The CD Circle

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 7:54 pm

Funny that, cos gthe expression is 'take the piss' but until I was about 20 I thought it was take 'one's' piss, until people people from 'the mainland' started taking 'the' piss about my geographically challenged grasp of the language.

Actually, the Dec Word CD was one of the weaker ones. Liked the XTC song, and The Fall, bien sur, but nothing else made much impression, although it wsds all agreeable, as ever. The Guillemots were part of this agreeableness, straining a little too much to encompass four genres in four minutes and be something else. Are they really getting lots of hype?

ReadyToHearTheWorst · Post by **ReadyToHearTheWorst** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 9:44 pm

From the wonderfuly eclectic icenine:

Bangkok - Alex Chilton
Too Much Saturn - Francis Dunnery *
This is the Day - Ivy
Rhythm of our World - Arturo Sandoval
Amy's Eyes - Shaun Mullins
Furniture - John Gorka
February - Dar Williams
Goodbye, Cruel Girl - Robbie Fulks
All Along the Watchtower - Michael Hedges
Stairway to Heaven - Stanley Jordan
Blackbird - Dionne Farris
The Dummy Song - Louis Prima
Little Ol' Wine Drinker Me - Dean Martin
Too Many Dirty Dishes - Tab Benoit
Ball the Wall - Professor Longhair
How Come my Dog Don't Bark When you Come Around? - Dr John
Evidence - Soulive
John the Revelator - Blind Willie Johnson
My Sweet Hunk of Trash - Billie Holliday & Louis Armstrong
Black is the Colour of my True Love's Hair - Nina Simone

(* the sole Brit)

Many artists I've never heard of (Ivy, John Gorka), others I know little about (Shaun Mullins, Dar Williams), and few songs that I even recognise, but what a collection!

Lots of smilesome jazz, folk, country and crossings over.

I've only played it once (put the Arctic Monkeys on hold for it) but it holds together well and I'll be playing it lots more I'm sure.

Early stand outs would be Furniture, How Come My Dog ..., and John the Revelator.

Thank 'ee kindly, sir!

so lacklustre · Post by **so lacklustre** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 4:39 pm

Here are the discs that mike boom sent me.

CD1
Rough Days - Pete Townshend
Oh Bondage Up Yours - X Ray Specs
My Favourite Dress - The Wedding Present
When Harpo Played His Harp - Jonathan Richman & The ML
Twisterella - Ride
Drop - The Jesus & Mary Chain
Nothing To Be Done - The Pastels
Armenia City In the Sky - The Who
Samson - Regina Spektor
Destroy The Heart - The House of Love
Terror extended mix - The Rakes
Smoking Her Wings - The Bats
Unwind - The Rosebuds
Only Love can Break Your Heart - Juliana Hatfield
Brazil - Kate Bush
Pink Frost - The Chills
Lady Eleanor - Lindisfarne
Point That thing Somewhere Else - The Clean
Song for a Secret - Jim Reid
Stardust - David Essex
Alison - Slowdive

CD2
Tonight You Belong To Me - The Honeys
Amateur Hour - Sparks
48 Crash - Suzi Quatro
Destination Ursa Major - Superdrag
I am the Cosmos - Chris Bell
Falling Away - Preston School of Industry
Death & The Maiden - The Verlaines
Go to Sleep - The Eames Era
Since K Got Over Me - The Clientele
Lie In The Sound - Trespassers William
I love My Leather Jacket - The Chills
First Balloon To Nice - Moose
Montague Terrace (In Blue) - Scott Walker
Barney - The Boo Radleys
King of the Rumbling Spires - T.Rex
Afternoon In Bed - The Bats
No.10 - Velvet Crush
Tractor Rape Chain - Guided By Voices
Teen Age Riot - Sonic Youth
Across The Universe - Fiona Apple

A pretty good mix of things I'm familiar with and some I've never heard of. Regina Spektor made and immediate impact and also like The Verlaines (23 yr old song I've never heard), Guided By Voices, The Eames Era, Velvet Crush. The Rakes are brilliant but I already knew that (off to see them on Saturday). I still don't like Sparks.

