Steel White Table

Knock knock

Jody — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:22:27 +0000

I said: Knock knock!

Moving to G+

Phillip — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 03:00:23 +0000

I’ve received numerous emails in the past month asking me the same question again and again: “Phillip, why are you leaving Steel White Table?” My answer: Because one blog is enough, and that blog is Mud Songs. It’s about beekeeping.

Now let us take a journey back in time…

The Littlest Birds Will Eat Peanuts From Your Hand is probably the best thing I posted to Steel White Table. Then there are my reviews of Paul Auster books. Um… what else? My Smitty’s Frog Salad was famous for about two days. All my 4 Star Movie reviews are okay, I guess (but I’ll still see you at the movies). I helped negotiate John Walkenbach’s purchase of Steel White Table back in 2008. That was a debacle. My tryst with Whole Wheat Radio was good while it lasted. I enjoyed writing my list of 30 Songs that left an impression on me. Making ribs was fun. I don’t know. I guess that’s about it.

As for my time at Steel White Table, I believe the dying words of James Tiberius Kirk sum it up well:

“It was fun. Oh my!”

And if you just can’t get enough of me, I’m on G+ for as long as that lasts.

The About page may hold the final word on Steel White Table.

So long.

The End is Nigh

Phillip — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 11:00:54 +0000

Zero days to go!

Regular posts, until this blog expires, will appear below this post, and there will be at least one every day.

Song #31: “This Goddamn House”

Phillip — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 10:47:12 +0000

I miscounted how many days I have left. Tomorrow’s my last day here, not today. So I’m adding one more song to my list of 30 Songs. It’s “This Goddamn House” by a multi-instrumentalist group called The Low Anthem. I discovered them last night while searching for YouTube videos of Jolie Holland. They don’t exactly make upbeat music (from what I’ve heard so far), yet it’s not depressed or forlorn. I can’t describe what they do, but I’ve never heard anything like it. I’m impressed.

I’d love to see them live, but bands like this rarely travel to culturally isolated places like Newfoundland. Argh!

Here’s another one called “Charlie Darwin.” Who the hell writes songs like this?

Here’s a claymation video for it:

And here’s a video from the girl on the clarinet:

Song #30: “Sail Away”

Phillip — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 03:00:57 +0000

I put all my MP3s into one big playlist, hit the “Shuffle” button and this is first song that came up: Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee’s cover of Randy Newman’s “Sail Away.” Good enough.

Thus ends my list of 30 songs that left a strong impression on me at some point in my life. Some of the songs still resonate with me. Some don’t. The Buena Vista Social Club, Chirstine Fellows, Choying Drolma, Danny Schmidt, Eilen Jewell, Emmylou Harris, Geoffrey Oryema, Gillian Welch, The Gladiators, Howlin’ Wolf, Joe Higgs, John Coltrane, Lee Scratch Perry, Miles Davis, Nigel Kennedy, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Public Image Limited, Randy Newman, The Tear Garden, Toots and The Maytals and Utah Phillips all came close to getting on the list.

I could end all this with some statement about how most of people never stop listening to whatever it was they listened to in junior or high school or whatever part of their youth was the most formative. Music is like a time machine, I could say, because listening to music can bring us back to a time when we had few responsibilities and the world subsequently seemed simpler, some might even think better. It’s not the music or the world that was better. It’s how the music makes us feel that keeps us listening. But I won’t bother going off like that.

Here’s the full 30 Song Playlist.

Song #29: “Black Wings”

Phillip — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 03:00:42 +0000

Tom Waits is heard in my house more than anyone else, so he gets two entries on the big 30 Songs list.

I can understand how Tom Waits isn’t everyone’s cup of coffee. He’s got a style that leaves most people wondering, “What the hell is that?” He doesn’t make radio-friendly music. I doubt “Black Wings” was ever a big hit. (These are good things, by the way.)

My appreciation for what he does evolved from following his growth as an artist, and watching him continue to grow. The Tom Waits of the 1970s is not the Tom Waits of the 21st century, and yet it’s all Tom Waits.

Here’s one of his milder, less possessed performances: “All The World is Green.”

Song #28: “I Believe in You”

Phillip — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 03:00:23 +0000

Ladies and gentlemen, “I Believe in You,” by Black Dub.

Black Dub has Daniel Lanois on guitar, piano and lap steel; Trixie Whitley on vocals and a bit of drums; Daryl Johnson on bass; and Brian Blade on drums. What a band. Although Daniel Lanois is known for his wizardry behind the console as a producer, the Black Dub debut album feels raw most of the time as if the effects were turned off so we could focus more on the band playing off each other. I listened to the album at least once a day every day for the first month I had it. It left a huge impression on me. They’ve posted several videos recorded Live Off The Floor.

Zooming Out to the Edge of the Universe

Phillip — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 11:08:26 +0000

We’ve all seen shots like this before, but here it is again. A video that starts on the surface of the earth and zooms all the way out to the edge of the known universe — and back again.

Reminds me of the opening shot from Contact:

Song #27: “Mexico City”

Phillip — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 03:00:07 +0000

I put Jolie Holland in the same class as Bob Dylan and Tom Waits because of her ability to assimilate traditional music into a sound and style that is singularly her own. She also happens to have an unusual voice that, not unlike Bob Dylan and Tom Waits, doesn’t exactly have mass appeal. One reviewer said she sings like she’s got a mouth full of marbles. Maybe, but she makes it work. Her music first fell into a folky weird bluesy category and has gradually moved towards a more full-on band rock sound, kinda like Bob Dylan. Every album builds on what came before it and, although she doesn’t hit pay dirt every time, it’s usually pretty damn good. The first song of hers to grab me was the ghostly Wandering Angus. Her interpretation of Pure Imagination is way out there too. But I’ll pick “Mexico City” because I don’t know what else to pick.

