Pandora serves up "Heirs + Grievances" fresh from Allison Crowe and Band

“Only in Canada, eh? Pity!” is a tagline familiar to Canucks – for Red Rose Tea. Today ’t’is a pity that Pandora’s blend of personalized internet radio is available only in America. Still, for our music-loving friends in the USA, we’re happy to note Pandora has bagged the debut release from Allison Crowe and Band – “Heirs + Grievances” – and it’s now streaming alongside such earlier, solo, albums as “Tidings”, “Newfoundland Vinyl”, “Spiral”, “Sylvan Hour”, “This Little Bird” and plenty more steeped in Allison Crowe’s singular brew of rock, folk, jazz, Canadiana, Celtic, and soul. If you’re south of the 49^th, drink in the sounds @ http://www.pandora.com/allison-crowe/heirs-grievances 

For anyone wondering what's in our cups - should it be stronger than orange pekoe - here's a clue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAtDXOnmqiM

Sweet Dreams

Music is, of course, steeped in lore.

Allan Showalter, entertaining and illuminating chronicler of life, love, lust and all @ “Cohencentric: Leonard Cohen Considered” has noted that the “Suzanne” of song, who “feeds you tea and oranges that come all the way from China” – is the muse Suzanne Verdal, pouring into 1960s life along Montreal’s St. Lawrence, filling Cohen’s cups with Bigelow’s “Constant Comment” blend.

This Sunday, Berkeley Place blog serves up a fresh pot of its “Greatest of All Tunes” feature – starting with Allison Crowe’s elemental reading of “Sweet Dreams” – originally a new wave smash for Eurythmics (the duo of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart) in 1983.

Crowe’s acoustic performance was distilled during creative discussions with Hollywood movie producer Zack Snyder (amidst the production of his 2011 film “Sucker Punch”).

Bigelow’s own “Sweet Dreams” is a blend of chamomile and mint it promises “will calm your nerves and sooth your soul.”

Inviting you now to enjoy Allison’s take, along with sonic servings from AlbertOne, Thought Coalition and Tujamo, Berkeley Place says:

“Brew am I to disagree.” 

One Heck of a Writer

Folks seeking the joys of illuminating, (often, hilarious, and, equally, poignant), commentary on Leonard Cohen's music and all manner of related and unrelated happenings, know to visit the site of 1 Heck of a Guy

That's home to psychiatrist Allan Showalter's "pastiche of posts, featuring song, dance, snappy chatter plus notes on prose, poesy, love, lust, life, and beyond."

We are delighted that the erudite, mysterious, DrHGuy has discovered Allison Crowe, and, as well as penning "essays on broomcorn and proposals for a county seal featuring Dick Tracy" he shares his appreciation of her art and artistry with the online community.

Earlier writings have focused on Allison's songs, including "Wedding Song" and covers of "Darling Be Home Soon" as well as "Me and Bobby McGee".

Last year, when her much-loved version of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" was favored by Hollywood director Zack Snyder to feature in a much-discussed love-scene in The Watchmen movie, Showalter's blog posts on the subject became web blockbusters.

The good doctor's current, and coming, attraction chronicles the course of Allison's newest album, the musical creation of which completed this past weekend, when producer, orchestrator and arranger Kayla Schmah delivered the final mixes.

It is, he notes, "the true story of the making of Spiral, featuring Allison Crowe, her best friend, her best friend’s wedding, her business manager, a baby, a deal, and music, all of which appear to have not only survived a plot premised on coincidence but to have thrived as a result."

A regular dose of 1 Heck of a Guy is as therapeutic a prescription as Goodhart, Hoffman & Sigler noting that Everything Stops for Tea (and oranges...).