Drams and Jams

After an introduction from Liane – Craig and Andrew trade tracks and share experiences along the way. Craig goes first:

Weird Goodbyes (feat. Bon Iver) – The National

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Steady – The Staves

Bloodbuzz Ohio is an anchor track for me – I don’t know as much of the National’s catalog as I’d like – but I know I “like” them.

Add Bon Iver to the mix – and all I’m thinking of is The Staves.

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Pancho & Lefty – Live – Townes Van Zandt

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Windows Are Rolled Down – Amos Lee

Townes Van Zandt out of the Staves was sweet.  Had me thinking of that old country vibe and remembered the album Amos Lee did where he had a couple of duets with Lucinda Williams and Willie Nelson – almost went for one of them but it felt a little too on the nose – so went for the acoustic driven but super breezy Windows 🙂

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Jump – Mike Dawes

I enjoyed the amos lee pick.

It’s been Gordon Lightfoot madness around here for the past week (he used to live just a little south of us in Toronto).  I was playing some of his stuff and went down a rabbit hole of fingerstyle interpretations of pop songs.  I grew up on all that windham hill/michael hedges music and somehow landed on this version of Jump by Mike Dawes.  To be honest,  this style of music can be more fun to see someone perform than it is to listen to (it’s a bit of an athletic/technical exercise) but this version is good to listen to (and the youtube of him performing the song is cool, too).

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Smoothie Song – Nickel Creek

That’s a fabulous cover of Jump – who knew!?    I really enjoy fingerstyle tracks – I can just about manage a guitar myself but tend to a more percussive rhythmic approach rather than any fast finger work ;-p.  I think the classic one for me is Lindsey Buckingham doing Big Love alone on stage – an insane piece of music – but probably a little “energetic” to transition out of Jump.  It sent me down so many paths – Pat Metheny – Will Ackerman – almost went for Keller Williams’ hysterical Kidney in a Cooler – but somehow I kept coming back to Nickel Creek’s opening to 2002’s this Side – it’s a family favorite – as are most of the tracks on that album – 

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Trains – Remastered – Porcupine Tree

Love that Nickel Creek song! I really like Chris Thile’s stuff…especially the Punch Brothers (i’m a big fan of their banjo dude Noam Pikelny).

This got me thinking about songs with “odd” banjo bits and I ended up listening to “trains” by Porcupine Tree.  I think that I initially bought the In Absentia album because it was one of the few that was mixed in dvd-audio 5.1.  Still a good listen.

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Walking Away from Love – Steve Mason

Oh Wow!  I absolutely adore that Porcupine Trees track – immediately onto my 2023 catchall list – so much going on in the track and all of it amazing.  To my ears I’m hearing early Genesis (Foxtrot – Selling England…) – but the one that follows the underlying structure is Don’t Fear The Reaper – I did listen to the transition just for fun but it didn’t really vibe – but would have been very cool! ;-p. I’m loving the acoustic harmonies and then when the full band comes in – just wow – beautiful!

You gave me so many roads to go down – I’m A/B’ing three tracks as I write – each going their own different way and while I hope to use all of them on this list I ultimately went for the energy.  It seemed that while you had beautifully captured the vibe from Nickel Creek you’d kicked it up a notch – and while half of me wanted to go back – I’m thinking let’s move it forward – plus – I couldn’t resist the transition ;-p

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I’d Rather Go Blind – Beth Hart, Joe Bonamassa

I really enjoyed the Steve Mason song.  I hadn’t heard of him so it was cool to dig into some of his work (I was born in Scotland, and it’s always interesting to hear a fellow Scotsman).

Anyhow, I’ve had lots of thoughts for the next track.  Being in Montreal this week, I always think of Leonard Cohen.  I was going to add “you want it darker” from his last album, but it seemed a tad, well, “dark” (albeit in a tongue in cheek way).

I’ve been killing a bit of time in guitar shops and they always seem to have some joe bonamassa in the background.  I like Joe’s playing -and his ridiculously expensive tone-  and I really like his albums with Beth Hart.  “I’d rather go blind” might be a little long for a playlist, but it is fun to jam along to…

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Fuck, I Hate the Cold – Cowboy Junkies

It’s an amazing song isn’t it – I’d Rather Go Blind – transcends genres – a buddy of mine – a drummer in an LA punk band did a playlist called “Music to Drink Like a Pirate” – full of hard rock and thrash metal and it even found its way onto that list! ;-p. The Pirate and I went and saw her a few years back – she wasn’t touring with Joe but it was an amazing gig – just an amazing performer ;-p

I was thinking about going down a blues road – had some early Robert Cray lined up and it worked well but then I was thinking about your email and something kept nagging me – remembered this morning that it was a Cowboy Junkies track I’d been thinking of – and after your recent travels – it felt like the appropriate track to go with.

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Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On) – Robert Plant

ah, the Cowboy Junkies…when Liane and I were first dating, “trinity sessions” was one of the few albums that we both liked  (I think there was some Roxy Music and Sting in there, too).

One of our daughters is thinking about going to the U. of Edinburgh for grad school, so we’ll likely visit in the fall. Whenever I speak with my relatives who are still there it’s a good reminder of how lacking in bullshit the Scots culture is; although it might just be that they are more brash and dour (or “do’eer” as my mum would say) than the average North American. 

