Neil Young//Four Strong Winds

This used to be a music blog.

But it hasn't been for quite some time. Why?

1. The music business has changed.
2. The Internet has changed.
3. My life has changed.

And, so, it is with a heavy heart that I officially put One Sweet Song to bed.

But wait, you don't think I'd leave you empty-handed, do you? Because I wouldn't.

You can still listen to all your OSS favorites:

I've collected 480 tracks featured on this blog over the last four years, in order, on a Spotify archive playlist I made just for you.

This playlist is one day long. Let the jams begin! Find a song you like? Hit search on the blog to read the story of the song.

I've also made a list of all the songs that aren't on Spotify (it's kind of a relief that not everything's on Spotify, isn't it?).

Please take the time to dig these songs up and pay for them, because they are awesome.

Also, while I may be done here, I'm not done. I keep my personal site pretty updated with my latest work. I also recently contributed a piece about living through storms in NY to The Rumpus and some thoughts on Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" to the excellent long form music blog, One Week One Band. I'll have more music writing up there very soon.

Finally, I want to leave you with one last song.

"Four Strong Winds" was originally written in 1961 by a Canadian songwriter named Ian Tyson of the group The Brothers Four, but I'll always consider Neil Young's version to be the definitive one.
 
This song holds a special place in my heart. It was what we used to sing at closing campfire at my childhood summer camp. At the end of the final session of every summer, all the campers and counselors would gather around a giant bonfire and sing together off crumpled or many-times-folded photo-copied lyric sheets. Everyone, from the oldest camp director to the youngest camper, would be weeping, cuddled up to their closest friends as the impending fall chill crept silent through Catskills air.

When I hear the first chords of this song, the memories I have of singing it summer and after summer all through my youth still instantly bring tears to my eyes. I have been programmed in a Pavlovian manner to respond to this melody with big, sloppy, nostalgic tears. I think I can safely say that this is the song I want played at my funeral. But not played. I want everyone to sing it. Take note, God forbid.

It seems a bit silly to say it, but this blog has been with me through thick and thin, through the fat and the lean of the past four years of my life. While I may have never met many of you who read it, I felt a genuine connection to you through our shared love of songwriting, music and the people who make it. While I know that it's time for the sun to set on One Sweet Song, I'll miss sharing songs with you.

Now, I want you to imagine that we are all huddled around a campfire together. Crickets are chipping softly in the background. Lightening bugs are twinkling in the trees. Someone is quietly strumming a single acoustic guitar. We put our arms around each others' shoulders and start singing:

Four Strong Winds.mp3

If the good times are all gone,
Then I'm bound for movin' on.
I'll look for you if I'm ever back this way.

Red Tail Ring//Talk About Suffering/Going To Cairo/The Road Is My Skyway

Friday Shout/Chant: Local Music Friday
What's up with Local Music Fridays?

Dear old friend and general mountain-of-a-man Michael Beauchamp's new(est) band Red Tail Ring (you may remember their introduction here) recently released a two-disc set of songs, Middlewest Chant (mostly originals) and Mountain Shout (hardcore trad). You probably just realized that I was looking for an excuse to actually pair the word "hardcore" with "trad." Ok, you're right.

I'm really enjoying both discs for different reasons.

The highlights of Mountain Shout are the incredible arrangements, dark takes on the classics and insanely amazing feats of performance by both Michael and his partner in crime, Laurel Premo. Speaking of excellent driving music (see: yesterday), "Talk About Suffering/Going to Cairo" is the absolute perfect jam for that moment when you break out of traffic and start speeding at a rate that your mother would probably...ahem...not care to hear about on this blog. There's an outlaw feeling to the songs on Mountain Shout and, despite the concrete futuristic dystopia-ness of the the southbound 405, I can almost imagine that I am a gold prospector, out to seek my fortune...or at very least, part of a maniacal Bonnie and Clyde-type duo, on my way to rob a bank.

