#and can be compared to joni mitchell

[wildwitchlady]

You know I’d respect taylor swift fans a lot more if they just admitted that her lyrics aren’t that great? Like they act like she’s some poetic genius. If you like a pop singer because their songs are fun & catchy, then great! Have fun listening to that. Totally respectable. Like, I listen to harry styles songs on occasion? Do I think his lyrics are comparable to Leonard Cohen??? No. Absolutely not. It’s just fun. The songs are catchy & that’s it. I just think it’s so insane that people think she’s some masterful lyricist? I’ve read some of the lyrics to her songs to try to understand, but I just can’t? I don’t think it’s good? I just don’t get it. Like taylor swift all you want, that’s totally fine, just don’t claim she’s a genius when she so obviously isn’t? It just makes me feel crazy because I see this all the time??? And then to push back & say that the taylor swift “hate” is just misogyny? Like……. No? It’s not. Y’all are just weird.

[annofthearchives]

excerpt of my essay "Crosby, Stills & Nixon: The Symbiotic Relationship between Anti-Vietnam War Protest and American Popular Music in the early 1970s"

on joni mitchell’s song “Woodstock” + more

while Joni Mitchell herself was not explicitly at Woodstock, she watched the event from her hotel room in New York City. the song details the walk to Woodstock, comparing it to walking to the biblical Garden of Eden - a popular hippie symbol for reclaiming innocence and nature. innocence, in this case, pointed towards the loss of innocence that soldiers experience from going to war. loss of innocence in war was a very common theme in anti-Vietnam War thought - in the Vietnam War specifically, the thought that these men shouldn’t have to experience the brutalities of war for a conflict that wasn’t strictly necessary for the United States to fight. 

while Mitchell’s version of the song is a slow and ballad-like reflection on the Woodstock festival, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young’s 1970 cover of the song provides us with a much different mood. keeping the same lyrics and song structure, CSNY’s version contains a forward moving bass-line, interjecting ‘amped-up’ guitar solos, and a heroic mood.  the mood change makes the band come across as heroes in this conflict - putting on a historic event for political change, using peace and love. the song urges the listener to stand up, go to protests, and help enact this political change by embodying the same attitude. the bass-line itself keeps the song constantly moving forward and forward, like the song is constantly speeding up. this is symbolic of the conflict that was at hand - the anti-war movements that were rolling and rolling forwards at the same time that the war was quickly becoming more and more intense. the difference in moods of the two versions very accurately represents how the two artists experienced the event - Mitchell, from a safe and reflective perspective, and CSNY, from the event itself and enacting the change in real time. 

Crosby, Stills, and Nash weren’t entirely separate from retrospective, reflective anti-war thought however. in another standard of the era, band members David Crosby and Stephen Stills collaborated with Paul Kantner, a member of the popular band Jefferson Airplane, to produce the song “Wooden Ships.” this song analyzes the aspect of a ‘forever war’ - a war that is perceived to the public as unending, with no clear sign of what the future will look like. this was an issue that many anti-war protesters had with the Vietnam War, because there was no clear goal besides taking out communism. many believed the war would end rather violently; the threat of nuclear war with the Soviet Union still on the public’s mind. this song addresses and supports those concerns, detailing a futuristic world in which the narrator tries to make his way around a nuclear wasteland, eating only berries as sustenance. this plays to the ethos of the listeners - rather than discussing current events, it shows what the world will look like if the conflict continues. in the second verse of the song, the narrator says to another survivor he has found “​​I can see by your coat, my friend / You're from the other side / There's just one thing I got to know / Can you tell me please, who won?” the lyrics implies that while one (or both) sides dropped nuclear weapons, it’s still unclear in the end who the ‘winner’ was, and therefore didn’t change anything. if the narrator himself is unable to tell who won the war, what was it all for?

[drarryspecificrecs]

H/D Wireless 2022 : (fics only)

@hd-wireless || official masterpost || AO3 || ∑ = 58 works (art, fic, podfic) The Mods : @candybarrnerd, @gnarf & @maesterchill Banner © : @iero0 (official banner) + @honeyrinee's sweet lips on my lips

★ The playlist : Youtube | Spotify

Across My Memory by @cluelesspigeons [E, 4k] ♫ Once Upon A December (2017) by Christy Altomare

Anymore by @famoustruth [T, 2k] ♫ Anymore (2021) by Jeon Somi

Away by @sky-is-torn [T, 16k] ♫ Sleep on the Floor (2016) by The Lumineers

Become a man, but I need a man by @somberraven [E, 5k] ♫ Stay with me (2015) by Sam Smith

Bright Side by @floydig [T, 2k] ♫ BRIGHTSIDE (2022) by The Lumineers

Butterflies in Winter by Justlikewriting [M, 19k] ♫ Suspirium (2018) by Thom Yorke

A Case of You by @epitomereally [E, 97k] ♫ Blue (album) (1971) by Joni Mitchell

Closer by @pennygalleon [M, 5k] ♫ Something to Talk About (1991) by Bonnie Raitt

Delicate Dealings by @drwhoisginnyholmes [M, 11k] ♫ Delicate (2017) by Taylor Swift

Draco Malfoy Absolutely Does Not Need to Be Loved by Harry Bloody Potter by @nv-md [E, 18k] ♫ Midnight Sky (2020) by Miley Cyrus

An Emerald In The Sky by @corvuscrowned [M, 6k] ♫ Lost in Time and Space (2018) by Lord Huron

Everything We Have by @thesleepiesthufflepuff [E, 5k] ♫ Heart (2016) by Sleeping At Last

Eye of the Storm by @stargazing-enby [?, 26k] ♫ It’s Alright (2018) by Mother Mother

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not by @sleepstxtic [T, 5k] ♫ Careless Whisper (1984) by George Michael

The Heart and the Salt of the Soul by @cupofsquirrelfan [T, 23k] ♫ Like I Can (2014) by Sam Smith

I Wanna Be On You by @thebooktopus [E, 6k] ♫ Dance to This (2018) by Troye Sivan ft. Ariana Grande

I Won't Let You Fall Apart by @xanthippe74 [M, 49k] ♫ We're In This Together (1999) by Nine Inch Nails

I'll Be Loving You (Always) by phdmama [T, 10k] *restricted ♫ BWU (2016) by Tegan and Sara

if the world was ending by @talkingtravesties [M, 4k] ♫ If The World Was Ending (2020) by JP Saxe - Kurt Hugo Schneider cover

In Free Fall by @kbrick [E, 81k] ♫ Bonkers (2009) by Dizzee Rascal

The Island Assignment by @makeitp1nk [E, 10k] ♫ Yonaguni (2021) by Bad Bunny

Just Between Us by @phoebe-delia [T, 13k] ♫ All Too Well (10min vers. - Taylor’s vers. - 2021) by Taylor Swift

Kept in Cages by @sweet-s0rr0w [E, 76k] --- ART by @ihopeyoubothstaysafefromharm ♫ Dela (1989) by Johnny Clegg

Lights Down Low by @skeptiquewrites [T, 4k] ♫ Sign of the Times (2017) by Harry Styles

like freedom by @softlystarstruck [M, 4k] --- ART by @babooshkart ♫ Dead of Night (2019) by Orville Peck

Meet Me at Midnight by @the-starryknight [T, 56k] ♫ Sunlight (2019) by Hozier

Mens Rea by @lqtraintracks [E, 3k] ♫ Laid (1993) by James

Nothing compares by @maesterchill [T, 3k] ♫ Nothing Compares 2 U (1990) by Sinéad O'Connor

Open Fire by @slytherco [E, 38k] ♫ Lion (2017) by Saint Mesa

The Pact by @meandminniemcg [E, 12k] ♫ Deep Water (2019) by American Authors

Paper Rings by @lettersbyelise [E, 50k] ♫ Paper Rings (2019) by Taylor Swift

Plant your hope (rain down on me) by @bluesundaycake [M, 9k] ♫ Thistle and Weeds (2009) by Mumford & Sons

