The Changer and the Changed

I am genuinely perturbed at how fast July flew by. So much, in fact, I don't even want to talk about it.

I have a happier subject to dwell on anyway: my new favourite album.

The other night when I was meant to be sleeping, I found myself googling lesbian singer-songwriters, because that's where my interests lie these days.

And on some blessed compilation list on some blessed website, I ran across a recommendation for an album by Cris Williamson called The Changer and the Changed. Embedded was her song 'Waterfall'... and before the song had even finished, I knew I wanted this album. Less than 20 minutes later, I had ordered a copy. I didn't even listen to any other songs off it. I just somehow knew I would love it.

(I only doubted this when I received it and feared it was going to turn out to be a country album. But only the second track was country, to my relief.)

Cris Williamson, where have you been my whole life?

(photo credit)

I've yet to explore her other music (she's been recording since the 60s) and I look forward to doing so, but for now I just want to bask in the perfection that is The Changer and the Changed.

This album was released in 1975 without the help of any men. Seriously. It was released on the independent label Olivia Records (which was completely women-based) and in the liner notes it says, "This album was made with the help of these women" and proceeds to list a plethora of females. As a feminist, I think that's pretty awesome.
There is something timeless about The Changer and the Changed. Something indelibly golden. The ten songs that make up this album made a home within me the first time I heard them. I've had this album for only a month, but it has touched me so much already. I hope it continues to mean a lot to me over the years. (And reading what other people have to say about it, I suspect it will!)
I don't know how to classify this album. Just give it a try and if you like it--wonderful! Below I'm posting the song that started it all for me 'Waterfall':

Till Tomorrow

I scribbled part of this post on a piece of paper somewhere, but now I can't locate it. I wouldn't be too bothered about this except I think there was a poem written on the other side. I really need to get my act together.

I've really missed music blogging, so I'm hoping to get back in the habit. I've been wanting to actually write this post for ages, so I'm ignoring the fact I'm tired, overheated, and have a stomach ache. Don't you feel sorry for me now? Well it's okay. Because I'm here to talk about someone awesome: Don McLean.

I think everyone knows either 'American Pie' or 'Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)'.  I myself have known and loved the song 'American Pie' for years. I had no idea what a wonderful store of Don McLean music exists. Sadly besides 'Best Of" type albums and American Pie, buying his music is not as convenient or cheap as one would hope for in this day in age.

I should probably put some of his biographical information in here somewhere... but nah. I'm just going to jump right in with my personal nonentities. Several months ago I downloaded American Pie on a whim and let me just say that is possibly the best decision I've made in the past 6 months.

This album was released in 1971 and was his second album. I don't know what else to say about it, except there is not a track on it I don't love. The album is mainly composed of beautiful, melancholic folk songs, but there's humour ('Everybody Loves Me, Baby'), anti-war ('The Grave'), and a cover of the traditional 'Babylon'. Not to mention the title track and opener 'American Pie' which is still, in my estimation, 8 1/2 minutes of bliss.

So I've picked the second track 'Till Tomorrow' to post, because it was the first song I listened to after I downloaded the album. When it started playing, I knew I'd made a good choice.

(The song might take anywhere from 6 to 30 seconds to load. Heh. Heh. Good things come to those who wait, though!)

Laura Nyro

For anyone who reads my other blog, the fact that I've picked Laura Nyro for artist of the month should come as no surprise.



As I stated in the post previously linked, her music has been the soundtrack to my November. (Of course, I started loving her music too late in the month to make her the artist for November.) I've been fangirl gushing about her for weeks now, so I'm not even sure what to say or where to start now...

A few weeks ago, I checked out Michele Kort's biography of Laura from the library: Soul Picnic: The Music and Passion of Laura Nyro. It was excellent and I would certainly recommend it to any Laura fans, or even people who like to read well-written biographies. (I know they exist! I'm one of them! :P) I thought I'd include my goodreads "review" of it since it's not really a review and I've been in such a blue funk for the past three weeks that writing this post has been unnecessarily hard.