Middlewest Chant has some beautiful original tunes. The ones I find most resonance with are the solem, slow ones. "Skyway" is a classic Beauchamp tune, one that reminds me of more innocent times with my old friend and songwriting partner. It's sad and poetic and resigned and it makes your heart ache in a way that only he can.

Go pick both these up here.

Talk About Suffering/Going To Cairo.mp3

The Road Is My Skyway.mp3

Well, I am what I am.
Are you surprised?

Pascal Pinon//New Beginning

CoCoRosie Jr. : Monday Mail
What is Monday Mail?

This sweet, simple song kinda stole my heart. It seems particularly appropriate for me as I stumble around trying to find my footing in this new, weird world that is Southern California.

Brooke from Big Hassle says:

Age is just a number? Well, not in this case: listening to Pascal Pinon, the band's eponymous debut album, the fact that you're dealing with a bunch of 16-year-old teenage girls is way too evident. Yet, the songs presented by Icelandic twin sisters Jófrídur and Ásthildur and their band mates Halla and Kristín are certainly not limited to the natural parameters of adolescence.

Instead, Pascal Pinon manage to turn such limitations (not enough money for better mics; lack of experience) into their very advantage, keeping their tracks short and crisp, and avoiding both the cheap slickness of campfire romanticism and the supposedly fresh edge of the next teenage hype. Pascal Pinon are all about creating a connection, the smallest possible distance between their own feelings (they're teenagers after all) and the listeners. On their MySpace, it says"Sounds like: a whisper in your ear" for a reason.

Their s/t debut both in English and Icelandic, was independently released in Iceland and earned them a nomination for "Newcomer of the Year" at last year's Icelandic Music Awards. It is set to be released by Morr Music on December 3rd (naturally it was their parents who signed the contract) and the girls are already busy learning new instruments and working on their sophomore LP.

Call it Nude Folk, New Romanticism or The New Shy - what matters is that Pascal Pinon, though no longer the "gang of 14-year-olds" they were when they recorded this album, are just getting started.

Maybe it's because Pascal Pinon reminds me of the kind of stuff I liked to do when I was 16. Maybe it's because being catapulted into a new life with very little grounding makes me feel like a confused youth. Maybe it's just because it's a touching sentiment. Whatever the case may be, from Iceland to another sunny day in LA to you, consider a fresh start:



New Beginning.mp3

Things I may not understand
Are slightly getting out of hand.
I don't know anything at all.
It seems that I'm about to make
An overwhelming huge mistake,
With everyone disagreeing.

Red Tail Ring//Woods That I Know

Northern Music for a SoCal Friday: Local Music Friday
What's up with Local Music Fridays?

It's been a while since I was able to deliver a proper Local Music Friday and I don't want to keep you waiting any longer.

It seems a little wrong to be posting this from where I'm sitting in this Orange County 90 degree heat, since this music is so, well, northern. It's right for tbe cold-weather, perfect for cozying up in a cabin in the woods.

Dear friend Michael Beauchamp and his lady Laurel Premo have conceived of a project that provides some updates on the content of old timey folk songs, while keeping the feeling of the music perfectly intact. Indeed, the project is so dead on in execution that if not for the high recording quality, you might wonder if Michael and Laurel were singing to us directly from some remote appalachian hill in the 1930s. Keep on the sunny side. Or, maybe not. A lot of these songs are deliciously dark or at very least recontextualized in a thought-provoking way.

The song included here is actually a Premo-original, the only one on their first (and recently released) EP, August Roads. Picking a song was hard, as many of the tracks have a lot going for them. This one was selected because it's one of those songs that I cannot get out of my head once it's there. It's just there forever and ever and there's a reason for that. It's a well constructed song with a infectious banjo hook that's mirrored by the vocal melody. Laurel's banjo work constantly stands out as a highlight in the band. It's totally amazing to listen to (and watch live). I'm going to stop typing about it now. I will give you fair warning though. If you listen to it, you're going to want to listen to it again. And then you're going to be listening to it in your head for the rest of the day.

