Saturday Songs – Nov. 26

Posting them late again! Apologies – Taylor

1. “I Just Can’t Take It Anymore” – The Lemonheads

A lost Gram Parsons tune, Evan Dando and The Lemonheads resurrect both this song and themselves on their 2006 covers album Varshons. Sure, it’s a covers album and it doesn’t exactly demonstrate a return to form, but it is, at the very least, a demonstration of Dando’s esoteric music taste and sense of craft. From country troubadour Townes Van Zandt to “post-punk” band Wire, Dando is all across the board. The song probably truest to the sound of The Lemonheads (circa It’s A Shame About Ray), however, is Dando’s take on this country lope by the grandfather of country rock.

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2. “Moving Pictures Silent Films” – Great Lake Swimmers

Just as there are certain concepts in a film that one almost likes more than the film itself—for instance, the concept of Louis Malle’s 1981 film My Dinner With Andre—I like the concept of Great Lake Swimmers’ self-titled debut album almost more the album itself. While we’re stuck on slow-moving folk music, I think it’s worth looking to Bon Iver’s rise to fame. Vernon’s real claim to fame—both in the music press as well as in personal conversations—was his winter say in a Wisconsin cabin. Everyone adored that idea: Vernon, broken up with his girlfriend and his band, moping away in a lonely corner of the woods, writing songs to make himself feel better.

Thinking in terms of these album concepts, this debut album from Great Lake Swimmers is almost better. The tragedy of For Emma, Forever Ago is that we can’t actually hear those months out in the woods on the tape itself. The album is full of haunting, sad sounds, but there is nothing overtly “woodsy” or “natural” about it. On the other hand, “Moving Pictures Silent Films,” the first track on Great Lake Swimmers, starts out with woodsy hiss and the chirping of crickets.

The entire album was recorded in an abandoned grain silo in southern Ontario over the course of several months. So, the reverberant threads of vocal, guitar, bass, piano, and percussion, bouncing eerily off the walls of the silo are drawn over that foundational layer of natural white noise. That, Justin Vernon, is “woodsy” for you!

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3. “God Is God” – Steve Earle

As far as I’m concerned, Steve Earle’s most recent album, I’ll Never Make It Out Of This World Alive, is fantastic throughout. But as some of you may know, I’ve got a soft spot for songs reflecting seriously on God and God’s relation to man. Naturally, questions of a religious, philosophical nature + Steve Earle = one helluva song. Earle, with this song, begins to approach the stature of some of Townes’s more elaborate, labyrinthine songs (such as “Only Him Or Me”).

I love some of the phrases Earle concots in this song, especially:

And as our fate unfurls,

Every day that passes I’m sure about a little bit less.

Even my money keeps telling me it’s God I need to trust.

And I believe in God, but God ain’t us.

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4. “Las transeuntes” – Jorge Drexler

Still on my binge of Spanish-language music, I’ve stumbled upon Jorge Drexler, who’s probably a familiar name for Oscar buffs out here, having garnered an Oscar for Best Original Song, thanks to his contribution “Al otro lado del río” to the soundtrack of The Motorcycle Diaries. Outside of the United States, however, Drexler is a big deal as a songwriter. “Las transeuntes” is a fine example of Drexler’s craft—not only of his songwriting, but also of his ability as a performer. “Las transeuntes,” along with the rest of the songs on his recent album Amar la trama, was recorded live in front of a small audience in a recording studio, lending it an earthy, warm sound.

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5. “The Sailor” – Ben and the Sea

While I don’t find myself as attracted to the three other songs on the first third of Ben and the Sea’s debut album A Life Outside, I really enjoy the first track “The Sailor.” This tune has a cutting directness and a delicate sense of craft that makes it easy to like. Get the song for free below: