Here’s a little fun for today. It’s my 16 month old daughter, Miss T, dancing to Frightened Rabbit. Pardon the laundry and plywood floors. Hey, we’re slowly remodeling. By the way Frightened Rabbit’s Midnight Organ Fight is one of my favorite records of 2008. Check out my review here.
Monthly Archive for September, 2008
The Captain is Australian alt-country singer Kasey Chambers first solo album, released in 1999. 
She spent her earlier career playing with the Dead Ringer Band, made up of her family. While she’s still not very well known in the US, it is an understatement to say she is popular in Australia. She’s huge there. She has won multiple Aria Awards for her work. The Arias are like the Australian version of the Grammy Awards, but with better taste.
In addition to this being such a great record, I feel connected to it because I listened to The Captain a great deal when my wife an I were struggling to have our first child. (I talked more about that here.) So when she sings, “And even my weakness says we’re gonna be just fine,” in “Mr. Baylis,” I knew just what she meant.
You can listen to six tracks from the record below.
And a recent re-working of the title track with her husband, Shane Nicholson.
So, today is my tenth anniversary. Our wedding song was Neil Young’s Harvest Moon. And, indeed, “I’m still in love with you.”
So I’m a total sucker for cover songs. I dig, dig, dig them. I think they way a cover song is approached says a great deal about an artist or band. Covers can be pretty straight ahead or genre busting such as the Be Good Tanyas cover of Princes “When the Doves Cry.” Here’s some coves that I really like. What do ya’ll think? What are some of your favorite cover songs?
Reel Big Fish Take On Me (Ah Ha)
Be Good Tanyas When The Doves Cry (Prince)
Watson Twins Just Like Heaven (The Cure)
Joe Strummer and Johnny Cash Redemption Song (Bob Marley)
Ryan Adams Wonderwall (Oasis)
Brandi Carlile Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)
Mike Doughty The Gambler (Kenny Rogers)
Derek Webb and Sandra If Not For You (Bob Dylan)
Just when I think there couldn’t possibly be another album to add to my mental list of the best records of 2008, along comes one more. Such was the case when I checked out A. A. Bondy
after finding out he was opening for the Felice Brothers during the band’s recent Ithaca show.
A. A. is a populist singer-songwriter in the Steve Earle vein. High praise? Certainly. But also deserved. Take a listen to his solo debut, American Hearts, and you’ll see what I mean. This is a completely different sound for Bondy, who prior to going solo was the front man for the punkish Verbena. Not too many folks heard his old band, but I sure hope people tune into American Hearts.
Recorded in a barn studio in the Catskills with the Felice Brothers as the backing band, the album has the feeling of good friends making great music together. The arrangements are open and work perfectly with the lyrics and the feel of the songs.
Lyrically A. A. Bondy takes on the big themes of love, death, war, and religion. And the images he uses are wonderful. “There was a man with cinders for eyes / There was a girl with a dress 
made of flies,” he sings on the track, “There’s A Reason,” a very, very pretty yearning love song. Along with faith and the other subjects, politics is another topic featured prominently on the record. “Witness Blues,” takes on the topic of the war and military service. The title track is my new theme song for the election, containing all of my hopes for change and thoughts about what it means to be an American. And I’m right there with him when he sings, “And don’t tread on me / For I am your brother / I was born with an American heart / And don’t tread on her / For she is your sister / She was born with an American heart.”
Check out a live concert from SXSW that NPR recorded for All Songs Considered.
Or
American Hearts
There’s A Reason
Sea Change is Beck’s breakup record. By saying this, I certainly do not intend criticism. This is a great record. Released in September 2002, this album was inspired by the split with his long-time girlfriend. The album’s title reflects Beck’s life, but also the music itself. It is really
free of the sampling and quirky lyrics that made him famous. Instead we have here a beautiful, melancholy album filled with strings and more of an emphasis on acoustic instruments. In addition, the lyrics are really wonderful. Take “Lost Cause” for instance. “Your sorry eyes cut through the bone / They make it hard to leave you alone.” OR, “I Guess I’m Doing Fine.” “There’s a bluebird at the window / I can’t hear the song he sings / All the jewels in Heaven / Don’t look the same to me.” This powerful, personal writing really makes this one of Beck’s great records.
Check out this recent version of “Lost Cause.”
