Looking through the Grammy nominees. Like this:
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Recorded in February 1978, released in October 1978…
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Isn’t it strange the musical memories we have.
I remember listening to an end of year poll on “The Rock Show” on Radio Dublin (a pirate radio station, back in the days when Ireland was 10 years behind the UK) and the DJ saying that Dire Straits “Sultans of Swing” had taken over from “Freebird” as the most requested song.
What a time for music.
.sjb
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Birds of Chicago, wow, thanks for this, I’m sadly off the beat when it comes to contemporary artists and this is a truly wonderful album.
For once the marketing hyperbole is not too far off the mark
ABOUT BIRDS OF CHICAGO
In so many ways, we are a word weary culture, ever searching for ways to communicate in fewer and fewer words, letters, syllables…Our online, blogged out, you-tubed attention spans are truncated and fragmented like never before. Birds of Chicago, the collective centered around Allison Russell and JT Nero, reassert the simple notion - radical in these times - that beautiful words and music can still tap deep veins of emotion.
real midnight’s gonna come/ real midnight’s’ gonna come
real wolves at your door/ with blood on their tongues
now what you gonna do/ with your days left in the sun ?
ha da la ha
Stark, elemental imagery that feels like scripture, or a lost folk song recovered; the Birds draw heavily on the gospel tradition and the music feels like a new, secular gospel of sorts. For Birds of Chicago, every word counts. Every note counts. No gold-dusting, no filler. Music is the good news and Real Midnight, the band’s poignant new Joe Henry produced album, throbs with an urgency that feels quietly seismic.
Birds of Chicago was born in 2012 when Nero began writing for his vocal star-muse, Russell. Both were accomplished singer/songwriters with projects of their own, Nero with JT and the Clouds and Russell with the acclaimed Canadian roots outfit Po’ Girl, but together there was an unmistakable chemistry. Nero had found the perfect voice for his rock and roll psalms. Russell moved from being a primary songwriter to an interpreter, and her simmering restraint is deeply refreshing to a landscape scorched by post Voice/American Idol vocal gymnastics and over-emoting.
On Real Midnight, Birds of Chicago alternate moody rock swagger with the ghostliest of soundscapes. Produced by Joe Henry, a man who’s expert blending of light and shadow is well known, the album is a melancholy - but never shoe gazing - suite, full of wayward, joyful, lonesome voices raised up against the night.
Music this raw and soul-rich demands to be experienced live, and Birds of Chicago have developed a fervent following, touring 200 nights a year since their formation in late 2012. For these Birds, singing for a room full of new people, hearts wide open, keeps off the cold and chases off the shadows. 2016 will find the band in constant motion - from sea to sea and beyond.
With that red hair there is definitely some Irish in there somewhere!
.sjb
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They recorded a new album last month but it’s not released yet.
See them perform Live if they are in your neighbourhood.
Just trying out this cool sharing feature…
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Now your talking
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I’m giving it a listen now. Liking it.
