Matthew's dad died a few days ago. He had cancer. His ashes will be buried in England in the family plot. I never met him but Matthew talked about him a few times. He was a botanist and taught at the University of Otago.
I thought of 'Farewell, Farewell' because Matthew opened my ears to Fairport Convention, and Adam happened to have lent me the CD of Liege & Lief a few days before Matthew broadcast e-mailed the sad news to some of his friends. The subject title of the message was just 'Dad'.
My listening has become so fleeting over the last few years that in the past few weeks I've made an effort to listen to albums through and through and give them more of a chance. Patience and less skittishness, I promise myself. In practice, the exhausting weeks around the beginning of a new academic year have meant less time to fiddle about with tunes. So it's stick the CD on and listen or forget that you're listening while you work on the computer or the books.
'Farewell, Farewell' is my favourite track on the record. I can't believe it, but a song like this makes me proud to be British, something I never say, even in whispers to myself. And this about a song from an album that has pictures of morris dancing with it. Exclamation mark. I'm dying to hear more of Sandy Denny's voice. She has mixed reviews for some of her records and I don't know too much about her 'troubled' (auto)biography. And what about Richard Thompson's lyrics? And will you never cut the cloth or drink the light to be? No wonder he went down the sufi path. You lonely travellers all. He looks like the kind of guy my parents might have known in the 70s when they were moving from Krishnamurti and Gurdjieff on their way to the sufis. Someone who taught pottery at the local art college.
The song is so short yet so delicately developed. I just keep playing it again and again. I love how the guitar takes you to that jangly indie place in the way that Lou Reed does on the Velvets' 'quiet' songs (particularly the ones on their third album). Recently hearing the VU's demos on their box set Peel Slowly and See, I became aware of just how folky the Velvets really were. It's kind of obvious really since that's what half of Indie is all about. Belle and Sebastian, Aztec Camera, The Pastels etc. Well, Scottish indie, anyway. I wonder if the Fairports and Velvets knew (each other). The Velvet Underground and Liege & Lief were not recorded far apart in 1968 or 69. There are some major differences though. Dave Swarbrick's viola is woodier and thicker with lamentation than the avant-garde dissonance and raga drone of most of John Cale's playing with The VU. And in any case, Cale had gone by the time the Velvets recorded that relatively quiet and more 'sentimental' album. The other difference is that Fairport's archaeology of that 'old weird Britain' (or is it just England?) -- to transatlantically transplant Greil Marcus for a moment --is quite a distinct project from giving voice to New York bohemia. But I guess Fairport were inspired by the folk revivalists and the folk rockers from the US, like Bob Dylan. And so was Lou Reed's bubblegum sensibility.
Swings and roundabouts, as is appropriate with English folksiness. God, you'll have me extolling the Cotswolds next and the magic of lay lines (sorry, ley lines). I've never bought that Blake-ish Arcadian Englandism very much, but found the lineage from the English revolutions and the frenzied print and proselytizing culture around religion, social and political movement --a kind of 'pre-history' of left politics -- more compelling. I guess it was exposure to Christopher Hill's history and then loads of Puritan marxism in American Studies at Nottingham uni with Douggie Tallack that did it. And the 1984 miner's strike about the same time. In the 90s, JD reminded me of that legacy with his teaching and writing about alternative/radical media, rebellious communication and social movements. There happens to be a traditional song on Liege & Lief called 'The Deserter'.
The mix of 'Farewell, Farewell' is so crisp, warm and enveloping too. Matthew had also directed me to producer Joe Boyd's memoir which was quite enlightening about putting on gigs in the 1960s, the Blues and Folk revivalism, the early Pink Floyd, cups of tea with Nick Drake, and Dylan pissing off the acoustics at Newport. It's a beautifully written book, though it is a bit of a boy's story and didn't have that much about the process of music production as I expected. There must be some good cover versions of 'Farewell, Farewell' out there somewhere, just as a bunch of artists have recorded the VU's 'Pale Blue Eyes'. Incidentally, the booklet accompanying The Complete Hank Williams (to which I've been listening for the last few days, 10 CDs!) opens with Patti Smith saying that Lou Reed wrote 'Pale Blue Eyes' about Hank Williams' death on New Year's Day 1953. Though of course there are other stories about that song.
FAIRPORT CONVENTION - Farewell, Farewell
Farewell, farewell to you who would hear
You lonely travellers all
The cold north wind will blow again
The winding road does call
And will you never return to see
Your bruised and beaten sons?
"Oh, I would, I would, if welcome I were
For they love me, every one"
And will you never cut the cloth
Or drink the light to be?
