{"id":731,"date":"2007-11-30T10:18:37","date_gmt":"2007-11-30T10:18:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2007\/11\/30\/3-for-the-festive-50\/"},"modified":"2007-11-30T10:20:52","modified_gmt":"2007-11-30T10:20:52","slug":"3-for-the-festive-50","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2007\/11\/30\/3-for-the-festive-50\/","title":{"rendered":"3 for the Festive 50"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rermegacorp.com\/Merchant2\/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&#038;Store_Code=RM&#038;Product_Code=ReRPA3&#038;Category_Code=CU\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecx.images-amazon.com\/images\/I\/31IM9u5rqlL._AA115_.jpg?w=840\" alt=\"Cover of Tessuti by Paolo Angeli\" align='right' hspace='10' vspace='10' data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nThe <a href=\"http:\/\/unhinderedbytalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2006\/01\/07\/a-peelie-xmas\/\">wonderful John Peel<\/a> used to organize the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/radio1\/johnpeel\/festive50s\/\">Festive 50 each year<\/a>, where listeners would vote for their 3 favorite songs of the year, restricted to songs that Peel had actually played on his radio show.  The results would be tallied, and he would then play the 50 top vote getters over two consecutive nights in late December.  These were some amazingly great shows, and I can&#8217;t begin to recount how many of my favorite songs I first heard via his Festive 50 shows.<\/p>\n<p>The folks at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dandelionradio.com\/\">Dandelion Radio<\/a> are trying to continue the tradition, and voting ends tonight, so rush on over there if you&#8217;d like your voice to be heard.  (They say the voting ends at midnight, but they don&#8217;t provide a time zone.  I&#8217;m gonna assume GMT unless someone out there knows different.)<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m glad they&#8217;re making the effort, and I&#8217;m gonna vote, but I must say that I&#8217;m not entirely convinced.  One of the things that was cool about Peel&#8217;s Festive 50 was that it was restricted to things he&#8217;s played on his show.  Thus it &#8220;felt&#8221; like him even though the listeners chose the tracks and their order.  Here it&#8217;s a free-for-all, so I&#8217;m not at all sure what it&#8217;s gonna sound like.  I look forward to listening after Xmas, though.<\/p>\n<p>So, choices, choices&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Getting down to 3 is really hard.  And any list I make is likely to be skewed to the first half of 2007 since I haven&#8217;t been listening to nearly as much new music since we came to the UK (and left <a href=\"http:\/\/kumm.org\/\">KUMM<\/a> behind for the year).  All that said, and after much agonizing, my choices are gonna be:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sage Francis &#8211; &#8220;Going back to rehab&#8221; from <em>Human the death dance<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Mavis Staples &#8211; &#8220;99 and 1\/2&#8221; from <em>We&#8217;ll never turn back<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Paolo Angeli &#8211; &#8220;Ahead in the sand&#8221; from <em>Tessuti<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Some serious contenders included:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Jawbone &#8211; &#8220;All want Jesus name&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Artichoke &#8211; &#8220;Anarchy in the UK&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Anais Mitchell &#8211; &#8220;Hobo&#8217;s lullabye&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Biota &#8211; &#8220;Pack-a-penny day&#8221;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>All three of the albums that my top three came from are great, but I think I&#8217;d have to choose <em>Tessuti<\/em> as my fave album of the year, with the other two coming a very, very close second.  Angeli&#8217;s music has such depth, power, and finesse that I find myself drifting to the language of classical music to describe it, and I mean that in the best possible way.  Profound and wonderful stuff.<\/p>\n<p>The albums by Sage Francis and Mavis Staples are also incredibly powerful, if in very different ways to <em>Tessuti<\/em>.  Francis&#8217; work is so full of intelligence and perception that it makes my head spin, and even after many months Sub-Evil and I still love jamming out to almost anything from this album.  (He, in fact, argued quite cogently for &#8220;Civil Obedience&#8221; from this disc, but in the end I had to go with my gut and choose &#8220;Going back to rehab&#8221;.)  Staples&#8217; voice is rich and powerful, projecting all her years of experience as a musician and civil rights activist.  An album like this could have sounded like a museum piece, retreading songs that were important decades ago.  In her hands, though, these songs are fresh and powerful and relevant.  Truly great stuff.<\/p>\n<p>Go enjoy some music, and consider voting if that&#8217;s your sort of thing.