I’m kinda enjoying the americana-type songs that you’ve been adding, and I always liked this Alison Kraus/Robert Plant collaboration…

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Why Can’t You Be? – Shelby Lynne

sooooo wanted to put House of Cards from Band of Joy after Gone Gone Gone – I’m working on a list with my brother (a particularly fraught exercise after 50 years and several bands together) – and he’s such a Zeppelin – Robert Plant fan – those two albums with Alison Krause came to me through him and they’re gorgeous.  But for some reason all I’m hearing is Shelby Lynne – I think it’s the vocal delivery – so – taking the “country” intersection and shifting the groove :-p

Going to also go and listen to the Trinity Sessions.  I just had one of those “Aaah hah!” moments – I was loving the cover of I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry (I covered that once too on a country gig) – but then got to Sweet Jane – a track I haven’t heard in literally decades – and I remember why I love the Cowboy Junkies ;-pppp. Thank you for the memory!

Lot’s of Scottish in Canada – I have family in most cities – apparently we almost went in the 80’s but my dad felt more comfortable with the vaginas of the home counties (he was a gynecologist ;-p) – but yes – the Scots are much better at radical candor than the English / “Americans” – and hooray for that – and for sure – there’s the dour aspect of the national psyche – the tendency towards depression and pessimism but – while there’s a lot of that around – there is an almost mercurial side to the nation – in how it “bats above its weight” and home to some of the foundational inventions of the last century or so.

Not a bad lineage to belong to.

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Who – David Byrne

Love the story about your Scottish gyno dad.  On a vaguely semantically related theme: when we were researching where Liane’s family hailed from in Scotland we discovered that her family is from a place in the Orkneys called “Twat”.   When we told Liane’s dad that the family was from Twat, he deadpanned “Aren’t we all”.

I’ll stick with the Scots/collaboration theme with my next pick: David Byrne was born close to Paisley, and as I was a fan of Talking Heads and Annie Clark, I quite enjoyed their “Love this Giant” recording.

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GMF – John Grant

I did almost spit out my coffee over the Orkney Twat ;-ppp

David Byrne and Annie Clarke – can’t get much cooler than that – I love how well constructed the track is – real interesting melodies – different sections and structures – and yet still accessible – (which can be a step too far for many auteurs ;-p) – so yeah – it’s an interesting one to feed off – my head had initially gone to Mick Jones and his post clash spin off Big Audio Dynamite – as he has that similar kind of experimental aspect to – and yet – as so often happens – I ended up somewhere completely different – hopefully the transition carries the groove shift ;-p

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The Chemical Worker’s Song – Process Man – Great Big Sea

Great tune! I do like a song with percentages.

As we just did Canada day here, I’m going to add a tune by Great Big Sea.  We have seen them live a bunch of times at outdoor festivals and they were always great.  This song is a bit of a downer but I do like the driving bodhran.

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Good Arms vs Bad Arms – Frightened Rabbit

I thoroughly enjoyed the Great Big Sea – I wonder what they’d think of the covid adoption of the sea shanty (my mind did go to The Wellerman ;-p) – but yes – the bodhran is a thing of wonder.  It made me very happy as I was able to add a track from one of my favorite bands – I guess (unsurprisingly) I’m feeling very Scottish at the moment.

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The Old Sod – Spirit Of The West

This one’s self-explanatory

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Caledonia – Dougie MacLean

great choice of track – nae sae scots than scots abroad ;-p. Seems to be true.

But of course you now have me longing to get back there and well – there was only one track that would fit – I really like this version – it’s the one they shot at his cottage in Butterstone – Wendi and I saw him live a few years back – fabulous entertainer:

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Take a Bow – Mammoth WVH

From the sublime to the ridiculous: I’ve mostly been listening to jazz instrumentals lately (if you like modern big band check out the new Darcy James Argue “Dynamic Maximum Tension”); however, the album that I’ve been listening to in the car lately is latest Mammoth WVH.  This track is a little long, but it pretty much gets me from home to the grocery store.

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Só Sei Dançar Com Você – Tulipa Ruiz

I’m going for optimism over realism,

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Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) – Journey

interesting tune…I don’t think I knew the spanish word for schizophrenia.

I’ve been on a bit of an early 80s pop rock adventure over the past few weeks (lots of flights = listened to the whole Toto catalogue -including the soundtrack to David Lynch’s Dune).  Finally settled on a Journey classic…

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The Faith Healer – Remastered 2002 – The Sensational Alex Harvey Band

Going home for the last one…

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If you enjoyed this list – you might enjoy Songs to Bond With Your Boss

Track Listing

• Weird Goodbyes (feat. Bon Iver) – The National
• Steady – The Staves
• Pancho & Lefty – Live – Townes Van Zandt
• Windows Are Rolled Down – Amos Lee
• Jump – Mike Dawes
• Smoothie Song – Nickel Creek
• Trains – Remastered – Porcupine Tree
• Walking Away from Love – Steve Mason
• I’d Rather Go Blind – Beth Hart, Joe Bonamassa
• Fuck, I Hate the Cold – Cowboy Junkies
• Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On) – Robert Plant
• Why Can’t You Be? – Shelby Lynne
• Who – David Byrne
• GMF – John Grant
• The Chemical Worker’s Song – Process Man – Great Big Sea
• Good Arms vs Bad Arms – Frightened Rabbit
• The Old Sod – Spirit Of The West
• Caledonia – Dougie MacLean
• Take a Bow – Mammoth WVH
• Só Sei Dançar Com Você – Tulipa Ruiz
• Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) – Journey
• The Faith Healer – Remastered 2002 – The Sensational Alex Harvey Band

Playlist image by GPT4