Friday, April 14, 2017

Music For Adults Playlist: Mark Lanegan, Aimee Mann, Conor Oberst, Sun Kil Moon, Mark Kozelek, Spiral Stairs, Father John Misty, Son Volt, Bob Dylan, Memphis Minnie, Reverend Gary Davis, Gene Clark

There is a lot of music for kidz, here is some music for adults:




Good:

Mark Lanegan's Gargoyle

Aimee Mann's first solo album in 5 years Mental Illness


Conor Oberst's 2016 album Ruminations, and its 2017 companion piece Salutations


Sun Kil Moon's new one Common As Light... and Sun Kil Moon's new (second) collaboration with Jesu 30 Seconds To The Decline Of Planet Earth streaming here now ....and (Sun Kil Moon's) Mark Kozelek's EP Night Talks feat. his live tribute to Leonard Cohen's "Famous Blue Raincoat"


Spiral Stairs (one of Pavement's two great guitarists) new album Doris And The Daggers


Chuck Prophet, Bobby Fuller Died For Your Sins


Son Volt, Notes Of Blue


Interesting:

Father John Misty Pure Comedy



Not For Me:


Bob Dylan's triple-disc Sinatra-era salute Triplicate



Archival Stuff That's Rockin':

Memphis Minnie When The Levee Breaks
Reverend Gary Davis If I Had My Way: Early Home Recordings (John Cohen, 1953)

Gene Clark (Byrds co-founder) The Lost Studio Sessions 1964 - 1982



Mark Lanegan's new album Gargoyle is powerful and compelling. A must have. I had heard of Mark's work over the years - his band Screaming Trees was on the soundtrack of the movie Singles, and his stunning baritone was featured on Bob Dylan's "Man In The Long Black Coat" on the I'm Not There soundtrack. But doing a little research, I soon found out that he had also collaborated with Kurt Cobain doing Leadbelly songs as this article explains. This was quite shocking to me, as I felt I knew a fair amount about both Leadbelly and Nirvana. That's the amazing thing about music. The more you dig, the more there is. Mark's take on "Where Did You Sleep Last Night? (In The Pines)" is much darker and sinister than the Kurt version we know from Nirvana's "Unplugged In New York":




Aimee Mann's first solo album in 5 years is Mental Illness. Perhaps I am one of the many fans Aimee Mann gained via her exposure on the soundtrack of the 1999 P.T. Anderson modern classic film Magnolia, in which one of her songs is mouthed by the various actors during a crucial scene. Suffice it to say that Aimee's songs were practically a character in the movie, involving major plot points; not just background music. I also enjoined her 2001 version of The Beatles' "Two Of Us" from Let It Be, which she covered with her husband Michael Penn for the film I Am Sam, starring Sean Penn (Aimee's brother-in-law). I've often wondered why she doesn't do more with her husband, as they seem so natural together performing. I saw her in concert several occasions around the time those two films came out, but lost track of her somewhere along the way, although she continued to record and tour, most notably with Ted Leo as The Both in 2015. But I hadn't followed her career closely for some time, so it is nice to "re-unite" with her on this new album. I love it. She has a template, and largely sticks to it, but I like her template and I like her, so I like her music. A lot.



Conor Oberst's 2016 album Ruminations, and its 2017 companion piece Salutations. The two albums contain several of the same songs, Ruminations being the "unplugged" solo recordings, while Salutations was recorded with a full band. One of my favorite albums of all-time is Gene Clark's White Light, produced by, and featuring fantastic guitar from, Jesse Ed Davis. Although the album's production is understated, the demos for the songs, released as Here Tonight: The White Light Demos, revealed very bare bones songs, featuring Gene's words, voice, guitar, and harmonica, giving the impression that the listener was alone with the artist in a cabin in the rain in Mendocino in 1971. The demos came out years after the album did, and I knew the songs well before hearing the demos, which still knocked me out. I wonder if the effect with these two Conor albums had would have been more powerful if we heard the full-band version first, and then the demos, instead of the other way around. I've been a Conor fan for a long time, and have listened to scores of his recordings, as well as seeing him perform live as Conor Oberst, Bright Eyes, Monsters Of Folk (with Jim James & M. Ward), and Desaparecidos. I'd have to say that my favorite Conor period, so far, is the 2008 - 2009 Mystic Valley Band era, feat. the great Taylor Hollingsworth on guitar. It seems to me he was at his best then. I like him less when he tries to run away from Americana, which is where he belongs, and I like him more when he lets his country/folk flag fly.  These songs are not particularly Americana, but they are good and it's great to see Conor grow as an artist and keep it coming. But it's really the song "Lua" that sealed the deal for me with Conor, way back when...





Sun Kil Moon's new one Common As Light... and Sun Kil Moon's new, second collaboration with Jesu 30 Seconds To The Decline Of Planet Earth streaming here now ....and (Sun Kil Moon's) Mark Kozelek's EP Night Talks feat. his live tribute to Leonard Cohen's "Famous Blue Raincoat". Wow, three releases at (approximately) the same time? Ok, one is an EP, but still.... two and a half releases at the same time? Wow...


Spiral Stairs (one of Pavement's two great guitarists) Doris And The Daggers. We had such fun at Scott/Spiral's 50th birthday bash last year. Stephen Malkmus, also of Pavement, joined in for the celebration, two days in a row:




Chuck Prophet Bobby Fuller Died For Your Sins




Son Volt Notes Of Blue





Father John Misty Pure Comedy





Bob Dylan's triple-disc Sinatra-era salute Triplicate. I've already discussed my feelings about the Dylan-Sinatra Crisis here....





Memphis Minnie When The Levee Breaks




Reverend Gary Davis If I Had My Way: Early Home Recordings (John Cohen, 1953)







Gene Clark (co-founder of The ByrdsThe Lost Studio Sessions 1964 - 1982



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