You might enjoy the Bombscare collaboration EP by Low and Spring Heel Jack. Aimee Mann is also well worth checking out.
“This Perfect World” by Freedy Johnston. Songs about suicide and loss with a Plains sensibility.
Good call. I’ll second that recommendation.
I’ve got a bunch of new stuff:
JJ72 - JJ72
Portishead - Portishead
Kings of Convenience - Quiet is the New Loud
Air - Moon Safari
David Gray - White Ladder
Radiohead - OK Computer (ok, not exactly new, but I never got around to getting this.)
Plus I’ve borrowed some Red House Painters, Nick Caves and Cocteau Twins from my girlfriend.
Whatever I couldn’t get, I’ve put on a list for my next shopping trip. Thanks people for the great suggestions. Especially Vinne for David Gray - it’s exactly what I needed this weekend.
Shite, that should be Vinnie.
Try the Delgados, either ‘Peloton’ or ‘The Great Eastern’. They’re a bit like Belle & Sebastian, but IMHO their songs are more well-crafted and less samey. (Avoid their debut, ‘Domestiques’–that’s actually a fairly heavy indie-rock album).
Other than that, Elbow, Turin Brakes.
I would strongly reccomend Brian Eno - Music for Airports. It is stunningly minimalistic yet beautiful.
A good portion of Loreena McKennit’s “Book of Secrets” disc fits the soft and melancholy description–just skip the “Marco Polo” instrumental.
<Cues up “Mummer’s Dance” on the playlist>
I’ll just go ahead and assume the def. of “melancholy” has changed a bit since… well, never mind.
One of the nicest out is the sound track from “Love Affair”; most noteably the piano variation tracks. Great for times with SOs. Give it a listen…
Skijumper wrote:
> I’m in the mood for something soft and melancholy.
If I posted about her even a tiny fraction of the time that I’ve THOUGHT about posting about her, you’d probably know the name already, but here it is: Happy Rhodes. She’s my favorite singer/songwriter/musician (well, after Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel) and she might be right up your alley if you also like female vocals with an extremely wide range (think high Kate Bush-ish in a duet with low Annie Lennox-ish).
For a limited time, I’m exclusively playing Happy’s music on my Shoutcast:
http://vickie.homeip.net:8000/
The word “Melancholy” describes her earlier work generally more than her most recent work, but even in her most recent “upbeat” songs, there’s a tinge of sadness. For instance, the song “Roy” from her most recent CD is a percussion and bass-heavy “dance” song about the doomed Rutger Hauer character in the movie Blade Runner.
Her earlier albums are full of songs about death and suicide and morbidity and the pain of being an outsider (which certainly makes her name an ironic twist on things), but that’s hardly all she’s about. Lyrics such as
“I have a heart here inside/ she’s begging me for suicide/
She doesn’t want any more/ She’s lived too many lives
before/ So what do I say to put her at ease?/ I know she’d
leave with the breeze/ All I can do is beg her to stay.”
live on the same album with lyrics like:
“You can’t know them like you know yourself
(I know, I know)
Therefore find your peace
(I can’t, I can’t)
Demand only from yourself
(I try, I try)
Don’t rely on your logic
(I don’t, I don’t)
You made your choice, now go to the end
You will find your peace, when it comes
Greet it, welcome it, make it stay”
(She’s brilliant at self-harmonizing and often
includes call and response lyrics).
She’s released 10 albums, either self or co-produced and since no one knows what the hell to do with her she’s remained obscure and unknown except to those of us lucky enough to discover her, which I did in 1988.
She has a pretty cool back-story (given a guitar at 11, started writing at 13, started working as an apprentice recording engineer at 17 and recorded her songs, playing all the instruments and multitracking all the vocals, to learn the equipment, said random songs made up her first 4 albums…), but I’ll give it a rest for now. Except that I will recommend the albums RhodeSongs, a compilation from her first 6 albums, and The Keep, an acoustic reworking of some early album and non-album songs. She has a web site:
http://www.auntiesocialmusic.com/
and there’s a mailing list dedicated to her, called Ecto (which just celebrated its 10th anniversary on the net!). Ecto the mailing list has a web site with lyrics and other Rhodes-related stuff: http://www.smoe.org/ecto/
Disclaimer: I don’t work for her or anyone having anything to do with her. I’m just a fan.
Equipoise
(no, not the frickin steroid)
“My ears are lucky to hear these glorious songs…” HTR
national skyline’s “national skyline”