Put Some Time Aside (To Fall Apart) by @gryffindorhearts [T, 3k] ♫ Mansion Door (2018) by Shakey Graves

Say You Will by @janieohio [M, 3k] ♫ Grow Old With You (1998) by Adam Sandler

The Siren and the Sailor by @gracerene [E, 13k] ♫ The Siren and the Sailor (2010) by Kristin Allen-Zito

Staring Into Open Flame by @lumosatnight [E, 25k] --- ART by @kairennart ♫ Arsonist’s Lullabye (2014) by Hozier

Stuck Inside the Silence by @bunnimew [T, 2k] *restricted ♫ Papercut (2015) by Zedd ft. Troye Sivan

Take the Moon by @tackytigerfic [M, 15k] ♫ 4-Hour Store (2003) by The Handsome Family

taste you like a drug by @drarryruinedme7 [E, 3k] ♫ Daddy Issues (2015) by The Neighbourhood

Ties and Knots by @iero0 [G, 2k] ♫ Mr. Brightside (2004) by The Killers

To Make A Way by @cavendishbutterfly [E, 5k] ♫ chinese new year (2014) by SALES

To the dust again I fell by @steampunkserpent27 [M, 2k] ♫ Wishing Well (2012) by The Oh Hellos

Two Found Souls Swimming in a Fishbowl by @quackquackcey [E, 10k] ♫ Wish You Were Here (1975) by Pink Floyd

Wild Things by @coffeedrgn87 [E, 118k] ♫ Main Title (Wild Things OST - 1998) by George S. Clinton

You Don’t Owe the World a Thing by @orpheous87 [T, 17k] ♫ Celadon and Gold (2020) by Maggie Rogers

You Know the Feeling by @sorrybutblog [M, 12k] ♫ Official (2019) by Charli XCX

—

✔ other fests in 2022 ✔ fests in other years ✔ H/D Wireless : 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017

[dollarbin]

Dollar Bin #38:

Carly Simon's Hotcakes

I'll bet you've never sampled Carly Simon's Hotcakes.

You've certainly never listened to the record and you've passed it by in the Dollar Bin a few dozen times in your life because, dude, the record is by Carly Simon and it's called Hotcakes.

Even so, I know you, you hipster, and I'll bet you believe, deep in your soul, that you could ace a brief true/false quiz on the record anyway.

Well, here you go, True or False:

Hotcakes includes the only Simon song you or I can actually sorta sing along to, You're So Vain.

Simon was married to Manasas frontman / bongo lord / and friend of Stephen Stills, Joe Freakin' Lala, at the time of Hotcakes and he does significant and brilliant work on the record.

My famous brother, whose complex taste is secondary to none, swears by Hotcakes, calling it "Simon's space-jazz-country-metal condemnation of the American soul."

But in actuality, the album sucks; that's why it's forever in the Dollar Bin.

Final question, for the win: Simon had no qualms whatsoever about using her curvaceous body to sell records; for proof check out the cover of the record after Hotcakes, below. But Hotcakes's comparatively conservative cover has a salacious back story: the record company airbrushed more clothes on Simon's otherwise naked form so as to avoid a censor's brown paper protection wrapper.

Pencils down, people. And stop staring at the above image already. Well, how'd you do?

I'm rooting for you, I really am, but I'm also guessing that you got a straight up zero because none of that stuff above is true.

This blog will not engage in whispered theory about the object of Simon's ire in You're So Vain. (Sure, maybe she was tasking an oblivious Mick Jagger with singing about himself; or perhaps the song is about my distant cousin Kris Kristofferson, cuz didn't you and I see that written somewhere? Or maybe about it's about one of the two hetero-male-70's-swinging-single-Austen-Powers-types-only-they-were-American, both of whom were pursuing Simon's peer and better, Joni Mitchell at the moment Hotcakes came out 50 years ago: Warren Beaty or Jack Nicholson.) Any of those theories may be correct but we will not go there because, well, you're wrong. You're So Vain is on her previous record.

And no, Joe Freakin Lala, who plays on every bad 70's record, doesn't appear on Hotcakes, which is part of what makes Hotcakes kinda great, nor were they married, though Lala certainly was working on making it happen because did we mention her curvaceous body? Simon was married instead at that point to Sweet Baby Sensitive himself, otherwise known as James Taylor, and he's all over this record.

Their marriage didn't last, however. One wonders how Jamesie felt about Simon's general lack of clothing on her album covers during their marriage; one also hopes she dumped his ass because she's actually a really great songwriter who went to Julliard and who wants to be married to the guy VH1 was essentially created for? But I'm getting ahead of myself...

When it comes to the third question, no, my famous brother does not sing the praises of this record; indeed he claims to have never listened to all of a single Carly Simon record in all of his august life.

And he's a dope for not doing so because Hotcakes is totally (or maybe I should say kinda) good! In fact, maybe it's time for a Carly Simon Renaissance, one that does not stoop to objectifying her for her looks even though this entire blog post has already fallen for that trap. She deserves better!

But we're not done grading your test yet so let's talk about the whole airbrushing thing. No one touched up Hotcakes; Simon's dress on the cover is real. Indeed, she donned clothes for this cover at least in part because of her "situation" as Jane Austen would put it; she was pregnant at the time. It seems that James Taylor was once good for helping to give birth to something other than Blue and early Carole King records.

But the airbrushing thing did actually happen on another Simon record, Boys In The Trees. She posed topless then the label covered her up.

Relax, of course, I'm gonna let you see that cover.

The airbrusher did some clever work here, no? Damn the airbrusher!

But look at me, here I am objectifying her all over again. Simon overcame childhood trauma, dyslexia and a stutter; she deserves more from me, dammit.

She was also the victim of some tough timing: Hotcakes was released simultaneously to both Planet Waves and Court and Spark.

I can relate. Every time I write a cool post about Gordon Lightfoot my brother posts something revelatory about Stereolab and then my wife walks from Point A to Point B; both their acts leave me gnawing on distant third place bronze.

I know, Dylan and The Band's Planet Waves is underrated and unappreciated. But it's also a big deal Bob Dylan record and Court and Spark is, obviously, one of the greatest pop records of all time. So Simon couldn't compete with either title at the time and she still can't compete today.

(Speaking of Planet Waves, hopefully its full sessions will benefit from a big Bootleg Series box at some point this year so as to avoid entering into the public domain, just as Dylan recently did with Pat Garret and Billy the Kid. Oddly this release has not happened yet even though it would be a great excuse to celebrate the recent passing of Robbie Robertson; what the hell is Dylan waiting for, A Series of Dreams?)

(And here's one related extra test question; I think you need the chance for extra credit: Name the only musician who appears on Hotcakes, Planet Waves and Court and Spark. Yeah, someone played on all three records. Come on, you've got this: he's better looking than Taylor and Richard Thompson used his playing as a basis for his own approach on I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight. Please tell me you don't need another hint. You do? He just died and he's mentioned in the paragraph above. That's right, Robbie Robertson: a busy guy in 74.)

Anyway, no one has ever - until now! - considered Hotcakes as a piece of thoughtful art. And maybe that's fine; we don't need everything on our shelf to signal abrupt changes in the popular culture.

Artistic merits aside, Hotcakes still sold like, well, hotcakes; your mom bought a copy and so did mine. And then we all turned around and ignored our mom's sweet style. Damn us!

So let's talk about the record already...

Hotcakes opens with Simon strumming admirably and singing about strange times in Portland, Maine, dancing lobsters and the Chinese divorce rate before giving way to a sweet chorus.

