Betwixt Mine Ears

Covering everything that happens ear-to-ear.

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The Enduring Glory of Glory Box

Glory Box is the closing track on Portishead’s seminal 1994 album Dummy. It is, without a doubt, a trip-hop—nay, pop music—masterpiece.

Between the Isaac Hayes sample, a driving, dirty guitar line, and vocals that must have been recorded through a walkie-talkie, it ranks as an influence and inspiration for artists across genres. (That video’s also awesome since everyone, save the singer, is in drag.) 

Bold claim? I present you with my evidence…

Ben Taylor, son of Carly Simon and James Taylor, does a dressed down duet.

Eleze takes it full electro.

John Martyn brings it back home to the blues.

And then there’s covers that aren’t easily sharable, like Aussies Powderfinger, the contemporary Alice Lamb, the folksy rendition from Signe Tollefsen, and countless more.

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If you've ever listened to older episodes of This American Life, you'll recognize Milt Buckner's The Beast as what's playing in the background whenever something sly or mischievous is going down.

Milt himself as a jazz pianist and organist in the midwest, prolific in the 1940s through the 1970s.

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Owiny Sigoma Band is a fascinating mix of London-based techno types and musicians they collaborated with in Kenya. Harpoon Land is the grooviest track from 2013's Power Punch, a diverse mix of African, electronic, and alt rock tracks. 

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Brassy beats, yo. It might take you one or two listens, but enjoy the fruits of the unique partnership between David Byrne and St. Vincent. 

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Uncredited in the listing above is The Silverlake Conservatory of Music Youth Chorale. This is not the first time you've heard of The Silverlake Conservatory of Music Youth Chorale. Turns out that The Silverlake Conservatory of Music is a non-profit down in LA trying to bring music education to the masses; The Silverlake Conservatory of Music Youth Chorale is a group of kids that are there for the fun of it—no auditions or whatnot. Pretty cool!

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Normally, when I post a video, it's because I'm not able find suitable audio on Soundcloud. Not today—this video's here for a reason. Because you don't see where it's going until about 2/3 of the way through, at which point the song takes on a new meaning you did not anticipate.

p.s. This is a cover by Pickwick—the original, by Richard Swift, is still the better version of the song.

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I will level with you—I only heard '39 for first time about four months ago. I heard it on my perennial favorite, Radio Paradise, and I wound and rewound it at least two more times. Freddy Mercury must have been an effin' genius—I know, you all knew that already—but I have to admit, this defines categorization, and that's OK. It's just a great song. Tap something, your foot, your finger, just let yourself feel it.

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Mr. Lo-Fang, i.e. Mr. Matthew Hemerlein, is a bona-fida multi-instrumentalist, classically trained and a genuine musical savant. This is not the last you will hear of him—solid production and keen pop sensibilities combine to form a contemporary soundtrack.

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Great breakup song, with a sinister little twist!

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This story behind Sibylle Baier's album, Colour Green, is almost too crazy to believe. Recorded in 1973, the songs on the album was shelved until 2006, when her son came across them and compiled them in to an album.

What's really mind blowing is how hauntingly beautiful Tonight is—the spare arrangement and the slight echo behind her voice. I'm in awe that this was recorded over 40 years ago...

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Can't argue with a classic—have you have to be happy after hearing this.

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The new album from Elbow, The Take Off and Landing of Everything, is an interesting milestone for the band. It's very much Elbow, and there are highs and lows, but it's much more mellow, melodic. There's still rock going on here, but it's tempered, almost as if it were in tune with some much larger sense of the awesome. It's really evident in this song, New York Morning.

See also: Fly Boy Blue/Lunette, Charge, the rest of the frickin' album...

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Another wild-west affair... the atmospherics are off the charts. The electric guitar gives us this airy, distant quality.

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I just think that this is a beautiful song. I'm a huge sucker for nostalgia and Only Skin is loaded with the stuff. Another really good springtime song, but I guess that I should expect nothing less from a band named The Spring Standards, right?

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This postcard, "Pulaski at Night—greetings from Chicago, city of light," reveals a city that I know—not just the one with skyscrapers—but the actual place were real lives happen. 

I am a native Chicagoan. It's not a perfect place, Chicago. It is dignified, tough, straightforward, all qualities that imbue that place with a sensible dignity. If you ever wish to impart this place, skip the skyline—Pulaski at Night is the postcard to send.

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I find that The Slow Show is a nice pairing with another of my favorites, Elbow (an audio wine and cheese, perhaps?). God Only Knows reminds me of an unhurried spring evening, folky a little, but somehow, the electric touches make it quite cozy.

God, I just realized that this is a really good song to play at the end of an outdoor wedding, when your date is wearing your jacket and you're squeezing in the last dance. Then again, the lyrics aren't really wedding stuff. Eh, who am I kidding—people still like to use Every Breath You Take as a wedding song, and it's about stalking people, so whatever—you have my blessing.

Hear more from The Slow Show on their soundcloud page (I recommend Falling Slow and Mr. Blue Tie).

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Short Change Hero feels like something from a Rob Rodriguez vengeance movie, a la the El Mariachi trilogy. Close your eyes and imagine a terra cotta landscape, the bells of a mission clanging and someone in a dusty black suit walking along the side of the road, trying to hitch a ride after clearing out the local drug cartel two towns back. 

p.s. You know The Heavy from the oft-sampled How You Like Me Now?