Return To The Acoustic Tent

This time last year in the post-Glastonbury comedown, I posted a 45-minute acoustic selection. Never one to claim any original thought whatsoever, here I am again with another 13-song selection for 2023.

None of the artists here featured in last year's selection and whilst some of the artists' acoustic turns may not be a surprise - I'm thinking particularly of Turin Brakes and The Pictish Trail - there are some playing against type, namely Dua Lipa*, Seal, Moby and A Man Called Adam.

Terry Hall sounds great in any musical setting, of course, but I think the version of Ballad Of A Landlord is an especially fine showcase for his wonderful voice and songwriting. His absence is still keenly felt.

 

Compared to 2022, I've been very slack in my Glastonbury viewing: so far, only Billy Nomates, Fever Ray, Los Bitchos and Working Men's Club; all excellent, but lots to catch up with before the BBC iPlayer axe falls. Then again, if the sun's shining... 

 

* You might guess from the song title acronym, but a potty mouth advisory for Ms. Lipa if you're playing this within range of sensitive ears.

1) Pure (Acoustic Version): Lightning Seeds (1995)

2) Pain Killer (RTL2 Acoustic Version): Turin Brakes (2003)

3) Lovely Daughter (Acoustic): Merz (2007)

4) IDGAF (Acoustic): Dua Lipa (2018)

5) Crazy (Acoustic Version): Seal (1991)

6) Acoustic Guitar: The Magnetic Fields ft. Claudia Gonson (1999)

7) Tell Me (Toronto Acoustic Version): Moby ft. Cold Specks (2013)

8) Jewel (Acoustic): Cranes (1996)

9) Barefoot In The Head (Acoustic Edit): A Man Called Adam (2004)

10) Nuclear Sunflower Swamp (Acoustic): The Pictish Trail (2022)

11) Ballad Of A Landlord (Acoustic Version): Terry Hall (1997)

12) Just Drive (Acoustic Version): It's Immaterial (2002)

13) Another Sinful Day (Acoustic): Little Axe (1995)

 

1994: Prayer For The Dying EP: 5 

1995: Another Sinful Day EP: 12

1996: WRAS 88.5 Presents: Radio Oddyssey: 8 

1997: Ballad Of A Landlord EP: 11

1999: 69 Love Songs: 6

2002: The Great Liverpool Acoustic Experiment: 12

2003: Ether Song (ltd 2x CD):: 2 

2004: Barefoot In The Head EP: 9

2006: The Very Best Of The Lightning Seeds: 1

2007: Merz (Expanded Edition) (2x CD): 3

2013: Amazon Artist Lounge EP: 7

2018: IDGAF EP: 4

2022: EarthPercent x Earth Day Compilation Album: 10

 

Return To The Acoustic Tent (46:16) (KF) (Mega) 

You can find last year's Acoustic Tent selection here

An (Almost) A-Z Of 69 Love Songs

I'm a regular visitor to Unthought of, though, somehow and The Swede has recently started a great new series called A Series Of Brief Obsessions, highlighting "one-offs, left-behinds and obscure forgotten favourites". Two posts in and it's introduced me to a couple of bands I'd never heard of, and also got me thinking about bands or artists that I have bought an album by, and loved, yet never explored further.

 

Possibly one of the best - and most extreme - examples is The Magnetic Fields. I have 73 songs by The Magnetic Fields. 69 of these come from a single album, 1999's epic triple album, 69 Love Songs. I'm assuming the other 4 have accidentally landed via music magazine freebies.

 

The Magnetic Fields is a band, centred on songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Stephen Merritt. According to Wikipedia, the album was originally conceived as a music revue, inspired by listening to the pianist's interpretations of Stephen Sondheim songs in a Manhattan gay bar and reading about Charles Ives' 114 Songs. 

I love the album, though I'll admit that I may have only listened to the 3 CDs back-to-back once, when I first bought the album. Since uploading 69 Love Songs to my MP3 collection, I've been far more likely to play random selections. However, if nothing else, it proves that whilst the original album was sequenced in a particular way, the songs are great, no matter how much or in which order you decide to listen to them. To this end, today's selection is an (almost) A-Z of 69 Love Songs, presenting songs in alphabetical order by song title, ignoring 'The' for this purpose. There's just one omission - the letter J isn't represented in any of the songs - but apart from that, you get 25 songs in a little over an hour. And they're all wonderful.

So, why did my interest in The Magnetic Fields stop there, if I enjoy the album so much? No good reason, really, other than the constant current of an ocean of music carrying me on to other artists, other songs, other experiences. I'm aware that, in a single purchase, I owned more songs by The Magnetic Fields than, say, the entire studio album output of a favourite band like Talk Talk. So maybe, subconsciously, there was a sense that I had 'enough' songs by them. 

Time therefore to dive back into The Magnetic Fields ouevre, methinks. Do I go for it and jump straight into 50 Song Memoir? Be a little more cautious and work backwards from 2020's 28-track Quickies? Or start at the beginning with 1991's Distant Plastic Tree, which has a mere 11 songs? Any suggestions and recommendations welcome.

1) Acoustic Guitar (ft. Claudia Gonson) 

2) Busby Berkeley Dreams

3) (Crazy For You But) Not That Crazy

4) The Death Of Ferdinand De Saussure

5) Epitaph For My Heart

6) For We Are The King Of The Boudoir (ft. LD Beghtol)

7) Grand Canyon

8) How Fucking Romantic (ft. Dudley Klute)

9) I'm Sorry I Love You (ft. Shirley Simms)

10) Kiss Me Like You Mean It (ft. Shirley Simms)

11) Love Is Like A Bottle Of Gin

12) My Sentimental Melody (ft. LD Beghtol)

13) The Night You Can't Remember

14) The One You Really Love (ft. LD Beghtol)

15) Promises Of Eternity

16) Queen Of The Savages

17) Roses (ft. LD Beghtol)

18) Sweet-Lovin' Man (ft. Claudia Gonson)

19) Time Enough For Rocking When We're Old

20) Underwear

21) Very Funny (ft. Dudley Klute)

22) When My Boy Walks Down The Street

23) Xylophone

24) You're My Only Home

25) Zebra (ft. Claudia Gonson)

 

An (Almost) A-Z Of 69 Love Songs (1:01:28)