Red Tail Ring tours ferociously all over their home state of Michigan, so if you're lucky enough to live there, check 'em out. They occasionally make it out of the midwest too. You can get updates on their dates here.



Woods That I Know.mp3

I'll take my hand,
Lead myself to places only I know.

The Umbrella Men//I Don't Emote

Music for a Rainy Friday Local Music Friday
What's up with Local Music Fridays?

Happy Friday to everyone. I am a little late on this one because I meant to put it up last week, but, as per usual, life got ahead of me and so here I am, having finally caught up.

This band, The Umbrella Men, played my house last Saturday. It truly was one of the most fantastic 50/50s ever--the house was packed and these guys played the shit out of their instruments, which included a guitar, fiddle and glockenspiel setup. It always makes me happy to put songs up that are made by super sweet people and the Tuss brothers are as sweet as they come. Suffice to say, the band brought a community bottle of whiskey for the crowd and had a friend doling out shots in Disney-branded dixie cups. Hot times.

Danny and David found their way to Brooklyn (they even live in my hood, which makes this Friday truly local) via Columbus, Ohio, a city I have much love for after the most recent Palmyra tour. Their music is a lovely mix of old timey and indie rock. Perfect for today, your weekend and beyond.



I Don't Emote.mp3

I haven't had any fun since the day we met.

Harry Nilsson, Ron Sexsmith//Good Old Desk

Today is my last day at the company I’ve been working for for almost four years. Crazy. I didn’t really expect it to feel traumatic, but it does a little. I suppose I’m terribly nostalgic under this thin veneer of snark when it comes down to it.

What ended up being the weirdest part was packing up my desk, so I thought I could discuss this song, a perfect ode to the virtues of the desk, and by extension, the dependable pleasure that can come with a job well done.

The original version of this song was written and recorded by Harry Nilsson (do you guys remember the unofficial Nilsson Week?) on his 1968 Aerial Ballet album. Speaking of work, the album was named after the highwire circus act of his grandparents. Speaking of the album, it features many Nilsson gems (and one tremendously popular cover—“Everybody’s Talking”), including the fantastic “One.”

An amusing tidbit from Wikipedia:
Guest-starring on Playboy After Dark, Nilsson told host Hugh Hefner the song was really about its initials... "G-O-D". Even though Nilsson later admitted that he was just joking around, it is still commonly believed that the song actually is about God.

It’s obviously not about God. It obviously is about a desk. The most wonderful desk, in its way.

I also came across this cover and very much enjoyed it, so thought I would post it here too. My stepbrother first turned me on to Canadian singer/songwriter Ron Sexsmith when I was in high school. I accidently saw him play a solo show in a church in Montclair, NJ, which was very moving. I think he does a great job with this tune…both versions are really solid in different ways.



Good Old Desk.mp3 (Harry Nilsson Version)



Good Old Desk.mp3 (Ron Sexsmith Version)

Such a comfort to know
It’s got no place to go.
It’s always there.
It’s the one thing I’ve got.
A huge success,
My good old desk.

The Two Man Gentlemen Band//Chocolate Milk

Liquid Cavities: Monday Mail
What is Monday Mail?

Something about the end of summer really brings out my extreme sugar cravings. Thus, I am happy to announce Sweets Week here at OSS. I’ll be focusing on songs about or by bands that take their names from delicious things. First up: everyone’s favorite tasty beverage, chocolate milk.

Serious Business Records says:

The Two Man Gentlemen Band's hot, raucous, old-time Vaudevillian sound has made them an underground sensation. They traverse the country incessantly, playing hundreds of shows per year including recent dates with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson.
Their style - musically & visually - incorporates elements of hot jazz, rhythm & blues, tin-pan alley, and western swing and their original songs consistently "prove that making old-fashioned music needn't be polite or predictable" (Time Out New York). They deftly balance lighthearted and often hysterical romps about reefer, wine, boy/girl parties, and chocolate milk with tender ballads of loneliness and fidelity.

