|
Today In Person
by Dan
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.
Ezra Furman & The Harpoons - "Mother's Day" Ezra Furman is the kind of character you make a documentary about. He's the perfect embodiment of the idea of "an artist will emulate their heroes in their early stages". He's a teenager (I'm guessing from photos) with an amazing ear for melody, a natural talent for writing, and a bunch of hard-working and competent friends to be in his band. But all of his music sounds like Bob Dylan. On the Ezra Furman MySpace is a pitcure of one of the band members sitting casually on a stool with a big Dylan poster behind him, and an actual home-movie-mockumentary of Ezra as Dylan, talking about "when Ezra went electric." The groundwork is laid, filmmakers, all these kids have shown they like being on camera, and the movie would have a pretty rad soundtrack. I'll do it if no one else does. Ezra Furman & The Harpoons - "God Is A Middle-Aged Woman" I'm not done yet. I really like this guy. In a damn-I-can't-help-but-be-charmed-out-of-my-head kind of way. This has more of a "Perfect Day" feel to it, but doesn't stray too far from the original thesis. The lyrics just scream "adolescent portrait of sad grown-ups", and one group suddenly says just as much about the other, it's kind of gorgeous. Friday's verdict: Ezra Furman's unabashed excitement and unapologetic wet-behind-the-ears-ness is the most tender, fresh, inspiring thing I've found in a while. [Site] [MySpace] [Buy From Minty Fresh] -- I did an interview with Tune-Yards for Ajisignal, and it went up yesterday. Posted by Dan at September 28, 2007 1:26 AMComments
pretty dan bejar-ish too Posted by dave at September 29, 2007 12:14 AMmaybe a drunkish-slurring bob dylan :DDD Posted by cox1356 at September 29, 2007 8:32 PMA fine pick, sir. I couldn't even listen through the whole thing because I had to stand up and clap my hands a single time in anexcited outburst. Posted by Altman E. at September 30, 2007 4:19 PMI would play God is a Middle-Aged woman for my mom, but I think it would make her cry. I'm rather fond of 'I just wanna be a sheep': Listening to Ezra reminded me of Alice Walker's Nineteen Fifty-five, in which Gracie Mae Still laments of a thinly veiled Elvis figure, "Well, Lord have mercy, I said, listening to him. If I'da closed my eyes, it could have been me. He had followed every turning of my voice, side streets, avenues, red lights, train crossings and all. It give me a chill." But even if the tics and the timbre are the same, there's a substance, a love of words and a clever turn of phrase. Listening to Ezra, it's clear that he's chosen a particular path, but one hopes it takes him an interesting direction, as much as Dylan's appropriation of Guthrie's music and mannerisms was the start of something special. Posted by kieran at October 1, 2007 6:08 PMyou get me completely, kieran. Posted by dan at October 1, 2007 9:29 PMHe had me at "whore." Seriously, some of the best stuff you lot have posted, and that's really saying something. Posted by colin smith at October 1, 2007 9:31 PMI think he has more of a Lou Reed feeling. I dig it. Posted by Joey at October 7, 2007 1:38 AMThis is really good! I just bought the album off iTunes (yes, BOUGHT) and loved it! When is this guy gonna tour? Posted by The Skunk at October 9, 2007 1:16 PMI'm a big fan of Ezra as well & just found something else I think is cool off of the Minty Fresh site- a band called White Shoes & the Couples Company. It's a band from Indonesia, I believe. Thought fans of Ezra might wanna check them out- you can get a free MP3 from their website- www.mintyfresh.com Posted by Lauren at October 9, 2007 1:19 PMPost a comment |
 about said the gramophone
this is a daily sampler of really good songs. all tracks are posted out of love. please go out and buy the records!
to play a song in-browser (flash required), click the  . to download a song, right-click the link and choose 'Save as...'
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 . 
search
Archives
elsewhere
our favourite blogs
(◊ means they write about music) Back to the World La Blogothèque ◊ Fluxblog ◊ Weird Canada ◊ Juan and Only ◊ Passion of the Weiss ◊ Destination: Out ◊ A Grammar (Nitsuh Abebe) ◊ Ill Doctrine ◊ Petites planètes ◊ LPWTF? ◊ Endless Banquet Torture Garden ◊ Gorilla vs Bear ◊ Herohill ◊ Clouds of Evil ◊ The Dolby Apposition ◊ Awesome Tapes from Africa ◊ Molars ◊ Mile Endings Daytrotter ◊ Matana Roberts ◊ Pitchfork Reviews Reviews ◊ i like you [podcast] Musicophilia ◊ Freedom Blues ◊ Nicola Meighan ◊ radiolab [podcast] plethoric pundrigrions Wattled Smoky Honeyeater ◊ The Clear-Minded Creative Hungry Oyster Horses Think White Hotel Then Play Long (Marcello Carlin) ◊ Uno Moralez Coming Up For Air (Matt Forsythe) ftrain my love for you is a stampede of horses It's Nice That Marathonpacks ◊ Song, by Toad ◊ In Focus AMASS BLOG Inventory Waxy WTF [podcast] Masalacism ◊ The Rest is Noise (Alex Ross) ◊ Goldkicks ◊ My Daguerreotype Boyfriend The Hood Internet ◊ things we like in Montreal eat: st-viateur bagel café olimpico Euro-Deli Batory le pick up lawrence au pied de cochon mamie clafoutis tourtière australienne la paryse ripples bilboquet vices & versa + paltoquet, cocoa locale, idée fixe, patati patata, qin hua dumplings, momoi, meu-meu, romodos, patisserie guillaume, patisserie rhubarbe, kazu, maison du nord, cuisine szechuan &c shop: phonopolis drawn + quarterly + bottines &c shows: casa + sala + the hotel blue skies turn black montreal improv passovah productions le cagibi cinema du parc cinérobothèque (maga)zines The Believer The Morning News I (Heart) Music McSweeney's State The Skinny community ILX |
