Friday Five : \'frī-(,)dā,-dē 'fīv\ : On the sixth day of every week, I hit the shuffle button on my iTunes, then share the first five tracks and thought for each track. Sometimes there is a playlist involved, occasionally we'll have a guest, but most of the time it's just me. The rest is up to you, our friends and readers! Fire up your media player of choice and share the first five random track of your shuffle in the comments. The Five: Being that it is December, I'm going to [...]
American Wake was a 2004 independent film about a small, mostly Irish-American community in Boston. The film featured a cast of unknowns (including folk musician Sam Amidon) and a beautiful soundtrack by Amidon's band Assembly and Seamus Egan of Solas , who has a brief cameo. Seamus Egan's lovely music, which features vocals by Antje Duvekot , is what really carries film. The score and the pretty Boston scenery create a warm, comfortable atmosphere. While the main focus of [...]
Hey There, Merry Christmas. It's that time again, time to spread a little holiday cheer (I'm even getting requests for this mix). Here's my (anti) Christmas mix. A bunch of these songs are borderline sacrilegious and others are only just a little bitter (and who can blame them this time of year). There are some real gems in here though and I hope you enjoy them with your family sitting around the fire while decorating your tree. Cheers, Craig P.S. I'll usually update this mix as new songs come in. [...]
Midway through her set at Club Passim last Friday, right before covering Woody Guthrie's "Deportee," Antje Duvekot remarked on something she'd read about the Great Depression. "Lighthearted entertainment became important to people," said the Somerville-based singer-songwriter. "They needed it to get them through it." A beat of silence, and then laughter rose from the crammed, brick-walled, basement folk club. The unstated punch line of Duvekot's self-depreciating joke had been made evident by the first half of her show, the second of four sold-out gigs promoting her just-released second studio album, The Near Demise of the High Wire [...]
The ratio of male to female artists has always been skewed about 5 to 1 in favor of the guys here on Songs:Illinois. I'm not sure what the reason is for that but I'm pleased to follow up yesterday's post on Sarah Sample with today's on Antje Duvekot. Antje Duvekot is a rising star in the folk world. The songs from her breakout record, 2006's Big Dream Boulevard , really resonated with fans and industry types alike. Her new record, The Near Demise Of The High Wire Dancer , is her second studio release, [...]
Six months ago today I jumped into the world of music blogging with both feet and no expectations. Since then, Cover Lay Down has become many things to many people. To me, Cover Lay Down is sometimes a haven, often a playspace, always a way to try to put into words why I love what I love. But even though it is work, it is never a burden. And it is a place I am proud to call my home on the web. [...]
I love making Mix-Tapes, or more appropriately, Mix-CD's. I made quite a few last year, and feel they are a good way of recapping last year's goings on in the blogs, (since that's how most of the tracks came to my attention). Below you'll see 12 out of the 20 tracks that were on the first one I made. It starts with the voice of Colin Roberts, former editor of Drowned in Sound . The mix-tape is fairly subdued and peaceful, although No Scrubs is great for novelty's sake, and each track stands up on its own two feet. [...]
Antje Duvekot's debut studio album Big Dream Boulevard was produced by composer and Solas frontman Seamus Egan, who first heard the German-American singer-songtress when she submitted a demo tape in... **Click on the link to read the full post, download mp3s, and comment.**
This year, I've discovered an incredible amount of wonderful music - and rediscovered a lot of old favorites. My musical horizon has been widened so much, and at the same time I finally feel completely content with my chosen "favorite genre" (that has shifted from pop to country-pop to alt-country to folk, over the past 10 years or so). This year, I've also gone from my former habit of downloading two or three tracks off an album, to actually purchasing full albums, and I never really realised how important albums are, before. Sure, I own more [...]
IckMusic
Muruch
songsillinois
Beginning to See the Light
Cover Lay Down
Say Anything Syndrome
Audiography: Stop. Pause. Play.
Summer (Or What It Sounds Like) Vol. 3
Thursday Pass Along – May 24, 2012
