Post-pirate

Well I seemed to have forgotten about International Talk Like A Pirate Day until it was too late. But it's never too late to celebrate goofy voices. This is one of those sappy songs that would be intolerable if the dude gave it a conventionally pretty delivery. Instead, we get some kind of muppet-esque ballad that belongs in a movie where everyone finds a reason to hold hands.

Bob Carpenter - Now And Then

Bert-in up

When you're cited as a prime inspiration by both Jimmy Page and Johnny Marr, you're absolutely entitled to kick back and look proudly upon the kingdom of your influence. Bert Jansch did it up right pretty much his entire career. Here's a great tune that's on my mind as I prepare to head out of the hectic city to the swamplands of Louisiana for the weekend. A long weekend. So see you back on Wednesday.

Bert Jansch - Blackwater Side

Thin men

I'll admit it, I like Suzanne Vega, and always did. She's one of the few coffeehouse types who knows that all those vocal curlicues do not signify actual emotion outside of commercials and rom coms. She sings plain and understated, and bless her for it. She got kinda experimental after that "Luka" hit, and most people didn't care much for that. I know she went folky again later on, but I lost the thread there. Here's a surprisingly slinky one. Part of me wants to hear a version with Donald Fagan singing. And for those of you on the Yom Kippur train, a title that loosely speaks to your foodlessness this weekend.

Suzanne Vega - Thin Man

A Communist in love

Billy Bragg...you gotta love the bloke. Or at least respect the heart that has been beating faithfully on his sleeve for nearly 30 years. Whether toeing the red line or serenading from outside the window, he's as steadfastly idealistic as they come, even if a little of the edge has come off the accent in recent years. Here's an early one, which finds him in a bit more of an indirect mood than usual. And squeezing every last drop out of a dubious pun - an effort Songblague very much appreciates.

Billy Bragg - The Milkman of Human Kindness