"Rufus being fabulous"

Joe writes: Great live rendition of Rufus Wainwright's biggest song Oh What A World. Thanks to Nick Thompson for passing it on.

more on The Roches and The Wainwrights

Joe writes: It turns out that there's a link between the Roches and the Wainwrights - Lucy Wainwright Roche is the daughter of Suzzy Roche and Loudon Wainwright III. This is a good excuse to post my favourite recordings by Wainwright/McGarrigle family.

Rufus Wainwright - Go Or Go Ahead - iTunes or Amazon

Martha Wainwright - Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole (iTunes). If there's one thing even better than a really sad song, it's a really vitriolic song. Awesome vocal too. Written about her father Loudon so something of an answer record to I'd Rather Be Lonely.

Loudon Wainwright III - Primrose Hill (iTunes). If you end up destitute in London, I recommend living on the side of Primrose Hill, at least in summer. It's nice.

Kate & Anna McGarrigle - Matapedia (Amazon)

(update of post original from 28/06/2007)

Does Martha Wainwright sound like Kate Bush to you????

Phil writes: She does to me, at least on a couple of the tracks on her new album. That's not necessarily a bad thing I suppose - as long as she doesn't make a habit of it. Although KB is one of those artists who deserves some credit for originality, I think her voice would get intensely irritating if you listened to more than a track at a time. See what you think by comparing the Martha track with Kate's stunning second single, which she performed on TOTP while doing the weirdest swinging round dance. Martha's voice is actually much more versatile - listen to her singing two great standards (as part of Rufus's Judy Garland tribute) on YouTube.

Martha Wainwright - Tower Of Song (iTunes for the album)




Martha Wainwright - Stormy Weather




Martha Wainwright - Someone To Watch Over Me




Kate Bush - Wow (iTunes)