Music Notes
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Still way behind on music notes and music experiences, but let’s try to catch up a bit.
One show I saw recently that I thought was really great was Julia Jacklin, at Race Street Live in Holyoke, Massachusetts. That’s kind of far for me to go to a show so you know I really wanted to see her and I am very glad I did. The Australian singer is so great. She’s just a wonderful feminist songwriter who also has a great voice and an excellent stage presence. Her songs about being a woman trying to date and be sexually active in the era of pornography being normalized or about breaking up with a boyfriend and realizing he has nude photos of you but to hell with it, it’s just my body, are just wonderful expressions of a young woman’s experience today. She’s good enough on guitar but also is able to expand her presence when she puts it aside and just sings. Now, she was very tired during this show. It was the next to last show of her long American tour and touring is hard! I can hardly imagine how two months on the road would wear you down. But you know what, who cares if she forgot the lyrics a couple of times? I didn’t. The rest of the audience sure didn’t seem to. She was honest about being tired and she’s so honest in her songs anyway that why would anyone hold this against her? Would absolutely 100% see her again. And while I think there were a couple of people older than me at the show, it’s at least plausible that I was the oldest person. Whatever. Here’s the setlist.
The other big music event to discuss is the new Wayne Shorter documentary, streaming on Amazon Prime. I am sad to say that Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity is not very good. The first episode of the three is great. That’s because it covers his life up to 1971. Yes, that’s right, 2/3 of the film is about the time after he made at least 75% of his best music. So the first episode includes his coming up with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, his work with Miles Davis, the great quintet, and his early solo work. That’s….a lot. Unfortunately, the music is heavily deemphasized in the last two episodes for a huge focus on Shorter’s personal life. Now, Shorter is an interesting guy just to hear talk. He is definitely in the line of cosmic jazz guys ranging from Sun Ra to William Parker. I mean, he never talked much, but when he did, you never knew what was coming. And Shorter had more than his share of personal tragedy–a disastrous if short first marriage, a second marriage to one of the brilliant radiant charismatic women who are also massive drunks, a child from that marriage who had severe seizure issues and died at age 14, said wife cleaning herself up, only to find herself on TWA Flight 800 when it exploded over the Atlantic. Obviously all of that should be discussed in any documentary. But I am not sure we need more on his marriage than we do on working with Miles and moreover, I’m not sure who watching all three episodes of this disagree.
Really, it’s the problem of streaming–massive bloat. Cut this down to a 2 hour documentary and you have something. At 3 1/2 hours or whatever, it is just too much on things that aren’t that interesting. And then even key musical questions are left out. For instance, the second episode rightfully spends a decent amount of time on the Weather Report years. Personally, I think his music in this era is not very good, but that’s a matter of opinion I suppose. But we don’t even get why he ended Weather Report. There’s some discussion from one of the talking heads about how Shorter was somewhat sidelined in the band’s live shows after Jaco Pastorius joined the band and he and Zawinul’s keys just overwhelmed the sax. But why did this end again? It’s baffling. The third episode has some good interviews with his later quartet. Listening to Danilo Perez or Brian Blade talk about working with Shorter is great. It’s about the music again. In fact, any time it’s about the music, it is fun. Who doesn’t want to listen to Herbie Hancock or Sonny Rollins or Ron Carter talk about this great genius? But then there’s a lot on his third and last wife and in the end, it just gets really boring. So it’s a missed opportunity as a film.
Other news:
Lucinda Williams and the idea of Louisiana. This is well worth your time.
The entire discourse on “Rich Men North of Richmond” made me want to jump off a bridge, but at the very least Tyler Cowen wrote the worst column on music in known human history. That is one stupid man.
Jimmy Buffet sucked, his fans suck, the beach sucks, puns suck, playing the same songs every single night for 40 years sucks, there is literally nothing good about Jimmy Buffett.
