Tunesday revived: The Wailin' Jennys' Bright Morning Stars

A while back, I had a little feature here called Tunesday, in which I highlighted an artist or album of which I had become enamored. And of course, I got horribly distracted and dropped it. But I think it might be fun to reopen a conversation about music right now as we are all in the doldrums of winter. I hope some of you out there feel like I do. So here is Tunesday 16, revived, hopefully not like Young Frankenstein.


The Wailin' Jennys, Bright Morning Stars

The Wailin' Jennys are an amazing trio of musicians, currently including Ruth Moody (soprano), Nicky Mehta (mezzo-soprano), and Heather Masse (alto). They sing in amazing tight harmonies as well as play fiddle, ukulele, guitar, bodhran, accordion, upright bass, and banjo, and probably other instruments of which I am unaware so far because I get so distracted by their beautiful music. Their sound fits no single category. Is it roots music? Folk? Alt-country? World music? All of these and more.

One of my current favorites of their is a cover of Jane Siberry's "Calling All Angels" that they released as a single a couple of years ago. But I was waiting avidly for the release of their third studio album, which came out on February 8 of this year. And I must say, this was worth the wait.

This third album, Bright Morning Stars, brings some of the great harmonies and inventive instrumentation that fans of the Jennys have come to expect. Musically and lyrically, the Wailin' Jennys respect the roots that ground their music while still having many surprises in store both lyrically and melodically.

"Away But Never Gone" uses the beauty of nature to remind us that nothing leaves us forever and became a special song to me as I went through the aftershocks of the anniversary of my Dad's passing at the end of January, and "You Are Here" encourages to take charge of our destinies and live life to the fullest. "Storm Comin'" is a bluesy throwback, a gospel-tinged fist-shaking anthem good for helping you get through an annoying day at work or at home. "The Last Goodbye" is an upbeat shot in the arm to a loved one whose heart fails them for fear of being hurt. "Cherry Blossom Love" sounds like it is straight out of the Andrews Sisters' work, which will make sense for those of you who are boomers like me and listened to your parents' 78s on the stereo.

All of the rest fo the songs are wonderful, and I don't just say that. I have a amajor pet peeve about modern albums having one or two good songs and the rest is absolute rubbish. This is definitely not one of those albums. These ladies create music that speaks to my depths. I hope that it does to you as well.

Tunesday 17: Be True to Your School

What's that? A whiff of summer wafting ever so seductively near?

Has there ever been a summer more necessary? Has there ever been summer more anticipated? Not since childhood, I think. So let me start with the last dress code violations I will have to encounter for two months, and then move on. Enjoy

"Girls in Their Summer Clothes," Bruce Springsteen
"High School Never Ends," Bowling for Soup
"Long Hot Summer Night," Jimi Hendrix
"Three Little Birds," Bob Marley
"Summertime," The Sundays
"Live and Learn," The Cardigans
"Be True to Your School," Beach Boys
"Wise Up," Aimee Mann
"Summertime," Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong
"Me and Julio Down by the School Yard," Paul Simon
"Vacation," The Go-Go's
"The Summer Wind," Madeleine Peyroux
"Teach Your Children," Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
"You Learn," Alanis Morissette
"Bye Bye Baby," Bay City Rollers
"It Must Be Summer," Fountains of Wayne
"One Big Love," Patty Griffin
"Summer Dress," Shawn Colvin
"Rock 'N' Roll High School," The Ramones
"My Old School," Steely Dan

Tunesday 16: Neko Case, Force of Nature

Neko Case, Middle Cyclone

Every now and then, you need to listen to something that has a power that just drags you out of your tired brain and sets you on a new path. This album is a powerful example of such art. I don't know how I never discovered Neko Case until this year, but all's well that ends well.

In the few weeks that this has been out, it has become one of my favorite things. Neko Case launches this, her fifth solo album, with her amazing voice in fine, powerful form. Some call Neko an "alt-country queen," but since that puts her in the company of Wilco and Uncle Tupelo (both of whom she can sing circles around for all their genius) this is quite a complement. This album has a finer rock edge to it than previous works, such as her debut The Virginian.

