In Appreciation of: Honey in the Sun
Please add me to the Tracyanne Campbell appreciation society. The Scottish lead singer/guitarist for Glaswegian Indie Pop band Camera Obscura caught my attention recently when “Honey in the Sun” rang out sweetly from my Mac speakers (hard to romanticize, ha).
Her voice is indeed sweet like honey, and the sun-kissed, wistful beauty of the song itself just hits me right where it counts. “Honey in the Sun” is the last song on their fourth album, My Maudlin Career, released in 2009. The comparisons to Belle & Sebastian are obvious, and after reading up, I came to discover that B&S singer Stuart Murdoch produced their debut album Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi.
In fact, “Honey in the Sun” gives off the same vibes as my favorite Belle & Sebastian tune, “Another Sunny Day.”
Long story short, I’ll be exploring Camera Obscura’s discography, and taking in the beauty of Tracyanne’s voice.
Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country
There is some sort of magic, some mystical talent, that some songwriters possess – the ability to compose a piece of music that captures the listener just seconds into a song. If you appreciate the rock & roll, the twang of Americana & country roots, the scoot and groove of a tasty guitar lick, then Daniel Donato’s “Justice” is for you. I mean, 20 seconds in, there I was, nodding my head and smiling. That doesn’t happen every day.
Daniel Donato is a Nashville musician, in his mid-twenties, and a whiz on the Fender Telecaster. He’s professed his appreciation for the country virtuosos of our lifetime – Waylon & Merle and such. And, after discovering their music over the last decade, he’s a card carrying Deadhead. The Grateful Dead in and of itself were a melting pot of influences – folk to psychedelic rock to country to blues – and Daniel Donato soaks it all up into his own “Cosmic Country” style.
“Justice” is the opening track on his full length debut, A Young Man’s Country, an album that also features covers of Waylon’s “Ain’t Living Long Like This,” John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery,” and a 9 minute version of the Dead’s “Fire on the Mountain.”
You can stream it in its entirety on Bandcamp, and pre-order the limited edition vinyl there too. I’m looking forward to what Daniel’s got in store for us down the road. For now, we’ve got “Justice” – and it cooks!
- Pre-order A Young Man’s Country on Daniel’s web site.
- Daniel also hosts a regular podcast called Daniel Donato’s Lost Highway. Guests include the E Street Band’s Garry Tallent, Molly Tuttle, and many other musicians in the Nashville scene.
- Photo credit to Jason Stoltzfus (from Daniel Donato’s Instagram).
Liquid Liquid and Melle Mel – “Cavern” and “White Lines”
I’ve loved Grandmaster Flash/Melle Mel’s “White Lines (Don’t Do It)” since it was released in the fall of 1983. I was an 8th grader in Racine, Wisconsin. It only took me 37 more years to find out that the funky bass line and some of the recurring vocal styles come from another early 80’s track called “Cavern”by NYC band Liquid Liquid. Who knew? Probably a lot of you. Me? I live in a bubble, and yeah, quality #musicnerd information like this often takes a while to reach me.
I discovered this listening to Questlove’s great new interview with Rick Rubin. It’s on his latest podcast episode of Questlove Supreme – two and a half hours of Rubin brain picking. It’s staggering the amount of great artists he’s produced since starting off in his NYU dorm room 35+ years ago. Beastie Boys to Slayer to Tom Petty to Johnny Cash to Red Hot Chili Peppers and on and on…
Check this stuff out..
Prince’s Funkiest
In my most humble opinion, at this moment in time.
