Some Music

Music has been a really good friend to me lately. Here are a few CDs that have helped me make it through some rough spots. I am always looking for new good stuff -I wish there was a goodreads equivalent for music -"goodtunes", they could call it.

Johnny Cash -American Recordings Series
I always liked Johnny Cash, but didn't really love him until I started listening to these CDs. -They were produced during the later years of his life -the last one in the series actually released after his death- and include original songs as well as his versions of many country classics and even modern selections. I like his "Rowboat" (Beck) and "Hurt" (9 Inch Nails), and of course the classics like "Sea of Heartbreak" and "Memories are Made of This." But sometimes, there's just nothing that hits the spot as well as his mournful cowboy ballads ("Streets of Laredo", "I Hung my Head") and that voice. Deep, plodding, immovable, jaded, hopeful, genuine, heart-on-your-sleeve country boy honesty.




Cat Stevens/Yusuf's -Roadsinger
This is a recent Yusuf release (2009) that promises to "warm you though the night"; well, it delivers on that promise. This might be my most frequently played CD, and it has brought me home on many a dark and weary night. The track "Thinkin 'bout You" probably has more power to cheer me up than almost any song I've ever heard. "Be What You Must", unabashedly cheesy, has the kind of heart-felt hopefulness that even in my most skeptic, doubting moments, I simply can't resist. What makes this album a stand-out for me is Yusuf's beautiful tone throughout- always pensive, sometimes definite, sometimes questioning, sometimes whimsical, but always grounded in faith and peace; a voice that covers like a salve over the achy parts of my soul.




Rufus Wainwright -
I don't actually have any of his albums; I created a list off itunes, but I would like to get this Poses one sometime. A lot of his songs miss the mark with me, but when he's on... And what a heck of a voice. Lethargic, tremulous, the biggest, roundest, resonant tone, and emotions so real and powerful that they melt off his vocal folds. Sometimes described as "popera" (pop+opera), a lot of his music does have an almost operatic drama, but some of it is also so wonderfully understated (listen to "Poses", "Nobody's off the Hook"). Some of his songs are full of life ("Beautiful Child", "11:11", "Another Believer" -from Meet the Robinsons), but most of the good ones drip with longing and disillusionment ("Oh What a World", "Going to a Town", "Go or Go Ahead", "Chelsea Hotel No. 2" -remake of Leonard Cohen's). It is perfect music for wallowing, for letting someone else really feel your pain for a little while.




She and Him -Volumes 1 and 2This music has been a happy discovery for me. The "She" referred to (Zooey Deschanel -Elf, 500 Days of Summer) writes and performs the songs while I think the "Him" (M. Ward) does instrumentation, recording, back-up singing. The music is generally upbeat, sing-a-long, downright peppy stuff. Sometimes reminiscent of love songs from the rock 'n roll era, sometimes of country -but all completely fresh. I love her melodies, vocal style, and they way everything comes off as sincere. Mostly, I love singing these songs in the shower. Some favorites include "Sweet Darlin'", "Over It Over Again", "Gonna Get Along Without You Now", and "You Really Got a Hold on Me".




Natalie Merchant -Leave Your SleepI've only had this 2-disc set for a couple of weeks, but I'm lovin' it. I don't have any other Natalie Merchant stuff (she was the singer for 10,000 Maniacs and has since done lots of her own stuff -you hear her song "Jealousy" on the radio and others), but oh boy can she sing and write. This album was 5 years in the making, involved 100 musicians, and includes over 2 dozen poems that Merchant set to music. The poems are all over the place (e.e. cummings, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jack Prelutsky, Moother Goose, Christina Rossetti, and many lesser-know poets as well as anonymous selections); the music is as diverse as the poetry -sorrowful, fanciful, comical, sassy, sweet, playful, moving. I love the way each track has a life of its own -how she pulled out the mood -essence- of all the different poems. I love her voice and how it does this. Beyond that, some of these poem-songs have the kind of catchy-ness that has you bobbing your head along to the tune days after listening -sort of like the way a line of poetry can lodge itself in your mind -and heart. My favorites are "Adventures of Isabel", "Equestrienne", "Griselda", "Spring and Fall: to a young child," Calico Pie", "Crying, My Little One", and "Sweet and a Lullaby".