Category: Music

Hey there, folks.

The Formulaic Writer will continue on Monday. But today is Friday, and that means Friday Music!

As always, these are some tracks which drifted through my head this week, and so I’ve collected them here for you, like a little mixtape, so you can put them in your earholes as well.

The callipygian portrait over to the left there is the album cover of St. Vincent’s most recent album, MASSEDUCTION. I’m a huge fan of her work — it may seem like exaggeration, but I honestly think that music history may eventually categorize her, along with a number of other female contemporaries (like Jannelle Monáe) as influential artists of the same caliber as Prince or Bowie. A bold prediction, I know. In the meantime, here’s the title track from the new album: St. Vincent – “Masseduction.”

Back in the earlier iterations of Friday Music, I was quite enamored of mash-ups. I haven’t listened to any new ones in quite some time, though. Stumbled across this one recently, though, and was blown away. It’s the perfect blending of Motley Crue’s “Looks That Kill” with Steely Dan’s “Do It Again” that I never knew I desperately craved. Bill McClintock – “Look Again (Motley Crue vs Steely Dan).”

Recent stuff by Bruno Mars has never failed to get my ass moving, with a smile on my face. Throwbacks to classic funk and soul are right up my alley, and you’ve gotta love lyrics like “Throw some perm on that attitude, ‘cuz ya gotta RELAX.” Bruno Mars – “Perm.”

Of course, if we’re going to throwback to classic funk and soul, that puts me in the mood for some genuine 70s gold. This track was all over the radio in 1976 (I was seven years old), and I’ve always loved the deep smooth sound of his voice. (Interesting note: the backing musicians are the MSFB, the studio group who worked for Philadelphia International, and whose best-known recording was “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)”, better known as the theme to Soul Train.) Lou Rawls – “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine.”

Another throwback — but this time to a time (the late 90s) when a throwback to another time (the late 30s and early 40s) was briefly popular. Yes, kids, I was a sucker for the horribly hipster Swing Revival. I hadn’t thought of this song since then, but it drifted across my iTunes random shuffle, and it all came flooding back: Cherry Poppin’ Daddies – “Zoot Suit Riot.”

A Google commercial featuring Sia made me remember the first time I ever heard her sing, long before she became known as a solo act in her own right — she was providing vocals on a few tracks by the English downtempo electronica act Zero 7. This was the first single from their 2001 debut album, Simple Things, and I utterly fell in love with their sound. Plus, one of the best opening lines ever: “I lie awake, I’ve gone to ground…I’m watching porn in my hotel dressing-gown.” Zero 7 – “Destiny.”

I have long been a fan of Dead Can Dance, although I’ve always struggled to describe them. Not a band, per se, nor really a duo. More like a “musical project,” although that sounds odd. Wikipedia tells me that Australian music historian Ian McFarlane describes them as “constructed soundscapes of mesmerising grandeur and solemn beauty; African polyrhythms, Gaelic folk, Gregorian chant, Middle Eastern mantras, and art rock” — and I suppose that captures some of what they are. This, a track which goes through parlor music & chanting, settles into the ethereal before finally giving us lyrical poetry, is my favorite of their songs. Dead Can Dance – “Ullyses.”

That’s all for this week, folks. See you back here on Monday for the next installment of The Formulaic Writer, and again next week for more Friday Music. Have a great weekend!

 
 

Welcome to the long-await return of Friday Music!

You can read about the roots of this series, and my current plans, here. I’m just going to jump in and get started — with this single caveat: mp3 files were the most popular presentation option on the poll that I ran, so that’s what I’m going with here. Some of them are files that are hosted elsewhere, some are hosted here. The files that I’m hosting will only be active for about a month, though — so if you’re reading this more than a month after the original posting, don’t bother clicking.

