Music Diary, Vol. -25

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 July 16-23, 2023

Lyrics: Dean Friedman, "Ariel"

Song: Listening to Jane Birkin yesterday, I came across her 1978 record EX FAN DES SIXTIES. One particular highlight is this Gainsbourg-penned trifle about a faithless lover, which lays her world-weary whisper over a catchy Captain-and-Tennille groove.

Album: The spiky clavinet, the minor keys, the reverb vocals, the deep jams and searching ballads—this astonishing 1971 Stevie Wonder record doesn’t just sound like a precursor to his signature masterpieces; it may be the beginning of that period.

Lyrics: Bob Dylan, "Where Are You Tonight? (Journey Through Dark Heat)"

Song: “Famous person muses bitterly on the price of fame” is a tricky genre but George Michael did it better than anyone with this joyous, witty jam. The way the long fuse of the verse and pre-chorus leads to the explosive chorus—it’s a master class.

Album: They’ve made no bad records but if I had to pick a favorite, this 2017 The Secret Sisters collection is especially sweet and sad and soaring and makes an ideal intro. Put this blood harmony directly into my veins.

Lyrics: Jeannie C. Riley, "Harper Valley P.T.A."

Song: With its spectral spaciousness, spindly mandolin, and keening duet vocals, this vintage Led Zeppelin track now sounds like a preview or proof test of RAISING SAND—indeed, it was a highlight of last year’s Plant/Krauss show.

Album: Among the many things I love about Remi Wolf's JUNO are the sweetly layered harmony vocals, but as this killer live set shows, she is just as compelling singing by herself. Don’t miss the great Frank Ocean cover.

Lyrics: Fiona Apple, "Better Version of Me"

Song: Her first record, LOS ÁNGELES, features just guitar and voice, but it’s as ambitious and radical a mashup as any of Rosalía’s subsequent records. This standout track, for instance, weaves together verses from 3 separate flamenco cantes.

Album: My favorite Ry Cooder record, an exuberant gumbo of zydeco and stomping blues from 1987, is not available as a full record on streaming, so I pieced it together with a playlist. You're welcome.

Lyrics: Waxahatchee, "Lilacs"

Song: With its circular chord progression and triple meter, not to mention its subtle trumpet and wind accents, this Serge Gainsbourg classic is a self-contained whirlpool I could get lost in all day.

Album: I was recently asked what my favorite Kurt Weill score is, and I wavered among JOHNNY JOHNSON, the MAHAGONNY opera, 7 DEADLY SINS...and this overlooked 1933 gem, his last full stage work in Germany, with a confident yet tender sound all its own.

Lyrics: Sonic Youth, "Tunic (Song for Karen)"

Song: My favorite fun fact about Tony Bennett is that his second No. 1 record, in 1951, was this yearny Hank Williams standard, sweetened but not softened by Percy Faith strings.

Album: I loved so much that he did but it was a collection simply titled JAZZ that put Tony Bennett in my personal pantheon.

Lyrics: Simon & Garfunkel, "Blessed"

Song: Kruangbin’s Mark Speer and DJ Johnson met playing in a Houston church band. This meditative, quasi-Baroque track is apparently an ode to that time, not necessarily something they played at the church, but it certainly is easy to imagine it.

Album: The exquisite, expansive piano stylings of Ethiopian nun Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou put me in mind of Eastwood Lane—is this ragtime? Light classical? Parlor songs for heaven’s waiting room? Genre hardly matters when music is this inspired.