And can you never swear a year
To anyone of we?
"No, I will never cut the cloth
Or drink the light to be
But I'll swear a year to one who lies
Asleep along side of me"
Farewell, farewell to you who would hear
You lonely travellers all
The cold north wind will blow again
The winding road does call
She was corrupt and feudal, even if she believed in democratic elections (unlike Musharraf). Several commentators pointed this out in response to the deluge of fawning western commentary after her assassination. Sindhi nationalists said she was a martyr. One of the more comprehensive and nuanced stories was Aijaz Ahmad's take in Frontline. Tariq Ali writes about the Pakistan's People's Party, though the blog reactions are as interesting for their commentary on Pakistan as Chaos Central/Hub of Hell. Faiz Ahmed Faiz's poetry kicks off this last playlist from my India trip through the voice of the great Sindhi singer Abida Parveen. Just remembered that Abida opens up the chapter on South Asian music and diaspora in this academic book. My Urdu is shi'ite but the track's bluesy vibe is the thing that I pursue throughout the playlist. Call me an ignunt phono-tourist but Abida's version has the feel of Ethiopian tezetas. Ah, sufi music. It's got a good beat too, like a lot of the stuff blogged and borrowed on the playlist. For the post-colonising (just learnt that term the other day), Rawalpindi Reserve is not an illegal Pakistani wine (if only) but a small park just down the road in Mt Albert, Auckland. Though some maps say it's in Point Chev. Tut, tut. Should have had a photograph of the Reserve, but haven't had time to nip down there yet en route during my afternoon stroll.
RAWALPINDI RESERVE
Abida Parveen - Wo Jis Deed Mein
Mariem Hassan - ID Chab
Five Blind Boys Of Alabama - Way down in the hole
Filastine vs. Badawi - Knife The Etherics
Mobb Deep - Survival of the Fittest
Black Milk - Popular Demand
Isaac Hayes - Pursuit Of The Pimpmobile
MLZ - Dark Days
Simian Mobile Disco - Hustler (Shackleton Remix)
Trimbal - Taliban..(Dva)
Dalek - Corrupt (knuckle up)
Dave Hamilton Orchestra - Who Are You Trying To Fool
The Audible Doctor - King Heroin (James Brown)
BJ Nilsen - Black Light
Imagination - Just An Illusion (Lindstrom Vocal Remix)
Another of my travelogue playlists, listening assembled in India during January. Happened to be in Rajasthan for a few days of transit but haven't seen The Darjeeling Limited yet, some of which was shot there. Did buy the soundtrack at Crossword in Ahmedabad. It's an odd mix of fragments from Satyajit Ray and Merchant-Ivory films with some folksy rock from Europe and the US. The Kinks' opener suggests all the promise and possibilities of taking a trip. A bit of anxiety about contact zones and travel fatigue suffuses some of the other tunes. As usual most of the songs here are from the blogosphere. And as ever, I'm trying to seek sonic as well as thematic affinities.
Image: Victoria Reynolds, Flight of the Reindeer
The Kinks - This Time Tomorrow
Brian Eno - Here Come The Warm Jets
Johnny Jones - Purple Haze
Go Home Productions - Passenger Fever (Peggy Lee Vs Iggy Pop)
Britney Spears - Toxic (Extended Version)
The Bug ft. Warrior Queen - Poison Dart (Original Mix)
Bloc Party - Where is Home? (Burial Remix)
Ahmed Fakroun - Pyramide (12 inch) (2007 Les Edits Du Golem)
Aeroplane - Pacific Air Race
Gudrun Gut - Move Me (Burger/Voigt Mix)
M.I.A. - Paper Planes (Rene Goulet's Golden Girl Conspiracy)
Gravious - Temple Ball
Mecano - Hawaii-Bombay
Saint Etienne - Some Place Else
Sven Libaek - Nature Walkabout: Birds in Flight
The Kinks - No Return
Jon Lucien - Kuenda / Would You Believe In Me
Poison in the fertilizer kills the wild asses in the Little Rann. My father's oldest brother died a few days after a fall. Another terrible accident on the Rajasthan highway took lives and paralyzed another. Succumbed to more country and western metaphors. More melancholy babies.Pictures From Life's Other Side 2:53 Luke The Drifter (Hank Williams)