Jason Aldean has risen to popularity on the basis of being a complete piece of shit as a human being. He’s a walking canker sore on the nation, giving voice to the idiotic resentment of Trump voters. So he’s making tons of money. But Nashville executives are worried that he is such a toxic asshole that he will turn off people who aren’t country fans to the entire genre, which already faces a rapidly aging demographic. Gee, you think! Of course Nashville promoted him and this bullshit so it’s on them.
Nice Times profile of Sadie Dupuis from Speedy Ortiz as she releases a new album based on the sexual abuse she faced as a child. Saw them live last night and I will probably talk about it later, but…they are better on the recordings. Show was OK, but being able to listen to the songs closely really does more to center the band’s strengths.
The 25 funniest rappers of all time.
Can Douche Rock survive after Steve Harwell from Smash Mouth died? Of course he would die of liver failure as a douche rocker. Motherfucker’s whole career was one cliche after another.
Also Gary Wright is now weaving those dreams from Heaven. Or wherever.
Where did electronic music start?
New Stones album? Hmmm…….not confident about this one.
Herb Alpert on his 80 years in music
Speaking of guys who have been around forever, big ol’ interview with Bernie Taupin in Vulture.
The metal band Imperial Triumphant share their 10 favorite jazz albums. Not a lot of surprises here, but interesting to hear metal dudes talk about jazz albums.
Pop Matters creates a 75 Best Albums of 2013 list.
Our long time commenter and music critic Burning Ambulance has had some interesting pieces lately. I especially wanted to highlight this one about Chick Corea’s problematic career due to his bad taste. Corea is a hugely important figure in the history of jazz, but probably more than any other major jazz figure, a lot of his music just isn’t good, especially in the 80s, which to be fair, was a hard time for a lot of jazz legends. I also wanted to highlight his discussion of Zoh Amba, the hot saxophonist of the moment, who he compares to other hot young jazz people of their time and how some have great careers and others kinda don’t.
Finally, a moment to remember the great bassist Richard Davis, whose name you might not know, but who played on an astounding list of albums. That includes Eric Dolphy’s Out to Lunch, Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks, Andrew Hill’s great 60s work, Roland Kirk’s Rip Rig and Panic, Charles Mingus’ Let My Children Hear Music, Kate and Anna McGarrigle’s Dancer with Bruised Knees, Loudon Wainwright III’s Album III, Bonnie Raitt’s Streetlights, Pharoah Sanders’ Karma, Springsteen’s Born to Run, and like a million other albums. Total legend who was not only beloved by the greats of jazz, but across American music.
I have not done a good job of keeping track of my album listening of late, but here’s at least some of the albums I’ve heard in the last couple of weeks, not that anyone cares.
- Miles Davis, Birth of the Cool
- Chris Knight, self-titled
- Palace Music, Viva Last Blues
- Charles Bradley, Victim of Love
- Vince Bell, Texas Plates
- Herbie Hancock, Live bootleg from a 1973 radio show
- Spider John Koerner, Raised by Humans
- Tom Russell, Borderland
- Gillian Welch, The Harrow and the Harvest
- Johnny Cash, American Recordings
- Loretta Lynn, The Definitive Collection
- The Louvin Brothers, When I Stop Dreaming
- Merle Haggard, Portrait of Merle Haggard
- The Go! Team, The Scene Between
- Parquet Courts, Human Performance
- Smog, Dongs of Sevotion
- Dave Rawlings Machine, Nashville Obsolete
- Edip Akbayram, Best of Edip Akbayram, disc 1
- Mary Halvorson, Calling All Portraits
- Townes Van Zandt, Live at the Old Quarter, disc 2
- Old 97s, Drag It Up
- Bill Callahan, Woke on a Whaleheart
- Last Exit, Headfirst into the Flames: Live in Europe
- Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Mountaintops
- Mates of State, Mountaintops
- Yola, Walk Through Fire
- Lone Justice, The Western Tapes
- Japanese Breakfast, Jubilee
- Ondatropica, Baile Bucanero
- Jupiter & Okwess, Kin Sonic
- Sturgill Simpson, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
- Our Native Daughters, Songs of Our Native Daughters
- Mitski, Be the Cowboy
- Richard Buckner, Surrendered
- Tom Zé, Vira Lata na Via Láctea
- Janelle Monae, The Age of Pleasure
- Michael Bisio Quartet, MBefore
- Rodney Crowell, Texas
- Sleater-Kinney, The Center Won’t Hold
- Jane Weaver, Modern Kosmology
- Big Star, Radio City
- Ben Goldberg, A Good Day for Cloud Fishing
- The Steeldrivers, self-titled
- Solange, When I Get Home
- Steve Earle, Ghosts of West Virginia
- The Lowest Pair, Fern Girl and Ice Man
- Brandy Clark, Your Life is a Record
- Justin Townes Earle, Kids in the Street
- Wussy, self-titled
- Joel Futterman, The Deep
- Zo!, Four Front
- She and Him, Volume 2
- The Gourds, Cow Fish Fowl and Pig
- Palace Brothers, There Is No-One What Will Take Care of You
- Big Thief, U.F.O.F.
