Springtime for Hitl, er, Pop Music

I barely got a jazz post in before Spring, and now I'm barely getting a pop post in before Summer, which - let's face it - starts on Memorial Day.

The problem this time was that Mrs. Jaybee had some "reservations" about a few of these records. So I told her to give it time. She said she's given it forty years. Well, that's fair.

Anyway, I wanted to see where she landed on them. Her final judgements follow mine below.

The Dismemberment Plan: Emergency and I (1999)

They sound like a nineties version of Talking Heads, and I admit that I like this guy's voice more than David Byrne's. And the band is tight. The problem is in their pursuit of a unique sound they often sound like they're achieving it for its own sake. It might grow on me, but for now, it's a record to be appreciated, if not actively enjoyed. 

Except for one brief shining moment when it all comes together in "Back And Forth".

B

Mrs. Jaybee: I tried. I really tried. But no.

"Back and Forth"

Rosalia: Motomani (2022)

An eerily beautiful voice that is actually helped by autotune, assuming it's even there at all. She sings in Spanish(?) so I have no idea what's going on. But the constant flow of melody, beat, and noise in all the right places makes it hard to complain. The musical settings and styles are quite varied so there's rarely a dull moment.

And for heaven's sake, buy this record so she can go get a pair of pants!

A-

Mrs. Jaybee: Bleh.

"La Combi Versace"

Broken Social Scene: You Forgot it In People (2006)

Not a Canadian supergroup like the New Pornographers, but rather, a "collective", so right there they lose the Republican vote. But everybody else, stick around.

This is surprisingly mellow given the tendency of such formulations to rock out at great length since anything else would require um, songwriting.  Kinda similar to Spiritualized but more modest.

Quite easy on the ear but not quite compelling. It's the kind of record where you just go with the flow unless they jam on a little too long. But they avoid that here.

B+

Mrs. Jaybee Reaction: Good.

"KC Accidental"

Talk Talk: Spirit of Eden (1988)

A classic Mrs. Jaybee's first reaction: "This is boring. Don't ever play this when I'm around." (Ah, but she's said this before!)

I usually hate the throaty nasal whine of English singers (Spandau Ballet's "True"; Duran Duran's "New Moon on Monday"), and, alas, Talk Talk ("It's My Life") seemed to want to make a career out of it, so while they were around I avoided them like the plague (heh, heh). But now that we've actually had one I thought I'd given them a chance.

I wasn't thrilled to see the album was comprised of six longish songs. However, slowed down, and with just the right amount of ambient dressing and guitar gnarl that whine sounds pretty soulful, even if in the same key throughout. A minor miracle.

And speaking of miracles, the lyrics are rather oblique, but with hints of finding God. So I respect the singer's willingness to risk sounding like an idiot, and the band's willingness to back him up.

A-

Mrs. Jaybee's Reaction: I can't believe I'm actually enjoying this. (I can't believe it's Talk Talk, either.)

"I Believe in You"

Alvvays:  Blue Rev (2022)

There is an absolutely frantic level of energy and melody. Which may go to show that more isn't necessarily better. Their last album was so good because they kept it all sharp, bright, and clear, if maybe too controlled. 

But now they go all Exile on Main Street, and sound like they're playing on a subway platform with the train arriving. Last time the guitar solos were melodic and precise, and now they buzz and growl and roar,  risking utter chaos. Luckily Molly Rankin's voice can still be heard through it all.

And sometimes I'm a more is better kind of guy so I say here we're breaking even.

A-

Mrs. Jaybee's reaction: She has a high-pitched voice and here she sometimes insists on going even higher, but otherwise very good.

"Easy On Your Own?"

The Smile: A Light for Attracting Attention (2022)

Two guys (singer, guitar player) from Radiohead plus one guy (drummer) from Sons of Kemet, add up to kind-of-like-Radiohead but with a more intricate beat.

And like some Radiohead records this one veers between harsh racket and quietly melodic. Yorke's lyrics have never been great, he's got a nice voice, and man, the sounds Johnny Greenwood gets out of his guitar!

If forced to place it within other Radiohead records I'm familiar with I'd judge this as better than Amnesiac but not quite as good as In Rainbows.

You can take it from there.

A-

Mrs. Jaybee: Love it!

"Open the Floodgates"

Now let's see what Summer brings. I should know by Christmas.

Corona-chles II

Working from home, continued:
Well, it wasn't great that first day (3/17). It took forever to do things on my laptop that I could do in seconds on my desktop at work. So I decided to go into work, and spent the rest of the week there.

Subways:

Unlike just a couple of days before, the trains were now almost empty. And those of us who were on them were aggressively avoiding each other.

Masks:
I don't wear a mask, even when on the train. Am I stupid? I don't know. I just heard it wouldn't help. Now all those folks who wear them at the drop of a hat look like prophets. Next Step, fashion versions. Get ready. After all, we need something to distinguish the elite from the rabble. Me, I'm not shaving. That keeps people away.

Gloves:
I honestly don't know how to use them without not only touching my face but likely swallowing them whole. I may have inadvertently started that condom-up-the-nose trend a couple of years back...


Working From Work:
Ah, but for those three days (3/18-20) I was very productive! Which is the important thing, right?

Working From Work, Reconsidered:
But by Thursday night Mrs. Jaybee - a cancer survivor - was getting a bit nervous I'd pick up something and drop it right on her questionable immune system.
And it hit me. What. The. Fuck. Am. I. Doing??  How could I run when I knew?
So Friday I brought home my docking station, keyboard and mouse, to see if I could unflatten the curve of my lesser productivity as home.

Music:
Playing Decade got me back to practicing guitar using Neil Young music. I mean, he just kept hitting the right notes. Random lines pop up with a new relevance, like:

See the sky about to rain

The subways are empty, and so are the cafes...

In the stands
The home crowd scatters
For the turnstiles...

If you see him in the subway, He'll be down at the end of the car.
Watching you move Until he knows he knows who you are.

And here's another - completely un-pandemic unrelated one - for good measure:

You're watching your TV, and it's watching you. 
From 1975 no less!

But I guess your favorite artist has lyrics that will suddenly take on a whole new meaning now.

By Sunday (3/22) Mrs. Jaybee was pretty sad and wanted to hear something upbeat, so we tried Alvvays and the New Pornographers which worked well. Neil was on point, but we just didn't want to feel that way anymore.

Looking Human:
I haven't shaved since my one day working from home last week And Mrs. Jaybee likes it!
She said I should continue to grow it for the duration of the pandemic. And with the barbershops closed, I'll end up looking like old Neil himself up top there.
Who am I kidding? I'm 62, it'll probably come in white, which, if I wasn't before, I will surely now be the whitest man in America. So, who am I kidding? I'll look like Leon Russell. (Time to dig out my old white communion suit...)
I did figure out why Mrs. Jaybee likes it, though. It's just her way of being quarantined with someone else. Clever girl!

Fails:
During Mrs. Jaybee's first day of teaching from home, I stood behind her and dropped an f-bomb - a real doozy, too - behind her while her students were signing in. They really behaved themselves that day.

It could have been worse. 

Anyway, stay well - and stay the fuck back - okay?

2019: Who Doesn't Like Leftovers?

I don’t know about you but we (well, I) just stopped eating the Christmas leftovers a week or so ago. It may cause me to grow a third ear but that'll just help me keep up with all this music.

The following are all the records I accumulated during 2019 that I hadn’t yet mentioned - usually, because I had very little to say about them, or they took a while to sink in. 

Months or years from now I’ll put some of them on and have a blast, but for now, most of them fall into the pleasant/fun-but-not-quite-exhilarating category. In other words, life on a pretty good day.

Let’s go in ascending order of excellent-ness.

