Autumn Souvenir

I offered to compile someone a two-disc set of two tracks from my favorite artists. Since she already has a lot of Springsteen and Ritter's entered the fray, they have been left off. Disc One Via Chicago : Wilco Ashes of American Flags : Wilco It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train To Cry : Bob Dylan Don't Think Twice, It's Alright : Bob Dylan The Way : Bonnie "Prince" Billy Love Comes To Me : Bonnie "Prince" Billy Song of 27 : Richard Buckner Town : Richard Buckner Rise : Josh Rouse Ugly Stories : Josh Rouse Packing Blankets : Eels The Good Old Days : Eels John Allyn Smith Sails : Okkervil River Lost Coastlines : Okkervil River Birds : Neil Young I Believe In You : Neil Young Disc Two Settled Down Like Rain : The Jayhawks It's Up To You : The Jayhawks Next To You : Tim Easton Troublesome Kind : Tim Easton Watch Me Fall : Uncle Tupelo Chickamauga : Uncle Tupelo Denton : Damien Jurado Fuel : Damien Jurado Barrier Reef : Old 97's Busted Afternoo

Bruce Springsteen released The River .

"Indulge no one's taste but your own" Arthur Phillips, The Song Is You , pg. 57 I made it to page 59 before having to put the book down and sit on that sentence. It made me think of baseball. I used to love the game. While watching the World Series last year at a bar in the Bay Area, I recognized my passion for the game evaporating. Although I checked most box scores this year, 2010 was the first year since 1978 or so when baseball didn't grab me. And I fear that it's likely lost forever. Why fake it? I've done it time and again. I'll nod after a terrible show and say, "Yeah, that was great." Or to a song that sucks. Or some football game that has me bored to tears. I know what I love. Great books. Great music. Dogs. Parks. Friends. Wisdom. Records. Solomon Burke. Big Star. Edson. Some may call it closed-minded. I think it's just knowing what moves me. What brings me to sing while walking through crowds on Church Street. What makes it all com

For those of us who seem to tie every single event to music, it's our relationships, perhaps more than anything else, that seem to be tied to particular artists, records or songs. I've really only had three "serious" relationships and each has an artist. The one straight out of college was The Jayhawks. My most recent was Josh Ritter. The one that ran from 2002-2005 in Park Slope was Solomon Burke (slightly nudging out Josh Rouse). I discovered Burke via Joe Henry, one of the my favorite artists of the last 20 years. Singer/songwriter, turned jazz frontman, turned producer, Henry stood behind the boards on Burke's fantastic 2002 comeback album Don't Give Up On Me . Mostly covers (Waits, Dylan, Lowe, Costello), Don't Give Up On Me , is likely the best contemporary soul record I own. And it was this record that led me to Cooke, Redding and all the rest. Sometime around 2004 or so, my girlfriend and I were on a near endless search to unearth more Burke materi

I have these Sennheiser headphones that I rarely use, mostly because they're so big that they make my ears sweat. But man, what sound they produce. Crystal clear. This afternoon I took the pup out to the backyard and tossed on these earmuffs. The first song to come on was Jeff Tweedy's cover of Dylan's "Simple Twist of Fate" from the I'm Not There soundtrack. I agree (with myself) that the highlight of that soundtrack is Jim James' cover of "Goin' To Acapulco," but man, Tweedy's cover doesn't get enough recognition. For the first time in a few months, a song brought on chills. I think it was mostly the lyrics..... They sat together in the park As the evening sky grew dark She looked at him and he felt a spark Tingle to his bones It was then he felt alone And wished he'd gone straight And watched out for a simple twist of fate They walked along by the old canal A little confused, I remember it well Stopped into an o