- Suzy Bogguss, Aces
- Silver Jews, American Water
- Parquet Courts, Sympathy for Life
- Townes Van Zandt, Flyin’ Shoes
- Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul, Topical Dancer
- Charlie Hunter Quartet, Natty Dread
- Willie Nelson, Shotgun Willie
- Mount Moriah, Miracle Temple
This week’s album reviews.
Jeb Loy Nichols, United States of the Broken Hearted
A nice set of political folkie tunes from a guy with a distinctive enough voice to stand up from the usual release in this genre. Nice cover of Woody Guthrie’s pro-immigrant anthem “Deportee” late in the album. Very touching. His cover of Sara Ogan Gunning’s old labor song “I Hate the Capitalist System” reminds one that this song should be covered more often. This is a good album with a real emphasis on melody and it is worth your time.
B+
John Luther Adams, Houses of the Wind
I love Adams’ compositions, especially given how he has been deeply influenced by the world’s rapidly changing environments. But I was a bit skeptical about Houses of the Wind. In 1989, he created an aeolian harp while living in Alaska, which is a harp that is played by the wind. He uses a 10 minute recording from this to create a series of identical length compositions that are variations on a theme. But like much of Adams’ work, if you sit back and let this sweep over you, it becomes a profound set of work, with more variation than you might think. Not sure if this is among Adams’ very best work, but it’s still pretty brilliant.
A-
Lael Neale, Star Eaters Delight
Another example of the modern folkie-rock phenomenon and like much of this work, it combines both some pretty good songs with a spare aesthetic that I sometimes find a bit of a drag. At least some of the songs here however do have more of a rocking feel, which helps. Perhaps a bit less helpful is the rural pastoralism that also defines a lot of this music and this is the first albums she made after leaving LA and returning to rural Virginia, where she is from. It feels rural Virginia washed through Laurel Canyon. But at least there is some rock and roll here.
B
Tyler the Creator, Call Me If You Get Lost
I wanted to like this album. Tyler is so good at what he does. But how many songs do we need about how rich you are? There’s some smarter raps here too, but as a whole, the album frustrated me.
B-
Peter One, Come Back to Me
Peter One is an interesting figure. He was a successful musician in Cote d’Ivoire but then immigrated to the U.S. and his career mostly died while he worked as a nurse in Nashville. But he started playing around again in recent years and his west African folk country got attention of Nashville’s alt-country scene. This is how I first heard him, opening for Yola last year. I’ve had a couple of opportunities to see him since, at festivals, but I haven’t since it’s the type of thing that is cool enough live but maybe you don’t need to hear it all the time. However, I really like the album and I could see buying it. He sings in English, French, and Gouro, all to powerful effect. It’s an album of life and loss, sung in his gentle voice. The song linked here, recording with the great Allison Russell, is telling a friend of him from Cote d’Ivoire not to go back because there’s nothing there for him. It’s just good advice from a wise man,.
