Merely Time

mostly music http://merelytime.blogspot.com

[merelytime]

My Woman

Angel Olsen's My Woman, released today is gold.

Her unique voice and writing has created something far different from anything else I've heard from any artist past or present.  The songs are loud and fast and slow and hypnotic, eerily sparse and defiantly full.   There's synth and echoey electric guitar, clarity and smooth distortion.

The songs range the scale of human emotions and powerfully pull you into each one. The words are beautifully vague leaving us with just a hint of understanding to something so personal and the freedom to fit it into the cracks and bruises of our own lives.

They are devastatingly sad ("And though this blessing was a curse/Before I opened up my heart/You learn to take it as it comes/You fall together, fall apart")

and bluntly truthful ("All the time when you thought of me/Was it me you were thinking of?/All the time when you thought of me/Or was it your mother?/Or was it your shelter?"..."You never needed anyone to expose you to yourself"),

expressing strength ("I dare you to understand/What makes me a woman...Stop pretending I'm not there/When it's clear I'm not going anywhere")

and vulnerability ("Pick up the phone but I swear it’s the last time/Falling in love and I swear it’s the last time"..."Coming from an endless place/Heaven hits me when I see your face/I go blind, every time"),

hurt ("Am I not allowed/To think kindly of a stranger/Who reflects the sound/Of my heartache/As it's beating/My life to the ground")

and reflection ("Doesn’t matter who you are or what you've done/Still got to wake up and be someone/Doesn’t matter who you are or what you do/Something in the work will make a fool of you"..."My watch is blurry when I look down at my hands/I'm just another, alive with impossible plans").

The album is by no means retro but there is a feeling about each song that bring this nostalgic timelessness; it's in the recording, in her voice, in her lyrics... it's all so new but all so classic.  Angel has brought a voice from the past to the present and used it to create the most diverse, beautiful, emotional album.

Support the good in modern music.

http://www.merelytime.com/2016/09/my-woman.html

-TCB, God Bless

[merelytime]

Rangers & Valentines (Album in Illustrations)

I love narrative songs.  They follow the old-American tradition of storytelling which gives an immortality to lives finished or moments passed when they otherwise would have lifted into the air like smoke with no one left to appreciate them and learn from them.  It takes a certain type of songwriter to write good story songs and Trapper Schoepp is one of those.  His new album, Rangers and Valentines, is full of songs about Tornados, Mono, early 20th century Swedish immigrants, old-fashion cowboys, the loss of mentors and sobriety amongst other life happenings.  The songs are equally interesting, clever, sweet and heartbreaking.  

Trapper, Merely Time and a bunch of great artists created a song-by-song feature through the new album with his story of the song’s origins, an illustration and my commentary.

Trapper: Any of y'all ever catch mono? Despite the myth that you can only get Mononucleosis once, I caught it twice in college. My sickness was mis-diagnosed the second time around, and I was prescribed Penicillin to which I had an allergic reaction. Details are hazy, but one vivid memory I allude to in this song is being covered in hives at 4 a.m. in the E.R. and overhearing the doctor ask, “Is this an episode of House or what?!”

MT: This song makes me laugh, partially out of painful recollection of the 6 plus months I spent with Mono and the ironic contrast between how you feel with mono and the pace/celebratory instrumentation of the song.  Mono Pt. II is a great opening to the album because it exemplifies the resistance this band has to conforming to any specific genre.  It's evident from the start when rock 'n' roll electric guitar pairs with big New Orleans-style horns.

Illustration by Caleb Morris

Trapper: I wrote "Tornado Alley" after spending time down in New Orleans and Joplin, Missouri. Both cities were hit hard by Mother Nature but the people there press on. The song is sung from the perspective of a guy hoping his valentine across town is safe from the storm.

MT: "Tornado Alley" takes on the energy of a tornado.  Amazing saloon piano, triumphant horns and the driving drum beat with the rhythmic rhyme of the lyrics establish the pace from the beginning of the song. When it slows down for the verses, you feel the despair of helplessness he is feeling, praying he could somehow control the path of the tornado, and then it kicks back up. Illustration by Andy Whorehall | dD

Trapper: 'Twas the week before Christmas and I-80 was coated in black ice. We were in the middle of a marathon drive from California through the great plains of Nebraska. A trucker in front of us jackknifed and spun over into oncoming traffic. Scared shitless, we took the next exit for a town called Ogallala. We watched the Hobbit starring Martin Freeman. He plays the role of a character hesitant to leave home. Stranded 837 miles from my home and identifying with the part he played, I woke up the next day with this song in my head.

