Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Commute music




Shine a Light – Rolling Stones
Eisler on the Go – Billy Bragg & Wilco
Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinios – Sufjan Stevens
Couldn’t Cause me Harm – Beth Orton

Black&White World – Elvis Costello
Travellin’ on for Jesus – Kate & Anna McGarrible
A Short Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane but for Very Good Reasons – Sufjan Stevens
Erie Canal – Bruce Springsteen version
Birds & Ships – Billy Bragg & Wilco (& Natalie Merchant)
Sweet Jane - Velvet Underground
Misstra Know It All – Stevie Wonder
If I was Your Girlfriend - Prince
The Boat Family – The Roches

A colleague at my office thought I would like his Sufjan Stevens Album “Illinoise,” and he was right. It’s mostly wonderful. Boyish voice kind of like Jeff Tweedy or Art Garfunkel but more straight-forward. Good music, good lyrics. Dreamy in places. Particular.

At the same time he lent me the eponymous CD "Sophie Auster", daugher of Paul, singing French surrealist poems. Now, I love French surrealist poetry, and I like Paul Auster’s fiction and the life-justifying job he did putting together the Random House Anthology of 20th Century French Poetry, but his daughter is not a good singer, either in tone or in timing. I was sorry not to like her, but so it is.

8 comments:

Ash said...

Looks like a good compilation, though the Bragg/Wilco songs included there are some of their worst collaborations, imo.

michi said...

ah i quite like sufjan stevens. and i adore "sweet jane" by the velvet underground, and "couldn't cause me harm". yesyesyes. springsteen's latest is wonderful. you can tell by listening to the album how much fun they must have had recording it. maybe i should send you one of my compilations some day ...

SarahJane said...

hi ash -
aw, i like those two, esp Eisler. there are a bunch of others on the ipod but they didn't play this trip in.

hi michi -
do you have any other sufjan stevens? I only have Illinoise and wonder which one is worth trying next. My mother brought me the Springsteen CD and I actually didn't want to like it but I love it. I know all those songs quite quite well having grown up with folk-music loving parents so I thought Springsteen wouldn't pull it off.... but he did! She also gave me a DVD showing them record some of the songs which just made me want to quit my life and be bruce springsteen. lol!

Ash said...

Eisler is definitely a moody vehicle. I like it, but if you have the Mermaid Ave. CDs, you know what I mean. I don't like the one with Natalie at all, though.

Word Verification: bbbap

I guess I'm a sheep after all.

michi said...

or you are a stuttering bap (german group) fan, ash!

gdorla

michi said...

oh and sarah - if you were bruce springsteen, that would be great - my husband LOOOOOOOVES him, and since i know you, we could invite you over to our place and he'd be on cloud 9!

nracgrom, indeed.

michi said...

me again - sarah i forgot to say, no, i have not got much more sufjan stevens stuff, but if i do get more, i will let you know.

my word verification is NEIAF - one letter short of one of the most beautiful places i have been to, neiafu, main settlement of tonga'S vava'u group. ah, memories!

m

SarahJane said...

i was actually never a big bruce springsteen fan, despite growing up in new jersey. now i know it was just jealousy.

Related Posts with Thumbnails