Posts Tagged Ry Cooder
Archive
March 10, 2020 by Simon Sweetman
Poem: Hobbling On
When I was 13 I was in the school’s First XI hockey team – the youngest and at that point the first ever junior to be in with the seniors. We were playing the best school in the league and in the final moments of the game the ball was dragged back in front of […]Archive
September 15, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Wellington Film Society: Preview – Paris, Texas (September 17)
The Wellington Film Society showed Santi-Vina last week. This week it’s Paris, Texas. I’ve seen a lot of Wim Wenders films. I’ll watch almost anything that is scored by Ry Cooder. I love Harry Dean Stanton, and Dean Stockwell too for that matter. I’ve read plenty of Sam Shepard including his Motel Chronicles which was […]Archive
March 19, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 422
Ry Cooder, Jazz (1978) Ry Cooder made a series of albums across the 1970s – “genre” albums – he took on blues and country and the various permutations. Here it was overt – Jazz – but we’re talking old; we’re talking, too, of a time when jazz was dead or dying (the mid/late 70s). All […]Archive
February 14, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Gat This: My Top 10 ‘Guitar’ Albums
A while ago I described something/someone as “guitar music” and was chortled at from all directions; there’s no such thing as guitar music. This is not a genre. This is no way to explain or define music. Andres Segovia and Derek Bailey and Jimi Hendrix and Django Reinhardt and Eddie Van Halen have all made amazing music by approaching the same instrument (or versions of […]Archive
December 5, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Mavis Staples: If All I Was Was Black
Mavis Staples If All I Was Was Black Anti/Epitaph What a decade it’s been for Mavis Staples – riding on a high note ever since 2007’s We’ll Never Turn Back with a constant victory-lap of touring and this now deep collaboration with Jeff Tweedy’s Wilco. It hasn’t all been amazing, I couldn’t get too excited […]Archive
July 26, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
The Songs of Randy Newman: (Part 1)
I first saw – and heard – Randy Newman talking on a documentary that was made to celebrate 20 years of Rolling Stone magazine. He was one of a few – assembled – talking heads. He said funny things like, “I don’t know how Elton John was rated but I always rated him highly. He […]Archive
May 3, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Bring The Family Is A Classic Album: John Hiatt Should Get The Band Back Together And Re-Record It!
I like John Hiatt – he’s a guy you can pretty much always rely on. There’ll always be a good song – probably half a dozen. And somewhere in there, on each album (and he’s done more than 20) there’ll be a truly great song. Again, maybe more. He’s never really been a blues artist but always […]Archive
April 7, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Kitsch or Classic: What is Your Favourite 1980s Soundtrack Album?
Here’s a very simple question for you – what is the best 1980s film soundtrack? What is your favourite? I ask this because I’ve only recently realised that I am something of a collector of film soundtracks – particularly ones from the 1980s. Obscure, obvious and all points between. You want it (or most likely […]Archive
August 9, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
The Vinyl Countdown # 657
The Haden Triplets, The Haden Triplets (2014) When this was released – I would have been interested anyway, due to Ry Cooder’s participation. But I already knew about The Haden Triplets and the Haden family and was eager to hear this…having followed YouTube clips, and solo albums and other bands that featured members from this […]Archive
July 9, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Faris: Mississippi To Sahara
Faris Mississippi To Sahara Reaktion Faris Amine, born to an Ethiopian father and Touareg mother, tries something different, something that elevates him beyond being just another Desert Bluesman. Here, he takes songs from the Delta and drags them through the mud and back through the sands of his time, making Son House’s Death Letter over […]Archive
July 4, 2016 by Simon Sweetman