Great Closing Tracks: Playlist #1

It could well be due to the kind of artists I mostly get into, but there does seem to be a trend in my record collection for closing tracks to be the emotional heart of the album. So how about an album's worth of closers for a reflective hour's listening, eh?

We kick off with Envy of Angels, from the same-name album by The Mutton Birds, and a song which may well be the greatest 6 minutes in songwriter Don McGlashan's back catalogue. If the descriptions of the New Zealand countryside in this song don't make you instantly want to get a plane ticket to Auckland, you truly have a heart of stone. I've just had chills down my spine listening to this tune for the first time since June, when I had it on loud it in the car having just interviewed Don after his gig with Crowded House in Sherwood Pines Forest. A lovely guy and an immense talent whose forthcoming second solo album is hugely anticipated around these parts.

Other highlights include possibly the greatest moment in either of the Finn Brothers' back catalogues, some acappella loveliness from The Research, Darren Hanlon's magnificent piano-led Old Dream, a brilliant dash of Jason Falkner (with a fantastic Beach Boys 'Til I Die'-inspired coda), and a drop-dead classic from Scott Walker. Enjoy!

MP3: The Mutton Birds - Envy Of Angels
Info -- Buy Envy Of Angels

MP3: The Finn Brothers - Gentle Hum
Info -- Buy Everyone Is Here

MP3: Darren Hanlon - Old Dream
Info -- Buy Fingertips & Mountaintops

MP3: Bic Runga - Gravity
Info -- Buy Beautiful Collision

MP3: Candy Butchers - Hunker Down
Info -- Buy Hang On Mike

MP3: Josh Rouse - Snowy
Info -- Buy Country Mouse City House

MP3: Hunters and Collectors - Long Way To The Water
Info -- Buy Juggernaut

MP3: Jason Falkner - Goodnight Sweet Night
Info -- Buy Can You Still Feel

MP3: The Starlets - Firestorm
Info -- Buy Surely Tomorrow You'll Feel Blue

MP3: Trashcan Sinatras - Weightlifting
Info -- Buy Weightlifting

MP3: Scott Walker - Rhymes Of Goodbye
Info -- Buy Scott 4

MP3: The Research - Splitting Hairs
Info -- Buy Breaking Up

Short back and sides...

Songs about hairdressers can only surely exist in the world of indie-pop. It can, after all, only be the preserve of the particularly sensitive songwriter to wax lyrical on the subject.

Take Darren Hanlon and Jens Lekman for example. Both have a fixation with a hairdresser and each deals with it very differently. This may of course all be down to their intentions. Darren has romance in mind, but is initially wary of making any kind of move:

"Some days I make it my mission
To drive right past her salon
I prefer to worship her from a car"

Jens's relationship with Shirin, on the other hand, appears to be purely platonic, aside from when he's in the chair:

"When Shirin cuts my hair
It's like a love affair
Let those locks fall to the ground
Or let them stay there"

Darren attempts to stalk the object of his affection, despite advice to the contrary:

"A mutual friend tells me,
"Aww, she won't go for you Daz"
But I say I couldn't care"

It's not as though he's unaware of the risks:

"If I offered my love and kisses
Would she come at me with her scissors?
Love's declaration could be bad for my health..."

The risks in Jens's salon are a little more deep rooted:

"But what if it reaches the government
That you have a beauty salon in your own apartment?
I won't tell anyone!"

Still, at least in the meantime it's all going well, and he gets the cut he wants:

"I show her my passport
What I look like
But she just smiles and lets me know
It's gonna be alright"

The same can't be said for Darren, who doesn't so much as end up in the chair:

"As the town hall clock struck three
I delivered my soliloquy
She wouldn't give the time of day to me
But she gave my pride
A short back and sides"

MP3: Darren Hanlon - She Cuts Hair
(Buy Early Days)

MP3: Jens Lekman - Shirin
(Buy Night Falls Over Kortedala)

It's good to love, for love is hard to find...

A Valentine's Day Playlist

Declarations of love, lost love, love that never was and love that might be. Valentine's Day may be greatly improved by giving these a spin.

MP3: Bic Runga - When I See You Smile

Buy Beautiful Collision from amazon.co.uk

MP3: A-ha - You'll Never Get Over Me

Buy Minor Earth Major Sky from amazon.co.uk

MP3: Darren Hanlon - He Misses You Too You Know

Buy Hello Stranger from Candle Records

MP3: David Gray - This Year's Love

Buy White Ladder from amazon.co.uk

MP3: David Mead - Breathe You In

Buy The Luxury of Time from amazon.co.uk

MP3: Josh Rouse - 100m Backstroke

Buy Home from amazon.co.uk

MP3: Rufus Wainwright - Natasha

Buy Want from amazon.co.uk

MP3: Split Enz - Message To My Girl

Buy Spellbound from amazon.co.uk

MP3: The Divine Comedy - Everybody Knows (Except You)

Buy A Short Album About Love from amazon.co.uk

MP3: Tim Finn - In Your Sway

Buy Before and After from amazon.co.uk

The world has changed, it's obvious...

It might have escaped your notice - I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere other than their own website and newsletter - that Australia's fine, fine indie label Candle Records is to close in March 2007. Hopefully there'll be a bit more of a fanfare when the end actually comes, but then doing things quietly has served the label well, building a loyal fanbase for its uniquely Aussie slant on indie-pop.

Such is the magic of Candle that it's managed to maintain the quality control over the decade or so it's been in existence, and that the bands mostly have a unifying je ne sais quoi about them without sounding same-y. Needless to say, if astute lyrics and jangly indie-pop are your bag, Candle will have the goods for you.

I'm a relative latecomer to the label and its charms, having only really got into the likes of Darren Hanlon and the Lucksmiths in the last 3 years or so, but even with my very limited knowledge of what the label and its artists have achieved in Australia and internationally, it's worth shedding a tear at the loss. I've had the pleasure of seeing Darren Hanlon in concert, playing with all the humour and grace you'd think it'd be hard to muster having travelled halfway round the world to play to about 30 people in the tiny upstairs room of a Leeds pub. The Lucksmiths too, playing another local pub with labelmate Anthony Atkinson, to even less of a crowd. Why do they do it? How do they fund it? Who knows, but that quiet determination to slowly spread the word seems as much a part of Candle's modus operandi as much as the reliance on a good tune and a well-told story.

Personal recommendations from the catalogue include The Lucksmiths' Warmer Corners, The Dearhunters' country-tinged Red, Blue And Wine (scroll down), and pretty much the entire Darren Hanlon canon (maybe start with 2004's Little Chills - the perfect blend of his funny-yet-touching lyrics and pop nous). Also do yourself a favour and seek out what is perhaps one of the most heinously overlooked albums in existence, The Guild League's 2004 collection Inner North. The Guild League are a collective who, in Inner North, put together a sumptuous package of acoustic guitars, cellos, and tunes to die for, all set off by Lucksmiths singer Tali White's ever-gorgeous vocals. Can't think of an easy comparison off the top of my head. Let's just call it classic pop music and be done with it.

Even though these great acts will very shortly no longer be gathered under the Candle umbrella, they'll always be united by that unique Candle vibe. We haven't seen the last of any of them.

MP3: Darren Hanlon - Old Dream (from Fingertips And Mountaintops, 2006)

MP3: The Guild League - Scientists (from Inner North, 2004)

MP3: The Dearhunters - Mr Katherine (from Red Wine & Blue, 2002)

Snap up a Candle classic while you can