Klaus Voorman, one of several candidates for the title of 5th Beatle, and one of the more oddly named of 70's musicians - he and Hugh McCracken should have got together back in the day and started a pretty sweet cult; I woulda joined up and renamed myself Cheesesteak Murphy in their honor - lays down some super fat and sweet bass and the always admirable Paul Buckmaster, the guy behind the string sections on everything from Tiny Dancer to Moonlight Mile, offers up warm, complimentary tones.

This song is weird and good! I wish the whole album centered around naked motorcycle gangs.

But sadly, no dice. The rest of Side 1 is a bit dull: Simon has her mind on her mustachioed VH1 man, she busts out a soft rock strut to announce that she's pregnant, she reminds us that she has a sister, and so on. Fairly flatulent horns are increasingly prominent; Buckmaster clearly was not consulted.

Happily, Side 2 brings things back into form. Simon's Misfit is a fitting prequal to Neil Young's own bizarro track of the same title; Simon's song seems directed at Taylor and tells him to chill the heck out and be a reasonable husband.

The tone is familiar to me; this is what it sounds like when your wife is a genius and you are not worthy:

Seriously, my wife might benefit from singing this to me every night around 8:45. I'm no longer young and I've never been an intellectual so I should not be miserable, even if Trump seems likely to reenter the White House in a few short months. Rather I could show her an itch I'd like scratched while Buckmaster supplies fifes and swirls. Sounds amazing.

But things go to an even lovelier level with the lyrically straight-forward Forever My Love. Sandy Denny was off making Like an Old Fashioned Waltz around this same time and a song like Forever My Love sits comfortably alongside Denny's more timeless and majestic ballads: sure Joni was making high art at that point; but Sandy and Carly were singing about love in lovely ways.

I'm going to go on the record here and make the claim that Brandi Carlile had this song, with its full tilt rock opera fade out, in mind when she called up Buckmaster at the very end of his long and productive life and asked him to arrange the strings for much of her record By the Way, I Forgive You. Take a listen:

Wow, intense video. I wish the whole thing were the old white grandpa lip syncing. Where were we? Oh yeah, the Buckmaster touch: it's a good thing.

Finally, Hotcakes ends with a pretty good quality 70's pop anthem. I bet my mom listened to this while I was in utero: it sounds pretty damn familiar and I feel like I need the message in it far more than I need any of the news currently swirling around us.

No pain! Happy Tuesday everyone.

[gwynndolin]

Kitschke recs, Hejira by Joni Mitchell

So, funny story, since I think Joni Mitchell was literally only added to Spotify like, a few weeks ago or something like that, I ended up not listening to this until this very moment (The last two albums and a few of the future ones, I actually listened to a few months ago; I'm only just now getting back into writing these reviews 🙃). I actually must've not noticed this actually though, because I ended up listening to another album by a band called Hejira... Incidentally, I found that album to be quite interesting anyway, so honestly I'm not too upset about that mistake. Maybe I'll take a moment to review that album sometime soon LOL

Anyway, I've always known Joni Mitchell to be a pop darling, and admittedly, the only reason I think I put off listening to her for so long is, one, laziness, and two, I think for like, 4 out of the 5 jobs I've worked in my 9ish years of retail service, "Big Yellow Taxi" in some form or another has been on the store's music playlist, and I am so awfully tired of that song. Far too much of an ear worm to be played so often!!

Anyway, "Coyote" is a fantastic intro track. Joni Mitchell's singing is so velveteen and luscious, whoever produced this record really mic'd her up super well. I really enjoy the pacing on this song too, the delivery on her singing is really evocative to me of some of Paul Simon's faster paced song, while remaining super chill to fit in with the rest of the track. I really love how prominent the bass guitar is on this song too! The guitar is mostly kept rhythm and the drums are also similarly understated, compared to the bass which feels like it is carrying the lead here.

Speaking of being "evocative" I have to imagine Jeff Buckley was a big fan of Joni Mitchell's, "Furry Sings The Blues" sounds like a track Buckley would get on to me. The sort of mix of spoken word mixed with singing, the story telling, the almost Shakespearean delivery... It's really interesting to see where these musical fonts tend to come from!

The titular track, Hejira, is a really cool one. The guitar here really reminds me of some of Pat Methany's work. Apple Music's description of the album describes this album as a travel journal, and I feel like this track really hits that most out of all on the album. It's tonally very grounded, yet foreign enough to feel as though you've found somewhere you'd like to move to, if that makes sense.

Joni's lyricism is really quite something too. Her prose is such that I often forget to even really listen to the music; I get too caught up in just feeling it. People often describe certain artist's voices being an instrument in and of themselves, and although her vocals aren't necessarily technically impressive on this record (though its not as though I'm saying her voice is bad, not by any stretch, just that this album is pretty reserved all around, not a lot of room for any particularly belt-y verses or big runs, stuff like that) her voice fits the vibe of it all so well. It sounds silly to say this album was made for her, like she's literally one of the producers of the album, but like. Idk, it's kinda perfect in that way.

Fave Tracks: Coyote, Furry Sings The Blues, Hejira

Definitely a pretty solid 7/10. I can see why this is listed as one of her quintessential albums pretty much everywhere, and I'm excited to dip into some more of her music when I have the time. I think I have always been more of an 80's music fan, and haven't really dipped into much from the 70's. Likely just because both of my parents were born in the 70's, the music they ended up listening to around me was mostly 80's stuff.

I definitely wanna spend more time with this record too. I feel like this initial first brush review hasn't done it nearly enough justice. But I have other stuff to get to!

[stenka-razin]

Grammy Live Performances Reviewed

Dua Lipa: it was fine, but I don't remember much of it. Didn't help that I don't think I know these songs at all.

Luke Combs & Tracy Chapman doing Fast Car: Dunno why this was second, eyes were pissing tears immediately. This is one of better ideas for a Grammy Performances. You have all these artists under one roof, make 'em work together! Anyway, it was good.

SZA: SZA was good and the choreography was solid. I don't know much SZA though, but it sounded nice enough.

Billie Eilish: (sharp inhale into the mic) why (sharp inhale into the mic) did (sharp inhale into the mic) billie (sharp inhale into the mic) eilish (sharp inhale into the mic) sing (sharp inhale into the mic) like (sharp inhale into the mic) this? Seriously sounded like she ran a 5k before singing. Also I didn't like the song.

Miley Cyrus: Miley did Flowers, a song I think is whatever, but her performance was fine enough. Except she kept making incredibly cringe adlibs. Like when she admonished the crowd "don't act like y'all don't know this song." That became a running gag for us. Not great but I laughed a lot.

Olivia Rodrigo: If you buy the Olivia Rodrigo/Taylor Swift feud rumors, you'd half to imagine that she was quietly seething all night. She performed Vampire, a song allegedly about Taylor Swift, right before Taylor won an award they were both nominated for and announced a new album. Olivia proceeded not to win anything. Anyhow, her performance was fine, but the song is not my thing. She didn't overunder sing it like Billie or do stupid crowd engagement like Miley at least.

U2: U2 did a new U2 song. I don't super care, but always good to see them still remaining defiantly in their own lane. But really this was less about the music and more a glorified ad for Las Vegas' Sphere. I think I would throw up if I saw a show in that thing. Maybe that's the point. Dead & Co have a residency in there and I'm wondering how that'll be. It seems like a venue built for artist with sick ass laser light shows. Not meandering psyched tinge bluegrass jams. I just don't get Vegas I guess. Last time I was there for a layover that took forever and some dude attempted to shoot his family in the parking lot of the airport. Bad vibes man. Oh I was talking about U2?

