Mmmhmm.

[Via The New Electric Ride]

If you hadn’t already noticed, I’m kind of oblivious to contemporary music. I listen to the things that I love, most of which is old and faithful: the Zombies, Cat Stevens, lots of folk and more. Harper Simon is a new artist on the scene, but an old soul (and the son of Paul Simon, if you couldn’t tell by his voice). This lovely 8mm video for his single, “Berkeley Girl,” seems like it’s straight out of my music era. Isn’t Jena Malone so cute? This makes me happy.

This song just came into my head out of nowhere (and I didn’t even remember what the band’s name was, oddly — it’s Extreme). I’m pretty sure I had this CD single at one point. I really love their harmonies…and I’m not ashamed to admit I like soft rock. Yeah, I said it!

What is it about a fully-buttoned up shirt and long hair on a dude? So ’90s, so good.

Some musical experiments for the end of the week. Ariel Pink is the king of surrealist soundscapes that are still listenable.

Eeep! I was so excited to learn about the eccentric music conservator William Savory’s collection of rare jazz and swing recordings from the 1930s through the 1950s. “The Savory Collection,” as it was known to rabid collectors and jazz devotees, is a thousand or more discs of performances at clubs and musical interludes on the radio, recorded live. These mysterious unreleased recordings, accomplished on an ancient form of disc that only recorded 3 minutes at a go, have been moldering in a basement for the last 70 or so years. After Savory’s death in 2004 they were finally brought to light and have since been donated to the National Jazz Museum in Harlem (yay!). Now they’re in the process of digitizing performances by musicians that include Cab Calloway, Billie Holiday, as well as many obscure artists that I can’t wait to hear. Listen here.

P.S. Savory is quite a looker, no?

Scoff if you want, but Rush freaking rules. You know you love it. Look at all that hair!

My favorite song of the moment. It’s nihilist angst with a voice like trickling honey. God, I adore Peggy Lee!

And just for good measure, here’s “Black Coffee.” My friend Chelsea sings it best.

This is how I imagined my high school life playing out, circa age 15 — boys in scuffed white loafers serenading me with Otis, working in a record store, having a cool older friend (LOVE Annie Potts!). I don’t know how many thrift store finds I ripped apart in the hopes of coming up with some Andie-esque creation, but my sewing skills are a bit lacking. (And her prom dress was pretty heinous, I must admit.)

But seriously, why would anyone choose a Blaine over a Duckie? Any dude that loves Otis that much is a gem.

Dude. I was desperately into George Michael as a wee child. I had a full-body poster of him hanging above my waterbed when I was, oh, seven? Picture a little me in stonewashed jeans, clutching my Snoopy on a Carebears quilt with a giant poster of G.M. in sunglasses glowering above me. (I have a picture of this somewhere.)

“Everything She Wants” is a more recent obsession, as well as kind of depressing. For example, this wailed line really makes my anxiety broil up: “And then you tell me that you’re having my baby / I’ll tell you that I’m happy if you want me to / But one step further and my back will break / If my best is never good enough than how can it be good enough for two?”. In addition to all of the lamentation about how much this woman wants, the groany chorus really worms the song into your brain. Enjoy!

P.S. The fact that this is Wham! and there’s another guy is totally lost on me. Who cares about that dude? It’s all about G.M.

’90s nostalgia: it’s back! I had such a thing for Beck in middle and high school. Seriously, my dream dude. Songs like “Loser” — really all of Mellow Gold and Odelay — were crucial to my formative years. I first got MTV when I was 12, which is kind of late, but definitely the right time to get it, if you’re going to. I remember sitting in front of the mammoth hand-me-down console in my bedroom and watching Garbage, Beck and No Doubt videos in a trance, usually while combing my hair. I still have a giant Beck poster in the basement of my mom’s house.

Selda Bagcan is a Turkish folk singer best known in the ’70s. She can wail. I’d love to learn more about her.

Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra’s ’60s collaborations are seriously dreamy, especially “Some Velvet Morning.” Riding that horse across the dunes, leather vests and blurry solos — mmm. Also, Lee’s voice? Deep as a well holding a trapped child. (That’s deep.)

