Music Diary, Vol. -19

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 Aug. 28-Sept. 3, 2023

Lyrics: Monty Python, "The Philosophers' Song"

Song: A friend from Durham (Liz Johnson) turned me onto Sam Fender, a smashing young singer-songwriter from Newcastle, who to my ears suggests equal parts Jeff Buckley and Arcade Fire, though he’s got something all his own, as you can hear on this lovely track.

Album: Honestly I struggle a bit with Mahler’s orchestral oeuvre, but I have no problem appreciating his alternately robust and tender lieder for soprano and orchestra, especially when delivered by the bronze-and-honey-voiced Frederica von Stade.

Lyrics: The Proclaimers, "I Know I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)"

Song: The finest evocation of the dream state in pop, I’d argue, is this smoothly bumpy, string-heavy tune from mid-period solo Lennon.

Album: I don’t know if you could say that this spare yet ambitious 1989 album from Terence Trent D’Arby (who now goes by Sananda Maitreya) was ahead of its time—out of time is more like it. Its mix of psychedelia and soul still sounds original.

Lyrics: Ruthie Ann Miles (Rodgers & Hammerstein), "Something Wonderful"

Song: The slow-building opening track of bassist Viktor Krauss's undersung 2006 solo album is a mirage of steam and strings, a TV theme in search of a show. It's mesmerizing.

Album: Maybe it's the theatre kid in me, but I've always had a soft spot for Bowie's early Anthony Newley mode, as on this 1967 collection. A lot of it's novelty stuff, true, but it's first-rate goofing, and a fair amount of it is substantial and affecting.

Lyrics: Elvis Costello, "Night Rally"

Song: My nominee for one of the weirdest and funniest tunes ever recorded is this nearly 11-minute Frank Sinatra rhapsody to space travel, which would be mere teeth-gritting kitsch if he didn’t seem to be in on the joke and loving every minute of it.

Album: A lot of McCartney’s solo output sounds to me like stuff he would have made with the Beatles or a logical outgrowth of it. But this great 1971 record is something stranger, a bespoke homemade curio and a freak-folk tangent he seldom revisited.

Lyrics: Deana Carter, "Did I Shave My Legs for This?"

Song: The contrast between the gleeful music and anguished lyrics of this Pioneers classic goes beyond irony into some uncharted other place—it’s a partying plaint, a mourner’s hallelujah. I know it helps me keep going.

Album: Just discovered the chaotic joypop band The Go! Team and I’m smitten—and reaching for a description: They’re like an analog 100 gecs; what Fatboy Slim and Sufjan Stevens might do with a Fostex 4-track; manic shoegaze. Whatever it is, I love it.

Lyrics: Jimmy Buffett, "School Boy Heart"

Song: I have mixed feelings about this breezy Kenny Burrell cover of one of Randy Newman’s bleakest songs, but they’re mostly washed away by the arrangement’s gentle brilliance, especially on the bridge, where the melancholy can’t help but seep in.

Album: Not every track here is a slam dunk, but the way Seu Jorge gets under the skin of these Bowie tunes and finds fresh treasures in them is endlessly inspiring. And he gets bonus points for including the early obscurity “When I Live My Dream.”

Lyrics: Roy Acuff, "Great Speckled Bird"

Song: Just stumbled upon this early Leslie Phillips video, in which the contrast between her willowy blond California pop soprano affect and the intense, apocalyptic tune she’s playing on acoustic guitar is an arresting preview of Sam Phillips.

Album: The Mozart Great Mass pulls off the Bach-like trick of sounding stately and sober while never sitting still, with appoggiaturas that stretch on in agonizing suspense before clicking into place. Meanwhile the vocal writing is pure Mozart honey.