MMN Artist-Run Radio: Ben Weaver Gets Poetic With Gil Scott-Heron, Sun Kil Moon (STREAM)
From time to time, MMN asks its favorite artists to create personally curated playlists for our curiosity-satisfying- and audio-streaming pleasure. Themes and styles will vary, but you’ll always know your favorite bands just a little better after listening.
Today’s MMN Artist Radio DJ is: Ben Weaver.
Though his day-job consists of making some of the best folk-rock around, Ben Weaver is a man of many talents. Among other things, the singer-songwriter is a published poet as well, winning a variety of accolades, including the What Light Poetry Project prize.
Like his poems, Weaver’s tunes evoke the pastoral, peaceful, and meditative, traits that have carried over to his excellent new album, Mirepoix & Smoke, which came out last week on Bloodshot Records. In honor of his varied pursuits, Weaver provided us with an exclusive playlist of songs by fellow musician-poets, ranging from Gil Scott-Heron to Mark Kozelek’s Sun Kil Moon. Check out the tracks alongside Weaver’s commentary, and stream the playlist (YouTube links have been provided for any selections not available in our MOG library) after the jump….
Stream An MMN Artist-Run Radio Playlist by Ben Weaver
1. Silver Jews – “Pretty Eyes” (David Berman)
Ben Weaver Says: “There are a lot of songwriters who write poems. Most of them, myself included, are probably better off just writing songs. I put David at the top of my list because I feel he has managed to do a remarkable job at writing both.” (HEAR IT HERE)
2. Gil Scott-Heron – “Running”
Ben Weaver Says: “I feel there is little I can offer to shed any light on the music or poetry of Gil Scott-Heron. He is a trailblazer. He deserves far more recognition.”
3. The Figments – “This Fleeting Life” (Matthew Zapruder)
Ben Weaver Says: “I first became aware of Matthew’s poems before I knew he had a band called The Figments. His new book, Come on all You Ghosts, is full the most honest and magical stuff I have read in some time.” (HEAR IT HERE)
4. Gun Club – “Carry Home” (Jeffrey Lee Pierce)
Ben Weaver Says: “[Pierce is] another legend to whom my words can do little justice. It’s better left to you and your ears.”
5. Vic Chesnutt – “Speed Racer”
Ben Weaver Says: “I remember Vic and I spoke on a panel at a writing conference in Oxford, Mississippi and before our panel we were both sitting in the back of the room and he had a torn up little notebook that he was writing and drawing in. I miss Vic. This song is perfect in my mind.”
6. Patti Smith – “Fireflies”
Ben Weaver Says: “Her genius and fierce sense of art can be equaled by few anywhere, I want to sing with her someday.”
7. Leonard Cohen – “The Stranger Song”
Ben Weaver Says: “‘You cannot command the enterprise, but you can make your best effort.’ Leonard Cohen said that. Pretty obvious why he is on this list.”
8. Greg Brown – “857-5413″
Ben Weaver Says: “Usually I first have to hear a really good song before I have that moment with myself where I say, ‘I wish I wrote that song.’ With this one all I had to do was read the title to experience that sentiment. But I am glad Greg wrote it because I don’t know anyone who could sing the truth in to a song of this nature better than him.”
9. Scud Mountain Boys – “Freight of Fire” (Joe Pernice)
Ben Weaver Says: “Joe has a chapbook called Two Pigeons that I bought from him at a show in Minneapolis. He is a great writer. He even went to school for it from what I understand. It is hard to find words to describe people who describe themselves best with their own words.”
10. Sun Kil Moon – “Glen Tipton” (Mark Kozelek)
Ben Weaver Says: “I emailed my friend Dobby Gibson, who is a wonderful poet, about this list I was putting together. I told him how I often forget stuff when I am asked to do it, and said I needed some help remembering who the great poets and songwriters were. Mark Kozelek was on Dobby’s list and it would have been bad for me to have forgotten to include him. Mark does something that few people do. He makes poems sound like songs rather than writing songs that are poetic.”
Photo by Jonathan Levitt
Listen to Ben Weaver, and hear The Ax in the Oak along with other albums, at MOG.