Tune-Yards: Nikki Nack (2014)

This is a pretty good record, but a huge letdown from 2010’s W H O K I L L. This one is similarly weird and almost as inventive, and if I'd gotten it first it would sound just fine.

B+

"Find a New Way"

Carly Rae Jepsen: E*MO*TION (2015)

Mr.s Jaybee looks at me weird when I get records like this. No dear, I’m not creeping on the young women. Besides, said young women are usually one third my age, and Ms. Jepsen is merely one half.

Re the actual music, I am in awe of its almost pathological catchiness. Between I really really really really really like you and give me love, give me love, give me love, give me love, give me love, give me love, give me love there’s really no doubting where she stands on um, interpersonal questions. I almost want the young lady to take a rest midway through the album (which she does at cut 5). But then again, like I said she’s much younger than me.

B+

“I Really Like You”

Van Dyke Parks: Song Cycle (1968)

Recognize that name? You should. He’s worked with Randy Newman, Little Feat, Brian Wilson, JoAnna Newsome, Harry Nilsson and a huge list of others. This is his very first album

It’s oddly Americana-ish for a psychedelic time and too weird for immediate enjoyment. I suspect it’s a grower but mostly for those odd occasions when you’re feeling completely alienated from the modern world. And who could blame you?

 B+

"The Attic"

Los Lobos: Colossal Head (1996)

These guys just impress the hell out of me. There’s a real fuck you attitude to this one. I mean, how many good records do they have to make to have you sit up and notice??

The guitar really stings on this one. They’re way past La Bamba, artiness and white acceptance.  Here the just rock.

B+

"Can’t Stop the Rain"

 

Idles: Joy As An Act of Resistance (2018)

Angry punk music, great dynamics, and a singer with a big deep voice. It’s closer to mid-tempo rather than the breakneck speed punk is more famous for. The main advantage of this is you can tell exactly what they’re mad about.

B+

"Colossus"

LCD Soundsystem: This Is Happening (2010)

Same old LCDSS but unlike The Sound of Silver, this one is very consistent. It doesn’t have anything undeniably great like "All My Friends" but I like the consistency of this one.

B+

"I Can Change"

Algiers: The Under Side of Power (2017)

This is less cerebral than TV on the Radio. More impassioned, too. The vocals are simply overpowering. This is a weird mix of gospel, hard rock/punk and a few other things I can't name. It’s not an easy listen. By the time it’s over you feel like you’ve worked out. But every time I put it on I rank it higher and higher.

B+

"Mme Rieux"

REM: Unplugged Completely (1995) Bootleg

I’d been looking for something like this for quite some time. They had their MTV set before I had cable and so I only heard bits of it here and there. 

This pulls all of that set together with some other acoustic performances right around their commercial peak.

As one who loves Out of Time, this one brings similar joys.

There are a few versions of this, that encompass their entire career. This one’s from 1991 or so and sticks to that early middle period that may consider the band’s peak.

A-

"Belong"

Rihanna: Anti (2016)

Who (in my demographic) would know what to expect from this critically hailed record by a fiery and sometimes problematic young lady. So what’s here?

A great voice. Excellent tunes. And no dumb crowd-pleaser songs. (Well, ok, I guess “Sex With Me” counts.) But I actively enjoy each of these songs. And they are songs, not just tracks with a voice over it.

This young lady may have some questionable choices in her life but she has made none of them here.

A-

"Close to You"

 

Alvvays: Anti-Socialites (2017)

This one falls right smack in the middle of my current comfort zone: catchy pop from female-led bands.

This one is more methodically catchy, which I guess has its shortcomings. But while she might also really really really etc like you, she has a little more to say about it than just that.

A-

And so now that I've gotten all that off my chest I look back on the last year and find that my focus on catching up on the decade has caused me to ignore records actually released in 2019 altogether.



Jesus H. Christ, I've got work to do.

Ninth Annual Jaybee-bies: The Best of 2019, But Not Really

Well, This Is Embarrassing.

