The Friday Five

It's late, Julie has fallen aleep while I watched the Oilers get beat by the Red Wings:  it's time to spin my iPod.

Snake - P.J. Harvey, 4-Track Demos

Nothing like hitting it hard right outta the gate.  I Like PJ mostly because of her attitude.  Kind of like a Marianne Faithfull thing for me.  I'm not educated enough in their music to really know all that much about her, but I like the attitude so much it just makes me believe she can be good at anything, otherwise she'll just meet it at the bike racks and beat it up.  Very diverse musician and bold.  I once heard her do a duet with Bjork of the Stones' Satisfaction and that sold me on her.  This is the only album I have of hers but keep meaning to get more.  This song and album is hard edged and rocking, so I like it!

Love Hater - Andre 3000, The Love Below
Slick, cool dude...he kind of surprises me sometimes.  This is a pretty jazzy little number that seems out of the norm for him, although it's likely not.  Keys and horns and a time signature that pops a little, this is a snappy little number.  Deinfitely don't see him doing it in a bright green suit.

Grey Room - Damien Rice, 9
I loved this guy at the start....really, I loved him a lot.  The first time I heard The Blower's Daughter, I swear to God my eyes welled up with tears.  I bought that first album and listened the shit out of it.  He and Lisa Hannigan were rad.  I read a story about how, to make that album, he was travelling around Europe staying on the couches of various friends and recording along the way on his little 8 track.  Such a bare feeling with all the music and very real.  I loved it.  Then I bought this second album...listened to it a couple of times and, well....meh.  It was all kind of the same.  It was like watching Dancer In The Dark over and over again.  Very good, but so emotionally draining that you can only take so much of it.  That was pretty much it.  Played out.  Haven't listened to anything of his for a few years now though.  Maybe it needs a revisit. 

Hanging On To You - Jay Farrar, Terroir Blues

Jay led a couple of groups I like, Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt, before stepping out solo on his own.  He's a fantastic songwriter and pretty much embodies the sound of Americana.  He and Jeff Tweedy together as song-writers?  Wow.  Anyway, on to the present...I won this album in a Twitter contest, actually.  Neat, hey?  It was the first of his solo stuff that I'd really heard and I quite dig it.  I've been in a real alt-country/ blues kind of mood for the past couple of years, so this just broadens it a bit wider.  Subdued album, but good.

The Summer of Discontent - Cowboy Junkies, Miles From Our Home
Speaking of that mood, looky what we have here!  Jesus, I haven't listened to this in a while.  If Jay above us embodies Americana, then what do I say about the Junkies' Margo?  One of the most distinctive, ethereal and beautiful voices out there.  What I can tell you about this paarticular album is this:  I was doing a lot of driving at one time in my life...back and forth to BC and all over Alberta.  I loved listening to this album as I drove on the highway because no matter what the scene through my windshield was, this album always fit.  Daytime, nightime, overcast and rainy, dead of winter frozen, mountains, prairies, cities, foothills...slow or fast driving.  It fit every single time.  Canadiana?  Whatever.  I love you Margo!