This song espouses the simple beauty and ample benefits of chocolate milk. Cocoa beans and heavy cream are a basic but heavenly combo. It’s delicious. It’s nutritious (sorta). It’s fun. You can blow bubbles in it. You can do blow and stay up all night drinking it. All bases are covered in this old-timey ode to the syrupy stuff.

I mean, really, think about it. Milk. It’s so boring. Maybe it’s just because I’m an east coaster, but there’s no way I could ever just drink milk on its own. That said, add a little chocolate and I’m there. Rufus Wainwright is obviously also there. Two Man Gentlemen Band is also there. We’re having a chocolate-milk-appreciation party—me, Rufus, and the gentlemen. OK, who's bringing the straws?



Chocolate Milk.mp3

And who’ll fetch my amphetamines?
I will, I will, I will!
I might want to stay up all night, drinking chocolate milk.


Sweet Intention: My favorite candy store, hands down, is Economy Candy in the Lower East Side. Goetz Caramels? Check. Candy Cigarettes? Check. Nerds? Check. Giant Collectible Pez Dispensers? Uh, check.

Neil Young//After the Goldrush

I had a magical weekend hanging out on a farm owned by some amazing and enterprising friends. In addition to emptying out a barn and burning its contents in a two-day long bonfire, gardening, checking out pigs, chickens, bees, geese and ducks (one of whom lost his life a little too early but in doing so provided us a delicious dinner) and looking happily out at the ever-beautiful Lake Michigan, we also listened to a lot of Neil Young, namely Harvest. It seemed like each time Erik got up to turn the stereo on, Neil’s voice followed.

I find Neil Young to be an acquired taste. As a kid, I did not enjoy him. I couldn’t figure out why he kept singing “like that.” Now, I can’t even begin to understand my younger thought process. Neil rules. And despite the anti-feminist implications of “A Man Needs a Maid,” he’s especially good for places like farms out in the country or old pickup trucks. You can always skip that one.

This is my favorite Neil Young song. I really enjoy that it’s some kind of hallucinogenic dream vision involving aliens and the environment, but beyond that, is rather hard to pin down. In fact, even Neil couldn't pin it down. Here’s a funny story about this song from Dolly Parton:

Dolly Parton once commented about the making of her version of the song; "when we were doing the Trio album, I asked Linda and Emmy what it meant, and they didn't know. So we called Neil Young, and he didn't know. We asked him, flat out, what it meant, and he said, 'Hell, I don't know. I just wrote it. It just depends on what I was taking at the time.'"



After the Goldrush.mp3

I was lyin' in a burned-out basement,
With a full moon in my eyes.
I was hopin' for a replacement,
When the sun burst through the skies.
There was a band playin' in my head
And I felt like getting high,
Thinkin' about what a friend had said,
I was hopin' it was a lie.
Thinkin' about what a friend had said,
and hopin' it was a lie.

Tinariwen//Imidiwan Afrik Temdam

Hey guys. No locals today. I just couldn't make it work. Of course, you can always send me some suggestions, if you have some. All I have to do is be able to vaguely relate it to someone I know personally and it counts, in my book.

I hope instead you will accept this awesome and decidedly NOT LOCAL track from this band of nomadic Tuareg band called Tinariwen. They make music that is mystical, beautiful and should add some spice to your weekend.

The band has an incredible story. Here's some of it:

Tinariwen was founded by Ibrahim Ag Alhabib, who at age 4 witnessed the execution of his father (a Tuareg rebel) during a 1963 uprising in Mali. As a child he saw a western film in which a cowboy played a guitar. Ag Alhabib built his own guitar out of a tin can, a stick and bicycle brake wire. He started to play old Tuareg and modern Arabic pop tunes.

...The Tinariwen sound is primarily guitar-driven in the style known as assouf among the Tuareg people. The style is possibly a distant relative of blues music via West African music, though the members Tinariwen claim to have never heard actual American blues music until they began to travel internationally in 2001.

