called by name

a broken bottle buried under
a mound of mud
dug
out by hands hardened, worked, full of calluses
and lacerations
from all the excavations
creating new creations
filling every nation
with branded bell jars of beautiful breathing bodies
fresh faces
polished and pure
washed of all dirt
no longer a broken bottle
but a song
sung
in perfect pitch
knowing that
there's a crack in everything - that's how the light gets in

but we watch our watches and wait for the inspiration to create
something worthy of time
either yours or mine
but nothing seems to rhyme
or flow as easily as it would if we weren't so severely damaged
flawed lazy selfish dumb
hungry for what never comes
because we fill ourselves with what won't sustain
from temporary treasure we don't
refrain
our best and worst
both look the same
through our eyes all we see is
[LAME]
transfixed upon the mound of mud
we still expect hides all the shame
of our brokenness and blame
while we make our mends
with the devil we all tote within
and do our work
to create something worthy of this life we've been given
art that motivates
music that resonates
words that procreate
but the one we should be doing
all of this for
says:
forget your perfect offering


(Inspired by Leonard Cohen's "Anthem" from his 1992 album The Future)

haikus

audrey and i spent part of our evening writing haikus. we would give each other a "topic" and spend the next couple of minutes composing a haiku. here were the results:

ice

slippery water 

blue time freezer moves slowly 

glacial paced glaciers 

homosexuality

i plug in the light 

no electricity flows 

love despite the shame 

les mis

one life turned around 

does the same to all others 

a ripple effect 

all is lost, all found 

you forgot the candlesticks 

silver salvation 

dogs

scruffy ball of joy 

you bring more to the table 

than most humans do 

unopened flower

wake up little one 

your time, it has almost come 

reveal your beauty 

a lightbulb that just came on

edison forgot 

to tell us about the hum 

fresh new current's spark 

garbage floating in the river

i don't belong here 

used useless good-for-nothing 

yet have many friends 

st. croix

unturned dirt grows hard 

chickens look for worms within 

finally! tilled earth! 

waterfall

roaring, splatter, mist 

steading dropping, constant reach 

powerfully graceful

Lawd, Have Mercy! a funky blue soul mix

I've had this one on repeat for quite a while, so I thought I'd share. Download it here. Enjoy!

1. I'm Your Puppet / James & Bobby Purify
2. Girls Can't Do What The Guys Do / Betty Wright
3. Choo Choo Ch'Boogie / Louis Jordan
4. Te-Ni-Nee-Ni-Nu / Slim Harpo
5. Ya Ya / Lee Dorsey
6. Nobody But You / Dee Clark
7. Queen of Hearts / Smiley Lewis
8. Bacon Fat / Big Daddy & His Boys
9. God's LSD / Professor Harold Boggs & The Boggs Specials
10. So Glad I'm Here / Bessie Jones
11. Corinna / Taj Mahal
12. Oh, Pretty Woman / Albert King
13. Mystery Train / Little Junior Parker
14. Fever / Little Willie John
15. Movie It Over, Baby / Gene and Eunice
16. Work That Skirt / The Bo-Keys ft. Harvey Scales
17. Crabcakes / Gunga Din
18. Black Out / Wess & The Airdales
19. I Am What I Am / Marva Whitney & Osaka Monaurail
20. Look At The Stars / The Bobbettes
21. Stop! / Lonette
22. I Can't Lose / Mitty Collier
23. I Dig Girls / J.J. Jackson
24. Gum Drop / Otis Williams
25. The Hoochi Coochi Coo / Hank Ballard
26. She Made My Blood Run Cold / Ike Turner
27. Hey Joe / Wess & The Airdales
28. I Got Soul / Tony Owens
29. Don't Be Angry / Nappy Brown
30. Treat Me Right / Eddie Finley & The Cincinatti Show Band
31. See You Later, Alligator / Bobby Charles

(Download Full Mix Here)

christmas time is here: a yuletide mix

I have always loved just about any music that can be considered Christmas music. Even this song gets me in the spirit. But I especially love some Christmas tunes that aren't the traditional ones. While this mix contains a few standards, it is (at least for me) a new way of experiencing the season.

