Music Notes
By 
The big news in music this week was the loss of Angelo Badalamenti, the great film composer who made David Lynch’s films even greater. His collaboration with Lynch was just about equal to Morricone with Leone and he should be seen as a top 10 film composer of all time. Huge loss.
We also lost two critical figures in the history of electronic music–Herbert Deutsch, who worked with Bob Moog in the creation of the synthesizer, and Don Lewis, the innovator who predated the MIDI with his Live Electronic Orchestra.
I don’t know the band Lawrence at all, but this discussion of the economics of touring for a mid-range band is really fantastic. It’s hard out there for live musicians and since no one makes any money at all from streaming, it’s just gotten to the point that touring doesn’t make sense for bands and instead even people you’ve heard of have to work paying jobs.
The annual Oxford American winter country music issue is out and there’s some great stuff here. My friend Charles Hughes has a fantastic discussion of the great Millie Jackson. Rodney Crowell writes of love, loss, and song. Madeline Weinfield on her family not liking country but loving Patsy Cline. Cassie Dodd on Johnny Cash. Tons of good stuff.
Most other music news is just end of the year lists. I’ll have mine too–on New Year’s Eve.
This week’s playlist:
- American Indians, American Indians Play Walla
- Bill Frisell, Unspeakable
- Iron & Wine, The Creek Drank the Cradle
- Bonnie Prince Billy, Ease Down the Road
- Wade Mainer, First Time in Stereo
- Billy Bang, Changing Seasons
- Wayne Shorter, Super Nova
- Curtis Mayfield, Superfly
- Merle Haggard, Swinging Doors and a Bottle Let Me Down
- Norman Blake, Blackberry Blossom
- Pharoah Sanders, Summun, Bukmun, Umyun
- Laura Veirs, The Lookout
- Old 97s, Fight Songs
- Larry Sparks, Ramblin’ Bluegrass
- Blue Highway, self-titled
- CLAMM, Care
- Doug Kershaw, Flip, Flop, and Fly
- Willis Alan Ramsey, self-titled
- Anthony Coleman, Selfhaters
- Laura Veirs, Warp & Weft
- Willie Nelson, And Then I Wrote
- Peter Brotzmann, Medicina
- Harlan Howard, All Time Favorite Country Songwriter
- Ray Charles, The Genius of Ray Charles
- The Roots of Chicha: Psychedelic Cumbias from Peru
- Fabiano do Nascimento, Tempo dos Mestres
- St. Vincent, self-titled
- Boubacar Traore, Kogno Magni
- Vince Bell, Texas Plates
- Father John Misty, Fear Fun
- Sonny Sharrock, Ask the Ages
- Wadada Leo Smith and Henry Kaiser, Yo Miles, disc 1
- The Hacienda Brothers, self-titled
- Fontaines D.C., A Hero’s Death
- Sonny Rollins, G-Man
- Juana Molina, Halo
- Johnny Paycheck, The Lovin’ Machine
- Julia Holter, Have You In My Wilderness
- Jose Gonzalez, Veneer
- Bonnie Prince Billy, Beware
- Elizabeth Cook, Aftermath
- Jason Isbell, Something More than Free
- Joey Purp, iiiDrops
- Elvis Costello, My Aim is True
- Peter Rowan & Tony Rice, You Were There For Me
- Merle Haggard, It’s Not Love (But It’s Not Bad)
- Chuck Prophet, Bobby Fuller Died For Your Sins
- Bonnie Prince Billy & Matt Sweeney, Superwolf
- Kings Go Forth, The Outsiders Are Back
- Conway Twitty, 25 Number Ones
- Tropical Fuck Storm, Deep States
- Top Country Hits of the 1960s
- Buck Owens, Before You Go
Album Reviews, in which I’m slamming through these 2022 releases for a decent year end list for y’all:
Jake Blount, The New Faith
This is a great album. Blount is a Black folk musician deeply connected to the history of Black folk music. Old-timey banjo and the history of spirituals are his core. So is hip-hop. But that’s not his storytelling core. That rests in the great and expanding tradition of Afro-futurism. So this is a story of the future–where climate change has decimated the world. The tale is about a group of Black Americans in this world, trying to survive by moving to the north, which of course replicates the history of slaves running away to freedom. This just combines so much and does it so effectively. One of the best albums I’ve heard from 2022. Great history, great storytelling, great music.
