Music Diary, Vol. -45

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 Feb. 27-March 5, 2023

LYRICS: Scott Merrill (Weill/Brecht/Blitzstein), "Ballad of the Easy Life"

SONG: This ebullient 7-minute jam was my intro to the great Youssou N’Dour, and with its major-minor mix of bright electric guitars, brass, restless percussion, and vocals that sound both impassioned and joyous, it’s still my favorite of his.

ALBUM: My favorite jazz record is based around Marcus Roberts’ piano, but all the players bring their A game to this soulful, capering collection, including a mystery trumpeter named E. Dankworth (spoiler: It’s Wynton).

LYRICS: Lotte Lenya (Weill/Nash), "Speak Low"

SONG: The secret weapon of this hypnotic, loping Shins track imo is the flat 6th chord of the bridge—it sounds like a curtain has been pulled back to view “a mountain range on fire.” The main melody is pretty catchy too.

ALBUM: I always return happily to this 2008 record by Midlake, which stands as a kind of reliquary of sad, gorgeous, haunted Americana.

LYRICS: Sarah Rice (Sondheim), "Green Finch and Linnet Bird"

SONG: Most of this slow-burner by Earth, Wind & Fire manages to put over its strange, insinuating chords with a flawlessly smooth delivery, all the more by contrasting that flow with the wild 4-note offbeat brass blast figure that opens and closes it.

ALBUM: Maybe because his early stuff is so definitive and his previous album, LAND OF DREAMS, was something of a breakthrough, I don't think this great 1999 Randy Newman collection gets enough love. But it's yet another of his crazed, filigreed beauties.

LYRICS: Fiona Apple, "Shameika"

SONG: This bonkers power-pop banger from Teen Girl Scientist Monthly sounds like it could have been recorded in any of the past 4 decades, give or take (it's actually from 2013), which is maybe one reason it has always sounded timeless to me.

ALBUM: The way Haley Heynderickx builds this exquisite record up from finger-picked guitar and a single vocal line into a kind of hushed, quietly intense chamber music, in the neighborhood of Sufjan and Lenker, with a touch of Buckley—consider me sold.

LYRICS: David Bowie, "Queen Bitch"

SONG: With its Gymnopedie chords and sinuous modal melody (which, oddly enough, keeps reminding me faintly but distinctly of Sondheim), this gorgeous, equivocal Jessica Pratt tune is my new obsession.

ALBUM: Sometimes what your Friday needs is a long, strong dose of Thin Lizzy. This platter always does the trick for me.

LYRICS: Christian Lee Hutson, "Atheist"

SONG: My favorite Elvis Costello deep cut is probably this wild, word-drunk fandango he recorded live in 2004 with the Dutch Metropole Orkest. There’s so much going on here it *almost* falls apart but ultimately sticks the landing. It’s stunning.

ALBUM: This Roy Clark collection from 1963 is pure finger-picking joy.

LYRICS: George Jones, "Cup of Loneliness"

SONG: The most radical Christian claim isn’t the Resurrection but universal human equality. Let Mavis Staples preach it.

ALBUM: Some years ago with the NY City Master Chorale I had the joy of singing this folksy, joyous Dvořák piece. What a blast of sunshine it is.