The group is a collective, namely because of the culture's nomadic nature.



Imidiwan Afrik Temdam.mp3

This song is from the groups most recent album, Imidiwan: Companions. You can get it here.

Billy Bragg & Wilco//California Stars

I can’t exactly say why this feels like a good song for today, but it does. It’s kind of grey outside. Did I tell you I might be moving to California in about a year? Where I might be going, every day is a beautiful one. I can’t imagine what this might do for my mood. Good things, I suspect. Still, I have to wonder if I might miss the seasons, the overcast mornings, the weather giving me permission, as a coworker aptly noted yesterday, “to feel sad.”

This came out in 1998, when I was just a freshman in high school. It’s a collaboration between British musician Billy Bragg and Chicago-based once alt-country, now more experimental Wilco to imagine melodies and chords for old Woody Guthrie songs that only had lyrics. They did a great job. The result is a gorgeous album containing many beautiful songs, including personal faves “Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key” and “Ingrid Bergman.” The project was organized by Guthrie’s daughter Nora and was named after the street in Coney Island where Guthrie once lived.

Also, when I was about 16, I had this inside joke with a friend that consisted of us shouting, “BILLY BRAGG!!!” in a really gruff bad English accented faux-Billy Bragg voice. I’m not exactly sure where that came from, but I think it had something to do with this album. And maybe The Sex Pistols? I know—they seem so unrelated.



California Stars.mp3

I’d like to rest my heavy head tonight
On a bed of California stars.
I’d like to lay my weary bones tonight
On a bed of California Stars.
I love to feel your hand touching mine.
Oh, tell me why I must keep working on?
Yes, I’d give my life to lay my head tonight
On a bed of California stars.

Michael Ross//Out There On The Ice

Local Music Friday Warmday
What's up with Local Music Fridays?

Michael Ross's forthcoming album, Sidewalks was produced by another LMFer, Erik Hall. Michael recently moved to NYC from Chicago and happens to be playing his first show here tomorrow at The 50/50.

Judging by this track, Ross's album will be populated by some interesting sounds and songs. More info on the show, which will be the first outdoor one of the season, weather provided, here.

Speaking of ice, I'm so glad that's over. I'm going outside!!!



Out There On The Ice.mp3

She's out there on the ice again.

Breathe Owl Breathe//Kids + Cats

Local Music Local Friday
Tell me...what is this Local Music Fridays?

On Saturday November 19, 2005, Michael and I were releasing The Dumb and Ugly Club's second album, Mars 1967, at Arbor Vitae in Ann Arbor. There was a band called Breathe Owl Breathe and Michael was friends with them, so they opened up for us. They were great.

At they time they were comprised of Micah Middaugh and Andrea Moreno (they have since added Trevor Hobbes). Since then, the band has skyrocketed, getting lots of well-deserved love from places like eMusic and Pitchfork.

Just because they may now be selling doesn't mean they've sold out. In fact, it's the exact opposite. Listening to Breathe Owl Breathe, I feel transported to back to so many memorable magical Michigan music moments (sorry for the Ms)--acoustic guitars and banjos and xylophones on the porch of a house by a lake. Ahhhhh.



Kids + Cats.mp3

We met up in a net
Outside the city limits.
For hours, we talked and slept.

The Innocence Mission//Brave

On my way to work this morning, an Innocence Mission song from a friend’s mix popped onto my iPod. I was suddenly sent reeling down the rabbit hole of nostalgia.

People talk about smell being the most visceral sense memory and I believe that they’ve scientifically proven it to be so. That said, certain old songs can really tug me to very specific places and times in my life. The Innocence Mission’s album Glow brings me straight back to 1999. I remember listening to it in my room while lying on my bed staring at the ceiling. I remember listening to it in my friend Liz’s car as we drove to school on cold mornings or home from volleyball games with the sunroof open. It brings me back to a time when I didn’t really have much to worry about and for that reason, I am finding revisiting this album kind of addictive. I’ve been listening to it all morning.

