Alright, Culture Vulture, point taken.
Here’s what I’ve been listening as of late:
1. Little Baby Nothing- (The Manic Street Preachers): I know, this song is old news, but it’s still blows me away. The kids I teach in the morning listen to the ‘Veggie Tales Theme’ non-stop and the girl I teach in the evening is into Hannah Montana, so the music I listen to in between shifts needs to be a pretty strong antidote to scary Christian singing vegetables and Disney teeny-boppers, naturally, the Manics ‘Generation Terrorists’ album is the only thing in existence powerful enough and ‘Little Baby Nothing’ is easily my favorite track.
2. Long Red Hair- (Vermillion Lies): I’ve been into cabaret style music for some reason and this is a great comically haunting little song.
3. Bella Ciao- (No Land Folk): This selection is more than just a blatant plug for my friends’ band, it’s really just a damn good song. According to wikipedia, “Bella Ciao is a song that was sung by the left anti-facist resistance movement in Italy comprised of anarchists, communists, socialists and other anti-facist partisans,” which you can gather from the lyrics. The only other English language version I’ve heard was done by the Red Army Choir, and I like this rendition much better. (A copy of Bella Ciao doesn’t happen to be on the No Land Folk website, but check out the band anyways.)
4. Ultimate- (Gogol Bordello): Much of Gogol Bordello’s latest album “Super Taranta!” explores the human need to party and the refusal on the part of the Western world to embrace and satisfy that need. “Ultimate” starts the album off by exploring this concept, while in classic Gogol Bordello, being extremely danceable.
5. Death Whispered a Lullaby- (Opeth): A cheesy choice perhaps, but I’m not apologizing. Opeth sing me to sleep every night. The title of this song reminds me of the title of a Kathe Kollwitz painting- “Man Embracing Death as a Friend,” so in my mind the song and the painting are intertwined.
6. The Marsh of Rhuddlan- (Welsh rebel song): I was going to try to get through this list without any harp geekery, but why bother? This little tune has some chords which can only be described as maddeningly sexy and some great bloody lyrics.
7. Aly, Walk with Me (The Raveonettes): Why haven’t I listened to the Raveonettes before last week? I’m not entirely sure, great band, cool song, weird video.
As for who I’m gonna tag with this list, no one, Culture Vulture already got everyone I know.
You know I was born in Rhuddlan, right?
It’s also where the statute handing control of Wales to England was signed in 1284, after it was conquered by Edward I. Fact of the day.
Woah, I did know that, but for some reason never connected that with the song. Have you heard it before?
Because you got me thinking about it, I needed to look up the history of the song. Apparently it commemorates a battle against the Saxons in 795, at which the Welsh lost and their monarch Caradog was killed. It seems to be more of a lament than a rebel song, strictly speaking, but does have some very patriotic overtones.
By coincidence ‘Little Baby Nothing’ nearly became one of my choices too. That it’s Traci Lords providing the guest vocals gives it a certain kind of edge you didn’t get when Kylie performed this song with the Manics.
I must say that Garbage’s “Only Happy When it Rains” was almost one of my choices as well. Funny eh?