HIGHLY RECOMMENDED W/ WILLIAM LAWRENCE
* Providing the A's to the 5 HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Q's today is William Lawrence — a singer-songer out of NY state (also a member of the great Felice Brothers band) whose new album ‘Slow Dancing on a High Wire’ is a lovely early morning listen (and you can catch the track ‘Places of our Own’ on the HI54 ‘WINTER’ Mix CD).
#1 - WHAT IS THE ONE ALBUM (OR EP OR SONG) THAT YOU THINK SHOULD BE THE VERY NEXT MUSICAL THING THAT EVERYONE PRESSES PLAY ON THE NEXT TIME THEY FIND THEMSELVES THINKING “WHAT SHOULD I LISTEN TO NOW”?
Native North America (Vol. 1): Aboriginal Folk, Rock, and Country 1966-1985. This is an incredible collection of many hard-to-find/out of print songs by First Nations, Métis, and Inuit musicians from Canada and Alaska.
It was put together by Kevin “Sipreano” Howes and released by Light in the Attic in 2014. There are some great songs on this album - “I Pity the Country” by Willie Dunn is one of my favorites.
#2 - WHAT IS THE ONE MOVIE OR TV SHOW THAT YOU THINK SHOULD BE NEXT IN EVERYBODY’S NETFLIX QUEUE (OK, DOESN’T HAVE TO BE NETFLIX, WE’RE ALL INTERNET ADULTS HERE AND KNOW HOW TO FIND ANYTHING ONLINE, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER)?
I re-watched “Paris, Texas” recently and am now certain it is one of my favorite movies of all time. The script (Sam Shepard), the direction (Wim Wenders), the lead man (Harry Dean Stanton), and the incredible supporting cast, all come together to tell a heartbreaking, beautiful story.
Sad, funny, and honest- I love this film. And I almost forgot to mention the amazing score written and performed by Ry Cooder! So good.
#3. I (AND BY “I” I MEAN “THE PERSON THAT IS READING THIS”) AM GOING TO THE LOCAL BOOK STORE (OK, MAYBE THE LOCAL LIBRARY FIRST) TO FIND THE VERY NEXT BOOK THAT I WILL BE PUTTING SOME EXTREMELY VALUABLE ‘ME-TIME' ASIDE FOR. WHICH BOOK WOULD YOU GET, IF YOU WERE ME (AND, I SUPPOSE, YOU HADN’T ALREADY READ WHAT YOU’RE ABOUT TO SUGGEST)?
Too hard to list just one. Here’s a list of ten books I love -
• George Saunders - “Tenth of December”
• Ta Nehisi-Coates - “Between The World and Me”
• Fyodor Dostoevsky- “Crime and Punishment”
• Jerzy Kosinski- “The Painted Bird” and “Being There”
• Denis Johnson - “Tree Of Smoke”
• Tara Westover - “Educated”
• Galway Kinnell “The Book of Nightmares”
• Kazuo Ishiguro - “The Remains of the Day”
• Knut Hamsun - “Hunger”
#4 - WHAT IS THE ONE WEBSITE (OR JUST ANY OLD INTERNET THING: APP, GIF, SERVICE, WHATEVER) THAT YOU WOULD GET REALLY DOWN IN THE DUMPS ABOUT IF IT WERE TO SUDDENLY GO AWAY?
I regularly use Spotify to listen to music and discover new songs and albums. I’m sure I would get by just fine without it, just as I did before I had it, but I do currently rely on it for my daily music intake.
That being said, it could easily go away and I wouldn’t be too sad- there’s no shortage of ways to listen to music.
#5 - AND FINALLY… PLEASE GIVE ONE COMPLETELY UNAIDED RECOMMENDATION THAT YOU THINK EVERYONE SHOULD START DOING / USING / WATCHING / EATING / THINKING / QUITING / ETC-ING TO MAKE THEIR LIVES A LITTLE BIT MORE BETTER AND/OR BEARABLE.
I find that my days are always better when I take a long walk or swim. Don’t spend too much time on your phone or computer, if you can help it. Don’t rely too much on technology to think for you when it’s possible to do the thinking yourself - you will feel more awake and connected to the world around you.
Pay attention and respect animals, plants, people, and all life surrounding you. And respect yourself!
OK folks, there you have it. Things that William Lawrence thinks you should consider incorporating into your day/life. Before you log off and go walk away from your technology for a bit, make sure to follow William on the Facebook / Instagram and then also give the title track from ‘Slow Dancing On A High Wire’ a listen below…
