Simon Scardanelli – Battle Ships
History will teach us nothing! But that’s simply because history has all the answers and we want to hear none of them. Those answers would, many feel, just depress us, confuse us more and force us to make even worse decisions.
But if you’re still willing to take a peek, you’ll find the way the story ends in both the accurate historical texts and in the folk tales inspired by them. Time moves in a loop that way. Simon Scardanelli has been digging and has found a way to present it all for both the enjoyment and illumination of modern audiences.
We all love a bit of a fight of good versus evil, as long as it’s not us doing the fighting and provided we’re not forced to choose between good and evil. But we instinctively understand what that kind of fight might mean. And, typically, we’re quick to embrace those capable of telling us these stories.
Simon Scardanelli is a poet and a keeper of ancient secrets. But he’s also a good entertainer. “Battle Ships” draws on old myths and uses folk sounds to tell the story. Part of a grand epic, a concept album about humankind being fought over control of the Earth, it shows so much content for “Battle Ships” is, nonetheless, a song that stands on its own. Hear it, and you’ll be transported to a mythical land! Really listen to it, and you may have a few more answers about what to do in the world that we inhabit.
Sid Hillman – Even Things
You’d like to imagine that any great truth doesn’t need to be shouted. You’d like to imagine that it can simply be whispered to every single person who needs to hear it. That ought to be one of the laws by which the world works.
Staring at the world recently might make you doubtful. But there are still some who operate by these presumptions. The great songwriters who dealt with the truth rarely shouted. Sid Hillman is someone who wants to join them.
Yes, Dylan went electric, but it was only a way to amuse himself temporarily. There was little shouting in his songs, and no face paint or pyrotechnics added to his shows. Cohen, Young, or Simon were all pretty low-key as well.
Sid Hillman’s “Even Things” is barely a whisper of a song. Regardless, it’s dipped into a groove that you’ll find it hard not to get sucked up in.
As for Hillman, he never flinches. He never seems tempted to add bombast to a natural, peaceful performance that highlights his pleasant singing voice.
“Even Things” about acquiring the art of letting go. Fittingly, it sounds like a mantra meant to accompany a meditation session. After all, when such truths can’t be denied, why bother shouting it?