A friend informed me that IM is a Christian band. I was slightly shocked, largely because I could never understand the lyrics—when I looked them up for this song, it became very apparent. I went to investigate further. Exhibit A: In 2000, they released an album containing their favorite hymns called Christ Is My Hope. Exhibit B: Perhaps even more “damning,” the band met during their Catholic school's production of Godspell. Yeek. That said, I don’t really have anything against subtly Christan bands (see: Pedro the Lion) and definitely don’t have anything against Christians (actual Christians, not right wing wingnuts who think we’re all (seriously ALL of us) going to hell).

A few quick interesting tidbits about IM—if you think they sound a little like Joni Mitchell, it might be because their first few records were produced by Larry Klien AKA Joni's ex-husband who also produced many of her records. Also, if you were culturally aware in the 90s, they may sound familiar to you because of their extremely successful commercial placement. Their songs were on the soundtracks of two 90s classics—the film Empire Records and the TV show Party of Five.



Brave.mp3

You cannot still your limbs.
Somehow, knowing what you do know
still you tremble out and in.

Bruce Springsteen//Johnny 99

When I was writing about Kurt Vile yesterday, I went to link to my Bruce Springsteen post...and then realized I didn't have a Bruce Springsteen post. WHAT?! How could this be true!? I'm from Jersey; I love Bruce Springsteen. It's, like, in my DNA.

Actually, maybe that's not exactly true because one of my best high school-era friends, Paige, didn't like The Boss. She didn't like him so much that she threatened to make a tee-shirt with the words "Not My Boss" set underneath a screen-printed picture of The Boss. How rude. Still, that's a funny idea for a tee-shirt. She never made it, but if she had, I would have worn it. Maybe I would have X'ed out the word "Not" with a sharpie, because that was how I rolled at the time--altering tee-shirts with scissors, sharpies and patches. Punk! And because that dude IS my Boss. Duh.

Nebraska is one of my favorite albums OF ALL TIME. It's moody and gritty and lofi and lonely. It was recorded on a four-track, meant initially to be demos for the next album with The E Street Band, but Springsteen was hellaciously depressed when he wrote it, so it just sounded weird and wrong with the band. It was decided that the album would be realized as it was...and each song is its own brilliant and dark portrait of America.

This song is especially relevant right now. It's about recession, poverty and what it does to people in America. Johnny lost his job at the auto plant (in Mahwah!) and ends up robbing a store and shooting a dude in process. Not to say that Johnny was in the right, but society also plays a role.

Well, new numbers are pointing to the fact that the recession might be over. I hope that's true, but it's not to say that plenty of Americans aren't already in some pretty desperate situations. I know there's been a lot of shitty violence in my hood lately. Fingers crossed that everyone can hold out until the positive change actually starts to get down to the ground level. This song is all about the stress of this situation--feeling powerless and trapped, on the wrong side of that great big beautiful American dream.



Johnny 99.mp3

Now judge, I had debts no honest man could pay.
The bank was holdin' my mortgage and they were gonna take my house away.
Now I ain't sayin' that makes me an innocent man,
But it was more than all this that put that gun in my hand.

Edie Brickell & New Bohemians//What I Am

Thinking about Paul Simon made me think about Edie Brickell (whom he married in 1992 and has three kids with). I got so so into this album (Shooting Rubber Bands at the Stars) sometime in high school. I think I can actually remember rocking out to it on my discman. The whole thing is oozing with late-80s/early-90s cheese and sincerity, but of course you couldn’t help but fall in a dated kind of love that’s still nice to return to periodically (like all your favorite episodes of My So-Called Life, especially that one featuring Juliana Hatfield as a homeless angel-OMG).

The New Bohos formed in the 1980s in Dallas, Texas (as a ska band?) and briefly included incredible session/multi-act drummer Matt Chamberlain.

