Musical Notes

After a bit of a musical couple of weeks I’ve been musing on the eclectic nature of my music collection…
I have to say I’ve been loving on iTunes a bit much lately. For all it’s faults it is an easy way of getting the music I like guilt free. I think its only problem is that it’s too easy… I end up spending too much money…
Anyway, here’s a bit of a look at what’s on the play list.
You’ve Got to Laugh – Nik Kershaw.
Now, stop laughing (if you remember him at all). He’s actually a bloody good songwriter. I loved him in the eighties, and my first boyfriend and I spent hours listening to Human Racing.
On vinyl.
I was reintroduced to his more recent recordings at college in a critiquing class. The song was ‘Fiction’ the album ’15 minutes’ and it remains one of my favourites. This new album is equally cleverly written and my fav song on that is the ‘dirty old man song’ (not its real name… actually it’s called ‘She Could be the One’.) I’ve had it on repeat for days…
So Long, So Wrong – Alison Krauss and Union Station.
So, we go from pop to bluegrass… now, I’m not a country fan… seriously… twang and syrupy sentimentality are outré in my book. However, my friend Curt introduced me to these guys in 97 when I was over in the UK on a visit and it is wonderful. It marries spirituality with a stunning voice, actually the appeal for me is Alison’s voice… that fiddles and banjos are in my collection at all is a bit of a surprise… Still, having an open mind to it has meant hours of pleasure listening to a lot of the stuff she’s done. You may remember ‘Down to the River to Pray’ from the Brother Where Art Thou Soundtrack. Alison leads an a capella choir in the most stunning way… I’m planning on doing that track at a recital we’re planning this year…
Billy Joel – 12 Gardens. This one is easy to add, it’s the album that buddies with the concert I went to a few weeks, back. It’s fantastic. All my favourite BJ songs and some that are older than me but are now new favourites. Let’s face it, the guy might be a lech but he knows how to write a song. And he sure knows how to work a crowd. This last concert will go down as one of my favourites, the album helps cement that.
Songbird – Eva Cassidy.
Tragically one of the best female voices I’ve ever heard. Much is made of her early death but I’ve never been moved by a song so much as I was when I heard ‘Over the Rainbow’ and that was before I ever heard her story.
The Lion King Soundtrack – Various Artists.
I’ve seen the show twice. Love it still. I am a HUGE fan of African rhythms and harmonies and this album has both in spades. While I’m talking about African music I should add Ladysmith Black Mambazo to the list, and I’ve a wonderful compilation of music that a girlfriend made for me. (Not exactly guilt free that list… still a great collection of all kinds of african artists…)
Artists… If I keep going album by album we’d be here forever…
The Boys – Ok, I’ll put a few in here. John Mayer, Gavin deGraw., Josh Pyke. Great songwriters (are you sensing a theme?). Unique voices. Not over produced. Something a little other than mainstream…
The Girls… Well. I’ve mentioned Eva, but she really is in a class all her own… I’ll add Beverley Craven, I’ve been listening to her for years, and actually Curt introduced me to her too… I bought 2 of her albums when I was last in the UK because, again, till the advent of iTunes I couldn’t get her here… Norah Jones, more great songs… Then there’s Diana Krall… I’m a bit of a jazz fiend, love great female jazz vocalists… Ella, Sarah, Nina… all of them… Diana’s a bit more modern and supplements them nicely. I have to mention local girl Beth Anderson. Now, she may be young chick with an attitude but she writes excellent songs… you can find her here.
The bands…Coldplay, Keane, Crowded House. Love them all… again, they write great songs. Songs that say more than I love you… or worse still I want to f**** you… Brilliant.
Then there’s the Jazz… Jamie Cullum, Incognito, Harry Connick Jr. Miles Davis… this list is endless…
And I have to get back to my cleaning…