I also love “Summer Wine” — both rosé and this song. (Pink wine is the best and I’m not ashamed to admit it!)

Currently obsessed with Jonathan Richman (and Egypt, but that’s nothing new). This video is from Top of the Pops, circa 1977. Check out those camel humps!

[Via The New Electric Ride]

I recently rediscovered my Rough Trade Post Punk compilation while packing to move. This was the soundtrack to my junior year of college, and good lawd is it good! I immediately uploaded it to my iPod and have been jammin’ out since. Here’s a crucial track from the compilation, the Mo-Dettes’ “White Mice” — the video is lo-fi incredible! Look at those ladies jump around! Summer soundtrack, anyone?

When I was in college I hung out at a bar with a great jukebox — a real one, not the digital kind that litter bars these days.  My playlist usually included a gin and tonic (heh),  “Wild Horses,” something by the Smiths and a track from the Louvin Brothers’ iconic album Satan is Real (which has a crazy album cover). Ira and Charlie Louvin’s repertoire was heavily influenced by their Baptist faith and warned against sin, though they were both known to throw back some whiskey. Spreading their gospel (literally) allowed the brothers to popularize close harmonies in country, as well as some serious guitar picking and mandolin playing. Now I want to visit the Foxhead and listen to some swelling duets on the juke!

Here’s the Louvin Brothers’ version of “I Don’t Believe You’ve Met My Baby” on the Grand Ole Opry.

I also ran across a documentary on the history of country music. Check out the Louvin Brothers contribution to country music here.

I’m getting more and more into folk as of late. I randomly ran across the 1976 Silly Sisters album by June Tabor and Maddy Prior and it’s been on repeat ever since. Their harmonies are just…”poifect.” (Writing phonetically is the only way to truly express how much joy I get from this album.) I’ve been listening to their solo work too (gotta love iTunes recommendations!) and it’s just so lovely. Definitely a must-listen.

Also, it doesn’t hurt to have an album cover that looks like this. You are my inspiration, ladies.

Listen to The Grey Funnel Line

Listen to Lass of Lach Royal

Buy the album

[Via Carson Ellis]

“Why Don’t You Love Me” – Beyoncé from Beyoncé on Vimeo.

Whoever did the art direction and costuming for this video is a freaking genius. Seriously. I’ve never wanted dirty blond Bettie Page bangs, garters and a high waisted bathing suit more than I do right now! Yowza! Beyoncé does it again.

Listening to Sibylle Baier on repeat these days. She has the most amazingly clear, smooth voice that feels like it’s perched inside your ear just for you. The story of her first, almost lost album:

“‘Colour Green’ was recorded in Germany in the 1970-1973. In a particularly dark and moody period of her young life, Claudine, a friend of Sibylle’s, dragged her out from under the bed and took her on a road trip to Strasbourg, ending up across the Alps in Genoa.

“Upon the return from this trip Sibylle felt her sprits renewed and she set out to write the song “Remember the Day”, grateful for being alive. It was the first song she ever wrote. Recorded in the late 1970s in her home on a reel to reel recording device, the songs on ‘Colour Green’ are intimate portraits of life’s sad and fragile beauty.”

Some of my favorites. Listen here:

Sibylle Baier – I Lost Something In The Hills

Sibylle Baier – The End (on YouTube)

Somehow I’ve never heard Dolly’s “We Used To.” It breaks my heart a little. I really adore it.

I love you, Dolly.

I first started watching The Golden Girls on a regular basis when I was 12 or 13. I was at that awkward age where I couldn’t really get a job yet so I was spending my summer vacation at home with my younger sisters. Every morning (and I mean every morning) I’d turn on Lifetime, make a batch of muffins, a cake or a weird experimental jam made out of poisonous berries from the backyard (I baked to fill my free time) and watch endless reruns of Designing Women, Golden Girls and Mama’s Family. Hanging out with Dorothy, Blanche, Sophia and Rose on the lanai was one of my favorite pastimes, and it’s never really faded away. (I also based all of my preconceptions about Florida on their experience of Miami. All Caddies and sassy ladies in shoulder pads!) I still watch an episode or two every week, even though I’ve seen them all a billion times. It’s comforting.