He’s also Providence based and I’m part of a group bringing him to campus this spring, which should be a lot of fun.
A
The Lone Bellow, Love Songs for Losers
Perfect album title for me!
But the album? Meh. Mildly annoying arena pop working as Americana. Even as the Dave Cobb production kiss. I suppose these three people sing well together, but the songs are utterly forgettable and with slightly different production, this is just adult contemporary cheese.
C
Yungchen Lhamo, Awakening
Can’t as say I have a lot of Tibetan music knowledge to compare this new album on Peter Gabriel’s world music label to, but I can say that it is a pretty pleasant listen. Might lean a bit toward background music for my tastes, but Lhamo does have a lovely voice.
B
Leyla McCalla, Breaking the Thermometer
Album for the Haitian Diaspora. McCalla is herself part Haitian and has always sung songs in Creole French. This goes farther, serving as a way to connect her own relatives to the music. The songs are partly inspired by archival recordings of Haitian music and she records her relatives talking about the Duvalier regime, life in the diaspora, etc. Brilliant idea and pretty excellent execution. Like the Blount album above, this is a superb example of taking both past and future Black music within the broadly defined diaspora and coming with new fresh things to say that excite listeners both lyrically and musically. And “how much does a memory weigh” anyway?
A
Mary J. Blige, Good Morning Gorgeous
New Mary J. Blige? At least have to hear it, right? Well, I guess. It’s OK. It’s not really more than that. She still has some attitude. But this isn’t real inspired and in the end, you have to compare any new release to the best work coming out these days. It doesn’t live up to that. But hell, a legend is a legend and at least deserves the respect for continuing to try and move forward. And “Good Morning Gorgeous” is a flat out banger of female self-respect.
Besides, it’s not as if this album is anything worse than the Stones have released in the last [checks notes] 45 years.
B-
J. Cole, 4 Your Eyez Only
I still have a few albums on my list from when I first made this list of albums for future listening back in 2016. This is one of them. By this time, “Neighbors” is basically a classic of the genre and so of course I knew that song. But that song is just one part of a larger statement about racism, incarceration, and the oppression that Black Americans face. No wonder this is considered a great album.
A
Ambitious Lovers, Greed
Deep into the historical archives to check out this Arto Lindsay project that was the toast of New York for a bit in the early 80s. Lindsay is one of the 80s experimental music hipsters who have remained pretty relevant, but my god I cannot get over the 80s effects in this music. I recognize that he’s bringing in some Brazilian influences which are sometimes interesting and which he’s always had as central to his music. But he also is a horrible singer. Slightly more interesting versions of a musical time and place I find mostly unlistenable I guess has value and the reviews for these guys have always been very good. But I hate it even as I sort of respect what they are doing, recognize that they are excellent musicians, and are doing things that people hadn’t really done before. It still sucks.
C
Bassekou Kouyate, Miri
Another very solid release from the great Malian ngoni player. He has been famous for modernizing the ngoni, including electrifying it. This is an acoustic album though, a return to the instrument’s roots. Translated, one can read the political elements on this album, with commentary on the Islamist attacks on the nation and the other political and social problems his beloved land faces. The playing is amazing and the guest appearances from various artists works well. Good stuff.
A-
Lithuanian Symphony Orchestra/Giedre Slekyte, Zibuokle Martinaityte: Saudade
As I said last week, it’s hard for me to review classical albums, though less with modern orchestral music like this. I don’t necessarily have the language. What I can say is that this disc of four compositions from the Lithuanian composer Martinaityte (who lives in New York) is pretty damn good. The composition range from a meditation on the death of her father to her own immigration experiences. While probably many orchestras could have done a good job with this, going back to her home and highlighting the Lithuanian Symphony makes both political and artistic sense. I really really really don’t have the words or even understanding to know why the composer matters so much here, but Slekyte is highly thought of and, I dunno, sounds good to me.
And that’s your brilliant super high cultured review of the day.
A-
As always, this is an open thread for all things music and art and none things politics.