All that to say, I've been spinning this thing non-stop for a couple of weeks. It's kind of like an Oreo cookie, with black music on the top and bottom and white music squeezed in the middle.

Click here to download the zip file.

Merry Christmas everyone!

1. Holy, Holy, etc. / Sufjan Stevens
2. Swingin' Them Jingle Bells / Fats Waller & His Rhythm
3. Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto / James Brown
4. Ain't No Chimneys / Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
5. Black Christmas / The Harlem Childrens' Chorus
6. White Christmas / The Drifters
7. Happy X-Mas (War Is Over) / John Lennon
8. You're All I Want For Christmas / Jump, Little Children
9. The Man With All The Toys / The Beach Boys
10. Christmas Song / Vince Guaraldi Trio
11. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! / Doris Day
12. Lo, How A Rose E're Blooming / Feist
13. Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanuel / Joshua James
14. Christmas Must Be Tonight / The Band
15. Christmas Time Is Here / Vince Guaraldi Trio
16. Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis / Tom Waits
17. River / Joni Mitchell
18. I Love NYE / Badly Drawn Boy
19. Christmas In New Orleans / Louis Armstrong
20. White Christmas / Otis Redding
21. Don't Believe In Christmas / The Sonics
22. Funky Funky Christmas / Electric Jungle
23. Soulful Christmas / James Brown
24. Santa's Got A Bag Of Soul / Soul Saints Orchestra
25. Boogaloo Santa Claus / J.D. McDonald
26. Auld Lang Syne / Black On White Affair

wild ox moan: a beat-the-heat mix

Finding a lovely tune in a stack of all-too-easily forgotten old records is something fantastic. It is also overwhelming when you realize that you could probably spend the rest of your life completely ignoring new musical output, and use all of your free time mining the past for hidden gems. Even then, there will always be some out-of-print vinyl tucked away in a thrift store in Milwaukee that you won't ever hear.

And since I don't spend much of my free time scouring record stores for these rarities, I rely on people like Wes Anderson, Andy Cabic, Robin Pecknold, Matt Morelock, Amanda Petrusich, and the wonderfully eclectic Justin Gage over at Aquarium Drunkard to do some of the scouring for me.

For this mix, I stuck with tunes from 1975 or before. Most of them fit the bill of the rare obscurity or obscure rarity - some more than others. And a few just fit that sound of a hot afternoon full of kamikaze cicadas turning into an evening full of fireflies as you daydream of an old European countryside. I can already hear the vinyl crackle... Cheers!
_________________________________

1. Sally Goodin (Long Version) / Heron [1970]
2. Katie Cruel / Karen Dalton [1971]
3. Sunlight Shadow / Linda Rich [1969]
4. The Hills Of Isle Au Haut / Gordon Bok [1970]
5. Iris's Song For Us / Vashti Bunyan [1970]
6. The Tall Tall Grass / John Hartford [1967]
7. Buckeye Jim / Burl Ives [1944]
8. Kings And Queens / Loudon Wainwright III [1975]
9. Take It From A Friend / Janey & Dennis [1970]
10. Cast The First Stone / Tom Fogerty [1972]
11. Play With Fire / The Rolling Stones [1965]
12. Don't Forget Me / Harry Nilsson [1974]
13. So Long, Marianne / Leonard Cohen [1967]
14. The Way I Feel Inside / The Zombies [1965]
15. I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire / The Ink Spots [1941]
16. You Always Hurt The One You Love / The Mills Brothers [1944]
17. Love / Nancy Adams [1972]
18. As We Go Along / The Monkees [1968]
19. Wild Ox Moan / Taj Mahal [1969]
20. Houses / Elyse Weinberg [1968]
21. Where Is My Wild Rose? / Chris Thompson [1972]
22. I've Been My Own Worst Friend / Sandy Denny & The Strawbs [1967]
23. Lopin' Along Thru The Cosmos / Judee Sill [1971]
24. The Lady With The Braid / Dory Previn [1971]
25. If I Knew You Were The One / Richard Twice [1970]
26. Lon Chaney / Garland Jeffreys [1973]
27. The Good Book / Melanie [1971]

Download the full mix HERE.