Reading: Take A Girl Like You, Kingsley Amis
Going For A Song: ‘Five Minutes’
Gretchen Peters – Five Minutes
To challenge my proposition last week that some of the best (contemporary) country songs are ones that threaten to tip into parody of the genre, I’ve chosen for this week’s song ‘Five Minutes’.
Going For A Song: ‘The Promise’
Sturgill Simpson – The Promise
Some of the best country ballads are those that teeter on tipping over into parody. This balancing act is what produces in ‘The Promise’ a feeling of it being both contemporary and timeless. Sturgill’s sound on this song is unapologetically country ballad. As a listener you laugh, experience an emotional pull, and sing along when Simpson delivers the song’s ending chorus fortissimo.
Going For A Song: ‘Sans Revival’
Early Day Miners – Sans Revival
I’m looking forward to the paperback publication of Erin Osman’s Jason Molina: Riding With The Ghost. Not just because the book is about Molina, but because I’ve always thought there’s a book to be had in writing about the bands that sprung up in the Midwest during the late 90s and early zeros; bands like Songs: Ohia and Early Day Miners, who both released records on the Secretly Canadian label; and looking at the blurb to Osman’s book, she might have written it.
Going For A Song: ‘Signed Curtain’
Matching Mole – Signed Curtain
What saved me from giving up on this song halfway through for it being far too bloody pleased with itself was the admission at the end by the singer, and the melody; which is made even more gorgeous and affecting for it being sung by Robert Wyatt.
Going For A Song: ‘Willy O’ Winesbury’
Sam Pulham – Willy O’ Winesbury
It’s a mystery why some music you just fall for; why, even though I’ve listened to numerous musicians with guitars playing old folk songs, when I heard Sam Pulham’s EP The Merry Green Wood last Friday, (maybe it makes a difference when and where you first hear the music? The context? Maybe it made a difference that it was a slightly overcast morning, that I was tired and little hungover?), something in the music resonated with me.
Going For A Song: ‘Droit Devant’
Sur Les Docks – Droit Devant
After our show at the Faversham Fringe (a good fun show – photos as proof follow this) I had an hour to kill before my train back to London. So I went in the first pub with loud music coming from it.
