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17 posts tagged Leonard Cohen
Bill Callahan: "So Long, Marianne"
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Bill Callahan: “So Long, Marianne” (Leonard Cohen Cover)
If ever there were an heir apparent to the poetic legacy and measured grace of Leonard Cohen, Bill Callahan would be my pick—with perhaps Jens Lekman, in terms of humor, being a worthy runner-up. Now the man formerly known as Smog has joined a host of artists paying their debt to Cohen in the wake of his new record with a reverent cover. Joining the likes of Will Oldham, emerging 24B fave Michael Kiwanuka, Cass McCombs, Marc Ribot, and others, Callahan mined Cohen’s debut LP for a faithful take on “So Long, Marianne.” Stream it above, while samples from MOJO’s full tribute disc can be previewed here.
Leonard Cohen - Darkness
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Leonard Cohen: “Darkness”
The great Leonard Cohen settles into a world-weary blues groove for “Darkness,” the latest preview from his 12th studio LP, Old Ideas. “I caught the darkness, baby,” he sings toward the end of the bleak track, in which the titular refrain alludes to an ambiguous illness Cohen has failed to evade — not unlike the darkness Will Oldham once saw. “And I got it worse than you.”
Update: The album’s opening track is now streaming, as well.
Leonard Cohen, 'Show Me The Place'
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Leonard Cohen, ‘Show Me The Place’
A quote from Leonard Cohen’s recent Prince of Asturias speech comes to mind this morning upon hearing the first studio cut off his forthcoming LP, Old Ideas:
As I grew older, I understood that instructions came with this voice. And the instructions were never to lament casually. And if one is to express the great inevitable defeat that awaits us all, it must be done within the strict confines of dignity and beauty.
Hear the living legend do just that above.
Watch: Leonard Cohen’s Prince of Asturias Speech
In addition to announcing a forthcoming album, Leonard Cohen accepted the Principe de Asturias Prize for his poetry last Friday in Oviedo, Spain, discussing the country’s profound influence on his work in a speech before Queen Sofía and others. While he cited Federico García Lorca as a key figure in finding his voice in verse, Cohen opted to focus on his mid-1960s transition from poetry to music by telling a story he had never shared publicly before “of how I got my song.” The result should be revelatory to all Cohen fans, especially with regard to the origins of tunes like “Avalanche,” a flamenco guitar-driven personal favorite off his third LP. Video of his full speech is above.
Leonard Cohen revealed today that his follow-up to 2004’s Dear Heather will finally arrive next year. Titled Old Ideas, Cohen said that the album will include 10 previously unreleased songs, but kept the tracklist and further details under wraps, adding simply: “I’ve played it for a few people, and they seem to like it.”
As Reuters reports, Cohen made the announcement at a press conference in Oviedo, Spain, where he is in town to receive the country’s Principe de Asturias Prize, a prestigious literature award.
We’ll keep an eye out for more info, but in the meantime, revisit 4 songs Cohen unveiled on tour that just might have made the cut for Old Ideas here. Update: Here’s the tracklist and first single…
Phosphorescent Cover Leonard Cohen
Earlier this week, M. Ward performed a live rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye,” and now Phosphorescent have a live take of their own — following up on a string of classic covers by Matthew Houck and friends of the Beatles, Neil Young, and Bob Dylan.
As Birds Need Feet points out, Dead Oceans shared the above cut from Phosphorescent’s new live EP, Ghost Lights, this week.
She & Him/Monster of Folk’s M. Ward has not only been revisiting his back catalog of original solo material while on tour, but he has worked a varying list of cover songs — some of which he’s released studio versions of — into the live repertoire as well. Occasionally joined by tourmates Howe Gelb & the Band of Gypsies, Ward performed stripped-down versions of 1983 David Bowie hit “Let’s Dance,” Hold Time track Buddy Holly’s “Rave On,” Leonard Cohen’s “Hey, That’s No Way To Say Goodbye,” and more. Below, we’ve culled the best new clips floating around for a little M. Ward live cover song collection that will be updated when new tunes surface.
There’s still no word on the status of Leonard Cohen’s self-produced forthcoming album that was originally aiming for a 2011 release, but if you’re as antsy to hear new material from the 76-year-old legendary singer-songwriter/poet as I am, he did unveil a handful of epic new compositions during world tours over the past two years. All four songs that we could uncover — “The Darkness,” “Feels So Good,” “Born in Chains,” and “Lullaby” — feature the same wit, wisdom, heartbreak, and beautifully unforgettable melodies we’ve come to expect from Cohen over his half-century-long career. For example, this choice lyric: “Feels so good, babe, not to love you like I did. / It’s like they tore away my blindfold and said, ‘We’re gonna let this prisoner live.’” Watch/hear Cohen perform all four new tunes below:
Onstage illness and back-injuring live return be damned. The great Leonard Cohen is preparing to hit both the road and recording studio again shortly. We knew that his first LP in 6 years was in the works — featuring a handful of songs debuted on last year’s world tour — but subsequent setbacks threw the anticipated project into question. Until now, that is: “God willing it will be finished next spring,” said Cohen of his next album to Rolling Stone, adding later, “I’m producing it.” (Jack Frost would be proud.)
With new funny/poetic charmers like “Feels So Good” in his back pocket, I can’t imagine Cohen’s collection of “10 or 11 songs” being anything less than brilliant. Until the record drops, however, he has European/Australian tours and a Cambodian charity gig set for coming months, not to mention being honored alongside Phil Collins and Taylor Swift (?) at last night’s Songwriters Hall of Fame event.
In any event, as anyone who has heard his debut LP or beyond could attest to, new “songs of Leonard Cohen” being recorded is great news. Revisit a live debut of “Feels So Good” after the jump
He may be 75 years old, but if the worst result of playing 191 tour dates after a 15-year live hiatus is a minor onstage collapse in Spain and a recoverable back injury, requiring “the same 4 to 6-month regimen of physical therapy as athletes do with similar injuries,” then Leonard Cohen is young for his age, I say.
Only days after accepting a Grammy for lifetime achievement in Los Angeles, CA, living legend Leonard Cohen has been forced to postpone 9 European tour dates due to said injury in his lower back.
“Doctors have confirmed that Mr. Cohen is otherwise in terrific shape, thanks to years of exercise and careful diet, and simply needs appropriate time to recover,” said his manager, Robert Kory, in a statement sent to the press.
Cohen’s spring shows have been moved to the fall, but who knows, perhaps he’ll be working on that rumored new album a bit in the meantime. Either way, get well, Mr. Cohen! This new song shall tide us over till the fall.