Tired And Emotional

Determined to post something today, purely so I can reach 30 posts in a month for the first time.

This despite the fact that all the Americans are too busy with turkeys to post up anything interesting that I can steal. And the fact that my brain is all mushy from my flu shot earlier. And the fact that Big G and I have spent the whole evening playing Gears of War 2.

So, it's time for a new feature, that will require the absolute minimum of effort: great musicians who you have never heard of, because you are scum.

First off: Anthony da Costa. Remember this little treat from the Radio Ljubljana sessions?



That's him, that is, along with Abbie Gardner. Alright, alright, he didn't write that one, admittedly. So try this one:



Pretty sweet, huh? Well pretty much the whole of his latest album, Bad Nights/Better Days, is that good (it's co-written and co-fronted by Gardner). It sounds like Ryan Adams does when he decides to just be as country as humanly possible (see Heartbreaker or Jacksonville City Nights for an idea of what I mean), only with someone else around to stop things going to wig-out mental [1]. Otherwise, it's exactly what you'd expect from country/folk music; everyone is depressed, and lonely, and their partners are either dying, dead, overly clingy, or cheating on them, or often several at once. Given all that, it surprises me it took me as long to get into the genre as it did. [2]

So go check it out, Squidlings (I can't find it on Amazon, so I downloaded the whole thing off of iTunes for the bargain price of eight quid). Just don't listen to it when you're down, or you'll throw yourself off the nearest haystack.

There; 30. That wasn't so hard, now was it?

[1] On occasion I still miss Whiskeytown. I realise I can't prove this, but from the leap from Pneumonia to Heartbreaker and onwards, it's hard to shake the impression that Caitlin Cary's role in Adam's former band was just to slap him every time he said "What if I play this piano part with my teeth?"

[2] John Denver is still shit, though.