Kidding, kidding. But really, as some of you may have noticed, SendSpace conveniently deleted the file for "Bounce" within about 12 hours of my posting it due to a "terms of service violation." Not that this bothers me, of course, seeing as how I am a shameless scofflaw with no moral center. I just thought I should apologize to you folks for posting an mp3 of a song that was released as a single from an album which had its physical release over a month ago. I can be so damn cold like that sometimes.
This Week: 70s Prog-Folk
(Apparently Mutton Chops Guy has a brother. Who knew?)
So the solution, then, is to choose a theme that no one cares about. I'm not even sure I care about 70s prog-folk. I kid once again, of course: me and this subgenre go way back; we're homies. I blame my father. For a lot of things, but this especially. Celtic folk is, like, his main style, and for years I have been guilty of sneaking off with his CDs and LPs. I thought, since the indie scene seems to be undergoing both a prog and folk revival (it's little wonder The Decemberists are just about the only "crazy kid" band el padre will listen to), that we might once again turn to the past and explore some roots. There's some great stuff to be had, so enjoy.
Jethro Tull - "Rover" (mp3|3.91MB)
Yeah, that Jethro Tull. No kidding. For stalwart fans of the band, this must've seemed like a radical change of direction. After releasing several albums of more or less total crap, Ian Anderson & co. returned in 1978 with a delightful little album called Heavy Horses that basically eschewed all of the band's bombastic "hey let's write 45-minute songs, guys!" ambitions for a bunch of humble, well-written folk ditties. And to tell you the truth, despite really liking their early 70s stuff (Aqualung and the still OMG-worthy Thick as a Brick are two of my favorite albums ever), I'd say "Rover" is actually a pretty easy shoe-in for my top five Tull songs. It's lightweight, melodic, well-written, stripped of needless complexity, totally charming. Anderson never really lost the ability to write stuff like this; it's just that, after about '73 or so, he simply started using that talent less frequently. And that's a shame. By all means, stuff like Heavy Horses should be the rule, not the exception. But at least it exists, and that's something.
(from the 1978 album Heavy Horses)
Renaissance - "Black Flame" (mp3|5.90MB)
All right, I admit that this whole entry was more or less just a prop so that I could post "Black Flame." It is without a doubt one of the loveliest songs of its respective era, and since day one its inclusion somewhere in the Sunday Superlative has been somewhat mandatory. Renaissance is likely the best 70s band no one has ever heard of: by consistently balancing mood and beauty with Annie Haslam's powerful, soaring voice, they created a brand of folk-rock that was both inherently familiar and yet unmistakably unique. Though they had many excellent tracks (see also: "The Vultures Fly High" and "Ocean Gypsy," if you're interested), "Black Flame" will always and forever remain their crowning achievement in my eyes. All the eeriness and atmosphere, all the intriguing lyrical turns of phrase and songwriting chops, all the enthusiasm and passion the band possessed comes to fruition over the course of these six and a half minutes. It's just damn gorgeous. (Apparently a long, long, long time ago they came to Albuquerque and my dad saw them live. Even my inner snotty indie kid can't deny how cool that must've been.)
(from the 1974 album Turn of the Cards)
Steeleye Span - "Alison Gross" (mp3|4.89MB)
Here's the deal with Steeleye Span: they take traditional Celtic folk songs and painstakingly update them with modern elements, like electric guitars and such. In the wrong hands, this could easily be an embarrassing trainwreck of an idea. Luckily for us, these guys seriously know what they're doing. If you're like me and only have a modest knowledge of traditional Celtic folk, you'll listen and find it hard to believe that this here "Alison Gross" song isn't an original. It sounds traditional, but it's so slickly rewritten that it comes across as more of a keenly executed homage than an adaptation (high praise indeed, and this is commonplace for these guys: I had a hard time deciding which song to include, but this narrowly beat out "Boys of Bedlam" and "Black Jack Davy"). By virtue of being both addictive and amazingly inventive, it's utterly suited for inclusion in the prog-folk movement. Plus, it has a completely pointless but kinda hilarious noise explosion at the end, so make sure to stick around for that.
(from the 1973 album Parcel of Rogues)
Okay! I'll see you folks next week. Take care, drive safe, and always talk to strangers.
By all means, send lovemail/hatemail/anymail related to the Sunday Superlative in a self-addressed, stamped envelope to fridayfiveradio@gmail.com. Though I have yet to receive one, requests are always welcome and entirely open to consideration.
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