Stevie Wonder, Annie Lennox, Wendy & Lisa, Jon Batiste, Ann Nesby, Cory Henry, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, and Fantasy: Woo! Yeah this was the immemorial segment, and really it was a series of consecutive performances. Notably, Stevie Wonder dueted with Tony Bennett's ghost. Annie Lennox did Nothing Compares 2 U and called for a ceasefire, and it climaxed in Fantasia's big Proud Mary romp. Also for some reason in the middle we got a 20 second clip of Jimmy Buffet. No other deceased performer got a standalone sound bite so it was weird. All in all it was pretty good, though ran sacharine as you can expect these in memorium segments to.

Joni Mitchell, Brandi Carlisle, others: Joni's still got it! She did Both Sides Now, backed by a band consisting of wiki tells me are accomplished musicians int heir own right.

Travis Scott & Playboi Carti: This SUCKED! First off, both these dudes music is entirely production driven. That's fine (I mean, more so for Scott since he actually does a lot of his own beats) but it absolutely does not translate to compelling live shows. Travis Scott is so fucking corny, he's out here in his fake muscles trying to hulk out, when he looks like a withered pillhead. Also I have no idea why you'd book a performer where every other line needs to be muted out of the livestream. Anyway, he can't rap for shit and this was god awful.

Burna Boy, 21 Savage, Brandy: This was great! I didn't know much Burna Boy but this was a fun performance and everyone was very good. Brandy is still great?

Billy Joel: It's no surprise Billy Joel can still perform. For all the to do about him not putting out new music for decades, it overlooks that he's still on the road constantly. But yeah, the new Billy Joel song sounds like an old Billy Joel song, so that's probably for the best. Then he did You Might Be Right, one of those consummately uncool songs that I enjoy anyway.

[mywifeleftme]

253: Gilberto Gil // Gilberto Gil [1968]

Gilberto Gil Gilberto Gil 1968, Philips

Robert Christgau and I find ourselves in the same boat when it comes to understanding tropicália. Here’s the first line of the Dean’s capsule review of Gilberto Gil’s Soy Loco Por Ti America (1988): “Milton Nascimento and Caetano Veloso are aesthetes like, to be kind, Joni Mitchell; Gil is a pop adept like Stevie Wonder, which I'd probably think was kind to Stevie if I understood Gil's lyrics.” Like Christgau, I’m stuck on the wrong side of Portuguese but gravitate more toward the exuberant weirdness of a Gil or a Tom Zé than I ever have to the comparatively restrained Veloso (though I like some of Nascimento a lot). Language barrier or no, Gilberto Gil’s first self-titled record from 1968 (sometimes called Frevo Rasgado after its first track) is among the most colourful LPs of the first psychedelic era, and on pure sonics I’d make the case for it as the equal of anything that emerged from the Anglo-American axis during the period.

As with other tropicália touchstones, while Gil borrows many of the aesthetics of psych pop (its vivid, lysergic pomp and tasty electric guitar textures principally), his compositions are still founded in samba and bossa jazz, which means these songs are much nimbler and more rhythmically complex than those of his counterparts in the Northern Hemisphere. For every track that plunges directly into acid rock (a la the swaggering blues of “Coragem pra suportar”), there are three that ecstatically cartwheel from zanily-orchestrated hook to hook; on wildly gesticulating songs like “Marginalia II” and “Frevo Rasgado” I can see what Christgau’s getting at when he says Gil writes showtunes. Gil’s lyrics survive translation better than most, and they’re a lot bleaker than you’d expect, chafing under the military dictatorship that would imprison and then exile him and his friend Veloso in 1969. Yet there’s also something about his vocalizations that you just kinda get. Perhaps inspired by his youthful collaborators, the irrepressible Dadaist weirdos Os Mutantes, Gil gibbers, scats, and raves his way through the LP: at the record’s hottest, like “Pega a voga, cabeludo,” it feels like a maniac conga line winding its way through your home.

Prices on recent reissues of Gil, Veloso, Gal Costa, etc. amount to highway robbery, though I was able to get my copy of Gilberto Gil for quite cheap as it’s an unauthorized (but quite good) Russian pressing. However you get your hands on it, the album earns its reputation as a classic of Brazilian and world music that I think every pop music lover should hear.

253/365

[independentartistbuzz]

7 From the Women with Kristen Rae Bowden

Charlottesville-based singer/songwriter Kristen Rae Bowden's music exhibits a bold vulnerability. She’s a confessional storyteller with a theatrical flair who draws from a wide swath of influences, including Kate Bush, Phoebe Bridgers, Radiohead, and Madi Diaz.

Her latest song, "Fault Lines," is a powerful indie pop piece about a break up she experienced. She paints a captivating musical picture using vibrant lyrics and stunning melodies as she compares fault lines to relationships.

We got a chance to speak with Kristen about her music, career, and influences in this edition of 7 From the Women:

What have you been working to promote lately?

I just released a midsummer single called ‘Fault Lines’! It’s a road-trip-worthy indie pop song inspired by a breakup on the Highway 1 in California. In case you’re unfamiliar, the Highway 1/Pacific Coast Highway is an iconic, stunningly scenic road that winds along the Cali coastline. As it does so it crosses several fault lines, including the famous San Andreas Fault, which has been responsible for numerous earthquakes. 

In my song I used the cliff-side scenery to represent the feeling of a breakup… like you’re on the edge of a precipice and can’t see what’s next. And I used the first line, “It’s all your fault,” to word-play with ideas of blame and shaky ground. The whole song grew out of that first line… I’d always wanted to start a song that way. (I wonder what that says about me?)

‘Fault Lines’ came from a collection of my memories, as opposed to just one, so I’m proud of how cohesive I think it is. I never really had a breakup on the Highway 1, but somehow I’ve been in that incredibly vivid part of the world at times when various relationships were failing. The scenery there provides a sharp, poignant backdrop for end-of-the-world feelings.

Sonically I was inspired by 1990’s pop-rock… the stuff I heard on the radio when I was still riding around in my parents’ car.  I think the song reflects that, but with ethereal textures blended into it. Please have a listen! I’m very happy with this version of the tune.

Stream it:

Or listen on YouTube:

Please tell us about your favorite song written, recorded, or produced by another woman and why it’s meaningful to you.

The last time I stopped in for this interview I talked about Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You,” which is still and forever a classic favorite of mine. Today the first song that comes to mind is Ann Peebles’ “I Can’t Stand the Rain”. It has an undeniable groove that stops my over-thinking brain and lets me forget myself. I love the relatable simplicity of the lyrics. They make me think of every time a sound or a smell has attached itself to one of my memories - it’s fascinating how strong that association can be, where I basically time travel in my head when I smell jasmine or woodsmoke, or hear a song I sang with an old lover, etc. I often attempt to write songs with complicated ideas behind them, but there’s no denying that sometimes simplicity is just the greatest. I also love how they captured the sound of raindrops. And the vocal melody is soulfully ingenious.

What does it mean to you to be a woman making music/in the music business today and do you feel a responsibility to other women to create messages and themes in your music?

I think it’s safe to say that women are still vastly underrepresented in the music industry (even more so with women of color and minority communities). From what I’ve read, most of the studies on this underrepresentation often focus on highly successful artists, the Grammys, etc. But I can say that in my personal experience as an independent artist, my artistic interactions are overwhelmingly male dominated as well. When I’m the only woman in the room, I’m happy there’s a woman in the room!

When I create music I let my thoughts and feelings dictate what I write. I don’t feel a responsibility to other women to create messages and themes, no. Instead I feel a responsibility to myself as an artist to create work that is honest, and to continue pushing myself to express my most private and personal thoughts and feelings. Given that I am a woman and experience the world as such, this is inherently tied up in my artistic expressions. I would hope for a world where all women are and feel free to express themselves openly and with authenticity. We’re obviously not there yet. It’s crazy how many feminine experiences are still considered somehow taboo.

What female artists have inspired you and influenced you?

