Music Diary, Vol. -10

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

Week of Oct. 30-Nov. 5

Lyrics: Flanders & Swann, "Ill Wind"

Song: This S&G hit was never a particular favorite of mine, but this version with Paul Simon and George Harrison makes me hear it anew, esp. the dominant 7th note George sneaks into the harmony at 2:05—a subtle hint of a whole other arrangement/feel.

Album: If you’ve ever wished the Velvet Underground had done an MTV Unplugged, this Reed/Cale/Nico concert from 1972 is as close as you’ll get. The VU standards are rendered like chamber music, and Reed debuts “Berlin” as “my Barbra Streisand song.”

Lyrics: David Bowie, "Please Mr. Gravedigger"

Song: Leave it to Tom Waits to turn a hoary dead trucker ghost story into a moving folk elegy.

Album: I’m a bit of a wuss about horror, so I’m sure the reason I wore out this purportedly scary Disney sound effects record when I was a kid is that it’s loud and hilarious. A relisten proves the point—it’s about as terrifying as wax Dracula teeth.

Lyrics: Madison Beer, "Ryder"

Song: Maybe the bro-iest band ever fronted by 2 women, Mary’s Danish owned the punk/funk party jam for a minute in the late 1980s, though they never topped the raucous opener of their first record, with vocal harmonies as sharp as the slashing guitar.

Album: If you love Stravinsky’s “Pulcinella,” as I do, Adriano Brandão’s compilation of its classical sources is revelatory—and not only because it’s mostly not Pergolesi. I chiefly come away marveling at Igor’s taste in mining this rich ore.

Lyrics: Talking Heads, "Animals"

Song: Less a song than a mood, this almost-out-the-door late Beatles tune is a tremulous, luxuriant sound world unto itself; it pops (or rather seeps) into my head unbidden quite often, and entirely welcomely.

Album: Today’s relisten to Janis’s posthumously released masterpiece is entirely due to A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs’ great episode on her short, brilliant life. New fave tune: the sultry, alternately fleet-footed and stomping “Half Moon.”

Lyrics: Bebe Neuwirth (Rodgers & Hart), "Zip"

Song: I could not love the extreme contrasts, nigh incongruities, of this track more: June Tabor sings Maggie Holland’s folk ode to English soul over an imposing Big Band arrangement, with a recurring major/minor riff that mingles cloud and sunshine.

Album: I can't be the only one who was knocked out by k.d. lang's 1987 debut, on which she nailed a unique blend of bouncy country kitsch, tight Western swing, and soul-deep feeling like no one before or since. It still sounds surprisingly fresh.

Lyrics: Lana Del Rey, "hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have - but i have it"

Song: A singer and guitarist trained in Córdoba, now based in Amsterdam, Susana Raya (another Ted Gioia recommendation) handily proves that this Joni standard works quite well as bossa nova.

Album: I don’t know if this is in The Great Albums Of 1972 conversation but I’d say it definitely belongs there. Not technically Simon’s first solo record but the first most folks heard, and a peerless template for his ambitious post-Garfunkel career.

Lyrics: Joy Harjo, "This Morning I Pray for My Enemies"

Song: Two of my favorite artists, Sam Phillips and Gaby Moreno, come together in this haunting Spanish-language version of “Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us.” I especially love the piano and drums throughout, plus the ghostly voices on the last verse.

Album: I don’t remember a lot about the Peter Brook MAHABHARATA, which I saw on video decades ago, but its evocative wind-and-percussion-driven soundtrack has been on regular rotation ever since.