Revisiting…
Revisiting a few older tracks…
Two songs with a similar theme: retirement. Where Ben Folds’ Fred Jones is mostly sad and just a little frustrated (“and all of these bastards, who’ve taken his place, he’s forgotten and not yet gone”), the protagonist in Belle & Sebastian’s magnificent song is pissed at management and lets them have it in his farewell speech (“The others were shocked at this shameful disgrace at the end of an honoured career. He paused in the silence to pull down his tie
and observe the melee”). Both are lovely songs; how the B&S one was just a b-side and not a huge hit is incomprehensible.
Belle & Sebastian – Take Your Carriage Clock And Shove It.mp3
Ben Folds – Fred Jones Pt 2.mp3 (Live in NYC; DVD Rip)
Playing on the same bill as Ben Folds at that NYC concert were Guster (and Rufus Wainwright). I’ve been revisiting Guster”s outstanding 2003 album Keep It Together, which I expect to be regarded as some sort of classic before too long. From that CD:
Guster – I Hope Tomorrow Is Like Today.mp3
The proto Indie group arguably was Big Star, whose heyday was the early “70s. Listen to their stuff from that era, and you might well believe it was recorded by some Indie outfit fairly recently. Especially “Ballad For El Good”, possibly one of the loveliest songs ever written.
Big Star – The Ballad Of El Goodo.mp3
One of the unlikely hits of 1986 was It’s Immaterial’s “Driving Away From Home” (a song I always associate with Stan Ridgway’s “Camouflage”. I suspect I bought both records at the same time). It was also one of the best hits of 1986. Hmmmm, I think I should have a 1986 retrospective some time…
It’s Immaterial – Driving Away From Home.mp3
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