I've Looked So Much....

Youth Lagoon - July (2011: The Year of Hibernation)

memory is more neat

when it disappears

By Lena Retamoso

(Translated by the author)

Panda Bear - Ponytail (2007: Person Pitch)

“I’ve looked on beauty so much

that my vision overflows with it.

The body’s lines. Red lips. Sensual limbs.

Hair as though stolen from Greek statues,

always lovely, even uncombed,

and falling slightly over pale foreheads.

Figures of love, as my poetry desired them

.... in the nights when I was young,

encountered secretly in those nights.”

By Konstantinos Kavafis (Greece, 1863-1933)

Poem: I’ve Looked So Much.... (Translated by Edmund Keeley / Philip Sherrard)

"This song makes me feel like being showered under thousands of shooting stars."

 - Lena Retamoso

Green Mountain

Björk - Unravel (1997: Homogenic)

To have, long between my hands, your shadow

Facing the sun

Your memory pursues me or drags me, harassing,

Without exit without stopping without refuge without a word without air

Time becomes a house of ill fame

In longitudinal felling of trees where your image dissolves in smoke

The bitterest taste that man’s history records

The dying brilliance and the shadow

The opening and closing of doors leading to the enchanted dominion of your name

Where everything perishes

An immense barren field bitten by weeds and interpretable stones

A hand on a severed head

Feet

Your brow

Your flood shoulder

Your downpour belly and lightning thigh

A stone turning another that rises and sleeps standing

An enchanted horse a stone shrub a stone bed

A stone mouth and that shimmering which encircles me sometimes

To explain myself according to rules no longer observed the

         mysterious prolongations of your hands which turn back

         with the menacing attitude of a modest room with a red

         curtain opening on to hell

Sheets night sky

Sun air rain wind

Only the wind which carries your name

By César Moro (Peru, 1903-1956)

Poem: Battle at the Edge of a Cataract

From the book of poetry: La tortuga ecuestre (Translated by Philip Ward)

Julianna Barwick - White Flag (2011: The Magic Place)

       “You ask me why I dwell in the green mountain; 

        I smile and make no reply for my heart is free of care. 

      As the peach-blossom flows down stream and is gone into the unknown, 

       I have a world apart that is not among men.”

By Li Bai (China, 701-762)

Poem: Green Mountain (Translated by Kenneth Hope)

Intimate Voices

Philip Glass - String Quartet No. 3 (Mishima): Mishima Closing (1985: Kronos Quartet)

“    It is an enormous spider that now cannot move;

a colorless spider, whose body,

a head and an abdomen, bleeds. 

    Today I watched it up close. With what effort

toward every side

it extended its innumerable legs.

And I have thought about its invisible eyes,

the spider’s fatal pilots.

    It is a spider that tremored caught

on the edge of a rock;

abdomen on one side,

head on the other. 

    With so many legs the poor thing, and still unable

to free itself. And on seeing it

confounded by its fix

today, I have felt such sorrow for that traveler. 

    It is an enormous spider, impeded by

its abdomen from following its head.

And I have thought about its eyes

and about its numerous legs…

And I have felt such sorrow for that traveler!”

By César Vallejo (Peru, 1892-1938)

From the poem: The Spider (Translated by Clayton Eshleman)

RatTail - Gasmask (2009: Demo)

3

To all, I closed my heart without wanting to.

I have lost the little key.

Perhaps it has fallen in a channel

Or it floats, confused,

In the river that separates human beings.

But I am not afraid:

Maybe one day you’ll find it

Opening in a birthday

A surprise.

By Luis Hernández (Peru, 1941-1977)

From the poem: Intimate Voices (Translated by Lena Retamoso)

Waking Dream

Charles Trénet - La Mer (1946: La Mer)

“I dream with my eyes

open and always, by day

and night, I dream.

And over the foam

of the wide and restless sea,

and through the spiraling

sands of the desert,

upon a mighty lion,

monarch of my breast,

blithely astride

its docile neck,

always I see, floating,

a boy, who calls to me!”

