Today is my birthday. Do I take a day off? No, my friends, I do not. So please don't breeze on by. I have something for you.
What do I know about The Speakers? Little, so little. They have six recordings; I have heard but one. They perform live; I've never seen them. Brian Miller and Peter Musselman have played with the wonderful Jolie Holland, and she contributes sometimes to their songs; I don't know how much.
The things I know best are the easy things, but they're also the things that matter. Yeats is Greats, released toward the end of last year, is the best album I've yet discovered in 2006. I know, it's only the 5th, but the magnificent Destroyer's Rubies makes more sweeping statements difficult. So let me put it another way - in the last couple months, months when I first heard recent/upcoming albums by Jens Lekman, Islands, Belle & Sebastian, Cat Power, Konono No. 1, The National, Uncle John & Whitelock, Lil Wayne, Two Gallants, The Strokes, The Physics of Meaning, Kayo Dot, (and many many more), Destroyer's Rubies and The Speakers' Yeats Is Greats are certainly the best LPs to grace my ears.
You've not heard of it, probably. The mp3blog aggregators come up empty. Maybe that's because people already talked about them, months ago, when I was snoozin'. Or because the album opens and closes, Clap-Your-Hands-style, with a stupendously stupid spoken word goof (there's also another one in the middle). Or because most of the lyrics were written by William Butler Yeats.
But the point remains. These songs are beautiful, fragile comforts. They're not joycore, no. They're just things to lean up against on these long midwinter days. Or in the nights. Trifles, I guess, in the same way that streetlamps are trifles. Or cherry trees. Or stars.
Voices fall across each-other, whispers blossoming into smiling song, folk that's crisscrossed just enough with foreign sound, shadows of accordion or clarinet, horns and drone. Hear a bit of Iron & Wine, but better. Maybe Sufjan circa Seven Swans. Grizzly Bear without the fear, Elliott Smith with a gang of kindly friends. Like Mt. Eerie, maybe, or The Robot Ate Me. But different.
Oh fuck it - just listen.
The Speakers - "The Mountain Tomb". "Bring fiddle and clarionet" - they do. "Pour wine and dance" - okay. The song's tender as new grief, as easily opened up. We know the tomb's down there, across the bay; we took the rowboat, remember? But now we'll leave it, we'll come into this room. We'll eat, we'll smile. We'll play. We'll remember life - remember life? We'll draw the blinds and not see the sun set. We'll take shelter: horns and guitar and xylophone, your friend the singer. "Our Father Rosicross is in his tomb." Yes. All right. But for now let's persist. Let's not speak of death; let's sing of it. (Yeats' words.)
The Speakers - "Lost in a Crowd". The trick's in the way a man's persistence turns cold things warm, sharp things soft. He persists - gently, gently, - and the strings turn in the light. No more whispers of Shostakovich; no scrapes, no glares, no theremin shiver. Just glow, gleam, glimmer. And even if the closing lyrics are feel-good, trite (they're not Yeats), that's ok. Coming away from confusion, there's a role for optimism. Stepping out of the rain, sunshine's fine. Leaving the comfort of strangers, I'll take an embrace.
Go buy Yeats is Greats, the album with that absurd name, for only $14. Do, do, do!
---
William Schaff, perhaps my favourite living artist, finally has cheap prints for sale. Lots of politics, lots of horrors, but I bought the one of St George.
edward o's top 100 singles of 2005 is an amazing, amazing, work.
You Ain't No Picasso has new (ok) songs by Page France.
As others have pointed out, the 2005 Bloggies are now accepting nominations. The awards mean nothing, but it probably makes the nominees feel a little happiness. So do go and nominate some of your favourites. My favourites are on the sidebar. Like Fluxblog, I very much endorse Tom Ewing for the Lifetime Achievement prize.
If for some reason you feel like voting for us, the category that would mean something is the "Best Writing" category. My favourite blog writing, this year, has been by Abby, Carl, Eppy, Paul, Ash, John, Nick, Matthew, Kevin, Tuwa, Marcello, Kelly, Matt. And Dan and Jordan. And everyone else to the right (matt, jay, neale, et al). Except the podcasts and art-blogs. Because they're not about writing, see.
---
And yes, it's my birthday. This year I want only fond wishes (and maybe some art). (My address? Oh why am I doing this? Well, it's 2F2, 15 West Newington Place, Edinburgh EH9 1QU. Now stop making me feel foolish!)