Friday, March 15th, 2013
That eternal sine-wave synth line. The dead-eyed, descending chorus. The submerged-in-syrup production. I love everything about this song, which was on Black Marble‘s 2012 album “A Different Arrangement.”
See if it sucks you in, too. Happy Friday afternoon, all.
Monday, March 7th, 2011
Today, Frequency is dedicated to documenting the sad, endlessly enthralling songbook of Seattle’s Damien Jurado, who will perform Monday night in Bend. To see the whole series, click here. (Addendum: The man has too many great, sad songs for one day, so I’m extending “Sad song Sunday” into Monday.)
The show has begun down at the Tower Theatre, but my understanding is that Damien Jurado has not yet begun to play. (Please note that the time stamp on this post is wrong. I’m publishing an hour earlier than whatever it says.)
If I were you, I’d put on a sweater and head downtown right now.
Here’s the final installment of the series with the most ridiculously complicated name in the history of Frequency: “Sad song / Damien Jurado Sunday Monday.” It’s called “Simple Hello” and it first appeared on 1998′s “Gathered in Song” EP, although this version comes from Jurado’s 2005 album “On My Way to Absence.”
It is everything I love about the guy’s music: simple, heartfelt, and at least a little bit sad, but ultimately hopeful and undeniably hummable. If I haven’t convinced you to hit the Tower Theatre tonight, I hope I’ve at least opened your ears and mind to one of the most talented songwriters going these days.
(Special thanks to Jeff for pointing me to the video.)
Monday, March 7th, 2011
Today, Frequency is dedicated to documenting the sad, endlessly enthralling songbook of Seattle’s Damien Jurado, who will perform Monday night in Bend. To see the whole series, click here. (Addendum: The man has too many great, sad songs for one day, so I’m extending “Sad song Sunday” into Monday.)
“Everything Trying” and “Last Rights,” both from 2008′s “Caught In the Trees.” That is all.
Monday, March 7th, 2011
Today, Frequency is dedicated to documenting the sad, endlessly enthralling songbook of Seattle’s Damien Jurado, who will perform Monday night in Bend. To see the whole series, click here. (Addendum: The man has too many great, sad songs for one day, so I’m extending “Sad song Sunday” into Monday.)
The simple, devastating chorus of “Letters & Drawings” — from 1999′s “Rehearsals For Departure” — is the centerpiece of one of my favorite songs of all time:
“So I waited by the phone
to hear it ring”
Here’s a fine performance of it, after Damien has a little fun with the tired old encore routine.
Sunday, March 6th, 2011
Today, Frequency is dedicated to documenting the sad, endlessly enthralling songbook of Seattle’s Damien Jurado, who will perform Monday night in Bend. To see the whole series, click here.
Here’s another death-obsessed song from Jurado, called “Window” and taken from what might be his best record, 2003′s “Where Shall You Take Me?” (That’s might be. Might.)
It’s short, it’s somber and it’s stunningly gorgeous, especially in the video below, where harmony vocals are provided by Rosie Thomas. “Window” has an old-time, spiritual feel; as YouTube commenter cccharlie7 puts it: “this is how angels feel when they look at us.” (That is the first — and probably last — time you will ever see me quoting a YouTube comment.)
Sunday, March 6th, 2011
Today, Frequency is dedicated to documenting the sad, endlessly enthralling songbook of Seattle’s Damien Jurado, who will perform Monday night in Bend. To see the whole series, click here.
Not all of Damien Jurado’s songs are about lost love. Some are about death. (And some are about both.)
Take a listen to “Tonight I Will Retire,” an intensely spare song from 2000′s “Ghost of David,” in which the central character contemplates suicide with the hope of going to Heaven, though he’s not 100-percent sure of his fate. “If I should taste fire,” Jurado sings at the close of the song, “save me not. I deserve to die.”
Sunday, March 6th, 2011
Way back in the summer of 2009, I started what was to be a regular Frequency series called “Sad song Sunday,” wherein I would post a sad song on Sundays.
I haven’t done one since. But with singer-songwriter extraordinaire and master of the downcast Damien Jurado coming to Bend on Monday night, I think it’s time to revive the series. I’m declaring today “Damien Jurado Sunday” on this blog, which is basically synonymous with “Sad song Sunday.” Stay tuned for a bunch of the man’s finest, most forlorn tunes.
First up, it’s the lost-love tale “Ohio,” the opening track from Jurado’s amazing second album, 1999′s “Rehearsals For Departure.”
Thursday, August 5th, 2010
On Sunday, a folk singer named William Fitzsimmons will perform at Silver Moon Brewing & Taproom in Bend. And you should must go.
Earlier this week, I had a chance to chat on the phone with Fitzsimmons, and he was one of the nicest and most forthright interviewees I’ve encountered in 10 years of writing for newspapers. The result of that chat will appear on Page 3 of tomorrow’s GO! Magazine, and I hope you’ll read it. I’ll post a link here on the blog.
Truth is, though, just about all you need to know about Fitzsimmons — about the music he makes, at least — you can find in his top four friends on MySpace. Check it:
MySpace. Still good for something.
Look at that. It’s like the Mt. Rushmore of hushed, heartsick indie-folk, equally dedicated to the gone-too-soon icons (at left) and the next-big-things (at right). Don’t get me wrong, I love three of those four artists — I don’t fully “get” Bon Iver, but I don’t hate it, either — but if you could sum up what Williams Fitzsimmons does, you couldn’t do much better than a glance at his closest MySpace buds.
Actually, I do have one minor quibble. If I could, I’d climb up on that Mt. Rushmore and chisel in the chiseled face of Sufjan Stevens, whose elegant chamber-folk-pop shares even more with Fitzsimmons’ songs than any of the artists above, and that’s saying something. It’s no wonder I’ve fallen head-over-heels for this guy’s music; if you go home and look at my computer, you’ll see that I’ve played more Sufjan Stevens over the past five years than any other artist.
Enough babbling. Here’s one of the best songs from “The Sparrow and The Crow,” Fitzsimmons’ painfully personal 2008 album based on his own divorce:
[audio:http://frequency.blogs.bendbulletin.com/files/2010/08/If-You-Would-Come-Back-Home-1.mp3|titles=If You Would Come Back Home]
William Fitzsimmons and opener Rosi Golan play at 8 p.m. Sunday at Silver Moon Brewing & Taproom (24 N.W. Greenwood Ave., Bend). Tickets are $12 plus fees in advance at BendTicket, and $15 at the door.
Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
… the Goo Goo Dolls are playing “Iris” on their current tour, at least if this video from a show last week in Minneapolis is to be believed:
In other news, no fewer than 30 videos containing the search term “Goo Goo Dolls” have been uploaded to YouTube in the past 24 hours. Don’t let anyone ever tell you the internet is useless.
Goo Goo Dolls are playing at Bend’s Les Schwab Amphitheater on Friday. Look for an interview with bassist Robby Takac in Friday’s issue of GO! Magazine in The Bulletin.
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