Goodbye, misery

This gem is one of my favorite Marissa Nadler songs. It feels like ghosts rising from their graves. It's got a steady momentum like a stream, but it goes through a haunted forest. I can feel the sun, I can feel the night, and I can feel the past. It's creeping up like the growing grass. Nadler's voice is so assured and beguiling that the song never tires even after multiple, consecutive listens. It's so soft and inviting as to insulate one from fatigue. The lap steel adds so strongly to the atmosphere that I can barely imagine the song without it. It's a perfect song and one of her greatest efforts. I count it amongst my favorite songs. Give it a try and give Little Hells a try as well. It's a greatly rewarding album

"Coming Down" - Why I love Dee Dee Penny

While some critics/listeners/misanthropes criticized the Dum Dum Girls' single "Coming Down" for sounding like Mazzy Star's "Fade Into You", I found absolutely nothing to bemoan. One of the planet's greatest make-out anthems, "Fade Into You" is also my favorite Mazzy Star song. If someone wants to slow it down to twice its length then make it even moodier and torchier, I see it as adding peanut butter to the chocolate syrup. Too much but still perfect? Oh yes. Dum Dum Girls knock it off the continent. I can see the sparks grinding off their heels and flying off the drum kit now. This is what we should be proclaiming as gangsta Nancy Sinatra, kids. In slow motion angst via kiss-off love letters, we have a gorgeous song that slowly fades from the bright, August summer to memories of that rueful fling. Goodbye, goodbye - but drop the needle again.

Zola Jesus

Is it permissible to love Zola Jesus for being so witchy? The dark, soaring vocals and the minor key, cold synths tell me that this is a woman who should not be crossed. The look and the sound are quite striking. Her music creates a certain atmosphere that feels witchy. Is this her intent and purpose? If not, she certainly beats Cold Cave at the game of "name that goth influence".

The appeal of PJH

Sometimes I find it difficult to explain my love for PJ Harvey. As I love her music and find her performing style irresistible, others who adore her as a personality or sexual being seem to be puzzled by my admiration. I just think that she has a license to rock. She uses it to move musical expression forward. I admire this goal and its product often enthralls me. She is an inspiration so I find it easy to admire her.