Art is the music we make from the bewildered cry of being alive. ~Maria Popova
29 Oct 2012 2 Comments
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: andar com fé, gilberto gil
Gilberto Gil: “Andar Com Fé” (1982)
Brazilian legend and Caetano Veloso collaborator Gilberto Gil’s sometimes political and topical songs led to his arrest by the Brazilian military and eventual exile to England, where his career continued both as musician and social activist.
“Andar Com Fé” is not one of Gil’s more subversive tunes, unless catchiness is a crime. It translates thusly:
I’ll walk with faith/Faith doesn’t usually fail
Faith is in a woman/Faith is in the coral snake, in a piece of bread
Faith is in the tide, in the dagger’s blade, in light, in darkness
Faith is in the morning, Faith is in nightfall, Faith is in the summer heat
Faith is alive and healthy, Faith is also about to die, sadly in solitude
Right or even wrong, Faith goes wherever I go, on foot or by airplane
Even those who don’t have Faith, Faith usually follows
Through yes and through no
28 Oct 2012 9 Comments
in Best of the Blog, General Posts Tags: the seekers
I post this with some trepidation. Either you, dear reader, will have some appreciation–or at least tolerance–for the music of the 60’s folk movement…or you will not.
If so, you’ll find the Seekers’ 1968 farewell show a treat, dubious attempts at humor aside.
The Seekers formed in Melbourne, Australia in 1962. After immigrating to England in ’64 a string of worldwide hits followed. Their music was a somewhat sugar-sprinkled hybrid, perhaps too close to pop for some folk purists, but it was a winning sound that earned them the distinction of being the first Australian act to land in the top 5 in England and the U.S. as well as their home country.
Just four years later, though, lead singer Judith Durham announced her intention to leave the Seekers for a solo career, and the group called it quits.
Their final performance together was shown live by the BBC in the form of this special, called Farewell the Seekers. It drew an estimated 10 million viewers, a testament to just how well-loved the group were in England and elsewhere.
The mode of music they specialized in is as out of fashion as Durham’s dress. But there’s no denying the talent on display here, or the timelessness of some of these songs.
Fans of singing competition TV shows like The X Factor and American Idol have been brainwashed, frankly, into thinking that a great singer is measured by the level of histrionics in a performance, or the number of notes, other than the ones on the page, that a song is adorned with. Judith Durham’s purity of voice and seemingly effortless performance–the way she gets out of the way of a great song instead of imposing herself on it–is a lesson in how it once was done, and still is by the best ones. Celine Dion is gifted. Durham is a great singer.
25 Oct 2012 Leave a comment
in On a Lighter Note Tags: mumford & sons
Womp womp…
(Source: BuzzFeed)
25 Oct 2012 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: bangles, something that you said
The Bangles: “Something That You Said” (2003)
The Bangles made a return in 2003 with their Doll Revolution album, fifteen years after their previous LP, sounding like they hadn’t missed a beat.
Oh, and for some reason the album was their first to be officially credited to The Bangles. Previously, although everyone had called them The Bangles, their official name was actually just Bangles. Kind of like Eagles and Eurythmics.
25 Oct 2012 2 Comments
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: i'd run away, the jayhawks
The Jayhawks: “I’d Run Away” (1995)
Alternative country, or “alt-country” (or Americana, or No Depression, or Insurgent country) was apparently as difficult a genre to name as to define. Basically it’s a country-rock hybrid that got its name during (and probably because of) the “alternative rock” branding of 90’s rock music. (Why bands like R.E.M. and U2 got labeled “alternative” in the first place I’ll never understand, but that’s another matter.)
The sound of alt country could be pretty diverse: some of it sounded like traditional honky-tonk country music, some leaned toward bluegrass, some was essentially rockabilly, and some could almost be called contemporary folk. But most music that fit the loose heading (or many headings) seemed to share a lo-fi aesthetic and a heartfelt lyrical style that eschewed the clichés of mainstream pop. Steel guitars didn’t hurt, either.
The Jayhawks, who actually made their first album in 1986, are considered to be among the godfathers of the movement. By the time of the release of 1995’s Tomorrow the Green Grass LP which included “I’d Run Away” some would claim they were already verging on jumping the shark of alt country for a lighter, more pop-leaning sound. But as far as I’m concerned the record is among their very best work–and the band is my favorite in the genre.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/01/30/songs-you-may-have-missed-312/
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2016/05/04/songs-you-may-have-missed-588/
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2015/06/24/recommended-albums-63/
Every Moment Has A Song 