Hello my Farraginous Friends!
Welcome to the 22nd edition of Farraginous Fridays, the blog of eclectic musical treats brought to you by your humble narrator Farraginous Francis! This week’s theme is transport so expect to be whisked away on numerous vehicles, solely for your aural pleasure!
Farraginous Friday #22 – Planes, trains and automobiles (SPOTIFY)
Farraginous Friday #22 – Planes, trains and automobiles (YOUTUBE)
Guillemots
Led by uber talented Scottish songsmith Fyfe Dangerfield, Guillemots have released two albums in their 6 year existence. Trains To Brazil is from their debut album Through The Windowpane and is about the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes – the Brazilian man shot by police on the London Underground as he was suspected of being a terrorist.
John Denver died, in a rather poetic fashion, in a plane crash back in 1997. Written in 1966 (although not released by Denver until 1969) Leaving On A Jet Plane had a lot of success with other artists, most notably Peter, Paul & Mary in 1967.
Oh My God, Charlie Darwin by The Low Anthem is such a lush and diverse album and contains a few heart ripping songs including To Ohio. “Every new love is just a shadow”, the narrator sings on his train journey from Louisiana trying to forget the death of a loved one.
Jens Lekman
I remembering hearing Jens Lekman‘s Black Cab for the first time. It was played by the DJ after a very emotional gig and it seemed to perfectly capture the sadness and despair of a lost soul. Such an incredibly stirring, tragic song.
I don’t know how many times I have to bang on about it but The Decemberists‘ 2005 album Picaresque is fucking fantastic and this 12-string guitar led beauty. The Engine Driver, is just one of the many reasons you should listen to it.
Belgian-born, Australian-raised Wouter De Backer took some time out of his band The Basics to work on a little solo side-project called Gotye. Night Drive comes from his crippling emotional second studio album Like Drawing Blood.
1991 marked a comeback for Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (or OMD) with this fantastic single Sailing On The Seven Seas. The group had effectively become a solo effort at this stage after members departed leaving Andy McCluskey as the only remaining member.
Manic Street Preachers
A true indie classic next up, with Manic Street Preachers‘, Motorcycle Emptiness. I still think their debut album Generation Terrorists is their finest work musically to date although lyrically their strongest material came a short while later when (the disappearing) Richie was at the literary helm!
I Drove All Night was recorded by Roy Orbison in 1987 but the record company only decided to release it after Cyndi Lauper had huge success with it in 1989. Produced by ELO’s Jeff Lynne, this rousing pop classic features Jason Priestley and Jennifer Connelly in it’s music video… FACT!
It’s a kind of guilty pleasure, this one. I’m a huge fan of Neil Hannon’s The Divine Comedy and his plethora of work is highly impressive. National Express is seen to many a fan as Hannon selling out (and to critical non-fans as a sneer at the working classes) but no one can deny the fantastically full and playful orchestration of this 1999 joyful masterpiece! The official music video is brilliant also.
Well I’m afraid that’s all for this week folks! I hope you’ve enjoyed the journey of this week’s transport themed playlist. Don’t forget, if you don’t have Spotify then there is always the Youtube link. So no one need miss out!
Remember to add your suggestions below and please do continue to invite new listeners to the blog! The easiest way is to invite people to the Facebook group dedicated to Farraginous Fridays. You can find it here – http://groups.to/farraginousfridays.
Ta ra!
Farraginous Francis x
Farraginous Friday #22 – Planes, trains and automobiles (SPOTIFY)
Farraginous Friday #22 – Planes, trains and automobiles (YOUTUBE)
