A Free Man

The Chapin Sisters, two of whom actually are sisters, are based out of L.A. They got a bit of attention with a cover of “Toxic” last year. What I’ve heard of their new LP “Lake Bottom” sounds pretty good - twisted Americana a la The Be Good Tanyas.

MP3: The Chapin Sisters - “Washed Away”

Speaking of Americana, the more I hear from Damien Jurado the more I am convinced that he’s one of the best songwriters around right now. This track, from his forthcoming LP “Caught In The Trees” is a perfect example. Golden.

MP3: Damien Jurado - “Gillian Was A Horse”

Clem Snide’s 2001 “The Ghost of Fashion” was a masterpiece and one that I’ve been waiting for them to improve on since. Clem Snide is gone, but Eef Barzelay has a new solo record, “Lose Big”, which ciyky sounds like Eef could be back on track.

MP3: Eef Barzelay - “Lose Big”

For those of you not in Australia, Triple J is a national radio station that is pretty good and seeking out new talent from Down Under. One of their latest contests was to find the nation’s best high school bands. Every time I here this track from Sydney trio (is), I’m just amazed that these are high school kids - and then I feel really old.

MP3: (is) - “Cult Romance” 

The Herbaliser has been making jazz influenced hip-hop out of The Big Smoke since the early 90’s. Their latest, “Same As It Never Was” sounds like it’s got a big old dose of The Big Easy as well. These guys are on tour all over the U.S. and Europe this summer.

MP3: The Herbaliser - “On Your Knees”

A little bit Pavement, a little bit Breeders, New York’s The Dig is making solid guitar based indie-rock and is out on tour suppporting their Good Luck and Games EP. They’re all over the East coast this month check them out in a town near you.

MP3: The Dig - “Lovesick Woman”

If what you are missing in your life is Sikh hip-hop, then A Free Man is here to help you out. Sukshinder Shinda is a Birningham (UK) based producer has been a major player in a scene that I never knew existed. He’s worked on over 200 records and “Living The Dream” is his fifth solo effort. I hope I don’t sound dismissive, because this is the most interesting music I’ve heard this week. Check it out if you’re a fan of M.I.A.

MP3: Sukshinder Shinda - “Aao Gidha Palay Eh”

I’ve heard lots of good things, and continually great tunes, from Seattle’s Throw Me The Statue. But nothing tickled the fancy of a self-avowed 80’s hater this week like their Huey Lewis cover. Their excellent LP “Moonbeams” is out on Secretly Canadian and look for Throw Me The Statue in Europe in October.

MP3: Throw Me The Statue - “If This Is It”

Another New York act, The Virgins, are making delightfully radio friendly funk-influenced pop. Their self-titled debut is out now on Atlantic. These guys are going to sell a lot of records.

MP3: The Virgins - “Rich Girl”

Closing things out this week is a duet from A Free Man’s favorite music scene. Portland’s The Old Believers are making sparse yet strangely melodic folk. They’re on a major tour of the Western U.S. this summer and “Eight Golden Greats” is out on July 10.

MP3: The Old Believers - “There It Is”  

Popularity: 43% [?]

Despite coming to age in the 80’s, I just do not like 80’s music. It’s OK to hear a single now and then, and the early part of the decade (before my time) produced some good stuff. But what I think of as 80’s music is that horrible synthetic post-new-wave-dance pop. I mean, some of the top albums of 1989 were by “artists” like Paula Abdul, Bobby Brown, Debbie Gibson and Milli Vanilli. This is the music of my 18th year. I wasn’t really tuned in enough to be aware of alternatives beyond R.E.M., U2 and They Might Be Giants so musical options were limited. So, when I heard Sinead O’Connor’s version of “Nothing Compares to You” on a Jacksonville rock station on a trip home from college in South Carolina in 1990. I was hooked immediately, I was in kind of a tumultuous relationship and the lyrics (Prince’s, mind, but the delivery is what makes you yearn) really hit me:

“It’s been seven hours and fifteen days
Since u took your love away
I go out every night and sleep all day
Since u took your love away…”

I was also in a pretty deep depression, which may have had more to do with it, but nonetheless, I had without seeing O’Connor been struck by my first rock girl crush. I bought the album - “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got” and I wore out the cassette. I loved every moment of that album from when she opens with The Serenity Prayer in her soft Irish brogue to the stunning a cappella title track.

I think I listened to this album hundreds of times from 1990 to 1994 or so. And then, as these things do, my tastes changed and this album moved off the playlist. Sinead O’Connor went a bit off the rails after this album. “Am I Not Your Girl” is OK, though nowhere near as compelling as “I Do Not Want…”. Then she ripped up the picture of the pope, got ordained, became a lesbian, became a heterosexual, a wife a mother, a rastafarian, etc. In that time she also released albums of traditional Irish music and reggae covers and a couple of simply bad records. It just became a little bit too much effort to be a fan.

In 2001, Sinead O’Connor came back into my life in the guise of another girl named Sinead who walked into my life on a bitter cold Missouri night. Now, the connection in reality was only the coincidental similarities in nomenclature, but in my head… I began listening to this album obsessively again. She actively dislikes O’Connor, generally because I imagine she got teased a bit and has probably heard “Like the singer?!?” more than a thousand times in response to introducing herself. I’ve tried to woo her to the beauty of O’Connor’s music a few times, but she seems pretty set in her ways. I was however, able to convince Sinead that country music was not all bad and every now again she’ll hear a song, say “Is that Sinead O’Connor?” and not make me turn it off. It’s small steps.

“When I kissed you
You didn’t mind
I thought I tasted of too many cigarettes
But you tasted like wine
And I’m not going to change my mind
Just because of what they said”

A really good album is one that finds its way in to your life whether you want it to or not. “I Do Not Want What You Haven’t Got” is one of those albums. The late summer of 2005 was a crazy time for me personally and for Britain. The July 7 bombings had people on edge and responses were extreme. An armed police unit shot and killed a Brazilian electrician in a tube station after some faulty reconnaisance.

“England’s not the mythical land of Madame George and roses
It’s the home of police who kill black boys on mopeds
And I love my boy and that’s why I’m leaving
I don’t want him to be aware that there’s
Any such thing as grieving…”

Or brown boys in tube stations, maybe.

If you’re a frequent visitor to this site and are not convinced that I’m a music geek and potentially slightly OCD, I’ve been listening to my music collection alphabetically by album for the last few months. I’m now into the I’s. This morning, it was Sinead’s turn (O’Connor). A really good album can suck me in completely and everything else around just goes blank. From the opening prayer, which means something much different to me now than it did 17 years ago, I was immersed in this album like I was hearing it for the first time. That was my experience this morning - I even dawdled on my way to work so I could hear the whole thing. O’Connor’s voice is powerful, pure and spiritual. As a glimpse to her later career the musical accompaniment jumps around stylistically. But I’m a lyrics guys, and that’s where this album shines - it’s angry, mystical, rapturous, and ultimately redeeming. The album begins and ends in prayer of sorts and that’s where the redemption comes:

“So I’m walking through the desert
And I am not frightened although it’s hot
I have all that I requested
And I do not want what I haven’t got.”

MP3: Sinead O’Connor - “Feel So Different”

Sinead O’Connor’s “I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got” is available from Amazon and .

Popularity: 14% [?]