Music Notes
By 
Sometimes, readers buy me things. It’s amazing. There’s a reader–a writer you might have heard of actually–who I will just refer to as their first initial of “P”, who sends me a lot of books and may the higher power of your choice bless you for doing so. I went into my office last week for the first time since returning from Mexico. There was a big package waiting for me. I figured it was the desk copies for the term. But no! It was this awesome box set above!!!! 10 CDs! A great essay! And no message as to who it is from. So I want to thank whoever this was, you are truly a good person! And now we can find out how much Wynn Stewart one man can listen to (answer: a lot).
We lost the great Melba Montgomery last week. She got famous out of nowhere for dueting with George Jones on “We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds,” which is a great song. As George always said, he and Melba sang together much better than he and Tammy. In fact, he and Tammy didn’t actually sing that well together at all, which is why their very successful songs tended to exchange lines instead of sing together. As Tyler Mahan Coe explained it in his 24 hour series on George, Tammy was a very specific vocal technican who preferred to sing things the same way all of the time and Jones improvised his vocals all the time depending on how he was feeling on a given night. Those are both completely legitimate ways to sing, but they don’t work that well together. But George and Melba? Now they sang well together. Unfortunately, what the obituaries did not say was that George proposed to Melba in at least 200 concerts. Drunk and in love and needing to hold on to anyone, he decided for a long time that was Melba, who was the sister of his long time collaborator and drinking buddy Peanut Montgomery. Later, George would try to kill Peanut after the latter stopped drinking and converted to become a preacher; George thought Peanut was making fun of him. Anyway, Melba had to deal with a lot of shit from the men in her life. RIP to a great voice. Also, her duets with Charlie Louvin are pretty good.
Here’s a really fantastic long discussion of Garth Hudson by Franz Nicolay, who plays the keys for The Hold Steady. I very much recommend reading this.
Remembrances of Marianne Faithfull.
I once went to see Dave Alvin play. At the end, one of his bandmates, the guy who plays some guitar and some accordion, sings a song. I don’t remember what that song was, but he absolutely killed it. I was like, who is that guy? Well, it was Chris Gaffney. I later got into Gaffney’s solo stuff, especially his A+ level album Loser’s Paradise and then his late life band The Hacienda Brothers. I saw that band once, in Austin. It was super. The Knitters opened and Dave came out to play “Fourth of July” at the end with Gaffney and friends. This was 2007 or 2008. Shortly after, Gaffney was diagnosed with cancer and died within days. I was sad. Dave Alvin was destroyed. They were best friends. Alvin put together a pretty fair tribute album–Los Lobos’ version of “Man of Somebody’s Dreams” and Alejandro Escovedo’s version of “1968” are standout cuts. Dave is still beating the drum of his long lost friend and here’s a good piece about that.
Will probably read Neko Case’s memoir. Good story on her.
On the long tradition of rap songs about eating pussy.
Recommend new music from Latin America.
A bunch of super smart country music critics on what was good and what was terrible about the music last year. Terrible, not surprisingly is bullshit white rock and rap poseurs being accepted for shitty country albums when Black people were not accepted for excellent country albums.
It’s so rare for a band to fade away instead of burn out and here’s an interesting discussion about how R.E.M. did that very thing. And good for them. We don’t have to pretend that the latest release is actually good like we do with Dylan or the Stones or Neil.
I had the chance to start talking about country music a bit on Bluesky, coming out of a labor history post about “Solidarity Forever.” One point I think it’s important to make–just because a white guy is from the South and has a southern accent does not make him a country musician. People always say this about Jason Isbell and he’s just not a country singer. Almost none of his major influences are country, he quite literally never covers a country song, etc. But he’s a white guy with a southern accent…..
Playlist for the last three weeks–both long and complete!
