May Music Musings

First off, some very, very sad news: Billboard reports that Grant McLennan of the Go-Betweens passed away in his sleep this weekend. Most likely, you've not heard of the Go-Betweens, which in recent years has seen a resurgence in output via its two principals--McLennan and Robert Forster--who had dismantled the Australian band at one point in the mid 1990s. I came to them when they were first starting out amidst the dreamy jangle pop landscape of the mid-80s with albums like Before Hollywood and Spring Hill Fair (one of the ten indispensable albums I own). But they never really had any big hits cos they just were never pop enough (unlike fellow Aussie dream popsters like the Church). Listening to their music demanded a submission to the more artsy, angular musical instincts of the frontmen, which made the group akin to the Velvet Underground of folk rock.

McLennan and Forster reteamed in 2000 for The Friends of Rachel Worth, which was recorded with Sleater Kinney as the backing band, and capped their comeback with Bright Yellow Bright Orange, which was buoyantly jangly and straightforward in its songwriting. The duo released Oceans Apart last year, which was much more apropos of their leanings to challenge listeners with some off-kilter arrangements. Unfortuantely it just didn't grab me as their previous two G-Bs: V2 albums had. But I'm listening to it now and relishing their final album together. A sad day indeed. Here's some more about McLennan and the group from the Sydney Morning Herald. If you're interested in trying out any of their albums, I recommend Spring Hill Fair and Bright Yellow Bright Orange (which is also available at the iTunes Music Store)



I've been taking some time this last week to start the compiling process for the Summer Annual CD, and I think I've got strong lineups for the two CDs after just two passes. I'll leave the lineups for those to another day (once I finally begin burning), but here are a couple of tunes that most likely won't be making the cut:

• One of the things that's been surprising me of late (and Mrs. F as well) is my embrace of chuckwagon music in purchases from Willie Nelson (his classic Willie & Family Live album as well as his nod to the swing songs of Cindy Walker) as well as Johnny Cash. In that spirit, I bought the Dixie Chicks' opening single to their new album, "Not Ready to Make Nice," from iTunes after getting lotsa props from the blogosphere for being a feisty comeback. I do dig the tune, but it just wasn't fitting into the flow of the CDs.
  
  
• I also dig the requisite new single from Massive Attack's recent greatest hits package--Live with Me (also at Amazon)--with its sultry vocal provided by the always soulful Terry Callier. But, as with a lot of Massive Attack tunes, it was too much of a downer for that summer feeling. I'll try to get it in on the year-end comp, though.
  
  
• I recently introduced to Dazed and Confused, Richard Linklater's paean to butt-rock (i.e., Foghat, Head East, and early ZZ Top), and was very interested in trying to get that vibe going with the slow-burn rocker I Like to Move in the Night by Eagles of Death Metal (also at Amazon). But I was worried that my standard CD recipients just wouldn't get the joke. Still, it makes me wanna turn it up loud in the car (even if it is a '91 Civic).
  
  
• Back to the countri-fried genre (more along the lines of the alternative No Depression sub-genre), the latest albums by Neko Case (Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, via iTunes or Amazon) and Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis (Rabbit Fur Coat, via iTunes or Amazon) are absolutely gorgeous and are becoming faves of the season around Cracks Centraal. I don't want to go too overboard with the country chuckwagon, but I still might slip a tune in (that should worry FotF Velvet Bulldog, a core audience for the CDs).
  
  
• I'm already testing Mrs. F's limits for electronica/annoying repetition, so I won't be including the Midival Punditz remix of "Allahi Allah" bu Niyaz (via iTunes) or "Ten Thousand Lines" by Electric President (via Amazon or iTunes)

Finally, a couple of news items. The last album recorded by Johnny Cash with producer Rick Rubin will be released on July 4 (how patriotic!); here are some details from Billboard:

"Like the 309," the last song written by Johnny Cash before his death, will be included on "American V: A Hundred Highways." Due July 4 via American Recordings/Lost Highway, the album was recorded with producer Rick Rubin in the months leading up to Cash's September 2003 passing.

[...]

A song utilizing one of Cash's favorite subjects, trains, "Like the 309" is one of two original songs on the disc. The other, "I Came to Believe," was written and recorded earlier in his career about addiction and salvation through a higher power.

The balance of the set includes such songs as Bruce Springsteen's "Further On (Up the Road)," Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind," Hank Williams' "On the Evening Train," Rod McKuen's "Love's Been Good To Me" and the traditional spiritual "God's Gonna Cut You Down."

Tuesday sees Paul Simon's first album in six years--Surprise--on which he's collaborated with Brian Eno (via the NYTImes):

But in 2003, ... he was introduced to the electronic music pioneer Brian Eno, a former member of the art-rock band Roxy Music and producer for artists like U2 and Talking Heads. "We met at a friend's house in London, at a dinner party," Mr. Simon said. "Brian invited me to his studio. I came over and brought a little bit of this work. He started to play over the CD, and it was a really nice combination. I think we both saw it immediately."

Over the next two years, Mr. Simon and Mr. Eno convened four times, for stretches of no more than five days. "I brought him different songs at different stages of completion," Mr. Simon said. "He would play something that would add texture or space. Sometimes he would take a sound that existed already and put it through his electronics, change the sound and the musical implication." The final credits for "Surprise" read "Produced by Paul Simon, Sonic Landscape by Brian Eno."

Call me intrigued. But, of course, there's another album coming on Tuesday that might overshadow Mr. Simon's...