Music Diary, Vol. 49

For the rationale behind this mad effort, the initial post is here. The full series of Music Diary posts are here. The full playlist is above, and also here.

Week of Dec. 9-15, 2024

LYRICS: Roger Miller, "You Can't Roller Skate in a Buffalo Herd"

SONG: The sound of longing: the major-9th and major-7th chords this Rodgers & Hart standard leans on in the first chorus: “There’s” (Dbmaj9), “with” (Dbmaj7), “together” (back to Dbmaj9). This sweet Betty Garrett rendition makes it clear as a steeple bell.

ALBUM: Just discovered the rich, rangy pleasures of this 1969 classic by Pentangle (or The Pentangle), on which the blend of prog, folk, blues, and early music never gets crowded or precious. The opener, “Light Flight,” sets a high bar and the rest clears it.

LYRICS: Julia Jacklin, "Don't Let the Kids Win"

SONG: I love the way this tune by Sunset Rollercoaster builds from a sleepy groove into full-throated soul pop, and then at about 3:40, a flute jumps in and turns it into an ecstatic orch pop jam.

ALBUM: What I loved most about The Propellerheads was their sense of humor. The slapping electronics on their sole full-length record don’t just have a soul; they’ve also got a funny bone.

LYRICS: Terence Mann, Victor Garber, Jonathan Hadary, Debra Monk (Sondheim), "The Gun Song"

SONG: The opening track from Dance Raja Dance, Luaka Bop's peerless collection of Vijaya Anand film music, sounds as fresh and bubbly as it did when it was first made (in 1987). Posting now because I only just discovered the delightfully bonkers video.

ALBUM: The albums Ask Me No Questions and Thank You For... sold me on Bridget St. John's distinctive folk-pop contralto, but her more chaotic, aptly named 1974 record Jumblequeen took me longer to love. It was worth it: another St. John revelation unlocked. 

LYRICS: Finom, "Parts"

SONG: Mirwais Ahmadzaï is the main reason Music is my fave Madonna record, and the odd groove of this unlikely hit is Exhibit A: With a clipped guitar loop that never doesn’t sound like a mistake, he turned a Tom Waits-ian tango by Joe Henry into something even stranger.

ALBUM: Fela Kuti created soundscapes both inviting and spiky—you can get lost in them even as you stay alert, as if you are lucid dreaming. You’re drawn in but never lulled. This 1973 collection offers some prime cuts.

LYRICS: Napoleon XIV, "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!"

SONG: The key ingredient of this deathless Replacements single is suspense: It strategically withholds the chorus until the tune is 2/3 over. And it’s a song about—what else?—waiting.

ALBUM: Sorry, I don’t make the rules: Winter means obsessive replaying of this achingly gorgeous Schubert song cycle. The ideal recording is Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau’s, not least because pianist Gerald Moore is every bit the singer’s interpretative equal.

LYRICS: Madison Cunningham, "All I've Ever Known"

SONG: I know next to nothing about the 2 youngsters who wrote and recorded this delicious, plaintive folk waltz other than that their names are Alice Faye (not the vintage film star) and Julen Santamaria and they’re both from Glasgow. I’ll be listening for more.

ALBUM: Call me basic but I have a big soft spot for Miles in short, sweet, melodic form, as on this 1957 classic with Gil Evans. Most striking on this listen: how seamlessly the tracks flow from one to the next—the sound is that consistent, like one long breath.

LYRICS: Ron Sexmith, "Speaking With the Angel"

SONG: Just noticed that Joni’s deceptively casual setting of 1 Corinthians 13 subtly subverts the “put away childish things”/“through a glass darkly” pivot, looking back to childhood for the full vision of truth rather than ahead to some further revelation.

ALBUM: The sun shone through Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s voice. Actually I take back the tense of that verb—as this recently uncovered collection shows, that light still shines brilliantly for all who listen.