Playlist – March 2022

Slow getting going this month between Big Ears and a front-loaded slate of contracted writing for other outlets, but it was good revisiting and chipping away at this over a period of weeks. I’ve always loved Spring and there’s a bounty of music to celebrate it with. Hat tip to Andrew Patton for letting me know the embed in the preview that worked fine last time didn’t work on all browsers so this time I’m separately placing the embed and the link as a separate link. Fingers crossed. Thank you all for listening, reading, or both. 

https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/a2864c4c-843c-4018-a61c-380ebb3beaad

• Florence and the Machine, “King” – I was a little late to Florence Welch and her band, I liked a couple of singles but didn’t really get it. That perception turned completely around with 2018’s High as Hope, a collection of songs that stabbed me in the chest repeatedly, empathetically lit by the arrangements of Kamasi Washington. This first single from her upcoming Dance Fever strikes me in exactly the same way. A low-key, beckoning vocal, over a rhythm section throb on the verses, opening into a powerful declaration of self on the chorus. She turns in one of those beautifully weird, surprising but perfectly resolving melodies around a lyric that leaves room to undercut itself and doesn’t stint on mystery, doing what she does better than anyone else. “I need my golden crown of sorrow, my bloody sword to swing. I need empty halls to echo with grand self-mythology. ‘Cause I am no mother, I am no bride. I am king.” 
• The Whitmore Sisters, “Big Heart Sick Mind” – Just hearing the concept of a Whitmore Sisters collaborative record felt like the most natural thing in the world – Eleanor Whitmore’s violin and vocal work with her husband in The Mastersons and as part of Steve Earle and The Dukes is one of the pre-eminent voices in American music, and her sister Bonnie’s record Fuck With Sad Girls has barely left rotation with me since it came out a few years ago (which is no slight on 2020’s excellent follow-up Last Will and Testament). This track takes the grit and uncanny sympathy of their sibling harmonies and uses them to power a fantastic song by Columbus expats Erica Blinn and Aaron Lee Tasjan. A reeling carnival ride of a melody and arrangement with big, shining chords, a clean ‘50s-style guitar break and organ part leading to my favorite chorus so far this year. “Why do I need to know why so damn bad that I’m willing to die? Walking the line, partners in crime, my big heart and my sick mind. Together forever, better or worse, I’ve been blessed with a terrible curse.” 
• Tre Burt, “Know Your Demons” – Tre Burt continues to sharpen his attack into one of America’s finest rising songwriters and this new single is a perfect example of what he does so well. The bouncing stroll of the rhythm section, Lil Jack Lawrence’s bass and Megan Coleman’s drums, colored and shaded by Dillon Watson’s guitar and John Pahmer’s organ. Burt’s vocal leans back with an expansiveness, the kind of compassion for the person being addressed, whether himself or another character, most of us strive for, sometimes pulled up and forward by the backing singers – Nickie Conley, Maureen Murphy, and Kyshona Armstrong – and sometimes meeting them head-on. “It ain’t nothing to cry about, it’s just something to figure out. That’s the way you return. Return back to life, it ain’t gonna feel comfortable, when you’re facing the underworld – but it outweighs losing sight.”  
• Gabriel Kahane, “Magnificent Bird” – Like a lot of people, I think the first thing of Gabriel Kahane I heard was his witty Craigslistlieder in the early 2000s and I associated him with the rising Brooklyn chamber music scene, yMusic, Now Ensemble, Wordless Music Orchestra – his singer-songwriter work clicked for me with his masterful second album These Are The Arms, hooking me with the devastating miniature “Charming Disease,” and his musical for the Public Theatre February House in short order. His sense of place and character in text and sound, is a source of wonder to me, through his prismatic look at Los Angeles on The Ambassador through a series of questioning road trip snapshots in Book of Travelers. While I’m just starting to dig into 2022’s Magnificent Bird, it might be his most fully realized record yet. This title track builds a landscape of flutes from Nathalie Joachim and Alexandra Sopp, vocals from theater artist Holcombe Waller, drum programming from Joseph Lorge, with Kahane on bass, synths, and additional drum programming. That world of unsettling, beautiful sound works in service of a character trying to sort through their own insecurities and try to get at what motivates any of us to make art. “Set those feelings in a drawer, swallowed the key and locked the door and walked right out of the room. I put that rare bird’s record on, tried my best to sing along. The words were unfamiliar, but I could carry the tune.” 