This was the single. It got a lot of Top 40 play because it’s really a perfect one hit—a little off the beaten track from what was popular at the time; interesting vocals; annoyingly catchy. It’s the kind of song that gets stuck in your head all week and you’re not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing and for that, hey, I’m sorry.

Something cool about Edie Brickell: she’s actually in a band called The Heavy Circles with Paul Simon’s “travelling companion” in yesterday's song, his son Harper. Also, the New Bohemians had a reunion in 2006 and put out a third album. Has anyone heard it?



What I Am.mp3

Philosophy is the talk on a cereal box.
Religion is the smile on a dog.
I'm not aware of too many things.
I know what I know, if you know what I mean.

The Band//King Harvest (Has Surely Come)

You’re in a class of your own: the working class.

My dad always used to say that to me, once I got my first job. Actually, come to think of it, he still says it to me. My dad also used to sing along in a spirited manner with this song, pumping it loud through the living room.

Now that I’m really looking back, seems like The Band has been a family favorite for quite some time. I was down at my Uncle Mark’s house last year and we all sat around on the couch and watched The Last Waltz. My family’s alright.

This one’s about the union and it totally rocks harder than a cheap beer and a shot in a good-ol’-boy bar. That guitar tone on the long winding solo is kicking serious ass, just like the dry summer kicked the ass of the crops of the poor farmer who narrates this song. An expertly crafted narrative on work, fortune and class in America (even though The Band was from Canada?), noted rock critic Greil Marcus called it "The Band's song of blasted country hopes" and suggested that "King Harvest" might be Robertson's finest song, and the best example of the group's approach to songwriting and performing, says Wikipedia.

A little trivia: The Band started out as Bob Dylan’s backup band during his tumultuous switch to electric tour from ’65 to ’66.



King Harvest (Has Surely Come).mp3

I work for the union,
‘Cause she’s so good to me;
And I’m bound to come out on top,
That’s where she said I should be.
I will hear every word the boss may say,
For he’s the one who hands me down my pay.
Looks like this time I’m gonna get to stay,
I’m a union man, now, all the way.


Labor Fact: The origins of unions' existence can be traced from the eighteenth century, where the rapid expansion of industrial society drew women, children, rural workers, and immigrants to the work force in larger numbers and in new roles. Unions have sometimes been seen as successors to the guilds of medieval Europe. Medieval guilds existed to protect and enhance their members' livelihoods through controlling the instructional capital of artisanship and the progression of members from apprentice to craftsman, journeyman, and eventually to master and grandmaster of their craft. A labor union might include workers from only one trade or craft, or might combine several or all the workers in one company or industry.

Erin McKeown//Blackbirds

If there are any of you listening at home with playlists, please pay attention here, because this song really works well with yesterday's song. "Hackensack" drifts along, all melancholy and defeated and then finally peters out--then this song stomps in like a boot to your face. A big, tough women's boot.

Yes, this is a really dykey choice, but of course, totally awesome. I was super way into this album about eight years ago. I used to listen to it over and over again (good sounds and good songs), and, when I finally figured this riff out, I was extremely excited. I think I ran up to 420 (two of my best friends lived in a dorm room which was number 420 (four and twenty?) and which was also, coincidentally, a smoking room) and played it for everybody.

Erin McKeown is about to release a new album on (shock) Righteous Babe and is also in an unsigned band called Emma with Allison Miller (hot).



Blackbirds.mp3

Four and twenty blackbirds, too baked themselves to care,
Fly away you dainty dish, two blackbirds flew upstairs.

Alex Greiner//Dans, Afrikaans

Dutch in New Amsterdam, Local Music Friday.
Tell me...what is this Local Music Fridays?

It's kind of interesting that Alex Greiner's track is called "Dans, Afrikaans," because I went to see District 9 last night with A. and it's given me a lot of cause to think about South Africa and those Dutch. First you're watching an intensely graphic and disturbing conceit about apartheid in the form of a major Hollywood blockbuster, and the next thing you know you're listening to an experimentally sprawling ballad named after the form of Dutch spoken in the setting of the movie. Life's so weird, huh?

