Music Diary, Vol. -33

For the rationale behind this mad effort, explanations here. The full series of Music Diary posts are here. The full playlist---1 song short of the usual 21, because Michelle Shocked's music is streaming literally nowhere---is above, also here.

Week of March 22-28, 2023

LYRICS: Marianne Faithfull, "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan"

SONG: While its mandolin strum and quavering vocals give it an unmistakable “Going to California” vibe, this under-appreciated David Garza gem from 2004 has its own uniquely buoyant, bittersweet appeal.

ALBUM: This 1988 classic wasn’t technically Michelle Shocked’s debut, but it did feel like the arrival of a major talent. I know its legacy has been complicated by its maker in years since, but there’s still not a bad note on it; it’s a perfect record.

LYRICS: Remi Wolf, "Grumpy Old Man"

SONG: One of my favorite Rodgers & Hart standards gets a sultry, slow-cooking reading by Cecile McLorin Salvant that easily holds its own next to Billie’s or Ella’s; Rodney Whitaker’s bass solo is a treat as well.

ALBUM: Hard to believe this hypnotically strange Los Lobos side project is almost 30 years old already. As ever, it still sounds like ancient music of the future; a syncretic religious artifact lit by black light; a half-remembered fever dream.

LYRICS: Ellen Greene (Ashman & Menken), "Somewhere That's Green"

SONG: It’s hardly the most significant thing about this arresting early rock classic by Ruth Brown, whose tambourine is as fierce as her vocal, but I’m always struck by the oddly formal third-person wording of the title phrase, as if she’s standing outside her own (traumatic) experience.

ALBUM: Among the casualties of the streaming era: great compilations. I’ve reconstructed one of my absolute faves, 2001’s INDESTRUCTIBLE ASIAN BEATS, a must-have sampler of (South) Asian underground tracks and remixes.

LYRICS: Ike & Tina Turner, "Nutbush City Limits"

SONG: Tina Turner’s first solo single declared not only her independence but her complete mastery of rock. Do you think Robert Plant heard this and thought, “Oh, so that’s how it’s done”? I’m going to bet he did.

ALBUM: I've heartily enjoyed all of Eleni Mandell's records, right up to 2019's underrated WAKE UP AGAIN, but I still reserve my strongest feelings for her brilliant, wildly varied 1998 debut. For me this was the sound of Silverlake in the '90s.

LYRICS: Merle Haggard, "Mama Tried"

SONG: The flat-7 chord (bVII) should really be called the minus-one (-I), as it usually feels like a gear shift down, not up. Arguable exception: the way it opens up this Dylan classic (it's the chord under "hear," "chill," "free," "town," and "fast").

ALBUM: This 1979 classic by The Jam is inseparable in my mind from their previous record, ALL MOD CONS, probably because I once had them on alternate sides of the same cassette (thanks to Dennis Prieto). They're both great, but I give this tougher-sounding LP a slight edge.

LYRICS: Bee Gees, "I Started a Joke"

SONG: Going to count it as a win that this is the kind of music my 13-year-old is now recommending to me: This soaring acoustic-electric The Backseat Lovers track was released a year ago but sounds a lot like the music I’ve loved for at least 30 years.

ALBUM: Happily spent most of yesterday spinning and respinning Jacqueline du Pré's intense, jaggedly gorgeous rendition of this Dvořák masterwork.

LYRICS: Buffy Sainte-Marie, "God Is Alive Magic Is Afoot"

SONG: Tina Turner’s first songwriting credit, from 1969, is this haunting riff on an old spiritual. God help me, I’m going to try to do it justice this morning at Greenpoint Reformed Church.

ALBUM: Paul Simon has always been an old soul, but his latest song suite finds him in full desert sage mode. The biblical dudgeon goes over easy thanks in part to the Davy Graham-style guitar, and to the spectral presence of Harry Partch instruments.