Too many to list! Lately I’ve been slowly working my way through Kate Bush’s song catalogue… I’m caught up in her Aerial double album at the moment. It’s incredible. I tend to write very narrative lyrics, and I’m inspired by her ability to flash from enigmatic, mythological imagery into real life details. It’s hallucinatory. Recently I’ve also been drawing inspiration from Japanese Breakfast, Aoife O'Donovan, Madi Diaz, Phoebe Bridgers, CMAT, and Birdy.

Who's Your Favorite Female Icon(dead or alive) and why?

The Mexican painter Frida Kahlo is a female icon I’ve delighted in learning more about in recent years. I’d previously admired her beautiful, raw, symbolic paintings, but two years ago I decided to read her biography after seeing an X-Ray of my own spine. I have scoliosis and finally decided to get some physical therapy when my back pain became overwhelming. Seeing the X-Ray of my spine was upsetting, and after I cried about it for a minute I thought, I bet reading Frida’s biography would change my perspective and stop me feeling sorry for myself. I knew she had polio as a child, and then as a young woman she suffered and broken back and many other terrible injuries in a bus/trolley crash, leaving her in pain for the rest of her life. She took up painting while bedridden after her accident, and channeled the pain into her art.

Reading her biography I learned about the origins of her instantly recognizable personal style: she used fashion and her outward appearance to express her Indigenous Mexican heritage, essentially becoming a work of art herself. She challenged traditional norms of gender and sexuality, defying conventional expectations of femininity. Her paintings address deeply personal women’s issues and pain, such as her sexuality and her inability to carry a pregnancy to term, with shocking openness at a time when nobody was doing that. They also address her political stances and cultural heritage. The way she lived her life and created art is incredibly touching and inspiring to me.

Last year I had the opportunity to visit her house in Coyoacan, Mexico City, which is now the Frida Kahlo museum. Seeing her paintings up close, along with her her belongings (her wheelchair, her easel, her back braces and incredible folk style clothing), and walking through the rooms where she walked, gave me goosebumps. If you have the chance to go, I highly recommend it.

Do you consider yourself a feminist? If so, why or why not?

I definitely consider myself a feminist, now more than ever, since a woman’s right to bodily autonomy has been decimated in the US. I am lucky enough to live in a state where my right to healthcare, including abortion, is still intact, for now. But we should not be voting on whether women and their doctors get to decide what healthcare a woman needs and when. Our basic rights should not be on the ballot. Women should not have to wait until they are at death’s door to get the help they need. It’s barbaric, disgusting, and devastating. No one is free without bodily autonomy. It’s really tragic that we have to work to undo the same bullshit that our grandmothers and mothers already fought to change, but we must, and we will.

What do you hope to share with other women in the industry with your music?

My songs often end up being related to self empowerment and the rejection of what I’d call fairy-tale romantic ideas. I hope my little story songs will be a drop in the ocean of music encouraging women to choose themselves and their own needs - to express themselves freely and put themselves first. 

Finally – Where can we find you online?

Website and Bandcamp

Stream:

Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music, Amazon, Pandora, Tidal

Follow:

Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Facebook

[the-last-rat-standing]

Covers

Just a simple list of 10 covers that I like (and maybe some people don’t know they’re covers). I tried to stay away from the obvious ones- Tainted Love by Soft Cell, Blinded by the Light by Manfred Mann, Killing Me Softly by The Fugees, Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinead O’Connor, etc. (I’m assuming you all know those are covers.) I’ll probably make another 10 down the road (didn’t include Denzel Curry’s cover of ‘Bulls on Parade’, for instance), but we’ll go with this for now. I’ll give the song, the cover artist and the original artist below. 

Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You- Kesha (Dolly Parton) [Side note: Kesha’s mom wrote this song.] 

Southern Nights- Citizen Cope (Allen Toussant, not Glenn Campbell)

Life on Mars- Seu Jorge (David Bowie)

I Will Survive- Cake (Gloria Gaynor)

Wild Horses- The Sundays (The Rolling Stones) [A favourite cover of @thenicecheese]

Torn- Natalie Imbruglia (Ednaswap) [Not necessarily a favourite cover, but I take every opportunity I can to let people know this is a cover. Lol!]

I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll- Joan Jett & the Blackhearts (The Arrows)

This Flight Tonight- Nazareth (Joni Mitchell)

Renegades of Funk- Rage Against the Machine (Afrika Bambaataa & the SoulSonic Force)

Louie Louie- The Kingsmen (Rockin’ Robin Roberts) [Had to put this on the list, considering it’s the most covered song in the world. Really.]

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlp9xHwWR_U8sVdL5PA1RuYA7dcj6NOSh

[ccenvs3000w23]

Unit 04: Nature Interpretation through Art and Planning for 'All' Scenarios

Interpreting Nature Through Art

‘The Gift of Beauty’ in terms of nature interpretation is the ability for individuals to sense beauty in their natural surroundings, and to provide a spiritual uplifting and encourage resource preservation (Beck et al., 2018). Interpreting nature through art can draw out these types of responses in the public. Jay Griffiths (2013) describes how, “art elicits sympathy, conjures empathy and these emotions are requisites for a kind, kinned sense of society.” Each of these factors are necessary when aiming to change the public’s perspective on nature, and to have society create stronger relationships with nature. 

The use of the arts in nature interpretation programs can entertain, educate, and make emotional connections with the audience (Beck et al., 2018). Art provides nature awareness which can bring out individuals' fascination and curiosity of the natural world (van Boeckel, 2015). Ultimately, it can enhance nature interpretation programs and advertise its importance to the public. The gift of beauty in nature can be experienced through a variety of art forms that includes theatre, visual arts, music and dance. These art forms have been used as tools of interpretation for decades as there is a natural connection between the arts and interpretation of our culture and landscape (Beck et al., 2018). 

So how do I interpret this “gift of beauty” that nature has through art? I sense this gift through two main art forms, which are music and visual arts. As mentioned in the Unit 02’s blog post, there are different types of learners and I myself am an auditory learner. Thus, learning and listening through music is most likely to grab my attention and evoke strong emotions and opinions on subjects—especially that of nature. The use of music in nature interpretation programs is a strong source of eliciting this emotional response as music works in three special ways: words can stick into the minds of listeners, songs paint pictures in the imagination, and often songs evoke emotions in listeners making them memorable (Beck et al., 2018). A song that exemplifies all three of these traits is one that I have loved for a very long time is Joni Mitchell’s, ‘Big Yellow Taxi’. If you haven’t heard this song before I highly recommend you take a listen while focusing on the lyrics, it holds a very important message about the environment!

Similarly, representation of nature through visual arts is another useful tool in evoking emotional responses from individuals. Visual arts can be used in innovative ways to enhance park grounds and view artist’s realities of nature from different perspectives. The beauty of visual arts is that you can see interpretations of nature throughout centuries of time. There are bound to be differences but what is truly remarkable is how artists from different centuries can capture the same essence of a landscape. For instance, both of the paintings below capture a similar nature of The Marne river in France—that being its undeniable warmth.

Modern day oil painting ‘Les Reflections sur La Marne’ by E. René His that presents their perspective of The Marne river in France.

1888 painting of ‘Les Bords de la Marne’ by Paul Cézanne that displays his perspective of The Marne river in France.

After discussing art’s role in nature interpretation, how would you interpret/compare these two paintings? What art form speaks to you the most? Do you have any nature-themed song recommendations?

References: 

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage for a Better World. Sagamore Venture.

Griffiths, J. (2013). The exile of the arts. Orion, 30(5), 10-11. 

van Boeckel, J. (2015). At the heart of art and earth: an exploration of practices in arts-based environmental education. Environmental Education Research, 21(5), 801–802. 

