Who Knows Where the Hiring Fair In the Lowlands of Holland Goes?

Haven’t posted in a while. I’ll try to keep posting here every so often, but I doubt there’ll be any regularity to it any more. I’d rather keep posting erratically then stop posting all together, though.

So, theme today is stuff I’ve listened to recently. It usually is, actually. I’m just being a little more blatant about it right now.

First, I’ve played Who Knows Where the Time Goes being sung by Kate Wolf here before, and I tend to think of it as a Kate Wolf song, but this is Fairport Convention playing it. And, you know, the lead singer, Sandy Denny, wrote the song, so it’s actually their song.

Just a matter of where I heard it first, really. They both died way too young, and were great folk singers. Though, if you listen to Led Zeppelin’s Battle of Evermore carefully, it’s actually Sandy Denny singing with Robert Plant, which is cool.

I’ve also been listening to Steeleye Span playing The Lowlands of Holland for some reason. It’s a great folk song that’s been covered by everyone and their mother, really. Note that the singer here is not Maddy Prior, but Gay Woods. This was actually off of Steeleye Spans first album, and she left the band before the next album.

This is sort of tangentially related to the last song, in that Steeleye Span was founded by a former member of Fairport Convention.

And when I say this songs been played by everyone, I mean it. Here is Dún an Doras playing it.

And here’s Celia from Salmon’s Leap singing it.

And lets round things off with Fairport Convention and the song The Hiring Fair.

“My trembling fingers touched her arm, and she placed them on her breast.”

Part of me thinks it’s romantic. And part of me is thinking “Damn, he’s getting lucky tonight”. ^_^

Artificial Children

After all that silliness, I thought I’d show you that IOSYS does some serious pieces as well.

This is a song called Artificial Children. First, for full impact, watch this version, with the video to it. The two match up very well. Of course, if they walk, talk, and look like girls, I’d think of them more as robots then dolls, like here, but then this is supposed to be fantasy, not science fiction.

Now, if you’re like me, you’re curious what the actual words are to the song, and if they live up to the rest of the video. If you watch this full length 5 1/2 minute version, while it doesn’t have the video to the song, it does have complete lyrics. And they are worth it.

Stolen Frogs

They are evil, aren’t they? And there are so many of them, too; the group seems fairly prolific.

For today, first, I’ll play IOSYS’s Marisa Stole Something Very Important. Hurray for lesbian couples. And Guten Morgan is “Good Morning”, naturally, not the #3, so take the subtitles with a grain of salt.

And this other video I’m throwing in isn’t even by IOSYS. But the style and zanyness remind me of them.This is Kero ⑨ Destiny, by Silver Forest. Knowing that the sound frogs make in Japanese is “Kero”, much like cats going “Nya” helps on this video.

Translation may be iffy in spots, I suspect. Still, “There is n-o o-n-e inside this hat, OK?“. Win.

All right, I’ll admit it. I’m half posting this because of the combination of being addictive and annoyingly kawaii…

Bedlam

All right, since neither of us have posted, think I’ll post something that I know well enough that I could do it in my sleep. (though hopefully not particularly boring.)

I’ve expressed my interest, or perhaps obsession with the song Bedlam Boys before, which also goes by a few other titles. It’s a cool song with a million verses, and everyone plays it differently.

The song is about someone in Bedlam, the Bethlehem Hospital for the Insane. In some of its incarnations, it’s about someone from its sister institution, Maudlin, the Hospital of St Mary Madelene, who falls in love with Mad Tom O’ Bedlam.

As it’s supposed to be about someone who is insane, it encourages unusual takes on the song. Here is one such, Mad Toms Song by Bluehorses. They’ve set the song to some wonderfully discordant rock music. I wouldn’t be surprised if half of it was improvised.

And you’ll note that they’ve modified the verse structure, too. Cool performance.

And here’s Old Blind Dogs playing the song in a fairly traditional yet fairly modern arrangement. This video actually has both the studio version and a live version. Live version actually sounds somewhat better to my ears.

And here, of course, is Maddy Prior of Steeleye Span’s slightly cracked take on the song. Quite different from Steeleye Spans take on it, really, and a lot more lighthearted.

