Yell Fire! by Michael Franti
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood by Neko Case
Yell Fire! by Michael Franti
In the first five tracks, Franti goes from reggae to guitar blues to late '80s power-ballad to hip-hop to mellow acoustic. The lyrics are political and didactic. Eventually he sings a love song.
Typical Franti, in other words: he's talented, he's political, he's knowledgable, he cares, he's got an awesome voice, and nobody but the already converted is likely to buy this album.
Recommended, particularly to those who are already buying all his stuff on auto-pilot. You'll never hear this shit on commercial radio, sadly.
What's on the radio, propaganda, mind control
And turnin it on is like puttin on a blindfold
- Dead Prez, Turn Off the Radio
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood by Neko Case
I've only recently got into Neko Case, thanks entirely to Scott A. She's a totally brilliant country singer/songwriter who's been getting better (and less traditionally country) with each release.
This is her fifth album, excepting live releases, and one of her best. My favourite to date is Blacklisted but this is also very cool. It's mellow and sexy and great to put on at midnight to chill out. Lovely cover art too.
Highly recommended, but only to those with good taste.
Coming soon: Aquaboogie, Princess Superstar, Group 5.
Posted by pearce at July 28, 2006 5:08 PMI forgot to mention Sufjan Stevens' 'John Wayne Gacy Jr' in the necrophilia song request post... So I'll put it here.
He dressed up like a clown for them
With his face paint white and red
And on his best behavior
In a dark room on the bed he kissed them all
He'd kill ten thousand people
With a sleight of his hand
Running far, running fast to the dead
He took off all their clothes for them
He put a cloth on their lips
Quiet hands, quiet kiss
On the mouth
There's something about "for them" that just makes it ... extra awesome / horrible.
Posted by: michael at July 31, 2006 12:49 AM