Some things Old, some things from the News, some things Borrowed, and some Blues
Friday is fun, because it's music. So there's a playlist or two. And loads of recommendations. A new format today. I hope you like it. Or like some of what is being suggested here.
Here’s an idea I thought of yesterday, and now it’s a bit late to back out of…I’m going to – from time to time – hit you up with the things in the title of this newsletter entry. That being some old music I’ve newly (re) discovered, some thing either brand new or making news, something I’m loving that I borrowed from somewhere (a recommendation from a friend, or another music writer, or the public library, for example) and something that comes from (or is) the blues.
It's a silly little gimmick perhaps. But the restriction is loose enough that it’s a way of creating a set of recommendations that hopefully goes beyond the obvious, yet isn’t confined to just offering up brand new music. Nothing wrong with new music, after all it’s impossible to keep up, but I like to think that one of the great perks of writing about music in this forum is I’m not hamstrung by “new releases only”. Wiggle room is the blessing.
So, we’ll see how this tracks. Let me know if you like this sort of vibe, and it might become a semi regular Friday thing. Not every week, but something for the rotation.
Okay, here we go then. Let’s debut the fuck out of this segment then:
Some things Old
I have a Bluetooth turntable now. And I’m very happy with it. It’s got me back into what’s left of my vinyl collection. I say ‘what’s left of it’ like I’m dealing with dregs. I must have about 800 LPs to choose from, so it’s certainly not nothing. This week I have managed to bypass the usual soundtrack fare to check in on a few old favourites. Pick of the week has been Sanatana’s Lotus.
I often say this sort of thing, a favourite opaque measurement, but this is likely one of the albums I’ve listened to the most in my life. I bought it on cassette tape as a teenager, owned it on double-CD for a while, and then found the triple-LP. It’s such a hot record. The peak of the band, Carlos and crew at the height of their powers. Such an energy in all of the playing.
It was my lawnmowing music – which might seem incongruous, but always felt perfect to me. I was out there in the early 90s, listening to music recorded in the early 1970s, and, well, I’ll quote myself:
There was a spiritual peace out on the freshly cut grass,
Michael Shrieve and Carlos Santana chiselling with sound
to find their god.
Sometimes you’ve just got to crank a triple live record and listen to all six sides of it. And this was such a treat to work though. It’s not ‘work’ at all. Total pleasure. I haven’t been able to listen to Carlos Santana’s output across the last 20 years. Someone gave him his flowers, he banked all those Grammys for some sell-out collaboration albums, and I thought it was nice he finally got some attention. But he lost me after the first one. This is the record that always pulls me back in. The absolute encapsulation of all that was special about him. And his very best band.
I also blasted this great Mitch Ryder and The Detroit Wheels compilation a few times this week. I think this was my intro to the band. Such good-time music. Someone referenced Mitch’s cover of Prince’s When You Were Mine (one of my very favourite Prince songs) and that set me off on the Mitch Ryder rediscovery. A most pleasant journey indeed.
Some things from the News
I’m a huge fan of Mali Mali. This is the musical name for Auckland-based Ben Tolich. I discovered his music somewhat by fluke. A review copy landing in my letterbox a decade or so ago. Been a fan ever since. Had a lovely chat with him back when I was still regularly podcasting. And then just recently he messaged, telling me he was bummed out to hear I wasn’t really writing about music so much anymore, and that he still wanted to send me his new album. Just for me to hear, no obligation to write about it. Well, I’ll probably step out of my self-imposed album-reviewing-retirement to pen some thoughts on this, but for now a recommendation: His latest Mali Mali album is my new favourite. This happens just about every time he releases new music, the latest record goes to the top of the pile. But certainly, this new one is instantly wonderful. And if you’ve never heard his music this might be the best place to start.
It's New Zealand Music Month. Apparently. I believe that’s still ‘a thing’. So: see above for a recommendation.
Rickie Lee Jones’ new album is a collection of Great American Songbook covers. Much as I love her original songs, I really think she nails the covers-album format. It never feels tired or phoned in ike it does with so many other artists (Rod, Bublé, et al). Also, RLJ has here reconnected with the great producer Russ Titelman. He produced her self-titled debut from 1979, and 1981’s follow-up, Pirates. So that ol’ magic is back in the can. Wonderful song selections, exquisitely recorded and performed; quite how her voice still sounds so close to how it has always sounded remains an absolute marvel to me. What a legend.
Some things Borrowed
Last week I started playing the YouTube clips of Joni Mitchell at last year’s Newport Folk Festival. Holy heck, that’ll make you weep. I regularly watch those performances. I’m in awe of Brandi Carlile and how she got Joni back on stage, and then perfectly, respectfully stage-managed the whole thing, while also performing.