MT: I've been trying so hard, every time I listen to this song, to find the word that can explain why the chorus of this song is so great and catchy.  The "lala" that naturally falls into the name of the town accompanied by echoey, rich, '60s sounding backing vocals makes it sound like "honey," I think that is the best word, sweet and smooth.  And I don't know whether it was written to have a kind of second meaning but it seems so symbolic of young adulthood, leaving the good and getting stuck in the bad and not quite making it to where you want...with a lot of fear tossed in there.  Great song.

Illustration by Alex Rosas

Trapper: As family lore tells it, my Swedish immigrant ancestor named Olof Johnson was traveling west via Chicago in 1901 as winter loomed. After crossing Minnesota, a blizzard set in, leaving him and his wife stranded in the barren prairie. With a shortage of both time and timber, Olof dug a hole in the Dakota earth and tipped his wagon over for cover. He survived his first American winter in this subterranean shelter. The story is an important lesson of perseverance and badassery that I carry with me wherever I go.

MT: “Badassery,” that’s the perfect word. The idea of being stuck under an upside down wagon during a blizzard in Minnesota is unfathomable and a wake-up call all the same.  "Balad of Olof Johnson" is a little piece of history via a personal account of two incredibly brave people.  Because of the song, this man's name and story will live on... (The music is also great.  The phrasing reflects some old folk-music influence, the saloon piano takes you back almost to the days of Olof and the drums are simply amazing.)

Illustration by Nathaniel Akin

Trapper: Girlfriend, girlfriend...There are already a million songs about the subject matter but here’s another. I wrote it at my kitchen table a couple Valentine's Days ago. It's a bit of a torch-song parody inspired by Randy Newman's "The Girls In My Life (Part 1)." As the song tells, I once hitchhiked to a date with a girl. Strangely enough, the driver who picked me up once dated the same girl and flipped out. Oops.

MT: This humorous, catchy, Craig Finn/Dylanesque song is one of the more realistic depictions of dating. The instrumentation reminds me of the sound-effects of old cartoons that emphasized every action and made it that much funnier.  I like it a lot. Illustration by Daniel Murphy

Trapper: Side two, track one. Bye winter, hi spring. This one's inspired by the transient, college neighborhood I live in. I wrote it after carving my initials into some wet concrete at the end of my street. The lyrics deal with sense of place and post-college life. Plus, I thought the record needed some sunshine after all the bad weather on side one.

MT: It is nice to have a glimpse of fair weather after tornados, blizzards and Nebraska snowstorms even if it's looking through tired eyes at a college town.  Initials carved in the concrete of a town getting trashed by people who don't care...the frustration can be felt through the powerful guitar riffs and it is balanced by lighter-humored cowbells. Illustration by Daniel Murphy

Trapper: All range, no roam...So goes the story of the cowboy wannabe this song's about. He's got the horse and Stetson hat, but will never be Clint Eastwood cool.

MT: This song takes on the identity of the subject, the simplicity of the production with the singing pedal-steel guitar resembles the best of late '60 country music.  The song reminds me of the scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid when Butch Cassidy, the quintessential cowboy outlaw, revealed he had never shot a man before.

Illustration by Daniel Murphy

Trapper: Here are some words about this one straight from Jonny Phillip, the rock solid drummer on R&V. "When I first listened to the demo of 'For Jonny' it immediately brought me to tears. Nothing in your life can prepare you for when you become powerless over something like alcohol. For most of my early adulthood I thought alcohol was my biggest weakness and yet, at the same time I thought I had a handle on it. I would constantly find myself taking my drunkenness to new extremes. What was I trying to prove or run from? After hitting my rock bottom, then getting help from strangers, loved ones, my best friends, and deciding to go to treatment, I found out I was scared of failure, my past, not being a good man, the future, death, and even life itself. After taking a long hard look at myself I realized that my alcoholism is what makes me unique and I will have to fight it for the rest of my days. It makes me realize that everyone is fucked up and scared to a certain extent. This song paints a great image of me during my downfall and fighting to get my life back."

MT: I think [above] says it all.  Even when the subject is such a real perspective on the pains and struggles of alcoholism and detoxing, there’s an element of the song, perhaps it’s the high piano and sweet guitar picking, that is so optimistic, like you have seen the light from the end of the tunnel.  More than anything, this is a really cool proclamation of friendship.