The title track, of course, starts off speaks to the emptiness of heart that this time of year always pulls me toward: "Baby, why'm I worried now, did someone make a fool of me/ 'Fore I could show 'em how it's done?/ Can't give up actin' tough, it's all that I'm made of./ Can't scrape together quite enough to ride the bus to the outskirts of the fact that I need love." "This Tornado Loves You" has the great line, "Carve your name across three counties," which is an image with which only someone who has emerged shaken after hours under a mattress to the tune of storm sirens can relate. "Polar Nettles," is haunting and disturbing and lovely, a paean to longing that I think of every time I hear someone rewrite history every time they think of someone they've lost-- with every day that passes, the more perfect that lost love appears to be, and the less reality has any claim upon the memory.

Probably my favorite song on the entire album is "Magpie to the Morning," a somnolent snapshot easing along on a warm breeze of acoustic guitars and Neko's insistent alto slices and slides into the slip skimming along like a purple martin over the tops of prairie grass.

Magpie comes a-calling
Drops a marble from the sky
Tin roof sounds alarm
And wake up child
Let this be a warning says the magpie to the morning
Don't let this fading summer pass you by
Don't let this fading summer pass you by

Black hands held so high
The vulture wheels and dives
Something on the thermals
Yanked his chain
Smelled your boring apex
Rotting on the train tracks
He laughed under his breath
Because you thought that you could outrun sorrow
Take your own advice
Thunder and lightening gets you rain
Run an airtight mission, a Cousteau expedition
To find a diamond at the bottom of the drain
A diamond at the bottom of the drain

Hear the mockingbird sing
In the middle of the night
All of his songs are stolen so he hides
Stole them out from whipporwills
Screaming car alarms
He sings them for you special
He knows you're afraid of the dark
Come on sorrow
Take your own advice
Hide under the bed
Turn out the light
Stars this night in the sky are ringing out
You can almost hear them saying
"Close your eyes now, kid,"
"Close your eyes now, kid."

Morning is too far lit
They are waiting waiting
They are waiting...

Here is her performance of "This Tornado Loves You" on Letterman:


And as a bonus, here's one of my favorite classics of hers: "Hold On, Hold On."

Tunesday 15: I Wanna Be Sedated

Hey kids-- what time is it? Depending on where you are, it is
1) Swine flu season
2) Prom season (with all the prama that implies)
3) AP Exam season
4) State testing season
5) Stupid field trip to the amusement park for physics season
6) Commencement season
7) Allergy season
8) or, as a special journey around the verges of Hell, all of the above season!

So here is my special playlist for such fun-doings!

1. "Keep Your Hands to Yourself," Georgia Satellites
2." We Can Work It Out," the Beatles
3. "Ain't That a Kick in the Head," Dean Martin
4. "Over My Head," Fleetwood Mac
5. "Prom Theme," Fountains of Wayne
6. "Drive," the Cars
7. "Head Over Heels," the Go-Go's
8. "Tightrope," Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
9. "Livin' On a Prayer," Bon Jovi
10. "As Sure As I Am," Crowded House
11. "Under Pressure," David Bowie with Freddie Mercury
12. "I Can See Clearly Now," Johnny Nash
13. "Through Being Cool," DEVO
14. "Pressure Drop," the Specials
15. "If I Only Had a Brain," Ray Bolger and Judy Garland
16. "She Can't Dance," Marshall Crenshaw
17. "A Girl in Trouble (is a Temporary Thing)," Romeo Void
18. "My Best Friend's Girl," the Cars
19. "Can't Get It Out of My Head," ELO
20. "The Loco-Motion," Grand Funk Railroad
21. "Treat Me Right," Pat Benatar
22. "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," the Platters
23. "Tempted," Squeeze
24. "I Wanna Be Sedated," the Ramones

Just keep breathing. It's the only way to get through. And sing one of these songs! LOUD!