Joni, as you probably know, followed Neil Young’s lead, and took her music off Spotify. Much as I link to Spotify here, and use it most days, I respect the hell out of that decision. And in the case of both Mitchell and Young, I have the key albums that I love so much on vinyl. I used to own everything by both of them on CD, and, well, I’m tempted to start buying the CDs up all over again.
So, this week I borrowed The Studio Albums 1968-1979 boxset from the library. (Incidentally, Wellington City Libraries no longer charge you a hire fee on CDs, it’s now just like borrowing books).
Was anyone as consistently good and challenging and musically adventurous across the 1970s? My god, Joni’s essential catalogue is impressive. I know these albums so well and love them so deeply, but to go through them in order, in this format, is to sometimes feel like I’m hearing them anew. So exciting.
The Joni love from me extended over to borrowing as many books as I could find from the library too.
I’m possibly going to be writing an academic essay about her work. So, it’s not just me being an obsessive, psycho-fan. There is method (hopefully) to the madness.
Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone, goes one of Joni’s most famous lines/most famous songs. Similarly, it sometimes seems to be the case that you don’t know what you’re looking for until you find it. That’s what I discovered this week, when I found this playlist of 100 different versions of Crockett’s Theme from Miami Vice.
I’ll always remember where I was when I found this. And as I’m ‘borrowing’ it, I thought I’d share the love. I haven’t yet made it the whole way through of course, and even though it’s variations on a theme (as it were), they can’t all be bangers. But I don’t think it yet includes my second favourite version of the piece. I say ‘yet’ because it was updated as recently as two days ago at the time I share it. That’s a new track since I started listening to it. Bloody exciting I tell ya!
And some Blues.
When I was growing up, the blues was one of the go-to genres in our house. My mum was raised on jazz and blues and remains a huge fan – and she’d always be teaching me about B.B. King or Ray Charles or playing compilations with Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. And my dad was massively into Eric Clapton and the whole British blues boom, the early years of Fleetwood Mac, The Yardbirds, The Rolling Stones, all of that stuff.
I’m lucky to have had that education. And though I don’t always listen to blues music these days, it’s a vibe I return to for sure. And it informs a lot of my favourite listening. Billie Holiday through to Jeff Beck, the blues is there in its varied forms as a throughline for some of my all-time favourite musical acts.
In recent years, it’s been very hard for me to care about Eric Clapton at all. Which is fine, I guess. No real worries there, but he was a huge gateway drug for me – all of his heroes (Freddie King, Albert King, Robert Johnson) became important touchstones for me. And the best of his early work still meant something for a long time. His boring musical decisions were reason enough to turn him off long before he went all bonkers anti-vax. But just the other night I found a way back in. I was listening to one of the final interviews Ginger Baker gave, and I just decided I had to hear Disraeli Gears. It’s the second Cream album. And it’s the best one.
Strange Brew, Sunshine of Your Love, Tales of Brave Ulysses, SWLABR, We’re Going Wrong and Outside Woman Blues. Wow. Just wow. Okay, okay, I know this isn’t ‘blues’ as such. But we have the blues to thank for it. And I have my parents to thank for introducing me to this stuff. It’s sometimes the very best music you could ever hear. What a treat it was to feel this again.
I told someone earlier this week that Sunny War was absolutely worth listening to. I held up her new album, then admitted I hadn’t actually quite heard that one yet. So it was straight home to rectify that. Sunny is a little bit gospel, folk, soul, and country, but all from deep within the blues idiom of course. And this album might be a good starting point if you haven’t heard from her previously. Not only is she in fine voice, and playing her great guitar, the album features cameos from David Rawlings, Allison Russell and Jim Jones. And they’re all great people too.
So, there you go. What do you think of that format for some recommendations?
Chuck in a brand new Brian Eno album (with Fred Again) – because I’ll listen to anything that Eno has co-created or made alone.
And a brand-new set of songs (or musical pieces) by The Album Leaf. I love The Album Leaf so much. And this one features a cameo track from Bat For Lashes and one from Kimbra, which is cool. Something different. Again, might be a decent starting point if you haven’t heard them previously.
And there’s always the latest entry into the weekly playlist. We are up to Vol. 115 of A Little Something For The Weekend…Sounds Good! And, as ever, I really hope at least some of it sounds good to you. Very much a case of something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue in there. That’s always been the way.
Let me know if you like this new format for music recommendations. And please share anything new (or old) that you’ve been digging recently. Happy weekend to you all.