And now, with no further ado…

Muse are working on their still-untitled eighth album. In the middle of last year, they released a single from it (“Dig Down”), and now, 9 months later and with no release date (or title) yet announced, they’ve gone ahead and released another single (with an 80s-riffic video over on Youtube, with lightning-shooting vampires & neon). Here’s the single — Muse – “Thought Contagion.”

Nabihah Iqbal is a Pakistani British artist, who previously produced electronic music singles under the stage name Throwing Shade. For her debut full-length album, she decided to move away from electronica, and into what she calls “guitar music” — specifically influenced by the genres of Post-punk and Britpop — and release it under her own name. The album, “Weighing of the Heart,” is amazing — I love it. This is the lead single, which is a good representation of the overall sound: Nabihah Iqbal – “Something More.”

With the sorry state of radio in this country, I tend to get most of my musical discoveries from television or films (although I’ve recently dipped into Spotify as a discovery tool. We’ll see if it bears fruit). This is the theme song to the Netflix series Narcos, about the Colombian cocaine cartels. Laura and I both fell a little bit in love with the smoldering romantic vibe of the track. Rodrigo Amarante – “Tuyo.”

Another television discovery, in a musical genre that I generally don’t care for too much: modern country. But the song fits the series (Syfy’s Wynonna Earp), and it has just enough of the sort of blues-y roadhouse sound to it that I don’t mind the country-ness of it, either.Jill Andrews – “Tell That Devil.”

Flashing back now — I had totally forgotten this single when I stumbled across it last month, and upon hearing it, it all came flooding back. Phantom, Rocker & Slick was formed by Stray Cats drummer Slim Jim Phantom & bassist Lee Rocker, when the Cats broke up at the height of their popularity. They joined with guitarist Earl Slick (David Bowie’s guitarist, post-Mick-Ronson), and released a couple of albums in the mid-80s. This was the first (and only charting) single: Phantom, Rocker & Slick – “Men Without Shame.”

Continuing on the flashback, this is a 22-year-old (JESUS FUCKING CHRIST) single from the Britpop group Space, which I absolutely loved at the time. While I sit here and contemplate the fact that music that I considered cutting edge and forward-sounding is now old enough to legally drink, you should give it a listen. “Shock, shock, horror,” as the song says. Space – “The Female of the Species.”

And we’ll close out this week with a genuinely old flashback — a track from 1972 by the English rock band Argent. It popped up randomly in an iTunes shuffle as I was working earlier this week, and I hadn’t heard it in ages– it’s long been one of my “get motivated” tracks. Argent – “Hold Your Head Up.”

So there we go, kids. Your weekly Mixtape of Teh Intarwebz. Feel free to leave thoughts and comments, and I’ll see ya in seven.

Hey kids.

As long-time readers know, I used to do a weekly feature on my blog, called Friday Music. I started it back in 2005, and ran it for quite a while. Every week or so, I’d post a “mixtape of the internet”, sharing stuff that had grabbed my attention, both new and old. But, like so many other things in my life, it kind of drifted off — I’ve tried, a few times, to resurrect it (most recently about a year ago), but not with any real sticking power.

As part of my goal in 2018 of getting back into the habit of blogging, I’m bringing Friday Music back, starting next week.

To that end, I need your help.

I’d like to know what format you’d like to see Friday Music take.

The old format was that I would find links to mp3 versions of the songs, and just link those. I could still do that. But the kids these days like the streaming services — and I have two memberships I could use. For Spotify, I could provide individual track links, or I could just link to a single, curated playlist for that week. I also have a Mixcloud account, so I could link to a weekly playlist there (this is the method I tried a year ago, when I last tried to get this up and running again). Or maybe you have another preference, which you can let me know about.

So I’m asking you to log your preference below. You special snowflakes who can’t decide can pick more than one option. Also, keep in mind that the method of song delivery will be in addition to written “liner notes” from me, where I talk a bit about the artist or the track, etc. You’ll be getting that no matter what.

So, fire away, please — your input is important to me.

 
 

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