Off-Genre: Wiggley Fingers

Patty Griffin: Wiggley Fingers

[purchase]

Last time I mentioned Patty Griffin's sophomore album Flaming Red here in these pages, it led to an interesting debate between contributors about the value of the album as a touchstone for the singer-songwriter's evolution. And like Nelson's spouse, I agree that there's much to love about the first half of that album, though I find the songs from it more palatable in their live and stripped-down form.

But love it or hate it, there's no denying that late-album track Wiggley Fingers is a full-blown departure for Griffin, even more than the rest of the heavily-produced album in question. If it weren't for that distinctive voice straining to come clear through the sonic haze, and the oddly, dischordantly Catholic-schoolgirl-esque lyrical impressions under all that bombast, it would be easier to imagine this driving, heavily electronic, beat-heavy track in the hands and voice of a blazing country rocker in full-blown light-show prance-around encore mode. Or even in the sexualized, radio-ready hands of a modern poprock diva, like Pink, Madonna, or Ke$ha - wherein it would sound just right, come to think of it. Check it out, yo.

Off-Genre: Jesus

Velvet Underground: Jesus

[purchase]

On the first album they gave us Heroin and Venus in Furs, on the second Sister Ray and White Light White Heat and on the third we got ... Jesus.

Years ago, whenever I queried this track people would tell me Lou Reed was being ironic. I wasn't sure about that then, less so now. It's too affecting to be ironic, nor does it have the desperation necessary for what some think is a junkie's lament. Lyrically it's a straightforward hymn, musically it's not too far removed from the basic keyboard arrangements the early protestants favoured. All in all it stands up today as a straightforward declaration of Christian love, something Pat Boone (see below) would feel perfectly comfortable crooning. Maybe Lou Reed was daring us to ask what was going on here. No journalist I'm aware of ever put the question to him. Maybe they were scared of the answer they'd get.


Guest post by John

Off-Genre: Crazy Train

Pat Boone: Crazy Train

[purchase]

Pat Boone is best known for turning '50s black R&B into pop music, safe for the white masses. But in 1997, he gave us In a Metal Mood: No More Mr. Nice Guy, where he took twelve heavy metal and hard rock classics and gave them a jazzy big-band treatment. The album is an abomination, pure kitsch, but there there is value in finally hearing all the words to "Crazy Train".

Off-Genre: Not Quite Visual Kei Edition

Pata~~Miyavi~~You

X Japan: White Wind from Mr. Martin (Pata's Nap)

[purchase]

Miyavi: Jikoai, jigajisan, jiishiki kajou

Miyavi: Selfish love - Aishitekure, Aishiterukara

[purchase]

Janne Da Arc: Zero

[purchase]

Here are four short tunes from Japanese rock artists who are best known for playing lead guitar in well-known Visual Kei (VK) bands. VK as a genre, which began in the '80s in Japan, is a blend of glam rock, metal, and punk. In its early days, a VK band's appearance was part and parcel of the genre – think the New York Dolls cranked up to 11. These days, most VK bands have toned down the "visual shock." Maybe these aging stars realized that leather hot pants, Audrey Hepburn pearls, and fishnet stockings are no longer quite so flattering.

I mentioned X Japan in my first guest post. This supergroup defined Visual Kei back in the day and remains the stuff of legends. X Japan's sound can be classified as symphonic metal. What it wasn't was anything like this short piece by one of their two lead guitarists, Pata (we're all on a first-name basis with these guys). To me, this song's a little footnote that says, "Hey, when I'm not churning out power chords, did you know I can sound just like Willie Nelson?"

Next up are two tunes by VK artist Miyavi. I dragged my dear husband to see him on our vacation in London last fall, where I judge we were the oldest fans there by a good two decades. He's kind of the new kid on the VK block, and yes, he used to model fashion as well, can you tell from the pose? Such a cutie. Anyway, when he's not flirting with the camera and cranking out rock, he loves American blues. His two songs are meant to be heard as a set. He's a Muddy Waters fan, who these two songs honor by way of Tokyo. Miyavi's on his first US tour this June, mostly along the coasts, so if you have a chance, I heartily encourage you to check him out. Otherwise, look for these songs on YouTube, where he mimics the Mississippi River by flooding the studio.

Janne Da Arc (pronounced Jannu Daruku) is not named after the heroic Joan of Arc but rather after a manga character. To me, it seems like half the VK bands have chosen French names that are basically unpronounceable in Japanese. You, the lead guitarist (his mom knows him as Yutaka Tsuda), clearly released this tune to confuse Jimmy Page, who's probably still wondering when he recorded this.

Guest post by Geoviki

Off-Genre: The Real Thing

Russell Morris: The Real Thing

[purchase]

In 1969 Russell Morris was a pop singer, best known in Australia for some listenable if asinine pop songs, aspiring crooner Johnny Young had been the host of teen pop shows 'Club Seventeen' and 'Go', and Ian Meldrum was a journalist with pop magazine 'Go Set'. Pop was their world, and a pretty little world it was too. When Johnny Young wrote 'The Real Thing' he envisioned a pop ballad; an acoustic guitar, some strings and perhaps a girl chorus wrapped up in a sincerely syrupy declaration of pop love. That's what he was thinking when he gave it to Meldrum, who was also Morris's manager/producer. Maybe Meldrum secretly detested the song, or he had a paticularly inspiring weekend. Whatever, he turned loose on it, blasting away its prissiness with phasing, echo, feedback, demented overdubs, manic choirs and laughter and finishing it off the only way he could, with a massive explosion.

Russell gets the credit for this psychedelic masterpiece but it was always Meldrum's moment. In a few years he'd be the host of 'Countdown' the show that ruled Australian music in the 1970s. Johnny Young would host 'Young Talent Time', a breeding ground for kids who aspired to one day mount Countdown's centre stage. Russell Morris wouldn't go away either, though he'd never quite reach the heights of The Real Thing, but who could?

Guest post by John

Off-Genre: Cha Cha Loco

Joe Jackson: Cha Cha Loco

[purchase]

This week’s theme presents a unique challenge. Often, when an artist steps outside their comfort zone, they fall on their face. So the task is to find the good stuff. That means finding an artist who can stretch out successfully. Joe Jackson is usually one of these. He is known for new wave rock. But Jackson has incorporated reggae into his sound, (Fools in Love), and he recorded an entire album of old jazz songs. Only his sort of new age instrumental album fell flat. Still, Latin jazz?

That’s right. On Cha Cha Loco, Joe Jackson asked his band, normally a great rock group, to go Latin. It didn’t hurt that he was assisted by a great horn section. But any way you look at it, this really worked.

Mothers/Off-Genre: I Want To Be Your Mother's Son-In-Law

Macy Gray: I Want To Be Your Mother's Son-In-Law

[purchase]

Soulful R&B-slash-funk singer Macy Gray - often compared to Billie Holiday due to her airy voice and intonation - jazzes up one of Holiday's classic tunes, going full-blown New Orleans big-band for T-Bone Burnett's deliciously retro Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood soundtrack, and as befits its anachronistic setting, man, does this song swing. Great sentiment, too.

As this week's segue song, the track takes us from our Mothers theme to a dip in the pool of one-off genre switches. Careful not to judge the coming musicians by what you hear here in the next seven days, folks. It may be a blast, thanks to Burnett's prescient production, but this sure as heck isn't Macy's usual setting.

Mothers: The Rooms My Mother Made

Carrie Newcomer: The Rooms My Mother Made

[purchase]

As we journey through life, and as we journey through this week’s posts, we experience a variety of emotions about mothers. From the unconditional love we experience in early childhood, through the resentful feelings that some experience in their teenage years, and on to a bittersweet appreciation and acceptance that hopefully comes in later life, feelings about motherhood are complicated. In The Rooms My Mother Made, Carrie Newcomer doesn’t shy away from any of these feelings and more, But acceptance is her theme, and she expresses it beautifully. So this seemed to me to be the perfect song to bring my posts for this week to a close.

Mothers: "Baking Serving Caring Listening" Edition

The Roches: I Love My Mom

[purchase] - out of stock on their own website


Susan McKeown: Mother of Mine

[purchase]


Rachel Bissex: Dancing with My Mother

[purchase]


Annie Gallup: Blue Dress

[purchase]

I have been a mess for the last week, in anticipation/dread of this holiday that is everywhere (television, radio, newspaper, magazines, e- and snail-mail solicitations promoting gifts and flowers, department stores)... but that pains me so much this year, because it is my first Mother's Day without my mom - she passed away July 19, 2009 and her absence remains heartbreakingly fresh...

I really just want to crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head... but my own children need me, so I will attempt to be the best mother I can be under the circumstances, and they completely understand - inside, I feel lost and frightened and empty (who do I call/mail a card/send flowers to now?)...

I know Mom is with me in spirit, I retain indelible memories and she lives on in my character traits (the good and the bad) - I dream of her often and I realize she'd want me to move ahead and through rather than stay stuck and wounded...

I meant to post these songs throughout the week but it just seemed less wrenching to do it all at once (the band-aid removal theory, you know) - the last one, by definition of our terms (post songs with a word for "mother " in the title) is cheating, but it so suits the intention of the theme that I hope I'll be forgiven...

Mothers: I Had A Good Mother And Father

Washington Phillips: I Had A Good Mother And Father (circa 1928)

[purchase]

Kate Wolf: I Had A Good Mother and Father (1979)

[purchase]

Palace Brothers: I Had A Good Father And Mother (1993)

[purchase]

Gillian Welch: I Had A Real Good Mother & Father (2003)

[purchase]

Newcomers to the folkworld may believe this song is a Gillian Welch original, and it's true that Welch and her partner David Rawlings have a powerful tendency to make the songs they perform their own. But older folkies like myself know it as an old gospel spiritual, first recorded and possibly penned by Washington Phillips in the midst of the Great Depression, which flows down to us through the folkways in many hands and voices, and with variation in the title.

Kate Wolf, for example, takes Phillips' own listing and makes it her own through gentle, loving acoustic treatment in her inimitably beautiful voice. Meanwhile, the Palace Brothers reverse the titular parents and twang it up a bit, adding old timey banjo and slide over guitar strum patterns more akin to that of Phillips' original handmade chord-zither. Alongside these, Welch's slow-picked dustbowl rendition aches with yearning for the promise of Heaven's reunion.

Mothers: Does Your Mother Know

ABBA: Does Your Mother Know

[purchase]

Damn, this is my fourth post this week.

And I'm gonna use it to force some cheesy, ultra-commercial pop down your throats. Pop music of a kind not seen very often on this blog.

Mothers: A Mother's Cry

Loosegoats: A Mother's Cry

[purchase]

A baby bird has left its nest
Staggering like they always do
A mother's cry can cut through any man's chest
And it does
Yes it does

Sometimes I wish that it would be a little easier
'Cause the hardest fall comes when you're on the ground
Sometimes I wish that it would be a little easier
On you
On me

In the evil I see good
Easy to find but often so misunderstood
A mother's cry can cut through any man's chest
And it does
Yes it does

Mothers: Mother Russia

Renaissance: Mother Russia

[purchase]

Tracks like "Mother Russia", from Renaissance's 1974 Turn of the Cards, are why punk rock had to be invented. This is not music that will make you want to join a band. This is music that will turn you into an egghead. Bathe in its orchestral rock excess! I love it.

Mothers: Mama Didn't Lie

Doris: Mama Didn't Lie

[purchase]

Doris Svensson became something of a cult figure in Sweden a few years ago when the TV show Musikbyrån did a half hour special on the music scene in late 60's/early 70's. Before the show, very few had even heard of her, and suddenly her only album Did You Give The World Some Love Today, Baby (1970) sold like crazy.

It was reissued on cd in 1996 with a number of bonus tracks, including this Curtis Mayfield penned number, originally recorded by Jan Bradley and The Fascinations in 1963. There was also a cover of The Band's Whispering Pine, which can be checked out here.

Mothers: Mother's Spiritual

Laura Nyro – Mother's Spiritual

[purchase]

This song comes from one of Laura Nyro's later albums, recorded in 1984 when she was a single mother of a 2-year-old boy. By then, she'd moved away from the jazz and soul–drenched pop that often defined her earlier songs (and made big hits for artists like The Fifth Dimension, Barbra Streisand, Three Dog Night, and Blood, Sweat and Tears). Recorded in her Connecticut home studio and using only a piano and her compelling voice, the title song is a poetic ode to motherhood. And although I love her Brill Building pop sound (she did an entire cover album in 1971 with LaBelle just full of gems from the likes of Martha and the Vandellas, Curtis Mayfield, and Ben E. King), I also love her heartfelt ballads like this one.