By José Martí (Cuba, 1853-1895)

From the poem: Waking Dream

Ennio Morricone - E la donna creò l'uomo (1964: ...e la donna creò l'uomo)

Gentle willow

almost gold, almost amber,

almost daylight

By José Juan Tablada (Mexico, 1871-1945)

From the poem: Willow (Translated by Roberto Tejada)

Five in the Afternoon

Goran Bregović/Traditional - Ederlezi (1988: Dom za vešanje/Time of the Gypsies)

I. Cogida and Death

At five in the afternoon. 

It was exactly five in the afternoon. 

A boy brought the white sheet 

at five in the afternoon. 

A frail of lime ready prepared 

at five in the afternoon. 

The rest was death, and death alone 

at five in the afternoon. 

The wind carried away the cotton wool 

at five in the afternoon. 

And the oxide scattered crystal and nickel 

at five in the afternoon. 

Now the dove and the leopard wrestle 

at five in the afternoon. 

And a thigh with a desolate horn 

at five in the afternoon. 

The bass-string struck up 

at five in the afternoon. 

Arsenic bells and smoke 

at five in the afternoon. 

Groups of silence in the corners 

at five in the afternoon. 

And the bull alone with a high heart! 

At five in the afternoon. 

When the sweat of snow was coming 

at five in the afternoon, 

when the bull ring was covered in iodine 

at five in the afternoon. 

death laid eggs in the wound 

at five in the afternoon. 

At five in the afternoon. 

Exactly at five o'clock in the afternoon. 

A coffin on wheels is his bed 

at five in the afternoon. 

Bones and flutes resound in his ears 

at five in the afternoon. 

Now the bull was bellowing through his forehead 

at five in the afternoon. 

The room was iridescent with agony 

at five in the afternoon. 

In the distance the gangrene now comes 

at five in the afternoon. 

Horn of the lily through green groins 

at five in the afternoon. 

The wounds were burning like suns 

at five in the afternoon, 

and the crowd was breaking the windows 

at five in the afternoon. 

At five in the afternoon. 

Ah, that fatal five in the afternoon! 

It was five by all the clocks! 

It was five in the shade of the afternoon! 

By Federico García Lorca (Spain, 1898–1936)

From the poem: Lament for Ignacio Sánchez Mejías

Nymph - Snow Song (2010: Nymph)

CXXIII

I BREATHED enough to learn the trick,  

  And now, removed from air,  

I simulate the breath so well,  

  That one, to be quite sure  

   

The lungs are stirless, must descend          

  Among the cunning cells,  

And touch the pantomime himself.  

  How cool the bellows feels!

By Emily Dickinson (USA,1830–86)

From the poem: Time and Eternity

Luminous Spirituality

Broadcast - Tears in the Typing Pool
     (2005: Tender Buttons)

rain

make me a space

-there-

in your bed of brief water

By Lena Retamoso (Peru, 1978)

(Translated by the author)

Women and Children - Oranges
     (2006: Paralyzed Dance, Tonight)

“   Loving you is like losing oneself in a glowing 

garden, because your body has the color of summer 

and your black hair shines with 

sparks of gold.

    Loving you is like walking by the secret 

light, among the trees, when it is almost

the divine night and still the sun drags

its passion over the burning things.”

By Manuel Mujica Láinez (Argentina, 1910-1984)

From the book of poetry: Luminous Spirituality (Excerpt translated by Lena Retamoso)

Seven Days of Poestry

Surprise!  My good friend Lena Retamoso and I are teaming up to do a week's worth of posts.  Lena is an incredible poet and will be choosing poetry based on the songs I pick (I'm quite honored!!).  You can check out some of her poetry and other musings on her website (it helps if you habla español).  Also, I'll be putting links with information about the poems in the comment section of each post.  So without further ado, I hereby revive Pongo and Perdita for one more week!  Hope you enjoy!!

Jens Lekman - New Directions (2011: An Argument With Myself)

“…

In the end

We are only left with tomorrow.

I raise my glass

To the day that never arrives.

But that is all

we have at our disposal.”

By Nicanor Parra (Chile, 1914)

From the poem: The Last Toast (Translated by Miller Williams)

The Kinks - I Am Free (1965: The Kink Kontroversy)

“…And I love the thousands of men within me that are born and die each instant and do not live at all…”

By Martín Adán (Peru, 1908-1985)

From the book: The Cardboard House (Translated by Katherine Silver)

Gotta Go / Goodbye

I regret to announce that this is the end of this blog for now. I hope very much that you've enjoyed some of the music I posted. All of the mp3s will continue to be available here so feel free to sift through any old posts you may have missed.

