A continuation of the post below:
Artist: The Clancy Brothers and the Dubliners
Album: Irish Drinking Songs
Recording #248
Stream the album here
Not a whole lot to say about this one-- good raucous drinking songs, just like the title says. Tom has a whole entry about why this album is historically important, but it just sounds like the soundtrack to the trivia night I am going to up the street at the Irish Pub. Actually, maybe I should buy this album for their stereo...
Artist: Clannad
Album: Macalla
Recording #249
Stream the album here
As soon as this one started, I thought "this is not your typical celtic music!" I was all excited, and really enjoyed the brooding, harmony heavy first track. After that this turns into a bit of a trainwreck, if the train was carrying marshmallows and pillows. There is so little substance here that I hardly noticed it playing. Enya is evidently the keyboardist, and although I'm not really familiar with her work, I'm pretty sure even her stuff has more going on than this. This sounded like The Corrs playing just the bridges of their songs-- no real striking melodies or hooks. I won't say I wouldn't recommend it, because I just tuned it out, so it must not be too terrible.
Artist: Guy Clark
Album: Old No. 1
Recording #250
Stream the album here
Nothing wrong with this country-- although I would actually put it more in the "Americana" genre, which I guess is why Nashville didn't really back this guy. As Tom points out, he has a "gravelly" voice that didn't really appeal to the standard country fan back in '75 (or probably today, even), but I love this kinda stuff. This is what country should be, great songwriting and major chords. "Rita Ballou" and "Like a Coat from the Cold" are my favorites, but all of these songs are decent.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
Celtic and the Celtics
The topic of today's entry is disappointment. Bitterness. Letdown. Yesterday was a rough day- when I got home from work my son had been crying all day long, and had only slept for an hour, which is really weird for a 1 month old. That was really disappointing because he had been doing so well and was so not fussy. And then as a Cleveland fan, obviously LeBronedict Arnold announcing in front of the world that he was pissing on his hometown was pretty brutal. I even told my brother I thought he would go to Miami, but with all the (self-promoting) buildup I really started to think "there's no way he could do this to Cleveland." But he did. I'm not even that big a Cavs fan; I've always followed them, but really I put a lot more heart into the Browns and Indians. But I think that with the way things are going for Cleveland lately having an internationally known star was really good for the city, both their pride and from a PR aspect. The "Mistake on the Lake" was seen more as "The Home of the King." So it hurt, even though in the end it shouldn't matter. Unfortunately the recording for today followed suit with the disappointment.
Album: Byker Hill (Book Entry)
Recording #227
Stream the whole album at Myspace
Overall I wouldn't have minded this album, but I read Tom Moon's entry before I listened to it, and I had unfounded expectations. He describes the album as a "virtuoso thrill" of folk music, that "Carthy is a multitasking marvel here, singing breathless extended melodies and plucking out fast counterlines in the background." I thought, wow, I really like the new Indie Folk movement (Iron & Wine, Devendra Banhart, Sam Amidon, The Tallest Man on Earth, I could go on, but I'll stop there) so it will be cool to hear a guy who "modernized" folk music. I already like Dylan, and discovered I really like Joan Baez through this book. Well, in the end, unfortunately, it was pretty lackluster. Evidently I don't like British folk. It sounded like Celtic music to me, all "eedle-deedle-dee," sea-chantey stuff. Not that I can't listen to that, but it all sounds the same to me, and although the violin in the background was nice, the guitar playing was so subdued as to be non-existent, and I found Martin's voice mediocre at best. But I guess in the end I learned something. I loved the Dock Boggs entry, who Sam Amidon shares some songs with, and I can see the direct line from the country folk he did, and the Indie stuff I like today, and the same is true with Baez and Dylan translating to Bright Eyes and The Tallest Man on Earth. This folk, along with The Almanac Singers, who I didn't enjoy either, may be part of the history of the music I like, but in the end this style has not been assimilated into modern folk. For whatever reason, this era of the music was a stepping stone to the good stuff I like now, in the same way that "Modern Rock" of the 80's sounds pretty awful now, but were it not for the experimentation of that era we wouldn't have bands like Radiohead or Pearl Jam, etc. Maybe at this point I could make some sort of connection to my baby being fussy, and maybe he is having a growth spurt, and in the end this was a necessary step in his development. And maybe I could even connect it to Lebron and say he needed to leave Cleveland in order for us to grow. But I won't go that far. He still goes up there with Art Modell, John Elway, and Michael Jordan on the list of people not invited back to Cleveland.
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