Random 10 for March 11, 2008
1. Charlotte Gainsbourg, “The Songs That We Sing.” Recorded with Air, this is a beautifully timeless pop song from last year’s 5:55. Gainsbourg is the daughter of one of pop music’s most brilliant dirty old men, the late Serge Gainsbourg, and an accomplished actress who gave a great but largely overlooked performance in I’m Not There.
2. Sufjan Stevens, “Opie’s Funeral Song.”
3. The Clientele, “E.M.P.T.Y.”
4. Klaxons, “It’s Not Over Yet.”
5. The Besnard Lakes, “For Agent 13.”
6. Antibalas, “War Hero.” Brooklyn’s 12-piece Antibalas was modeled stylistically and structurally after Fela Kuti’s Africa 70, and has been around for a decade but finally gained prominence with its 2007 disc, Security.
7. Ghostface Killah, “Be Easy.”
8. Crowded House, “People Are Like Suns.”
9. The National, “Mr. November.”
10. The Postal Service, “Grow Old With Me.” A John Lennon song that was originally intended for Double Fantasy, but Lennon and Yoko Ono postponed the recording until 1981, when it would be included on Milk and Honey. That disc became a posthumous release of rough demos, and “Grow Old With Me” was one of the roughest. The song was going to be part of The Beatles’ set of “reunion” songs for Anthology, but the quality of the simple cassette recording was deemed by George Martin and the surviving Fabs to be too muddy. Martin did revisit it in 1998 for the John Lennon Anthology, giving the song a string arrangement. This 2005 version by The Postal Service, while nice, obviously cannot have the emotional impact of the original, which was given ironic weight by Lennon’s assassination and will make tears well up in even the most callous among us.
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Comments
two ahems? are you *trying* to make me cry? don’t judge my alcohol knowledge right now, sven. i haven’t exactly had experience in these matters these many months past.
sniff…
I’m so proud of you guys. For those who don’t know, in short order, Sven and Susan are adding another Staticblog poster to the world. We’ll bring delicious goodies after the fact.
also, sven performed a lovely arrangement of “Grow old with me” at my wedding some 6 years ago. One of my life’s favorite memories.
oooh i lurv the Clientele. Yum. Goes great with a chilled bottle of Eye of the Toad rose zinfandel.