P.S.: The Daytrotter Sessions from 2007 and 2009 are essential Jolie Holland recordings, perhaps more so than any of her albums. It’s the best sample of her music I’ve found online. Wolfgang’s Vault has performances of some of her latest songs.

Song #26: “Things Have Changed”

Phillip — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 03:00:54 +0000

Years ago I got stuck in the back of a car during a road trip with some friends who played early heavy-on-the-harmonica Bob Dylan non-stop for about three days, and I just about lost my mind. That experience prevented me from getting on board the Bob Dylan bus until he released Time Out of Mind in 1997. I still don’t listen to much early Dylan, but I’ve come to appreciate the overall body of his work and his development as an artist, how he absorbs (and steals from) traditional music and makes it singularly his own. (I like Tom Waits and Jolie Holland in the same way.) He’s a master vocalist and lyricist too. I don’t know what most of his songs are about but they’re about something and it draws me in. I like how his songs are open to interpretation. You can take what you like from them regardless of his original intention. I’d pick “Moonshiner” as the first song of his that made a strong impression on me, but I can’t find that anywhere on YouTube, so I’ll pick “Things Have Changed” instead.

(It was a toss up between “Things Have Changed” and Mississippi.) I also admire Dylan for playing his music the way he wants to play it. Instead of replicating the studio versions on stage — which seems to piss off a certain segment of his audience who’d rather hear “Like a Rolling Stone” exactly like it sounds on the album — he’s always trying new things with his songs during live performances, often completely transforming them. Here’s a bootleg video for “Things Have Changed” that doesn’t sound anything like the studio version. I love that.

Song #25: “Canned Goods”

Phillip — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 12:49:37 +0000

Greg Brown is a storyteller. He’s what I like most about folk type musicians: He’s down to earth. He could be flashy and famous, but he shows up on stage and sits down to play his guitar and tells stories, like the one in “Canned Goods,” about specific but ordinary and every day things. He excels at keeping it real.

This 14-minute version of “Canned Goods” exemplifies the storyteller vibe that comes from Greg Brown.

See You at The Movies

Phillip — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 14:30:38 +0000

Yesterday’s comments on Midnight in Paris constitute the last movie review type thing I’ll post to Steel White Table. About a week from now, I’ll be done with this blog altogether. Probably. Anyhow, if you really can’t stand missing out on what movies I’ve been watching, I offer you my two big movie lists available through the Internet Movie Database.

List #1: All the most recent movies I’ve seen with a rating out of 10 (click the image to view the list).

I’m not too stringent with the 10 star rating scale. I was used to thinking within the 4 star scale with no half stars (because then it would just be an 8 point rating system, and if you’re using 8, what not just use 10?). So for me 8, 9 or 10 stars = a 4-star movie. Most movies are such a total waste of time and brain energy, when I come across something that engages me, makes me laugh, makes me cry, makes me think or feel something I wouldn’t have otherwise thought or felt (besides annoyance), then it’s a 4-star movie. A 3-star movie, an average okay kind of flick, is 7 stars using the IMdB rating system. Anything lower than that is pretty much crap. Okay then…

List #2: Movies that, according to my brain, aren’t too shabby — the more or less 4-star movies (click the image to view the list).

My current favourite or most recommended movies (and television series) will show up near the top of the list (the first 10 or so), but the list can be ordered according the release date and other criteria.

I might add comments to some of the movie descriptions and I might create a list of guilty pleasure movies some day. But otherwise, that’s it. See you at the movies.

Song #24: “Highway Kind”

Phillip — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 03:00:03 +0000

Townes Van Zandt was, I suppose, a country-folk artist, but primarily he was a songwriter. I know more people who have passed on his music than got hooked because his songs seem ordinary and unremarkable. I felt the same way until I learned to play a few of his songs, and then they began to feel like my songs, like they were coming from me. I’ve spoken to musicians who have had similar experiences with Townes’s music. It takes a while to catch on to it, and then it subtly penetrates and resonates and takes over. “Highway Kind” was the first song that crept up on me like that.

The YouTube video for it can’t be embedded, so here’s the straight up audio: Highway Kind

“It’s a shame that it’s not enough. It’s shame that it is a shame.” I rarely listen to Townes Van Zandt these days because he’s unbearably sad most of the time, but I still appreciate him. He led me away from conventional white rock music and got me listening more to music that could be played by one person as opposed to produced in a studio. The calm, quiet water often runs the deepest. Or something like that.

A Movie for Writers: “Midnight in Paris”

Phillip — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 03:00:53 +0000

Midnight in Paris was the most enjoyable movie I saw in the summer of 2011. A disaffected writer visiting Paris experiences something surreal during a midnight stroll that changes his outlook on life. The movie is funny, smart and full of subtle insights about life, the universe and everything. I can’t say any more without giving away the best parts.

The trailer is careful not reveal any of the key elements of the movie. The linked review is one of the few I’ve found online that discusses the relevant qualities of the movie without giving anything away.

Song #23: “Walk Away”

Phillip — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 03:00:02 +0000

Tom Waits is the love child of the Cookie Monster and Sonny Boy Williamson and I’d pay several hundred dollars to see him live and not even blink. He’s #1 on my Hope I See Him Before I Die list. I don’t know what to say about him because there’s too much say. I could pick 50 of his songs that grabbed hold of me an didn’t let go. Trying to select one that’s representative of his music can’t be done. “Walk Away” ain’t a bad little ditty though.

P.S.: It was the ending from the movie, Smoke, that finally got on board the Tom Waits train.