Music Diary, Vol. 97

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 Nov. 10-16, 2025

LYRICS: Sharon Lee Hill (Stephen Schwartz), "Where Is the Warmth?"

SONG: Chief among the many things I love about this Cibo Matto classic is the fact that its chorus—the thing you wait for every time—is nothing more than a grinding, vaguely sinister guitar figure and a repeated "Oh" in the vocal. Groove is in the gut, and in the clouds.

ALBUM: The orchestration is spare, the harmonies angular, and the politics almost self-parodically collectivist, but for whatever reason I find Brecht & Weill's 1930 Lehrstücke about a young boy sacrificing himself for the good of his town unutterably moving.

LYRICS: XTC, "River of Orchids"

SONG: The first thing you notice about this haunting Sibylle Baier tune is the queasy chromaticism of the repeated title word, the major keys shading to minor, the gentle vocal. The next thing you notice: It’s a meditation on time and motherhood and letting go, and it all clicks into place.

ALBUM: Happily revisiting one of my favorite records: the North American version of The Style Council's Café Bleu, a delicious grab bag of jazz-pop and blue-eyed soul, with dollops of rap and ragtime. It already sounded timeless in 1984. This band was my Wham!

LYRICS: Everything But The Girl, "Apron Strings"

SONG: Seldom has a song with such an irresistibly gritty guitar lick as its defining riff given way to such a bouncy, flute-accented chorus, but that's all part of the crafty pop-rock magic of Foxwarren. (And yes, the Joe Cappa video for this tune is delightfully bonkers).

ALBUM: I first came to Canadian soprano Patricia O'Callaghan for her renditions of Weill, Poulenc, and Satie, and have followed her intermittently since; she's got Dawn Upshaw-worthy chops and eclecticism. Her new song cycle with David Braid is exquisite.

LYRICS: Madison Cunningham, "Collider Particles"

SONG: On its face, this Replacements classic has a legible form: verse, pre-chorus, chorus, rinse and repeat. But it has always felt delightfully disorienting, even chaotic to me, as if it's made of shards of half-ideas until it gets to its true hook: "Because I just might lose it."

ALBUM: I don’t use music primarily as a balm, but there’s no gainsaying how much this willowy Bridget St. John record hits the spot on a stressful day. The tricksy opener “Nice” alone is a perfect, crystalline oasis unto itself.

LYRICS: Midlake, "Some of Them Were Superstitious"

SONG: The organ and vocal and guitar tone on this catchy, world-weary Caroline Rose bop sounds so much like Beach House, I initially thought it was meant as a parody. After several happy listens I've decided it's a tribute.

ALBUM: The news that Sting’s shipbuilding musical is coming to the Met Opera next June gave me an excuse to revisit its pretty glorious score, which shows solid storytelling craft and has flashes of true inspiration. He really should try his hand at another. 

LYRICS: Missing Persons, "Walking in L.A."

SONG: Grooving on this beguiling 5/4 gypsy-folk tune by the late, great Lhasa de Sala.

ALBUM: “Snide” was literally in his name, but it’s not fair to remember the ornery troubadour Todd Snider (taken too soon, RIP) only for his snark and bite; I also cherish the true feeling he baked into all his work. This record is the one I turn to most.

LYRICS: Rosalía, "La Yugular"

SONG: Opened the service at Greenpoint Reformed Church this morning with a slightly reharmonized version of this spiritual, here memorably rendered by Paul Robeson. Like many such tunes, it recreates the very feeling it describes.

ALBUM: Love the way Caroline Shaw is able to weave Sacred Harp lyrics into an equal parts enchanting/unsettling mix of plainsong, fragmented rhythms, and sneakily complicated harmony on this piece, recorded with Dawn Upshaw, Sō Percussion, and Gilbert Kalish.