Music Diary, Vol. 35

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 Sept. 2-8, 2024

LYRICS: Beck, "Debra"

SONG: Following the country rule that an upbeat tune must have bleak lyrics (and vice versa), this 1951 Johnnie & Jack hit never fails to get me tapping my toes…to a bitter lyric about evil and shame.

ALBUM: If you live long enough, one day your 15-year-old will turn you onto 1970s-era Japanese jazz fusion, like this diverting 1978 collection by guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka, which among other delights features a wild “Star Wars Samba.”

LYRICS: The Coasters (Lieber & Stoller), "Three Cool Cats"

SONG: Ry Cooder is a great guitar player, obviously, but I think he’s an even better arranger, regularly turning country and rock standards into perfect genre crossovers, as on this inspired norteña take on a Jim Reeves classic.

ALBUM: Trying to figure out if it’s just Anoushka Lucas’s vibe—very supper club, dramatic but unfussy, strong London accent—that lulls me or if she’s actually a generational talent. That I’ve spun this record maybe 10 times so far may be the answer.

LYRICS: Paul Simon, "She Moves On"

SONG: My favorite Specials song has to be this mean, creepy, funny, utterly seductive bit of falsetto ska, remarkably one of Jerry Dammers’s only vocal appearances with the band.

ALBUM: The Ravel collection I’ve probably returned to most often contains Martha Argerich and Michel Béroff’s stunning takes on the piano concerti and an ideal orchestral “Le Tombeau,” all under Abbado’s baton.

LYRICS: Randy Newman, "Golden Gridiron Boy"

SONG: I’m a sucker for the moments when The Replacements dropped the rock swagger for a little old-fashioned piano songcraft. This one is a favorite, not least in its narrative understatement (it took me years to realize it’s a kind of breakup song).

ALBUM: Can this Janet Jackson masterwork really be almost 35 years old? Those rafter-shaking Jam-Lewis beats still make me bang my head like a teen, and the symphonic richness of the arrangements throughout remain an unalloyed pleasure.

LYRICS: George Jones, "The Window Up Above"

SONG: On Sunday evening at Greenpoint Reformed Church during a revelatory song share, Timo Andres lifted the piano lid and blew us all away with this headlong romp, in which dissonance chases minimalism chases pure joy—centuries of music in under 6 minutes.

ALBUM: This psychedelic jazz harp record by Dorothy Ashby is more than mere shtick or kitsch, though it has an undeniable retro kick. The unobtrusively lush arrangements by Richard Evans provide the perfect frame for Ashby’s jammy, plucky chops.

LYRICS: Victoria Clark (Adam Guettel), "Fable"

SONG: If you enjoyed her warbly, finger-picking Sondheim covers, you will definitely want to hear Eleri Ward’s haunting new original song, which has some of the same melancholic pull, as well as its own sun-through-clouds sonic signature.

ALBUM: I can take or leave most of Doris Day’s film work (except maybe LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME) but I have a huge soft spot for her vocal records, especially this stripped-down 1952-53 collection of standards recorded with a jazz trio.

LYRICS: Larry Norman, "The Outlaw"

SONG: Yet another treasure I found on the indispensable “Goodbye Babylon” collection: this ebullient harmonium-and-tambourine number from 1927, one of just 2 recordings Luther Magby ever made. It’s now a staple at Greenpoint Reformed Church.

ALBUM: The grooves are as deep as the vocals are soaring on this iconic gospel record by T.L. Barrett and the Youth for Christ Choir. A stirring listen end to end.