The Wilderness of Manitoba perform at December’s Bloggers’ Brunch. Recorded by Joe. Listening to Ruth Minnikin’s Depend On This lately… there’ll be a review soon enough. And an oldie, but a goodie.
Post Card When Mary Hopkin began her career at Apple, she was no more than a voice; a tool with which Paul McCartney was going to use to craft pop mastery1. Hopkin’s voice was superb and fantastic, and McCartney saw that to make a good record of classics and new material which would be universally adored. He began with the Russian tune (which Gene Raskin added English lyrics to) called “Those Were The Days.” The song went on to be an international smash hit. Post Card picks up where they left off2. McCartney found many songs for her, three from Donovan, one from Harry Nilsson, one from George Martin, some… Read More »Mary Hopkin on Apple
In store performances from my favourite store to buy used CDs, Sonic Boom.
Come and Get It: The Best of Apple Records In 1968, The Beatles formed Apple Corps. Ltd., a new home for the records, and of the amazing and strange records of their contemporaries. Recently released is Come And Get It: The Best of Apple Records a record that can only be described as mis-titled. This is definitely not the best of Apple, as it doesn’t feature The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” or Lennon’s “Mother.” Instead it could more aptly be titled “Assorted Single, and such.” Though The Beatles, as a cohesive unit, do not grace the record, they are still in sight. The album features Lennon/McCartney compositions such as “Golden Slumbers/Carry… Read More »Music Roundup
Postcards and Daydreaming by Dan Mangan While Dan Mangan’s latest record, Nice Nice Very Nice blew me away, if I was first exposed to Mangan’s music with his debut Postcards and Daydreaming, I probably wouldn’t care too much about him. That’s not to say that it’s a bad record, but instead to say that it’s average; average average very average. Postcards and Daydreaming starts with a high point, “It’s Not What You Think It Is” which might get his fans excited that it’s up to the quality of his later release. However, the audience is left continuing on through a record of unremarkable folk music. I’m going to take this… Read More »Music Roundup
… with never a reason why” – Phil Ochs
Some performances at my favourite record store.
Hawk by Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan This album can only be described as pure beauty. The insanely high and twee voice of Campbell’s matched with the gruff, deep, strained voice of Lanegan are perfectly matched. The album starts off with “We Die And See Beauty Reign,” a soft sober song, which brings the listener into this vocal pairing. Immediately after, it gets heavier with one of the highlights, “You Won’t Let Me Down Again.” Campbell, who wrote all but two of the songs1, isn’t afraid to play around in genre. The soul song “Come Undone” could easily fit on a Sharon Jones record, and doesn’t sound out of place… Read More »Music Roundup
These few weeks have been guest weeks for Music Monday, YES! Today’s is coming from Adam Shanley. Adam Shanley is a musician currently residing in western New York, 430 miles West of New York City. He earned Masters degrees from the State University of New York at Fredonia in Music Theory/Composition and Classical guitar performance and is currently applying to doctoral programs in Music Theory. He writes a blog at quartertonality.com and some of his reviews can also be found at groovemine.com. Adam has also written surveys of 20th Century concert music for the Directory of Recorded American Music. In addition to writing projects Adam is currently working on a… Read More »Ceci est mon amant Adam. Il goûte comme les fraises, les pêches, et la girafe.
I recently reviewed the film Nowhere Boy, the prequel to Backbeat. In my review I stated: Now it’s been a long time since I’ve seen Backbeat, but if I recall, the band went on to be rather big, maybe it’s time for a sequel studying that part of their career. This film did just that. The film starts in 1964, when John Lennon meets his father for the first time in 17 years. While Nowhere Boy examined Lennon’s relationship with his mother, Lennon Naked is about his relationship with his father. The film follows some key events in the life of Lennon’s up until 1971 when Lennon and his wife Yoko… Read More »Lennon Naked