All Is Well by Samamidon

The summer of 2007 saw my already growing love for American folk music climbing exponentially. I spent the summer riding my bike through the Old City to WDVX studios on Gay Street, where I attended The Blue Plate Special every single day. I also helped produce Matt Morelock's "Happy Camper" radio show on Monday nights. We played two hours of old American recordings followed by two hours of music from Matt's obscure world music collection. I often wore overalls, I was the new owner of a little hound dog, and my car was smashed. And it rained three times in as many months. Something about that summer seemed very antique. It was very James Agee, if I may use that as an adjective.

Shortly after the summer ended, I was introduced to Samamidon, a musician from New York. A Vermont native, his parents were folk musicians with an affinity for Appalachian traditionals. Samamidon's most recent album, All Is Well, is a collection of covers of some of those very songs. Even though it didn't come out until the following winter, I always think of summer 2007 when I hear it.


All Is Well was recorded in Valgeir Sigurðsson's Greenhouse Studio in Iceland (as was Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's The Letting Go, Mum's Finally We Are No One, and most of Bjork's albums), with arrangements by Nico Muhly (Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest, Antony and the Johnsons' The Crying Light, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's The Letting Go), and it is beautiful and chilly.

A few All Is Well tracks along with the oldest recording of the song I could find (most were written before the recording industry blossomed):
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"Saro"

Doug and Jack Wallin (mp3)


Samamidon (mp3)

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"Wild Bill Jones"

Dock Boggs (mp3)


Samamidon (mp3)

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"Fall On My Knees"

Fred Cockerham, Oscar Jenkins & Tommy Jarrell (mp3)


Samamidon (mp3)

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"Little Satchel"

Fred Cockerham (mp3)


Samamidon (mp3)

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"Sugar Baby"

Dock Boggs (mp3)


Samamidon (mp3)

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true love will find you in the end

several months ago, i watched the devil and daniel johnston with a few friends. i thought the film was really good. it seemed to capture both the creativity and depression of an artist struggling with serious problems. this may sound like a typical rock documentary, but this film is anything but. i think the description from the film's about page gives a summary that i can't beat:

Director Jeff Feuerzeig exquisitely depicts a perfect example of brilliance and madness going hand in hand with subject Daniel Johnston. As an artist suffering from manic depression with delusions of grandeur, Daniel Johnston's wild fluctuations, numerous downward spirals, and periodic respites are exposed in this deeply moving documentary.

though you may not have heard of daniel johnston (i hadn't), you certainly have heard of many of the artists who covered his songs or worked with him: kurt cobain, wilco, beck, sonic youth, tv on the radio. curiosity compelled me to look up a few of these covers. i think the song "true love will find you in the end" is one my favorites. jeff tweedy and the late jay bennet recorded an excellent version of this song below (my thanks to ben for the sweet flash player--i stole it from your post).

True Love Will Find You in the End
(Daniel Johnston cover)
Wilco (mp3)

beck also has an excellent cover of the song.

True Love Will Find You in the End
(Daniel Johnston cover)
Beck (mp3)

and the original.

True Love Will Find You in the End

Daniel Johnston (mp3)

if you haven't seen the movie, it is highly recommended. prepare to be happy, sad, and a little uncomfortable.

music in film

Hey guys, the idea for this blog is neat-o. You should use it more! I know you all don't have much time for it, with all your wives and mortgages and children and everything. BUT WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT? Just kidding, of course....

Anyway, to the music: I "grew up" loving the the way directors like Cameron Crowe and Wes Anderson used music in their movies (probably because they were both incendiary enough to use Sigur Ros in their soundtracks), but I have since changed a little bit. I still love a soundtrack full of obscure 60's British Invasion songs and German models turned singers, of course, but I'm not necessarily going to love your movie just because the soundtrack includes cool music. Sorry, Zach Braff.

So, I have here, four movies that came out semi-recently, and each use music that is potent and moving. All of these movies were some of the very best I've seen in a while, and the music was a huge part of why they worked so well.



Rachel Getting Married
"Unknown Legend" (Neil Young cover)
by Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio (mp3)
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The Visitor
"Je'nwi Teni (Don't Gag Me)"
by Fela Anikulapo Kuti (mp3)
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The Wrestler
"The Wrestler"
by Bruce Springsteen (mp3)
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Into The Wild
"Hard Sun" (Indio cover)
by Eddie Vedder (mp3)

This is Ben Rucker by the way. Grant invited me here. Thanks Grant!

ratatat

Found these guys via a playlist on iTunes:

http://www.myspace.com/ratatatmusic

I guess they've been around for a while, but this is the first time I've clued in. They have a chill but upbeat electronic sound. Check out their LP3 album.