Posts

2012Candy May Edition One.

Image
Background: Portland, Oregon-based artist Leigh Marble celebrated the national release of Where The Knives Meet Between The Rows recently.  The album is a ten-track follow-up to Red Tornado, which Portland alternative weekly Willamette Week proclaimed "a burning, angst folk-rock masterpiece."  Further extending beyond the pop-rock and folk of Red Tornado, Where The Knives Meet Between The Rows delves deeper into an indie-fied spectrum of soundscapes and experimentation, without losing the lyrical depth or sonic power of Marble's previous work.  Willamette Week said of the album, "...the folk-tinged troubadour bends his signal genre well away from the self-styled punk Americana of his early efforts to embrace big-chorused indie pop and swaggering guitar rock, all of which meshes surprisingly well with his more introspective musings." The album features guest appearances by longtime friend Erin McKeown, and local Portland musicians Jesse Emerson (Amelia, The

Dr. Hook and The Medicine Show - San Francisco 1972

Image
This is short set from Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show recorded at Shel Silverstein’s Houseboat, Sausalito, San Francisco, CA and broadcast on Danish Television in 1972. Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show, shortened their name in 1975 to Dr. Hook, They formed around Union City, New Jersey in 1967 as The Chocolate Papers. They enjoyed considerable commercial success in the 1970s with hit singles including "Sylvia's Mother", "The Cover of the Rolling Stone", "A Little Bit More" and "When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman". In addition to their own material, Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show performed songs written by the poet Shel Silverstein. The band had eight years of regular chart hits, in both the U.S. and the UK, and greatest success with their later gentler material, as Dr. Hook. Their 1971 debut album Doctor Hook featured lead vocals, guitar, bass and harmonica by Locorriere, guitarist Cummings, singer Sawyer, drummer David,

2012Candy - More April Music

Image
Background: ‘Se fosse per me’, is the new single by Italian ambient electronica artist Elisa Luu , taken from her forthcoming second album Un giorno sospeso (out 1st June). Blossoming into life like a field of neon flowers, ‘Se fosse per me’ is all eyes-wide and life-affirming. It imbues its wistful tones with light through buoyant beats and skittering horns, leading into a reflective textured coda. Elisa Luu’s trademark blend of digital manipulation with analogue warmth, chiming tones with immersive drones, is on virtuoso display, whetting the appetite for her upcoming second album Un Giorno Sospeso. Though digitally crafted, Elisa Luu’s music is warm, inviting and uniquely human, betraying a vulnerability and sensitivity that is rarely found in the male-dominated sphere of electronica. With its sighing, lilting qualities, Elisa Luu’s music reawakens a sense of childlike wonder and adventure with every sprawling and sparkling track. This alchemical touch is in full bloom on lon

Sandy Denny and The Happy Blunderers - Lincoln 1971.

Image
This is Sandy Denny and The Happy Blunderers live at the Lincoln Folk Festival (England) back on the 24th July 1971. She's backed by the self named Happy Blunderers, consisting of Fairport members Richard Thompson, Dave Pegg and Jerry Conway. Richard plays guitar throughout and sings backing vocals on the third song (Crash On The Levee - a Dylan song). The first solo album by Sandy Denny 'The North Star Grassman and the Ravens' was also released in 1971 and is distinguished by its elusive lyrics and unexpected harmonies. Highlights included Late November, inspired by a dream and the death of Fairport band member Martin Lamble, and Next Time Around a cryptogram about Jackson C. Frank, one of her many portraits in song. Both songs were included in this short set. Also on the bill at the festival were The Byrds, Dion, Tim Hardin, the Incredible String Band, Ralph McTell, Pentangle, Tom Paxton, Steeleye Span, Dave Swarbrick & Martin Carthy, James Taylor, and Sonny T

2012Candy April's Second Helping

Image
Background: Lila Rose has always stood out from the crowd - In substance, style and appearance she has never been average. Born with “ultra sound sensitivity”, Lila’s experience of the world around her has been quite out of the ordinary, and very much sonically based. Lila is both blessed and afflicted with sounds that most people cannot hear; while this is a gift when it comes to making music, it can also lead to great personal discomfort at times. Last fall, Lila released her debut, full-length album, HeartMachine, which she co-produced with David Earl (AKA LogicNinja.) Shaping up to be a masterpiece of sound, song craft and technology, HeartMachine bends the genres of Electronica, Indie pop, trip-hop and alternative rock around an emotional core, finding a critical musical mass that is explosive in its intensity and brilliant in its light. Lila writes from the well of her experiences, building on the pain of human existence to create songs that speak to the human heart. Out of

Peter Gabriel - Paris 2002

Image
This is Peter Gabriel performing live with a sizable studio audience at Maison De La Radio, Paris, back on the 24th October 2002. This performance was in support of his then 7th solo studio album 'Up' which had been released the preceding month and half the songs performed at this gig were from that album, including a stunning performance of 'Darkness' (a song about overcoming fears) which is the opening song both on the album and at this performance. Peter talks to the audience in French and the station announcer adds commentary occasionally, however this seems to add to the whole show giving it a very personal feel and a reference in time. In the Spring of 1995, Gabriel began work on the album. Its name was Up from the start, though at one point it was considered to be called I/O. Gabriel began saying the album was near completion somewhere around 1998 but did not release it until September 2002. In the months preceding the album's release, video clips of G

2012Candy - April At Last

Image
Background: John Seeger was definitely born a musician. Learning, practicing and mastering guitar was as much an everyday occupation to him as speaking Japanese and Spanish fluently, obtaining his black belt in karate, creating and building his successful NYC-based construction company, raising his 19 year old daughter and tending to his home and family. It may have seemed at times, even to John, that music was just another one of his passions and thirsts. Except that this one was impossible to quench. John sets the bar high in every aspect of his life, music is no exception. Over 15 songs on his roster to date, all written over the past year, John’s songs are like paintings, a depiction of life’s tales in each one. The mixture of his musical style is as diverse as the man. Sometimes bluesy with a hint of funk, sometimes pop or folk rock, always about a love lost or soon to be found, relationships and friends, but mainly about a man’s journey to find and keep his heart’s desire.