Illustration by Andy Whorehall | dD

Trapper: Rain or shine. It was the former that flooded a festival I was playing in Milwaukee. The sprawling field in front of me was nearly empty, save a small group of people huddled under tents. There was one man in an Army uniform standing outside in the rain, listening intently. He approached me after the set and told me he liked my music, but wondered why I didn’t sing any songs about soldiers. I half-jokingly told him I would get to it. 5 years later, here it is. MT: A heavy topic handled so delicately. This is by far my favorite song.  Such a unique and beautiful love story.  It’s really cool because in under four minutes, you feel like you know this man’s life in an intimate way.  You can visualize every moment as if it’s on a screen. When I listen to Trapper’s voice cry, “don’t, don’t go-oo,” I can feel the agony and despair that his wife feels as she sings in his conscience pleading for him not to leave post.  So you have this great storytelling then you add a melodic string build and strong backup vocals and the song has my heart.

Illustration by Caleb Morris

Trapper: I wrote "Dream" to commemorate the loss of two of my Milwaukee mentors, Dr. Martin Jack Rosenblum and Geo Valentine. The song deals with reconciliation, remembrance, and how people stay with us even after they’re gone.

MT: This song, to me, is a beautifully upbeat reminiscent tribute to two obviously impactful men.  “I’m so happy you didn’t leave the party before I arrived”...what a way to put it, I get it. With this tragic content of losing two big figures in your life, the quick tempo and chord changes accompanied by a humbly, joyful mariachi-style horn section, continuous crescendos, train-whistle harmonica and powerful drums, creates an optimistic perspective on death and the souls that don't follow their bodies.

Illustration by Andy Whorehall | dD

Order an LP here and support great 21st century music.

http://www.merelytime.com/2016/04/trapperschoepp.html

-TCB, God Bless

[merelytime]

Merle Haggard’s death really shook me up, even more than I had expected. Of course I know these deaths are coming and like any great looming tragedy, I cope through denial. When you listen to someone’s music for the majority of your life and it accompanies the best, worst and most average times of your life, you feel like they are your close friend….And perhaps this is why it is so painful. Anyways, through the sadness of last week, I listened even closer to Loretta Lynn’s genuis new album, Full Circle. I listened to every note as her voice rang powerfully and as it struggled in this beautiful pain of age. I listened to each word and considered what she was saying, wondering if she was saying goodbye like Bowie had done. The song that touched my heart the most was her duet with Willie Nelson in the song, “Lay Me Down.” The two voices of beautiful, strong, aging music heroes, sang emotionally of the shadow of death that lurks their lives and the lives of those affected by them. This song, especially, forced me out of my denial and into the realization that we must enjoy every moment that these lives have left and never take for granted the old age of these legends, the gifts they have brought us and the symbol they are for a time passed. And this song reminded me that they are never really gone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaBIqkE2ixg http://merelytime.blogspot.com/2016/04/full-circle.html -TCB, God Bless

[merelytime]

May They Sing You Back Home

My heart sunk to my stomach when the radio paused this morning to announce another legend passed.  How fortunate I feel to have seen him before he signed out.  Many tried but nobody else was able to come close to what he did.  A true outlaw in every sense. A riot. A blessing to this earth.  Merle, may the angels sing you back home.

http://merelytime.blogspot.com/2016/04/may-they-sing-you-back-home.html

-TCB, God Bless

[merelytime]

The New Space Angel

Well, I am shocked.  

Of course this is the era in which we must watch the last of the rock 'n' roll legends pass away but David Bowie has always seemed immortal, like a legend who was eternally 28 years old.  To me, David Jones was a mystery, so many characters in one person all creating varying degrees of beauty and cool and strange...so it only makes sense that as a parting gift, he leaves us an album and without notice or news departs two days later.  He was a gift to our world that we all hate to see him go but I am grateful we keep a large piece of him here in his work.

I usually hate these things, but my brother sent me this and I found it to be beautiful:

To me it's David Bowie's angel looking at us when we hear the news, giving us a sweet and comforting, yet sad and genuine half smile. He seemed to have been a truly sweet man and his astounding library of work has left a powerful mark on planet Earth.

http://merelytime.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-new-spaceman-angel.html

-TCB, God Bless

[merelytime]

Music Video of the Week

This is not technically a music video but it is too amazing not to share... and it does have great music.  The brilliance of silent films is exemplified by Buster Keaton.