- Talking Heads, Little Creatures
- Paul Simon, The Paul Simon Songbook
- Terry Allen, Human Remains
- Bill Frisell, Music for the Films of Buster Keaton: The High Sign/One Week
- Alejandro Escovedo, With These Hands (x3)
- John Coltrane, Offering: Live at Temple University, disc 2
- Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, Bert & John
- Mary Halvorson, Amaryllis
- Feeble Little Horse, Girl with Fish
- Sonic Youth, Sonic Nurse
- Kate and Anna McGarrigle, self-titled
- Wussy, Getting Better
- Boygenius, self-titled
- Waxahatchee, Ivy Tripp
- Rodney Crowell, Texas
- Merle Haggard, Swinging Doors and the Bottle Let Me Down
- Houndmouth, From the Hills Below the City
- Wussy, self-titled
- Swamp Dogg, Blackgrass: From West Virginia to 125th Street
- Screaming Females, All at Once
- Old 97s, Most Messed Up
- David Byrne & St. Vincent, Love This Giant
- Fontaines D.C., Dogrel
- Joe Ely, Live Shots
- Algiers, Shook
- Jenny Don’t and the Spurs, Broken Hearted Blue
- Ches Smith, Laugh Ash (x2)
- Courtney Barnett, Sometimes I Sit and Think and Sometimes I Just Sit
- The Paranoid Style, Rolling Disclosure
- Richard Thompson, You? Me? Us? (Nude)
- John Moreland, Birds in the Ceiling
- Conway Twitty, Next in Line
- Torres, self-titled
- The Beatles, Let It Be
- X. Alphabetland
- Rusty & Doug Kershaw, Louisiana Man
- Merle Haggard, Prison
- The Allman Brothers, Brothers and Sisters
- William Parker Quartet, Petit Oiseau
- Sleater Kinney, All Hands on the Bad One
- Jason Isbell, Southeastern
- Alejandro Escovedo, Gravity (bonus live tracks)
- Johnny Paycheck, The Lovin’ Machine
- Marissa Nadler, The Passing of the Clouds
- Harriet Tubman, The Terror End of Beauty
- Wayne Horvitz’s Gravitas Quartet, Way Out East
- Robert Earl Keen, Picnic
- Priests, Bodies and Control and Money and Power
- PJ Harvey, Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea
- Ibeyi, self-titled
- Darcy James Argue, Real Enemies
- Grateful Dead, Dick’s Picks, Vol. 5, disc 3
- Peter Brotzmann, Medicina
- Ralph Stanley, Classic Stanley, disc 1
- Eric Dolphy, Live at the Five Spot
- Leonard Cohen, I’m Your Man
- Miles Davis, Sketches of Spain
- Dim Lights, Thick Smoke And Hillbilly Music Country & Western Hit Parade 1956
- Old 97s, Fight Songs
- Terry Allen, Juarez
- U.S. Girls, In a Poem Unlimited
- Joe McPhee, Nation Time
- Rolling Stones, Let It Bleed
- John Moreland, High on Tulsa Heat
- Bob Dylan, John Wesley Harding
- Gillian Welch, The Harrow and the Harvest
- Parquet Courts, Sunbathing Animal
- Cat Power, Sun
- Loudon Wainwright III, Album III
- Louvin Brothers, Satan is Real
- Hard To Find 45’s On CD: Sweet Soul Sounds
- Panama! Latin, Calypso & Funk On The Isthmus 1965-75
- Father John Misty, Fear Fun (x2)
- David Budbill/William Parker/Hamid Drake, Songs for a Suffering World
- Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Braver Newer World
- Merle Haggard, Down Every Road, disc 1
- Wussy, Funeral Dress II
- David Mallett, Parallel Lives
- Buck Owens, Together Again
- The Hacienda Brothers, What’s Wrong With Right?
