, and pulled out a familiar cover – “Drift”, by the Devlins.
The Devlins were originally a duo – Colin and Peter Devlin, from Dublin. For three of their four albums, they grew into a four-piece band. The Devlins were a strange, strange group – I supported their cause. I bought their albums. I went to their gigs. I told all and sundry about how great this band were – wonderful melodies, catchy tunes, thoughtful lyrics. But the band themselves…how best to put this…the band themselves were “lazy”. They could have been huge. Could have been the next big thing. But they always seemed happy with what they had. Whenever I brought my friends to their gigs, my friends (and I) would leave entertained, but nothing more. I found myself always justifying the time just spent – “They can sound so much better than that – I’ll lend you their CD’s…”
Their latter two albums, 2002’s “Consent” and 2005’s “Waves” were…nice. But it was the aforementioned Drift, and 1997’s stunning masterpiece, “Waiting”, that always disappointed me about the Devlins. After those two albums of absolute perfection, I, still to this day, find myself waiting for the Devlins to fulfill their destiny. And trying to ignore that little voice that says they probably never will.
From “Drift”, I give you the quiet desperation of “I Don’t Want To Be Like This”, and the slightly louder desperation of “Someone To Talk To”. From “Waiting”, I give you the ephemeral “Surrender”, and the utter sadness of “Where Are You Tonight?”
Finally, from “Waves”, the optimism of “Don’t Let It Break Your Heart”.
Colin Devlin’s solo album is due out in the next few weeks. That little voice is wondering – will it break my heart?
The Devlins – I Don’t Want To Be Like This
The Devlins – Someone To Talk To
The Devlins – Where Are You Tonight?
The Devlins – Don’t Let It Break Your Heart
www: The Devlins official website and Colin Devlin’s website
My First Indie. February 17, 2009
Posted by admin in : Songs , add a commentFollowing on from Kate Bush, I’d like to introduce you to my awakening.
I wasn’t a Pearl Jam fan, you know. All my friends knew the words to “Jeremy” – I knew that they were that band with the singer with the dodgy voice.
But then in 1995, I was surfing the radio stations in my room, after another day of school. I’m not sure which radio station it was – maybe late night 2FM, which at least is a little more alternative than it’s usual daytime top 40 crap – when something captured my attention.
Pearl Jam. With Neil Young on lead vocals.
About a week later, I bought myself the tape of Young’s 1995 album, “Mirror Ball”. It was one of my first independent purchases, uninfluenced by friend or magazine – only by what I heard.
And what I heard was two songs – the epic, heavy “I’m The Ocean”, and the sustained haunting melody of “Fallen Angel”.
Firstly, “I’m The Ocean”: sprawling, overwhelming. Lyrics lost in the whirling maelstrom of guitars. And Young’s voice – high, trembling, but so powerful. Lyrics, when you can hear them, of love, loss, death, searching, redemption. “Gone With The Wind” in song form.
I’m an accident
I was driving way too fast
Couldn’t stop though
So I let the moment last
I’m for rollin’
I’m for tossin’ in my sleep
It’s not guilt though
It’s not the company I keepPeople my age
They don’t do the things I do
They go somewhere
While I run away with you
I got my friends
And I got my children too
I got her love
She’s got my love tooI can’t hear you
But I feel the things you say
I can’t see you
But I see what’s in my way
Now I’m floatin’
Cause I’m not tied
to the ground
Words I’ve spoken
Seem to leave a hollow soundOn the long plain
See the rider in the night
See the chieftain
See the braves
in cool moonlight
Who will love them
When they take another life?
Who will hold them
When they tremble
for the knife?Voicemail numbers
On an old computer screen
Rows of lovers
Parked forever in a dream
Screaming sirens
Echoing across the bay
To the old boats
From the city far awayHomeless heroes
Walk the streets
of their hometown
Rows of zeros
On a field
that’s turning brown
They play baseball
They play football
under lights
They play card games
And we watch them every nightNeed distraction
Need romance and candlelight
Need random violence
Need entertainment tonight
Need the evidence
Want the testimony of
Expert witnesses
On the brutal crimes of loveI was too tired
To see the news
When I got home
Pulled the curtain
Fell into bed alone
Started dreaming
Saw the rider once again
In the doorway
Where she stood
And watched for him
Watched for himI’m not present
I’m a drug
That makes you dream
I’m an aerostar
I’m a cutlass supreme
In the wrong lane
Trying to turn
Against the flow
I’m the ocean
I’m the giant undertowI’m the ocean
I’m the ocean
I’m the giant undertow
I’m the ocean
I’m the giant undertow
I’m the ocean
I’m the ocean
I’m the ocean
I’m the ocean
I’m the ocean
I’m the ocean
As a counterpoint to the reverb-heavy “I’m The Ocean”, “Fallen Angel”. Brief. Beautiful. A single organ underscoring a few scant lyrics of loneliness.
Fallen angel
Who’s your saviour tonight?
You’re surrounded by these walls and neon lights
Hungry people move like waves behind the beat
Where’s the big drum?
Where’s the feel of body heat?
Where’s the big drum?
Where’s the feel of body heat?
“Mirror Ball” didn’t make me a Neil Young fan. Nor a Pearl Jam one. I’m not even a big fan of the album itself.
But these two songs left an imprint on me that lasts to this day – awakening me to look outside the music I loved and was most comfortable with, and to explore.
www: Neil Young
Gimmie Moore. Gimmie Moore. Gimmie Gimmie Moore. February 11, 2009
Posted by admin in : Songs , add a commentAnother day, another submission from a bloody good unsigned singer.
James Moore is a singer/songwriter from Chatham, New Jersey. Ah, New Jersey. Birthplace of Springsteen. And James Moore. And some other people I know who don’t write or play music (as far as I know). Anyway, I digress.
James found his way to my site through High Fidelity Records , and caught my attention instantly. He also posted a CD to me from New Jersey which utterly confused my girlfriend (”Who’s posting you stuff from New Jersey?”).
For your perusal, I give you two songs by James which got under my skin. Firstly, the haunting “I Know It Was Hard For You”, with it’s plucked acoustic and slide guitars, and it’s simple, yet evocative lyrics of acceptance, desperation, and somewhat unconditional understanding and forgiveness.
Where did we all go wrong?
Something we had is gone.
And I know it was hard for you.
I felt it too.Houses and wedding rings.
Now I’m blowing out burning wings.
And I know it was hard for you.
I felt it too.There’s no time to try.
Too much time’s gone by.
And now if it’s too hard for you.
I’ll get you through.
And I know it was hard for you.
I felt it too.
Following that, “One Way To You” repeats the trick – the acoustic guitar; the singsong melody; and the simple lyrics with a beautiful turn of phrase:
It’s the eve of something that I feel might break your heart.
And I can’t tell, I’m still picking up my parts.Do you care if I keep hanging around?
I get a good a feeling walking on this side of town.
There’s a sad desperation to both songs – trying to hold on to something that may have already slipped away.
Music for a night in, with the rain pouring outside. Music for a glass of red wine, and something to trigger the memory of an old flame. Music for a wistful smile, tempered with some tears.
Music to regret to.
James Moore – I Know It Was Hard For You
www: James Moore on MySpace and James Moore on Sonicbids (with more songs available for download)
Funny Because It’s True. February 1, 2009
Posted by admin in : Pictures , add a comment
