TJ Cowgill’s (aka King Dude) efforts to veer from esotericism shine through most on the penultimate track, “You Can Break My Heart”, which comes off something like Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” as sang by Lou Reed and played back in slow motion. If it is somewhat novel, give Cowgill some credit – it at least has some wide-appealing merit too. [Source]
Front man Husky Gawenda and keyboard player Gideon Preiss are cousins who grew up together and discovered their love of music, together. Though the four band members have disparate tastes, their shared passion for classic sounds, rich harmonies, and artful songwriting points back to the artists they grew up on: Crosby Stills & Nash, Bob Dylan, the Doors, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, the Beach Boys. Yet while Gideon took easily to the life of the performing musician, playing in myriad bands throughout his teenage years, Gawenda, who spent years writing songs alone in his bedroom, shied away from the spotlight. “I was actually terrified of performing,” he admits. “It took a lot of will power to start singing my own songs in front of anybody, but I was determined to do it, because I always had the dream of playing music as my way of life.” [Source]
Here is another track from the new Old Ideas album. Here are the lyrics:
Sleep, baby, sleep
The day’s on the run
The wind in the trees
Is talking in tongues
If you’re heart is torn
I don’t wonder why
If the night is long
Here’s my lullaby
Here’s my lullaby
Well, the mouse ate the crumb
Then the cat ate the crust
Now they’ve fallen in love
And they’re talking in tongues
If your heart is torn
I don’t wonder why
If the night is long
Here’s my lullaby
Here’s my lullaby
Sleep, baby, sleep
There’s a morning to come
The wind and the trees
They’re talking in tongues
If your heart is torn
I don’t wonder why
If the night is long
Here’s my lullaby
Here’s my lullaby
[Deidcated to Ole Knudsen]
The Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen has a poem in the New Yorker magazine this week, “Going Home” that he also set to music on his upcoming album, “Old Ideas.” The ten tracks on the album are the first original recordings from Cohen since 2004.
I love to speak with Leonard
He’s a sportsman and a shepherd
He’s a lazy bastard
Living in a suit
But he does say what I tell him
Even though it isn’t welcome
He will never have the freedom
To refuse
He will speak these words of wisdom
Like a sage, a man of vision
Though he knows he’s really nothing
But the brief elaboration of a tube
Going home
Without my sorrow
Going home
Sometime tomorrow
To where it’s better
Than before
Going home
Without my burden
Going home
Behind the curtain
Going home
Without the costume
That I wore
He wants to write a love song
An anthem of forgiving
A manual for living with defeat
A cry above the suffering
A sacrifice recovering
But that isn’t what I want him to complete
I want to make him certain
That he doesn’t have a burden
That he doesn’t need a vision
That he only has permission
To do my instant bidding
That is to SAY what I have told him
To repeat
Going home
Without my sorrow
Going home
Sometime tomorrow
Going home
To where it’s better
Than before
Going home
Without my burden
Going home
Behind the curtain
Going home
Without the costume
That I wore
I love to speak with Leonard
He’s a sportsman and a shepherd
He’s a lazy bastard
Living in a suit
Listen to the song here.
Listen to Darkness here.
Listen to Show Me The Place here.
Leonard Cohen’s first studio album since 2004′s Dear Heather, Old Ideas, will be released January 31 on Columbia. You’ve already heard the album’s first single, “Show Me the Place”. This is the second single, Darkness.
Here are the 20 most popular tracks on New Music United this week with notes:
1. Veteran Canadian singer/songwriter and dear friend of NMU Leonard Cohen storms to number one with his new blog single!
2. British DJ Rampac’s mash-up of all 226 songs by The Beatles is runner up!
3. Danish electrorockers Spleen United make it to top three even though the YouTube-stream was pulled by the record company. UPDATE! The YouTube stream is back up!
4. Danish singer/songwriter Tim Christensen could have had 5 out of 10 songs on Top 10 if the streams were not pulled after 24 hours! (And he plays the Mellotron on the rediscovered Mew track!)
5. There are six streams from The Serge Gainsbourg Tribute album on NMU. Five of them have been on the chart!
6. Andrea True R.I.P.
7. Legendary Marty Thau himself boosted NMU darling Lula Dutronic into the top 10!
8. Mikael Simpson and Laust Sonne are beyond NMU stalwarts. They HAVE to make a track together!
9. The Greg Lake song is an all time personal favourite song ever of the editor (me).
10. All the other songs are great, too. Please write in the comments which one is YOUR favourite on the chart!
The album’s ten songs poetically address some of the most profound quandaries of human existence – the relationship to a transcendent being, love, sexuality, loss and death. Arguably the most overtly spiritual of the revered artist’s albums, Old Ideas inspires commitment to a greater sense of compassion and decency. Old Ideas is available for preorder now at http://www.LeonardCohen.com where his song, “Show Me The Place” is also streaming. Fans who pre-order will receive an instant download of the new song. [Source]
Take two of the biggest names in electronic music, pair them up with a legend in his own right, Jarvis Cocker, and what do you get? An avalanche, that’s what. A track called “Avalanche (Terminal Velocity)” has surfaced and it’s a goodie. [Source]
The Carbon Manuals merging of spoken word,post-punk and alternative music features remixes by Brendon Moeller and Lola Dutronic. Ambient rocknroll and the words of ex-Barracudas Jeremy Gluck informed by Krautrock and artists such as Suicide, Slint and Leonard Cohen. This electro remix is courtesy of Lola Dutronic.
“The Carbon Manual is pretty brilliant, an artistic and enlightened psychedelic adventure. Their music will be viewed as refreshingly advanced and surprisingly accessible for those able to appreciate it.”
- Marty Thau, Red Star Records
[Dedicated to Lars Top-Galia]
Leonard Cohen tribute by the legendary Danish singers C. V. Jørgensen and Steen Jørgensen (Sods/Sort Sol) in a TV performance for Danish Radio.
[via Jens Unmack -- Dedicated to C.V. -- it's his birthday today!]