- Ibeyi, self-titled
- Chelsea Wolfe, She Reaches Out to She
- Dry Branch Fire Squad, Hand Hewn
- Connections, Midnight Run
- Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Dancer with Bruised Knees
- The Handsome Family, Hollow
- Boldy James & Sterling Toles, Manger on McNichols
- Drive By Truckers, English Oceans
- Wussy, Cincinnati Ohio
- Weyes Blood, And in the Darkness, Hearts Aglow
- Adrianne Lenker, Bright Future
- Dinosaur Jr., Sweep It Into Space
- Wild Billy Childish & CTMF, Failure Not Success
- Jane Weaver, Love in Constant Spectacle
- Fauxe, Ikhlas
- Esperanza Spalding, Emily’s D+ Revolution
- Michael Kiwaunka, Love and Hate
- Grateful Dead, Dick’s Picks, Vol. 3, disc 1
- Jaimie Branch, Fly or Die
- Hurray for the Riff Raff, The Past is Still Alive
- Chicago/London Underground, A Night Walking Through Mirrors
- Wussy, Strawberry
- Pavement, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
- Blood Lemon, self-titled
- Vincent Neil Emerson, The Golden Crystal Kingdom
- John Moreland, In the Throes
- Dave Dudley, Truckin’ Music
- Allison Russell, Outside Child
- Mon Laferte, Autopoetica
- Fred Frith Trio, Another Day in Fucking Paradise
- Kahil El’Zabar’s The Ritual, Another Kind of Groove
- Jimmie Dale Gilmore and the Flatlanders, self-titled
- The Handsome Family, Wilderness
- Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon
- Idles, Joy as an Act of Resistance
- Parquet Courts, Content Nausea
- The Band, Norther Lights-Southern Cross
- Bomba Estereo, Amanecer
- Webb Pierce, Fallen Angel
- The Paranoid Style, The Purposes of Music in General
- Reyna Tropical, Malegria
- Merle Haggard, Legend of Bonnie & Clyde
- Sudan Archives, Natural Brown Prom Queen
- Ray Price, For the Good Times
- Wussy, Forever Sounds
- Bob Dylan, Desire
- John Coltrane, The Africa Brass Sessions, Vol. 2
- Anteloper, Kudu
- Bill Frisell, The Intercontinentals
- The Band, Stage Fright
- Robbie Fulks, Upland Stories
- William Parker & Hamid Drake, Volume 2: Summer Snow
- Amanda Shires, Take It Like a Man
- H.C. McEntire, Every Acre
- Lone Justice, The Western Tapes
- Camper Van Beethoven, Telephone Free Landslide Victory
- Velvet Underground, White Light/White Heat
- Drive By Truckers, Southern Rock Opera, disc 2
- The Beths, Jump Rope Gazers
- Hurray for the Riff Raff, Life on Earth
- Julia Jacklin, Crushing
- Irving Fields Trio, Bagels and Bongos
- Jason Isbell, Sirens of the Ditch
- Waylon Jennings, Waylon Live, disc 2
- Wussy, Duo
- Tammy Wynette, 20 Greatest Hits
- John Coltrane, Coltrane’s Sound
- Palace, Arise Therefore
- King Crimson, Red
- Mahavishnu Orchestra, Between Nothingness and Eternity
- Tom T. Hall, I Wrote a Song About It
- Richard Buckner, Dents and Shells
- Wussy, Funeral Dress
- Led Zeppelin, Houses of the Holy
- Rilo Kiley, More Adventrous
- Dwight Yoakam, Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.
Album Reviews:
Henry Franklin/Adrian Younge/Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Jazz is Dead 014
I saw the Jazz is Dead folks (Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad) at Newport a few years ago and they brought some of the old dudes with them that they record. One was Henry Franklin and it was great to see The Skipper perform live. I hadn’t heard the album he did with them though and now I am glad I did. There’s so much to like about this project–the whole idea of getting these living legends back in the studio, the production itself, and the fact that they keep these albums pretty short, realizing that people don’t want 75 minutes of music most of the time. That really sums this up. Franklin sounds outstanding here. The production really centers his bass. The whole thing is funky and groovy. It’s like 34 minutes. Great idea and in this case, excellent product.
A-
BlankFor.ms, Jason Moran, Marcus Gilmore, Refract
If you like experimental sounds, this is your bag. Moran is probably the most known of these guys–the legendary pianist is one of the biggest stars in jazz today. Gilmore is a drummer. But the real star is BlankFor.ms, the tape loop guy, who does all kinds of weird things with his music. He actually was a former student of Moran at the New England Conservancy. Moran and Gilmore play and Blank does whatever he wants with it, breaking it down in all sorts of noise. Not for everyone, but for the adventrous.
B+
Brothers Osborne, self-titled
For mainstream country, these guys aren’t too bad. I guess. They aren’t hat douchebags at the very least. But it’s just kind of bland. The songs are alright. They can sing and play just fine, but there’s not a lot of character here. If you want cut rate Chris Stapleton, well, that’s what this is. I’m glad one of them was brave enough to come out while in the Nashville mainstream. That ain’t an act for the weak. Good for him. Doesn’t really change my opinion of this album though. Which again, is cut rate Stapleton.
