Folks I’d Cook For - Volume 1
Today I thought I’d give up some blog space to a couple of my favorite storytellers. They are masters of the dark, the weird, and sometimes the hilarious. You know… in that way where you probably wouldn’t be laughing if you were a better person. These are people I highly respect - the kind of folks I’d have over and whip up a skillet of red beans and rice for. (See, that’s how you know you’re special.)
You taking notes? Okay. Here we go…
Nick Cave
and the Bad Seeds
He’s like some kind of mad preacher from bygone days. He’ll tell you in a deep voice about hellfire and damnation - murder and heartbreak, too. If there’s a tale you’ve heard, he’s sung it in a way you’ve never heard it. And heck, maybe you’re not so sure you wanted to hear, but it’s too late now.
You’ll want to get yourself a copy of Murder Ballads - it’s exactly what the title says. You might take a shine to Henry’s Dream, too. Abattoir Blues/Lyre of Orpheus, Tender Prey and From Her to Eternity are other favorites of mine, and I’d be a liar if I said Let Love In wouldn’t be worn to nothing but scratches if it were on vinyl.
Have some videos:
Tom Waits
I’d love to sit and just listen to this guy tell me stories for hours on end. Have you ever seen him on late night talk shows? For someone who’s written such mournful ballads, he’s an awfully funny man. He’s like everybody’s favorite uncle - the one your mother warned was a bad influence.
It’s not just the sad songs he writes. He’s got a backyard shed full of creepy monologues, prison yard anthems, and tunes so down, rough, and dirty your hips will shake like the spirit has been drawn right out of you at some crazy revival meet.
It may be fashionable to like Tom Waits, these days, but there’s good reason, for once (and not just because he played Renfield in Bram Stoker’s Dracula). Check out Bone Machine, Mule Variations, Rain Dogs, Real Gone, and do not live out the rest of your days without having heard Swordfishtrombones. When you’re sure you’re up to it, help yourself to Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards.
Vids for the watchin’:
April 24th, 2007 at 2:09 am
Lol! Tom Waits looks and sounds like an old scary carny worker in that video! Priceless!
Katy, thanks for posting these. It’s a golden opportunity to see YOUR inspirations for once. That’s quite a list of artists for us to look up, I don’t think one pot of coffee will do!
It’s good to see you post a blog again. We all know you’re really really busy and it’s very hard to pull you away from work. You’ll have a nice break when ya catch up I hope…
So shhhh! Let Katy work for now then, and when she’s done, maybe she’ll play on the forums again.
Maybe Tom would make a better mobster. Just give him a Chicago Typewriter and lets find out…
April 25th, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Wow, Tom Waits’ voice is very…unique? when he sings, but when he talks, it sounds almost normal. I want to be able to do that, lol.
November 16th, 2007 at 2:51 am
Two new studies show why some people are more attractive for members of the opposite sex than others.
The University of Florida, Florida State University found that physically attractive people almost instantly attract the attention of the interlocutor, sobesednitsy with them, literally, it is difficult to make eye. This conclusion was reached by a series of psychological experiments, which were determined by the people who believe in sending the first seconds after the acquaintance. Here, a curious feature: single, unmarried experimental preferred to look at the guys, beauty opposite sex, and family, people most often by representatives of their sex.
The authors believe that this feature developed a behavior as a result of the evolution: a man trying to find a decent pair to acquire offspring. If this is resolved, he wondered potential rivals. Detailed information about this magazine will be published Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
In turn, a joint study of the Rockefeller University, Rockefeller University and Duke University, Duke University in North Carolina revealed that women are perceived differently by men smell. During experiments studied the perception of women one of the ingredients of male pheromone-androstenona smell, which is contained in urine or sweat.
The results were startling: women are part of this repugnant odor, and the other part is very attractive, resembling the smell of vanilla, and the third group have not felt any smell. The authors argue that the reason is that the differences in the receptor responsible for the olfactory system, from different people are different.
It has long been proven that mammals (including human) odor is one way of attracting the attention of representatives of the opposite sex. A detailed article about the journal Nature will publish.
February 18th, 2008 at 5:56 am
The stuff on this web site is really witty and cool wise