Arthur Nights in LA this weekend—wish I was there. Last year’s Arthur Fest was one of the best music events I’ve been to.
Category: {music}
Music
Ys by Joanna Newsom
Joanna Newsom‘s extraordinary new album, out on November 14th. Recorded by Steve Albini, mixed by Jim O’Rourke, orchestral arrangements by Van Dyke Parks.
Ys is the mythical city supposedly sunken off the coast of Brittany. It’s also the name of a piece on Alan Stivell‘s celebrated 1971 folk album, Renaissance of the Celtic Harp. Since Ms Newsom plays the harp, it’s a safe bet that there’s a reference here back to Alan Stivell.
Previously on { feuilleton }
• Jake Shears likes Van Dyke Parks
• Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys
New things for October
Two new pieces of work appear this month. The cover for the Emissaries CD by Melechesh was something I did earlier this year but the album release was delayed. Melechesh are Sumerian Thrashing Black Metal maestros and their website is here.
And finally this month, Jon Farmer’s book, Sieg Heil Iconographers, arrives from the printers. At 608 pages this is by far the largest book I’ve designed to date. Featuring illustrations and photos on nearly every page, it was a lot of work, so I’m very pleased that Anthony Rowe have done their customary excellent print job. The book is softcover and I was worried that the binding might be too tight to allow for easy reading but it falls open very easily. Savoy will have this on sale later this month, details at their site.
Jake Shears likes Van Dyke Parks
From ‘Music’s secret weapons‘ in today’s Guardian. Musicians pick “their special album: the one nobody else has heard of, the one to bring out when you want to amaze people” and trot out a host of uninspiring choices, most of which are hardly albums that no one has heard of. Tells you a lot about today’s current crop of musos. Anyway, Jake came to the rescue and he didn’t go for the obvious VDP pick of Discover America either. If you want to discover more about the brilliant Van Dyke Parks, visit his site.
Jake Shears
(No 1 in the albums and singles charts with Scissor Sisters)
Van Dyke Parks – Jump! (1984)
It’s his concept album inspired by the Uncle Remus tales from Song of the South. He’s a genius arranger, producer, singer, songwriter. He also worked on Brian Wilson’s Smile. Jump! is a truly timeless record. It came out in 1984 but sounds like it could have been made yesterday or 80 years ago.
Previously on { feuilleton }
• They are Scissor Sisters and so are you
Rogue’s Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys
The great Hal Willner is doing his eclectic thing again. A marvellous collection of folk ballads. Nice cover as well, from Howard Pyle’s celebrated pirate paintings.
Disc: 1
1. Cape Cod Girls—Baby Gramps
2. Mingulay Boat Song—Richard Thompson
3. My Son John—John C. Reilly
4. Fire Down Below—Nick Cave
5. Turkish Revelry—Loudon Wainwright III
6. Bully In The Alley—The Old Prunes
7. The Cruel Ship’s Captain—Bryan Ferry
8. Dead Horse—Robin Holcomb
9. Spanish Ladies—Bill Frisell
10. High Barbary—Joseph Arthur
11. Haul Away Joe—Mark Anthony Thompson
12. Dan Dan—David Thomas
13. Blood Red Roses—Sting
14. Sally Brown—Teddy Thompson
15. Lowlands Away—Rufus Wainwright & Kate McGarrigle
16. Baltimore Whores—Gavin Friday
17. Rolling Sea—Eliza McCarthy
18. Haul On The Bowline—Bob Neuwirth
19. Dying Sailor to His Shipmates—Bono
20. Bonnie Portmore—Lucinda Williams
21. The Mermaid—Martin Carthy & the UK Group
22. Shenandoah—Richard Greene & Jack Shit
23. The Cry Of Man—Mary Margaret O’Hara
Disc: 2
1. Boney—Jack Shit
2. Good Ship Venus—Loudon Wainwright III
3. Long Time Ago—White Magic
4. Pinery Boy—Nick Cave
5. Lowlands Low—Bryan Ferry w/Antony
6. One Spring Morning—Akron/Family
7. Hog Eye Man—Martin Carthy & Family
8. The Fiddler/A Drop Of Nelson’s Blood—Ricky Jay & Richard Greene
9. Caroline and Her Young Sailor Bold—Andrea Corr
10. Fathom The Bowl—John C. Reilly
11. Drunken Sailor—Dave Thomas
12. Farewell Nancy—Ed Harcourt
13. Hanging Johnny—Stan Ridgway
14. Old Man of The Sea—Baby Gramps
15. Greenland Whale Fisheries—Van Dyke Parks
16. Shallow Brown—Sting
17. The Grey Funnel Line—Jolie Holland
18. A Drop of Nelson’s Blood—Jarvis Cocker
19. Leave Her Johnny—Lou Reed
20. Little Boy Billy—Ralph Steadman
Previously on { feuilleton }
• The music of The Wicker Man
• Davy Jones