Thanks again Mike Boom, you did a good job.

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 5:58 pm

Jim Reid was the pseudonym this guy who was cyberstalking me used to write me to see if I wasn't answering any emails, or just his. Wait...pretend I posted that in Random Thoughts.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 6:38 pm

I always loved Amateur Hour! Another stonking mixture, and a 2CD one to boot!

Mike Boom · Post by **Mike Boom** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 9:25 pm

Regina Spektor is great eh SLL? The album that song off , imaginatively titled "Songs", is spectacular.
The Verlaines were cursed by being from New Zealand and hence fated to remain rather unknown. Brilliant band who I once witnessed blow New Order completely off the stage when they opened for them back in time during the 80's sometime in Auckland. They were also playing "Death and the Maiden" a long time ago at a Auckland Univeristy gig when a six foot six skin head decided to give me a Liverpool kiss, resulting in a gushing blood nose. And I missed the rest of the gig as I was ejected by security!

Are you sure you didnt have a member of "the Jesus and Mary Chain" stalking you Miss BA?

so lacklustre · Post by **so lacklustre** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 2:46 pm

Regina Spektor is great eh SLL? The album that song off , imaginatively titled "Songs", is spectacular.

Yeah, I checked out the samples on her website, I like it.

miss buenos aires · Post by **miss buenos aires** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 5:53 pm

Mike Boom wrote:Are you sure you didnt have a member of "the Jesus and Mary Chain" stalking you Miss BA?

That, I wouldn't have minded...

Who Shot Sam? · Post by **Who Shot Sam?** » Fri Jan 27, 2006 1:21 pm

I got mug's lovely CD today (with a second CD sampler of historic recordings from RCA's Studio B in Nashville included as a bonus

).

Edwyn Collins - Make Me Feel Young Again
Jonny Polonsky - Gone Away
Smoking Popes - You Spoke To Me
Liz Phair - Perfect World
Ron Sexsmith - Perfect World
Idlewild - Let Me Sleep
Lloyd Cole - That Boy
Garbage - Drive You Home
The Arcade Fire - Old Flame
Luna - Renee Is Crying
They Might Be Giants - Another First Kiss
Loveless - Go
Autolux - Here Comes Everybody
The Black Keys - 10A.M. Automatic
Elliott Smith - Don't Go Down
The Futureheads - Decent Days And Nights
Inara George - Fools Work
Ben Lee - No Right Angles
The Magic Numbers - Anima Sola
Mitch Benn & The Distractions - Everything Sounds Like Coldplay Now

Some really beautiful stuff on here, and an awful lot I had not heard before (Elliott Smith and Futureheads are the only ones I already own, though I'd heard the Sexsmith and a few others - such as The Black Keys - before). The real revelations for me - Inara George (what a beautifully delicate song), Smoking Popes (a really fun stomper), and the brilliance of Lloyd Cole. Between this and the Tower of Lloyd sampler CD Otis gave me in London, I really need to get a few of his discs. I was also pleasantly surprised by the Garbage tune - not typical of what I've heard from them but very very nice indeed!

I'll need to give this (and the bonus CD) another few listens, but for now mille grazie smm!!!

ice nine · Post by **ice nine** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 10:12 pm

Stangerinthehouse wanted to be include in the 2nd circle, but by the time he came aboard everything was already in motion as far as making any room for him. Since I had a copy of my CD that I sent to RTHTW and because my motto is 'No board member left behind' I sent him the copy. Reciprocally, he made me a CD. Here is his tracklist:

1. Who Loves The Sun? - Velvet Underground
2. The Lengths - The Black Keys
3. Nothing Was Delivered - Bob Zimmernan
4. Baby, I'm An Anarchist! - Against Me!
5. Change The World - Nellie McKay
6. Goodbye California - Jollie Holland
7. The Comedians - Roy Orbison
8. Death Letter - Son House
9. The State I'm In - Belle & Sebastian
10. Eric Burdon - Cody Chestnutt
11. Here - Pavement
12. John The Revelator - Son House
13. The Seed (2.0) - The Roots
14. Tango Til They're Sore - Tom Waits
15. Track You Down - Sondre Lerche
16. Inner Peace - Nellie McKay
17. Perpendicular Song - The Three Penny Opera
18. Waste of Paint - Bright Eyes

I really enjoy Son's version of John The Revelator since my CD I sent to him had on it Blind Willie's original on it. Nellie McKay's two tracks are great and Sondre Lerche is spectacular. I know this is blashpemous, but I have trouble with Roy Orbison and Tom Waits. I recognize that they are both outstanding artists and songwriters, but I would rather listen to others. Like EC is, these artists are acquired tastes that I haven't acquired yet.

Thanks for the great CD, Stranger.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 8:05 pm

So how old is John the Revelator? Can anyone tell me its history and how it gets its bizarre title? The Revelators would sound like a ska band. Si Gillian Welch is reffing this song on her unfathomably superb Time The Revelator, right?

I'd recommend listening to the whole LP Rain Dogs a few times, from which Tango comes. If that doesn't grab you, than anything from then on won't, though you might still enjoy some of the earlier stuff. I just love Tango, every word is perfect:

So let me fall out of the window with confetti
Deal out jacks or better on a blanket by the stairs
I'll tell you all my secrets but I'll lie about my past
So send me off to bed for ever more

And the way he says 'And then the Cubans hit the floor'. Brilliant.

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 9:30 pm

I'm not sure the agoe of the song, but John the Revelator refers to the final book of the New Teestamant, the Revalation of John. Since John wrote it and shared his revelation, he's John the Revelator.

On a relates note, it's always beena pet peeve when someone refers to the book as "Revelations." It's just the one revelation.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Fri Feb 03, 2006 9:44 pm

Of course! I think I remember seeing something about this when I looked the word up when I first heard Time. It wasn't a word I'd heard before. Does it appear in the Bible? I wonder is the plural of Revelation a translation aberration or does it go back to the original naming?

Mike Boom · Post by **Mike Boom** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 4:27 pm

Blind Willie Johnsons original is just stunning. His voice is incredible.

From the folkways site:
"Some of the most popular African-American religious songs ever recorded were made by guitar evangelist, Blind Willie Johnson (1900-1949) from Beaumont, Texas. He was born near Marlin, Texas in 1900 and became blind at age seven when lye was thrown in his face. Singing with a gravely and powerful voice, Johnson recorded thirty songs which were popular with rural blacks. Johnson played on the streets and in the Baptist Church throughout his career. Johnson's songs have been recorded by numerous blues and rock performers over the years, including Eric Clapton, Ry Cooder, and Bob Dylan. His song "If I Had My Way" was a very popular during the 1960s as performed by Peter, Paul and Mary. In 1949, Johnson's house caught on fire and, although he survived the fire, he became wet and died from the resulting pneumonia having been refused admission to a hospital."

And apparently Johnson's recording of "Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground" was included on the Voyager Golden Record, sent into space with the Voyager spacecraft in 1977.

Beck has done a version of John The Revelator as have the White Stripes
and even Depeche Mode do a pretty good version.

Of course Led Zeppelin borrowed/covered/stole Nobodys Fault But Mine too.

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 6:30 pm

Otis Westinghouse wrote:Of course! I think I remember seeing something about this when I looked the word up when I first heard Time. It wasn't a word I'd heard before. Does it appear in the Bible? I wonder is the plural of Revelation a translation aberration or does it go back to the original naming?

He's never called "the Revelator" in the Bible. I don't know where that tradition comes from. I suspect the superfluous 's' in "Revelations" is just laziness and ignorance of the book's full title.

