Listening to new music takes time. It's not something you can do in the background, you've got to focus, and that's too heavy a lift for many people.
Let me put it differently... Are you BUSY? I am, and I can't slow down. It's one of the many reasons I've stopped going to the movies. I plan it, the lights go down, and I can't turn my mind off, it keeps racing.
But today I was in one of those spaces where nothing was working. I've got reverse jet lag. As in I'm home, but flying half a day in a tube...you're enduring it, and it takes a couple of days for your brain to unclench.
So, I must admit I wasted some time on Instagram Reels and TikTok, and to be honest I saw some very interesting stuff there, but I finally tore myself away, made a quick trip through the news, and then started catching up on "The New Yorker." The only must-read article I'll mention is by William Finnegan, whose "Barbarian Days" is a classic, read it even if you've never surfed and never intend to. Ditto this article about Jock Sutherland:
"A SURF LEGEND'S LONG RIDE - For Jock Sutherland, being hailed as the world's best surfer was just one phase in an unlikely life": t.ly/JZx3s
Surfing is just the background, it's about culture, and life.
It's kind of like skiing, you can turn it into a job, but then you give up your freedom, which is number one when I'm on the hill, which is why I've never wanted to be an instructor or a patrolman or work for a ski company, it bastardizes the experience, and the experience is everything.
But in this week's "New Yorker," there's a story about MJ Lenderman, and it was the second one I saw today, so I decided to check him out.
JOKER LIPS
MJ Lenderman
You'll want to turn off the opening track, "Manning Fireworks," it's a slow dirge with a bad vocal and you'll think Mr. Lenderman is exactly what he's billed as, an indie rocker, and do we really need another one of those, haven't we had enough of them in the past? I mean what ever happened to being able to sing? And don't tell me about Dylan, he's the BEST LYRICIST OF ALL TIME.
As for the lyrics... They're vaunted in all these stories, but if you think they're great, you've never listened to "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)." And don't give me sh*t for this ancient reference, that's today's' reality, you've got to compete with the best tracks of all time, they're just a click away, the history of recorded music is at your fingertips, so you've got to be as good or better, and that's a high bar.
But then the album slipped into the second cut, "Joker Lips," and I immediately got it, and it wasn't the lyrics whatsoever, but the groove, the feel, and most especially the guitar work.
I'd like to say the rest of the album is as good as "Joker Lips," but I won't go that far. But the worst track is first on this album entitled "Manning Fireworks." And the last cut, "Bark at the Moon," will bring you out of your stupor, it demands attention.
But if you don't like indie rock, DON'T EVEN START!
Based on the reviews you'd think MJ Lenderman is the second coming, that he's about to be ubiquitous, and that is patently untrue.
NEVER GOING HOME TONIGHT
David Guetta, Alesso, Madison Love
I don't know what I'll get more hate about, Lenderman or this. People hate EDM, think it's too easy to make, mindless, but that is false. Cast aside your prejudices and listen, and you'll find that "Never Going Home Tonight" has the number one criterion for music today, it's HOOKY, you want to listen to it again when it's finished. Don't tell me to play your tune five or six times to get it, I'm not going to, and other than your parents and your girlfriend/boyfriend, no one else will either.
This is not quite Avicii's "Wake Me Up," "Never Going Home Tonight" might not be forever, but it's definitely for right now. I'd much rather listen to this than Chappell Roan.
Your mileage may differ.
And it's not only the deejays, Madison Love's vocal is enticing, more than breathy, more than a whisper, it's not the belting of a TV competition show, but it's just right for this cut.
This is the last hot night of the summer. Staying up way too late. "Coke in the bathroom stall," alcohol in your belly and "one more kiss before last call."
They're never going home tonight, and this is the magic of music, it takes you away to a new place where nothing else matters, AND YOU WANT TO STAY THERE!