I don't know Alex super well, but he came to a 50/50 show a while back and introduced himself. He's not hard to remember, because he has quite a mustache (see below). When he expressed interest in a show, I checked out his myspace and enjoyed his music, featuring innovative vocals and a lot of thoughtful instrumentation. I think you will too.



Dans, Afrikaans.mp3

Alex plays The 50/50 tomorrow night.

Coeur de Pirate//Commes Des Enfants

Monday Mail Comments
What is Monday Mail?

Back on OSS’s first birthday, a few readers commented in suggesting I check out Coeur de Pirate.

Frederik said:
Oh, and for more upcoming French-Canadian talent-maybe you know her already- check out pirate de coeur. Saw her this weekend and it was pretty awesome.

And Ellen agreed:
And I second pirate de coeur, she is great.

Well, I did…and she’s awesome. Thanks for the tip, guys.

Here’s a bit more from Quit Before it Melts:

Her explanation on why she records under a pseudonym (which loosely translates to, “Heart of Pirate”; merci Monsieur Benchina pur les instructiones de français) is a little more vague: “A pirate is someone who doesn’t care about anything, and I think that’s similar to musicians in general. They write about what they feel and don’t expect anything in return.”

This song is so so beautiful, with Béatrice Martin’s gorgeous vocals coming to a stunning and very moving build at the end. Martin, who hails from Montreal, sings delicately in French.

I think perhaps that the universe was lining up to introduce me to Coeur de Pirate’s music; Palmyra just joined up to contribute to a film soundtrack that she is also contributing to. Interested? Check out Sneakers and Soul here.



Commes Des Enfants.mp3

Want to hear more Coeur de Pirate and maybe catch a date?

Donovan//Museum

I love Donovan. He's so Scottish. He's so mod. Love him, love him. Picking just one Donovan song to put on OSS is a challenge that has come up for me a few times already in the last year, and so, instead I just tend to defer and write about some other artist.

As Pat reminded me last week, every single song on that Greatest Hits collection actually IS a greatest hit, rare for this type of collection. "Season of the Witch" was a teenage favorite, but oh my god, "Wear Your Love Like Heaven," "Hurdy Gurdy Man," "Epistle to Dippy," "Sunshine Superman," the list goes on...
I will always remember the period of time when some of my friends and I got fixated on the line, "Elevator to the brain hotel/Broken down but just as well" and the hallucinogen-fueled episode from which this line must have originated. Donovan, you crazy.

Luckily, today my Donovan quandary was solved for me (and you) by circumstance. A. and I had this longstanding plan to play hooky from life and have a picnic on Governor's Island, since she's about to be out of town for a while. Also, I really want to see the Creative Time installation. Well, turns out that not only is Gov's Island not open to the public during the week, but it was also pouring (AGAIN!). Backup plan: Natural History Museum! Queue this song being stuck in my head, literally, all day.

Here's what we really liked: The Carbon Cycle, The Dinosaur Room (a childhood favorite) and The Spitzer Hall of Human Origins, where A. got lots of information about her favorite ancient Homo Sapian relative, the Neanderthal. We didn't actually get to The Whale this time around, but I have fond memories from previous NHM jaunts.

In this song, Donovan is asked by some girl to meet her under The Whale. I hope he did that, because that girl had to be awesome with a request like that. Donovan also ties into the previous post, as he was totally ridiculed by Dylan in D.A. Pennebaker's infamous '67 handheld tour documentary, Don't Look Back. You feel so bad for poor little Donovan as Dylan weirdly challenges him to a song-off, and he definitely loses.



Museum.mp3

I drank sweet wine for breakfast, I slept about an hour or so,
Smiled a little in the silence deciding on where to go.
"Meet me under the whale in the Natural History Museum,"
I think that's what she said, a little bit sad about having to leave them.