Guest post by Geoviki

Mothers: My Mother’s Keeper

Laura Siersema: My Mother‘s Keeper

[purchase]

One of my great pleasures in running Oliver di Place is discovering artists who are new to me. I feature their most recent work, and that usually means I don’t get to share them with you here. That’s because, at Star Maker, we have an informal rule against posting new music. But lately, I have begun to get from my Oliver artists some of their older work. Laura Siersema is one of these, and the first one I am sharing here.

My Mother’s Keeper is from Siersema’s debut album. The song is a beautiful portrait of women who go out on their own, only to discover that they must return home to care for their mothers in later life. Or maybe it isn’t. Maybe the song is about women who find echoes of their mother’s behavior in themselves as they get older. This is one of those lyrics that will start conversations about its meaning. I don’t think there is a single right answer. And it is very difficult to write a lyric like this.

Meanwhile, Siersema sings this one in an intimate alto, although she sings in a warm soprano elsewhere. For accompaniment, there is just Siersema’s piano, but that is all the song needs. You can hear more of Siersema’s early work here. With her latest album, Siersema says she has found her sound. It is built from what she was doing on her debut. You can hear what she sounds like now here.

Mothers: Night Time Was My Mother

Driver Quartet: Night Time Was My Mother

[out of print]

For a few years in the late '90s, Driver Quartet were making interesting sounds in downtown NYC. Bandleader David Driver's mannered vocals were the obvious focus of the group, but the rest of the band were all master musicians, so the backing by keyboardist Fil Krohnengold, woodwind/accordion player Peter Kiesewalter, and bassist Adam Bernstein (yes, him again) was always more interesting than simple backing.

They specialized in digging up obscurities from the American Popular Songbook, and sprinkling them with originals (often from bassist Bernstein), as well as a few more well-known songs. (There reworking of "Me and Julio Down By the Schoolyard" is sublime.)

"Night Time Was My Mother" is one of the obscurities. Written by Connie Pearce and Arnold Miller, the liner notes to the Driver Quartet CD Night Time state that the song was "[o]riginally recorded by June Christy in 1958, in an arrangement by her longtime collaborator Pete Rugolo. We have yet to find another version." (I've recently discovered that another artist has since recorded it.)

The band must have really liked the song. They only released one EP (Big and Strong and Lonely) and one full-length CD (the aforementioned Night Time), yet both discs took their titles from its dark lyrics. Both discs also open with a version of the song. I've chosen to share the slightly longer second version, from Night Time.

Mothers: Every Mother's Son

Chris Smither: Every Mother's Son

[out of print; purchase used here]

Today's post marks the fifth Chris Smither post since this blog's inception, though only my second since the man himself moved from his long-time home of Woodstock to our own local area, and I think it's fair to warn all our readers that just as I plan to see him another three dozen times or more before I die, I plan to keep posting and promoting the undersung folkblues poet until I've converted everyone within earshot.

Smither's performance and songwriting prowess have matured and mellowed with age, but this early track from 1972 sophomore release Don't It Drag On is a personal favorite: deep and blue, pensive and peaceful, yet elegantly simple in its structure and lyric. There's also a great live version on his 1991 comeback album Another Way To Find You.

Mothers: Mother of Earth

Mick Harvey: Mother of Earth

[purchase]

There's a story that Billy Idol heard the Gun Club playing Mother of Earth, tried to copy it and came up with White Wedding. Former Bad Seed Mick Harvey simply decided to cover the song. Think of this as a prayer by a man who has used up all his chances. Think of Edward Weston's photograph of a dead drifter he stumbled on in the desert. Think of John Fante's "Ask the Dust" if you want but try not to think of White Wedding. You'll be receiving all the wrong messages.

The 2005 album, One Man's Treasure, slipped under too many radars, maybe because Harvey was covering songs, maybe because it wasn't quite what Bad Seeds fans wanted. Too bad. There isn't a dull moment on this album.

Guest post from John. His blog is One Man’s Treasure. Coincidence?

Mothers: The Bob Dylan & The Band Edition

Bob Dylan & The Hawks: Tell Me Momma

[purchase]


Bob Dylan & The Band: Tough Mama

[purchase]


Bob Dylan & The Band: It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding

[purchase]

Tell Me Momma was the opening song of the second half of Dylan's set during the controversial electric rock band tour of 1966. This take is from the infamous "Judas gig" in Manchester on May 17. The Band, or The Hawks as they were still known from their hellraising years with Ronnie Hawkins, are all present on this track, sans drummer Levon Helm who had chosen to leave the tour because of the overwhelmingly negative response from the audience, and been replaced by Mickey Jones.

Tough Mama is taken from 1974's Planet Waves, the only proper studio album Dylan and The Band recorded together. They had collaborated on Blonde On Blonde in 1966 (again without Helm), but only guitarist Robbie Robertson appeared on the finished album. And of course they had the legendary sessions in Woodstock in 1967, eventually released as The Basement Tapes in 1975, which wasn't originally intended for release but played a big role on Dylan's John Wesley Harding (1967) and The Band's debut album Music From Big Pink (1968).

Following the release of Planet Waves, Dylan and The Band went on tour - Dylan's first in eight years. Before The Flood was recorded during this tour, and it's from this live album the incendiary rendition of It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding is taken. Although I confess it doesn't entirely fit into this post, as Dylan did it by himself and doesn't feature The Band at all. But it's the only song on there that references a mother in the title, so I'm shoehorning it in.

Hats off to Darius. Photo by Neil Preston.

Mothers: Mother Stands For Comfort

Kate Bush: Mother Stands For Comfort

[purchase]

A mother’s love is a thing of great power. You hear of mothers who are suddenly able to lift cars, because they believe their child lies beneath. As Kate Bush sees it here, a mother protects her child, no matter what he may have done. “Mother will hide the murderer. Mother will hide the madman.” Bush apparently meant for this song to be taken literally.

The melody and some of the instrumental lines have a hymn like quality. But other parts are disorienting. There are odd sound effects, and the music overall has an otherworldly feel. This all creates a dramatic tension that is very powerful.

