10 to Spin | Anaïs Mitchell

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I never laughed so loud
I never laughed so loud
I never laughed so loud
Think I'm coming down

Anaïs Mitchell's "Coming Down" got us pretty good a couple months ago (like, flood of tears good). Such a simple song, but does it get more emotional? You tell us.



You can find "Coming Down" on Mitchell's 2012 release, Young Man In America. We're lucky that Mitchell recently took part in our 10 to Spin series, where she gave us a playlist for the current times. Here it is, in her own words. Thanks, Anaïs.

With the election comin' up, I thought it could be cool to make a playlist of really good political songs. Not always easy listening but if you wanna work up a righteous sweat, here ya go:

James McMurtry ~ We Can't Make It Here
(mcmurtry is one of my fave songwriters; he writes like a short-story writer. this song is so awesome with the crazy wordless tribal-sounding singing at the end.)

Sting ~ Russians
(i used to sing this song w/ my 80s cover band. it's just heartbreaking and hits the nail on the head.)

Paul Brady ~ Arthur McBride
(i don't know if this is a political song but it's about a couple kids kicking the s*** out of some army recruiters. so i guess it's kind of anti-war. paul brady's traditional singing is my favorite in the world.)

Gotye ~ Eyes Wide Open
(i heard this song a dozen times before i realized what a great message it has. i like that it indicts us, our culture, not 'the system'. )

Tupac ~ Changes
(my high school boyfriend put this on a mix for me in the nineties, i hadn't heard a lot of hip hop, it pretty much blew my mind.)


Billy Bragg ~ There is Power in a Union
(i had a hard time choosing a billy bragg song, but knew he had to be represented here. the melody of this is one is so epic and great.)

Ani Difranco ~ To the Teeth
(not a lot of people take on gun control head-on like this.)

Randy Newman ~ Louisiana 1927
(what a storyteller. totally spot-on and perennially relevant.)

Bruce Springsteen ~ American Skin (41 shots)
(about the diallo shooting in '99.)

Bob Dylan ~ Only a Pawn in Their Game
(it's too easy but i had to include this... this era of dylan is so unbeatable for political songs.)

Jam of the Day | The Twilight Singers - On the Corner

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When people who love music speak of life altering events, there is inevitably one story mixed in describing the album purchase that guided them firmly down the righteous musical pathway. Sometimes it's earth shattering, causing people to dump entire record collections of teenage naiveté. For others, it's a sign guiding them down a two-way street that doesn't discount past teachings, rather it builds a new road that takes them someplace wonderful they've never been.

This happened to me in the first year of the new century, when Paste Magazine recommended Twilight as Played by the Twilight Singers. I remember driving down to the now defunct Manifest Discs and Tapes in Wilmington, North Carolina, and picking it up. I shelved it for the night, but upon my return after a night like many other college nights, I played it for the first time at around 3 AM while falling into bed fully clothed.

What came out of the speakers that night forever changed the musical experience for me. I remember lying on my back, staring up, and thinking if I made music, this is how it would sound. From the opening note of the record, a hauntingly tapped piano, I was enamored by every project Greg Dulli has ever touched. I was able to listen to Afghan Whigs albums for the first time. 1965 immediately stood out as one of those perfect albums we find so rarely throughout life. Each Twilight Singers album released grew alongside me.

Since Powder Burns was released five years ago, life has moved on at an ever increasing pace. Dulli projects, like The Gutter Twins, were welcomed and wonderful, but that fire still burned for a proper Twilight Singers release.

We're finally getting close...about a month away. And as songs are slowly released, like "Blackbird and the Fox," which features Ani DiFranco, the anticipation of experiencing a collective Dulli vision is intensified.

We're one step closer today with our Jam of the Day, "On the Corner," which is the the first single from the new record awesomely entitled Dynamite Steps. It in no way disappoints, starting as just a simple fuzzy drum-machine beat, but in true Twilight fashion, builds into something so grand you forget how it even got there.

Listen to it below, or download it by clicking the arrow on the right side. And if you don't yet have a Twilight Singers album, please go pick one or all of them up. Greg Dulli is a damn national treasure, and I, for one, cannot wait to salute his ass once again when Dynamite Steps drops February 15th via Sub Pop. Grab the pre-order here.

The Twilight Singers - On The Corner

MP3 | The Twilight Singers feat. Ani DiFranco - Blackbird and the Fox

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Happy Monday to all! It's definitely not every day we receive new music compliments of Greg Dulli and his band The Twilight Singers - so put those hands in the air and waive them bitches like you don't care!

I hope you all take the time to enjoy this free download of the spankin' new song, "Blackbird and the Fox," from the forthcoming Twilight Singers album which will be out early 2011 via Sub Pop. It features a duet between my personal hero, Greg Dulli, and SIC favorite, Ani DiFranco.

You'd literally be insane for not entering in your email addy below.

Concert Review: Ani DiFranco at The Pageant in St. Louis

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If I've learned anything over the years, it's that an Ani DiFranco concert is not a victory lap. It's not a greatest hits party. DiFranco isn't on stage to pose (heck, it's 2010, and you couldn't even bring your camera into the venue). She's not touring to re-live her past, as much as some of her fans might wish that to be true.

Instead, DiFranco, as you probably know, is fiercely independent. She's interested in the now, in the moment where she can deliver her unique talents when the time is right. Case in point: Mid-way through her set at The Pageant, she remarked that a stretch of the street where the venue resided had been renamed "Barack Obama Boulevard." So, she did what she hadn't done in while -- she played the song she wrote about Obama after he won the 2008 election.

Yep, Ani DiFranco does what she wants.

Her set was filled with newer material from 2008's Red Letter Year, and unreleased songs, most of which the crowd reacted warmly to. She remarked how her older songs don't thrill her so much these days; before she performed "She Says," DiFranco explained how one of her friends hand to print out lyrics, set them before her, and hand her a guitar so that she could "re-learn" the tune. The performance was splendid, even though it might have been the result of someone pulling her artistic teeth.

A few favorites did make their way into the set near the end. Seconds after starting "Both Hands," DiFranco could sense this was what her fans had been waiting for all night, so she stopped and remarked that it was for "you....and you...and you!" It felt like a genuine dedication, although I'm guessing she'd rather have that kind of reception for something she wrote the day before, not years ago.

But as free of a soul as Ani DiFranco is, you can't deny that those first notes of "Both Hands" or "Untouchable Face," which she also played, are special moments, too.

They're just not the songs that keep DiFranco on the road after all these years.