MUSIC NOTES
Thereís an excellent article on Jeff Buckley in this monthís WORD magazine. Although few would question Buckleyís genius (however wayward some of its manifestations), a powerful sense is created by the piece of just what the world lost in his tragic & bizarre death.
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MOJO, my other regular read, provided a very Nick Hornby-ish set of lists recently, each proposed by their top staff writers. They were searching for The 100 Most Miserable Songs of All Time. They divided them into five self-explanatory categories ñ ëSad Soulí, ëLonesome Countryí, ëPop Agonyí. ëWhinger Songwritersí & ëIndie Misery. For the record (yuk-yuk), each panned out as follows:
- SAD SOUL ñ ëOh Girlí by The Chi-Lites
- LONESOME COUNTRY ñ ëIím So Lonesome I Could Cryí by Hank Williams.
- POP AGONY ñ ëEvíry Time We Say Goodbyeí by Ella Fitzgerald.
- WHINGER SONGWRITERS ñ ëLittle Bit of Rainí by Fred Neil
- INDIE MISERY ñ ëSlow Graffitií by Belle & Sebastian
Now, thereís a big whogivesafuck factor to all of this & if youíre female or maybe a grown-up guy (high, skirling laughter in the background) this may well be seen as a waste of valuable blogging time. But Iím afraid Iím still trying to finalise my choice & itís a real struggle. So far Iíve managed ëThe End of the Rainbowí by arch miserabalist Richard Thompson for Whinger Songwriters & unequivocal agreement with ëEvíry Time We Say Goodbyeí for Pop Agony.
So humour me & help out with your own proposals. Utter subjectivity is encouraged - nay, is obligatory - &, just to make it easier, inclusion of the oeuvre of Leonard Cohen is permitted.
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After many years of playing with bands of various musical persuasions (& one or two with none), the plugs have been pulled for some time now. Well, since the birth of Reuben 20 months ago really when Emma & I had to wind up our ceilidh-&-beyond band, Fishing for Eels. I was glad to have the opportunity to blow dust off the Fender Jazz at the school fair on Saturday & accompany a 15-year-old student. Her nameís Verocia ñ V for short - & sheís a four-foot-not-much African girl with an astonishing voice. She made a couple of Lauryn Hill numbers absolutely her own, rapped like a veteran, danced like a dervish & captivated the most unlikely of audiences completely. And she made a couple of old men ñ drummer Chris Johnson & bass player Dick Jones ñ very happy.
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11:15:32 PM 
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