My review[of sorts]:

Although Laura Nyro has been on my radar for over two years, I only recently downloaded one of her albums.
That album was New York Tendaberry and, let's put it this way: if I had it on vinyl, it would never leave my turntable

My [now] 13 year old brother who hangs around me a lot, detests her; he identifies her as "the woman who wails." And, while it's a bit of an exaggeration, he's right - she's a wailer! But that's what I love about her: how she sings her heart out. I have a great admiration for singers who convey a lot of power and emotion in their singing. As someone who expresses herself through the medium of singing/songwriting, I would love and strive to have that sort of emotional strength in my voice, and even lyrics. I don't, though. Or at least, I feel like I don't. Sure, nice adjectives have been used to describe my voice, but something in me wants to have a rough, emotive voice like, say, Janis Joplin. So I'm going to take up drugs and alcohol and see where that gets me.

Anyway, I tell my entirely too-judgmental brother that Laura is an acquired taste, and I suppose she is. For a while, even I was ambivalent about whether I liked her or not. But I kept an open mind and now I'm basically in love with her. So there you go!

All this to say, this biography was mahvelous; an excellent look on Laura's life and her groundbreaking musical influences. This book has further fueled my passion for all things Laura Nyro; I am resisting the urge to go out and buy her entire discography.


My favourite photograph in the book of the lovely Laura:




[Caption: Nyro taking a dance break during New York Tendaberry recording sessions, 1969. (Photo by Stephen Paley, courtesy of Michael Ochs Archives)]


Since writing that review, I have downloaded her 1968 album, Eli and the Thirteenth Confession, and while it's fast becoming a favourite, I don't love it as wholly as New York Tendaberry.
It really is a shame that, while other artists had hits singing Laura's songs, she never had one singing one of her songs. To me, covers of her songs are unnecessary. No one sings her music the way she does; each song seems to come straight from her soul. Anyway, I shall wrap this up by saying that Laura Nyro is amazing. I've not had an emotional reaction to music like the one I've had to hers in a long time. Many don't like her because of her voice or the "unevenness" of her songs, but that's alright. I love her. The end.


Listen to 'Sweet Lovin' Baby', my favourite song from New York Tendaberry:


{Supplemental link: Watch Laura singing my favourite song off of Eli and the Thirteenth Confession ('Poverty Train') live at the Monterey Pop Festival here.}

Ooh, look at that! This is my 100th post! Hmmm... I'm thinking about doing something a little different for my next post. So, be on the look out for that...

Wendy & Bonnie

It's always nice to be driven by inspiration but let's face it, inspiration isn't always around when we need it. That's when the desperation kicks in.

In other words, I've been trying to write my artist of the month post for days. Since I don't have a new artist to wax eloquent about at the moment, I decided to pick an old favourite. Well, the artist I picked {who will remain anonymous :P} just wasn't doing anything for me, though I love them. Then yesterday, out of the blue, I started writing a post about the album Genesis by Wendy & Bonnie. For some reason that is what my muse wanted me to write about. So, thanks to my perverse muse, I bring you June's artist of the month: Wendy & Bonnie!

This is an old favourite, like from when I first started listening to obscure music. It's one of those delicious albums that was "lost" soon after its release but later resurfaced and, thanks to the internet and a re-issue, has gained more popularity. Wendy and Bonnie Flower, two sisters from California, recorded this album in 1969 when Wendy was 17 and Bonnie was 13. But fate was seemingly against these two as their label went bankrupt shortly after the release of Genesis and the man who wanted to see them about further recording was murdered {!?!}. They never recorded together again but pursued separate careers in music.
Incredibly, Wendy and Bonnie composed all the songs on Genesis themselves. They might have played an instrument or two as well, but mainly they were backed by an awesome group of musicians.

Their album represents the best of the 60's, the innocent desire for personal and universal love, unclouded by drugs. But their songs still have a pleasing sense of light psychedelia and are brimming with the sister's harmonies. The first half of the album {sans any bonus tracks} is the best, both lyrically and in musical composition, but begins to falter a bit after that. Overall, though, it's a darn fine album and a merit to the creative era it came from.

