Spirit and Roots

Discovery of the week 💙 🎧 🇺🇸

Definitely not new to the world, but it is new to my cloth ears. Thanks to Susan René for introducing me to this. The meeting of a great melody sung by a talented, sincere singer will always be a force of nature in the world.

This track is best summarised to me by one of the youtube commenters:

"It always transports me to someplace else. I don't know where, only that I don't wish to return." 🌠

Maria Callas – Puccini: Gianni Schicchi: “O mio babbino caro” The voice and artistry of Maria Callas breath new life into the aria "O mio babbino caro", from Puccini's opera Gianni Schicchi, in this entrancing illustrat...

Discovery of the week 💙 🎧 🇮🇪 🇬🇧

The Stornoway Waltz / Sunday's Well (feat. Michael McGoldrick) Provided to YouTube by Emubands LtdThe Stornoway Waltz / Sunday's Well (feat. Michael McGoldrick) · The McGoldrick Family · Michael McGoldrickOne For The Roa...

Today's blast from the past - James, Laid (1993) 💙 🎧

Very cool backstory to this one! Produced by Brian Eno, the album's stripped-back sound was inspired by the band's recent experience opening up for Neil Young in the US.

Fontana, James' record company, was initially angered by the decision to do these Neil Young shows acoustically, rather than electric as normal, and threatened to withdraw funding for the tour. However, they changed their mind after a staff member attended a show.

Returning to the UK thusly inspired, the band started writing material for their next album. Eno remembered the album sessions fondly as "one of the highlights of his life" - no small compliment!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laid_%28album%29

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0jZ8Nn-SuY

James - Sometimes (Lester Piggott) Artist: JamesAlbum: LaidSong: Sometimes (Lester Piggott)Year: 1994