John Gushue . . . Dot Dot Dot

Maybe This Christmas

When I recently posted a link to the musical advent calendar I had prepared three years ago, a correspondent noted an obvious omission: Ron Sexsmith's Maybe This Christmas.

I can't argue with that. I proudly added the song in 2006 to the annual Christmas mix CD I make for family and close friends, and it always sparkles. 

This fan-made video features Sexsmith solo during an acoustic set at the Rivoli in Toronto... with a note that everyone who has covered the song has somehow made a mistake with the words! 

This is the fifth song in my musical advent calendar for this year. Come back tomorrow! 

 

Feel Like Going Home

Ron Sexsmith, in performance just a couple of weeks ago with Jools Holland in the U.K.

Terrific.

Box-fresh Ron Sexsmith

The new Ron Sexsmith album is out on Tuesday. (Unless you're British; Long Player Late Bloomer is available there on Monday.)  Odds are very good I'm going to like it.

Ron Sexsmith helps Elvis Costello reinvent Everyday I Write The Book

The other night, we caught the season premiere (in Canada, anyway, where it's airing on CTV affiliates) of Elvis Costello's Spectacle, and the hands-down standout for me was watching Costello revisiting Everyday I Write The Book, via the arrangement that guest Ron Sexsmith had put on it. (The other guests you'll see are Sheryl Crow, Neko Case and Jesse Winchester.)

This version is so good, I wish Elvis Costello would release it commercially.

Saturday playlist

A few of the tunes I've been listening to lately:

Carbon/ Silicon: Why Do Men Fight? If there's a camp that divides Clash fans between Joe Strummer and Mick Jones, put me in the Jones camp, even though it's definitely more acceptable (read: fashionable) to pick Strummer. Post-Clash, Jones has often been a disappointment, as Strummer usually was, but he's still working it out. Carbon/Silicon is an unlikely collaboration with Tony James, of all people. Excellent tune to start the day, though.

Jill Cunniff: Lazy Girls. I picked up this tune from the ex-Luscious Jackson singer months ago from a KCRW podcast; it sat stored away for months before I noticed it.

Ron Sexsmith: All in Good Time. Ron Sexsmith = best living songwriter. I tend to think that many days. So many of his songs are so finely crafted, it's hard to knock them. All in Good Time has been a staple for a long, long time, and although it's a bit mawkish to admit it, the song's message gets heeded when I feel a bit run down.

The Beatles: Drive My Car. Speaking of tight songwriting ... From Rubber Soul, an album that is so lean and straight-up, Drive My Car - running all of 2'30" - is among the longer songs on the entire record. (Only one song on Rubber Soul, You Won't See Me, runs over three minutes!) Drive My Car is one of those songs I grew up singing along to, and probably one of the first where I sniffed out innuendo on the radio.

Manny Corchado: Chicken and Booze. From a Mojo compilation, a nice slice of jazzy funk that warms up a walk in mid-November.

I (really, really try to) post five songs from my revolving playlist to a queue on this blog. Click on the label below to see more.

It all seems so obvious now ...

In a better world, Ron Sexsmith would have a far more successful career. He keeps knocking out consistently winning songs ... and, less often, cool videos, like this one for All in Good Time:

Daily Dot: Ron Sexsmith

On Jan. 8, 1964, Ron Sexsmith was born. When I was younger, I was wondering who would get tagged as the musical voice of my generation. It's taken a while, but I would be hard pressed to name much of a field that would best Sexsmith's songwriting.