Music Diary, Vol. -17

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 Sept. 11-17, 2023

Lyrics: Brave Combo, "Do Something Different"

Song: Noticed in this infectious Sara Bareilles tune: The melody and harmony on the title phrase (“I don’t want your wicked love”) echoes “I wanna see you be brave” (dominant V7 to tonic), or what I think of as the “All Through the Night” cadence.

Album: For whatever reason string quartets speak to me uncannily directly, like the classical music equivalent of the acoustic singer-songwriter genre. I count these late Beethovens not only as paragons of the form but as cherished companions.

Lyrics: Patti Smith, "Redondo Beach"

Song: 14 years after it was released, this exuberantly off-kilter Dirty Projectors jam still mystifies and elates me in equal measure. The sunburst chorus never fails to make me see and feel the dawning joy of the title.

Album: After one of the great debut albums of all time, the bruja's brew LA LLORONA, the Canadian singer Lhasa followed with this transfixing collection, which added not only multiple languages but a freshly stark intimacy and directness.

Lyrics: Thomas Dolby, "Budapest by Blimp"

Song: If Fiona Apple did math rock it might sound something like this stunning new Madison Cunningham tune, called “Subtitled” (11:31:25), which she recently debuted at Pickathon in Oregon. She and her band turn in a blazing set all around.

Album: Recorded live in an empty church, this mesmerizing Cowboy Junkies debut puts you in the room where the music happened like few records I know. Not all the instruments are unplugged here, but the vibe is certifiably acoustic.

Lyrics: Rufus Wainwright, "Poses"

Song: Not enough people seem to know this Jacques Brel track, in which orchestrator François Rauber turns a simple minor-key waltz about a girl dancing in a sweltering town square into a rapturous mirage. Trilling flutes, ondes martenot, harp...it's perfection.

Album: Don't let this record's title (or "exotic" in the subtitle) warn you off—this is a gorgeous concert of unjustly obscure organ music, leavened by some fun novelties, sure, but shot through with a real pulse of feeling and the uncanny sense of breath that only an organ can achieve.

Lyrics: Shonen Knife, "I Wanna Eat Chocobars"

Song: Don’t be fooled by the delicious retro stylings of this Adia Victoria Southern swamp rock banger—the roots of this track go deeper, and further back, than the bouncy 1960s sound suggests.

Album: I'll concede that this stuff is gimmicky AF, but I love it nonetheless: Here are both volumes of François Glorieux's Fab Four piano covers "in the style" of various classical composers. I have a soft spot for the Ravel "Michelle," natch.

Lyrics: Alexis Smith (Sondheim), "The Story of Lucy and Jessie"

Song: With some music, you can somehow feel the shape as well as the sound of it, and that’s part of what I respond to in the title track of Thin White Rope’s great 1987 album; it’s a masterful and moving piece of rock composition.

Album: It’s Olivia Rodrigo’s world, we’re just living it. Seriously, as good as I hoped it would be, this record surpasses expectations.

Lyrics: Big Star, "Try Again"

Song: Imagine your church service closing with an ecstatic jazz/high life jam like this one from Ghana’s Florence Adooni and her band. (H/t Ted Gioia)

Album: Though his religious faith waxed and waned (relatable), Beethoven nevertheless considered the Grand Mass his greatest work. One need not agree with that assessment to give props to the work’s alternately thrilling and sobering grandeur.