Created by- Every Frame a Painting

http://merelytime.blogspot.com/2015/12/music-video-of-week.html

-TCB, God Bless

[merelytime]

Best of 2015 playlist. -TCB, God Bless

[merelytime]

2015

2015 has been a strange year but musically it has been an amazing year to be alive...

January 13

February 3

February 24

April 13

April 21

April 27

May 4

May 12

July 17

September 8

September 18

September 21

October 9

November 13

November 20

http://merelytime.blogspot.com/2015/12/2015.html

-TCB, God Bless, Cheers to '16

[merelytime]

WEEKLY MIXTAPE Dirty Old Town- The Pogues (1985) Achin’ To Be- The Replacements (1989) Rebels- Tom Petty (1985) I Know Places- Ryan Adams (2015) New Madrid- Great American Taxi (2010) Lost In The Dream- War On Drugs (2013) Out Here In the Middle- James McMurtry (2002) Flesh & Blood- Johnny Cash (1970) Stuck Between Stations- The Hold Steady (2006) Darling je Vous Aime Beaucoup- Chet Atkins (1955) All The Pretty Horses- Calexico (2006) Dream Girl- New Trocaderos (2014) Sam’s Place- Buck Owens (1967) Bop-a-Lena- Ronnie Self (1957-1958) Having A Wild Weekend- Dave Clark Five (1965) Dearest- Buddy Holly (1969 posthumous?) http://merelytime.blogspot.com/2015/11/weekly-mixtape_27.html -TCB, God Bless

[merelytime]

Music Video of the Week

Alex Chilton- Replacements (1987)

http://merelytime.blogspot.com/2015/11/music-video-of-week_24.html

-TCB, God Bless

[merelytime]

The Ghost of Tom Joad

I reluctantly admit that while I had heard the name of this album I had not listened to it attentively until last week.  And that is the beauty of being alive today.  You discover great new albums every week as they are released and even greater old albums every day...if you listen enough.  You get to have a lovely glance into history and a time passed as well as a reason to be excited about the future of music...

Anyways.. I never heard Bruce Springsteen's album, The Ghost of Tom Joad until last week and now I can safely say it belongs in my top ten favorite albums.  It is beautiful and raw and poetic and sparse and solemn.  His phrasing is conversational and lulling and his harmonica paired with simple guitar picking is powerful and breathtaking. I often struggle to find words to describe great music because it really comes down to the inexplicable way it makes you feel and that inexplicable feeling is different for every person who listens...I can't accurately describe this album except to say it is an overlooked masterpiece.

Bruce drew inspiration from wanderers and migrant workers he met on motorcycle trips to Joshua Tree and the Mojave Desert. "It’s a fascinating place filled with tremendous tension, a lot of gray moral areas, clashing cultures and interesting people—hiding and running and searching and trying to sort it all out," he said, "I wanted to get that feeling on the record.” He was also influenced by Dale Maharidge's book, Journey to Nowhere: The Saga Of The New Underclass which tells stories of people struggling in America and along the border of Mexico and features photography from Michael Williamson.  Like John Steinbeck did in during the Dust Bowl, Williamson and Maharidge traveled and documented American workers struggling in the 1980s. Bruce captures the despair and beauty of John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath/John Ford's film and just as John Steinbeck became one of the greatest artists to live by writing that book, Bruce Springsteen joined that group with this album.

The Ghost of Tom Joad turned twenty years old this year...Listen.

http://merelytime.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-ghost-of-tom-joad.html

-TCB, God Bless

[merelytime]

WEEKLY MIXTAPE American Girl- Tom Petty (1976) Our House- Madness (1982) All Shook Up- Elvis Presley (1957) Go, Go, Go (Down The Line)- Roy Orbison (1956) From Me To You- Del Shannon (1963) Wouldn’t It Be Nice- Beach Boys (1966) I Just Can’t Live Without You (But I’m Still Alive)- Girls (2014) Mind Wasted- Tedo Stone (2015) American Fiction- Ona (2015) Clean- Ryan Adams (2015) American Gangster Time- Elvis Costello/The Imposters (2008) A Rainy Night In Soho- The Pogues (1991) Lonelier Than This- Steve Earle (2000) Too Crazy For These Times- Boxcar Rattle (2012) Revelator- Gillian Welch (2001) Windfall- Son Volt (1995) http://merelytime.blogspot.com/2015/11/weekly-mixtape_21.html -TCB, God Bless