Tunesday 14: Couldn't Stand the Weather

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble, Couldn't Stand the Weather

Since it's spring, and I am tired of the rain, it has given me the Blues. Not depression-- I mean The Blues. And who else comes to mind than Stevie Ray Vaughan for those of us who are children of the 80s? This classic album came out on May 15, 1984, and still sounds so powerful and fresh nearly twenty-five years later. In honor of the upcoming anniversary, I pay homage to one of the truly great guitarists of our time. I first heard his genius on David Bowie's "Let's Dance," which was one of Stevie's biggest breaks outside of Texas. He later recorded several albums with his band. How sad that Stevie was killed in a tragic helicopter crash in 1990.

Stevie starts off strong showing off the extreme manual dexterity with a little 90 second gem called "Scuttle Buttin'." The title track follows with more innovative work. On this album Stevie also does the memory of Jimi Hendrix a solid with his impassioned cover of "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)." But for sheer fun, nothing can beat "Look at Little Sister." It's still one of my favorites all these years later. Especially since I had a sister like that.

And here's a bit of trivia for you: the slang term "raising sand" (also the name of a fine album by Robert Plant and Allison Krauss) shows up twice in the lyrics on this album.

So for your viewing and listening pleasure, here is a longer version of "Scuttle Buttin'" from the 1985 Montreux Festival. Be amazed!

Tunesday 13: I'll Fly Away

What can compare to the songs of spring? The tiny birds trill welcome as the redbuds shed a rosy carpet below each branch outside my window.

"And Your Bird Can Sing," Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs
"Flowers in the Window," Travis
"Mockingbird Hill," Leo Kottke
"Sky," Joshua Radin
"Highway in the Wind," Arlo Guthrie
"Birds Fly Away," Theresa Andersson
"Tree Hugger," Kimya Dawson & Antsy Pants
"The Littlest Birds," The Be Good Tanyas
"Velvet Sky," Los Lonely Boys
"Flightless Bird, American Mouth," Iron & Wine
"Further to Fly," Paul Simon
"Break the Sky," The Hush Sound
"Little Bird," Annie Lennox
"Bye Bye Blackbird," Joe Cocker
"Little Bird," Jonatha Brooke
"Little Wing," Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble
"Blackbird," Sarah McLachlan
"All Things New Again," The Wallflowers
"Skylark," k. d. lang
"Over the Rainbow," Jane Monheit

Tunesday 12: Indigo Girls, Poseidon and the Bitter Bug

The Indigo Girls, Poseidon and the Bitter Bug

This album has only been out for a couple of weeks, but already it has won a place in my heart. As a guitarist myself, I have always been a fan of folkies given that that is how I learned to play guitar: "El Condor Pasa," the Sound of Silence," and John Denver's Back Home Again-- the entire album. So I was pretty amazed when a young lady I met at the Eisenhower Presidential Library out slightly east of TheMiddleofNowhere, Kansas (and yeah, I know that just about describes everywhere in Kansas) told me about this wonderful duo back in the early years of their amazing twenty year career.

This two disc set contains 23 songs, including acoustic versions of several of the songs. Poseidon and the Bitter Bug marks the Girls' first foray into the indie scene, and I am so glad they did, since it is obvious that they relished not having to kowtow to some fatheaded music exec. To me, this album hangs right there with my favorites Rites of Passage and Strange Fire.

Amy channels Bob Dylan on "Second Time Around," the song from which the phrase "bitter bug" of the album title originates. Both versions of "Sugar Tongue" include the inventive chord structures and tight vocal harmonies that the Girls always deliver. But probably my favorite is "Fleet of Hope:"

The fisherman comes up
Puts his two poles in the sand
He stares out at the sea
Just exactly like me
But I've got a book in my hand
We will have caught on to something by the end of the day
But mostly we think about the one that got away.