Oh, before I leave you, let me take a moment to thank David and Geoviki for answering the call, and making sure I had this to post.

Instrumentals/Mothers: Smother Your Mother Tango

Mambo Combo: Smother Your Mother Tango

[purchase]

Surely there's a more appropriate song out there for our transition from one theme to the next this week - after all, we're looking towards Mother's Day, and though my own mother and I have a classically strained and essentially dysfunctional relationship, the titular sentiment here is a bit violent even for me. But I just couldn't resist this joyous faux-latin tango, in no small part because the backstory is delightfully ridiculous.

Mambo Combo was formed when one of its members, a punk guitarist named Bob Friedman, came up with a truly silly name for a band for a small festival that he was promoting, and - purely as a joke - decided to recruit three drummers and two other guitarists, all local punk musicians themselves, to form a band that fit the name, despite having no experience whatsoever with the world of latin music. In 1997, after fifteen years of tongue-in-cheek for-fun-only gigs led to a serious reputation, Mambo Combo recorded their one and only studio album, Mr. Happy; since then, they've leveraged their work into a full-time gig, continuing to perform for parties and at bars in the Baltimore area.

I have no idea how I ended up with this track after all that - must have picked it up on the blogs somewhere - but for what it's worth, it's infectiously fun. The Mambo Combo website is endearingly old-school, too.

Instrumentals: Edward, the Mad Shirt Grinder

Quicksilver Messenger Service: Edward, the Mad Shirt Grinder

[purchase]

Quicksilver Messenger Service circa 1969, from the one album they made while famed British session keyboardist Nicky Hopkins (a/k/a "Edward") was a member of the band. Hopkins played on hits by just about everyone on both sides of the Atlantic in the '60s and '70s (a partial list includes The Who, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, The Jeff Beck Group, Rod Stewart, Cat Stevens, Donovan, Jefferson Airplane, The Steve Miller Band, Art Garfunkel, Jerry Garcia, The Beatles, and all four solo Beatles), but here he gets to stretch out on one of his own compositions.

Instrumentals: Synchronicity

Sugizo – Synchronicity

[purchase]

Darius has generously encouraged me to offer up a second post for Instrumentals Week, and since I've been a huge fan of Star Maker Machine these past years, I took him up on it with glee. Besides, I just retired yesterday, so it's not like I don’t have the time. Heh.

There's no one quite so passionate as a convert. And although I have more traditional tastes, and would like to share those with you, I suspect I'll try hard to coax you into following me into my new love of Japanese rock (aka J-Rock or J-Pop). Like most of you, I've liked world music in one incarnation or another for quite a while, but I recently discovered this whole new genre. Don't you just love it when worlds unfold like that? You're all music lovers, so I know you've had it happen, too. Scales falling from eyes!

So. Sugizo. That's him in the photo, looking like he's decked out in Halloween crepe and doing the goth limbo. He plays both guitar and violin, amply on display in this song. He's the lead guitarist for Luna Sea, a big name in the 90's, mainly, but who reform on occasion. At the moment, he's joined X-Japan, one of the biggest J-Rock groups ever. If you like your rock with a side of emo soap opera, come sit by me and I'll fill you in. Or you can Wiki them. And if you happen to live in Chicago, you lucky things, you can see X-Japan reunited at Lollapalooza this summer, an event that has me counting my frequent flier miles. Think The Beatles, if they'd managed to get back together before George died (because oh yes, we also have tragic band member death).

Synchronicity is from the Sugizo-penned soundtrack to the movie Soundtrack (and boy, if you want to confound a Google search, name your movie Soundtrack). Sugizo also stars in this film. I just watched it a few weeks ago and couldn't make much sense of it, to be frank. It's mostly a lot of violent imagery backed with tender violin playing. Still, the music's terrific and the actors are easy on the eyes, so what's not to like?

Guest post by Geoviki

Instrumentals: Pond Crossings II, Folk Dance Edition

It was almost two years ago that I began posting here. And very soon after, Boyhowdy did me the distinct honor of inviting me to do a guest post on his blog, Cover Lay Down. For my theme, I chose to examine how songs from the British Isles changed when the came to the United States. You can still see that post here, although the songs are long gone. I wanted to wrap up my posts for this week with a sequel of sorts to that post. Let’s take a look at how music for folk dancing manages its trip across the pond.

All of the music in this post is instrumental by necessity. Live, there is a caller who announces the steps as they happen. After two or three repetitions of the music, with variations, the caller drops out, and the dance propels itself.

Ted Furey: Saddle the Pony

[purchase]

Irish folk dancing is a lively affair. Often, the music contains a missing percussion part, which is supplied live by the thunderous sound of the dancers’ feet hitting the floor. Thanks to Riverdance, most people know about step dancing, which is strictly for performance. But Ireland has a rich tradition of jigs, reels, strathspeys, and other dance tunes. These are participatory dances; no one is expected to sit still and just watch. Indeed, sitting still when a master is playing one of these tunes is almost impossible.

Ted Furey probably hoped that his children would follow in his footsteps as a musician. In his time, Ted was known as one of the finest traditional Irish fiddlers. Indeed, future generations of Fureys have made their mark as well. I will be looking in on some of them in a Spotlight on Celtic music on Oliver di Place. That’s coming up soon. Watch the sidebar here to find out when I post it, or pay me a visit sooner if you like.

Bonnie Rideout: Mrs Gunn‘s Strathspey- Sweet Molly- Wise Maid

[purchase]

Bonnie Rideout is actually American, but her interpretations are authentic enough that she has won several Scottish Fiddle championships. In Scotland and Ireland both, bands often play “sets” rather than single tunes. The dancers know to expect this, and don’t miss a step. A “set” is what we would call a medley, where one tune blends into the next.

Foxfire: The Introduction

[purchase]

English country dancing is a more stately affair. The music is slower, and there is more of an emphasis on the beauty of the melody and the playing. The dances that go with it reflect this. There are moves and postures that are very specific, and purists will let you know if you miss one.

Foxfire is one of the leading English country dance bands. They are affiliated with the Country Dance and Song Society, which is an excellent resource for more information on the music and associated dances in this post.