[merelytime]

WEEKLY MIXTAPE (Christmas Edition) http://merelytime.blogspot.com/2015/12/weekly-mixtape-christmas-edition.html -God Bless

[merelytime]

Music Video of the Week

American Slang- Gaslight Anthem (2010) Directed by- Kevin Custer

-TCB, God Bless

[merelytime]

Jeff Lynne's new album, "Alone In The Universe," is equally as magical and unique and powerful and sweet as any prior Electric Light Orchestra record.  It is reminiscent and pure and masterful.  I think most people hear ELO and think of their childhood, even if they didn't hear it in their childhood; this album seems to speak from the voice of that child...especially in "When I Was A Boy." In "I'm Leaving You," Jeff Lynne's phrasing and vocals and the rhythmic strings carry on the spirit of his late friend and bandmate, the brilliant Roy Orbison in the most amazing way.

The most amazing part of this album is that Jeff Lynne produced the album himself and played every instrument on the entire album minus the shaker and tambourine and with a little help in the backing vocals from his daughter.

I hope this album brings you as much happiness, warmth and peace as it did me.

http://merelytime.blogspot.com/2015/11/alone-in-universe.html

-TCB, God Bless

[merelytime]

WEEKLY MIXTAPE Do Re Mi- Woody Guthrie (1937) Johnny Appleseed- Joe Strummer & The Clash (2001) Bookends- Simon & Garfunkel (1966/1968) Piano Mantra- Mikal Cronin (2013) Jesus, Ect.- Bill Fay (2012) I Was Doing Fine (Then A Few People Died)- Craig Finn (2015) Bad Blood- Ryan Adams (2015) Throw Away The Day- Peter Stringer-Hye (2015) We Had It All- Waylon Jennings (1973) More Than I Can Do- Steve Earle (1996) Alabama Pines- Jason Isbell (2011) Poison Love- Johnnie & Jack (1951) Summertime Blues- Eddie Cochran (1958) C’est bien mieux comme ca- Les Chaussettes noires (1964?) Rhythm of the Rain- Cascades (1962) What A Wonderful World- Joey Ramone (2000-2002) http://merelytime.blogspot.com/2015/11/weekly-mixtape_13.html -TCB, God Bless

[merelytime]

Featured Article: Something Awful- Zach "Geist Editor" Parsons

Warning Signs That You May Be Trapped in a Tom Waits Song

There is a saw playing in the background no matter where you go in the forest. You have ever fallen asleep standing up in a tenement doorway. You have a police record in an Asian port city for fighting a sailor over a dice game.

Someone has ever seriously called you "small time" or "big time" or your given name is Cincinnati. The devil has appeared to you and he spoke by growling through an old megaphone.

You drive a Buick Special from one point in the Midwestern USA to another point in a big hurry.

It is after 2 AM and you are washing dishes in a dance hall.

It is your belief that the only good things in this world are alcohol and a lady you once knew by her first name only. In your opinion there is nothing wrong with storing your money, your gun, and your tragic love letters in the same shoe box. Your body has adapted to a 100% cigarette smoke and whiskey habitat.

Someone tells you to sit on the rumble seat and you immediately know what they mean.

Hopping a train seems like a normal way of getting around the country.

One of your friends is a dwarf and he has killed somebody, probably at a sleazy circus.

Your nickname could belong to a baseball player from the beginning of the 20th century. Something like Chuckles Malone or Wrong Hand Kid. When you hear a church bell you just shake your head because you know that everyone is evil and we're all going to hell, which you ridicule and also firmly believe in, mostly because you have met the devil as mentioned earlier. If you are a woman you are slowly fading into a bittersweet memory like a sepia toned reverse Marty McFly.

You occasionally fantasize about opening a combination greasy spoon diner and piano bar.

If you received a collect call from a strange country you would be compelled to take it.

It is your firm belief that nature is a terrifying place where murders happen. Murders also happen in the city, but they are normal murders like a one armed Chinaman shooting a drunk, not creepy barnyard and forest murders. You live in a working class urban neighborhood, you're down on your luck, probably broke, and you know the boiler room where the devil lives. You are literally the devil. View original Something Awful article here.

http://merelytime.blogspot.com/2015/11/featured-article-something-awful-zach.html

-TCB, God Bless