February 2012 will be remembered as the month in which the music world lost Whitney Houston but two other lesser known, but no less worthy of mention, talents also passed and they bookend this months playlist:Beware Of Young Girls - DORY PREVIN (Dory was married to Andre Previn who left her for Mia Farrow and the entire episode was laid bare in this devastatingly brilliant bitter ode, one of the finest moments in the career of a singer-songwriter who passed earlier this month) / Chem-Farmer - THEE OH SEES / Going Down To Liverpool - THE BANGLES / Slippin' Shoes - TINDERSTICKS (Stuart Staples has an incredible knack of coming up with at least one timeless moment of smoky pop perfection on every album, a tune that sounds like it must have been around for decades crafted by a master songsmith like Lee Hazlewood or Nilsson, not something brand new surely! On their latest album this is the one) / Just Like Everyone Else - FIELD MUSIC (I hear so much in Field Music that tells me they're listening to all the right stuff in the Prog field and there's so many elements to their sound that push the right buttons with me. On their latest effort it's Pink Floyd that shine through more than anyone else but somehow, it's not all gelling for me just yet. It's almost as if they're trying to squeeze in too much, good ideas are visited and then abandoned almost immediately as if fearing that the repeating of a hook for more than 20 seconds would represent some form of stagnation. But the best Prog always built it's musical journeys up around recurring themes and when Pink Floyd were at their best they were never short of a great pop moment or two. That's what I want to hear a little more of from Field Music, some cohesion to the experimentalism and with an almost out-and-out hit single-alike moment like this, there's still signs that they're worth sticking with for the long haul) / If I Had A Ticket - PHIL JONES & THE UNKNOWN BLUES / Venus - ANAIS MITCHELL (After the triumph that was 'Hadestown' this new release arrived with high expectations. Initially it's an album that doesn't grab the attention in quite the same way as the preceding Folk-Opera but given a little time, it slowly appears to be an album of some real class) / You'll Be Sorry - KITTY DAISY & LEWIS (I tried to book Kitty Daisy & Lewis to play a gig in Essex in February 2012, negotiations didn't even get going, no fees were discussed, their people just said "no". Still, you've got to love them) / Hollywould - BETTY WRIGHT & THE ROOTS / Problems - THE EVERLY BROTHERS (Here's a tip when pouring through musics back pages; look a bit closer at the years when nothing was supposed to have happened. In 1960 Rock'n'Roll had apparently died and the sixties hadn't really got started but, there were still plenty of great albums being released. 'The Fabulous Style Of The Everly Brothers' is one such album, the harmonious siblings never sounded so vital) / Go Your Way My Love - ANNE BRIGGS & BERT JANSCH / It Don't Bother Me - BERT JANSCH / A Woman Like You (Live) - PENTANGLE (A trio of fine Bert Jansch moments, it's not that I'm still mourning his passing exactly but more that the celebration of his lifes work isn't going to be over for me in a short space of time; don't be too surprised if Bert crops up a lot more in my playlists this year)/ Willow's Song - MAGNET (From the film 'The Wicker Man')/ Whispers Of Winter - JANE WEAVER / Handel-Harty 'The Water Music' Suite (a) Andante Espressivo (b) Allegro Deciso - HERBERT VON KARAJAN & BERLIN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA / Jackie-ing - THELONIOUS MONK / Nobody Loves You Like Me - ETTA JAMES / Monte Adentro - MONGO SANTAMARIA / Contusion - ZOE RAHMAN / Good Morning Blues - BILLY VERA & JUDY CLAY / Bleeding Muddy Water - MARK LANEGAN BAND / Crazy To Love You - LEONARD COHEN (For the first time in years Leonard has recorded a song that properly recalls his nylon string-strumming bedsit years sound and it's a rather fine thing too) / That's Where I'm Going - EILEN JEWELL / Love Can Fall A Long Way Down - THE BEAU BRUMMELS / Be There In Bells - THE PINES / Blood & Fire - NINEY (PJ Harvey fans take note of this one) / Makes You Beautiful - JACKIE DeSHANNON / Glove - FAMILY / Get It While You Can - HOWARD TATE (Not the original soul classic on Verve but still a beautiful piano version from a 1990s comeback album of the sadly departed Tate's signature moment)
http://open.spotify.com/user/definitelysound/playlist/1aqVUKq4MqVFUj8lO2lLor