CAN WE FIX OUR NATION'S BROKEN HEART
Stevie Wonder
Stevie has been lost for years. He had a run of classic albums in the seventies that seem to be lost to the sands of time, other than "Songs in the Key of Life," which despite all the hosannas is not as good as the three LPs that preceded it. But after you reach the moon, what are you gonna do next?
"Hotter than July" was okay, but then calling to say he loves us... Ecch, dreck. So I wasn't expecting much.
And at first you'll be thrown off by Stevie's voice. It's lost something in the ensuing decades. Not like Mellencamp's oversmoked pipes, it's just that it's not as clear and rich as it once was, not that you would be bothered by this if you'd never heard him before.
So I'm on guard, hesitant, waiting to be disappointed once again, especially considering it's a message song, but...
The intro is rhythmic, melodic, and kind of hooky. And the verse stays with the same groove.
And then there's a bridge, that's a bit less hooky, but then there's this exquisite change, after "humanity," when Stevie sings "We're family," this is the magic Stevie specializes in, it's so subtle, but it's enough, the Beatles specialized in this too. Don't bring in ten writers, don't layer on instrumentation, just put it in the basic song.
And then that change repeats throughout the number, to the point where when it's done you tell yourself, "Hey, that was pretty good!"
And I've got to mention the harmonica solo, which seems anything but superfluous, like too many of Stevie's guest shots recently.
That change, it's enrapturing.
And by time the song is over...you don't think it's going to be a hit single, what is, but you can see "Can We Fix Our Nation's Broken Heart" as an album cut somewhere on "Fulfillingness' First Finale."
And irrelevant of the lyrics, if you listen to "Can We Fix Our Nation's Broken Heart" you're disarmed, you can't be angry.
That's the power of music.
HOLD OF MY HEART
Joanne Shaw Taylor
This was a surprise, because if I've ever heard of this woman, I've forgotten.
Take Bonnie Raitt and add a bit of edge, amp it up a bit, but really Joanne Shaw Taylor is her own thing.
Research tells me Dave Stewart discovered Taylor twenty years ago, that's how long it takes for acts to develop and catch on these days.
LOOK WHAT GOD CAN DO
Rhett Walker
I heard this before I saw the title, I didn't realize it was a Christian rock song, but if you're looking for something straight out of seventies or eighties rock, this is it. As a matter of fact, there's a section that's a straight rip-off of Tina Turner's "Better Be Good to Me."
This track is extremely palatable, but it's nothing you haven't heard before. But it's the antithesis of what's in the Spotify Top 50. Not that I think you'd ever see it there, this is a retread, the sound is not quite edgy enough, the entire track proves that imitation is a fool's errand, you just can't replicate a sound, you've got to go beyond, which is one of the failures of MJ Lenderman, you've heard that before. Whereas "Never Going Home Tonight" may be genre specific, but it's just different enough to entice. Stevie Wonder has his own sound, and here he's extending it. And Joanne Shaw Taylor evidences that being able to play, sing and write still counts for a lot, add a dose of magic and you've got something.
So there's good music out there. But that does not mean it will run up the chart. And, unfortunately, you can't trust the critics, because they want to promote that which is different, that the mainstream won't like, or will have to endure to understand.
Oh, first I listened to English Teacher, which just won the Mercury Prize. I understand why it won, but I couldn't make it to the end of the tracks, this music works more on an intellectual level than an emotional one. It's indie rock adjacent, it's not bad at all, but first and foremost people have to want to listen to the track. And don't tell me that requires it to be conventional, remember the first time you heard Kraftwerk's "Autobahn"?
Having said that, the second time through I'm getting more into English Teacher, never underestimate the power of repetition. With enough spins I'd probably like "Manning Fireworks" more.
But what we're looking for is not music that we have to work to get, that isn't pleasurable, but something that hits us right away, like "Never Going Home Tonight," or slowly reels us in, like "Can We Fix Our Nation's Broken Heart."
But, I was surprised to find such alluring new music today.
I've got to slow down more in the future.
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