Playlist 24.05.10

Jimmy Webb wrote a load of epic songs about loners and outcasts and the strength of character it takes to keep at it. The ultimate would be 'Wichita Lineman' and 'By The Time I Get To Phoenix'. But there's nothing lightweight about 'Highwayman' and I've got a personal delight in hearing the regal regret of 'Do What You Gotta Do' by The Four Tops. That's an entire blog in itself.

And then there's 'Galveston'. Back in the day, I used to think that the lyric was about an imminent suicide, as the soldier cleans his gun and sounds desperately sad. Yet when Jimmy Webb played Belfast in 2005, he put a completely different spin on the song, explaining that it was about the Spanish-American War of 1898. Effectively, the soldier is missing his girl and the shores of his native Texas, aware that the conflict might wipe out his chances at any time.

The Sparklehorse version appeared on a Loose Records compilation, 'New Sounds Of The Old West, Volume Three'. He strips the sound down to the most wretched elements, and the pain never relents. And with the recent passing of Mark Linkhous, it hurts even more.

STUART BAILIE

BBC Radio Ulster, 92-95 FM

Online: www.bbc.co.uk/radioulster

Mondays, ten - midnight

Playlist 24.05.10

Lou Reed - Perfect Day (RCA)

Band Of Horses - Laredo (Columbia)

Woodenbox With A Fistful Of Fivers - Fistful Of Fivers (Electric Honey)

Generation X - Dancing With Myself (Chrysalis)

Silhouette - Volume Destroyed (VM)

Seven Summits - Ben (white)

Norman Blake - Ajimina (Rounder)

The Farriers - The Last Long Evening (session)

John Grant - I Wanna Go To Mars (Bella Union)

Unkle - Follow Me Down (All Surrender)

Paul Weller - Aim High (Island)

Band Of Horses - Factory (Columbia)

Divine Comedy - Tonight We Fly (session)

Ariel's Pink Haunted Graffiti - Bright Lit Blues Skies (4ad)

Norman Blake - 50 Miles Of Elbow Room (Rounder)

Rolling Stones - Let It Loose (Rolling Stones)

Band Of Horses - Blue Beard (Columbia)

Sparklehorse - Galveston (Loose)

Aaron Shanley - Someone To Take Care Of (White Mountain)

Rod Demick, Herbie Armstrong - That's What Friends Are Made For (MAM)

Villagers - Ship Of Promises (Domino)

Karen Elson - The Ghost Who Walks (XL)

Divine Comedy - Down In The Street Below (DCM)

The Mynabirds- Numbers Don't Lie (Saddle Creek)