It's so hard to pick a favourite off this album; I've been vacillating for a while now. I think I'm going to go with the lovely and sad 'By the Sea' but 'I Realized You' and 'You Keep Hanging Up On My Mind' are two other absolute favourites.

Listen:


{My divshare players have been acting up. If you press play you can hear the music but can't see the time nor pause it. Sorry about that. If this persists I may have to find another file host.}



This post has opened a floodgate I've been obsessively listening to lesser-known 60's music since yesterday evening. *happy sigh* I've missed it so.

Nina Nastasia

I am extremely chuffed! It is finally beginning to feel like autumn here. There is a bite in the wind today, and as I sit here typing I feel a slight chill. Now, if only our trees would start turning....

I'm a couple days late with October's artist of the month. But it's someone I think is worth waiting for: Nina Nastasia!


Nina Nastasia is a singer-songwriter of the highest caliber. Her 2006 album On Leaving is one of my favourites. It has a gentle folk sound {most of the songs are just Nina accompanied by guitar and light piano} that has put me to sleep many nights that were otherwise wakeful.
I am fascinated by the piano on this album! It often seems to be doing its own thing, incongruous with the rest of the song... yet it works wonderfully.
And well, I am no good at describing people's vocals... so I will just say I love her vocals and I think they complement her music perfectly.

Nina Nastasia's lyrics are a highlight as well. I feel there are so many untold stories in her songs. Her lyrics offer short glimpses of these interesting tales and characters. I often feel inspired to write when listening to her!

Listen to two favourite songs off of On Leaving:



{Spiffy, non? I finally figured out how to make playlists on divshare!}

Ophelia Hope

September has finally arrived! To me, September marks the beginning of autumn - my favourite season.
And also, I have an excellent artist of the month picked out! It is with great pleasure that I bring you: Ophelia Hope!

It is rather a funny story how I happened upon this band. One day, I got it into my head that I wanted to like an artist named Ophelia. {Don't ask, I don't know. I just get these strange whims.} So, on the handy-dandy emusic searchbar, I typed in Ophelia. Unsurprisingly, there really aren't that many artist/bands with Ophelia in their name. Ophelia Hope was on the list, obviously, and once I heard them, I knew my search was over. Very soon afterward, I bought their album, also entitled Ophelia Hope.
Though Ophelia Hope is based in Bergen, Norway its members are from all over the globe. {"a Norwegian singer, an Italian producer, an Australian songwriter and English percussionist", according to their myspace.}

Defining the genre of Ophelia Hope is difficult. Their sound seems to change with every other song. I have seen them referred to as "acoustic, cinematic pop-noir" which sums it up very nicely. Since when I listen to Ophelia Hope I often get the feeling I am listening to a movie soundtrack of sorts. Only, the thing is, this [mythical] film doesn't stay within any genre boundaries either.
In my mind, I see it as being a mixture of:
1. A 90's chick flick with some despairing moments but a happy ending,
2. A modern romantic comedy with witty lines that keeps you laughing,
3. A black & white film made in the early 60's with a profound, bittersweet subject matter,
4. A brightly-coloured musical with almost childish lightheartedness.

{Am I being nonsensical? So be it!}

It's not as if Ophelia Hope is doing anything amazingly groundbreaking, but yet I find their music to be unparalleled. The more I listen to this album, the more I love it! The rich orchestration, the inflections of jazz, the pensive folk, the clever pop songs... Definitely one of my new favourite albums.

Of course, I had difficulty deciding what song to pick. Knowing that, whatever song I chose, it would in no way represent the full sound of Ophelia Hope. Eventually, I decided on 'Beautiful Tears'. So, I'll stop waxing eloquent now and let you listen. ;)




Oh, and, I am going away this weekend! Just an FYI, in case you desperately try to get in touch with me and get offended and think I hate you when I don't respond.
Ha...haha... :P

The Roar of Love

Here's an album I can't believe I almost forgot: The Roar of Love by 2nd Chapter of Acts!

The Roar of Love is a 1980 concept album by 2nd Chapter of Acts that was inspired by C. S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. {One of my favourite books from one of my favourite series!} The story of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is told through the lyrics. Though, if you are not familiar with the story, you will be confused as not all the key details are included.

I remember hearing the record of The Roar of Love when I was young but I didn't really get into it. Then, a few years later, we started listening to the CD in the car and I was hooked. That started my "2nd Chapter of Acts phase". It was very exciting because, at that point, I had very few Christian artists I enjoyed. 2nd Chapter of Acts {which is siblings, Annie Herring, Nelly Greisen, and Matthew Ward} have been such an encouragement to me through the years. You can just hear their love for Jesus shining through everything they did!
I also love reading about the band and how they formed. {Read the short version here or the long version here.}


I am posting two songs from The Roar of Love: 'Turkish Delight' and 'Aslan is Killed'.
'Turkish Delight' was my favourite song when I used to hear the record as a child. It is sung from the viewpoint of Edmund and is about how captivated he is by the White Witch.
'Aslan is Killed' is about, well, the title is pretty self-explanatory. This song, with its synths and layered vocals, is very cool sounding. {The lyrics are kind of hard to understand, but they can be read here.}

Listen to 'Turkish Delight':


Listen to 'Aslan is Killed':

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And I almost forgot, but Clara gave me an award! *beams*

Thanks again, dear! :)

OH, and one more thing:

Tomorrow, armed with my pile of books, I am leaving for vacation! I'll be gone about a week. So, goodbye until then.

Okay, I'm all done now, I promise.

....I lied.

Now, I'm done. :P

A Song for You

I thought I'd do a few more of my favourite albums since I got kind of distracted the last time I did it, hehe.
Alright, this album, released in 1972, is by one of my all-time favourite artists whom I'm sure you all have heard of: the Carpenters.


Though the album A Song for You contains many of their hits {'Top of the World', 'Goodbye to Love', 'I Won't Last a Day Without You', 'Hurting Each Other' etc.} my favourite song off this album is the title track, 'A Song for You', which was originally a song by Leon Russel.

A Song for You was intended to be a concept album, of sorts. It opens with the song 'A Song For You' and then closes with a reprise of it. There is also a short song in the middle called, 'Intermission'.
The rather humorous lyrics to 'Intermission', which were written by Richard Carpenter, are as follows:
"...We'll be right back / After we go to the bathroom".
In the liner notes Richard says:
"John Bettis wrote the great lyrics to 'Top of the World', 'Goodbye to Love' and many more of my melodies. I wrote the lyrics to 'Intermission' (Music inspired by the Crucifixus of Antonio Lotti [...]) This explains why John Bettis was chosen to write the great lyrics to 'Top of the World', 'Goodbye to Love', et al."
Haha. :)
Speaking of which, 'Goodbye to Love', another of my favourites, is said to be possibly the first love ballad to feature a fuzz guitar solo. The Carpenters got hate mail from some of their fans because of that solo! XD

Listen to 'A Song for You':

Listen to 'Intermission':



Karen Carpenter is one of my favourite female vocalists. It makes me sad to think of her untimely end at the young age of 32. And all because she though she was too fat. *sigh*

Blue Roses

After much deliberation I have chose Blue Roses as the artist of the month! Ok, not really... it only took me about a nanosecond to decide that I wanted Blue Roses to be the artist of the month. =D

Blue Roses is the recording name of Laura Groves. I recently bought her first, and so far only, album, Blue Roses. After listening to a sample of the first track, 'Greatest Thoughts' I was extremely impressed and quickly decided I wanted to buy the whole album.
I really connected with this album. Does that sound strange? Well, it's true at any rate. This is one of those albums I can just lay on my floor listening to and not get bored of it or wish for it to end.
My one bone to pick, though, is I wish she had better diction because I love her lyrics and they're not always clear. But it's a very minor grievance and I can easily find her lyrics on lyric sites. :)

On her site, it says; "She dreamt of writing, arranging, performing and producing an album that would be as treasured by someone else, and hopefully inspire them in the same way."
I'd say, as far as I am concerned, she has succeeded!

Listen to 'Greatest Thoughts':

Holiday in Rhode Island

Next for my favourite albums, is Holiday in Rhode Island by The Softies.

