Recitation, Leonard Cohen

I've been wondering when Leonard Cohen would turn up.  I'm struggling here to limit myself in expressing how much I love Leonard Cohen.  I want to just write and write about him, about all the ways his music makes me feel.  I'm going to concentrate on what this track does for me but I'm really aware that if you've not listened to - or dismissed - him before this track, it might not make a lot of sense.

Violet, Seal

Seal came to prominence at around the time when I got much less good at being able to remember the dates that artists peaked.  I had to check on Wikipedia to confirm that this album came out in the early nineties, which corresponded with the latter half of my time at university.

Moving Forward, Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly

I decided, when the first few tracks came up here, not to be embarrassed about what I'd heard today and liked, and why I like it.  So, in that spirit, I'll not flinch from writing that I was actually first attracted to this band by their name.  Although, turns out that I meant "his name" - as this is (mostly) a singer songwriter.  

Starlings, Elbow

I'd heard good things about Elbow.  I'd heard that they'd been nominated for a music prize and were worth listening to.  So, as you did in the old days, I bought the album.  We were out shopping and I said to my wife, as we drove home, "This is supposed to be good".  Starlings is the opening track on the CD, and for reasons that will become apparent if you listen - having never heard it before - I nearly steered off the road at the 57 second mark...

Sailing, Stina Nordenstam

Two observations. 

Number one.  This is the first time that I've written about a track which I can't make a link for you to listen to a version of on youtube or wherever.   I can find something here - but there's a login needed.  

Number two.  Despite the fact that I think that I dislike cover versions, I really don't - this is the second cover I've written about in my first hand full of posts.  

She Is Gone, Willie Nelson

We might disagree on Willie Nelson.  I have to be honest that I find his covers, in particular the album Across the Borderline is where I'm happiest; I'm less comfortable when he's full country.  

Street Spirit, Radiohead

The first Radiohead track to come up on random play is from the era before I got into them.  I noticed - and listened a lot to - OK Computer when it came out in 1997, and then only over the years went back into the two previous albums.  

Svefn-G-Englar, Sigur Ros

So, Sigur Ros are probably the most popular band you may never have heard of.  The reason for this is that their music is ubiquitous, especially on the TV whenever they need a long, meaningful sequence for an Odyssey  like journey, or on a nature program when they need a dramatic, sweeping theme for some extraordinary landscape.

Higher Ground, Stevie Wonder

In short, if you've not listened to the album that this comes from, Innervisions, you've a treat ahead of you.  I'm a much bigger fan of the earlier Stevie Wonder stuff, which came out years - or decades - before I could or would appreciate it.  The later stuff has its place, but it's a bit too schmaltzy for me; here you've got the full on "wacka wacka", and a foot-tapping beat that makes me want to Dad-Dance.

The Diary of Horace Wimp, ELO

Oh, Random Play, you're taking the mickey now...  But it has chosen this track as the third one ever for me to write about.  Right then, I'm going to have to write about this track, and risk significant embarrassment ... 

Tank Park Salute, Billy Bragg

There are people who like Billy Bragg, and then there are people who haven't listened to him properly yet...  Mind you, this goes for a lot of music.  I'm linking here to a live version of this track, because it seems a little more valid.  Tank Park Salute is one of a number of outstanding tracks in the album Don't Try This At Home.  I knew that it was a heartfelt song, but I've just been reading that it is about his own father, who died when Billy Bragg was 18.

I find myself wondering, when I hear lines like these, what would it feel like to have something like this written for me?  What would it feel like to write lines like:

Kiss me goodnight and say my prayers
Leave the light on at the top of the stairs
Tell me the names of the stars up in the sky
A tree taps on the window pane
That feeling smothers me again
Daddy is it true that we all have to die

I think it's going to rain today, Peter Gabriel

Where do you start with Peter Gabriel?

It's puzzling at first to find someone who has nurtured such diverse musical talents doing a covers album.

But then you realise it makes perfect sense, and this track shows what he can do.  Randy Newman is the best composer you've never heard of - an astonishingly prolific man.  And in Peter Gabriel's hands this sad song becomes deep and dark.  Don't listen to it more than twice a day.  And seek out the rest of the album, Scratch My Back, for other melancholy.