Saturday, December 29, 2007

Neil Young - More Tributes


For the year-end: a music firework. A firework of Neil Young covers, not less than three Tributes were released lately, a handful of great songs covered by a bunch of very good musicians who are not afraid to give to a classic song a new cover. This is a nice present for the Neil Young fans who are waiting for the Archives which are postponed month after month.

In order of appearance, the two-CD Borrowed Tunes II (
Borrowed Tunes/Sirius Canada), produced by Mike Roth, shows Canada’s established and up-and-coming musicians admiration to one of rock’s most important composers. Among the 37 songs, some were almost never covered before like Alabama, A Dream That Can Last, Change Your Mind, When God Made Me… An other surprise is to hear Neil Young’s half sister Astrid Young giving a startling rendition of Sleeps With Angels.

Next, is another two-CD Tribute called Cinnamon Girl (
American Laundromat Records). It is also called Women Artists cover Neil Young for charity (read below), a project held by Joseph H. Spadaro. Again, nothing but good and soulful cover versions of songs that mainly celebrate woman - funny to hear Dala singing “He was watching a movie with a friend/He fell in love with the actress/She was playing a part that he could understand” (A Man Needs A Maid). No surprise with the choice of covers who inspired these amazing artists (Kristin Hersh, Elk City…), the songs were all released by the Loner during the 60’s and the 70’s.

At last but not least, More Barn (
Slothtrop Music), an idea from Eric Hester. A single CD this time but not less than 78 minutes of enjoinment. “There were no rules we gave the artists when they signed up for the record, which fits well with Neil's aesthetic," Hester said. "Some of the songs are close to the originals, while others are radically reworked. It's quite a ride, but one we hope fans of Neil's music will enjoy." Among others, you’ll hear amazing renditions of Sleeps With Angels by Steve Wynn and Music Arcade by Howe Gelb. Cocaine Eyes, Bandit, Through My Sails, Star Of Bethlehem are among the best surprises that you can find on this record.

Again, it’s year-end but it’s never too late to make yourself happy in ordering those Tributes. Don’t hesitate, all proceeds from the sales will benefit to non-profit charitable organizations:
. As for the first Tribute, Borrowed Tunes (1994), Borrowed Tunes II will raise money for two charities
The Bridge School and Safehaven (Residential and Respite Care Programs).
. All proceeds from Cinnamon Girl are donated to
Casting For Recovery a US non-profit support and educational program for women who have or have had breast cancer.
. Slothtrop Music and the artists on More Barn are proud to contribute all profits from it’s sale to
The Bridge School

Some artists and bands who made those projects possible:
The Silos - Behind Me Now .mp3
Waco Brothers - Nothing At All .mp3
Steve Wynn - California Style .mp3
Tanya Donelly - The Storm .mp3
Kristin Hersh - Deep Wilson .mp3
Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins - Born Secular .mp3 via Lack of Style

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Saturday, December 22, 2007

A Top 10 for 2007...

A Top 10 for 2007, you really want it… just like for 2006? Ok, what I think is that 2007 was far from being a great vintage for music, maybe one of the worst since… ever. I always tried to be positive here on Leaky Sparrow but come on 40 years ago you had to choose 10 records among 60 masterpieces, now, you have to buy 60 records or more to find 10 who are at least acceptable. Sure, I didn’t listen to everything – who could? – but it doesn’t seem that I missed something, I don’t think so, unless you tell me. Ok, here are the records that I enjoyed the most.
Next year will be a better one, of course, and I’m looking forward to hearing the new Portishead.

