Image credit: bluewhistle / 123RF Stock Photo
I prepared this in advance when the worm-bank was low, so I’ve included two tracks from artists who’ve sent in samples of their music. There’s also a ‘compare and contrast’ pairing from Debby. We still have some juicy worms from goneforeign, debbym, zala, daddypig, claire and ghe, but we can make room for more! If you haven’t sent one for a while, please dispatch any willing recruits to earworm@tincanland.com. Many thanks to everyone.
Cry Me A River – Justin Timberlake – debbym: I was surprised when TheBoyWonder told me ‘Cry Me A River’ had been recorded by Justin Timberlake. It is, of course, a completely different song to the Julie London standard, but I can understand why the young’un’s like it. I’m not too keen on the sound effects at the beginning, but I find it grows on me.
Cry Me A River – Julie London – debbym: The original and best!
Changes – Nancy Tucker – goneforeign: A Phil Ochs song, one of his best I think. It’s the story of all of our lives, like Ripple and The Circle Game and quite a few more. I don’t think that Phil Ochs got the appreciation that he deserved in his life which ended so tragically and far too soon.
The Mary Onettes – Naive Dream – Ali: “Indie dream pop” band from Sweden, according to Wiki., which says their influences include The Stone Roses and The Cure. This is a single from their recent album, “Portico”.
Neko Case, Ragtime – Zalamanda: I suppose that it snows quite a lot in Canada, and maybe the snow always does go sideways in the city (why only in the city, though?). Ms. Case seems to have put the song together from a few impressions and, while it doesn’t actually make much sense logically, it certainly sticks in the mind – and, I dare to suggest, makes a lot of sense artistically.
Cosmo Sheldrake – The Moss – Ali: according to The Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/mar/20/cosmo-sheldrake, Cosmo Sheldrake is a vocalist, multi-instrumentalist (he plays about 30 instruments) and producer. He is very young and very talented; this is his first single. Warning: it’s catchy.
The 'Spill 
1. JT – Meh!
2. JL – Classic
3. NT – OK
4. TMO – Loved that
5. NC – Loved that even more 🙂
6. CS – WTF! He may be musically talented but not for me.
Justin Timberlake – He’s the one who isn’t Timbaland or Justin Bieber isn’t he? One gets so confused these days. It was ok but it didn’t send me.
Julie London – I remember being quite surprised when I discovered that she wasn’t just a character in The Girl Can’t Help It but actually had a recording career. I’ll still always associate her (and this) with the film though. Bliss.
Nancy Tucker – Didn’t do a lot for me I’m afraid. Nothing against her voice or Phil Ochs. Love The Circle Game but this didn’t seem to have the same kind of resonance for me. Maybe I’m just in the wrong mood for it.
The Mary Onettes – Never heard of them. Glad I have now. Great stuff.
Neko Case – This grew on me. Rather lovely.
Cosmo Sheldrake- Well it is quite catchy. And jolly. And a little bit quirky. Like a Syd Barrett for all the family.
Funny old set that was. Quite enjoyed the ride though. Nice to hear some new artists and an old favourite.
Love Ragtime, it prompted me to check youtube and sure enough it’s there, good band.
It was interesting to listen to Justin Timberlake again, his singing is better than I’d credited him, but I wish there was a bit more bounce or zing to the backing track. It just sounds like a load of computers, needs more human intervention for me.
Julie London really has an expressive way with a lyric. I too only heard “Cry Me A River” for years and years, and it sounds as lovely as ever. It was Nilpferd of this parish who nudged me towards exploring more of her music and I got a “Best Of…” for Xmas. Interesting fact: she was married to Bobby Troup, who I know best for contributing to the set of every rhythm’n’blues band ever, by writing “Route 66”.
Nancy Tucker sings very nicely indeed. The song is one of those seductive boundary-blurrers (just a cuddle for old times sake…) which I’m not sure about. Dangerous stuff.
The Mary Onettes sound a bit New Ordery. The wobble in the pitch at the start was a bit much for me, but it built up momentum nicely.
Neko Case is good for me, I like the dynamics in this one too, especially when the trumpety sounds come in. I guess the snow goes sideways because of the way wind behaves around those big city buildings, like where Ali used to work.
Congratulations to Cosmo, a catchy song, and it actually references the humble worm !
Cheers everyone.
I’m not sure about Cosmo either, but (as daddypig points out) there is a worm in it. It reminds me slightly of Stackridge, a bit marmite. They did a song about an earthworm, too … Anyway, I digress, I was just going to thank people for the worm top-ups, keep ’em coming!
The JustinTimberlake track was familiar; listening to it again, I hear merits, but it ain’t outstanding to my ears. Perhaps he is let down by his backing, like Daddpig says. Or perhaps the songwriting just isn’t as strong as that behind the Julie London track. Might have been interesting to hear Justin cover the latter song. “Cry Me A River” may be a splendid title, but I’m not sure that it’s strictly cricket to reuse it when it is so well known.
Nancy Tucker sings nicely – faintly reminiscent of Mary Chapin Carpenter – and the Mary Onnettes are nicely jangley.
Nice to see that my pick, Neko Case, is well received.
Cosmo is a funny one. Shades of folk, of the Beatles, of … dunno. Something. The syncopated vocals are both distinctive and slightly off-putting, but on balance, I think i like it.