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Matilde Urrutia
It isn’t simply that you are loved gloriously, or loved beautifully.
But rather that a pitch perfect expression of love for you sounds and sounds,
Rises into the very air.
Though the love itself may fade, I do not know,
The poetry you inspire ascends, ascending
Becomes stars and you, who are so loved,
Look quite infinite up there.
I Left My Heart in Bon Iver
“However, this was one of those shows that blows you quite away and I felt privileged to have gotten to witness it.”
Saturday, January 23, 2010, I went alone to a Brooklyn Vegan/The Bowery Presents benefit show for Haiti at Music Hall of Williamsburg (formerly NorthSix). The audience contained a large portion of infuriating idiots, more so than usual, as frequently happens when “celebrities” are performing (well, Janeane Garofalo and Zach Galifianakis). However, this was one of those shows that blows you quite away and I felt privileged to have gotten to witness it.
Because I am an idiot (I forgot the show was that night), I got there too late to see Britt Daniel of Spoon play his three songs (BD and/or Spoon has played 3-4 different places all over New York and Brooklyn recently and I have managed to miss each appearance. (I did shell out for a ticket to the Spoon show at Radio City Music Hall in March because I saw Björk play there 10 years ago and the acoustics are so amazing it sounded like she was standing in front of us.)
Oh well. Here is Britt Daniel playing “Who Makes Your Money”:
So I missed the frontman for one of my favorite bands, and it does not matter an iota because I got to see St. Vincent and Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) play and then I got to see them play together (Songer Singwriter – consisting of Annie, Justin, a drummer and Brad from Megafaun). Another honor was the surprise guest, Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond), who sang this amazingly gorgeous song whose name I do not know. Her voice and delivery just blew everything else out of the water. She also did a Prince cover, which was wonderful. Had I known anything about her before Saturday, I would have gone to the show she had played the previous night at Bowery Ballroom.
Here is Justin Vernon performing one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen live:
Unexpectedly, for a bunch of delicate-sounding musicians, Songer Singwriter devolved into really balls-out noise (or evolved, depending on how one feels about noise), I mean, a crashing, borderline painful cacophony, particularly at the conclusion of “Jolene”, of which I do not have video.
Songer Singwriter cover Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon”:
And here is a partial clip of Songer Singwriter performing a jawdropping cover of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”:
Unrelated to the show, but having everything to do with Bon Iver, as part of another amazing evening with my friend, Kate M., she introduced me to La Blogotheque, which is run by people who invite musicians to play tiny, intimate shows in France. This is an a cappella version of “For Emma” sung in the hallway of an apartment building in Paris. Love the bewildered residents who came home to find Bon Iver. And, of course, the dog.
[Incidentally, Kate does not know this yet but she consistently introduces me to music that makes me think "This is why life is worth living." Not just the fantastic music itself, but the joy in discovering it exists out there in the world. Thank you, Kate, for also being out there in world.]
And I will leave you with a lovely, heartbreaking rendition of “Skinny Love”, also courtesy of La Blogotheque. Look at those joyous Frenchies who got to sit in a room the size of a closet and drink wine and sing along with this:
Now listening to:
Now reading:
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Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Matilde UrrutiaIt isn’t simply that you are loved gloriously, or loved beautifully. But rather that a pitch perfect expression of love for you sounds and sounds, Rises into the very air. Though the love itself may fade, I do not know, The poetry you inspire ascends, ascending Becomes stars and you, who are so loved, Look [...]
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