1 - PJ Harvey – White Chalk (Island)
Web:
pjharvey.net
Video: PJ Harvey - The Piano
Read: PJ Harvey - The White Album

2 – Low – Drums And Guns (Sub Pop)
Web:
chairkickers.com
Music: Low - Breaker .mp3
Read: Low Waves

3 – Tegan And Sara – The Con (Sire)
Web:
teganandsara.com
Video: Tegan and Sara - Back In Your Head
Music: Tegan and Sara - Back In Your Head .mp3
Read: Tegan And Sara - Live In Cologne

4 – Kevin Ayers – The Unfairground (Tuition)
Web:
kevin-ayers.com
Music: Kevin Ayers - Friends & Strangers (excerpt) .mp3
Read: Kevin And Robert - The Soft Brothers

5 – Yoko Ono – Yes, I’m A Witch (Astral Weeks)
Web:
a-i-u.net/witch.html
Music: Yoko Ono with Cat Power - Revelations .asx
Read: The Witch And Cat

6 – Vic Chesnutt – North Star Deserter (Constellation)
Web:
vicchesnutt.com
Music: Vic Chesnutt - You Are Never Alone .mp3 via Indie For Bunnies
Read: Vic Chesnutt - Keeping It On The Road

7 – Blonde Redhead – 23 (4AD)
Web:
blonde-redhead.com/index2.html
Music: Blonde Redhead - 23 .mp3
Read: Blonde Redhead - 23: The Key Number

8 – Trentemoller – The Trentemoller Chronicles (Audiomatique)
Web:
audiomatique.com/index2.html
Music: Trentemoller - The Forest .mp3
Read: Trentemoller - The Archives

9 – Terry Lee Hale – Shotgun Pillowcase (Borderdreams)
Web:
terryleehale.com
Music: Terry Lee Hale - Hearts .mp3
Read: Terry Lee Hale - Shotgun Pillowcase

10a – Suzanne Vega – Beauty & Crime (EMI)
Web:
suzannevega.com
Music: Suzanne Vega - Frank & Ava .asx

10b – iLiKETRAiNS – Elegies To Lessons Learnt (Beggars Banquet)
Web:
iliketrains.co.uk
Music: iLiKETRAiNS - Terra Nova .mp3
Read: iliketrains - Hystory Repeating

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Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Feist - The Reminder


This is a gorgeous record for listening. Feist is 31-year-old Canadian songwriter Leslie Feist. A founding member of one of this writers favorite band, Broken Social Scene. The Reminder (May, 2007) is her 3rd solo effort. The song 1234 from the record reached #8 in America and was the first song to reach that position in the Top 10 on the strength of digital downloads alone. This of course was boosted by the songs use in Apples iPod Nano commercial.
The album is smooth, well written, light and intimate. Interesting instrumentation and arrangements. The excellent recording and mastering make the CD a very, very pleasing listening experience. Feist sweet and musical voice is the other half of The Reminder (Interscope/Cherrytree) winning combination.

Bookerfatz2

Web:
listentofeist.com
MySpace: myspace.com/feist

Feist - I Fell It All .mp3 from The Reminder (2007) via The Late Greats
Feist - 1234 (VanShe Technologic Remix) .mp3 via Little Radio
Feist - Gatekeeper .mp3 Grooveblaster Mix (2006)

Bonus:
Broken Social Scene - 7/4 (Shoreline) .mp3

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Sunday, December 16, 2007

Bob Dylan - The Drawn Blank Series


Last Saturday topic was to drive five long hours way and back to visit the Kunstsammlungen a museum in the eastern German city of Chemnitz, south of Berlin. There, 170 watercolour and gouache paintings by Bob Dylan were shown under the heading The Drawn Blank Series (October 28, 2007 to February 3, 2008). This is Bob Dylan’s first ever museum and exclusive showing of his work, charcoal, during the period from 1989 to 1992 while on tour in the US, Mexico, Europe and Asia.
I know Bob Dylan very well for his music but not so much for his drawings. It was a surprise for me to discover how this man has so many skills. I was really fascinated by the motifs and the different effects of the colours. It was worth to take the road for hours with friends to share together our feelings.
In 1994, a selection of 92 of black-and-white drawings was published in a book entitled Drawn Blank, but they were never publicly shown. To mark the exhibition, an extensive catalogue (in German and English) with numerous colour and black-and-white reproductions was published by Prestel Munich, New York, and London. More information below.

