Monthly Archives: November 2008

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Lucinda Williams – Little Honey

littlehoneyLucinda Williams has been on a tear in recent years. After releasing a total of four albums during the first 18 years of her career, she has released another four in the past seven. Her latest, Little Honey, follows right on the heels of 2007’s West.

Her most notorious dry spell was the six years between Sweet Old World and Car Wheels on a Gravel Road, when her perfectionism got the better of her and she refused to release Car Wheels until it was just right. And I can’t argue with that, because it is a perfect album… one of the few in my collection about which I’ll say that without reservation. But still, six years is a long time.

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YouTube catch-up

youtubebuttIf you haven’t paid attention to the comments in the past week or so, you’ve probably missed out on some really nice music clips.

Below is a sampling of everything from Jason Castro covering Leonard Cohen to Jason Mraz covering Kermit the Frog, with a little Alison Krauss, Neko Case and The Matrix thrown in for good measure.

Enjoy.

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Song of the Day #114: ‘Last Goodbye’ – Jeff Buckley

buckleyI’m glad I didn’t really know anything about Jeff Buckley until he was dead. He was a special talent and it must have been heartbreaking for his fans to lose him so soon after he entered the scene.

His debut album Grace (the only album released before his accidental drowning death) is a sublime work of art… a mix of soaring guitar work, poetic lyrics and other-worldly vocals. It contains the definitive version of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah,’ which has since been covered by just about every alternative artist with a recording contract (as well as an American Idol contestant). But his original songs, including ‘Grace,’ ‘Lover, You Should Have Come Over,’ ‘Lilac Wine,’ and today’s song, ‘Last Goodbye,’ are where he really shone.

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Song of the Day #113: ‘Another Way to Die’ – Jack White & Alicia Keys

keysTo celebrate today’s release of Quantum of Solace, the latest James Bond film, I have selected as my Song of the Day its theme song, ‘Another Way to Die.’

The song was written by Jack White (of The White Stripes) and he performs it with talented singer-songwriter Alicia Keys. It’s the first duet in the Bond series’ history.

My favorite Bond song has to be ‘The Spy Who Loved Me,’ Carly Simon’s theme from the film of the same name, with Paul McCartney’s ‘Live and Let Die’ a close second. And of course I love to sing the chorus of Shirley Bassey’s entry in the series… “Gold-fingah!” And those who know about by infatuation with Shirley Manson of Garbage won’t be surprised to hear I’m a fan of their Bond song, ‘The World is Not Enough.’

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Song of the Day #112: ‘Jane’ – Barenaked Ladies

bnlI saw Ben Folds on a TV special the other day and he talked about a lesson he learned from Vincent Price. Price said that you can’t have a truly scary horror movie unless it’s also a little bit funny. It’s the contrast that sells you on the fear.

Folds said he uses the same principle in his music, leavening the sad, serious stuff with the ridiculous and ironic. And, in addition to Folds, the group that jumps to mind when I think about that theory is Barenaked Ladies.

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