Stella Kimble: Cotton Eyed Joe

[purchase]

Based on the results, I’m guessing that more Scottish and Irish that English people settled the American South. Here we find square dancing, not like you learned it in gym class, but as a living folk-dance form. The energy found in Celtic folk dance music is here too, and again, there is a missing percussion part supplied by the thunder of the dancers’ feet.

I cannot find much information about Stella Kimble. I know she was from North Carolina, and she is regarded by many bluegrass musicians as an important pioneer on the banjo. If anyone has more information, please share it in the comments.

Possum Ridge String Band: The Road to Lisdoonvarna

[purchase]

For the section on contra dancing, I knew I wanted a version of The Road to Lisdoonvarna. I think I’ve danced to this at every contradance I ever attended. Contradancing and its music is what happened to all this in New England. It is not quite as energetic as Southern square dancing, which means that an ordinary mortal can hope to get through an entire evening on the dance floor. The music shows more of the English influence than its Southern cousin, with smoother playing and greater variety in the harmonies.

I knew what I wanted this version of Lisdoonvarna to sound like. This is how I remember hearing it at dances. Curiously, The Possum Ridge String Band is based in Virginia.

Instrumentals: Albatross

Fleetwood Mac: Albatross

[purchase]

This haunting Peter Green instrumental is perhaps more well known in the U.K., where it was #1 hit, than in the U.S., where the Buckingham-Nicks version of the band is just about all that people remember. When it was released in early 1969, it was quite a departure from the straight-ahead blues that had been the Mac's bread and butter up until then. Of course it was the first of many musical changes the band would undergo in the following decade.

Reportedly inspired by Santo & Johnny's classic "Sleepwalk" (and in turn an inspiration for the Beatles' "Sun King"), "Albatross" came together not long after Danny Kirwin joined the band as third guitarist. (The band's second guitarist, Jeremy Spencer, had no involvement in this recording.) It was Green's vision, but Danny helped him bring it to fruition, his and Peter's guitars harmonizing beautifully over Mick Fleetwood's muted drums and swelling cymbals and John McVie's simple, pulsing bass line.

In a year when everything was becoming "heavy", it was a gentle, soothing balm. It still is.

Instrumentals: Inspector

Alison Brown: Inspector

[purchase]

Banjo virtuosa, jazzgrass composer, and Compass Records label-founder Alison Brown quite often records with carefully selected special guests from the folk and bluegrass world, including the occasional vocalist; the delightful covers of popsongs which often result - Elvis Costello, Harry Nilsson, and Paul Simon among them - are well worth pursuit, and quite often find their way onto my home blog Cover Lay Down.

But Brown's no lead singer, preferring to speak instead through her instrumental mastery and her ability to construct and compile musicians and song. As such, deeper towards the core of Brown's catalog, we find a stellar, surprisingly diverse collection of original instrumentals that seamlessly blend elements of newgrass, world music, and jazz, like Bela Fleck with less jamband cred and a bit more Contemporary Pop production value.

Inspector is a jazzy, jumpy delight, from her all-instrumental 1994 release Look Left and, later, her highly-recommended 2006 "best of" collection The Vanguard Years, but there's no way to represent her breadth of talent with just a single cut, so definitely check out the rest of her work.

Instrumentals: Release It

Afro Celt Sound System – Release It

[purchase]

Mixing African rhythms into other musical genres wasn't new when Paul Simon did it in 1986 with Graceland. American blues (and its stepchild, rock and roll) traces its roots to western Africa. Much of modern Brazilian music, too, is a fusion of African and Portuguese sources. So when East Londoner Simon Emmerson traveled to Senegal in 1992 to produce an album for worldbeat artist Baaba Maal, he picked up the idea of blending African rhythms with Celtic melodies. The group he gathered, Afro Celt Sound System, formed in 1995 around Irish, English, and African musicians. Emmerson, a guitarist and DJ as well as a producer, didn't stop there, though: He steeped his songs in electro-dance rhythms, especially ambient, trance, and techno. The end result is not only multi-cultural, but also wholly modern.

Release It (1999) is the final song of their second album, which almost wasn't made following the sudden death of their keyboardist. This song is a tribute to their dead friend and celebrates his release from earthly hardships. Some of the more unusual instruments include the Celtic harp, uilleann pipes, kora, talking drum, balafon, bodhran, djembe, and whistle. I think I know what the whistle sounds like, and the rest I'll just have to Wiki.

I think it would be a real honor to have a tribute song like this that makes listeners want to dance.

Guest post by Geovicki. Please give her a warm welcome.

Instrumentals: Tom Waits Edition

Tom Waits: Cinny's Waltz

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Tom Waits: Rainbirds

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Tom Waits: Good Old World (Gypsy Instrumental)

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Tom Waits: Knife Chase

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Isn't that an amazing photo at the top of this post? I don't think I've ever seen a picture of Tom Waits that looks exactly the way his music sounds. A hobo breaking into a carnival in the middle of the night, having the time of his life.

At first glance it might look like an odd choice for Instrumentals Week to pick an artist who's so known for his voice, but his wordless pieces are not to be missed. He (and his wife/collaborator Kathleen Brennan) have always had a knack for creating haunting images with their sonic landscapes.

It's no wonder he's contributed to so many movies over the years, both as a songwriter and as an actor - a more cinematic performer is hard to find.

Instrumentals: R.E.M. B-Sides

R.E.M.: Fruity Organ

R.E.M.: Mandolin Strum

R.E.M.: Memphis Train Blues

R.E.M.: New Orleans Instrumental #2

R.E.M.: Tricycle

R.E.M.: Winged Mammal Theme

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At the risk once again of becoming the guy who only posts R.E.M. songs... here's another post full of R.E.M. songs. The difference in this post being that most of these are rarities that only the most hardcore fans know about. These are all non-album tracks that mainly appeared as B-side recordings to singles the band put out at various points in their career. They mostly exist just to show a different side of the band that didn't always make it to the records. The "purchase" link for this post simply points to the R.E.M. store at Amazon.com.

R.E.M.'s studio sessions typically yield many of these types of recordings. Peter Buck says he writes hundreds of songs every year, and many of them end up as nothing more than musical workouts for the band in the studio. Buck has also said that recording sessions for each R.E.M. album can produce roughly 20 or 30 of these "unfinished songs."