Needless to say, all of the recent Betty White hype gets me totally pumped. I’m so glad to see her back in the limelight! This video recently surfaced and it makes me ever so happy. I knew that Betty had been in show business long before Golden Girls (I remember her on Mary Tyler Moore as well), but I had no idea she had her own short-lived television show in 1954! Here’s Betty singing “Nevertheless, I’m in Love With You.”

[Via Neatorama]

Truly Smith is a chest-pounding torch singer of the highest order (love the false eyelashes and bangs!). The 1960s girl music scene had so many amazing one-hit wonders that were lost to the archives, such as this one. I hope to one day own the entire Girl Group Sounds: Lost and Found compilation. So many gems!

If I could hang with any music ladeez past or present, Strawberry Switchblade would be high on my list. It’s so obvious that they have fun and their gypsy-Egyptian-Frida-heavy eyeliner-polka dot fashion (and they made all of their outfits themselves!) makes me want to do a little dance around my bedroom. I’d love to go as Strawberry Switchblade for Halloween, if only to have an excuse to wear that much eyeliner. I love it, I do.

To prove my point on how adorable they are: they did a synth pop cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene.” Damn!

Their most famous song, “Since Yesterday,” is so twee and sweet!

The Carter Family’s morose Christian harmonies and fire and brimstone folk songs are pretty much my go-to for music accompaniment. It doesn’t matter if I’m washing dishes, pulling my hair out while trying to write a pithy post or just reading a book while lazing around in bed — I can depend on the Carters’ seemingly endless catalog to provide an earnest, acoustic reality check that just feels good. (I also have a serious thing for the autoharp and Maybelle’s deep twang.)

These LIFE Magazine photos of the family were originally documented in 1941 at the Carter Family’s home in Poor Valley, Virginia. The Carters’ music career spanned thirty years (or more, with infinite reincarnations since, including daughter June Carter Cash) and they really laid the groundwork for country music. Seeing how they lived and where they came from makes it so much more potent. (And that wallpaper is amazing!)

Some of my favorite songs include No Depression in Heaven (not online, sadly), Wildwood Flower, Bury Me Under the Weeping Willow and I Never Will Marry. (Listen at the links! I’ve also written about my love of Joan Baez’s version here.)

There’s also an interesting documentary that talks about the Carter Family’s influence on all subsequent country music. Watch a clip here. (I can’t wait to watch the whole documentary!)

[Thanks to Routine Investigations for digging up these photos from the LIFE Archive!]

Sing it, Joan.

This rendition of “I Never Will Marry” is achingly, beat upon thine chest type of good. Look at how young she is! I love the cutaways to the crowd’s reactions. I really wish I would have seen the PBS American Masters special on her career when it originally aired. Maybe I can find it online…

“Was it good for you, too?” — Navin

Good gravy, I love The Jerk. The combination of Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters, ill-gotten riches (and a Thermos) equals more quotable quotes than I can politely impersonate in the course of a conversation (because I will). I’m a fan of every version of “Tonight You Belong to Me,” especially Patience and Prudence’s sweet, childish cooing and girl group The Honeys breathy whisper (this band was Brian Wilson’s attempt at being a Phil Specter style Svengali).

What’s your favorite Jerk moment?

I recently unearthed my copy of the Harry Smith’s* Anthology of American Folk Music, a compilation of eighty-four American folk, blues and country music recordings that were originally issued from 1927 to 1932. (Harry Smith compiled the music from his personal collection of 78 rpm records. Pretty cool.)

Though I love everything on the album, I’m really digging Lead Belly (seen above with his wife — they are so cute!). I had no idea that so many of the popular songs I’ve taken for granted are covers of the folk songs he made famous! Musicologists and folklorists John and Alan Lomax are credited with “discovering” Huddie Ledbetter while he was still serving time in prison in 1933. They recorded hundreds of his songs for the Library of Congress and brought his work the mainstream (and plenty of other obscure music as well). I can’t wait to do more research and start buying into the Library of Congress music library! Here are some Lead Belly videos that have been tiding me over for the time being.

*More on Harry Smith later. Quite an eccentric bird!