Cold Dark Waters 2:31 Porter Wagoner
Sin City (Live) 4:10 Gram Parsons & The Flying Burrito Brothers
The Battle 2:46 George Jones
The Girl I Find 2:38 The Impressions
Love Is A Losing Game (Truth & Soul Remix) 4:05 Amy Winehouse
Either Way I Lose 2:43 Nina Simone
Only The Lonely 4:35 Frank Sinatra
Suzanne 3:08 Françoise Hardy
Verde 2:03 Tuca
Little Miss Sad One 2:56 The Fleetwoods
Young Folks 3:26 Dawn Landes
If I Lose My Mind 2:29 Dolly Parton
Rank Strangers To Me 2:35 Porter Wagoner with The Blackwood Brothers
Biker Walk 1:55 Various Production
Morning Wonder 5:37 The Earlies
Teenage Kicks 2:49 Seabear
Little Brother (Electric) 6:30 Grizzly Bear
Gracias A La Vida 4:21 Violeta Parra
No Use To Grieve 2:57 Richard Gibbs
The Deserted Ballroom 0:46 Satyajit Ray
Wally, Egon & Models In The Studio 4:42 Rachel's
Apreludes (in C sharp major) 3:45 Stars Of The Lid
The first playlist I palmed into place in India back in November. Inspired by static, stylus, shellac, dusty grooves and dustbowls in the desert sand and salty rock. Helped cruise me into siesta, but with a few discomforting itches for REM. Photo by Walker Evans.Unchained Melody (A Cappella Version) 2:48 The Fleetwoods
Toxic 4:27 Yael Naim
Castles in the Air 3:04 The Robbs
No Strings Attached 2:43 Coleman
Brown's Lament 3:14 The Audible Doctor
Casanova (Your Playing Days Are Over) 2:52 Ruby Andrews
Concentrate 3:48 The Gaturs
Blacks And Blues 4:37 Bobbi Humphrey
Nascimento (Birth) - Scene II 4:31 Aloe Blacc
I'm Just Being Myself (DK Edit) 9:38 Dionne Warwick
Sure Know How To Love Me 3:23 Darondo
Etched Headplate 6:00 Burial
La Rue des Coeurs Perdus 2:07 Françoise Hardy
Soul of a Convict 3:28 Porter Wagoner
It Makes Me Want To Cry 3:03 Charlie Rich
Sham-e-Gham Ki Qasam 3:13 Talat Mahmood
Ted (Bibio Remix) 4:25 Clark
I'd Like To Walk Around In Your Mind 2:16 Vashti Bunyan
Dust 2:30 Gene Autry
The longest bout of jet lag ever with more than a week of disrupted zzzz's at best, insomnia at worst. I left something over Asia and the Pacific which hasn't materialized on the ground yet. The Heath Ledger story weirdly coincided with this sleeplessness. Hence The Smiths. Have been trying to listen to ambient electronica to induce sleep.
THE SMITHS
Asleep
STARS OF THE LID
Ballad of Distances, Part 1
In a jetlag haze last Friday evening I played a thoroughly enjoyable DJ set with the nom de decks of Deliberate Speed for Beatrix's new Facebooked night at the Silo Theatre Bar: Time After Time. One hour per decade. I was up first, early at 7 pm, with the 1950s. A chance to dust off the old R&B and rockabilly in particular. But here's the list of tunes I played. Can't remember the exact order though. Thanks to the friends who came by.
Chet Baker - Time After Time
Milt Jackson - What's New
Cannonball Adderley - Autumn Leaves
The Everly Brothers - Who's Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet
Martin Denny - Quiet Village
Lata Mangeshkar - Chand Phir Nikla
The Cardinals - Shouldn't I Know
Babs Gonzales - Ornithology
Young Tiger - Calypso Be
Little Willie John - Fever
Mac Rebennack - Mercy
Ronnie Dawson - Action Packed
Hank Williams - I Heard That Lonesome Whistle Blow
Link Wray - Rumble
Howlin' Wolf - Decoration Day
Bobby 'Blue' Bland - Farther Up The Road
Wynonie Harris - Good Morning Judge
Little Esther Phillips - Mainliner
Wanda Jackson - Fujiyama Mama
Faron Young - I Can't Dance
Asha Bhosle - Ina Mina Dika
Carole King - Queen Of The Beach
Manhattan Research Inc. - Lightworks
Elmer Bernstein - Frankie Machine
Lata Mangeshkar & Manna Dey - 1956, 1957, 1958
Henry Mancini Orchestra - A Touch Of Evil (Main Title Theme)
Joao Gilberto - O Felicidade
Matthew's dad died a few days ago. He had cancer. His ashes will be buried in England in the family plot. I never met him but Matthew talked about him a few times. He was a botanist and taught at the University of Otago.