A family member or two laughed at their band name, "The Softies". That was only because they had not heard their music. Once you hear their music you never question why they would call themselves the "Softies". ;)

I got this album for Christmas last year. I was given it by my paternal grandparents when we were visiting their house. I didn't have my computer with me so I borrowed my littler brother's CD player. I went downstairs and lay across my sister and I's temporary bed and I listened to the album for the first time while reading the lyrics in the album insert. {By the way, I LOVE it when artists put their lyrics in their liner notes.}
And so that is always the memory I associate with this album, lying across the bed in my grandparent's basement, reading the lyrics, listening to the whole thing for the first time.

The Softies are two girls {Rose Melberg and Jen Sbragia} accompanied mostly by just their guitars. They write sad, sweet songs about love & heartache... mainly heartache.
One thing I love most about them is their harmonies. One of my favourite things to do is to play Holiday in Rhode Island out loud (whether on CD or my ipod) and sing along. I have trouble making up my mind whether I want to sing the melody or the harmony so I sing an odd mixture of both. :)

I also had trouble just picking one song. I went back in forth between so many combinations... oi! Finally I decided on these two...

'Sleep Away Your Troubles':

'Just a Day':



And I had a lovely birthday! I feel so much different now that I am 17!
*cough*
;)

The Door into Summer

Next for {some of} my favourite albums, The Door into Summer by Ex Reverie.

I was fascinated by The Door into Summer the first time I heard it. Gillian Chadwick {aka Ex Reverie} describes her music as "glam rock from the year 1066". I would definitely agree she sounds like something out of the Medieval period. {Well, if they had the instruments then that we have now. :P} The lyrics and voice evoke mystic images of a distant era.
In my mind, I have trouble remembering that she actually is living now and this album is not something that we found buried in a ruined castle among rusty knight's armor & swords, ancient texts, and a forgotten king's bones.
Though that thought may somewhat be the fault of all the pictures I see of her....

{I'm pretty sure all these pictures were taken by a fantastic photographer named Courtney Brooke.}

And I made the mistake of, in the writing of this post, reading other's people's intelligent reviews of this album. Now I feel utterly incompetent of writing anything else about it. {I have chided my sorry self for doing this time and time again. Do I listen? Noooo.}
So, I leave you now with a song off this album, 'The Years'.

Listen:



And my birthday is on the 7th... I shall be 17. I am really having trouble believing that. I think I still subconsciously consider myself 13. :)

Colour Green

I have my computer back! And of course, all my music files!!!
So, I thought my next several posts would follow a theme. That theme being, "{Some of} My Favourite Albums".
Basically I'll just be posting about some of my absolute favourite albums along with a song or two from them. These aren't going to necessarily be my "most favourite albums ever" because I've already posted about quite a few of those.
First up, Colour Green by Sibylle Baier.

This album has a very interesting story behind it. At a certain point in her life, Sibylle Baier was very depressed. Her friend took her on a road trip and upon her return, Sibylle felt "her spirits renewed" and she wrote her first song, 'Remember the Day'.
From 1970-73 she secretly recorded these songs that she wrote and they became the album Colour Green. No one really heard her music except for her family and friends.
30 years later, her son Robbie (pictured left with Sibylle) made a CD of Colour Green and gave it to family and friends. A copy somehow got passed along to the Orange Twin label who then released it in 2006.

I admit it. I didn't like this album at first listen. I listened to the first two songs and I just wasn't sure....... Thankfully, I kept listening. Something about the third track made me keep listening. It began to grow on me. But, before I could form a further opinion, I ran out of free listens on last.fm. -_-
A few months later, I decided to just go ahead and buy it. But I wasn't sure yet if I honestly liked it or I just liked it because I thought I should.
Well, after buying it and listening to it more I decided I didn't like it.
I loved it.
It has such simple beauty. The whole album, except for some violin on the last track, is just Sibylle's fragile voice accompanied by her gentle guitar. Her melodies stay with you like old friends and the lyrics are like "looking at sepia snapshots of her everyday life". {I'm not sure if I thought that up or read it somewhere. So, I'm putting it in quotes to be on the safe side. ;)}
This is my album for when I'm sad. This is my album for when I'm happy. This is my album for every darn thing I do! I just love it!
Alright, I'll stop waxing eloquent now and post two tracks from Colour Green.

