Cranford Nix was like a shooting star burning brightly in the dark skies of the musical kingdom. Born on January 17, 1969 in Michigan (USA), Nix was the vocalist and guitarist of the punk band The Malakas and led a prolific and unique solo career, yet not achieving mainstream success.
His vibrant spirit and musical talent led him to doing solo gigs and recording by himself a lot of wonderful songs. It is pure and honest songwriting; the lyrics are filled with his dilemmas and troubles while battling mental health issues and drug addiction. It is sincere and heartbreaking but at the same time infused with a very particular kind of rebellious sense of humour. Cranford’s voice is filled with anguish, defiance and a bittersweet quality that echoes all through his songs. There is sweetness and an angst that is impossible to shake while listening to Cranford’s songs and we welcome it entirely because we sense and deeply feel there is truth and sincerity in his lyrics, in his voice, and ultimately in all his songs.
Unfortunately, Cranford passed away on 12th March 2002. He was only 33 years old. His musical legacy is a treasure and is being shared and spread by his surviving family and friends through an official website which is an archive of all of Cranford’s recordings and a true memorial to his life and work. Currently there are no CDs available for purchase, however there is an LP compilation released by Rocking Bones and aptly called “Drinkin’ with some angels”. I hope you will appreciate Cranford’s music as I do, and I choose to show you the song “Mexico” because it was the first that I listened to a couple years ago when I got acquainted with Cranford’s music. Bliss.
Website: http://www.cranfordnix.com/
The Futures – Castles in the sky
Groovy and danceable album from The Futures, a band from Philadelphia formed around 1968 that incorporated the lush and unique philly soul sound. Their career was ponctuated by some bad luck and flops and this album had virtually no promotion which is an enigma since it’s packed with several bangers like “Super Love”, “Castles” among others. An interesting and iconic album if one wants to dive deeper in the philly sound.
Lena d’Água – Lusitânia
Lena d’Água é uma das artistas que consegue transpor através da sua música o cerne agridoce da vida. Lusitânia é um álbum encantador que reflecte o universo musical de Lena D’água de forma ingénua e deliciosa, com arranjos magistrais, complexos e leves ao mesmo tempo, as canções deste álbum mexem, agitam e revolucionam o dia em que o escolhemos ouvir.
Lusitânia principia com o divertido e badalado tema, Ajinomoto com letra e composição de Luís Pedro Fonseca, e onde a versatilidade e imaginação vocal de Lena d’Água encontra um veículo perfeito para nos fazer vibrar. Apesar de começar numa nota optimista, o álbum encerra com o brilhante, melancólico e épico tema Lusitânia, onde as notas vocais e o som da voz de Lena d’Água ecoa como um espírito benigno na floresta de sons orquestrais.
Não há uma única faixa que seja considerado “filler” e de realçar a qualidade lírica com pregões e mantras que dão que pensar, tais como nos versos:
“Novo por não ser velho
Fresco por não ter calor
Quem liga muito ao espelho
Julga que se vê melhor
Para provar o sabor do perigo
Faço o que é proibido
Para quebrar um tabu antigo
Faço o que é proibido”
É um disco que me deixa muito feliz por fazer parte da minha vida e que continua a exercer um fascínio irresistível, por mostrar que a vida não pode permanecer sem melancolia, mas também se torna insuportável sem alegria. Faz-se então uma mistura, vamos fazendo, vamos andando o melhor que sabemos e por bem. Mágico.
