I knew I knew that song and then I read the review, it and "Waiting for the Miracle" were on the Natural Born Killers Soundtrack which was actually a bit of exploration inspiration back when it came out. Reznor could do no wrong and he was like, here listen to Cohen and Patsy Cline and Nusrat Fateh Ali Kahn....
Give me crack and anal sex
Take the only tree that's left
and stuff it up the hole
in your culture
...is an absolute beast of a line!
(and the crack and anal sex bit is the reason my Grade 12 English teacher wouldn't let us study this song during our poetry section when I suggested it because we were already doing other Cohen songs and poems. Dylan too.)
Give me crack and anal sex
Take the only tree that's left
and stuff it up the hole
in your culture
...is an absolute beast of a line!
(and the crack and anal sex bit is the reason my Grade 12 English teacher wouldn't let us study this song during our poetry section when I suggested it because we were already doing other Cohen songs and poems. Dylan too.)
between the two, I think Dylan comes first -- self titled is 62 -- and cohen's first record comes out in 67. Cohen's also more of a troubador and romantic in the early days in comparison to Dylan's folkie stuff. Whether it's fair to said either of them really "started" it is definitely a longer debate. Although I'm not a country fan, I think it's fair to lump some of the early country and western songs in as "dark americana". (aside, you may enjoy dylan's favorite cohen songs).
I would recommend 16 Horsepower (particularly "low estate"; they also do a fantastic cover of Cohen's "The Partissan"), Vic Chestnut, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (especially "sings greatest palace music" and "i see a darkness"; "master & everyone" has always felt very cohen-y to me) and Jim White's "The Mysterious Tale Of How I Shouted Wrong-Eyed Jesus". This is some dude's list, and I don't know the others, but does mention those three so I think maybe worth investigating. Maybe add Tom Waits in there?
Also, I don't know if you'd consider it such, but it's at least tangentially related; Ani Difranco did an album with Utah Phillips (well, she did two, but I am specifically recommending the first one,) "The Past Didn't Go Anywhere". He's a folk singer / storyteller, and he sent her a bunch of tapes of his performances and she put music to it. There's a couple of instances of her doing wordless background harmonies but vocally Ani is largely absent on the album. If you only have time for one song, either "Holding On" or "Bridges", but IMO the whole album is worthwhile. (The second album, "Fellow workers", is more of a protest-y folksy thing and Ani is more vocally present. It's good but IMO not as good.)
between the two, I think Dylan comes first -- self titled is 62 -- and cohen's first record comes out in 67. Cohen's also more of a troubador and romantic in the early days in comparison to Dylan's folkie stuff. Whether it's fair to said either of them really "started" it is definitely a longer debate. Although I'm not a country fan, I think it's fair to lump some of the early country and western songs in as "dark americana". (aside, you may enjoy dylan's favorite cohen songs).
I would recommend 16 Horsepower (particularly "low estate"; they also do a fantastic cover of Cohen's "The Partissan"), Vic Chestnut, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy (especially "sings greatest palace music" and "i see a darkness"; "master & everyone" has always felt very cohen-y to me) and Jim White's "The Mysterious Tale Of How I Shouted Wrong-Eyed Jesus". This is some dude's list, and I don't know the others, but does mention those three so I think maybe worth investigating. Maybe add Tom Waits in there?
Also, I don't know if you'd consider it such, but it's at least tangentially related; Ani Difranco did an album with Utah Phillips (well, she did two, but I am specifically recommending the first one,) "The Past Didn't Go Anywhere". He's a folk singer / storyteller, and he sent her a bunch of tapes of his performances and she put music to it. There's a couple of instances of her doing wordless background harmonies but vocally Ani is largely absent on the album. If you only have time for one song, either "Holding On" or "Bridges", but IMO the whole album is worthwhile. (The second album, "Fellow workers", is more of a protest-y folksy thing and Ani is more vocally present. It's good but IMO not as good.)
I think in that case Cohen beats Dylan. Bob was fucking around with the Dead and tom petty and putting out kind of ok albums while Leonard was dropping "the future" in what, 92, 94? Bob didn't really get his dark Americana on until time of off mind I would say
I think in that case Cohen beats Dylan. Bob was fucking around with the Dead and tom petty and putting out kind of ok albums while Leonard was dropping "the future" in what, 92, 94? Bob didn't really get his dark Americana on until time of off mind I would say
"Political World", "The Man in the Long Black Coat", "Everything is Broken", the entire sound. It's as dark as Time Out of Mind even if it's less swampy.
I recall Oh Mercy hitting me as very Time Out of Mind when I got the MoFi. I can see where you are there. For sure The Future predates Time Out of Mind, will need to check out all of their stuff during this period. Cohen is kind a gap period in my knowledge. I have a few albums, I've really been savoring them and really getting to know them before I go on to the next one.
Question, are there others doing this sort of thing, I guess the most recent John Cale is almost there and Nick Cave can certainly conjure up the same kind of vibe, but I really dig this whole vibe.
Why Neutral Milk Hotel’s biggest fans are often those who understand it least.
slate.com
I remember first hearing Airplane at a friend's house in 2004 and feeling like a ton of bricks hit me. I can recognize the monolithic status that album has taken on, as well as the legend around Magnum taking on a life of its own; I still think the author exaggerates it, especially in quoting other exaggerated and aggrandizing editorials with their own goals of planting a flag on the topic.
Maybe I'm feeling exposed, but I bristle at the overall tone of "the people who like the thing don't get the thing."
I am glad I hung on to the last sentence:
The longer the hotel preserves its strict neutrality, the more the guests might grasp that they can’t get the milk for free.
Nice Caoimhïn is the fiddle player in The Gloaming that uses the strange violin with the extra resonant strings that makes the sort of slightly discordant otherworldly feel.
A Woman’s Heart is an album anyone with any links to here in the 90s knows inside out. Stellar original compilation for which every song was originally recorded. Was the biggest selling album in Ireland in the 90s by an absolute distance and contains all the most talented Irish female artists of the time,
Don’t know the rest but will have to check them them out. Thanks.
Read Julianne Escobedo Shepherd’s review of the album.
pitchfork.com
That the few samples on this album come from Cypress Hill, Scary Movie, and Lucasfilm, in the form of the THX Deep Note, tell you all you need to know: The internet is an earwig that has broken millennials’ brains. 10,000 gecs sounds like being hit in the face with pies for approximately 26 minutes, two best friends having the greatest time throwing all the dankest shit from their musical file cabinet at you while you accept your ridiculous fate.
