It’s been almost a year since I last featured Eminem on the blog, and about that long since I’ve listened to him at length. But every time I do, I’m reminded what a fascinating and talented artist he remains.
In fact, I consider his most recent album, Recovery, among his very best work. It lacks the shock value of The Marshall Mathers LP but it’s a more confident record musically and lyrically.
In a year that, so far, has been pretty light on new music, Ashley Monroe’s solo debut Like a Rose remains one of the bright spots.
Monroe, one third of the Pistol Annies, has a lot of the wit and flair that have made her friend and band mate Miranda Lambert a big star. This album has received a ton of acclaim and performed modestly well on the charts, but I don’t know if Monroe will hit the mainstream (or if she even wants to).
After dominating this blog in 2011 during the controversial Ron Sexsmith Weekends, Canadian songwriter Ron Sexsmith made only three appearances in 2012. And here we are, more than halfway through 2013 when he makes his first appearance this year.
Today’s track is probably best known (to the extent that anything Ron Sexsmith does is known) because a second version was released on which Sexsmith duets with Coldplay’s Chris Martin. I’ve even seen the song posted online as a Coldplay tune featuring Ron Sexsmith (silly Coldplay fans!).
Blonde On Blonde is without question one of the towering achievements of Bob Dylan’s career, a two-disc masterpiece chock full of lyrically resonant and sonically fascinating songs.
The album might be best known for the monster ballads ‘Vision of Johanna,’ ‘Just Like a Woman’ and ‘Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands’ (which, at over 11 minutes, made up the entirety of Disc Two/Side B of the album’s vinyl release). But it contains just as many looser, faster-paced gems.
Sorry about the late post today. I mistakenly believed I had scheduled songs through the weekend.
But it appears I have caught up and, as Bill O’Reilly so memorably put it, WE’LL DO IT LIVE!
Today’s randomly selected track is a slow-burner from Fiona Apple’s third album, Extraordinary Machine. I’ve run out of ways to praise Apple’s musical, lyrical and vocal chops, so I’ll just let the song speak for itself.
Meet Me In Montauk 