Monday, October 10, 2005

No Hits 10.10.05

Afraid (mp3) - Espers

This last weekend was a chilly one here in Chicago. Daytime temps hovered in the low 50s on Saturday, the wind whipped off Lake Michigan and some browning leaves began their inevitable descent. A few weeks from now, the trees will be bare and we may even see some snow. I love it. I unpacked winter blankets and went to the market for ingredients for tomato lentil soup (email if you want the recipe--it's wonderful cold-weather comfort).

Oh, and I listened to Espers. In case you don't know, they're a collective of neo-hippie kids from Philadelphia who update traditional folk music with psychedelic stylings and imaginative instrumentation. Their self-titled debut (US, UK) caused some buzz in 2004 and rightly so. Next Tuesday they'll release The Weed Tree (US, UK), a collection of standards and covers including "Afraid." I'm not familiar with the Nico original (it's on her Desertshore album if you care to track it down). But it's a pretty little song and I imagine Espers lends a warmth not found in the original. And just to clarify: When I use the word "little"--and I often do when I'm talking about songs I'm fond of--I rarely mean insignificant. More often, precious, gem-like, big things/small packages, etc.

Riding (mp3) - Espers

A member of Espers, Meg Baird, also plays and sings with her sister Laura in The Baird Sisters. I should save "Snow" for December when the snow really starts to collect, but I can't wait to share it. It's that good.

Snow (mp3) - The Baird Sisters

Lonely Town (mp3) - The Baird Sisters

Both from The Baird Sisters At Home, which you can buy through their Web site.

Note: Because we have so many UK readers, I've started adding UK as well as US record buy links (usually to Amazon) to my posts. Hope people find this useful.

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