A
Artemis, In Real Time
At times I want this supergroup of leading jazz women to kick some ass a little more and let it rip. But like seeing them live earlier this year, you listen to the album and you can’t help but be deeply impressed by their compositions, how they play together, and how they interpret the post-bop world that moves them in this project. As in the live show, Renee Rosnes’ interpretation of Wayne Shorter’s “Penelope” is a real highlight. Just a very solid release.
A-
Youth Lagoon, Heaven is a Junkyard
Interesting album, if sung in kind of an annoying falsetto. Strong songwriting though that comes out of the hell of a personal illness. I also appreciated the Idaho-based songs. After all, it is one thing being kind of a weird kid in Boston or San Francisco or New York and a whole other thing being a weird kid in Idaho. So it’s hardly surprising to see these songs reflect that place. Production goes heavy on the lush, maybe a little heavy for my tastes given the rest of the project. But worth a listen at the very least.
B
Earthen Sea, Ghost Poems
I can’t say to be clear what this album is supposed to do. I often feel this way about ambient electronics. I guess this is a vision of the composer, but it feels almost randomly generated to put one to sleep and the human element seems to be missing. That’s probably an insult and maybe it should be, but I’m not sure why I would again listen to what seems like a computer program of background music. Bleh.
C-
Gordon Grdina, Boiling Point
The Vancouver-based guitarist Grdina has had a great couple of years, releasing some very fine albums, including Boiling Point. Working with Matt Mitchell on piano and Jim Black on drums, this trio is pretty hot. Sometimes it is nearly hard rock, often it is more layered and subtle, but there’s a lot of stylistic mix here. Would love to see this guy shred on that guitar live. Maybe he will be invited to Big Ears.
A-
Vince Mendoza & the Metropole Orchestra, Olympians
Pretty interesting big band album with a couple of great guests such as Cecile McLorin Savant. Maybe this does tend toward some mid-tempo cliche with Brazilian overtones. Not of course that there is anything wrong with bringing Brazilian influences into your music, which people have done for decades. At times this isn’t as original as I’d like. But you also don’t see the number of quality big bands these days as one might like (Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society being a very notable exception) and so I am glad I heard this. I would not call this a great album, but I would call it worthy.
B
Joe McPhee/John Edwards/Klaus Kugel, Existential Moments
McPhee is one of the great saxophonists of the last fifty years and if anything, doesn’t get enough respect or fame. This is one of his frequent trios, with John Edwards on bass and Klaus Kugel on drums. It again shows McPhee’s incredible technique, his building on the Coltrane/Sanders/Ayler legacy in new ways, and his ability to create a new kind of power trio that works as well in jazz as in rock. And lest you think that a 40 minute track to open the album is excessive, it is really a tour de force of modern free jazz. I wouldn’t quite say this is Nation Time or some of the other best McPhee albums, but it has a good case to be in the next tier, with a lot of other great work.
A-
Sufjan Stevens, The Ascension
15 years ago, I was a big fan of Stevens, largely because I loved the state-based albums that I thought brought a real touching sentiment to understanding life in Ohio and Michigan. He sort of did that for Oregon on his Carrie & Lowell album, which dealt with his mom and stepdad and his difficult part of his teen years in Eugene, but which still really centered that part of Oregon in a way that I don’t think I’ve ever heard on an album before. But I kind of drifted from Stevens generally, more because I moved into a heavier rock phase by the mid-10s and because the prettiness of Stevens’ music and the overlong albums kind of made me tired of it. This is a good example of both his strengths and weaknesses. It’s a solid album, better than some of his recent times. He’s written some smart songs. It’s also 80 minutes long. It does not need to be 80 minutes long. If he culled this to 50 minutes and got rid of the weaker songs, it’d probably be an A. That would be an excellent album. But more is not better.
