Music Diary, Vol. -68

The rationale behind this mad project is here. The full playlist is above, also here.

Week of Sept. 19-25, 2022

LYRICS: Chuck Berry, "Havana Moon"

SONG: There are certainly songs faster than this dizzying Pizzicato Five keyboard chase, but I don't know if I've ever heard a track that feels faster.

LYRICS: Joan Baez, "Diamonds and Rust"

SONG: I'll never forget the cloudy afternoon at the Ojai Music Festival when Paul Crossley was playing the Ravel Concerto in G and the sun broke through at this movement's exact crescendo (here at 5:36, in Martha Argerich's rendition). Awe-inspiring.

LYRICS: Gerry Rafferty, "Baker Street"

SONG: There is so little to this Terence Trent D'Arby single—a three-note guitar riff, a metronomic drum beat, layers of vocals, and some odd flourishes—but less is more, I guess. Somehow, without being dense or logy, it's a hypnotic fever dream.

LYRICS: The Specials, "What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend"

SONG: Low-key my fave Bo Diddley track doesn't feature his famous beat and is in fact a showcase for his percussionist/foil Jerome Green (I do also love "Pretty Thing," so no shade on Ellas Otha).

LYRICS: Seratones, "Fear"

SONG: I could live all day in Kurt Weill's harmonies (and occasionally have). This perfect waltz tune from Marie Galante is just one delicious chord after another; that it's in French (not just the lyrics, but the music somehow) only makes it sweeter.

LYRICS: Richard Thompson, "Now That I Am Dead"

SONG: If you’re not already clued into Australian guitar wizard Tommy Emmanuel, this headlong showpiece is a great intro.

LYRICS: Bob Dylan, "When the Ship Comes In"

SONG: At Greenpoint Reformed Church today, the band is going to attempt a version of this traditional gospel number, which I learned from this quasi-jump-blues rendition by the Blue Chips (a front of hokum savant Norridge Hayhams) on the indispensable Goodbye Babylon collection.