Music Diary, Vol. 59

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 Feb. 17-23, 2025

LYRICS: Neil Young, "Revolution Blues"

SONG: It was the slide guitar in the final instrumental break of this Threepenny duet that sold me on Kurt Weill. I think now that it might also have been that section’s oddly uplifting chord progression, in contrast to the hard edges of the rest of the song.

ALBUM: After the love-at-first-listen experience of Murmur, every subsequent R.E.M. record had to grow on me, to varying degrees. Few took longer or ultimately planted themselves more deeply than the brash, dark, weird, soulful sound of their third.

LYRICS: The Specials, "Racist Friend"

SONG: RIP Paquita de la Barrio, who sang sweet-sounding boleros with frank, funny, caustic lyrics. This blistering kiss-off to a “two-legged rat” is justly iconic, not least for her signature line “Me estás oyendo, inútil?” (Basically: You hear me, shithead?)

ALBUM: One of my favorite genres is vintage electrified "world" music, from Peruvian chicha to Thai rock to Ghanaian high life. I would happily add this collection of Turkish folk hero (and sometime politician) Arif Sağ shredding on bağlama to the record pile.

LYRICS: Paquita de la Barrio (Candelario Macedo), “Tres veces te engañé”

SONG: The Xavier Cugat record is the famous version, of course, but the original take on this iconic Ary Barroso anthem, by Francisco Alves, is definitely worth a spin. More lachrymose than triumphant, it's also oddly moving, almost stately.

ALBUM: Since Luaka Bop's O Samba compilation introduced me to her spirit-lifting "Ijexá (Filhos De Ghandi)," the tragically short-lived Clara Nunes has been a fave. This essential posthumous collection assembles the best of her samba/pagode over the decades.

LYRICS: David Ackles, "I've Been Loved"

SONG: Not the best or my favorite Elvis Costello track, but this wistful, unassuming bit of self-produced bedroom pop from 1980 is a perfect example of one of his default modes: British down to its toes, songcraft to spare, a gentle put pitiless tone.

ALBUM: Spent most of yesterday reveling in the tight swing harmonies of this great American vocal trio. Do I slightly prefer the Boswells? Sure, but the Andrewses had plenty of bops too. Vol. 1 of this collection is great but Vol. 2 is the one I had on repeat.

LYRICS: Caroline Polachek, "Butterfly Net"

SONG: Girl-group bubblegum garage pop with a subtle but unmistakable melancholy undertone and a dash of puckish wit—what’s not to love about the California band Candypants? This happy-sad march is a great intro.

ALBUM: Martha Argerich brings spiky personality and tactile sensitivity to Ravel's piano works, and—my highest compliment—makes me hear things in this amazing body of work that hadn't hit me, or struck me the same way, before.

LYRICS: Cake, "The Distance"

SONG: This rousing brass-band processional isn’t one of the Oscar-nominated songs from Emilia Pérez, but it’s the one I like best, not least for Adriana Paz’s singing and for the quasi-Balkan sound conjured by composers Camille and Clément Ducol.

ALBUM: This 1999 record by the great Japanese trio The Pillows has an invitingly tuneful swagger, though it also hits as hard as anything by their pop punk generational cohort.

LYRICS: Joni Mitchell, "The Magdalene Laundries"

SONG: I first learned Ed McCurdy’s anti-war folk waltz from Simon & Garfunkel’s debut album, and it’s become a staple at Greenpoint Reformed Church, where I’ll open with it this morning. McCurdy’s original is spare, moving, and as timelessly urgent as a prayer.

ALBUM: I don’t know a lot about Candomblé, the syncretic Yoruba/Catholic religion of Brazil, but I do know that it has inspired some of my favorite music, including this stunning, star-studded 2019 tribute record to priestess Mãe Carmen.