See the Stars Begin to Fall

See the Stars Begin to Fall

Stratospheric Folk Americana Selection. Spotlights the new Neil Young album Second Song and Jesse Welles' latest Masks Off. Topical songs.

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A new Neil Young album with The Chrome Hearts, Second Song, dropped last month. Its a surprisingly deep and melancholic affair, especially after the rebellious & rocking Talkin' to the Trees set from last year, and is better. There are only seven songs though two of them are epics. Lyrically it seems that Neil is wrapping up while sending out some personal asides. Songs like Soon I Might Be Going and The Foggy Edge of Time leave us in little doubt that the man's dealing with immanent mortality while the title track reflects on a long life lived but also the regret at seeing how the world has turned. "I dream a way of living, a way of sharing what we find. A way to walk slowly though the leaves of time" A set of personal songs with richly expansive & astute lyrics. In short, listening to it left me, a like-long Young freak, in reflective mood and deeply saddened... its been a long old journey y'know! The clever thing is that he leads us to mourn not only his ageing, but also ourselves and the passing world equally. Hopefully he's just reflecting on old-agedness and we ain't gonna get any sudden revelations anytime soon.

More trademark outspoken tracks by Jesse Welles from his latest LP, Masks off. It still amazes me that this man keeps throwing out lyric after stunning lyric. God only knows where he gets them all from. He's accompanied by his band for this diverse set. Everything Must Die has strong Lennon undercurrents and a T-Rex style riff, love it. Naturally he has a good stab at everything MAGA on songs like Red and The Ballad of Big Balls.

Neil Young's Second Song backs up with Billy Strings track Watch it Fall and Rainbow Girls' Hard Rain's Gonna Fall, all tracks with a certain thematic symmetry. Jake Brount then steps in for his take on the topic, making for an interesting mid-session interlude. Brount teamed up with Mali Obomsawin for Smithsonian Records' concept album Symbiont from 2024. Indigenous tribal sounds & beats and a resonant message about environmental degradation & conservation, living with nature, not against it. Stars Begin to Fall features cornet player & composer Taylor Ho Bymun. The midway semi-ambient interlude continues with some beautiful Enya recordings from 1992 like I Want Tomorrow.

A set of defiant topical originals & cover versions by Eliza Gilkyson from 2020. Sooner or Later and Peace in Our Hearts are among her best songs; "Sooner or later, its a natural fact. Gonna rise up gonna take it all back". Where Have All the Flowers Gone? was of course written by the great Pete Seeger. Four good John Prine songs from the 70's, including the ironic He was in Heaven Before He Died and excellent Hobo Song. Old and new Billy Strings tracks, including a Beatles-esque Stratosphere Blues and the fun Morebud4me. The herbal capers continue apace with Marijuana Australiana by The Bushwackers. DS & DEA watch out haha... Willie Nelson's son Lukas Nelson extols the virtues of keeping it cool also. Three good songs from his 2023 LP Sticks And Stones. He's obviously absorbed a lot from his dad. The man Stephen Marley comes with an irie acoustic update of Joe Higgs' classic sufferer's anthem There's a Reward. The Rainbow Girls hold up the good vibes with songs like John Prine's Angel from Monterrey as well as Dylan's Hard Rain. Guy Clark tracks from his Workbench Songs LP (2006). Very nifty work from English guitarist John Renbourn & friends. Great live version of The Vigilante by Judee Sill.

 

 

Continuous mix 2hrs 40

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