Some of these musical nuggets are born out of other songs... "Memphis Train Blues" was an improvised piece performed in the studio after the band grew tired of playing the repetitive chord structure of the song "Hairshirt" from Green. Drummer Bill Berry plays mandolin.

Some of them started out as jokes and just kept hanging around... "Tricycle" was a goofy exercise that grew out of sound checks during the Monster tour. Guitarist Peter Buck says the song kept getting "stupider and stupider" as they worked it out, but they were having too much fun to stop playing it. Buck originally wanted to call it "Four Wheels to Hell" but felt "Tricycle" was much less melodramatic.

Some are self explanitory... "Fruity Organ" and "Mandolin Strum" would seem to need no explanation.

Others just kind of appeared and had no where else to go... "New Orleans Instrumental #2" came out of the Automatic for the People sessions and was recorded the same day as that album's "New Orleans Instrumental #1." "Winged Mammal Theme" was submitted to Tim Burton for inclusion on one of the Batman movie soundtracks. It didn't make the cut.

Instrumentals: Punchdrunks Edition

Robert Johnson And Punchdrunks: Buzz Aldrin

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Robert Johnson And Punchdrunks: Stuck In Tunisia

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When told this week's theme would be instrumentals I immediately thought of surf rock. The next logical step was to think of my favorite band in this genre: Robert Johnson And Punchdrunks. A band whose "tropical exotic rock" I once described on my blog as:

"...sweaty, feverish, horny, violent, furious and ferocious. It's surf rock all coked up and with a thirst for blood.

Imagine four people losing their minds on a mezcal & tequila binge being so pissed off at their instruments they're trying to beat them to death while the tape's running.

Imagine the motion picture soundtrack to Tony Montana vs. James Bond.

Imagine the sound of Lux Interior and Larry Parypa taking turns buggering Link Wray behind a burning whorehouse in Shanghai."

Pretty accurate if I may say so myself.

Lately the band has for some reason evolved into some sort of electronic dub thing that I find hard to maintain interest in, but between circa 1994 and 2004, Robert Johnson And Punchdrunks were the kings of underproduced, roughneck surfabilly.

Instrumentals: I Miss You Kate

Sting: I Miss You Kate

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Near as I can tell, in the two years since Star Maker Machine opened for business, we've never posted two separate posts by the same artist in a single week. To post two consecutive posts by the same artist is just plain weird, a rarity in the blogosphere at large.

But I'm doing it anyway. Because this particular instrumental is hauntingly beautiful, and though its middle section contains a hint of the same jazz modality that underlies Dream of the Blue Turtles, and the first and last sections coincide audiographically with Sting's Contemporary Pop period, in many ways, this carefully constructed composition - a piano-led jazz ballad, with subtle bass and drums, and a swelling string section to support it all -sounds utterly nothing like Sting in any other guise.

I did a genuine double take when I first encountered the track, purely by accident, as a b-side to the CD single for All This Time, which I purchased upon its release in '91. For a long time, I Miss You Kate was a mainstay of my mixtape compilation catalog, and I still treasure its very existence. Fair warning, though: the other b-side on the single - an 8 minute live take of King of Pain, sans the other members of The Police - goes on a bit long.

Instrumentals: The Dream of the Blue Turtles

Sting: The Dream of the Blue Turtles

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The statement of our theme clearly states that there are to be no voices at all. I hope I may be forgiven for the laughter at the end of this one. It has everything to do with how this song came to be.

Sting said in interviews at the beginning of his solo career that he had come to feel stifled in the Police. He was seeking a spontaneity he had been missing. So he sought to put together a band of jazz musicians for his first solo album. They all said yes, and what a band it was! Drummer Omar Hakim came from Weather Report. Sax Player Branford Marsalis was a well known bandleader, and he brought with him his keyboard player Kenny Kirkland. And bassist Darryl Jones had just finished a stint with Miles Davis. All took the music seriously, but they had a lot of fun together as well. One day in the studio, the band was just jamming for fun, but the tape was rolling. This was where the song The Dream of the Blue Turtles came from. Sheet music had to be written up afterwards, because this one just happened. I suppose, for Sting, the song epitomized the spontaneity he was looking for, because this became the title track of the album.

Instrumentals: Journey in Satchidananda

Alice Coltrane: Journey in Satchidananda

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There aren't enough harpists in jazz these days.

Alice Coltrane may have never completely escaped the shadow of her iconic husband, but she did create some fascinating music. Conversant on piano and harp, she uses both to good effect on this funky bit of free jazz. (And let me just say...a bit of funk goes a long way towards making free jazz more accessible, IMHO.)

With a few of her late husband's former sidemen on board (Pharoah Sanders on soprano sax and Rashied Ali on drums), Cecil McBee holding everything together with a slow, funky bass line, Tulsi providing the tambura drone, and Majid Shabazz sprinkling the works with Middle-Eastern percussion, "Journey in Satchidananda" sounds better than the sum of its parts might suggest.

Satchidananda, by the way, may be a reference to Swami Satchidananda, whom Alice had become a disciple of, but it is also an Indian compound word for a concept that is (very) roughly akin to the Buddhist concept of Nirvāṇa.

Instrumentals: Whiplash

101 Strings: Whiplash

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Think of 101 Strings and you are thinking of elevators or shopping centres or people your parents didn't like very much. !01 Strings - the orchestra used up to 142 Strings but that didn't sound so catchy - took schmaltz down to new depths, then along came Astro Sounds from Beyond the Year 2000. In reality (if that's the word to use here) this was an album by Jerry Cole, session musician with the Byrds and on Pet Sounds, with 101 Strings layered on top. Still, they got the credit for it. One can wonder what their loyal fans thought when they heard Whiplash. As for the album title's claim; in so many ways it stands up.

Guest post by John from One Man’s Treasure. Please give him a warm welcome.

Instrumentals: Swan Lake

Madness: Swan Lake

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First of all, thanks to both BWR and Bert. Swan Lake was the first song I thought of for our Instrumentals theme, but I didn’t have it. So, I put out a call, and both of these fine gentlemen answered.

Why Swan Lake? First, because it’s just so much fun. Just imagine the black and white checked tutus that go with this version. Yes, this is Swan Lake as in the ballet, but is also pure ska in this version. It comes from Madness’ debut album, and shows what wonderful musical imagination they had from the start. And the talent to back it up.

