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..
Hours on End – Citizen Cope
I’ve slept on Citizen Cope’s music for the last bunch of years. His latest release is last year’s Heroin & Helicopters – the title coming from a conversation Cope had with Carlos Santana long ago in San Francisco. “Stay away from the two H’s” (heroin and helicopters), Carlos passed on to Cope as a bit of advice in the music industry. Those words stuck with him.
The standout track so far for me is “Hours on End” – the groove, the chord progressions, the interesting and at times heavy lyrics. Cope has a way of mixing in the grit and grime of the real world with love, longing and matters of the heart. Great tune and a solid album altogether.My Top Tune of 2018: There From Here (Phosphorescent)
I always find it hard to put together a “best of the year” music list because my listening habits jump all over the map, through different years and eras. When I look through my listening history this year on Last.fm, I see some great new stuff: Paul McCartney’s Egypt Station, Parker Millsap’s Other Arrangements, the great new Tom Petty collection An American Treasure…
But when it comes down to it, it’s Phosphorescent’s C’est la Vie that takes top billing, and in particular, the song “There From Here” – a song that I immediately loved. I won’t go into it too much, but in essence, I recorded myself messing around on guitar on my birthday this year (Aug 3rd). I sang a few made up lyrics, and really liked the melody and chord changes I had come up with (some sadness, some beauty, some bitter-sweetness). Fast forward a couple months later to the release of C’est La Vie and my first spin through the album. When I heard “There From Here,” it felt awfully familiar. Listening back to my noodling in August, there were a lot of similarities in the melody and feel of the songs. I felt like Matthew had written the song I had bouncing around in my head. It was sort of a surreal moment, honestly.
I said hello to Phosphorescent’s Matthew Houck before his Phoenix show back on November 12th, and got to tell him how much I loved the album, and especially the song. During the show, he dedicated the tune my way before playing it..
Anyhow, I’m so thankful for artists like Matthew – artists who have the talent to take the melodies bouncing around our heads and are are able to bring them properly into this world.
Take a listen…
Some People
Heard this a while back on Elton John’s Rocket Hour radio show on Apple Music. It quickly turned into a favorite of mine, and some friends too. Killer moment when the bass and drums kick in. Great, talented artist, this Parker Millsap.
old
Nestled into Dexys Midnight Runners hit 1981 album Too-Rye-Ay, which included their smash single “Come on Eileen,” was this gem – an ode to the elderly, an acknowledgment of their wisdom and experience. With its slowed down tempo and beautiful melody, it really made my ears perk up when I listened to the album a while back. What a great message, similar to John Prine’s “Hello in There” in its very human message: respect, appreciate and learn from your elders!
Old have memories to keep the cold away. What is that you say? No sense to dwell. Old, are you ridiculed and turned away, No attention paid? I thought as much. Yes and the dumb patriots have their say, Only see their way. Nothing to sell. And then from us, so obvious, Preposterous, when you think Of the time that each has spent. Words heaven sent and truly meant to show Old, may I sit down here and learn today? I’ll hear all you say. I won’t go away.
And by the way, it was my brother who introduced me to Dexys very excellent, soulful 1980 debut album Searching for the Young Soul Rebels. Go check it out.
Angel Olsen on ACL
I need to do a better job of posting the new tunes that hit my radar and give me all the feels.
A couple months ago I was watching a new episode of Austin City Limits, and I was introduced to Angel Olsen. “Sister” was my favorite tune of the set, and wouldn’t you know it, ACL has offered it up on their YouTube channel. Be mesmerized like me…
[Photo credit: Cameron McCool]
40 Years in the Wilderness
I discovered Bruce Cockburn’s music in the summer of 1994 – the year that his great album Dart to the Heart was released. I was in my mid-20’s, lacking any real focus or direction in life, and I immediately connected with his music as a calming and fulfilling presence in my life. When I’m full of angst and anxiety, feeling the weight and responsibility that comes with being a father and husband and provider – coupled with the awful news cycles of our present day – I can “go to the well” of Bruce’s music to ground me and put everything in perspective. “40 Years In The Wilderness” is one of Bruce’s new tunes, released on 2017’s Bone on Bone, and has that subtle spirituality you’ll often find in Bruce’s music. There’s an obvious connotation to Jesus, who spent 40 days and nights in the Judean desert, tempted by Satan. Bruce compares it to his recent move to San Francisco with his wife and young daughter, and his return to church after a forty year absence:
After I wrote my memoir [2014’s Rumours of Glory], I hadn’t written a song in four years. I started going to church again, after not having gone for decades. There was a sermon about Jesus being baptized, which is when he really figures out who he is. He’s shocked, and he runs out into the desert to figure it out. That struck me with considerable force. I felt like I’d been struggling with that issue for 40 years. I’d started to identify myself as a Christian in the 1970s, and here I was, 40 years later, back in church. And I’m living in San Francisco now, with my wife and child. I never would have imagined myself living on the West Coast. But it was an answer. I went with it. I went west in another one of those cosmic moments. This song is about accepting those invitations. [1]
It’s really a gorgeous song, with a chorus that will stick with you after a couple listens. You’ll hear Mary Gauthier singing background vocals here too. Lucky for me, I’ll be seeing Bruce in concert this Tuesday in Tempe (with a band, [!] which I haven’t experienced since February 2000).
Here’s a live acoustic version too:
