Art is the music we make from the bewildered cry of being alive. ~Maria Popova
27 Mar 2022 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: taquirari de jaina, viento de los andes
Viento de los Andes: “Taquirari De Jaina” (1994)
Led by Jose Arcieniegas, Viento de los Andes are a group of musicians from Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile and, uh, Canada who play music of the Andes region of South America using traditional instruments.
This is the kind of stuff you sprinkle like huacatay on your shuffle playlist for a little international flavor, rather, perhaps, than consume in 40-minute, full album servings.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/04/19/songs-you-may-have-missed-394/
13 Feb 2022 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: life in the old dog, magna carta
Magna Carta: “Life in the Old Dog” (2015)
British progressive folk rockers Magna Carta released 2015’s Fields of Eden on the actual date of the signing of the Magna Carta 800 years later, and few expected an album of its caliber 40+ years after the release of the band’s most iconic LP, Lord of the Ages.
But you can never write off the man who’s been called “the English Paul Simon”, singer/tunesmith Chris Simpson. Clearly there is life in the old dog yet.
I went out last night with a friend of mine,
I bought eight, and he drank nine
Just a shootin’ the breeze and we were havin’ us a good time too
Talkin’ bout women and days gone by, and the feel of the road and an open sky
And a guitar hummin’ like only a guitar do
But we lied about the times we scored and laughed the night away
It’s all dependin’ on your point of view
They can’t take away you’re memories and I’m happy to raise the bet
So watch out, there’s life in the old dog yet
Time waits for no man and the rest, you’re sometimes cursed and often blessed
And the women all look a little bit older, that’s for sure
Partying nights and truckin’ all day, saints and sinners and easy lays
You just hang on in and take it as it comes along
There are those that say, you’ve had your day, and you’ve come to the end of the line
Well that’s dependin’ on you’re point of view and if you
Sail through heavy weather, chances are you might get wet
So what, there’s life in the old dog yet
There’s a face in the mirror I know so well a few more lines, a touch of frost, I can
Tell it’s me and I’ve sure put on a year or two
And I met this kid out on the street, he said hey old man I got you beat, I said
Raise your glass and we’ll have ourselves a drink or three
As the morning sun came through the door he measured his length on the baroom floor
He never understood my point of view
But he lifted his head as they carried him out, with a look I shalln’t forget
Tough luck son, there’s life in the old dog yet
A good man knows when his time is come and turns his back on the things he’s done
And gets a little worried ’bout the devil who’s a keepin’ score
The hardest part is the sweet regret that comes to haunt us all in the wakin’ hours
And tends to stay right with us, til the dawn
There are things you should remember, there are things you’d best forget
It’s all depending on your point of view
There are fishes in the ocean, but a few have slipped the net
Well thank god I’m one, there’s life in the old dog yet oh yeah yeah
Thank god I’m one, there’s life in the old dog yet
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2015/09/30/songs-you-may-have-missed-550/
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2018/12/29/songs-you-may-have-missed-631/
07 Feb 2022 Leave a comment
Fool’s Garden: “Million Dollar Baby” (2008)
From the 2008 limited tour edition EP Home, and saved from total obscurity by its appearance on the German band’s 2009 compilation High Times: The Best of Fool’s Garden.
The band hint in that compilation’s liner notes that the song’s title was inspired by the Clint Eastwood movie of the same name–which they, and I, recommend.
Fool’s Garden, fairly or not, are known as a one-hit wonder, that hit being the (nearly) worldwide smash “Lemon Tree”, which charted seemingly everywhere but in the US. If you want to hear their hit, click the link below, but not before checking out the very worthy “Million Dollar Baby”.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2020/10/30/songs-you-may-have-missed-671/
07 Feb 2022 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: badflower, promise me
Badflower: “Promise Me” (2019)
“Promise Me” finds Badflower in a more reflective frame of mind than on the harrowing “Daddy”, which we previously shared.
Both are excellent efforts from a, uh, promising young band.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2020/02/13/songs-you-may-have-missed-652/
15 Jan 2022 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: swords of a thousand men, tenpole tudor
Tenpole Tudor: “Swords of a Thousand Men” (1981)
“Messy and infectious” is how Allmusic describes the drunken singalong clatter of British punk band Tenpole Tudor, the less angry and much more fun contemporaries of the Sex Pistols.
Maybe they couldn’t sing. They certainly couldn’t fight with swords.
But they did create a raucous good time. Hoorah, hoorah, hooray yeah!
Deep in the castle and back from the wars
Back with my baby and the fire burned tall
“Hoorah”, went the men down below
All outside was the rain and snow
Hear their shouts, hear their roar
They’ve probably all had a barrel or much, much more
Hoorah, hoorah, hoorah, yeah
Over the hill with the swords of a thousand men
We had to meet the enemy a mile away
Thunder in the air and the skies turned gray
Assemblin’ the knights and their swords were sharp
There was hope in our English hearts
Hear our roar, hear our sound
We’re gonna fight until we have won this town
Hoorah, hoorah, hoorah, yeah
Over the hill with the swords of a thousand men
The knights come along at the end of the day
Some were half-alive and some had run away
Hear our triumph, in our roar
We’re gonna drink a barrel or much, much more
Hoorah, hoorah, hoorah, yeah
Over the hill with the swords of a thousand men
Hoorah, hoorah, hoorah, yeah
Hoorah, hoorah, hoorah, yeah, yeah…
See also: Songs You May Have Missed #826 | Every Moment Has A Song
23 Dec 2021 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: courtney barnett, here's the thing
Courtney Barnett: “Here’s the Thing” (2021)
Oh, this confounding Courtney!
Her debut was a blast, a gust of fresh air that appeared to augur the arrival of a new rock artist that actually mattered–the way Elvis Costello’s My Aim is True or Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill seemed to do.
And of course, there being a dearth of rock artists that mattered in the 2010’s, it was likely inevitable Barnett’s first album was hailed as an instant classic.
And it probably is.
In fact, that album’s unfettered, shoot-from-the-hip lyrical feel and punkish energy sounds perhaps better with each passing year of what passes for mainstream pop.
But on Barnett’s two most recent releases the energy is muted, the focus doesn’t seem as sharp, and mid-tempo songs dominate–as if Courtney settled a bit prematurely into “long-term artist” status.
Whatever.
The thing is, despite the last couple albums falling short of the standard set by her debut, each of them has produced one extraordinary, idiosyncratic song. A song that doesn’t just feel like it came from some other album, but from some other artist.
In 2018 it was the excellent “Need a Little Time”. And this time it’s the beautiful, reflective, semi-psychedelic-sounding “Here’s the Thing”. It truly takes things to another plane.
Whether she has another album in her that’s as great as her first isn’t at issue. When she can produce songs like this one, you can’t ignore Courtney Barnett.
That’s the thing.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2015/05/16/songs-you-may-have-missed-531/
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2018/06/02/songs-you-may-have-missed-627/
Every Moment Has A Song 