Art is the music we make from the bewildered cry of being alive. ~Maria Popova
10 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in Video of the Week Tags: bohemian rhapsody, flashmob
06 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in Video of the Week Tags: beatles, paul mccartney
04 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: do the stanley, stackridge
Stackridge: “Do the Stanley” (1973)
If Monty Python’s Flying Circus had been a progressive folk-rock band…
Meet southwest England’s Stackridge, the band who had the distinction of being both the opening and closing act at the first Glastonbury Festival in September of 1970.
Their singular, quirky stylings sound a bit like a musical bridge between the Kinks’ more lighthearted fare and 10cc.
Their songs–full of odd twists, unexpected instrumentation and crackbrain vocal extemporizing–are the musical equivalent of an untidy rummage sale.
A fun one.
The one-off single “Do the Stanley” could have been a UK hit. But it wasn’t.
Seems the BBC, uptight about a lyrical reference to the Queen, restricted airplay for “Stanley”.
In any case, one can’t quite imagine hearing it (or any other Stackridge tune, actually) alongside “Take it Easy” and “25 or 6 to 4” on American radio in 2025 or 1973.
31 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: moon safari, too young to say goodbye
Moon Safari: “Too Young to Say Goodbye” (2013)
The words I used to describe Moon Safari on a previous post apply just as well to this song, so I’ll reprint them with only slight modification here:
Moon Safari represents an astounding juxtaposition of seemingly incompatible musical components: the surprise-around-every-corner complexity of prog rock alongside an almost boy-bandesque propensity for catchy pop hooks, and a five-part harmony vocal sound simply unmatched in their genre.
At its absolute best prog rock is a triumph of possibility over musical triteness and cliché. It stretches the envelope. But it doesn’t need to tear the seams–to sound so “original” that it challenges more than pleases.
And that’s what Moon Safari seem to understand: ultimately music–even relatively complex music–is meant to be enjoyed. Melodic and instrumental hooks abound here. But like the best prog, it’ll take you many repeated listens to assimilate the song entirely–to be able to sing every lyric on cue and hit every correct note of the solo on air guitar or synth.
Ornate, yet entirely accessible. A treat for fans of complex music, but a great bridge into the genre for fans of more mainstream bands (Styx come to mind).
(End quote.)
This song in particular will forever be tied to a mental snapshot from my own life. It was the moment in which I gave in to the inevitable and drove away for the final time from the home of a woman with whom I’d had a fitful short-lived and one-sided relationship.
As I navigated the 45-minute trip home, this song on repeat, these lyrics, sung in a tearful near-shout, were something of a balm of self-medication:
We’re much too young to say goodbye
But I won’t waste another day here by your side
When it comes to love, you don’t have a clue
You don’t have a heart, but you could easily break mine
It’s time to say goodbye
Music, indeed, is there for you when no one else seems to be.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/08/16/songs-you-may-have-missed-465/
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/08/04/recommended-albums-52/
31 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: sing me spanish techno, the new pornographers
The New Pornographers: “Sing Me Spanish Techno” (2005)
Another slice of hooks, harmony, and enigmatic lyrics from the New Pornographers’ third–and probably best–release, 2005’s Twin Cinema.
They could have been a great power pop band had they not decided to be something a little quirkier.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/03/19/songs-you-may-have-missed-366/
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2012/03/14/songs-you-may-have-missed-52/
Every Moment Has A Song 