Music Diary, Vol. 51

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 Dec. 23-29, 2024

LYRICS: Tom Lehrer, "A Christmas Carol"

SONG: Jon Anderson’s 1985 Christmas record 3 Ships is mostly forgettable synth slop, except for this sprightly, folky 6/8 tune, a great showcase for his angelic voice and for Novi Novog’s sweet viola that is definitely worth spinning at least once a year.

ALBUM: The offscreen grown-ups in the Peanuts TV specials famously sounded garbled, but Vince Guaraldi and his piano jazz trio were offscreen grown-ups who communicated with crystal clarity—at least one reason I prefer this soundtrack to the Xmas special itself.

LYRICS: Jackson Browne, "The Rebel Jesus"

SONG: My 15-year-old asked me to name the best Christmas carol and I answered without hesitation: this bittersweet 1943 tune by Buck Ram and Kim Gannon, which saves its sting for its last 5 words—gets me every time. Sinatra’s is my fave version.

ALBUM: Annie Lennox’s Christmas record is, unsurprisingly, impeccably made. A bit less expected is the way her soulful cyborg voice cuts laser-like through these old tunes to something authentic, eccentric, and moving. Fave cut: “Il Est Ne Le Divin Enfant.”

LYRICS: Justin Vivian Bond (Connie Hanes), "Somebody's House Always Burns at Christmas"

SONG: This 16th-century English carol doesn’t just describe the birth, life, death, and ascension of Jesus as a dance—it turns it into a headlong triple-meter bop, bursting with joy and ardor. Merry Christmas indeed!

ALBUM: The sound of Christmas in the early/mid-1970s, at least in the Kendt household, is summed up by this JC Penney compilation: Sammy, Barbra, and Andy alongside the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (though my fave is still the New Christy Minstrels’ “O Bambino”).

LYRICS: Labi Siffre, "Hot and Dirty in the City"

SONG: For some reason my son asked me what music was associated with pro basketball when I was a kid (and actually followed the sport), and I immediately thought of Walter Murphy’s earwormy disco take on Beethoven’s most famous riff. Anyone else remember this?

ALBUM: Made between his protest and electric phases, this intimate 1964 Dylan record captures him at a delicate, searching moment of transition, like a snake who’s just shed his skin and is still a bit tender—though as ever the songs are strong as tanks.

LYRICS: Liza Minnelli (Kander & Ebb), "Cabaret"

SONG: Erik Griswold’s prepared-piano take on this Billie Eilish hit is definitely more than a gimmick or a novelty; its gamelan thrum somehow quietly bores into the song’s molten core. Be sure to listen to the end, as the sonic surprises keep coming.

ALBUM: The first thing you notice about Karen Dalton is the voice—a pinched alto warble that can sound alternately wise, ghostly, or playful. But don’t sleep on the loose-limbed companionable country-folk-soul sound of this whole 1971 record, her last.

LYRICS: Matt North, "The Last Angry Man"

SONG: Noël Coward once said that Richard Rodgers “peed melody,” it came to him so quickly and easily. All the more remarkable, then, how careful and concise Rodgers could be. Every note of this Flower Drum Song ballad, for instance, is set like a gemstone. (I especially love that the song’s first and later its highest notes are sixths.)

ALBUM: To her usual whispery retro-folk delicacy, Jessica Pratt’s new record adds simpatico girl-group arrangements and expansive textures, all without losing the vibrant air of mystery, of buzzing major-seventh indeterminacy, that is her core strength. #dailyalbum

LYRICS: Madonna (w/ Patrick Leonard), "Spanish Eyes"

SONG: Is this gentle, beatific Innocence Mission track a Christmas tune? I would say yes, sort of—there are references to snow and reindeer, but also to a “branch of Easter.” All right, then: It’s a song about the reason for the season (and the next).

ALBUM: Jagjit Singh’s imperturbable baritone is the glowing thread that runs through this exquisite record of Vedic praise songs, but the power of his wife Chitra’s soprano, and the unobtrusive instrumental support throughout, also shouldn’t be overlooked.