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CMU Playlists
Playlist: Alela Diane
By CMU Editorial | Published on Tuesday 30 July 2013
Alela Diane came to many people’s attention with her third album, ‘Alela Diane & Wild Divine’, which was released by Rough Trade in 2011. This week, she returns with the follow-up, ‘About Farewell’, on Believe Recordings, the title track of which was released as a single earlier this month.
Much of the initial recording of the album took place in late 2011 and early 2012, before Diane enlisted the help of multi-instrumentalist Heather Broderick (Horse Feathers, Efterklang), drummer Neal Morgan (Joanna Newsom, Bill Callahan) and string arranger Holcombe Waller to flesh it out, finally completing the record earlier this year.
In the run up to the album release, we asked Alela to put together a playlist for us. Taking us through some of her influences, she brings the playlist to a close with a track from JJ Cale, who sadly died at the weekend.
ALELA DIANE’S TEN
Listen to this playlist on Spotify, and then read on to find out more about Alela’s choices.
01 Sandy Denny – Who Knows Where The Time Goes
Sandy’s is one of my favourite voices, and this song has been a companion throughout my travels over the past few years.
02 Graham Nash – I Used To Be A King
‘Songs For Beginners’ is one of my all time favourite albums, and this song in particular is amazing.
03 Michael Hurley – Troubled Waters
Michael is a friend of mine who lives outside of Portland, and he’s been making his special brand of music since well before I was born. He’s always been under the radar, but in actuality is a living legend.
04 Daniel Rossen – Saint Nothing
I tend to be fairly out of touch with what is going on in music these days, but I got my hands on Daniel Rossen’s EP and fell in love with it. It’s always refreshing when I stumble upon something being made today that resonates with me.
05 Roy Harper – Another Day
This song has a line that says, “I’m feeling so sad that I never had one of your children”. I can’t think of a more devastating thing to say about heartbreak…
06 Ryan Francesconi & Mirabai Peart – Parallel Flights
These two are cut from the highest tier of musical cloth and the sound they make is simply beautiful.
07 Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou – The Homeless Wanderer
There is a gal in Portland named Mary who has dedicated her recent days to transposing the music to all of Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou’s songs. She plays the songs on an old piano at an Ethiopian restaurant in town, and from the moment I heard her play, I new I needed to track down the original recordings. Fortunately, they are available on iTunes.
08 Townes Van Zandt – I’ll Be Here In The Morning
Townes sure knows how to write a sad song. And you know, I do love a sad song.
09 Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy & Mariee Sioux – Loveskulls
Mariee is one of my oldest, dearest friends from childhood, and when we were teenagers or shortly thereafter, we’d listen to Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy. As you can imagine, she and I were both very excited when she had the opportunity to make an EP with Will Oldham! This is one of my favourites off the album.
10 JJ Cale – After Midnight
This song, and the album from which it comes, it’s an absolutely perfect soundtrack for long drives in wide open spaces.
