Music Diary, Vol. 66

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 April 7-13, 2025

LYRICS: Henson Cargill (Moran/Douglas), “Skip a Rope”

SONG: This is so obviously one of Elvis Costello’s peak tunes, I’ve never stopped to consider why. I’d say it has something to do with the vocal’s combo of confidence and ache, and an expansive full-band sound that evokes “Like a Rolling Stone.” It sprawls; it also grips.

ALBUM: It must be a measure of the internal consistency of this epochal Paul Simon record that repeated listens to his preferred track order (which the record label overruled) haven't changed my feeling about it, which is that it's great (arguably his best).

LYRICS: Mike Viola, "King Kong Hand"
SONG: One of Schubert's greatest tunes, with words by Shakespeare, set and sung by yours truly as a Dixieland jam. Cinco Paul is on trombone, Matt North on drums.

ALBUM: So many feelings revisiting this William Finn score today, most of them about the turmoil and affection among these raw-nerve characters, some of them about realizing the show's long-tail influence on musicals like Fun Home, to name just one. RIP maestro.

LYRICS: Stephanie J. Block (William Finn), "Trina's Song" from Falsettos
SONG: Underrated, under-discussed ace in the hole on Dirty Projectors’ 2012 masterpiece Swing Lo Magellan: Brian MacOmber’s clattery, clambering percussion, most pronounced on this wild, tuneful, time-signature-bending bit of chamber pop.

ALBUM: Revisiting this towering Amy Winehouse record and appreciating anew not only the songcraft and sonics but especially the fatback drumming of Homer Steinweiss—a key linchpin of the retro sound, and the thing I always listen for (apart from that peerless voice).

LYRICS: Bobbie Gentry, "Mississippi Delta"
SONG: If Devo were a surf guitar band, they might sound something like the great Alabama outfit Man or Astro-Man? This relentless track is a great intro to their manic Space Age sound.

ALBUM: Σtella's new record took longer to grow on me than her first, 2022's Up and Away, but grow on me it definitely has. Less world music jam, more trip-hop-meets-Sade than its predecessor, its considerable charms sneak up on you and get under your skin.

LYRICS: Lana Del Rey, "Mariners Apartment Complex"
SONG: Things to love about this cracking Selena Gomez single, apart from the "Psycho Killer" bass line: the hypnotic triplet phrasing of the main hook, the telltale cracks in the too-cool vocal surface, indie pop stylings that pave the way for Olivia Rodrigo.

ALBUM: Eydie Gormé's 1964 collaboration with Trio Los Panchos remains one of the best Latin crossover records until Miami Sound Machine came along, not least because it doesn't sound like a crossover at all but instead carves out its own authentic sonic space.

LYRICS: Logan Ledger (T-Bone Burnett), "(I'm Gonna Get Over This) Some Day"
SONG: Hardcore punk hasn't ever been my main jam, but I have always found the churning, flaring energy and wit of this fierce track by the 1980s-era Athens band Bar-B-Q Killers irresistible. And this clip from the Athens, GA: Inside/Out documentary is a must-watch.

ALBUM: I must thank Chris Molanphy’s great new Hit Parade series on Rihanna for sending me back to her 2016 masterpiece, which only seems to grow in stature year by year (and not only because it hasn’t been followed up yet).

LYRICS: U2, "Wake Up Dead Man"
SONG: I resonate so strongly with this loving but circumspect bit of waltzing nostalgia by the criminally underrated David Ackles, which doesn’t just look back warmly on his childhood religious faith but seeks to re-conjure some of its power in musical form.

ALBUM: North Carolina’s answer to the Louvin Brothers, the Blue Sky Boys (brothers Earl and Bill Bolick) had a slightly rawer vocal sound than their Alabamian peers, but their harmonies on this gospel-heavy collection are no less sweet and bright and clear.