Instrumentals: Duane Allman

Duane Allman: Little Martha

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My fave instrumental just might be the only song brother Duane Allman ever wrote in his too-short life. Significant detail: the instrument Skydog achieved so much well-deserved fame with, the slide guitar, is nowhere to be found here. Little Martha is a timeless acoustic ode to an extramarital girlfriend who in real life was called Dixie.

Trios / Instrumentals: California Guitar Trio

California Guitar Trio: The Marsh

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Forged in the aftermath of a chance meeting at King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp's famous zen-influenced Guitar Craft courses in the late eighties, the California Guitar Trio - comprised of three master musicians from Brussels, Utah, and Tokyo - plays technically challenging yet fluid instrumentals that teeter at the intersection of classical, jazz, surf, rock, world music, bluegrass, and anything else they can get their talented hands on.

This original piece, the lead track from 2004 release Whitewater, is a personal favorite: crisp enough for a movie soundtrack, mellow enough to compliment or even stand in for a soothing massage or a quick recharging dip in the hot tub.

Trios: The Kingston Trio

The Kingston Trio: Charlie on the MTA

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I call it pop-folk. In the 1950s, a number of groups arise who played and sang traditional songs on acoustic instruments, but were not folk artists, exactly. These groups had carefully developed stage routines, and there performances were scrubbed clean of any roughness. Often they cultivated a clean-cut image by appearing in matching outfits. All of this applied to The Kingston Trio, but they also showed how much could be done within this set of limitations. Charlie on the MTA is a fine example. This is a protest song, but not one that would provoke much controversy. The song concerns a transit fare increase in Boston, and it uses humor to make its point. The Kingston Trio's reputation for using humor in their act actually helps put this one over, and the limitations of the pop-folk form become a strength. By putting over their objections to a fare increase in the most non-threatening manner, The Kingston Trio assured that their protest would reach the widest possible audience.

Trios: Ebba Grön

Ebba Grön: Schweden Schweden

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I don't think there's a single Swedish youth who didn't in one way or another grow up listening to Ebba Grön. I was certainly one of them. I shudder at the thought of what a terrible taste in music I would've had today if I hadn't discovered them in 1992 at the tender age of 11.

Inspired by the likes of The Clash, Eater and The Sex Pistols, they formed in the outskirts of Stockholm in 1977 by members of bands such as Urin and Pink Champagne, and soon became one of the most reputable bands in the country. They left behind three albums and a string of singles before parting ways in 1983 after their bassist Lennart "Fjodor" Eriksson (the one with the mohawk) got sent to prison for refusing to do his mandatory military service. Ironically, one of the band's songs, Totalvägra, was about written to inspire young people to refuse do their military service. At least the band practiced what they preached.

Singer, guitarist and frontman Joakim Thåström (the one in the middle) continued his career in bands like Imperiet, Peace Love & Pitbulls and Sällskapet and is today the biggest and most respected male artist in Sweden. Not to pimp my own blog or anything, but according to my humble little countdown he made the 10th best album of 2009.

Eriksson and drummer Gustav "Gurra" Ljungstedt however have both faded into obscurity.

But despite the band being inactive for 27 years (they've consistently refused to reunite no matter how many millions they're offered) their reputation lives ever on and on - various box sets and compilations have been released since the band's break-up and they've all rocketed to the top of the charts.

Trios: Sleater-Kinney

Sleater-Kinney: Little Babies

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Sleater-Kinney started as Carrie Brownstein's and Corin Tucker's side project as they were both in other bands at the time (Excuse 17 and Heavens to Betsy). Slowly Sleater-Kinney became their main focus but they didn't have a consistent drummer until they introduced Janet Weiss into the equation. The three Pacific-Northwest natives were a good fit and went on to make the rest of their catalog together.

They were one of the bigger names to come out of the Riot Grrl scene and one that was able to stay popular and current with the changing music scene. Their last album The Woods, was critically acclaimed and left people shocked when they went on hiatus on such a high note.

They made seven full-length albums in total before going on indefinite hiatus in 2006, but there's talks of reunions and side project albums in the meantime. Carrie has dabbled in other artist endeavors like acting and producing video, Janet has focused on her other band, Quasi, and Corin has focused her attentions on being a mother, though she's also been in the studio.

Trios: Dinosaur Jr.

Dinosaur Jr.: Raisans

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Power trio Dinosaur Jr. recorded and released sophomore album You're Living All Over Me in '87, and like the early work of several other similar late eighties Boston-based grunge trios - Blake Babies, Sebadoh and The Lemonheads among them - the album became a seminal part of my musical development as I was moved from public school to private school in the middle of my high school years. The vomitous, psychedelic cover, with its double-skull faces turned away from the viewer, was an apt reflection of my inner turmoil at the time; twenty years later, the transformed and transformative pre-emo, post-punk feedback-heavy sound which filled my headphones and friends' smoky bedrooms still brings me back to adolescence in a single chord.

Listen loud - this stuff is meant to overwhelm the senses, prime for wallowing in teenage malaise, or merely reliving it.

Trios: Bill Evans Trio

Bill Evans Trio: All of You

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Despite being one of the most influential pianists of the last 50 years, Bill Evans democratized the piano trio. Instead of making it a piano showcase, he saw the rhythm section as equal musical partners.

On June 25, 1961, Evans brought his trio--Scott LaFaro on bass and Paul Motian on drums--to the now legendary Village Vanguard in New York for a full day (and night) of shows, five sets in all. The shows were recorded for a pair of influential albums, Sunday at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debbie (later expanded, appropriately, to a trio with More from the Vanguard). But the way to get them is to go for the whole package, The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961 (and that's what the "purchase" link will take you to).

Sadly, Scott LaFaro died in a car crash less than two weeks after these recordings were made, so they stand as the final statement of this legendary trio.

Trios: Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross

Lambert Hendricks and Ross: A Night in Tunisia

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So, am I cheating by including this one for our Trios theme? Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross were not together long, but they left a body of work that established them as one of the great jazz vocal trios. As will be heard on this track, they were usually accompanied by a band of jazz instrumentalists, so you hear the work of three singers, but a total of about seven or eight musicians. Susan avoided this problem with The Roches by posting an a capella track. My own opinion is that vocal trios in various musical genres have made great contributions to music, and deserve to be honored this week. I can think of only three covers that Joni Mitchell has done in her career, and two were covers of Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross, (Twisted and Centerpiece, if you were wondering). And A Night in Tunisia shows off their talent beautifully. The song is originally by Dizzy Gillespie, and someone else wrote the lyrics. But Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross deliver the definitive vocal version of the song. After all, there aren’t that many people who can sing it at all!

