Woody Guthries new years resolutions-1942

Important Albums

I wrote this list  about a year ago for wewritelists.com. All of the albums listed are still on the monthly rotation, so I thought I might tell you about them.

We also promise to not let this blog become an exclusive music appraiser. That would be flaccid and sad.

and with that!:

Six Albums with Mountain Man

by Stephen W. Thomas

Back in the summer, when the skies were blue and the grass was warm underfoot, I caught Mountain Man one sweltering afternoon at Glastonbury. They were on before the act I had gone to see – former Six Albums alumni Alessi’s Ark – but I had heard a buzz about the band, so eagerly awaited the bearded man to take the stage. I was somewhat surprised when, instead of the wispy bearded fellow I expected from an act called Mountain Man, three young girls shuffled onstage. They dressed conservatively and joked a little with the crowd. And then they sang.

What makes Mountain Man so special is the deceptive simplicity of their music. At first it seems as if the band are an almost entirely acapella harmony group, but the more you listen the more you are drawn in. You are drawn in to the stories they tell, and the vocals that gather around you like a beautiful smoke, and make everything hazy, atmospheric and warm. And inevitably you come to realise that there is something unique about the band, that they have taken a very traditional sound and made everything about it fresh and exciting. Only perhaps exciting is not the right word. Invigorating. Listening to Mountain Man is like falling asleep into the most magnificent dream, and knowing that once you’ve awoken you’ll have a whole new world to discover. We’re honoured to feature Mountain Man on Six Albums this week, and we hope you’ll enjoy their selection as much as we have.

Sparklehorse – It’s A Wonderful Life When you have been diving in the ocean and keeping your eyes open, and your lungs need air immediatley as you fight to the surface and just before you break out of the water, there is an electrical storm. The creature that emerges from the water that was once you is what this record sounds like. Mark Linkous had an amazing ability to draw words out of meaning and meaning out of words. Particular tracks to listen to would be ‘Yellow Birds’, a song which captures a moment and spits it out, and ‘Dog Door’, whose lyrics were written by the beloveds Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennen, and don’t forget to watch the fantastically demented music video by the Brothers Quay.

Ethnic Folkways Library- The Pygmies of the Ituri Forest The pygmies are important for everyone to listen to. How wonderful would it be if we all had songs for walking to school, getting in the car, planting new things in the garden or eating our favorite thing? I think we should.

Soul Coughing- Ruby Vroom Shoves the listener into a tight space and overwhelms them with imagery, color, and unexpected violent kisses. Pretty soon the devil shows up and takes us on a field trip to LA.  Everyone in this band is amazing, and each time I listen to this record some new idea or flavor worms its way out of the tightly woven sound wall. Yuval Gabay’s percussion is particularly incredible.  M. Doughty’s lyrics and the way with which he wields his voice lifts you up. How often can half sung counting make you want to punch someone in the mouth and dance around the room?! The only other example I can think of would be Bob Dorough’s Multiplication Rock, but that involves less punching and more hand holding.  One in many amazing moments on the record is during ‘Screenwriter’s Blues’:

“…It is 5am, and the sun has charred the other side of the world and come back to us, and painted the smoke over our heads an imperial violet…” I am amazed at this album’s world. It is so solidly created that I will believe anything in it.

The Concretes – The Concretes Safety zone. At least for me, the track Diana Ross describes the feeling that over takes me when music is so good that I want to turn into it or live inside it. A very important album to have around if you need to be extra lonely.

Smog – A River Ain’t To Much to Love I remember waking up early one sunday morning. Light was pouring into the open window of the strange room I was sleeping in, and reflecting off the white comforter and walls so the room shone, warm fall air was coming in through the window and ‘Drinking At the Dam’ was playing as an alarm. It was beautiful. I am amazed at how easy it is to take other people’s music and adhere it to our own memories and experiences. Bill Callahan just writes excellent songs. He moves from one excellent observation to another on a dime, or meanders along telling you about all sorts of small things he did that day. My current favorite song off the record is ‘The Well’, or ‘I Feel Like The Mother of The World’, or any of them really.

Arthur Russell- Another Thought Every line on this record reframes some sort of regular human experience, but in a completely magical, truthful way. I listen to this record when ever I feel like I am trolling the bottom of the fish tank with my mouth, or have serious questions. If I had my way, I would print all of the lyrics on the album, enlarge them a hundred times, and drape them over large structures. Then, maybe I could understand the enormity and truth this record contains.

Dear friends

Our dear friend Jessica green is a maker of things and a weaver of dreams. we miss her

The name of the next song is:

eli! Eli! Eeeeeliiiiiii!