Anything On Your Mind?
As I sat in a cafe, listening to game 5 of the Guardians/White Sox series and reading, I reflected a bit on live music. My son was attending a concert a little under an hour from our house, and rather than drive home and have to turn right around to go get him, I posted up to entertain myself. And it was a lovely night! Excellent game, good drinks, I finished a book, it was nice. But I also realized that I’m not sure I actually have tickets to any upcoming concerts right now. I don’t do a great job of keeping track of smaller artists who might be playing, and my job and the kids keep my pretty busy, so I don’t get out that much. But it’s still a shame that I don’t have any live shows to look forward to. I’m not really a New Year’s resolution person, but perhaps this is an area that I should consider making a…wait! I have tickets to a Polyrhythmics show coming up soon. Never mind! Crisis over!
What Are You Listening To, Josh?
A sampling of albums that I’m playing regularly, whether older ones or newer ones. Just the things that I think are worth highlighting, and maybe you’d enjoy.
Doing it To Death, The J.B.’s
I was playing Public Enemy’s It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back in the car as I was driving my daughter to a her friend’s house, and she commented that basically every track had some kind of squeal, siren, or similar thing in it. I explained that that was deliberate, a nod to the anxiety inducing noise of an urban environment, and that it was a tactic to make you feel off-balance and unsettled as you listened. It’s part of what makes that album great! I also explained that most of those noises were samples, and she was surprised by that. So I played some J.B.’s, the source of so many of those assorted skronks.
Songs of Innocence, David Axelrod
And then, because my mind goes down very predictable tracks, I listened to this record. I was thinking about “bangers that have been sources of samples”, basically. The ultra-cool cinematic jazz of David Axelrod always comes up with I think about this sort of thing. Axelrod was a successful producer before making this record, and the label basically just let him do it to make him happy. And he certainly made the most of that opportunity! It’s ostensibly based on William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience (there’s a follow-up LP that covers the experience part), but never mind that. “Holy Thursday” is the headliner here, featuring an absolutely sinful beat, vast horns, and a vivid bassline. It’s no wonder that hip-hop artists were drawn to it. But the whole album is, as the kids would say, “a mood”. (I don’t know if my kids would actually say this.) Part slinky 60s glamour, part psychedlia, part smoky jazz, part movie soundtrack, it’s a wonderful record, and if you haven’t heard it, it’s a treat.
Countdown to Ecstasy, Steely Dan
Look, I’m in my 50s, I’m allowed to listen to Steely Dan. Just rest assured that I also never forget how much Steve Albini hated them. Anyway, “My Old School” will pop up in my head periodically, unbidden, and then I listen to this album. I know that Steely Dan-posting is real basic music blogging behavior, feel free to let this slide.
There is a thing I think about a lot, which is where to strike a balance between writing about obvious, well-known stuff and more obscure things that deserve more attention. It’s not like there’s a surfeit of thoughts on Steely Dan out there! In the end, though, I always come back to a few things. One, I genuinely have no idea what is well-known and what isn’t. I have my people that I read, I have my own knowledge, and I can confidently say that my information environment around music doesn’t much resemble anybody else’s. So even trying to calibrate would be hopeless. Two, I’m not really sure what people are getting out of reading this. And because I don’t, trying to adjust what I’m writing to meet those needs seems futile as well. Three, I have to enjoy writing this, and the occasional bit about famous records is nice.
I guess that the bottom line is that this would be a different blog if I tried to keep it to only new records, or only obscure records, or whatever. As always: sorry for all this!
Let’s Talk New Releases
Records come out every week, and there’s no way to stay on top of them. This isn’t a comprehensive look at everything, just a few things that have caught my ears out of recent releases. Any impressions here are very early!
