Getting Shivaree in Here
For this post, I hand the reins over to my buddy Richard, who has introduced me to some cool music, including this band fronted by a talented woman. Take it away Richard!
Just a word of warning, this writing is somewhat sexist, but I cant help it. This is the lead-off track from the latest Shivaree release, ‘Whos Got Trouble?.’ Shivaree is basically singer/songwriter Ambrosia Parsley and whoever is in her band at the time. I was first turned on to her from a note on KCRW’s web site. I sampled some of her tunes and was immediately blown away.
That voice just immediately warped itself around my being in a way that can only be described as, well, sensual. She sounds like some lost-soul beat writer/poet from the fifties has been channeled through her to create this sensual, late-night, chain-smoking, druggy aura that is truly intoxicating. If I had to make a comparison, I would say she reminds me of the early Ricki Lee Jones, but with a lot more promise and more depth. Her voice just tumbles out so easily and catches your ear like some sweet vixen youd like to know but cant because she is too ethereal to really exist.
She mixes influences from jazz, blues, soul, and some tin-pan alley kitsch and Tom Waits off-centeredness all thrown into a stew that sounds totally new yet totally familiar, all at the same time. And listen to the lyrics closely; she tells tales of love lost and forlorn, but not in a sad, woe-is-me kind of way, but more of an experienced girl/woman who knows “what’s really goin’ on”, at least in her head.
But, really, she could sing the phone book and I’d probably get goose bumps listening to it, or maybe the shivers, or hey, the Shivarees. Ill be her handsome buckaroo anytime she wanted to curl-up next to a campfire somewhere in the open West that her sound seems to evoke in my brain. “Get lost in her dream.” Its well worth the trip. There are currently 3 CDs available, 1 in Europe only (where she is very popular), and one EP. Plus, check out the live taping at the KCRW studio if you want to see her live. Get the “Shivers.”
Shivaree: New Casablanca
Quiet Time with Townes
So it was my turn to put my little one to sleep tonight. Usually an ambient/space music internet station does the trick. Tonight, it was random shuffle on Winamp. So with my daughter laying across my lap in the dark, the sweet sounds of “Lover’s Lullaby” showed up and did its trick.
Townes Van Zandt released this tune on 1995’s ‘No Deeper Blue‘ (Buy it here on Amazon], two years before his untimely passing on New Year’s Day, 1997. I was introduced to Townes through his association with Steve Earle. Steve once said that Townes was the “best songwriter in the whole world, and I’ll stand on Bob Dylan’s coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that.”
“Lover’s Lullaby” is bittersweet, beautiful, and raw; you can just hear all the years of Townes’ hard living in it.
Townes is missed.
By the way, for the best tribute to Townes that I’ve ever heard, check out Earle’s “Fort Worth Blues” from 97’s ‘El Corazon’.
Townes Van Zandt: Lover’s Lullaby
When you’re chewing life’s gristle
No disrespect intended, but for some reason, since the passing of the Pope yesterday at the age of 84, this Monty Python classic from ‘The Life of Brian’ has been swirling in my head. I am not very religious by nature. I grew up going to an Episcopal church, which is sort of like Diet Catholic. But, whatever your opinions of the Catholic church, the Pope was a always a champion of Peace in this world, something sorely missing.
So in the spirit of good nature, don’t forget to “Always Looks on the Bright Side of Life” (as interpreted by Mr. Bruce Cockburn).
Bruce Cockburn: Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
From The Life of Brian and Bruce’s Live.I’ve Stood on the Street Corner – Bruce Cockburn
It’s a dreary, rainy holiday weekend here in the Arizona desert, so I’ll kick it off with something on the mellow side. For some reason or another, Bruce Cockburn – who is well known up north in his home country of Canada – has always remained somewhat of a cult figure here in the U.S. (which is fine by me). The man has been going strong for over three decades, for crying out loud.
These selections come from a Columbia Radio Hour broadcast of Christmas with Cockburn that I taped off the radio back in 1994 (eleven years ago – gasp). “One Day I Walk” has always been one of my BC favorites because of its beauty and hope. The mp3 ends with the introduction of the next song, the “Huron Carol”, so I feel obligated to include that as well. The “Huron Carol” was written by a Jesuit missionary to the Huron Indians in the 1600’s, and is sung in the Huron language. Bruce elaborates on it in the intro… Enjoy!
From the 1994 Columbia Radio Hour broadcast of ‘Christmas with Cockburn’.
“One Day I Walk”
“Huron Carol”
See Bruce’s Official Web Site.
Buy Bruce’s Music on Amazon.Photo credit: Bryan Ledgard, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Patty Griffin’s version of “Stolen Car”
Okay, so the ladies have not been represented as yet on this here mp3 music blog called IckMusic. Truth be told, my music collection leans far heavier towards male artists. Don’t know why, I fancy the ladies and all. Hmm, I’ll ponder that for a while. One of the ladies I thoroughly enjoy listening to though is Patty Griffin. And one of my favorite albums of all time is Bruce Springsteen’s ‘The River‘ (3rd and 4th LP sides particularly).
So, if you marry up Patty Griffin’s flawless voice with Bruce’s “Stolen Car”, this is what you get…
From ‘1,000 Kisses’, 2002, Ato Records – {Amazon}
