Five for Friday, Begin Again edition
Taking some extra time away from this corner of the electronic firmament was extremely useful. In fact, given the work demands of the last week, it was probably a complete necessity. I have a hard time conceiving of what I could have even concocted in my fleeting time. It likely would have made the filler of Batman covers look like robust posts in comparison.
As noted, today marks a return to daily activity (here and there), so why not a topic that can be connected, even peripherally, to a new beginning.
As always, please play along...
Five "New" Songs
1. Billy Bragg, "She's Got a New Spell." Off the resoundingly splendid Workers Playtime, Billy strums that guitar and concocts a song of spirited resignation. "The laws of gravity are very, very strict/And you're just bending them for your own benefit." Strangely enough, Mr. Bragg seems to do some of his very best work when he puts the word "new" in the title.
2. Little Joy, "Brand New Start." A nice little amble of a song that sounds both out of time and vividly, well, new.
3. New Colony Six, "Things I'd Like to Say." To the best of my knowledge, I first heard this song when it was covered by Thirteen-One-Eleven, Bill Berry's incredibly obscure side project from somewhere between Document and Green. The original is a gentle sixties sway-along.
4. The Weakerthans, "A New Name For Everything." The bendy country guitar sound sure works nice in songs have a touch of lament to them. "When the one ways collude with the map that you folded wrong/And the route the abandoned is always the path that you probably should be upon."
5. Randy Newman, "I Think It's Going To Rain Today." Some people write sad songs. Randy Newman takes that a step further. He writes devastating songs. "Lonely, lonely/Tin can at my feet/Think I'll kick it down the street/That's the way to treat a friend."
As noted, today marks a return to daily activity (here and there), so why not a topic that can be connected, even peripherally, to a new beginning.
As always, please play along...
Five "New" Songs
1. Billy Bragg, "She's Got a New Spell." Off the resoundingly splendid Workers Playtime, Billy strums that guitar and concocts a song of spirited resignation. "The laws of gravity are very, very strict/And you're just bending them for your own benefit." Strangely enough, Mr. Bragg seems to do some of his very best work when he puts the word "new" in the title.
2. Little Joy, "Brand New Start." A nice little amble of a song that sounds both out of time and vividly, well, new.
3. New Colony Six, "Things I'd Like to Say." To the best of my knowledge, I first heard this song when it was covered by Thirteen-One-Eleven, Bill Berry's incredibly obscure side project from somewhere between Document and Green. The original is a gentle sixties sway-along.
4. The Weakerthans, "A New Name For Everything." The bendy country guitar sound sure works nice in songs have a touch of lament to them. "When the one ways collude with the map that you folded wrong/And the route the abandoned is always the path that you probably should be upon."
5. Randy Newman, "I Think It's Going To Rain Today." Some people write sad songs. Randy Newman takes that a step further. He writes devastating songs. "Lonely, lonely/Tin can at my feet/Think I'll kick it down the street/That's the way to treat a friend."