Music Diary, Vol. 12

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 March 25-31, 2024

LYRICS: Ruth Brown (Rudy Toombs), "As Long as I'm Moving"

SONG: How do 2 instruments generate this much sound? Honestly there are string quartets that feel less substantial and harmonically rich than this keening, capering violin-and-viola miniature by Martinů.

ALBUM: To celebrate Joni’s return to Spotify, I’ll share the 1975 record that arguably marked the sharpest turn in her output to date. Jazz arrangements and narrative lyrics had been in her arsenal before, but here she doubled down and leveled up.

LYRICS: Jean Ritchie, "The L and N Don't Stop Here Anymore"

SONG: "Hi, ich bin Regina George." Somehow this MEAN GIRLS revenge song sounds eerily at home in German, in this fierce cover by Devi-Ananda.

ALBUM: I revere Bernard Herrmann’s Hitchcock scores, of course, but the first music of his that got under my skin was his inspired work on fantasy and sci-fi films, especially the skeleton duel in SINBAD. This 1973 compilation has some of his best.

LYRICS: The Postal Service, "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight"

SONG: I love the way this single by Atka (a.k.a. Sarah Neumann) builds, with a low-simmer vocal over a manic, churning beat, giving way to a full-throated singalong chorus. A watched pot may never boil but a listened-to pot? Absolutely.

ALBUM: One thing I’ve noticed about Ramin Djawadi’s “Game of Thrones” score: It strongly forefronts strings and percussion and mostly sidelines the breath of winds and the glow of brass, so that its focus, like the series, is on guts and skin.

LYRICS: Vera Lynn (Maschwitz/Sherwin), "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square"

SONG: As much as I love Jack White’s way with the guitar, when the Stripes broke out a piano tune it was always special, not least because Meg White’s drums stepped up to fill the space, as on this rollicking banger.

ALBUM: Spent a lot of yesterday soaking in this warm, tuneful 2021 record by Marisa Monte, who’s been making smart, companionable Brazilian pop for 30-plus years and is still going strong.

LYRICS: Waxahatchee, "Right Back to It"

SONG: Call me basic but this raucous singalong is the track from COWBOY CARTER that really jumped out at me on first listen. Forget country—this sounds like '60s frat rock to me (not even counting the Beach Boys quote).

ALBUM: Millennial Glasgow savants Life Without Buildings went viral with "The Leanover" a few years back, but their entire 2000 debut is worth spinning. Indeed that's how this record should leave you: spinning, in an invigorated daze.

LYRICS: Lizzo, "Break Up Twice"

SONG: Absolutely no shade on Ms. Knowles’s already iconic cover, but if you want to hear McCartney’s “Blackbird” reclaimed and reinvented as a Black woman’s affirmation, you must check out Bettye Lavette’s revelatory 2020 rendition.

ALBUM: Czech string music is one of my happy places, which means this collection of works for string orchestra by Dvořák, Janáček, Suk, Martinů, and Smetana is one I’m always eager to revisit.

LYRICS: Dolly Parton, "He's Alive"

SONG: This Tom Waits classic has quite rightly become a staple of the Easter service at Greenpoint Reformed Church. The world is dreaming indeed.

ALBUM: Hallelujah: The entire concert staging of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR from 1996 (the basis for a great Daemon Records release), with the Indigo Girls as Jesus and Mary Magdalene and a bunch of Atlanta indie bands shredding the score, is on YouTube. #dailyalbum