listen up: love is a tired symphony you hum when you’re awake

Just in time for fall: a new mixtape. Kind of a downer and strings-heavy, it’s just right for the fading of summer.

Love Is A Tired Symphony You Hum When You’re Awake Tracklist
01| Summer Overture by Clint Mansell
02| Your Ex-Lover is Dead by Stars
03| Skelton Key by Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s
04| Heartbeats by Jose Gonzalez
05| Lion’s Mane by Iron & Wine
06| One More Day With You by Chauntelle DuPree, Zac Hanson, and Jon Crosby
07| The Waltze of the Tennis Players by Meg Baird
08| Swans by Unkle Bob
09| New Fall by Matt Pond PA
10| The Engine Driver by The Decemberists
11| A Lack of Color by Death Cab for Cutie
12| Breathe Me by Sia
13| Breaker by Low
14| Calculation Theme by Metric
15| Street Spirit (Fade Out) by Radiohead

it’s my own fault what happens to my heart

Meg Baird has quite a set of pipes. On her first solo outing, Baird showcases her vocals with an accompaniment of acoustic guitar and dulcimer and a collection of traditional, covered, and original folk songs.

The album starts out with standard folk tunes, but hits its stride with a cover of Jimmy Webb’s “Do What You Gotta Do”. Next, more complex guitar and effects drive along “Riverhouse In Tinicum”, and the album peaks with the memorable track “The Waltze of The Tennis Players”.

Throughout Dear Companion, Baird evokes a feeling of the 70s; her vocals are occasionally reminiscent of Carly Simon, and something about “Sweet William and Fair Ellen” evokes Rod Stewart’s “Maggie May” and “You Wear It Well”.

With “Willie O’Winsbury” Baird goes even further back in time, returning to the folk/madrigal form heard earlier in the disc and talk of dukes, knights, and serving men that’s worthy of placement at any renaissance faire.

Baird (or her producers) made a smart move by ending on an a cappella version of the title track that is striking after all the accompaniment and brings out both the sorrow of the lyrics and the superb quality of Baird’s voice.

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Dear Companion dropped on 5/22/07.
You can find out more about Meg Baird and hear “The Waltze of the Tennis Players” here.