Music Diary, Vol. 2

For the rationale behind this mad effort, the initial post is here. The full series of Music Diary posts are here. The full playlist is above, and also here.

Week of Jan. 15-21

Lyric: Gilbert & Sullivan, "The Sun, Whose Rays Are All Ablaze"
Song: Probably only Kinky could mash up a Kurtis Blow sample with a sunny accordion riff and make it slap.
Album: As explosive as it is eclectic, somehow both stark and polished, this 1981 Elvis Costello record marks the transition from his brilliant first chapter as Angry Buddy Holly to the ageless, jack-of-all-trades artisan he’d soon settle into.

Lyric: Lucinda Williams, "Ugly Truth"
Song: Billie introduced me to this lush, wistful standard, but there are so many great versions I made a playlist. I’m especially fond of Gabrielle Cavassa’s duet with Joshua Redman; extra credit goes to Anita O’Day for her wild final modulation(s?).
Album: Don’t be fooled by the slouching vocals and louche, woozy arrangements on this exquisite Faye Webster record: It is as razor-sharp and as clear-eyed as the pervasive pedal steel is sweet.

Lyric: Cilla Black, "I've Been Wrong Before"
Song: Written with Britney Spears in mind and almost given to Mary J. Blige, this iconic, hi-hat-driven 2007 banger is an ideal showcase of Rihanna's sui generis phrasing, hard angles, scoops, and all. And the bridge is a world-beating lift-off.
Album: Though I prefer his follow-up, RAIN DOGS, there’s no denying that this 1983 Tom Waits record is one of the great left turns of all time, an unruly grab bag of Partch, Beefheart, Brecht/Weill, and an alchemy all his (and Kathleen Brennan’s) own.

Lyric: Joni Mitchell, "Talk to Me"
Song: It’s not only the sound but the shape of this PJ Harvey tune that sends me: curling piano giving way to thudding distortion fuzz, taking flight midway through, then sinking back down. And a chorus melody that twists up at weird angles. Just wow.
Album: Heather Christian & the Arbornauts’ music sounds like it sprouted from the ground and caught a misty breeze, gulped up what sunshine it could, and bloomed into shapes both otherworldly and earthy. Think of this rich 2014 EP as a seed sample.

Lyric: Tune-Yards, "hold yourself."
Song: I can pinpoint the exact moment I became an R.E.M. fan: 37 seconds into the first song I heard by them, when an F# chord under the words “ray beam station” lifted this straightahead banger into the dream realm implied by the band’s name.
Album: Always happy to revisit this Ingram Marshall record from 1988, which includes his experiential masterpiece “Fog Tropes” as well as 2 other odd, inviting soundscapes, all of them shrines of negative space.

Lyric: Gene Autry (Kennedy/Carr), "South of the Border"
Song: I wouldn't say I love Chappell Roan more because she's doing both a knowing take on pop princess ear candy *and* delivering the goods...but I do love that combination, particularly on this buzzy track. I wink therefore I am.
Album: This record's title is a misnomer: The Swiss industrial band The Young Gods don't so much "play Kurt Weill" as thrash around in the vicinity of some of his songs. Still, it rises above "Sprockets"-esque novelty enough to be a compelling listen.

Lyric: Laura Marling, "What He Wrote"
Song: Going to try this Los Lobos classic this morning at Greenpoint Reformed Church. We don’t have a Veracruz harp but I do have a little nylon strong guitar I bought in Mexico and a venturesome fiddler, Cleek Schrey. It will be a joyful noise at least.
Album: It is hard to disentangle Ligeti’s great requiem from its iconic use in “2001,” but it’s worth trying. Heard in total, it is a fierce, immediate fever dream, suggesting not the emptiness of space but the terrifying vibrance of consciousness.