Friday Mix 9
Valgeir Sigurðsson – Evolution of Waters (featuring Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy)
Who says file sharing is bad? Without my favorite little private torrent site, OiNK, I never would have come across Valgeir. He made his name producing some amazing artists you may have heard of. (Think the guy featured in this song and some woman named Björk) I love the fact that Will Oldham is constantly diversifying the artists/producers he works with. I’ve never heard a song feature Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy that sounded this produced, refined and just plain beautiful. I will admit that his voice is a little jarring on some recordings and when listened to with the rest of this album (Ekvílibríum out Sept. 11) it stands out but soon dissipates into the fold. For some reason I get this feeling that this album will be the slow blockbuster in the same way The National came on with “Alligator” a few years back.
Strings in indie, thank you Sufjan for making this acceptable again. Midlake is a band I’ve heard about for quite some time now but never really saw it posted online or on mix CDs. Thus I have never really sought it out until recently. I don’t even remember what sparked my interest and made me start listening but I’m glad I did. The song writing is a little daunting at first though this song and others are more narrative.
Here is this weeks “Song from an album that will be in my top 20 for the year” entry. This starts off more like an Animal Collective track than anything else. Soon it becomes very apparent that it is a beam of Caribou happiness. This one goes out to all of you summer loving indie rock stoner kids out there. All three of you.
I know next to nothing about Tony Lucca other than this is his version of this Daniel Johnston track from the “Friday Night Lights” tv show soundtrack. Below I’ve also included Daniel Johnston’s original version and a version by Bright Eyes. I have to say Tony Lucca’s is the version that sticks with me. It was also played at a key moment on the TV show which is my current television obsession. (The DVD set just came out and I’ve stayed up till midnight two nights in a row watching episodes back to back.) It’s a fantastic show that is much, much, much more than simply about high school football. I was a little put off by the cliché pilot episode what with the injury to a star player and the first year coach angle but it has since developed into much more than that. Oh yeah, the music. I’ve linked to Daniel Johnston so I won’t go into detail about his bipolar condition but this is one of his best songs. Probably more because of the time it was recorded and who recorded it but it is amazing to me how three different singers giving their voice to the SAME song cane portray completely different sentiments.
Johnny Cash – On the Evening Train
I have resisted using a Johnny Cash song as my “Country Track of the Week” for a while now. It seemed too easy but when I started trying to come up with a definitive track it was next to impossible. Obviously, you’ll be seeing his name come up a few more times here.
One of Johnny Cash’s last recordings before he pasted away. Listening to “A Hundred Highways” right after a track from “Live from Folsom Prison” made me stop editing paving details for a minute and reflect on this man’s life. What a way to go out. Seemingly playing your own funeral anthem. This song in particular seems so much more real thinking of it in context to his wife’s passing.
