Loretta Lynn - Country Music Hall Of Fame

"You daggone right"

Many people know of Loretta Lynn thanks to Jack White, who produced her 2004 comeback album Van Lear Rose . It's a solid release, but for my money, these hits are really where it's at. My favorite has gotta be "Fist City", on which Loretta threatens to lay down an ass-whuppin' on anyone who gets near her man. 100% Badass. Peep the embedded video below. It somehow sounds even more menacing as she says it with a smile on her face... There's an incredible juxtaposition in the transition from "One's On The Way" to "The Pill": First, she plays the loyal matriarch, obediently staying at home with the children while her man is out getting drunk. Thank heavens for the invention of birth control, as Loretta sings her ode on "The Pill". What a controversial subject for the time... I could listen to this collection all day.

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Hank Williams Revealed: The Unreleased Recordings (Boxset)

To make up for a shameful lack of posts in recent times...

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Radio Myanmar (Burma)

A collection of radio snippets that includes music, news segments, and advertisements. The brevity of the snippets and eclectic selection give the impression of someone impatiently flipping through stations. There's better information about the release here.

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Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Song Book (1964)

Ella only made one record in tribute to a single lyricist, and what an honor she does to Johnny Mercer. Mercer, an extraordinarily prolific songwriter and co-founder of Capitol Records, was the writer behind popular classics like "Moon River" and "Hooray for Hollywood", but also has a profound sense for light verse and cultural vernacular. The casual wordplay and familiarity of of lines like "Yes you're much too much, and just too very very/ To ever be in Webster's Dictionary" mark Mercer as one of the keenest pop geniuses of our time. Ella and the Nelson Riddle big band bring fast-paced tunes like "Too Marvelous for Words" and "Something's Gotta Give" to life with musical acrobatics and impressive diction, but the First Lady of Song gives me the shivers the most on her ballads, especially the classic "Skylark" and one of my very favorite songs ever, "Early Autumn".

Enjoy!

Tracklist:

1. Too Marvelous For Words
2. Early Autumn
3. Day In, Day Out
4. Luara
5. This Time, The Dream's On Me
6. Skylark
7. Single-O
8. Something's Gotta Give
9. Trav'lin' Light
10. Midnight Sun
11. Dream (When You're Feeling Blue"
12. I Remember You
13. When a Woman Loves a Man

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Cambodian Cassette Archives: Khmer Folk And Pop Music Vol. 1

God bless the Brothers Unconnected - Alan and Richard Bishop. Here's a release from Alan's fantastic record label, Sublime Frequencies: a compilation of Cambodian pop songs put together from tape archives in a public library in Oakland. I'm omitting the tracklist here because most of the song titles are unknown. Most of the performers also remain anonymous - I read that the Khmer Rouge executed about 9/10 of Cambodia's musicians in an attempt to repress dissent. What remains from the time is a trove of funky gems: both influenced by American pop and rock music and simultaneously rooted in Cambodian culture. More SF to come...

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Love - Forever Changes (1967)

Because it's the only Love album I have, I can't speak on how this album fits into the group's catalog, but Forever Changes feels like a special album. It embraces a full, lush production sound (comparable to something like The Zombies' Odessey and Oracle). Strings and horns are abundant - I love the little mariachi break in "Alone Again Or". And the sad irony of the lyrics that follow: "I think that people are the greatest fun, and I will be alone again tonight my dear". Forever Changes feels like a peak inside Arthur Lee's head, full of introspective thoughts as well as commentary on mid-60's society.

Tracklist:

1. Alone Again Or
2. A House Is Not A Motel
3. Andmoreagain
4. The Daily Planet
5. Old Man
6. The Red Telephone
7. Maybe The People Would Be The Times Or Between Clark And Hilldale
8. Live And Let Live
9. The Good Humor Man He Sees Everything Like This
10. Bummer In The Summer
11. You Set The Scene

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Erik Satie - Compositeur De Musique (1998)

It's almost Christmas and somehow I still have studying to do. I've found that accordion music gives the perfect balance of moderate festivity and melancholy ambience necessary to dissect Plato despite my Christmas tree being up. These recordings of avant-garde accordionist Teodoro Anzellotti playing the music of self-labelled "phonometrician" Erik Satie is an almost unsettling mix of nostalgic sleepiness and wintry tension. Particularly so is the 6 part "Gnossiennes". Its interesting to compare the fairly gentle touch of Anzellotti with more intense players, for instance the passionate tango of Piazzolla. Enjoy and be merry!

Tracklist:

1. Sports et Diverissements
2. Rêverie Du Pauvre
3. Les 3 Valses Distinguées Du Précieux Dégoûte
4. Petite Ouverture A Danser
5. Le Piège De Méduse
6. Avant-Dernières Pensées
7. Première Pensée Et Sonneries De La Rose † Croix - Première Pensée
8. Gnossiennes - 1. Lent
9. Gnossiennes - 2. Avec Étonnement
10. Gnossiennes - 3. Lent
11. Gnossiennes - 4. Lent
12. Gnossiennes - 5. Modéré
13. Gnossiennes - 6. Avec Conviction Et Avec Une Tristesse Rigoureuse
14. Peccadilles Importunes
15. Les Pantins Dansent
16. 3 Gymnopédies - 1. Lent Et Douloureux

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