Rent Money, Pokey LaFarge
I absolutely should have known about LaFarge before this record came out. But I did not. That seems like a pretty big miss for me, as there’s really only one record that this album reminds me of, and that’s Andrew Bird’s The Swimming Hour. Like that record, it’s a mix of various styles that are sort of archaic, but somehow sound fresh the way that he plays them. I guess you’d call it “roots” or “Americana” or various other similar descriptors, but I don’t think any of them are quite right. For starters, the arrangements start out pretty spare early on in the record but gradually open up as the album proceeds. Horns arrive midway through and the back half of the album presents pretty differently from the front half. That progression defies easy categorization for this music. It seems like the record is loosely themed around all the ways regular people get hosed by our society, and that certainly seems like a timely subject. And, alas, a timeless one.
As I say, I’ve never heard of LaFarge before, but this is almost certainly going to end up one of my favorites of the year and I’ve been listening to it an absolute ton. I’m also going to explore the rest of his records, because this is extremely up my alley.
Allusion, Allusion
The hardcore EPs will continue until morale improves.
This is bass-forward hardcore out of France, it sounds great, you’ve got eight minutes to spare, come on. Give it a spin.
Theo Lacy, Private Prisons
This album reads to me as mostly black metal, their tags notwithstanding, and for most of it, I’d describe it as a solid but maybe not remarkable album. But things really pick up with the last two songs: “Tyrants”, a twelve minute song that starts with four minutes or so of doom-y atmosphere, then slowly ramps up the intensity for a while before settling into a denouement. A very satisfying song, with “Skulls” following it in a similar fashion. “Skulls” again sets off at a glacial crawl, eventually seeing the drummer lose his mind four minutes in, settling back into the doom for another few minutes before finishing on an intense minute. Both songs are notable for playing with tempo a lot more than the rest of the record, and I think they show the album at its best.
Five Random Songs
Yes, it’s the “classic” five random songs format. It’s been told before on this blog many times, but basically, on an old forum, people would post the last five songs their shuffle pulled up. I liked it, so I made it into a blog. And now, here we are.
“Enemies All Around Me”, Ghostface Killah
I’ve praised this record quite a bit, but Adrian Younge (who did all the production) did a fantastic job of creating a cinematic atmosphere. In some ways, I suppose it has a similar feeling to that David Axelrod album above. This track features William Hart of the Delfonics just to further improve that soulful feeling. Great record.
“Happiness (Troubled Faces)”, Pretty Lights
We’re staying hip-hop today, I guess. And in similar territory, no less. Well, give or take some Wu-Tang. Let’s see if it keeps going!
“LoveChargedDiveBombs”, ByoNoiseGenerator
So much for that! What we’ve got here is basically if you smooshed some jazz into brutal death metal, which if that sounds like a thing you’d be into, you’re welcome.
“Code Secret”, Champ Gauche
The hardcore EPs will etc etc. I always enjoy when the cover art for a release is very clearly just the J-card from the cassette release.
(NB: the linked video is the whole EP. What’s eight minutes between friends?)
“Dead Music”, P.O.S.
Multi-instrumentalist P.O.S. was inspired by Company Flow to go from punk to hip-hop, and he found his way quickly onto Rhymesayers, kicking off an interesting career. This is off his first record, a fun album that definitely shows signs of being inspired by CoFlow.
Josh, What Are You Doing Here?
I’m just writing about music. A structure like this blog helps me get my thoughts out, and it’s a way for me to explore my own music collection through various lenses. My sincere hope is that some folks out there find some new music they love. That’s all I’m up to. Sincere thanks to everybody who sends me feedback, with news that they’ve found a new favorite especially fun for me. There’s no monetization, no metrics, no ads, no promos, no nothing. Just some static web pages, some links, and my scribbling. If you want to support it, just shoot me a note! Thanks for reading.
Some Better Places To Learn About Music
Check these folks out, you’ll learn more for sure. In no particular order: To The Teeth, Wolf’s Week/Plague Rages, The Devil’s Mouth, Burning Ambulance, Lamniformes Cuneiform, Hex Records, See/Saw, Starkweather, Treble Magazine, The Quietus, Stereogum.