Some things Old, some things from the News, some things Borrowed, and some Blues: (Take 3)
Friday is fun because it's about music - with lots of playlists and links and clips. Maybe even more so today than on some other Fridays, as it's time for another old and new and borrowed and blues...
From time to time on a Friday I’m going to riff on a few topics in one newsletter, rather than just one big essay. To get you up to speed with this format, here’s the first time I tried this and here’s take two. Now for take three…
Some things Old
You lot know about my return to CD addictioncollecting…and how it’s mostly contained to movie soundtracks. Well this week, I found one of my holy grails. I deeply regret getting rid of the soundtrack to Sling Blade. It’s a favourite film, last year I even bought the screenplay. But even if I wasn’t that into the film I’m sure I’d love the score – because it’s by Daniel Lanois. He’s one of my favourite producers and players and there’s such a deep mood that builds across the score. There are some guests that collaborate with Lanois (Emmylou Harris) and some songs by other artists (Booker T & The M.G.’s) but it’s the textures and layers of Lanois’ guitar I love most. And that song, The Maker. In fact I thought about writing today all about my love for that song – but maybe that’s for another time. Anyway, I sure was happy to find this on CD once again. It’s a silly little thrill for me. And I could just access the music online, sure. And I’m down for that – and sharing the link for you to check out the music if you want to. But when I open the CD cover and put the disc in the tray I feel like I’m accessing just a little bit more than only the music. That’s where I access the memories attached to the music. And that’s why we’re here right? Well, it’s a big part of why you find me here, in this way, writing, like this/about this, on Fridays…
Funnily enough, I also spent time this week with another favourite soundtrack from a favourite film from the same era. And it’s also a score created by a guitarist. I’m now in the surely unique position, where the only Eric Clapton albums I own are his soundtrack recordings. He was great at that, and should return to that. And I know I’ve said this before – but his score for the film Rush was one of my favourite things to listen to when it was released 31 years ago. And I’ve never really stopped listening to it, even when I’ve pretty much stopped listening to anything else by Clapton. (His political views particularly). Rush still gives me exactly that. The music was in my ears before I saw the film, but every time I look at the cover, I think about how I really must watch the movie again; about how when I first watched it I was a teenager and my folks were out for the night so they dropped me down to keep my grandfather company. And he fell asleep almost instantly. And I popped Rush in the VCR. And when that was done, I double-featured it with A Nightmare On Elm Street 3. (R.I.P. Angelo Badalamenti!)
Speaking of anniversaries, it was 30 years last weekend since the release of Siamese Dream by the Smashing Pumpkins. I once played in a band (in my final year of high school) where we played 11 of the 13 tracks from that album. And I had the Jimmy Chamberlin parts to try to approximate. Which I could never do. But I had fun trying in earnest. I listened to Siamese Dream in the car last weekend – and loved it. It’s one of those albums for me, like records by Nirvana, like the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Blood Sugar Sex Magik, like one or two others from that era, where I can really only listen to it once a year or so – but it’s like getting down a school yearbook or family photo album. It starts with a cringe, and a feeling of how long are we gonna be here? And then the smiles come. The genuine chuckles. The nods and winks, and the memories. Music is the perfect agent. And Siamese Dream sounded better last weekend to my ears than it had in years. Billy Corgan was maybe, briefly, a genius. And most of the best evidence of that sits somewhere deep in this album. It was fun to revisit with it.
Some things from the News
Kristin Hersh is returning to New Zealand. This is very exciting news in our house. When I moved to Wellington, ostensibly to poke my head in now and then and make sure my friends were going to their classes up the hill at the university, I connected with Kristin Hersh’s music in the very earliest days. I’ve no doubt told this story before, but I’ll say it again. First year uni orientation, day one, Sam Hunt is in the Student Union Building as a lunchtime event – he’s brilliant and I’m totally under his spell. He mentions that Throwing Muses are playing later in the week, their new album at the time is called University – and they were cleverly added to the Orientation bill to tour. Sam says they have brilliant lyrics and you must go. So I do what Sam says. We stand right up the front and stare into Kristin Hersh’s eyes as she stares out and straight through everyone, delivering the songs that come to her, fully formed, in her dreams.
Many years later I will get to talk to Hersh on the phone. I will go and see the Muses again, when they reform. And I will see her play a solo show. In our home office we have his’n’hers Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh-solo tour posters. We got them framed, and they hang over our desks. We love all of the music Kristin Hersh makes. And to see her live is the best way to experience it. She is like nothing and no one else and New Zealand is so lucky to have the chance to see her again. Get your tickets!