As for me... I'm leaving the country and going far away. I'll miss you all!

Goodbye!

Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames - Getaway (1966: Getaway)

Paul McCartney - Goodbye (1968: Bootleg)

Randy Newman: Good Old Boys

For those of you who don't know... this blog is about to come to an end. I'll be going to Europe and putting this site on an indefinite hiatus. So before that happens I needed to post a few tracks from Randy Newman's 'Good Old Boys.' It's one of my very favorite albums even though I've only been listening to it for about 4 years. I hated Randy Newman before that as I explained here. But then my eyes were opened. I probably owe this to my parents but also to the fact that I was getting really into arranging/composition at the time... so when I heard this album for the nth time I started noticing that aspect of it. Since then I've let the light of Randy Newman penetrate my cold, dark heart. To those of you out there who detest him all I can say is, I understand... but boy are you missing out.

It's not really possible for me to pick my favorites from this album because I love all the songs so much... I'll post some tracks here and highly recommend getting the full thing!

Randy Newman - Rednecks (1974: Good Old Boys)

 - Here's Newman's hillbilly-bashing anthem... overtly sarcastic, satirical, mordant lyrics. Not many people would be brave enough to sing this... but he does it so well everybody wants to sing along!

Randy Newman - Guilty (1974: Good Old Boys)

 - This and 'Mr. President' (which you can hear here) are tied for my favorite tracks. The orchestra on this song kills me. I remember taking a composition lesson and the teacher asked me to bring examples of the kind of stuff I wanted to learn. I brought in this song and she said, 'oh that's so simple' and was uninterested in it. I think she was missing out. It may be simple but when those dissonant chords come in at 0:40 I'm really not interested in anything else... music, film, drugs, girls, life, death, time... it all falls away. And the drum fill at 2:08 is my favorite drum fill ever. I don't know who the drummer is exactly... but it's either Jim Keltner (who was often the drummer for John Lennon, George Harrison, Yoko Ono, Ringo Starr, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, even Fiona Apple on 'When the Pawn'.... seriously, this guy is a hero) or Andy Newmark (who also played with John Lennon and George Harrison as well as Sly and the Family Stone, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, etc.). The drumming on the album is a work of genius... it doesn't really stand out but if you really listen you'll understand. And if you can figure out who played drums on the specific tracks you'll get 100 P&P Points as well as my undying love. Don't even get me started on the other musicians on this album!

Randy Newman - Birmingham (1974: Good Old Boys)

 - As some readers may remember... I/we listened to this song about a billion times when traveling through Birmingham. He paints such dazzlingly brilliant pictures with his lyrics and the music is so beautiful... I rarely like American Copland-esque harmony... but I love the way he does it on this record.

Randy Newman - A Wedding in Cherokee County (1974: Good Old Boys)

 - It's songs like this... simple, poignant, beautifully performed... that prove that there never has been and never will be anyone like Randy Newman again. If you're reading this you're still alive... so enjoy him while you can!

Guest Post: Pett-ay, Pett-ay, Pett-ay Good

By Brady Miller

Who's the best rocking Tom out there?  Tom Jones?  Nope. Tommy Lee? Hell no. The answer is Tom Petty, and that's final.

I first discovered Mr. Petty on MTV, way back in the eighties--he was wearing a big hat and glasses whilst serving up Alice like a birthday cake. "Don't Come Around Here No More" is certainly not his best song (nor is Southern Accents among his best albums), but it did catch my ear and make me a fan at an early age.  Over the next several years he released a couple masterpieces in Full Moon Fever and Wildflowers, sandwiching a very good album, Into the Great Wide Open.

Although many of Petty's greatest songs came in the late seventies and early eighties ("Breakdown", "Don't Do Me Like That", "The Waiting", and my co-favorite "Here Comes My Girl"), his late eighties/early nineties period represents the peak of his oeuvre, IMHO. Not only did he release a boatload of great tracks during this time, but they were all parts of good-to-great albums.  Here are some highlights from that period, along with some stuff from another favorite Petty album of mine, Highway Companion.