<\/p>\n\n\t<div class=\"st-post-tags \">\n\tTags: <a href=\"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/tag\/best-of-the-year\/\" title=\"Best of the year\">Best of the year<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/tag\/festive-fifty\/\" title=\"Festive Fifty\">Festive Fifty<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/tag\/john-peel\/\" title=\"John Peel\">John Peel<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/tag\/kumm\/\" title=\"KUMM\">KUMM<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/tag\/lists\/\" title=\"lists\">lists<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/tag\/music\/\" title=\"Music\">Music<\/a><br \/><\/div>\n\n\n\t<h4>Related posts<\/h4>\n\t<ul class=\"st-related-posts\">\n\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2008\/09\/17\/my-five-favorite-songs-aka-3-pints-of-blood-and-a-kidney\/\" title=\"My five &#8220;favorite&#8221; songs (AKA 3 pints of blood and a kidney) (17 Sep 08)\">My five &#8220;favorite&#8221; songs (AKA 3 pints of blood and a kidney)<\/a> (3)<\/li>\n\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2009\/06\/14\/a-little-weirdness-in-todays-family-radio-programming\/\" title=\"A little weirdness in today&#8217;s family radio programming (14 Jun 09)\">A little weirdness in today&#8217;s family radio programming<\/a> (0)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The wonderful John Peel used to organize the Festive 50 each year, where listeners would vote for their 3 favorite songs of the year, restricted to songs that Peel had actually played on his radio show. The results would be tallied, and he would then play the 50 top vote getters over two consecutive nights &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2007\/11\/30\/3-for-the-festive-50\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;3 for the Festive 50&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0},"categories":[11,2,3],"tags":[138,135,134,136,137,857],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p90sy-bN","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":251,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2005\/10\/19\/check-out-beebs-peel-night-while-you-can\/","url_meta":{"origin":731,"position":0},"title":"Check out Beeb&#8217;s Peel Night while you can!","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"19 Oct 05","format":false,"excerpt":"By default the BBC only keeps their radio shows on-line for a week, and if they stick to that policy then all the wonderful John Peel Day shows will disappear tomorrow night (UK time) so listen while you can! There's some great stuff and I highly recommend it. Also be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Events&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":249,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2005\/10\/13\/eeek-i-forgot-to-plug-john-peel-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":731,"position":1},"title":"Eeek!  I forgot to plug John Peel day!","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"13 Oct 05","format":false,"excerpt":"It's a sign of how totally crazy life is at the moment that I totally forgot to plug today as John Peel Day! Luckily the Beeb will allow you to check out significant parts of their massive tribute show on-line for at least a week, so go check it out.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Music&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":150,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2005\/05\/10\/some-self-indulgent-reminiscing-about-musical-events-and-people-past\/","url_meta":{"origin":731,"position":2},"title":"Some self-indulgent reminiscing about musical events and people past","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"10 May 05","format":false,"excerpt":"I recorded the wonderful KUMM radio show that my American Roots Music First Year Seminar groups put on last December, but the seam where one CD ended and the next began happened to fall right in the middle of Grace and Kristin's live duet. Grace Doval and Kristin Bennett did\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Education&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Education","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/education\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":291,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2006\/01\/07\/a-peelie-xmas\/","url_meta":{"origin":731,"position":3},"title":"A Peelie Xmas","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"7 Jan 06","format":false,"excerpt":"I can always count on my family to provide me with a wonderful assortment of media at Xmas that will exceed the time available to absorb it. Books are especially problematic as I'm a slow (if avid) reader and I almost never clear last year's booty before the new batch\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Books&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/writing\/books\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":87,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2005\/03\/17\/the-fall-to-release-6-cd-set-of-peel-sessions\/","url_meta":{"origin":731,"position":4},"title":"The Fall to release 6 CD set of Peel sessions","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"17 Mar 05","format":false,"excerpt":"Wow... Pitchfork reports that The Fall is set to release a 6 disc set of their Peel sessions in late April on Sanctuary Records. The Fall were perennial faves of Peel (he frequently referred to them as \"The Mighty Fall\" in a sort of \"God is speaking to you\" voice),\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Music&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6,"url":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/2005\/01\/08\/wrong-radio-station-by-zephaniah-rocks\/","url_meta":{"origin":731,"position":5},"title":"&#8220;Wrong radio station&#8221; by Zephaniah rocks!","author":"Nic McPhee","date":"8 Jan 05","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm finally wading through the John Peel tribute concerts the BBC did, and I just heard Benjamin Zephaniah's piece \"Wrong radio station\" and it's absolutely brilliant. A little digging suggests it hasn't been released yet :-(. The way they announced it suggested that it will appear on the forthcoming album\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Music&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Music","link":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/archives\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/731\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/UnhinderedByTalent.com\/Phi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}