Music Diary, Vol. -38
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 April 17-23, 2023
LYRICS: Lucinda Williams, "I Envy the Wind"
SONG: With its goofy lyrics and almost cubist construction, this freak ska novelty by Stewart Copeland (under the name Klark Kent) is as good as or better than anything he contributed to The Police. Libido torpedo!
SONG: With its goofy lyrics and almost cubist construction, this freak ska novelty by Stewart Copeland (under the name Klark Kent) is as good as or better than anything he contributed to The Police. Libido torpedo!
ALBUM: Yes, Caroline Polachek’s new record richly rewards repeat listening for its sonic adventurism and serious playfulness (or is that playful seriousness?), but the thing that really sold me is her uncanny melodic gift. Hooks as far as the ear can hear.
LYRICS: Caroline Polachek, "Sunset"
SONG: One of the greatest and strangest songs of the 1960s, this major-minor Love classic originated with a haunting guitar-and-vocal demo by its writer, Bryan MacLean.
SONG: One of the greatest and strangest songs of the 1960s, this major-minor Love classic originated with a haunting guitar-and-vocal demo by its writer, Bryan MacLean.
ALBUM: This Brad Mehldau Beatles album is an unalloyed triumph, burrowing in and uncovering rich harmonic colors seemingly hiding under the songs’ surfaces, including a lot of old-school stride piano; he even makes “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” a joy.
LYRICS: Creedence Clearwater Revival, "It Came Out of the Sky"
SONG: Cotton Mather's 1997 classic album KONTIKI has no low points, but the track I keep coming back to, and which epitomizes the record's lost-Rubber-Soul vibe, is this exquisitely coiled and tightly harmonized ditty.
SONG: Cotton Mather's 1997 classic album KONTIKI has no low points, but the track I keep coming back to, and which epitomizes the record's lost-Rubber-Soul vibe, is this exquisitely coiled and tightly harmonized ditty.
ALBUM: Yes, Madison Cunningham has it all: She's a guitar hero, a first-rate pop songsmith, and a wonderfully expressive vocalist. I don't know if this former church singer still believes in God, but her latest record sounds pretty divine to me.
LYRICS: Patsy Cline (Block/Hecht), "Walkin' After Midnight"
SONG: Help, I’m neck deep in a Caroline Polachek obsession. Along with every track on her latest album, this lilting 6/8 Ramona Lisa tune, with its traces of 1950s pop via Beach House, is a new fave.
SONG: Help, I’m neck deep in a Caroline Polachek obsession. Along with every track on her latest album, this lilting 6/8 Ramona Lisa tune, with its traces of 1950s pop via Beach House, is a new fave.
ALBUM: Another plug for the great Francis Poulenc, here for his capering, searching piano concertos and an odd, lovely ballet/chamber piece, "Aubade." These all feel inherently theatrical, though what they depict is a delicious puzzle to contemplate.
LYRICS: Ella Fitzgerald (Rodgers & Hart), "Spring Is Here"
SONG: I tracked down the first hit that the late great talent spotter Seymour Stein can claim credit for: from 1973, this hard-rocking novelty by the Dutch band Focus, complete with a bit of a yodel and a hint of clogging.
SONG: I tracked down the first hit that the late great talent spotter Seymour Stein can claim credit for: from 1973, this hard-rocking novelty by the Dutch band Focus, complete with a bit of a yodel and a hint of clogging.
ALBUM: Along the lines of my conversation with podcaster Patrick Flynn: If you haven’t heard Jeremy Sams’ THREEPENNY from 1994, do yourself a favor and tuck in. It’s got a convincing Cockney sneer and Tom Hollander is perfect Macheath.
LYRICS: Rosanne Cash, "A Feather's Not a Bird"
SONG: I had mixed feelings about the last NY revival of JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL (in 2006) but the clear high point was Natascia Diaz's serene rendition of this vertiginously sad waltz, the French equivalent of John Prine's "Hello in There."
SONG: I had mixed feelings about the last NY revival of JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL (in 2006) but the clear high point was Natascia Diaz's serene rendition of this vertiginously sad waltz, the French equivalent of John Prine's "Hello in There."
ALBUM: Your mileage may vary, but I could listen to Shirley Collins and Davy Graham warble and twang their way through English folk classics all day.
LYRICS: Bob Dylan, "Dead Man, Dead Man"
SONG: Terre Roche’s sweetly recitative setting of James Martin’s conversational, self-deprecating update of the Serenity Prayer is a balm and a delight.
SONG: Terre Roche’s sweetly recitative setting of James Martin’s conversational, self-deprecating update of the Serenity Prayer is a balm and a delight.
ALBUM: With the great Rev. Gary Davis, the line between blues and gospel is so thin as to be non-existent, like the border between life and death or this world and the next. The kingdom is already here.
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