Walk Right In

I’m not sure we want that as a theme, though, Sean. That would involve me repeatedly posting disco music…

Today, I thought I’d play a song from 1963, Walk Right In, being sung by the Rooftop Singers. Don’t feel like analyzing it too much, but it’s a fun song.

Now, what you may not realize is that that was a cover of Gus Canon’s Jug Stompers. And the original version by them sounds rather different…

Of course, the Rooftop Singers were hardly the last to cover it. Doctor Hook got in on the action on this song, as well.

Meat

For the lack of any other direction in my posts, I’m going to go from Popotan back to Frank Zappa again.

First, a song along similar themes to the one I played earlier, Teenage Prostitute. This song is called Easy Meat. Questionable themes or not, this song rocks. Though I’m not sure what her kink about beating people up with a copy of the Rolling Stone Magazines all about…

(But then, I’m not a robot.)

And how can you have Easy Meat without her uncle, Uncle Meat? This is an instrumental. Art style on the music video is pretty neat. I’m normally not much for yellow, but this looks pretty cool.

The Sexy Data Tango

Continuing with Voltaire, I thought post a song with some horrible Star Trek:TNG related sexual innuendo, The Sexy Data Tango. (Though the video is labeled The Anatomically Correct Android…)

And yes, this song is clearly based off a scene in the episode The Naked Now where Data is seduced by Tasha Yar. For those having trouble, blissfully, recalling the episode, you may want to read this review by Wil Wheaton (who you may know as the actor who played Wesley Crusher), which is worth reading anyways, for comments like this:

One of Geordi’s first stops is to visit his good pal Wesley Crusher, who shows off one of his science projects (a mini tractor beam,) and one of his toys, a device that lets Wesley recreate speech from anyone on the ship. Any doubt that Wesley is a complete weenie is removed when we learn that he uses this device to have Captain Picard say things like, “Welcome to the bridge, Wesley,” instead of having Counselor Troi say things like, “Smack my ass, Wesley, I’m a naughty, naughty bitch.”

Hmm? Oh, sorry, must have zoned out for a minute. Anyways, here is The Sexy Data Tango. Heaven help us all…

My Birthday

Well, todays my birthday (and Tim’s, too, so happy birthday, Tim), so I feel I can ignore all themes and play whatever I feel like hearing. And I’m feeling on a bit of a celtic kick right now.

So, first, here is a traditional drinking song, John Barleycorn (must die), being sung live by Traffic.

Next we have a song written by Andy Stewart I’ve always loved, being performed by his super group, Silly Wizard. The song is “The Queen of Argyll” and it is not traditional, but is in fact, written by him. Hearing it, you would swear it was at least a few hundred years old, though.

And here’s another of their songs, “Donald McGillavry”.This one actually is traditional, and is a Jacobite song to commemorate the Battle of Culloden.

And here’s Willie Archer and The Banks of the Bann, which I’m mainly playing playing due to the rather entertaining opening by Andy Stewart, explaining the song.

Boogie On

Well, with you not posting Tues. and Weds., guess that means I should plan for my posts those days to be followed up on. At least, by anyone other then me.

For today, first I have a 1975 time capsule video featuring a song by Stevie Wonder, “Boogie On Reggae Woman”. Good music, weird animation at the beginning, and women rolling aroud in mud.

Well, maybe not the last. Large quantities of funk, anyways, which is enough for me.

And as long as we have the whole Stevie Wonder funk thing going on, lets play “Higher Ground”. Always liked that song. Not that there’s much music by Stevie Wonder I don’t like. The man’s amazing.

Gypsy Girl

Interesting band, Cruella De Ville. So why don’t I play another one of their songs?

Gypsy Girl – Cruella De Ville

I’m always interested in songs about gypsies, of course, so that’s one reason why I just had to post this one. And this one has sort of a maniacal energy about it, too. And it’s catchy as all hell. The music video is interesting, too. Everythings on fire, including the musical instruments they are playing. And I love the chorus.

Hey, hey, hey, hey, dancing all the night away…. Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, never dancing slow…

No, she isn’t, is she? Brilliant.