Listen to 'Tonight':


Listen to 'Remember the Day':




{Oh, and I'm making Sibylle Baier the artist of the month. :)}

Ooh, We Need Jesus

'Ooh, We Need Jesus' by Sara Beth Geoghegan is my fourth favourite song of '09.


I don't listen to much Christian music because, well... I don't really like most of it {unless it's from the 70's, heh}. I think I just don't like the style of most contemporary Christian artists... *shudders*
But, I read about Sara Beth Geoghegan one day and decided {after listening to a few samples} to buy her album, Tired of Singing Sad Songs.
I listened to it a few times, decided I kind of liked it, and went on in life. But then I kept listening and I realized what a great album it was.
Sara Beth made the album after going through a hard time in her life. Which is why, I think, it is such a strong album. Her melodies and voice are beautiful, but her lyrics are my favourite part.
On 'Ooh, We Need Jesus', it's not all "happy! happy! - Jesuslovesmethisiknow"!
No... she shows she's human with honest lyrics such as "At my very best I'm a hypocrite and I need Your love when I hate everyone." Which is something I can totally relate to.
And though somedays I try to delude myself, I do, indeed, need Jesus.

Listen:


I noticed after many listens of Tired of Singing Sad Songs that most of her lyrics don't have rhymes. I am a total rhyme freak... but now I've realized: it doesn't have to rhyme to be good. ;)

Boys On Their Birthdays

My third favourite song of 2009 is "Boys On Their Birthdays" by Slow Club.

This is a hidden track on Slow Club's debut album Yeah So. At the end of the last album track, 'Our Most Brilliant Friends', there's a minute or so of silence. Various sounds then start playing in the background, including someone playing the top of empty wine glasses! The guitar comes in and then the song starts. For a while, until I did some simple research, I had no idea what the song was called, all I knew was I loved it a lot.
I love 'Our Most Brilliant Friends' too and would have posted it along with its hidden track... but I decided to edit it cause it's 10:00 minutes long altogether which isn't always the most pleasant things to sit through. ;)

Rebecca {the female half of Slow Club} says: "The song is about one very unfortunate week. But in the same week some wonderful things happened. I met some people I wish I hadn't, and some that have changed the way I think about things since. I also did some hardcore dancing and was in terrible pain afterwards because playing the drums stood up has ruined my shins."
Which would explain the rather odd lyrics at the end "...the bones inside my shins are crumbling... it's from all the crunking I've been doing." Haha!

Listen:



Though I'm still not quite sure why it's called 'Boys On Their Birthdays'... Ah well, song titles don't always have to make sense. :)

If You Were My Man

Did everyone have a lovely Christmas? I know I did. I had so much fun with my family! And I've got lots of new, exciting music. :)
I am now the proud owner of what I consider to be one of the best albums ever made...

...Parallelograms by Linda Perhacs! {I've posted about her before on this post.}
I love her song "If You Were My Man" which only appears in demo form on the album.
{Demo, my foot! Her demos sound better than most people's real songs! ;)}

Listen:

Human Like a House

"Sold my shoes to pay the rent, I won't be needing them... I won't be leaving too soon."


The Finches album Human Like a House is my favourite album at the moment. With its whimsical lyrics, melodies I find myself constantly humming, and the unique, beautiful voice of Carolynne Pennypacker Riggs, it's a classic. Listening to the album is like visiting the town where you grew up and visiting your childhood haunts where you were happiest.


Listen to the title track 'Human Like a House':

Linda Perhacs

It seems only right that my first post should be Linda Perhacs: one of the most brilliant songwriters to ever walk this earth. She only released one album which is one of the greatest tragedies of our time. Her album "Parallelograms" is psychedelic-folk like you've never heard it before! It sadly sunk into obscurity shortly after it's release... but years afterwards it was rediscovered! {Read more about it here: http://lindaperhacs.com/pages/press.html}

Listen to one of my favourite tracks off the album: Chimacum Rain!