The first time I heard Iron & Wine, I was riding at night in someone’s rented white van, heading to the Nevada desert. Since then the music of Sam Beam has had a tendency to work best with me in the dark, and it’s our music of choice if we’re traveling by night.
This is the only Iron & Wine song I know how to play. I heard it for the first time last weekend, fell in love, and learned it over the course of the week. The image of a house burning down before your eyes really resonates with me right now. Our house isn’t burning in the literal sense, but we are packing up and moving for the first time in seven years. Boxes, chaos, memories. Excitement and worry. That strange otherness, the feeling of being outside your routine, of being in fact outside yourself, as though watching your body from the side, as in a dream. That’s what I tried to weave into my interpretation of Sam Beam’s breathy, amazing song.
I have one more song to record for the Fractal Foundation and then I’m taking apart my studio. It feels like the end of something wonderful. Download Free
This song is probably instantly familiar to almost any Russian under a certain age. It’s written by Viktor Tsoi, the frontman of the legendary 80’s Russian rock band Kino. Over the last week that I’ve been working on this song, it occurred to me how well Tsoi painted with words and music. His music always takes me places and puts pictures in my head.
I’m dedicating this one to the man who first introduced me to Kino way back when we were roommates in college and I was just starting to study Russian: my dear friend Yuriy. Thanks for turning me on, man. Tsoi zhiv!
A Star Known as the Sun
(translation by Anastassia and me, via www.lavalingua.com) White snow, gray ice… A city, bound by roads, Covers the cracked ground like a quilt.
Clouds float overhead, Muting the heavenly light, And a yellow fog rises from the city Which, for two thousand years, Has lived under the light of a star known as the sun
Two thousand years of war, War without cause or reason, War is the business of the young, War is a cure for old age. Blood, red red blood, In but an hour only the earth remains, In two, the land is covered with grass and flowers,
And in three, it’s alive once more, Warmed by the rays of a star known as the sun
And we know that it’s always been this way: That fate favors he who follows other laws, And is destined to die young. He knows not the words yes or no, He remembers neither title nor name, But he can reach the stars, Believing that it’s not a dream, And fall, burnt by a star known as the sun.
Every now and then I really love recording other people’s songs. This song, by Cake, is an old favorite. I taught it to myself ages ago while still living in Russia, and I have to admit it kept me going through some pretty dark winters.
This one I recorded and posted in honor of Cinco de Mayo. Viva Mexico!
This is a great song written by Boris Grebenshikov, the genius behind Akvarium, one of Russia’s most influential and amazing groups. I think of Grebenshikov as occupying a cultural and musical space somewhere between Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, and John Lennon. The more I listen to his music, the deeper and more wonderful it gets.
The song you’re about to hear is our cover version of Garcon Nomer Dva (which translates as “Boy Number Two”, a phrase as mysterious in English as it is in Russian). This cover is quite old, dating from 2005. It happened late one night in the fall when I was trying to work on a concept album and failing horribly. At the same time - literally in the background - Anastassia had figured out this song. Happily I gave up my own futile project and we set about recording her.
It was a lot of fun. We first laid down her guitar track, which she played on her gorgeous handmade czech acoustic. Then came the vocals with only one overdub, which happened when she got so overcome with emotion that she choked up and had to take a break (the words really are quite powerful). We wrapped up the evening with my putting down a bass and, of course, taking a couple solos. In all honesty I’m not sure how this really holds up next to Grebenshikov’s original, but at least we had a good time doing it.
