Palms & Runes, Tarot & Tea

Just a quickie to say how thrilled I am with the Michael Penn compilation that's just come out (thanks sweetie!). Palms & Runes, Tarot & Tea (the line is taken from a voice over in I Can Tell, from Resigned) is a collection that Michael Penn was given the opportunity to choose, and now finds him back on a label. From everything I've read about him over the years, I know he's not had the best experience with them, and as such released his last album (Mr Hollywood Jr. 1947) on his own label, Mimeograph Records, part of United Musicians, the label he and Aimee Mann founded with their manager to fulfill what United Artists was for film actors back in the day. The liner notes are pretty interesting - he notes that the alternative cut of Try presented here was actually the idea of some "wing ding" at the label, but it turned out alright in the end. Material from all 5 albums is covered, and as he himself says, the goal was to create an album anew, as opposed to a boring chronological a to z thing. Long Way Down, I may have preferred the album version; the singing was a little more visceral, but the sound has improved. This may be simply because until recently I only had Free For All on cassette - found it at Sam the Record Man last month for $5! - but Coal shines out. Lucky One and Don't Let Me Go come from MP4, an album I somehow missed all together, and they form a wonderful entry. I'll be ordering that one soon.


Here is Michael's video for Walter Reed, the first track off Mr Hollywood Jr, which also makes an appearance on Palms & Runes...




You can find Palms & Runes, Tarot & Tea at Amazon here.