Free Joy

If you're a fan of new music and haven't yet discovered the live archives at kexp.org, run -- don't walk! -- on over to that little treasure chest. You'll find hundreds of performances going back to 2001 by many bands you know and many you've never heard of. They used to have it so you could only listen to a song at a time, but newer sets have a full-performance link that's pretty handy. And because these sets were originally aired on KEXP in Seattle, the studio sound quality is really good.

I usually ask for music suggestions from you guys, but here are a couple of artists I'm really into doing songs I really like. I'd love to hear what you think, as there are few things in this world that give me more joy than sharing, talking about, and of course listening to music. And if you post a link to a set or a song, I'll check it out as well.

These are all Windows Media links, but you can use Real Player too if you go to the site.

Joseph Arthur
I talk a lot about this guy, but he's not exactly a household name, so if you don't know him, check him out. He's been playing with a backup band lately and it's cool stuff, but I very much prefer his solo stuff. It's pretty mellow, usually, and it's cool to watch him build songs by looping beats, rhythms, backing vocals, harmonica and more over top of each other. Sometimes, once he gets a song built up, he puts the instruments down and sings over the song he's looped together as he paints a set-long mural in the background that's so good it rivals the music. Talented dude.

Try:
"She Paints Me Gold" - 2005
"Mercedes" - 2004

Beirut
I love this band, but they're definitely not for everyone. They use dozens of instruments to achieve a sort of Eastern European festival sound, but there's nary a guitar to be found. If you like Neutral Milk Hotel, you'll like Beirut. It's very possible that this band would make Rob Zero's head explode.

Try:
"Elephant Gun" - 2006
"Ederlezi" - 2006

TGIM

It's a beautiful morning and the first day of 2007 that I've ridden my Triumph. My coffee was excellent. Tonight's the Joseph Arthur show in Pittsburgh, which I wouldn't miss for the world. Sure, I'm on a tight deadline, but this is still a great way to start off a week.

Happy Monday, everybody.

King Kenny & the CAC

An announcement I saw in Corridor magazine today got me thinking about the first singer I was ever really into: Kenny Rogers. The Gambler himself is coming to Morgantown to play the CAC on March 10.

The pictured album was one of my first records -- I was eight when it came out -- and it was the only Kenny Rogers album I ever listened to. But I listened to it a lot. I was partial to Coward of the County, no so much because I liked the simple tune, but because I liked the idea of the little guy who was trying to make his dead father proud standing up for himself and putting the Gatlin Boys down in a bar -- all of them! -- for the honor of his lady. (I'll get to "Lady" in a minute, don't worry!) Hey, sometimes you gotta fight when you're a man.

I also liked the sappy stuff. I can still remember every word to "She Believes In Me" and "Don't Fall In Love With a Dreamer," and I promise you it's been 20 years since I've heard them. I'd pay ten dollars for either of these songs to come on the radio while I'm driving. You'd probably pay ten to not be in the car.

Just like he started the album with "The Gambler," which is certainly his calling card, he finished it with another knock-out punch, "Lady." The song begins dark, pensive, indebted, as Kenny opines:

Lady, I'm your knight in shining armor and I love you
You have made me what I am and I am yours
My love, there's so many ways I want to say I love you
Let me hold you in my arms forever more

But then he turns it on. He gets bold. He steps it up, just like the Coward of the County did, to lay it all on the line for his lady. The grand finale, not just of the song, not just of the album, not even just of Kenny Rogers' illustrious career, but perhaps of the formative years of my life as a music fan, are Kenny's final lines of the song:

Lady, your love's the only love I need
And beside me is where I want you to be
cause, my love, there's somethin' I want you to know
You're the love of my life, you're my lady!

He starts by sacrificially saying "I am yours" and he ends by telling her where he wants her to be and what he wants her to know! She probably didn't even know he'd flipped the deck on her! She was too busy melting to see it coming!

Okay, I exaggerate. And the song is cheesy as hell now, just like the rest of them. But I remember them all fondly regardless. Not enough to go to the show in March ... but almost.