Full Moon Fever - This was the first non-Heartbreakers album, essentially a super-slick collaboration between Petty and producer/songwriter Jeff Lynne. It's an absolute masterpiece through and through, with only one dud ("Zombie Zoo") and three larger than life rock anthems ("Free Fallin'", "I Won't Back Down", and "Runnin' Down a Dream").  Here's my favorite track:

Tom Petty - Yer So Bad (1989: Full Moon Fever)

This one's right up there with the best Petty songs ever: it's uber-simple, concise, with carefully crafted (and hilarious) lyrics. It also features one of Petty's best hooks, and that's from a guy who really mastered the art of a memorable rock chorus.

Into the Great Wide Open - Jeff Lynne also produced this Heartbreakers album, and perhaps went a little overboard with the layered production. I love it though, especially the way that the drums were pieced together by stacking separate tracks over each other (I know Heartbreakers drummer Stan Lynch hated recording this one). It's not an amazing album overall, but it's still a really good one...I may have a soft spot in my heart for it, since it was also one of my first ever cd's.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - King's Highway (1991: Into the Great Wide Open)

I don't know why I like this song, but I just do.  It makes me really happy, even though it doesn't really stand out from a lot of his other stuff.  Sue me.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Makin' Some Noise (1991: Into the Great Wide Open)

This is one of my favorites of Petty's annoying rock songs about nothing at all.  Again, I'm not sure why I like it.  I certainly dig the opening guitar riff and the hilarious cowbell, but I guess overall it just makes me feel happy.  That's what music's all about, eh?

Wildflowers - Here's the real shit.  This is one of all time favorite albums, a bona fide desert island pick and one that after almost 20 years of regular listening hasn't gotten old in any way whatsoever.  I think every song is great, except for 2 which are absolutely horrible ("Honey Bee" and "Cabin Down Below")--I just pretend those don't exist.  Not only is the music amazing, but the production is absolutely top-notch: just check out the richness and detail in the acoustic guitar and vocals throughout, and feel the warm, deep, woody punch of the drums. Ridiculous...it's a perfect album to test your audio equipment on.  Here are some highlights:

Tom Petty - You Don't Know How it Feels (1994: Wildflowers)

This was a huge hit.  It was also accompanied by one of the best music videos ever, at a time when the quality of MTV was circling the drain.  One of the best drum tracks in history, and as usual, a killer hook.  I also love the inclusion of a signature one note Mike Campbell guitar solo.

Tom Petty - To Find a Friend (1994: Wildflowers)

Wildflowers features a whole bunch of very focused, lyrical acoustic numbers.  They really showcase Petty's ability to write simple, concise, and beautiful songs.  Songs like this one right here really tie the album together while still standing tall on their own.

Tom Petty - Crawling Back to You (1994: Wildflowers)

Okay, this song makes me want to cry every time I hear it.  It's just beautiful, and the third verse after the guitar solo just kills me.  Kills me.  Some of my favorite lyrics ever:

"I'm so tired of being tired

Sure as night will follow day.

Most things I worry about

Never happen anyway."

Just fucking great.

Highway Companion - this album came a bit later, and strongly echoes the vibe of Wildflowers.  I love it through and through, even though it loses a bit of steam toward the end (before finishing up nicely with "The Golden Rose").  I suppose what I like best about Highway Companion is that it offers up a lot of nice hooks and great lyrics without feeling emotionally heavy at any point--it's a perfect driving album and just feels good.  That's it.  Points to Petty for achieving exactly what he set out to do on this one.

Tom Petty - Square One (2006: Highway Companion)

...is a great second track after a nice dirty-ish, bluesy opener.  It's quiet, crystal clear, and beautiful, with strangely phrased verses that really fit in well with the title (i.e., they feel appropriately square).  I like it.

Tom Petty - Down South (2006: Highway Companion)

Here's another simple, country-rock tune that is filled with funny but very carefully written lyrics.  It's cute, poignant, and feels good all the way through: "Gonna im-press all the women / pretend I'm Samuel Clemons / wear seersucker and white linens."

"Big Weekend" and "This Old Town" are also just great, simple songs that have funny lyrics and great hooks.  I love 'em...not much more to say (not that I've really said much anyway, other than "I like Tom Petty").

Anyway, that's all, except that I think everyone should watch the Peter Bogdonavich's documentary about Tom Petty called Runnin' Down a Dream.  It's the shortest four hours you can spend in front of a tv, and it'll get your blood pumping over and over again...you may just want to start a rock band and go on tour yourself.

Guest Post: Portrait of a Sunday Afternoon

By Alyssa Staker

We are all familiar with Harry Belafonte's 1956 "Day-O (Banana Boat Song)", but here are some of my favorite songs from Harry's 1966 "In My Quiet Room" that truly capture the magical sounds of his voice. I would also like to note that the entire album is fantastic and if you have some time you should definitely listen to it, while sipping something delicious.  Enjoy your lazy Sunday afternoon...


Harry Belafonte - Quiet Room (1966: In My Quiet Room)

Harry Belafonte - Portrait of a Sunday Afternoon (1966: In My Quiet Room)

Harry Belafonte - Raindrops (1966: In My Quiet Room)

Hot Love / Don't Blow Your Cool

Summer... finally... ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.....

Justus Köhncke - Hot Love (2004: Kompakt 100)

Jimi Hendrix - Long Hot Summer Night (1968: Electric Ladyland)

Stay cooool....

The Fiery Furnaces - Tropical Ice-Land (2005: Ep)

The Caravelles - Don't Blow Your Cool (1964: Don't Blow Your Cool)

Use it, Abuse It

Rhymefest - Devil's Pie (2006: Blue Collar)
 sampled:
The Strokes - Someday (2000: Is This It)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The Go! Team - Everyone's a V.I.P. to Someone
(2004: Thunder, Lightning, Strike)
 sampled:
The 5th Dimension - Stoned Soul Picnic
(1968: Stoned Soul Picnic)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Jens Lekman - A Sweet Summer's Night on Hammer Hill (2004: You Are the Light EP)
 sampled:
Martha Reeves and the Vandellas - (Love is Like a) Heat Wave (1963: (Love is Like a) Heat Wave)
 and
The Shangri-Las - Remember (Walkin' In the Sand) (1964: Remember (Walkin' In the Sand))
 which was TOTALLY ripped off in the McCartney/Harrison lead vocal section of this John Lennon/Beatles/Threetles song:
The Beatles - Free as a Bird (1995: Anthology 1)
------------------------------------------------------------------
Gianfranco Reverberi - Last Man Standing (1968: Preparati la bara!)
 - This is from the soundtrack to 'Viva! Django'... the sequel to 'Django' which inspired 'Sukiyaki Western Django.' I'm sure you can tell what this led to.

Ponies in the Surf

A brother/sister duo from Bogota, Colombia... they make quiet, pretty acoustic music. I'm not really sure how serious they are about their band... their last myspace login was last January, they release albums very infrequently and they rarely tour (I consider myself very fortunate to have caught them playing at the cake shop a few years ago). But at least they recorded three fantastic albums... I'm very thankful for that. Here's some samplings:

Ponies in the Surf - Ventricle (2004: A Demonstration)

Ponies in the Surf - Je t'aime (2004: A Demonstration)

Ponies in the Surf - Mimi Come Home (2005: Ponies on Fire)

Ponies in the Surf - Bad Crowd (2008: See You Happy)

Ponies in the Surf - Ponies in the Surf (2004: A Demonstration)

Thanks to Mike for giving me their EP in Boston.

La quatriéme chose

France Gall - La quatriéme chose
(1972: 5 minutes d'amour / La quatriéme chose)
 - Kind of sounds like it could make a good tv theme song...  maybe something like this:

Tripping Daisy - Friends/Sigmund and the Seamonsters
(1995: Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits)

France Gall - Un prince charmant
(1965: Un prince charmant)

France Gall - Frankenstein
(1972: Frankenstein / Les petits ballons)
 - The last song she recorded by Serge Gainsbourg

France Gall - A Banda
(1968: A Banda)
 - auf Deutsch!

Some Beatles Outtakes

The Beatles - I Want to Hold Your Hand (Take 9)

The Beatles - This Boy (Take 4)

The Beatles - I Should Have Known Better (Take 11)

The Beatles - In My Life (Alternate solo)