A dog and I have no idea what they are talking about

O Fridur-Sigur Ros

I could put something up by Sigur Ros daily...i love them that much. I remember the first time i heard them, i was blown away. I described it once as Radiohead and Pink Floyd being abducted by aliens and returning to the earth...via Iceland. Its interesting that they have become so popular. But good. One of my favorite things about them is Jon Birgisson's voice....incredibly strong yet feminine and ethereal. Ghostly of sorts. Funniest thing i ever read about them...when the first CD came out, the New York Times and Spin, tripping over themselves to remain hip and relevant, called his voice the most important female voice to come down the pipe in decades. Or something like that. Whats hilarious is that they fucked up the gender.

Keeping in mind that i think they could sing the phonebook and get away with it (although that might be better suited to Mogwai), this is a actually a b-side to the single "Saeglopur". Its somewhat minimal...it just starts with a loop being played, possibly backwards. This goes on for a minute and a half..slowly building. Then the plaintive sad vocals comes in, repeating a phrase over and over. Its stunningly beautiful.

Old Blue-Joan Baez

I could go on about Joan Baez...her committment to leftist politics, how many of the nu-folk/new-folk (???) revival cannot hold a candle to her etc etc. This song, which i had a very difficult time finding, is on some very old record and about 2 1/2 minutes long. It just starts with her singing in very old timey lyrics about dog Old Blue while playing the guitar. The refrain is her calling (and you can imagine her in the back of a field or yard calling "c'mon blue, you good dog you." At the end, she describes his death with indelible imagery "old blue died and he died so hard, shook the ground in my backyard. Dug a grave with a silver spade, load him down with links of chain. Every link i did call his name..." and here she starts this cry to him.

Where did i hear it? My father...when i was like 6 or 7 years old, would come home from working a long long shift at Inland Steel. He would put on the record, shut off the lights in the living room, smoke a cigarette and listen to this song. Often this song would make me cry, i like most kids, was incredibly upset at the idea of a dog dying (i got hysterical during old yeller, yell, i got hysterical during dumbo and he was only separated from his mother). This song will always remind me of my father. And is one of the many reasons that i think Joan Baez has one of the most remarkable and unique voices of the last century.