July 2002

Grandpa Loves Music

A. The Very Best of Townes Van Zandt: The Texan Troubador
B. Espionage from Evil Robots Deluxe Audio
C. The Kings of Convenience Tour America

I got me two new CD's this month: The Very Best of Townes Van Zandt: The Texan Troubador and Espionage from Evil Robots Deluxe Audio.

As far as I can tell, Townes Van Zandt is little known outside of small country music circles. He died on New Years Day 1997, having recorded music for nearly thirty years. I wouldn't know of him if not for his cover of "Dead Flowers" on the "Big Lebowski" soundtrack. His cover is terrific, and his voice is much better suited for the song than Mick Jagger's. Other than that song, I had never heard a single Van Zandt tune, but I bought the 2-CD set anyway

This particular collection is of music recorded from 1969 to 1978. Townes' music is closer to traditional American folk and country music than anything you hear on modern country radio. (For those who don't know exactly what I am talking about, do a quick scan on your car radio dial. You will find three or four stations playing crappy, pop-infused country. The only difference between most new country songs and boy-band pop is steel guitars and the occasional violin. Don't get me wrong, I am not a country music expert or anything, but I enjoy Johnny Cash and Roger Miller from time to time, not Toby Keith and Garth Brooks.) Songs such as "Tecumseh Valley" and "Sad Cinderella" are as impossible to find on the radio now as they were twenty years ago. Townes, obviously influenced by Bob Dylan, Hank Williams Sr, and Woody Guthrie, wrote about people and he wrote about life, oftentimes in the same song.

Songs about desperation and heartache, loss and freedom, are scattered throughout the collection, and each is carried by Van Zandt's beautiful voice. This is country, but not bumpkin country, if you know what I mean. This is poetry.

"As you're shattered illusions come a-tumblin' home
and all of the butchers you've nourished have grown
and they are suddenly able to leave you alone
and they run like slaves that are set free

when your questions are answered and your pleading is done
and your mind starts to screaming that you ain't the one
that once dwelled within you, will you turn, will you run
Then princess, will you come home and get me?

when all your bright scarlet turn slowly to blue
will you stop and decide that it's over?"
Sad Cinderella

The song, "Snow Don't Fall" may be the sweetest or the saddest song I have every heard. I cannot figure if he is singing about a dead lover, or a woman far away. In a short amount of time, and with few words, he paints a picture of loss at a great distance, yet there is a calm acceptance. After all of the grieving is passed, he is left with only the memories, and that alone makes him happy - or at least content.

Such is the knowledge present throughout his work - and this compilation is only scratching the surface. He wrote and recorded for years, including numerous live concerts and collaborations with other contemporary musicians (Steve Earle.)

As a primer for the works of Townes Van Zandt, this two-disc set is perfect. It lets you fall in love with the music, and leaves you hungry for more. I strongly urge you to get your hands on this set and let Townes into your musical collection.

***

On a completely different wavelength - My other new CD is a mix burned by my friend, and your overlord, Godzilla. As you may already know, God-Z is the finest music curator on this continent. Rhino records have nothing on him. Seriously.

This latest collection, Espionage, is tailor-made for 3am car rides home from a club, half drunk and full of guilt. It is another in a long line of collections, such as the recent ERI DeLuxe Audio classics Base Fare and Ivy City, and the classic and still my favorite, Professor Booty.

With tunes by the likes of Ursula 1000 (Le Fini), Bask (Nova Schuhu) and Pablo (Roll Call), Godzilla has fused dubliminal sounds not unlike the Covert Operations compilation released by the Eighteenth Street Lounge.

Godzilla knows the score, my friends, and he flaunts his knowledge in front of your face - for your benefit. The next time you find yourself in a car with a person you just met, slap this on the CD player, player. If your friend was not already harvesting dirty thoughts, trust me, she will.

***

Super Announcement: The Kings of Convenience are coming to America! Whoo-hoo! Unfortunately, they are not coming to the DC area - yet. With one stop in NYC, and five others far away from here, they are on more of a visit than a tour, but maybe they will decide to add a few more tour dates.

For information, go to source.astralwerks.com/koc/main.html and jump to the KOC news page. When you are there, send them an e-mail and tell them to play in Washington, DC.

This is very important because their original American tour was cancelled after the September 11th attacks. We, as a nation, need their music to help heal the nation's capital, or at least Baltimore.