Images taken from:

[berryflavouredkoolaid]

Priscilla Amy Dunne - Criminal Minds OC

face claim: phoebe tonkin

age: 29

born: august 17th, 1982

personality: priscilla is quite friendly. she has always naturally been very charming, personable and outgoing. she’s a mediator by nature. rarely one to get heated or aggressive, priscilla is very levelheaded. she is very stubborn and persistent. she often refuses help and hates to be pitied. she prefers to pretend everything is fine then ask for help or support. she is as optimistic as someone who regularly works with such dark cases can be and usually tries to see the best intentions in people.

backstory:

she has an older brother named james. her father, albert, was a sociology professor at a prestigious university near their home, and her mother, jean, was a stay-at-home mother.

growing up, priscilla and james were often pitted against each other by their parents. priscilla received more praise and clear favouritism from their parents. meanwhile, james was compared to priscilla and even belittled by them.

in high school, priscilla excelled. she did well in her classes, was popular and well-liked by her peers, a member of student council, participated in various sports, and was editor of the school newspaper.

conversely, james was somewhat of an outcast and loner. he always dressed more alternative and listened to metal and alternative music, which, in their small town, made him a pariah. he also struggled in many of his classes.

james and albert often had explosive fights that raged across the house. as james got older, he hung out with a rougher crowd and often got into trouble with the local police.

priscilla graduated as valedictorian and moved to new york city to attend NYU for university. she did a double major in communications and sociology. back in her home town, james had continued to run with a dangerous crowd and had been picked up for a variety of minor crimes and misdemeanours.

when priscilla was 19, james was charged with assault and battery. he spent 2 years in jail. priscilla’s parents kicked him out of the house and cut all contact. for the next ten years, james continued to be in and out of the prison system. priscilla rarely knew where he was, as he hadn’t contacted any of their family.

priscilla completed her degree at 22 and then moved onto her masters in communications. by 25, she was working in the new york field office of the FBI in the press department.

at 28, she was transferred to headquarters in quantico. less than a year later, she was offered a temporary position as a press liaison with the BAU. she accepted and despite it initially being a temporary position, it was switched to permanent after jennifer jareau became a fully-fledged profiler.

likes:

music (joni mitchell, fiona apple, nick drake, tracy chapman, the cure, mazzy star, etc)

romance movies

long teen drama shows

plants

candles

gardening

dislikes:

popcorn

blood

sour things

hot weather

horror movies

notes:

she’s named after priscilla presley. her mother was a huge fan of her and planned for her daughter’s name to be priscilla since she was a girl

priscilla has a strained relationship with her parents and especially her brother. she doesn’t visit and hasn’t seen her parents in person since she finished her masters degree.

priscilla joined the team after jj was forcibly transferred out of it as her replacement.

priscilla though spencer was attractive from the minute she saw him. she thought his nerdy ramblings were cute and flirted with him to try and get him to ask her out. eventually he did (with a lot of coaching from morgan). they started dating.

priscilla collects old records and has well over 100 different vinyls.

she’s deeply invested in grey’s anatomy and has seen it too many times probably.

{now i need to figure out her moniker episode 🤔}

[audio-luddite]

Serious Listening? Maybe.

I got the streaming Nano thing running and decided to try it out. Hey I spent the money, I suffered the installation drama. What do I get for it?

So streaming from the couch here I go.

Using my iphone with it set to lossless I played several pieces to get a feel for it. The lossless symbol was displayed so lets assume it was that. Apparently even older Iphones will do Airplay 2 (Hi Rez) if they have recent IOS versions and mine does.

I started with a stream selection of solo piano. It sounded like piano alright. I gave the system about an hour to get happy with that.

I have a cover album by Morgan James of Joni Mitchel's Blue. Just a singer and piano. It sounds like it is one continuous take. It is wonderful music. It is on file on my iphone as I bought it. Sounded very nice. Extremely simple production.

I then tried streaming some tunes I am familiar with on LP or CD. Tony Bennett and Faith Hill from Duets 2 has some tiny things on LP I was looking for. I did not get them. They are like the lip parting sound. If I was going full geek I should have run the LP right then to compare. That would have been the audiophile thing to do. I didn't.

Next I tried "Postcard Blues" from Trinity Session by Cowboy Junkies. Here I noticed something interesting. There seemed to be a bias to the right speaker. I may have done that in the configuration, but shifting a bit over on my couch helped. Usually not that critical.

All the sounds were there, but different. Recall I have the original CD and a fancy LP of this album. Those sound very similar to each other, this was different somehow. Less room sound?

This was a quick and dirty exercise so all first impressions.

I then tried "Soul Cages" by Sting first song "Island of Souls". This sounded pretty good. I have an LP of this and the album is processed with Qsound which is a quasi binaural trick. And it worked pretty well. Some instruments sounded far out past the speakers both left and right. The LP has a less prominent rendition of that. Qsound uses phase shifting and filtering for its effects. So the feed was pretty accurate I suppose.

Summary of impressions: I feel something is missing. The sound is clear, and clean, but there is a but. I am not sure what it is. Maybe it is too quiet? Maybe something is actually missing. Maybe lossless aint?

One thing I feel disoriented by is there is too much available online. If I put an album on the turntable the document is there and I only decide if I want to flip it in 20 minutes. I have time to think about what is next. On a stream you can change your mind instantly and go from classical music to Jazz to pop in seconds. That is stressful, this is supposed to be fun.

I am old.

I recall a comment from somewhere that a person said streaming is for background music. Serious listening is better some other way. I can see truth in that.

I pay for apple music so I can explore and consider albums for purchase. Maybe more obscure works by composers. Also sometimes background music is a good thing.

Next challenge is getting my Wife's iPhone rigged into this thing.

[docmerry]

Health is on the ballot in November

I’ve seen the gurney from both sides now (with apologies to Joni Mitchell)

In the early eighties, I studied Naturopathic Medicine at Bastyr University. A beloved teacher of mine often joked, "If you ever get diagnosed with cancer, don't call your doctor, call your travel agent." That line always got a laugh. Then, I was diagnosed with cancer.

Thirty years later, as I was being wheeled into the operating room, my wonderful surgeon, Joanie Hope, leaned over the gurney and reassured me, "I'm going to take good care of you."

"I know you will," I replied.

That’s what medicine is supposed to be about. A trusting relationship between patient and provider. At no point should the grinding stress of financial ruin be layered on top of the hard work of not dying.

In my practice, I've often told patients, "I can't dictate what you can afford, but this is what you need." When I was a student, I didn't realize the significant impact cost would have on deciding which tests and procedures, even routine ones, to order. Like many in the medical field, my primary desire was to assist people in line with my training.

If nothing else, COVID-19 has shown that our healthcare providers are exceptional, with nurses donning garbage bags, refrigerator trucks filled with bodies, and a sense of building the plane while flying it. They have indeed risen to the occasion.

It also revealed a couple of glaring flaws. Not everyone has access to care, despite the Affordable Care Act, and it is unbelievably expensive when compared to the rest of the world

The United States held the unfortunate record for the highest number of Covid cases and deaths globally.       

May 2021

COVID hit us hard. But did it hit hard enough to convince us to take some strong medicine?

Even though the US spends more, a lot more, on healthcare than any other country, we are not a nation of healthy people.

I cannot go through the whole "Medicine according to Marx " lecture here. For now, I will borrow the words of Yashaswini Singh, a Healthcare economist at Johns Hopkins University.

"There has been a longstanding tension between medicine as a profession and healthcare as a business. The key concern has always been that business obligations to shareholders might not align with physicians' obligations to patients"

Healthcare expenditures, measured as a percentage of GDP (the total value of goods and services produced annually), have risen from 5% in 1960 to 17.3% in 2022, according to Vankar. While I am not an economist, this represents a significant sum of money, predominantly managed by private equity funds, hedge fund managers, and pharmacy benefit managers. One might wonder, what could possibly go wrong?