Trios: Blake Babies

Blake Babies: Rain

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The Blake Babies are Juliana Hatfield, John Strohm and Freda Love. They met while all were attending college in Boston in 1986. The story is this: Juliana painfully shy but desperate to play music and find kindred spirits; Freda, outgoing, loved by many follows Juliana to her dorm one day after seeing her walking through campus all the time with her guitar...asks her to come jam with her and a friend some time. At the tme Juliana had never played an electric guitar let alone a bass, but a bass player is what they need, so she borrows John's and learns and becomes their main vocalist and bassist. Shortly there after they go to a talk by poet Allen Ginsberg and in the questions and answer part they ask him to name their band, he suggests "Blake Babies", inspired by William Blake's "Songs of Innocence and Experience". The name seems fitting and sticks, a band is born.

They got a lot of great reviews and garnered a following in that late 80s and early 90s college scene. Soon after Juliana went solo and did even better. In 2001 they got back together for a reunion album, and Juliana and Freda have had a side band (Some Girls) that's been off and on for a while as well. They remain friends but now live in different parts of the country, the rest is history.

Their music is folk-tinged rock, Juliana's innocent sounding voice is even more so in her early days when she was even more shy, but the music is charming.

Trios: Pugh & Friends

Pugh Rogefeldt: Här Kommer Natten

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In 1969, Torbjörn "Pugh" Rogefeldt was recording his debut album Ja, Dä Ä Dä with two giants in the Swedish psych rock scene: drummer Jan Carlsson (far left in that pic) from renowned drums & organ duo Hansson & Carlsson, one of Jimi Hendrix's favorite bands. Georg Wadenius (the one in the middle) from jazz rockers Made In Sweden, later of Blood Sweat & Tears, handled bass and electric guitar.

Pugh was only 21 when this album was cut, and you can tell from the youthful energy and playfulness that shimmers all over the whole recording, even the mellow songs.

It was rather unusual for Swedish performers to sing in their own language in 1969, and it definitely set a trend. Ja, Dä Ä Dä made it fashionable to sing in Swedish, and before you knew it you had to sing in Swedish or the huge progg movement (which should not be confused with prog) deemed you a corporate whore, America lover, a capitalist and a sellout.

Pugh made two more album in a similar style before leaving the psychedelic world for more mainstream rock that wasn't very interesting. Ja, Dä Ä Dä is perhaps the best album ever recorded in Sweden, certainly the best album ever recorded in Swedish. A whimsical, psychedelic masterpiece!

Trios: Speed, Glue & Shinki

Speed, Glue & Shinki: Stoned Out Of My Mind

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I´ve been a huge fan of that stripped-down, transparent power trio sound as long as I can remember, so this week´s theme really got my juices flowing. Lots of obvious choices immediately came to mind, but in the end I decided to settle for something just a tad more obscure.

Enter the hard rockin´ free-blues of Speed, Glue & Shinki. These Tokyo-based stoners made two rip-roaring albums in the early seventies, which ended up as (shared) number 1 and number 15 in Julian ´Japrocksampler´ Cope´s top 50 of Japanese sixties and seventies rock. Totally deserved, as the triumvirate of Masayoshi Kabe on bass, Philippines-born Joey ´Pepe´ Smith on drums and snotty vocals, and the amazing Shinki Chen on guitar put many a Western counterpart to shame. Banzai!

Trios: Ben Folds Five

Ben Folds Five: Philosophy

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Ben Folds Five? Wait... I thought this was supposed to be "Trios Week."

Don't worry, I'm not breaking the rules. Ben Folds five was a trio out of Chapel Hill, North Carolina led by the eponymous Ben Folds on piano. The band also featured Robert Sledge on bass and Darren Jessee on drums. Notice the absence of a lead guitar (or any guitar) in that line-up.

As for the name... they chose it simply because of its alliterative aspects and because "Ben Folds Five" sounded better than "Ben Folds Three." It was just another idiosyncrasy from this, often quirky, group that released three amazing piano pop records in the 1990's before disbanding at the end of the decade.

This song comes from their self-titled 1995 debut album and does a great job of showcasing the template of their sound. Ben is up front with vocals and piano. Robert's bass is fuzzed out in places and combines with Darren's drumming to provide the power of the track. Robert and Darren can also always be relied upon to provide ready harmonies to augment the sound.

Trios: Cream

Cream: Strange Brew

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For me, our Trios week must begin with Cream. I’ll explain.

I am the youngest of three brothers. My oldest brother was the perfect age to be aware of the “hippest” music that was coming out in the 1960s, and to build his record collection accordingly. He would sneer at the music that dominated the charts and AM radio, and bring home the music the hippies were listening to. One day, that meant the band Cream. As always, he would gather his younger brothers, and take us into his room, (it was the only time we were allowed in!) He would then put his newest acquisition on the record player, and we would listen. The day he first brought Cream home, we got to the end of the first side, and he exclaimed, “And can you believe that’s just three musicians?” These days, I can describe how Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, and Ginger Baker filled the space that a second guitarist would have occupied, but back then I could only marvel. I still do.

Trios: The Roches

The Roches: The Anti-Sex Backlash of the 80's

[purchase] - this CD is out of stock on their website so I'm providing the Amazon.com link

I have shared this trio of sisters before - at this point, it was just a matter of which song to choose...

After much pondering between mellow or upbeat, pulling their full catalog of CDs from my shelves and perusing tracklists until my eyes lost focus... I finally decided on this tune which, in my opinion, completely captures their wacky view of life... as well as showcases their amazing harmonies, even when they *intend* (and they do) to sing off-key - plus, frankly, I can't imagine this song ever fitting into any of our upcoming themes!

I'm still saving Mr. Sellack for Waitress Week, Cloud Dancing for Songs Based on Poems Week... and their version of The Hallelujah Chorus for A Cappella Week - are you listening, BH?... :-)