The good news is: Brad DeLong was right. Madeleine Peyroux does an amazing cover of “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go.” Sufficiently good that I went out and got the whole CD, which is a treat. Peyroux sounds like a young Billie Holliday (sometimes too much so, but okay, you could pick worse role models), with just the hint of a French accent. Simply but jazzy arrangements of clever songs, sung with a sly inflection. “Don’t Wait Too Long” and “Weary Blues from Waitin'” are other highlights.
The bad news is: After getting the CD and congratulating myself for finding new music in such an esoteric fashion (I mean, what’s hipper than reading blogs by economists?), I go to grab a coffee and find that Peyroux is in heavy rotation at my local Starbucks. And there’s the CD for sale, prominently displayed at the checkout counter. Just another commodity being pushed by the corporate machine.
I will never be cool.
(On the other hand, part of this post was written while connected via wireless in the waiting room of my local auto shop, where I am getting a flat tire fixed. So that’s pretty cool. Not the flat, but having wireless in the auto shop.)