I've seen like a bird
What pleasures the surface can bring
I've lost my best craft
Going foolishly back
To where to Sirens sing
I've stared up at the place where the water meets the sky
And though I stopped breathing I still believe I should try
Maybe a boat in search of lost treasures will pass by.

'Cause the fleet of hope is so pretty
When she's shining in the port
And the harbor clings to the jetty
For protection and support
Out in the choppy waters the sharks swim and play
You're all washed up when Poseidon has his day.

I've walked through the desert
Climbed over mountains so high
Through jungles and plains
I took buses and trains
And airplanes across the sky
But none as seductive as ocean before me alone
And now I know why
You layered your pockets with stones.

'Cause the fleet of hope is so pretty
When she's shining in the port
And the harbor clings to the jetty
For protection and support
Out in the choppy waters the sharks swim and play
You're all washed up when Poseidon has his day.

When I was a girl
All of my fancy took flight
And I had this dream
Could outshine anything
Even the darkest night
Now I wait like a widow for someone to come back from sea
I've always known
I was waiting for me

'Cause the fleet of hope is so pretty
When she's shining in the port
And the harbor clings to the jetty
For protection and support
Out in the choppy waters the sharks swim and play
You're all washed up when Poseidon has his day.

Sadly, there are no videos yet available that I can find of songs from this album. Therefore, let me treat you to a performance with Sarah McLachlan and Jewel that I originally heard on the Lilith Fair album. Nothing like a classic to make you appreciate an artist's ability to make the familiar new and and renewed.

Tunesday 11: Holy Week

Have a blessed Holy Week, and try out some of these songs:

"Heavenly Day," Patty Griffin
"Praise Song for a New Day," Suzzy and Maggie Roche
"Hymn," Brooke Fraser
"Calling All Angels," Jane Siberry
"Faithful," Brooke Fraser
"A Living Prayer," Allison Krauss and Union Station
"Blind," Jars of Clay
"Heaven (Acoustic Version)," Live
"Heaven to Me," Madeleine Peyroux
"Psalm 104," Amy Grant
"Angel Standing By," Jewel
"My Heaven," Mary Chapin Carpenter
"Jesus Maria," Leo Kottke
"Jesus Was a Crossmaker," Rachel Yamagata
"How Great Thou Art," Amy Grant and Vince Gill
"Ship Wreck," Jars of Clay
"Anyway," Suzzy and Maggie Roche
"Shield of Faith," Allison Krauss and Union Station
"Morning Has Broken," Cat Stevens
"God Will Lift Up Your Head," Jars of Clay
"Saving the World," Brooke Fraser

Tunesday 10: Aimee Mann, @#%&! Smilers

Aimee Mann, @#%&! Smilers

Aimee Mann is one of my very favorite artists, for a variety of reasons. She's the most indie rocker I know, an artist (and student of boxing) who has gone fifteen rounds against the mediocrity and pablum that is shoved upon us by the American recording industry. As an independent artist, she took the bold, iconoclastic step in 1999 by starting her own record label, SuperEgo Records, and releasing her third solo album, Bachelor No. 2 (Or the Return of the Dodo), all by herself, and in doing so she showed that trusting her own instincts rather than kowtowing to industry talking heads produced an amazing piece of art, and I recommend this album to you as well. Mann's work is TRUE. I think of her as the Joni Mitchell of her generation, which is, for me high praise indeed.

As a songwriter, if she had stopped after "Voices Carry" back in 1985 when she was with 'Til Tuesday, I would have been satisfied, but over her career she has created a body of work that demonstrates an amazing ability to create characters and situations that are fully realized in just a few words, much the way that Lucinda Williams does-- with the prime difference being that Aimee Mann can sing (sorry Lucinda, but, really!). Not in the Carrie Underwood, American Idol kind of way, but as a mature woman who has lived through life taking responsibility for her fealty to her artistic vision. An example of her craft is the brilliant "Little Tornado" from her current album, which makes me think of people that I have known who have whirled their destruction through the lives of those around them without any concern for the consequences. Then there is this gem, "31 Today," capturing the panic of regret as it begins to settle over us even before we've lived long enough to really gain perspective on the mistakes that we have made:

Thirty-one today
What a thing to say
Drinking Guinness in the afternoon
Taking shelter in the black cocoon

I thought my life would be different somehow
I thought my life would be better by now
I thought my life would be different somehow
I thought my life would be better by now
But it's not, and I don't know where to turn

Called some guy I knew
Had a drink or two
And we fumbled as the day grew dark
I pretended that I felt a spark

I thought my life would be different somehow
I thought my life would be better by now
I thought my life would be different somehow
I thought my life would be better by now
But it's not, and I don't know where to turn
No, it's not, and I don't know where to turn
No, it's not, and I don't know where to turn

Easter comes and goes
Maybe Jesus knows
So you roll on with the best you can
Getting loaded, watching CNN

I thought my life would be different somehow
I thought my life would be better by now
I thought my life would be different somehow
I thought my life would be better by now
But it's not, and I don't know where to turn
No, it's not, and I don't know where to turn
No, it's not, and I don't know where to turn
No, it's not, and I don't know


Here she is doing a live video of the above song. Enjoy!



And now, if all of this hasn't convinced you, consider this: she played one of the German Nihilists in the Big Lebowski, one of my favorite Coen Brothers films! She was the one whose little toe was used to try to complete the con-- if you saw the film, you know what I'm talking about!

Tunesday 9: Christine Lavin, Attainable Love

Christine Lavin, Attainable Love

If you have never been introduced to the work of the amazingly talented singer songwriter Christine Lavin, poor you, we are here to rectify this situation. Christine is one of the leading artists in the genre known as modern folk, and this album is from 1990 or so. Even though that was an eternity ago, before Hilary Clinton was anything other than the first lady of Arkansas, Lavin's work stands up well here. "Victim/Volunteer" is a song that contains a metaphor I have used many times in critiquing our culture's well-established tendency to excuse any sort of egregious behavior based on mean things that have happened to you in the past.

Lavin has written some beautiful songs in her career, like "Castlemaine" and "Yonder Blue," which are particular favorites of mine from this album. But she is especially renowned for her ability to observe situations with a sharp wit, which ranges from either gently mocking to biting satire. A brief little gem is "Fly on a Plane," which just goes to show that Ms. Lavin absorbed a love of ironic endings somewhere in her early life. Then there's the completely unique "Shopping Cart of Love: The Play," which is a musical play about a clash with an unsympathetic grocery cashier, solipsism, references to "American Pie," and ends with the last laugh for our intrepid heroine as she deals with being dumped by her roommate and her fiance.

Probably one of her funniest songs ever is this one: Sensitive New Age Guys. Enjoy!



And just to show how some people sit around and combine really weird things on YouTube, and sometimes it works, here's this little bonus piece: Christine singing her classic "Regretting What I Said..." animated with clips from the Nickelodeon cartoon Jimmy Neutron.



And if you get the chance, go catch a show of hers live. She may even teach you to knit at intermission, or you'll get to watch her twirl florescent batons. I was lucky enough to see her with one of the incarnations of the Four Bitchin' Babes, a quartet of folk babes that Lavin originated years ago from the New York folk scene.

Enjoy!

And if you have a science teacher you love, consider buying a copy of the book "Amoeba Hop," which is an illustrated kids' book about amoebas that is just priceless. I have a signed copy that my kids just loved.

Tunesday 8: The Hush Sound

The Hush Sound, Goodbye Blues

You may have already heard the Hush Sound without realizing it if you are a fan of the tv shows Grey's Anatomy or House, both of which have featured the song "Medicine Man" in promotional materials. Very early in their very young careers (the band formed in late 2004) they caught the attention of members of Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco, and share a label with both bands. Genre-bending pop/rock sounds and witty lyrics unite all of these bands, but the Hush Sound seems the most accessible to me and the most mature-- ironic, since they are the youngest of the three bands.

