April #7 - Rosie Wears A Pretty Dress

My sister used to have a sofa just like that.

7. Rosie Thomas - Pretty Dress

Another recent discovery which I owe to Whispering Bob. Described as "neo-folk" by the same type of people who go out of their way to over-pronounce the usually silent 'l' in the word folk. Plus, she's on Sub-Pop, so the musos will have to cock an ear.

Rosie comes from Michigan, is friends with Sufjan Stevens, and does stand-up comedy as well as singing and songwriting fine tunes like this one. Very Joni Mitchell, with a little bit of Kate Bush, and a third ingredient I recognise but can't quite place. Pretty Dress comes from her 2005 album If Songs Could Be Held, which is an awful title in no way indicative of the subtlety and sincerity of her tunesmithery. It's the classic tale of the gawky girl who wants to grow up into a princess, with a little Red Riding Hood imagery thrown in to suggest a darker ending than usual to this kind of song...

Put your red coat on and walk with the light in the woods
If it gets dark don't get scared
There's so much waiting for you
Cover up your ears and don't show them
'Cause you're much better than them

April #10: Tragic Todd & Comic Todd

There are only two types of story, at least if you go by Shakespeare: comedies and tragedies.

Actually, some argue there's a third: histories, but they tend to be one of the former in disguise. Actually ii: if you study writing as much as I did in my misspent youth, you'll find there are many different numbers given to how many basic stories there are: 7, 10, twenty-something... but, as usual, I digress. Let's just stick with two for today, shall we?

Americana is one genre of music where storytelling is all-important and one of its foremost practitioners is the great Todd Snider, an artist who was introduced to me by the DJ Bob Harris. Many other favourite artists found their way into my record collection via Whispering Bob, so I was very sad to see his late Saturday night Radio 2 show end last week after 20 years. It appears to have been his decision to quit (he's still presenting his country show on the network) but I'm sure a large part of his decision will be down to the way Radio 2 have messed him around over recent years. He'll leave a big gap in my record collection... I even thought of doing a Top Ten Artists I Discovered Through Bob Harris... but then I decided no one else would be interested (not that that's ever stopped me before).

Anyway, back to Todd Snider, the storyteller. I'm showcasing two Todd story songs today, one a comedy (that really does make me chuckle), one a serious tragedy. You'll have to listen to them to find out which is which. Go on, I'm not going to do all the work for you...


10. Todd Snider - You Think You Know Somebody / Talkin' Seattle Grunge Rock Blues