C+
Irreversible Entanglements, Protect Your Light
Irreversible Entanglements is Camae Ayewa (better known as Moor Mother) on vocals, Luke Stewart on bass, Aquiles Navarro on trumpet, Keir Neuringer on sax, and Tcheser Holmes on drums. They are an openly political band, which helps when you have a great poet and vocalist–harder to pull off with just the instruments. This is a more heavily produced album than they’ve had in the past and I think it works for them. There’s a ton of interesting sounds and one-off instruments here. Some reviewers have compared this to Fela Kuti and in a way, I get it, but at least in this case, this is an attempt to move beyond the politics and into music more about love writ large. Sometimes, that’s a political statement in itself, especially when delivered as well as this.
A
Fashion Club, Scrutiny
Someone spent a very long time listening to The Cure and Morrissey and the entire 80s goth rock scene and imitating it for the 2020s. Takes themselves about as seriously too. Fine, if that’s your deal. Not mine.
C+
Die Verlierer, Notausgang
Old school sounding German punk album, released last year. Since actually understanding punk lyrics is a marginal enterprise at best, they might as well sound like Ramones in German, with naturally enough a heavy dose of krautrock. Like most rock music these days, this isn’t really anything new, but it is something fun.
B
Jake Xerxes Fussell, When I’m Called
I had a ticket to see Fussell when I was in Chicago last year but I was just flat out too exhausted (and was dealing with the worst of a pinched nerve in my neck) to go. Bummer. But I hadn’t heard the album yet. Now I have and I really wish I had pulled myself together to go. Fussell actually comes from a family of folklorists and he channels that old southern music into new music but without being overly repetitive or derivative. Mostly, he just combines with a damn find songwriter with a great sense of what old songs to bring back and how to interpret them. And since he knows like all of them, way more than even someone like me can dream of, he has a lot of gems.
A-
Rhiannon Giddens, You’re the One
I could use more Giddens albums in the pop world. One can really see here why she ended up working with Beyonce on Cowboy Carter. The musical connections between the two projects are clear, even if they are very different albums. Maybe less “pure” whatever that means than her folk music and thus maybe less profound. Instead, just fun and awesome. Might even make up for her becoming a mouthpiece for JP Morgan Chase….
A
Madi Diaz, Weird Faith
I would never have guess that Diaz is 38 years old. Her work is very much in the Boygenius/Snail Mail school of confessional young woman indie folk. I say this as observation, not disparagement, but she very much writes like she is 24. Rather than talk about marriages, she’s talking about ex-boyfriends, which has nothing to do with personal experience per se, so much as it does the age where the songs are pitched. Do the themes of love, sex, and breakups change as one ages? I guess I don’t have a solid answer to that question. I suppose it strictly depends on the person.
Well, as this kind of confessional indie folk, Diaz’s work is certainly solid at the very least. She’s a good songwriter with solid voice. I don’t think either are exactly exceptional. And that’s fine.
B
Butcher Brown, #KingButch
Funky! And in the good way, this is a funk-jazz-hip hop band out of Richmond that finds a groove and rides it until the end of time. If you to put on something that everyone will like (unless they have really bad taste) and dance around the house a little bit and forget about the world in which we live, this could do you very well. I wouldn’t say it blows my mind–this style is high floor, low ceiling. It is what it is and doesn’t pretend to be anything else. I will say this though–this is what Lake Street Dive hopes to be but will never get there. So if you like Lake Street Dive, listen to this instead.
B
Tsunami, Loud Is As
Tsunami was one of the forgotten rock bands of the early 90s, a DC-based band doing Riot Grrl stuff. So here’s the collected material, released last year. And really, what a great band. If they weren’t quite on the Bikini Kill/Sleater-Kinney level, they were at most one step below it. Reviews from back in the day were funny. Not quite punk, not quite post punk, not quite shoegaze, not quite hardcore, how about just some fucking rock and roll? This is a huge collection and sure that means there is some variance in quality. Maybe not everything here really needed to be recorded or rereleased. So what? It’s an archive.
A-
As always, this is an open thread for all things music and art and none things politics.