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 8:14 pm

After ridiculing him on occassion (mainly the Hurt So Good period), I have to say John Mellencamp does a pretty good version of John The Revelator in his album of covers Trouble No More. That, and the self-titled one, are surprisingly good. Ever since he took up painting it seems he's lost a lot of those old Mellencampisms. A fact I didn't know was that he gave up drinking at age 18. Better than that gawky, overgrown hillbilly momma's boy, Robbie Fulks...

http://www.lasvegasmercury.com/2003/MER ... 35121.html

ReadyToHearTheWorst · Post by **ReadyToHearTheWorst** » Sat Feb 04, 2006 9:00 pm

Blind Willie Johnson features as one of Wim Wenders' favourites in his contribution to the Martin Scorcese Presents the Blues series. If I remember correctly, John the Revelator is the closing song in that edition.

http://www.abc.net.au/dig/blues/tv/

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Sun Feb 05, 2006 3:47 am

Another on the list of legendary things I've never heard. Wish I'd seen that series, the whole thing passed me by.

mood swung · Post by **mood swung** » Mon Feb 06, 2006 11:11 am

'boo revelated

Better than that gawky, overgrown hillbilly momma's boy, Robbie Fulks...

Now watch what you're saying before I have to hit you Georgia Hard.

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 5:07 am

He's got nothing on 'Cougar', especially in the dance moves department...

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Thu Feb 09, 2006 7:09 am

And he doesn't match Kenny Rogers, in Country Music.

King Hoarse · Post by **King Hoarse** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 8:23 pm

The first CD so lack sent me was dead on arrival, but finally the replacements have arrived to my new address:

1) Live CD:

Talking Heads - New Feeling/A Clean Break/Don't Worry About The Government/Pulled Up/Psycho Killer (excellent introduction to a band I've wanted to check out for ages)

Siouxie & The Banshees - Helter Skelter (can't think of a better cover version of this)

The Specials - Monkey Man (I prefer the one by Toots, but this is a lot more fun than the EC produced version)

Billy Bragg - A13, Trunk Road To The Sea (goes on the mixed cd for my next road trip with my new English girlfriend)
Billy Bragg & Kirsty MacColl - Darling Let's Have Another Baby/A New England (impossible to listen to without smiling & in the words of the Magnetic Fields, it makes me drink beer)

Robert Wyatt - Little Red Robin Hood Hit The Road (genius)

Ian Dury - England's Glory/Clever Trever/If I Was With A Woman/Billericay Dickie/Spasticus Autisticus/Blockheads (great addition to Live Stiffs & my much played Rhino comp)

2) Bonus Cd:

Elvis & Lucinda Crossroads - Change The Locks/Drunken Angel/Indoor Fireworks/Questions & Answers/Crescent City/Wild Horses/Blue/Poisoned Rose (Better than expected at first listen, with nice chats & great versions of Change The Locks, Drunken Angel & Wild Horses in particular)

Rachel Sweet - Stranger In The House (Yuck! Annoying voice, boring song with cheesy arrangement IMHO. Sorry, but please shoot that sax player)
Lambchop - Beyond Belief (YEEEAAAHHH! Marriage made in heaven! My fave on these cd's. I'm sure they have room for one more member...)
Elvis Costello - Egypt (unexpected choice, but he pulls it off of course, and makes Labour Of Love worth buying)
James Carr - Dark End Of The Street (the Complete Goldwax Singles is a great collection; this is one of the highlights)
Roseanne Cash - Our Little Angel (another good fit I hadn't heard about before; I really like her voice but most of her original songs are so-so)
George Jones - Who Shot Sam? (a jukebox favourite of mine along with Willie Nelson's I Gotta Get Drunk, this must have been recorded at the same session as White Lightning)
Elvis Costello & Wanda Jackson - Cryin' Time (I really don't think their voices mix well in the choruses but the solo verses are fine!)
Tony Colton - I Stand Accused (swell arrangement, halfassed vocals)
Betty Everett - Getting Mighty Crowded (swell arrangement here too and what a wonderful voice, a real gem to finish things off)