I've been really into the Mountain Man album lately. I downloaded their debut for my wife about a month ago, but only this week listened to it myself. They are a vocal trio of three women (who met at Bennington in Vermont, of course). It's not the kind of music I normally listen to, but there is something so beautiful and soothing about it that I can't stop listening to it.
I also have been listening to the new Superchunk album, Majesty Shredding. I was suspicious at first: is this just gonna be a bunch of old farts trying to recapture their rock out glory days? However, like Sonic Youth, Superchunk are good songwriters, don't stray to far from their sweet spot, and are still making interesting music. At least for an old fart like me. Sounds like 1994 all over again.
And them doing my favorite song, "Throwing Things," acoustic:
I also got a two-disc set of Big Youth, which is pretty amazing. Also, his "Goodness Gracious!" from "Can You Keep A Secret" (in the first five seconds of this clip) is in the Beastie Boys "Pass the Mic." A song which, while it still holds up, has some splaining to do for years of shitty rap-rock.
I've also been listening to Junior Byles, who is one of the most amazing, heartbreaking reggae artists ever. I love his version of "Curly Locks," a song about a rasta whose girlfriend's father doesn't want her going out with a dreadlock. Lee Perry did a version that was more whimsical, and Sinead O'Connor did a good version as well, but Byles' is number one. Byles was a gorgeous singer, with a sensitivity that made his music something very special. Unfortunately, the elements that made him an amazing singer also led to his mental instability, and he's spent most of the past three decades living on the streets and pretty much insane. There is footage of him playing live in the 2000s, but he is clearly a shell of his former self.
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