Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Earworms of the Week (Feb 9)


With all the soul talk on here the other week, I found myself drawn to big, stop you dead in your tracks, soul anthems and this is one of the biggest and best.
- May1366

This version of Boots of Spanish Leather is one of the few Dylan covers that I like better than the original. Well enough known, I hope, not to need a translation. I've been a fan of Mikael Wiehe's since the 1970s when I first went to Sweden.
- Mnemonic

One blog I saw claimed that this was John Peel's second favourite song ever. i've never even been to Liverpool, but this big-hearted indie anthem never fails to put a lump in my throat and a sway in my step. I pull this song out a few times a year and listen to it over and over and fall in love with it all over again. (There's a charming Liverpool-related ghost story behind the inspiration for the track here)
- Japanther

Every so often, I hear a song that - don't ask me why - just makes me want to give the singer a hug. I got a belter this week. I had Eels' new album Hard Times on really just as background noise, but this song stopped me dead. I don't know if it's the slow pace, the lyrics, or that piano sound, but I think this is just lovely.
- Darcy's Dad

The vocal style may seem corny, but this song reminds me of a perfect memory, driving along to the song on a tree-lined road the day after a wedding on a beautiful day last summer.
- eJay

A six-month acting job in Rajasthan got me hooked on Bollywood - and I've been a huge AR Rahman fan ever since. Great to see him finally get some international recognition with the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack. This track, from the gorgeous but tedious historical epic Jodhaa Akba, is a Sufi qawwali in praise of a famous saint and the devotional nature touches something in me. Plus, I love the leisurely way it builds.
- bishbosh

This was my post-deadline 'Doh!' song for forgetting last week & having dug it out I've been playing it (and the rest of the EP - 'Belinda') ever since. A lovely prog-tinged song based on the Welsh myth of the 'Cantre Gwaelod'.
- Exodus

I hadn't heard this for years until my cousin-of-sorts recently sent us a recording of his old pub band and it was the first track they covered. Since then I can't get it out of my head.
- debbym

27 comments:

tincanman said...

I have a few leftovers for next week. My thinking is 6-7 a week is really enough; otherwise it is offputting to people who only have so much time. But I don't want to discourage submissions either so we'll just see how it goes. It is still new. I figure if it grows to the point of having a dozen or submissions a week, probably better to have two than 1 long one.

sonofwebcore said...

JAPANTHER - loved your ghost story. Thanks. Don't know why the photo was shot from there when the pyramid is plainly visible from Rodney Street.

Makinavaja said...

Looking forward to listening to this. This has been a great listening week on the 'spill and sod's law dictates I've got more work and less on´line time than normal!! Ah, well...

Exodus said...

Tin - is just co-incidence that three of the tracks are lacking in a certain amount of, shall we say, english language-ness?

steenbeck said...

I've come to really love these lists. Perfect length, so varied, and it makes me feel so fond of the whole 'Spill community.

My favs this week were PP arnold, The Dylan cover (So beautiful!) The Ink Spots. Holy smoke, I loved this! I feel like it must have been used in a movie, and if not, I want to use it in my movie. just perfect - especially when I think about it being the soundtrack to a perfect memory. And I liked the BOllywood track a lot too. I'd like to learn more about this genre, if you're up for a 'Pill post, Bishbosh. I'd like to hear about your acting gig, too, sounds intriguing.

nilpferd said...

Of these worms, it's definitely the Ink Spots which have left the biggest stain on my ears on their way through.

bishbosh said...

Another lovely bunch (if I say so m'self, etc). And beautifully sequenced by tin too. I'd be up for putting together a Bollywood post at some point, steen - do I need to 'sign up' somewhere/email Blimpy or something? So far, I've just signed up for a google account and hacked my way in here!

And thanks for asking after my (let's face it, rather attention-seeking) reference to the Indian acting gig! I was part of an English company that went out and performed "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in the City Palace in Udaipur. I still plan to work it into a (probably very loosely disguised) novel one day - it was a mad, chaotic, frustrating, stressful six months. But one I wouldn't have missed for the world. You only ultimately regret the things you don't do, innit?

DarceysDad said...

Philistine confession time:

Don't all point fingers and snigger at me, but I prefer Juice Newton's (slicker) version of Angel Of The Morning.

Now then ... go and visit my other instructor on-site at the job he's doing for me in Huddersfield (the 'should-do' option); or stay in and listen to the EotW & Shoey AotM playlists (the 'want-to' option)?

Decisions, decisions ...

tincanman said...

yup, beautifully sequenced in the order they came in bish.
I don't prescreen them - I hear em first when you do. I'm co-ordinating this, not editing it.

May1366 said...

Whispering Grass isn't just an earwork for one week - it's one for all time. It's a bit of an "our song" round my way, along with a whole bunch of other stuff - I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire, If I Didn't Care ("and would I be sure that this is love beyond compare? Would all this be true if I didn't care for you" is an incredibly difficult line to annunciate with Bill Kenny's immaculate diction but it's so beautiful when it happens), Maybe, Don't Get Around Much Anymore - that sound like roadmaps to everything from Elvis to doo-wop to Barry White to rap. Great shout, ejay.

May1366 said...

earwork? Isn't that some endangered, Tundra-dwelling species?

bishbosh said...

@DsD: *whispers* So do I... (the Juice Newton thing). But a great, great song. I have at least three versions in my 'collection' - Juice, PP and Joya Landis - and all three are fab.

@tin: Ha ha, and there was me thinking how well they followed one from another! Nevertheless, sterling work on the co-ordination.

debbym said...

Another Ink Spots fan here... but, Brits of a certain age, do you not immediately think of this whenever Whispering Grass is mentioned?

DarceysDad said...

@ bishbosh - ripping the audio from a youtube of Joya Landis' version as I type: thanks!

@ debbym - unfortunately yes, and it has irrevocably wrecked any chance the song has of worming its way into my affections. Sorry, ejay/May.

Maki from work said...

Faves this week:
Amsterdam
Eels
AR Rahman

and an honourable mention KT, know and love this song!

Liked 'em all but those were my faves. I love this series.

Exodus said...

@ debbym - THAT version was even playing on Radio 2 when I left the house this morning...

Abahachi said...

@debbym: yup, me too. I once whittled a Windsor Davies woggle.

bishbosh said...

Of the stuff I've not heard before/don't own, Amsterdam are particularly doing it for me. Bit Wylie-esque, imho - in a good way! Never heard of them before - thanks Japanther. Love the Eels track too - always like what I hear of theirs, but somehow never got as far as a purchase.

tincanman said...

you might get a second opinion fro DsD bishbosh, but I wouldn't buy that Eels album. Not much on it beyond that song IMHO.

barbryn said...

Can't really go wrong with a "people who know loads of great music recommend a song they love" series, can we?

All new to me (bar KT T), and liking 'em all - AR Rahman in particular. Can't believe that Amsterdam anthem hasn't made it onto an RR playlist yet.

ejaydee said...

This is great listening, the format is fine as it is Tin, any more would make it more difficult.

Fintan28 said...

Angel of the Morning is on my all times list. Must Say I too prefer Juice Newton's, but equal to that are the 1968 version by Merilee Rush & The 1967 original by Evie Sands.
Gotta say I loved the Ink Spots too

Blimpy said...

PP arnold is fab, thanks May (& Tin)

Luke-sensei said...

more donds from me for PP Arnold - i had it on a compilation CD (something mod-related I think) as a teenager and loved it since then

Liked every single one of thesel, but AR Rahman was especially special...would love to hear a Bollywood or bhangra post.

Glad that others also dig Amsterdam as it's a song I love so much. If ever there's an RR topic on songs that take in the history of Liverpool from slavery through to Hillsborough, it's a definite shoo-in!

ToffeeBoy said...

Very late to this (not sulking - just haven't had much time to spend around here recently). I'm sure I've been banging on about Amsterdam for ages. Thanks to Japanther for making people sit up and take notice. One of my favourite songs of the Noughties ...

ToffeeBoy said...

@ tinny - remind me what I have to do to contribute to this ...

tin said...

first we'll need your credit card details.

ok ok
Just email me your blurb with song attached. We're full for next week already, but you'll be firstish for the following week.