The Hush Sound produces a lot of sound for a quartet. Lead singing duties are shared by pianist Greta Salpeter and guitarist Bob Morris. Salpeter's vocals bring to mind Leigh Nash of Sixpence None The Richer, and she emits a silky, knowing alto which is all the more amazing considering she is just twenty years old. Her keyboards also emphatically anchor the songs with a jangly, hammered sound somewhat reminiscent of a ragtime or honky-tonk piano.

Morris's voice reminds one strongly of Brendon Urie of PATD. Morris's guitar work is also rather retro, evincing a strong Telecaster tone with a growly yet clean lyricism that reminds me of Walter Becker of Steely Dan. What sets this band apart from many of its label-mates in the versatility that they mine through the combination of male and female voices and their inventive rhythm section.

"Honey" and "Molasses" are both bouncy little numbers that echoes the vibe of Aimee Mann's "Momentum" from the Magnolia Soundtrack, while "That's Okay" is a more meditative number very much in the SNTR vein. "As You Cry," features Morris on lead vocals and whirls through several musical styles verging from a Smiths- like bridge to tight vocal harmonies. The version of the album that I have also includes a video to "Wine Red," from their previous album Like Vines, which is also a fine example of the Hush Sound's style.

Tunesday 7: Andrew Bird

Andrew Bird, Noble Beast

I first heard Andrew Bird when I bought the Squirrel Nut Zippers' Hot back in the mid-90s. Then one of my students later shared a couple of songs from his solo work-- "Sovay" and "A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left." Since then I have followed his career with a lot of interest, and interest is the word. Bird is a multi-instrumentalist, utilizing violin, guitar, and whistling-- yes, whistling-- as his primary sounds in addition to his singing work.

Bird's latest offering is Noble Beast. Favorites on this album include "Effigy,""Nomenclature," "Anonanimal," and "Fitz and the Dizzyspells." As you can see, musical inventiveness that is not precious and lyrical depth are characteristics I admire. It's when you listen to artists like Andrew Bird that you realize how absolutely boring conventional radio has become, and you feel forced to turn toward burning loads of your own CDs and spending way too much on iTunes-- and curse you/I love you, iTunes Genius selections!!!

Enjoy!


Now, to see if you've been paying attention... what have the last three artists profiled had in common?

Tunesday 6: Theresa Andersson

Theresa Andersson, Hummingbird, Go!

I first heard this talented artist on NPR, as she was being interviewed about this album. Theresa Andersson is a multi-instrumentalist who provides nearly all of the sounds on this album herself, with the help of two looping machines. She also utilizes samples from great artists, especially those from New Orleans, where she has lived since 1990 since moving from Sweden. In concert, every performance of each song is different, since she starts over from scratch each night. Just watching her keep it all straight makes me feel like a complete klutz.

There are a range of emotions covered in just thirteen songs. From the meditative "God's Highway" to the intense Swedish "Innan du Gar" and the soulful "Now I Know" to the whimsical "Japanese Art" there is absolutely no telling where she is going next, but it's all an original, fantastic ride.

Here's how she does it:



Try Theresa Andersson, and put another knife into the black heart of modern commercial radio.

Tunesday 5: Allison Krauss and Robert Plant

Allison Krauss and Robert Plant, Raising Sand

What? You didn't watch the Grammy Awards?

Five Grammy Awards. Five. You know, just when I lose hope in the Grammies, they pull out a Joni Mitchell tribute album last year and now this one. Almost makes up for anything Eminem has ever foisted on my poor unsuspecting eardrums. Almost.

I've enjoyed this album for over a year. It's amazing to think about putting these two truly singular voices together on an album-- and only the unfathomable mind of T-Bone Burnett could conceive of such a thing. I bow to you, sir. These two artists possess such stunning gifts that I almost want to never dirty the air with my lame warbling after their voices have echoed within the room.

