If you thought yesterday’s Sinead O’Connor performance was fierce, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
This performance of ‘Troy,’ also from 1988, shows O’Connor at her most raw. ‘Troy’ is a fabulous, biting broken heart song that feels more like a session in the confessional. The album performance is emotionally epic but it’s outdone by the naked ferocity on display at the Pinkpop festival in this clip.
As promised a week ago, I’m dedicating this week to the unique and extraordinary talent of Sinead O’Connor, specifically through her live performances.
Today’s clip is from O’Connor’s network television debut, on Late Night with David Letterman. Letterman had so many wonderful musical guests on his show in those early days, and right through the Late Show years.
R.E.M.’s Monster was a true WTF album. Following the mega-success of the warm, elegant pop albums Out of Time (1991) and Automatic For the People (1992), this 1994 release hit fans like a bucket of cold water.
Steeped in grunge and drowning in reverb and feedback, Monster was the loudest and least pretty collection R.E.M. ever recorded. But listening to it 22 years later, it doesn’t seem all that scary.
My final album of 1970 (which on the whole was an excellent year for music, I’ve discovered) is Harry Nilsson’s Nilsson Sings Newman. This record is a collaboration between Nilsson and one of my favorite songwriters and performers of all time, Randy Newman.
Newman didn’t just write the ten tracks on this album but played piano on them as well. And while I can’t imagine anybody topping Newman’s readings of his own songs, Nilsson’s sweet vocals are a nice match for the masterfully simple tunes on this album. I think I need to buy this thing pronto.
Meet Me In Montauk 