Despite my best efforts to stay current, I got so focused on catching up on the decade that I never actually got to 2019. Thus, my 2019 list has no 2019 records on it! Nutboy would be mortified.

It’s people like Nutboy - by focusing on the here and the now and yet somehow absorbing the latest 30-CD Bob Dylan Bootleg release - who keep me humble. I’m waiting for your 2019 list NB!

I was tempted to check out the 2019 records that appeared on the many decade lists I perused, but I didn’t trust the rankings. The value of decade lists is that they give people years to process what they heard. But you only get a few months for the 2019 records. Hence there’s a temptation to overrate what you happen to like at that moment.


Resolutions: 

So, I will - again - resolve to get 2020 music during actual 2020. And, I guess, catch up on, um, 2019. A new decade and I’m already behind the f*cking 8-ball. Or in my case maybe the 7-ball.

Aside from that, I won’t bore you yet again with my pathetic attempts at personal resolutions. They’re going about as well as you’d expect.

But as far as music goes, I’ve made some adjustments. I had previously resolved to get more mp3s. I’m now hearing that the sound quality of CDs (and vinyl) is better. (Any advice on this would be appreciated.) So I may go back to CDs. We’ll just have to add an extension to the house.

Oh, I’ve been (re)learning guitar, and have resolved to practice “more”, whatever that means.


Awards:

Most Work (But Worth it): Arca

Most Work (And Possibly Not Worth It): tUnE yArDs

Most Surprising: Lykki Li

Most Disappointing: tUnE yArDs

Best Artist: Nobody, but that's okay.


Best Books:

This was not a great year for finishing books, but for those that I did, here are my favorites.

Any Old Way You Choose It by Robert Christgau
Just so much fun to read a person's first-hand reaction to events and music from decades ago. A

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Very entertaining and I learned a lot. But I couldn't have the latter without the former. A-

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Jane’s always reliable for a good yarn. A-

Susan Sontag: The Complete Rolling Stone Interview, Cott, Jonathan
I enjoyed Sontag’s answers a lot more than Cott’s questions.  A-


Oh, Yeah. Music:

I didn’t hear anything that absolutely floored me, but all of the below rewarded repeated listening.

Last year, of my top ten, five were either lead or co-led by a woman. This year makes that year look like a case of testosterone poisoning.

There was also a struggle between fun and seriousness. In a pinch, the former won.

In terms of quality 1-4 are very close, as are 5-6 and 7-9 and - of course - 10.

1. Snail Mail: Lush (2018)  Compared to the ladies below, she’s a bit of a sad sack, but she wants what’s best for you.
2. Alvvays: Anti-Socialites (2017)  She’s pretty level headed about love. And outright serious about catchiness.
3. Best Coast: Crazy for You (2010)  Not only do the songs sound similar, but their themes are also similar. She loves him, he drives her crazy. What might drive you crazy in a friend can be very entertaining in an artist.
4. Janelle Monae: Dirty Computer  (2018)  Yes, Prince is dead, but she is filling the hole pretty nicely so far.
5. Leonard Cohen: You Want it Darker (2018)  He may have been a young hedonist but he worked and worked and worked until the very end.
6. Kacey Musgraves: Golden Hour (2018) The songs are not all uniformly great, but that voice! 
7. Soccer Mommy: Clean (2018)  Sometimes irritatingly weird but I keep listening to it.
8. Pusha T: Daytona (2018)  Grim realities right in your face. Compelling.
9. Noname: Room 25 (2018) This flows beautifully from beginning to end.
10. And tied for 10th: Arca: Arca (2017), Lykki Li: Wounded Rhymes (2011), Father John Misty: I Love You Honeybear (2010), Tom Waits: Bad As Me (2011), Bon Iver: Bon Iver (2011)

Some of the best songs I heard this year can be found here.

Here's to the New Year! 

Are we in a war yet?