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April 11, 2006
Songs That Have Somehow Eluded Me. Until Now.
Sometimes we all have to come clean and admit to our "Johnny-Slightly-off-the Spot" status. These three tracks are not new, but Hell if I'd heard them. Maybe you folks are a bit more hip than I, or perhaps not. They appear in reverse chronological order or, if you feel like taunting me mercilessly, in order of magnitudes of shame I should feel.
Jerks.
Alden Penner - "the Ghost of Creaky Crater"
Last year, with the Unicorns defunct and Islands not yet fully funct, odd man out Alden Penner (a.k.a. Alden Ginger) released this single to little fanfare made more understandable by it's limited pressing of a paltry 100 copies. Its Sixties pop via 90's lo-fi charms are immediately reminiscent of Elephant 6 acts like Olivia Tremor Control, and a nice counterpoint for those who think the production on Return to the Sea occasionally slipped too far into Rolf Beeler territory. What's really notable is the lack of ironic distance. While Islands tracks still traffic heavily in Unicorns style punning wordplay and fanciful narrative excursions, this track with its warm, everybody in the room sings along chorus, and "Montreal keeping it real" slips into lovely French strikes me as the most sincere recording to come from the 'corn camp thus far.
You can't buy the Alden Penner single, but can read a bit about it here.
My Bloody Valentine - "Map Reference 41 Degrees N, 93 Degrees W" (Wire Cover)
I'm not sure that I need to tell anyone why this one is cool. Culled from the 1996 tribute compliation, Whore, this track sees Bilinda Butcher and Kevin Shields dueting on what would be the last song to get an official release under the moniker My Bloody Valentine. That such a momentous event would happen to be a cover of one of the best and most tuneful songs in the legendary art-punk catalog of Wire pushes expectations over the edge. I had no idea this existed until it was casually metioned to me in a boozy bar conversation a week or so ago, at which point I made immediate plans to find and devour it. Perhaps it doesn't add much more than female vocals and a mountain of their trademark reverb to the original, but that's enough really. About as great as you'd expect, which is to say, totally great.
You can buy the Whore compilation here.
Dana Gillespie - "You Just Gotta Know My Mind"
Four-time British Junior National Water Skiing Champion Dana Gillespie was still in high school when she recorded this bubble gum psych-pop non hit, written by Scots hippie Donovan in 1968. In a connection that sheds autobiographically creepy light on the "Mellow Yellow" lyric "I'm just mad about fourteen", they met while the Sunshine Superman was dating her best friend and school mate. Yikes. Anyway, our gal stayed in with the in-crowd long enough to befriend and tour with Dylan and play shows with the Who. David Bowie originally wrote "Andy Warhol" for her and his Spiders From Mars guitarist Mick Ronson produced an album. This particular track was produced by an uncredited Jimmy Page, who also provides some simple, catchy guitar. Although now mainly forgotten, there must have been something to the lass (besides water skiing prowess) to inspire such legendary talent. Looking at her Anne Margret-esque publicity shot suggests an answer I can neither confirm nor deny, Dear Reader.
Pick up a copy of Dana Gillespie's Foolish Seasons here.
Tags: Alden Penner, Unicorns, Islands, Wire, My Bloody Valentine, Dana Gillespie, Donovan, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Jimmy Page
Posted by Jeff Klingman at April 11, 2006 05:15 PM
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