Blogs and Broken Singles

First things first. Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles are playing at the Underground City Tavern on October 7. I hate to put this in such stark terms, but this is definitely a “be there or be square event” if you fancy yourself a music lover with a hipster bent.

Sarah recently won the Boston Music Award for best local female vocalist, and not without reason. She’s good the way Lucinda Williams is good and that’s real good. And so is her band. So I’m playing Leonard Trumper here and trying to promote the show. Here's a post I did on there last Springfield appearance.

Speaking of music, the Abstract Prosaic is making like Griel Marcus over at the Occasional Potato. If that isn’t clear to you, and for the life of me I can't figure out why it wouldn't be, try this: Jeff has posted some critical analysis/musings on two of the seminal records of the early nineties. It’s interesting stuff if you fancy yourself a music lover with a hipster bent.

Inspired by Jeff’s new direction and ThirtyWhat blog’s signature lyric coda, I’ve decided to start a new irregular feature to replace the classic From the Treadmill series that has laid dormant for many months now.

On each entry, this new feature will focus on a song that is exemplified by the craftsmanship of its lyrics. These type of songs speak more to the heart and mind then to those nether regions that popular music is often accused of appealing to. They have literary qualities and are often structured like a short story with a beginning, a middle, and an end, only instead of residing on the pages of a book or on a movie screen, the action transpires within the music.
For songs of this type to work, the lyrics have to be weaved into a melody. I’ve never cared for those folk singers who recite poetry or protest speeches over a C-A-D chord progression and try to pass it off as a song. They’ll be none of that here.

I’ve already several songs in mind for this feature, but I’ve yet to decide how to approach the review. I don’t want to get too academic in my analysis so that BFS doesn’t turn into 100-level poetry class, although I may point out literary devices used and try to ascribe meaning where none exists. Sounds boring already.

I also need a catchy title for the feature, something a little less stupid than “From the Treadmill.”

Anyway, look for it soon, or don’t, because I may not do it.