B
Show Me the Body, Trouble the Water
I have long stated I am not a metal guy, largely because of the vocal stylings of the genre, but this is about as good as I’ve heard in the genre for a long time. In part because these are both real songs and you can actually mostly understand the words. It is heavy for sure, but not universally so, which is a good stylistic makeup. I still can’t see listening to this again, but at least I learned a little bit more about what metal might occasionally appeal to me.
B
Chuck Prophet, Land that Time Forgot
I love Chuck Prophet, the underrated California songwriter. Unfortunately for him, this excellent album was released in the early pandemic and so got lost. But songs such as “High as Johnny Thunders” and especially “Nixonland” show his great songwriting chops. In fact, “Nixonland” is a song I’d think most LGM readers would like, both musically and politically. Some might find his voice slightly odd, but I happen to like his singing a good bit. He also has a great sense of humor that comes out in the music. He’s a fine storyteller, one of the best in modern songwriting, and it comes out in this very solid album. If you like this, check out Bobby Fuller Died For Your Sins as well, which is a title that should prepare you for the way Prophet’s brain works.
A-
Evan Wright, Sound from Out the Window
Reasonably good whispered folk rock, not too exciting or revolutionary here, but listenable material with some modern pop arrangements too. Basically, fine. Nostalgia-based lyrics, lush arrangements, and if you are me, you will find this totally acceptable when you listen to it and forget almost all the details of it 48 hours later.
B
Emiliana Torrini and The Colorist Orchestra, Racing the Storm
Her best album in years. The Icelandic singer has had a real inconsistent career, with some great highs (Me and Armini, Fisherman’s Woman) and then some albums that are real duds. A few years back, the two guys in The Colorist Orchestra approached her about reworking some of her old songs. She said sure and they did an album together. Now they are back together to do an album of originals and while this isn’t her best album, it’s certainly great to hear her making quality music again. Having interesting collaborators does wonders for her, with feelings in this ranging from the nightclub to the streets of Rio, as opposed to her usual electronic work, which I like but which needed shaking up.
I also want to say how unfair it has been for Torrini through her whole career to be compared to Bjork, when the main thing they have in common is being from Iceland. That’s some lazy music journalism she’s been subjected to.
B+
Protomartyr, Formal Growth in the Desert
Nice straight ahead rock and roll. Evidently, this album is considered super optimistic for this band, though it didn’t sound so happy to me, at least on the lyrics one can understand, which is not all of them. Certainly this band is capable of nice punk-oriented hooks, some fancy arrangements, and some smart songs. Easy to respect what these guys are doing and probably I need to hear this a few more times to really get everything going on. Will try to do that.
B+
Charli XCX, Pop 2
I started my list of albums to hear back in late 2017 and still use that list today. Most of those albums I’ve heard but there are still a few floating around there from that year and figured it was time to tick one off, so went with this Charli XCX album. It’s solid enough pop, though I don’t think particularly exceptional. Perhaps some of this is that it is a “mixtape,” although in modern pop and hip-hop parlance, I am not sure what this means and how it is different than just releasing an album. I continue to assume that what it really means is that this is some B-level work with a lot of collaborators that is fun but meant to be taken less seriously than the major releases. In any case, that seems like a pretty strong way to consider what is happening on this “mixtape.” Anyway, the critics seem to have found more in this at the time than I do now, but then I’m not really the core audience here.
Also, the lyric “I blame it on your love every time I fuck up” is something I will have to try on my wife, see how that goes.
B
Myra Melford, Zeena Parkins, and Miya Masaoka, MZM
I enjoyed that hot 2017 action, decided to double down with another album from that year where we figured out how to deal with Donald Trump. Very different music though, as this is a beautiful atmospheric set of compositions from three of the most accomplished women in contemporary experimental jazz. Masaoka’s koto is the real star here, providing such unusual sounds to Melford’s piano and Parkins’ harp. This is not the most melodic or easiest listen ever but it is freaking brilliant in its execution.
A
As always, this is an open thread for all things music and art and none things politics.