Financial crisis of 2008-2009

HEALTH CARE ACCESS

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, also known as the ACA or Obamacare, has made strides in addressing the issue of access to health insurance for those who cannot afford it. The strategy includes expanding Medicaid—a move adopted by most but not all states—establishing a marketplace for individual health insurance, and offering subsidies to reduce the cost of policies. The uninsured rate decreased from 17.8% in 2010 to 8% in 2022, according to Tolbert, marking a significant benefit for the insurance industry.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act, enacted during the Trump administration, mandated continuous Medicaid enrollment throughout the COVID-19 public health emergency. Upon its expiration at the end of March 2023, an estimated 25 million individuals, including a significant number of children, were disenrolled from health coverage, according to KFF.

Under the Biden administration, the American Rescue Plan and the Inflation Reduction Act have extended ACA subsidies until 2025, offering an average annual saving of $800 to 13 million people. (Dept. of Health and Social Services)

MAGA and Republican members of congress

Currently, the campaign is light on details, but it's known that in the summer of 2017, Congressional Republicans attempted unsuccessfully to dismantle Obamacare. This time around, Trump isn't focusing on repeal and replace rhetoric, but he claims to know how to fix our healthcare problems-because of course he does.

Project 2025 is an initiative developed by the conservative Heritage Foundation, aimed at influencing a new, like-minded President. Despite Trump's denial of any knowledge of this play book, many of the over 400 scholars and experts involved in Project 2025 have ties to his administration. The healthcare aspects focus predominantly on contentious cultural issues such as abortion, gender-affirming care, and fetal tissue research. It also proposes extensive changes to agencies like Health & Human Services, National Institutes of Health, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Further details will be covered in my upcoming issue on reproductive health.

In March of this year, the budget proposed by the Republican Study Committee in the House of Representatives, if enacted, would have cut $4.5 trillion from the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Additionally, it would have removed certain protections for consumers, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities. (White House briefing 3/26/2024)

Biden/Harris

The Biden administration has primarily concentrated on managing the costs of prescription drugs such as insulin for Medicare recipients. While this approach may be beneficial in the short term and on a superficial level, it does not address the core issue. To effectively tackle the problem, the administration might need to heed the counsel of Republican Teddy Roosevelt to "speak softly and carry a big stick." The negative impact of banks being "too big to fail" is well-known, but the consequences are far more severe when hospital chains reach such a magnitude. This principle also extends to medical appliance manufacturers, Big Pharma, and hospitals that claim non-profit status.

During her tenure as California's Attorney General, Harris was an active opponent of healthcare consolidation for seven years. It is anticipated that she will seek methods to restrict private equity ownership of healthcare facilities, prioritizing public health over shareholder interests.

During her 2020 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Harris endorsed a "Medicare for all" plan among several proposals. Subsequently, she has aligned with the Biden Administration's strategy to expand upon Affordable Care Act. The progressive members of the caucus are expected to persist in their strong advocacy for a single-payer option.

My Take:

It has been seven years, six months and twenty-one days since I was wheeled into that operating room and had that exchange with my doctor/friend Joanie Hope, and to date I have no evidence of disease. I am lucky. I know that.

I believe everyone deserves equal access to quality care and expertise. That's why I pay attention to what political candidates promise, but I place greater importance on their actions. Health is on the ballot.

Bibliography

DHHS, Inflation Reduction Act Toolkit. retrieved 9/2/2024

KFF.otg, Medicaid Enrollment and unwinding tracker, (8/24/2024) retrieved 9/2/2025

Tolbert J, Sing R, Drake P, (5/28/2024), The uninsured population and health coverage. KFF.org retrieved 9/2/2024

Vankar, Preet (2/16/2023), US Health expenditures as percent of GDP 1960-1922, statista. retrieved 9/1/2024.

Whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statement-releases/2024/03/26/fact-sheet-us-house-republicans-release budget-to-increase-health-care-costs. retrieved 9/2/2024

[musicarenagh]

Enjoy A Warm Embrace in Tara Van’s ‘Hello Human’ ‘Hello Human’, Tara Van’s new single is one of the most refreshing sounds in this year’s indie music. Van combines dream pop and folk elements in his songs and thus gives the listeners an inspiring but also rather thoughtful music. Her voice can be compared to Joni Mitchell singing, while the song can be an example of Sufjan Stevens’s creativity with the orchestral motifs. Finally, at the heart of “Hello Human”, is the message of unity with the earth and everyone on it. Hearing Van’s lyrics “Hello, Human” brings a sense of being hugged- a message telling the listeners to be calm and at ease no matter the state of the world. The production that was done by Malory Torr at Baby Point Studios in Toronto is simply superb and also matches the song’s content. [caption id="attachment_56645" align="alignnone" width="1333"] Finally, at the heart of “Hello Human”, is the message of unity with the earth and everyone on it.[/caption] The song has a very happy underlying tone with strong bass drum sounds, clapping and bold synthesized sounds. She is a current singer and songwriter based in Toronto who has transformed into a better artist by portraying and expressing herself through her experiences and the events going on in the world around her. This time, through “Hello Human,” Van has grown, and she provides a captivating song that livens up listeners and establishes her as an artist to look forward to in the indie genre. Listen to Hello Human https://open.spotify.com/album/0bjAcNsj1NPf7q7FBx5CKy Follow Tara Van on Facebook Twitter Spotify Soundcloud Bandcamp Youtube Instagram Tiktok

[dollarbin]

Dollar Bin 52:

The Band's Moondog Matinee

Ah, The Covers Record: it's every singer-songwriter's supposed flag of surrender.

As with most things in the Dollar Bin, Dylan charted the course. Despite decades of explanation, reconsideration and defense, Dylan's first covers record, Self Portrait, remains, by and large, a smoldering load of crap, with Bob's version of The Boxer serving as the living embodiment of how not to make art.

(Well, I wrote that assessment above and then proceeded to kinda enjoy Bob's trainwreck of a performance.... But back to my point!)

Self Portrait's disaster hasn't stopped just about everyone from making a cover record of their own. Valerie June and Lucy Dacus both used Covid as an excuse to issue theirs; Tori Amos, Neil Young, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Steve Earle and Bruce Springsteen made theirs the moment they ran out of good ideas.

Willie Nelson must have over 75 cover records to his name at this point. And Lucinda Williams seems determined to follow his lead; her new Beatles record is her sixth or seventh covers collection from the last few years; some of that output sounds like karaoke; some sounds pretty damn good:

And Dylan himself has made 6 cover records already this century (Triplicate is exactly what it claims to be: three albums worth of dull songs you never needed to hear him sing); indeed, it's high time I tormented my family by dialing up his fantastically wacky Christmas in the Heart.

Joni Mitchell, Richard Thompson and Paul Simon are Dollar Bin artists who can proudly claim they've never made a cover record; all of them, however, would be lying to say so: they all covered themselves through late-career records dedicated to rerecordings of their own damn songs.

Suffice it to say that if we want to hear great covers of classic tunes we do not turn to singer-songwriters; rather we turn to the world's most beautiful singers and musicians: Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, John Cale, Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris and, of course, Chan Marshal.

And so it was without much enthusiasm that I plucked The Band's Moondog Matinee out of a Dollar Bin 22 years ago. Rick, Levon, Garth, Richard and Robbie were all great songwriters at one point but beauty was never really their thing. I mean, come on, let's compare them to Chan Marshall:

It's like comparing me and my buddies (sorry guys) to Helen of Troy.

I was in a fun phase of my life when I discovered Moondog Matinee: my first career as a social worker was winding down, I had a short commute, my wife was selflessly doing the real work at home with our one year old and, after a decade of largely buying CD's, I had just sworn them off forever and set my record player back up.

