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I'll Be Right There
by Jordan
Please note: MP3s are only kept online for a short time, and if this entry is from more than a couple of weeks ago, the music probably won't be available to download any more.
Elizabeth Cotten - "Freight Train" Elizabeth Cotten plays slow, deep, aching guitar and squawks her crude and creaking vocal line expressing her inane world view (what does this song mean?). *** Destroyer with Frog Eyes - "New Ways of Living" It took me a few listens, but I've come to embrace Your Blues, Destroyer?s latest album, as if it was my own child. The album?s synth sounds, mostly bad imitations of other instruments, initially come off as corny, but as you explore the fragile melodies (preferably with headphones on) you come to realize that the synth soundscapes create their own fairy tale world, a perfect location for the set of songs. I saw Bejar (Destroyer?s front and sometimes only man) play in support of the album in Ottawa with Vancouver?s Frog Eyes as his backing band. The synths were replaced by a full rock band and Carey Mercer?s (from Frog Eyes) wild hooting back-up vocals and sharp, loud leads. The latter of which I found overpowering and distracting (though when I mentioned it afterwards, I was jeered out of the room, a social pariah). This version of ?New Ways Of Living? (recorded with Frog Eyes as part of Destroyer?s CBC studio sessions), (however), outdoes the Your Blues version by a mile. Frog Eyes knits a tight weave of frenetic pop around Destroyer?s camp. The song?s a sustained sprint with Mercer crowding Bejar, pushing him, breathing down his neck. Then at 1:49 Mercer sets in with the perfectly surreal yodel of an undead little girl and the guitars pick themselves up into a wave propelling the song to its anthemic climax. Posted by Jordan at January 7, 2005 1:02 AMComments
I've always heard Cotten's name thrown around, but this is actually the first time I've heard her music. She's doing an old stand-by "Freight Train", but her fingerpicking ability is amazingly solid and fluid. Very impressive stuff. I took a look on Amazon, and she has very little material released which is a shame. Going to have to snag some of it. On the new Jake Speed and the Freddies album, they actually have a song about Elizabeth too. Her influence should be just as pervasive as Mississippi John Hurt's considering the similiarity of their styles. Posted by Bart at January 7, 2005 2:09 AMThe first verse sounds to me like an escaping slave headed north. In general, the song is full of tropes that appear in lots of old spirituals and folk songs throughout the American vernacular tradition. Posted by Jesse at January 7, 2005 2:54 AMCotton was an amazing woman. She wrote Freight Train when whe was twelve and began performing after a long hiatus in the 40's when she was in her 60's and kept at it until she was 90! Read more @ http://www.sologuitarist.net/elizabethcotten.html Posted by brenda at January 7, 2005 4:39 AMI believe she was Pete Seeger's nanny. I think she played left-handed but with right-handed stringing. Posted by Theo at January 7, 2005 7:43 AMI think I like the album version of the destroyer song more. Maybe I should just give this version more time, it certainly took a few listens to get into Your Blues. Anyhow, thanks, this is a good teaser for the EP that's coming out next year. Posted by Dan at January 7, 2005 12:00 PMHey there! This was my favorite track from that session for the very same reason as you (Mercer), and I posted it, too. Funny. Posted by jennifer at January 7, 2005 1:02 PMLove the Destroyer tune, can't ever get enough Destroyer. Posted by b pilla at January 7, 2005 5:45 PMWhen the grateful dead covered her tune, they were quick to actually send her a royalty check in the sixties/seventies so Elizabeth Cotton bought a dishwasher. I'm glad someone made her load easier to bear. Posted by burntfriedman at January 10, 2005 7:40 AMThat Destroyer song is awesome! Way better than the original. Check out the rest of the CBC set at http://www.cbcradio3.com/issues/2004_08_13/main.cfm Posted by GeneticFreek at January 22, 2005 12:29 AMPost a comment |
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this is a daily sampler of really good songs. all tracks are posted out of love. please go out and buy the records!
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all songs are removed within a week or two of posting. said the gramophone launched in march 2003, and added songs in november of that year. it was one of the world's very first mp3blogs. if you would like to say hello, find out our mailing addresses or invite us to shows, please get in touch: montreal, canada: sean toronto, canada: jordan montreal, canada: dan please don't send us emails with tons of huge attachments; if emailing a bunch of mp3s etc, use a service like MailBigFile. if you are the copyright holder of any song posted here, please contact us if you would like the song taken down early. please do not direct link to any of these tracks. please love and wonder. "and i shall watch the ferry-boats / and they'll get high on a bluer ocean / against tomorrow's sky / and i will never grow so old again." we are a member of MBV.
about the authors
Sean Michaels lives in Montreal, where he is writing a novel. His work also occasionally appears at McSweeney's. Follow him on Twitter or reach him here.
Dan Beirne is an actor and writer living in Montreal. He writes fiction fiction fiction on here. It may feel true, but it is never True. He is most proud of his most recent project The Bitter End. Email him here Jordan Himelfarb lives in Toronto, where he is editor in chief of The Mark. Jordan's posts appear at Said the Gramophone only on the last Wednesday of every month. Email him here. Site design and header typography by Neale McDavitt-Van Fleet. The header graphic is randomized: this one is by . 
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