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Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Greg And The Valerie Project


Some news from someone I really do appreciate not only as a musician but also as a human being, Greg Weeks. Long long time ago we used to talk for hours about a young artist called Chan Marshall (Cat Power) and about a wonderful actress named Irene Jacob (La Double vie de Véronique (1991))… Greg, now member of Espers, is also the Executive Producer of a beautiful idea called The Valerie Project Series. Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders is the first film in The Project Series:
"Philadelphia musicians bring new life to a forgotten classic of the Czech New Wave: Jaromil Jires' Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders (1970). The sound goes off and the amps get cranked (do harps need amps?) as a collective of Philadelphia's finest underground musicians pay tribute to this seminal film of the new folk movement. Spearheaded by Greg Weeks (Espers, Grass), Margie Wienk (Fern Knight, Eyesores) and Brooke Sietinsons (Espers, Grass), the ensemble includes harpist Mary Lattimore, cellist Helena Espvall (Espers), Vocalist Tara Burke (Fursaxa), bassist/percussionist Jesse Sparhawk (Timesbold), flautist/keyboardist Jessica Weeks (Woodwose, Grass), enigmatic electronicist Charles Cohen and percussionist Jim Ayre (Fern Knight)."

The CD/2xLP was released on Drag City November 20th.
Info:
valerieproject.org
Pitchfork: pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/47179-the-valerie-project

Here are a few MP3s from the very first performance of The Valerie Project at the International House, Philly, PA on Sept 18, 2006.
Valerie Project - Intro .mp3
Valerie Project - Grandmother's Theme .mp3
Valerie Project - Feast .mp3

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Friday, December 07, 2007

Mai - Voice From The North


I would like to introduce to you Mai before the end of the year… In June, Mai released a first album called Still Need A Kiss on the French label Nacopajaz Records. Mai real name is Johanna Wedin; she comes from the north of Sweden and brought with her not only her blond hair but also the warmth that every Swedes hides inside of him during the long Scandinavian winters. If you go to her MySpace to check out her music you’ll be impress like me by her influences: Kristoffer Åström, Elliott Smith, Velvet Underground, Nico, Múm, Mazzy Star, Chet Baker,... Good girl! Not to compare to Nico, but there is a little bit of Mazzy Star in Mai’s voice.
Still Need A Kiss is a pretty good first album that you may enjoy close to your fireworks, filled with pretty inspired songs - one or two are very very good like Silly – build around a voice to discover. For history, the record was mixed by Stéphane "Alf" Briat, who produced Air's Virgin Suicide and Sebastien Tellier.

Once again, I wished I could propose some music to listen here on Leaky Sparrow but there is no mp3 free to download on any web for this record, too bad!

Chet Baker - My Funny Valentine .mp3
Elliot Smith - Needle In The Hay .mp3
Nico - No One Is There .mp3

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Sunday, December 02, 2007

Anoushka Shankar, Karsh Kale And The Shankar Family


What can you do when you are sick? Nothing. Forget about the Posies Acoustic at La Flèche d’Or Friday evening – Bookerfatz was there, I guess -; forget about shopping for some good music, forget about running in the wood. Just stay home and listen to your old cds and vinyls. Not all of them it’s hard to be sensible for any kind of music when you don’t feel well, you need something cool and warm like the music of Anoushka Shankar & Karsh Kale and their latest album Breathing Under Water (August 2008).
With the first cut, you think that you bought another Craig Armstrong (As If To Nothing, for example), ambient beats with string arrangements. Later, it’s confirmed with Sea Dreamer when Sting takes the place of Bono. You even have Anoushka Shankar’s half sister Norah Jones as guest on Easy. But that not all, like the albums of Craig Armstrong, Breathing Under Water’s high points mostly reside in the instrumentals when the sitars join the western music and the electronic. Listen to Oceanic a two parts song where the father, Ravi Shankar, and the daughter, Anoushka Shankar, play together, it’s delightful.
Talking about Xmas shopping, go to your record shop and listen to it, I think Breathing Under Water will be a perfect present for your family and some of your friends.

I wished I could propose some music to listen here on Leaky Sparrow but there is nothing "free" on the web for this record except, of course, here:
Web:
anoushkashankar.com and karshkale.com
MySpace: myspace.com/anoushkashankar
Sting - My One And Only Love .mp3 from Leaving Las Vegas OS (1995)
Norah Jones - Broken .mp3 from Not To Late (2007) via Fresh Bread

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