Sharon & Elyse

Mister F and I went to trendy Hoxton on Sunday night to see a set from Sharon van Etten. Normally at the sort of gigs we go to we are roughly the same age as the rest of the crowd, often towards the younger end, but on this occasion we very much stood out as the old farts, being surrounded as we were by fashionable young people. People like Anika in London, who has posted some excellent photos of the show.

Normally I look with disdain on the musical tastes of the young people of today, but on this occasion I think they are on to something. A large part of Sharon's set was taken from "Epic", her excellent album released last year. But being the hip characters that you are I expect you have that already. So instead here is something else from the set. Originally released on 2009's "Because I Was In Love", this version comes from a Daytrotter session recorded in March last year. You will want to download the full session, I am sure.

"Consolation Prize" - Sharon Van Etten

Sharon's voice really appeals to me. Immediately after the gig I found myself thinking that it reminded me a lot of Elyse Weinberg (or just Elyse to her friends). When I got home and dug out her self-titled album I couldn't quite see why, but it obviously struck a chord.

"Elyse" was first issued back in 1968, and was her only album. I first came across it roughly thirty years ago in a junk shop in South Africa and immediately fell in love with tracks like "Band of Thieves" and the first song we are featuring today. Unfortunately I lost the album in a house move or something some time back in the 1990s, and had resigned myself to never hearing it again. So imagine my delight when Orange Twin Records brought it out on CD a few years back. Here are two of the many highlights.

"Deed I Do" - Elyse

"What You Call It" - Elyse

Speaking of lady singers, we had such a positive reaction to the Leoncie clip on Monday that I thought you would appreciate another. This is one of her more, er, atypical numbers.