Music Diary, Vol. -83

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 May 30-June 5, 2022

LYRICS: Julie Andrews & Bill Lee (Rodgers & Hammerstein), "Something Good"

SONG: Not to be an insufferable hipster about it, but I discovered the manic high of this Betty Hutton scorcher on a random thrift-shop LP years before a certain Icelandic pop goddess blew it up. I'm sorry, Björk, your version is but a passable imitation.

LYRICS: David Bowie, "Oh! You Pretty Things"

SONG: What can you do with just 4 voices and drums? A thing of ornery yet companionable beauty like this track from the Winnipeg quintet Chic Gamine.

LYRICS: Claramae Turner, Barbara Ruick & Company (Rodgers & Hammerstein), "June Is Bustin' Out All Over"

SONG: You can absolutely hear why M.I.A. built a track around this beguiling aboriginal rap from the Wilcannia Mob. And apart from improving the sound quality, what’s striking is how little she changed the original, a delightfully slippery earworm.

LYRICS: Tom Waits, "Martha"

SONG: “You only want me when you’re wasted.” The heartrending, perfectly pitched lament of a serial doormat by my old friend Kevin Ray, this deserves to be a standard in every cabaret and honkytonk in the nation.

LYRICS: Bobbie Gentry, "Ode to Billy Joe"

SONG: Even before it was indelibly fused in my mind with the beautiful film Un Coeur en Hiver, the opening of this Ravel trio perfectly epitomized his unique mixture of chilliness and warmth, passion and reserve. Lifts and clarifies my spirits every time.

LYRICS: k.d. lang (Charles & Fred Tobias), "Tears Don't Care Who Cries Them"

SONG: I enjoy a lot of the throwback sounds of the Australian band Jagwar Ma but this 2013 track, a perfect pastiche that evokes the Beach Boys without sounding like slavish imitation, is something special.

LYRICS: Madison Cunningham & Porter's Gate (Audrey Assad), "Little Things With Great Love"

SONG: Paul Simon and Stéphane Grappelli, all killer, no filler, what’s not to love?