What makes this album so amazing?

1. A ethereal cover of one of my favorite songs, "Killing the Blues."
2. An unusual number called "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us."
3. Outdoing the Everly Brothers on "Gone Gone Gone."
4. The country twang of "Through the Morning, Through the Night." I mean, Robert Plant singing the high harmony!

Here's Robert Plant and T-Bone Burnett discussing the project:

Tunesday 4: Dar Williams- Lucky we are when the stars leave us singing

Dar Williams, Promised Land

Here are just a few of the things I love about Dar Williams:

She wrote a song that sums up the barriers of experience both men and women of my generation underwent growing up called "When I Was a Boy." I lived this song. I remember when suddenly I was told that I couldn't do certain things or act a certain way because I was a girl. When I was little, I thought of myself as a kid, not as a girl, and so this was a shock to me. This song perfectly captures how I felt.

Now Dar has a new album, Promised Land. On this new album she helps keep Marshall Crenshaw playing-- and I have believed that Marshall Crenshaw was a genius since I listened to "Someday, Someway" over and over again in my dorm room in college. I believe that he is one of the singer/songwriters as well as guitarists who have not received nearly enough attention.

Her lyrics are mystical, and yet, in the tradition of the greatest folksingers everywhere, also often amazingly accessible. One of my favorite Christmas songs is another classic of hers, "The Christians and the Pagans." It's a screamingly funny song about what happens when a couple of NeoPagans visit their "Christ-loving uncle" at Christmas/Solstice. The imagery is amazing in this song: pies burning, hopefully instead of witches.

Then there's her cover on this album of a song by one of my favorite bands-- Fountains of Wayne-- where she does her own version of "Troubled Times." The intersection of a great singer-songwriter doing a cover of another singer-songwriter just reinforces what a blessing it is to be able to enjoy the cross-pollination of Dar's prodigious gifts with those of other current voices that speak the truth of life so clearly that it makes you ache.

Favorite songs on this new record include "The Tide Falls Away," about the gifts of experience; "The Holly Tree," about a farm wife trying to give birth; "Buzzer," about the Milgram experiments of the 1960s; and of course her cover of "Troubled Times."

Here are the lyrics to "The Tide Falls Away:"

I walked the spiraling village one night
Drawn by the word of a bell or a light
Out on the flat side it rose to a spire
All becomes clear as
The tide falls away

Parent and child and an ocean between
One is not heard and the other not seen
Too many bottles but each had a message inside
All becomes clear as
The tide falls away
All becomes clear as
The tide falls away

Lucky we are when the stars leave us singing
A hymn or a dirge when the surge of the ocean is gone
Is gone

And the old woman just stares at her hands
So many heroes have crumbled to sand
All those cathedrals were merely by men
It all becomes clear as
The tide falls away
All becomes clear as
The tide falls away
All falls away

Here is Dar discussing the album on NPR, and there is even a link to hear her performing in concert.

If you enjoy music that is both musically and lyrically rich, then Promised Land is a gift you owe yourself.

Tunesday 3: The Works, by Johnatha Brooke

Jonatha Brooke, The Works

This week's Tunesday allows me the chance to sing the praises of this amazing CD. Jonatha Brooke is a fabulous singer/songwriter in her own right who doesn't combine more songwriter than singer in that label. But in this CD, she travels new ground.

Nora Guthrie, daughter of Woody Guthrie, allowed Jonatha into the archives of his songs, and from these Jonatha created thirteen songs by adding music. This entire album creates a fascinating arc of the lyrics of this seminal artist and poet, whom I would love even if he wasn't an Okie. The fact that he was and is an Okie makes this CD resonate even more forcefully with me, perhaps.

