
It is absolutely trivial to note that certain songs crop up over and over again in the folk collector's travels; after all, as our blog subtitle reminds us, when we talk about folk, we're talking about a form that by its very nature treats older songs and tunes as part of the communication which makes us community, available to all who lay claim to culture. But just as true hitmaking is hardly formulaic, it's not often obvious what keeps a song in the stream. Our Single Song [...]

I've seen and heard so much about Kate Bush this year that it's making me sick. She's referenced by poets at readings, remixed by every electro act under the sun, and pretty much every goddamn hipster girl whose car I unfortunatey get into, plays her music for me and enthusiastically squeals something akin to, "Have you ever heard of Kate Bush?!" Yes. I have heard of Kate Bush. I am not linking to her because not only have I heard of her, but I have also listened to her songs, danced to her videos, [...]

I was going to write about something else tonight. But sifting through some older downloads looking for inspiration, I got stuck in the rich, lush americana sound of singer-songwriter Martha Scanlan 's 2007 debut The West Was Burning , and I just couldn't move on. It's been a while since we featured a single release here on Cover Lay Down, but it's also been a while since music struck me as powerfully as this. And so a post is born. [...]