#perfect representation of my room except the lady from my dream was standing in the middle of it facing away from me oddly still. & then

[fluentisonus]

waking up from.a frightening dream at 4am in which a scary book was central which in the dream (could sort of tell I was dreaming on one level) I thoroughly believed was a real book that had been brought up the other day irl & that my dreaming mind was riffing off of bc I had not read yet. but having woken up. I'm not entirely convinced this is the case. and now I'm kind of scared to look it up tbh bc what's worse that it doesn't exist but I've dreamed about it several different nights & it's broken down my dream/reality conscious barrier (& I might dream it again??? this does happen to me) or that it does & I have to live in a world where it exists & I could read it.

[rainydawgradioblog]

Our Shitty Taste

Hey everyone! Unfortunately, we’re back again. Below is another disappointing and long un-awaited list of song recommendations from Helen and Thomas! Here, we focused on some great tracks off live album recordings. Hopefully this helps you feel like you’re at the concert of your dreams while stuck within your own personal cyclical quarantine hell!

Thomas’s Recs

Bob Dylan: “But I’ll know my song well before I start singin’”

Also Bob Dylan: “Does anybody know the first verse of this song?”

Of all the albums in the Bob Dylan Bootleg series, volume 6 (Live at Philharmonic Hall) gets less attention than the phenomenal volumes 5 (The Rolling Thunder Revue) and 4 (The infamous “Judas” concert). However, it still deserves praise as it’s a wonderful peek into Dylan’s folk era, complete with funny banter with the audience (such as at the end of It’s Alright Ma where he forgets the opening verse of the next song and has to ask the audience what the opening lines are). The versions of Mr. Tamborine Man and If You Gotta Go, Go Now are also exquisite here, and he also duets with Joan Baez at the end!!! What more could a Bob Dylan fan ask for?!?!?!

Famous for the lack of any studio recordings, Les Rallizes Dénudés are a Japanese band that make music for fever dreams. One of my favorite tracks by them, White Waking, is probably one of their more pleasant and accessible fever dreams, as it’s comparably calmer and less static-y than their other output. A perfect soundtrack for wandering around in a desert while dehydrated and about to die (if anyone wants to do this with me hmu).

Phil Elverum of The Microphones has a knack of writing serene, beautiful songs, and the opening track of Live in Japan, Great Ghosts, is no exception. This album seems to be recorded in a small, intimate setting, which provides a sense of warmth in the atmosphere of these songs. Later on in the album, Elverum also sings Silent Night very erotically. If, like me, you fantasize about Phil Elverum, this album is a must listen. 

As a Magnetic Fields fan, I prefer Stephin Merritt’s voice over Susan Anway’s, the vocalist behind their first two albums. I also prefer my sad songs not to be interrupted by obnoxious bells and xylophones. This makes it most unfortunate that the only recordings of Merritt singing their masterpiece, 100,000 Fireflies, xylophone-free only exist on Youtube where the entire audience can be heard, loudly reacting to each line. However, this doesn’t take away the beautiful imagery and depressingly poignant insight that the song offers, made even more poignant here due to the sparser instrumentation. Such insights that Merritt provides include the fact that playing a mandolin makes you want to kill yourself, and that whispering is the best form of communication.

Do you like electric guitars? Do you like twenty minute songs? Do you hate Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortés? If you said yes to all of these things, then Built to Spill’s cover of Cortez the Killer is meant for you! This remains one of my favorite Neil Young songs, and this cover captures what makes the original so excellent. With fifteen minutes worth of hypnotic guitar jams, Built to Spill expands on the Neil Young classic in terms of length and composition, giving everyone what they wanted - more of something amazing.

Helen’s Recs

This Sam Cooke live medley is a mix of his songs “You Send Me”, “Try a Little Tenderness”, and “For Sentimental Reasons”. Cooke starts this medley by playfully walking the listeners through his decision on what to sing, joking that men tend to “neglect the ladies”, before delving into some love ballads. Sam Cooke is a great romantic crooner with strong and expressive vocals that immerse you in his performance, so it’s no surprise that his live performances add a particular edge to his original compositions. This is a fun album, and this track in particular is extremely sweet! 

Choosing one song off of Donna Summer’s “Live and More” album is tough because this is an incredible album that showcases Summer’s incredible presence as a performer, while still shedding new light on old compositions. However, her vocal talents are really exemplified in her cover of “The Way We Were”. As a song in general, “The Way We Were” gives ample room for a singer to demonstrate their talent, and Summer does just that. Summer conveys a romantic melancholy of an unrealized future with the one she loves and is therefore able to capture the song’s heart, and our ears. 

Jeff Buckley’s cover of Bob Dylan’s “If You See Her Say Hello” does my favorite thing a cover can do, it completely shifts the way a song can be sung and interpreted. Buckley slows it way down, zeroing in on vocals as a means of interpreting and expressing the song’s central disappointment, i.e. love lost. Though it has a slow start, this song is really worth listening to in its entirety. It’s a great interpretation of Dylan and representation of Buckley’s musical focus. 

Tom Waits’s “Better Off Without a Wife” takes a more cynical approach to romance than the above songs about yearning and longing. Waits rejects romance completely, illustrating the benefits of his predicament by naming situations where his life is improved by being single and loveless. If you ever wanted to simulate the feeling of being a two-time loser sullenly getting drunk at a bar in the comfort of your own home, this song (and album) are for you!

Ms. Lauryn Hill’s “Mr. Intentional”, from her MTV unplugged session, represents an alternative side to Hill. We get to hear a more folksy version of her, and the bare-bones acoustic sounds work in her favor. Though obviously a great singer, what stands out about this song is the stripped down performance and powerful lyrics. Hill explains the devious forces money, ambition, ego, and irresponsibility can play in an individual’s life. She claims that there is something greater out there to guide herself--or the listener-- and it is from someone “unprofessional”. She herself can best give something that is “not material”. Hill seems to be alluding to a more spiritual form of life and understanding. This is an interesting and emotive song about dealing with vice. It’s a great live performance and release from someone with an already impressive song catalogue.

So yeah, those are our recommendations for this week! If you have limited self-respect, then listening to all of these songs is a MUST. See you all soon for our next takes for our Shitty Taste!

(Image is from a wild and crazy Phil Elverum concert. Gnarly stuff!) (Link to our first post)