i love KGSR
samson came to my bed
told me that my hair was red
told me i was beautiful
came in to my bed
i cut his hair myself one night
a bad dull scissors and the yellow light
he told me that i’d done all right
and kissed me till the morning light
the morning light
the morning light
samson went back to bed
not much hair left on his head
he ate a slice of wonderbread
and went right back to bed
we couldn’t break the columns down
no we couldn’t destroy a single one
and the history books forgot about us
and the bible didn’t mention us
not even once
That’s a snip of the evocative Samson by Regina Spector.
I came by the song after first hearing the more catchy Fidelity on the radio. Regina’s music has an honest and quirky quality that is hard to shake off. Add to that the fact that she is supremely versatile without compromising the narrative ability that makes her unique. Born in 1980 to a Jewish family in Russia that immigrated to America in the early 90s, she was at first a classical musician.
She later became inspired by singer songwriters like Ani Difranco and Tori Amos and has been writing original eclectic music for a while now. From what I have heard, she improvises immensely using unusual musical techniques – both vocally and instrumentally. I don’t adore the typically high pitch of her voice, but her music has soul. Her artistic vision shines through in her videos as well and I wish upon her beautiful music much popularity.
The richness that a touch of folk provides to ‘popular’ music is undeniable. This is Us (the original recording is way better than this live version though) by Mark Knopfler and Emmy Lou Harris is a testament to it; Knopfler underplays to Harris, no doubt, but it makes the song sweet. Think of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ huge career and the same thing goes.
Austin’s FM 107.1 KGSR gives airtime to people like Regina, a countrified Knopfler, and the inimitable Petty. There’s other new stuff from Dylan, Clapton, Springsteen, David Byrne, Bob Schneider, Jon Dee Graham (a little-known master of ‘roots rock’), Bettye Lavette (an old-time blues singer with an amazing voice), Kelly Willis, The Subdudes, Sinead O’Connor, Ben Harper – a slew of great musicians on the playlist.
And once in a while, just for the fun of it, they’ll throw in this great little number from Warren Zevon! Listen to KGSR live here.