And so, once or twice a month, I'd spend an hour or so tunneling through my local dollar bin, hunting up treasures and making discoveries: who knew Cat Stevens even had a record called Numbers? Turns out Band on the Run is a killer album... LA Express was not worthy of a record deal... And Linda Ronstadt is the Dollar Bin's Great Living Artist.

I remember asking my famous brother about Moondog Matinee before dropping the needle on it for the first time. He was already getting big on the internet: just out of college, he wrote at a torrid pace for a long dead music site called Junk Media; the kid had already interviewed Robyn Hitchcock and recorded an EP of his own music. Why are we reading Pitchfork and listening to The Decemberists today instead? I've got no idea.

Anyway, Moondog Matinee, my famous brother informed me, marked The Band's demise: by 1973 writers block had set in for Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson was already old and done, and the rest of the band were just too stoned to rock. I nodded at him sagely; I'd always kinda hated Cahoots so how could the group's follow up cover record be any good?

Well folks, that was a hell of a long time ago, an era in which my famous brother was actually capable of musical malfeasance. Moondog Matinee does not mark The Band's demise. Indeed, I hereby proclaim it to be The Dollar Bin's Greatest Covers Record.

Just listen to the ringing, jubilant and razor sharp groove set on the record's opening track.

I remember standing in our first little rented home the first time I dropped the needle on this thing. Our one year old was crawling about at my feet, tasting all her toys. My wife definitely was not around. The track's piano began to pound; the whole thing wound up tighter and tighter and then unfurled like a hilarious tornado: cows, tanker trucks and automobiles cycled within it. And then Levon Helm started his patented vocal version of hillbilly bellydancing.

I stood there listening, instantly transfixed. Then I turned the song way up, far too loud for one year old ears. But my sweet little girl rocked about a bit anyway, climbing my leg to shake her diapered hips. Then she grinned at me, clapped her chubby hands and crapped her pants. It was awesome.

If you're going to make a covers record there is no excuse for picking a bad song or striking a dull note. And all of Matinee's Side 1 is a master class in care, pace and arrangement. Holy Cow warbles and shimmies; Mystery Train brings the white funk; and the theme from Third Man is suitably bizarre: it has no business whatsoever appearing on this record and so we love it.

And in the midst of it all, Share Your Love, with its clean guitar lead and its surging sway, makes a case for poor, lost, Richard Manuel as the greatest white male singer of his generation.

Side 2 offers more of the same, with Manuel and Helm trading lead vocals back and forth, fantastic piano and ramshackle drums throughout. Indeed the only real misstep may be The Band's attempt at a song that was already perfect to begin with:

After all, Rick Danko, well, let's make that no one, can hold a candle to Sam Cooke.

[randomcollectionitem]

Weather Report - Night Passage

https://www.discogs.com/release/11535112-Weather-Report-Night-Passage

That was a bit of a longer hiatus than I'd wanted, but I'm glad to be back... and what stranger note to be back on than Weather Report's meandering first step into the 80s, Night Passage? If anyone ever accuses me of cherry picking albums for clout on this blog, posts like this will remain my ironclad defense. There's not much cool about Weather Report (unless you're a bassist, which is inherently uncool), and there's certainly nothing cool about 80s Weather Report. That being said, I'm a huge sucker for jazz fusion, and a big Weather Report fan, so let's dig in.

Weather Report has a strange history. The core of the band, and only two reasonably consistent members, are the legendary Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul. Shorter and Zawinul formed the group after their time together in Miles Davis' band, where they helped gestate the beginning of his controversial (but, in my humble opinion, excellent) electric era on the In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew sessions. (Before some nerd corrects me: Wayne, of course, was in Miles' band well before Joe as part of the second great quintet). Early Weather Report was on the more improvisational and experimental end of fusion, then found a fascination with world music, followed by a transition into more accessible synth-laden tunes as Zawinul began to take more and more of the role of sole band leader as opposed to the original co-leader configuration with Shorter. As anyone with marginal familiarity with the genre knows, Weather Report struck gold in 1977 with the release of Heavy Weather and its hit single Birdland. Heavy Weather sold half a million copies, a truly staggering feat for a jazz fusion album, rocketing the band to the closest thing to stardom a jazz musician can expect (short of Miles Davis himself, or perhaps Kenny G if you want to broach the controversial topic of whether or not he counts as "real jazz").

Night Passage finds the band at a turning point. Their previous two releases (Mr. Gone, and the live album 8:30) had failed to find the critical or commercial success of Heavy Weather. Wayne Shorter was becoming increasingly uninvolved, as evidenced by his single songwriting credit on the album compared to Joe Zawinul's five (incidentally, Shorter's tune Port of Entry is one of highlights of the album). Jaco Pastorious had already launched into a successful solo career and was beginning to find crossover success of his own following a number of years playing with Joni Mitchell. Consumer tastes and music technology were changing rapidly, turning towards digital production and catchy, synth laden pop tunes, with significantly decreased interest in the meandering double albums and 10+ minute songs of the 70s. The band had brought on a secondary percussionist, Robert Thomas Jr, presumably to shake things up a bit and to bring back a sound more reminiscent of their earlier output.

Night Passage falls in an interesting spot in their discography, serving as a link between the Weather Report of the 70s and the Weather Report of the 80s. It, in many ways, feels like the last "true" Weather Report album. Its self-titled successor (not to be confused with their self-titled debut album) was the last to feature Jaco Pastorious and Peter Erskine and found all members except Zawinul sonically and compositionally alienated, muffled and overwhelmed by his vision and "synthesized big band" compositional approach. Night Passage, while anticipating that sound, manages to still maintain a sense of musical unity and group participation that their later discography is sorely lacking.

Compositionally, Night Passage is hit-or-miss. Jaco and Wayne each contributed a single composition (Three Views of a Secret and the aforementioned Port of Entry respectively), both of which are highlights. They also play a smokin' version of the classic Ellington tune, Rockin' in Rhythm; while all the band members had become fairly far-removed from straight-ahead jazz stylistically, it's a good reminder that all of them come from the top of that world and can play the hell out of a jazz standard. Zawinul's compositions are spottier, and often feel like they're part of a different album entirely.

Sonically, the album is technically well-recorded but feels a bit flat and lifeless. While the documentation I can find claims this album was recorded in analog, it has a sonic signature that I associate more with the primitive days of digital recording in the early 80s. I suspect that The Complex in LA (where all tracks except the final live track were recorded) were taking advantage of some "cutting edge" digital studio pieces in the earlier stages of the signal chain. Columbia was still pumping some good money into the production at this stage with the hopes of producing another Heavy Weather.

If you've never listened to Weather Report, this probably isn't your place to start (I recommend the classic Heavy Weather, or I Sing The Body Electric if you're more inclined towards experimental sounds). But if you're a fan who's written off their 80s output entirely without listening, this one is the most worthy of your time and attention in the era, showing glimpses of a very different future than the one we got.

The copy in front of me is a fairly standard US-made mass-market CD issue. The reissue year isn't discernable from the runout info and barcode, but I would guess late 80s or early 90s based on the packaging. The sound is solid, and as mentioned previously, likely held back more by the source material than the quality of the release itself. While I don't have an original to compare it to, this copy doesn't appear to be remastered and is likely identical to the original CD issue. The booklet is a basic one-sided four-panel foldout "road map style" affair, copied and lightly reformatted directly from the original LP sleeve. Seeing as I likely paid no more than $4 used for the disc (likely a fraction of that), I'm certainly not going to complain. My only other note on the physical release is that, for some reason, Joe Zawinul decided to rebrand himself simply as Zawinul in the credits, while the rest of the band members maintain their full names. He's hip with the kids, one might say.

And with that I think we can put a pin in it, a bow on it, and, if you play your cards right, maybe even a cherry on top of it. Til next time, may your transitional albums take you to greener grass and may your synth orchestration stay tasteful. Hoping to be back with more much, much sooner than before 🙂