Favorite songs from this CD include "New Star," a deceptively simple meditation on eternity and love; "There's More True Lovers Than One," a fascinating uptempo extended metaphor of the sea and shore for which we all long; "King of My Love," a 5/4 update of the idea of the gambling we do in life; and "Madonna On the Curb," a song that breaks my heart in its truth:

On the curb of a city pavement, by the ash and garbage cans.
In the stench of rolling thunder of motor trucks and vans,
There sits a little lady with brave but troubled eyes,
And in her arms a baby that cries and cries and cries.
She cannot be more than three, but the years go fast in the slums,
And hard on the pangs of winter's cold, the pitiless summer comes.

The wails of sickly children she knows, she understands,
The pangs of puny bodies, the clutch of small hot hands.
The deadly blaze of August that turns men faint and mad,
She quiets the peevish urchins by telling of dreams she had.
Of heaven with its marble stairs, and ice and singing fans.
And God in white, so friendly there, just like the drug store man.

On the curb of a city pavement by the ash and garbage cans.
In the stench of rolling thunder of motor trucks and vans,
There sits a little lady with brave but troubled eyes,
And in her arms a baby that cries and cries and cries.
So when you're giving millions to Belgian, Pole, and Serb,
Remember my beautiful lady, MADONNA ON THE CURB.

Here is a video about the making of the album:


This CD is truly a work of art, and I have already bought several copies for my friends. If you are already familiar with the work of Woody Guthrie, this will lead you in a new and evocative direction. If you know Jonatha Brooke, this is a must-have for your collection.

Tunesday 2: Inauguration day playlist

For our second Tunesday, we've got a to celebrate the peaceful transition of power in one of the oldest democracies in the world. Welcome, President Obama!

January 20, 2009 Playlist

Bob Dylan, The Times They Are A-Changin'
The Beatles, Revolution 1
Billy Joel, State of Grace
Paul Simon, American Tune
Brooke Fraser, Saving the World
Crosby Stills, Nash, & Young, We Can Change the World
Dhani Harrison and Jakob Dylan, Gimme Some Truth
Elvis Costello, Peace, Love, & Understanding
Eva Cassidy, People Get Ready
The Finn Brothers, Won't Give In
Fleetwood Mac, Never Going Back Again
Dar Williams, Troubled Times
Indigo Girls, Get Together
Crowded House, Recurring Dream
Sam Cooke, A Change is Gonna Come
Woody Guthrie, This Land is Your Land
Cat Stevens, Morning Has Broken
Bob Marley, Redemption Song
Peter, Paul, & Mary, We Shall Overcome

Tunesday 1: Fleet Foxes

It's time to talk about music, and since several of my friends have asked me about music to which I am listening, I thought I'd just start a feature on my blog. So here's episode number one of Tunesday!

Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes and Sun Giant

I have recently discovered the band Fleet Foxes, which I also hear is going to be on SNL on Jan. 17.

Coming out of Seattle, this five-man group produces an intelligent, intricate folk-pop with undercurrents of baroque styling.

Who are they like? Lead singer Robin Pecknold's voice is reminiscent of Jim James of My Morning Jacket and James Mercer of the Shins. In fact, I find the Shins' songcraft very similar in many respects, although with more of a rock/electrified feel. Both bands are also deserving of far more attention than they have thus far received.

I currently own the EP Sun Giant, from 2008, and the full length eponymous album, also from 2008. The album is not to be confused with an EP from 2006, also named Fleet Foxes. Apparently, these guys channel so much thought into the lyrics of their songs that they ran out of words when it came to the titles of their releases. But no matter.

Favorite songs are: "Mykonos," from the EP, and "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" and "White Winter Hymnal" from the full length album. "White Winter Hymnal" is an amazing little gem, telling the story of a school field trip as well as the universe of detail within a castaway memory:

I was following the pack
all swallowed in their coats
with scarves of red tied ’round their throats
to keep their little heads
from fallin’ in the snow
And I turned ’round and there you go
And, Michael, you would fall
and turn the white snow red as strawberries
in the summertime....

That's the entire lyric, and the song is rounded off in less than two and a half minutes. And here is the amazing video, which adds an entire new dimension to the song:


If you haven't heard these guys before, give them a listen!