U.S. Girls, aka Meg Remy, has released a cover of Superstar by Leon Russell. It’s a collaboration with Bootsy Collins – and if that seems odd, you have to hear it. It really works. Also, yes, Superstar, is the song made famous by the Carpenters. But written by Leon Russell. There’s more good news there too, it’s not just a one-off, it’s for a tribute album to Russell that will be released next month, and features contributions from Margo Price, Pixies, Orville Peck, Hiss Golden Messenger, and a few others, including Bret McKenzie with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Such tributes are always a mixed bag, but this one should be pretty good all up – Russell was a legendary solo act, and side man. And he wrote some modern classics. And since I’m mentioning U.S. Girls – I recently read Meg Remy’s memoir, which is a harrowing but brilliant mix of poetry and prose and comes highly recommended.
Paul McCartney is playing in Australia in October! I didn’t think I needed to see Macca again, because I was lucky to be taken by my parents to see him in 1993. It was 30 years ago today…etc.
But now I feel like I really need to see him one more time. Please announce a New Zealand show Sir Paul. Please! (Please me…)
Some things Borrowed
I sometimes borrow records from the brilliant Wellington City Libraries. I could stream everything I listen to, or I could just use my own record collection only. But why not all the things! And so, this week, I checked out Brian Eno’s Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy). Big fan of Eno, as I’m sure most people reading here would already know. But I only really have the ambient albums on vinyl. So it’s nice to dig back into some of his other work via this medium. Of course it only makes me want to go out and buy the early Eno records (again). But I’ll try and make do with the library system for a while longer.
I’m also reading Joe Satriani’s memoir and kinda digging it (for now). It will run out of steam, just as Joe’s career did. But the early years are cool to read about. And so I can see myself borrowing a few of the early albums to hear again. I was such a fan of his guitar playing when I was a young teen. Rites of passage. Etc.
We had a friend visit for dinner on Wednesday. And so I made a playlist in her honour. I called is Simone came for dinner. Since, you know, that’s her name. And that’s what happened. Basically, I just made up a long playlist of cool-but-background tunes we could have on while we ate and chatted. But I took a photo of the environment, named it after the person, then shared it with her when she left. A simple, silly idea, but maybe you’d like to borrow this idea, or borrow some of the tunes? Or maybe you already do something similar…
And some Blues.
The other holy grail soundtrack album I (finally) got hold of this week is Zabriskie Point. I’ve wanted this album forever – as you’ll see from that link, not all of it is on Spotify. It’s $60-70 to buy on vinyl, or it’s $5 on CD. And that’s a no-brainer on my wage. And in this economy. And so I have it. Good times. It’s a confusing mess of a film, and the same is true for it as a soundtrack album – but it features a lot of Pink Floyd stuff from their most interesting era (1969-70) and some cool Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia stuff; so it’s psychedelic-blues if we are stretching the definition of blues and constricting the definition of psychedelic. Some good stuff on this album anyway.
And I’ve been slowly listening through the Grateful Dead catalogue. In fact, I’ve stalled a decade in. But I love Jerry Garcia’s guitar playing – so that’s going to get my through. Just a warning, and I believe such a thing is necessary, I will likely write about the Grateful Dead here soon. So, yeah, now you know.
My mum bought Bad Influence by The Robert Cray Band on vinyl way back in the mid-80s. And I’m sure glad she did! I love that album so much. She also bought Strong Persuader and Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark. These albums were all great, and I kept listening to Cray for as long as I could, though when he went super horn-drenched, I wanted him to bring back the guitar. His voice is wonderful and the songs were strong-enough but I really wanted his guitar in the mix. Well, that happened, sometime, around a decade ago, he returned to making piercing blues and there are some great albums – though far too many to wade through. This week I’ve been listening to a Spotify playlist of the earlier Robert Cray Band years (he ditched the “band” moniker a while back and went solo). Anyway, what a player. What songs. What an era. It was hard work making slick blues in the 1980s and also making it mean something, and I think Robert Cray is severely underappreciated/overlooked.
So I just wanted to share the generic Spotify playlist and see if any of you were into it.
Well, that’s gonna do it for this edition of Some things Old, Some things from the News, Some things Borrowed, And some Blues…
See/hear anything you like?
And of course here’s the weekly playlist which is bits and pieces of all sorts of things. And should play nicely for you.
Ha, ‘Rush’ is the only Clapton I own as well!