• Julieta Eugenio, “Another Bliss” – Argentinian-by-way-of-New York saxophonist-composer Julieta Eugenio released an exciting debut album with Jump. Working with a stellar rhythm section of Matt Dwonszyk on bass and Jonathan Barber on drums, there are a couple very fine takes on standards – a great “Crazy He Calls Me,” a moody, enrapturing “Flamingo” – but what kept me coming back to Jump were Eugenio’s twisting, rich compositions. This tune highlights her saxophone tone, sharp edges glinting and turning into flowing mercury and lets the band stretch – especially a gritty drum solo from Barber with low growl comping from Eugenio and Dwonszyk – but never strays far from that intoxicating melody. 
• Michael Feinstein featuring Rosanne Cash, “I’ve Got a Crush On You” – There’s been a long link between jazz and country music, both rising from 20^th century America, and George Gershwin had a knack for using exactly what he needed from any genre at hand. Feinstein’s Gershwin Country is far more chocolate-in-my-peanut-butter than I expected and the best tracks, like this gliding, gently swinging romp with Rosanne Cash through “I’ve Got a Crush on You,” highlight Gershwin’s knack for knowing what was in the jukeboxes and on the cabaret stage, and what would be next year, and what’s still fresh about these chestnuts. 
• Kae Tempest featuring Lianne La Havas, “No Prizes” – I got into Kae Tempest through their poetry work and came to their music later. This advance single from The Line is Letting Go hovers around that idea that we have to find reasons to go on, to go further, even when the brass ring stays out of reach, even when there’s no prize. Tempest’s masterful laconic sees-everything tone spins vignettes that land in a human-sized, complicated triumph, the choice to keep going and keep trying, woven with a glowing hook from Lianne La Havas. “’I used to be joyful,’ they tell me. ‘A real free-spirit, I thought music would protect me. I used to sing in all these bars, and I used to busk, but never caught a break, my lucky day never showed up. I never made it to the lights and now it’s like my best days have gone by and I am scared that it’s all too late. Is it all too late?’ They walk fast and I can’t keep pace. They turn back, I watch the past cross their face. And they say, “If there’s still time on the clock, there’s still choices to make’” 
• Baiuca featuring Carlos Núñez, “Solsticio” – This electronic music project of Spanish artist Alejandro Guillán fuses the folk rhythms of his native Galicia with hard club-ready beats. The magical ingredient in this intoxicating track is the gaita – Galician bagpipes – of master player Carlos Núñez. The kind of track I would have lost my mind over back in my club days, and a perfect reminder for me of the endless potential of dance music. 
• Boris, “The Fallen” – Also tapping that vein of expansive body music but coming from a sludgier place, Boris has never made a bad record to my ears and this year’s W is no exception. This instrumental has the chugging power trio at its core, with flurries of beautiful guitar and synth madness refracting that light into something that feels fresh, feels new, feels hopeful even in the depths of despair. 
• Wtm Milt, “Dirty Pops & Percocets” – Milt, one of the breakout stars of the World Tour Mafia collective, gifted us with this stunning track from his Dog$shit & Ammunition record. It’s a slow motion panning camera around the last moments of a dark night of the soul, typewriter-evoking drums and languid piano chords bob in a viscous lake of synths and orchestration – a lonely flute rises in the last few minutes – underneath a choked, mumbled vocal that makes “Ball till I fall,” sound like someone trying to make themselves believe. 
• Porridge Radio, “Back to the Radio” – This track from Brighton band Porridge Radio felt like a grappling with a similar desperation to the previous tune but turned outward, met with righteous defiance. Dana Margolin’s vocal and guitar (intertwined with Sam Yardley’s guitar and percussion) is one of the finest examples of pumping your fist through – with – the darkness, acknowledging and feeling it, but not letting it eat you alive. The gang vocals on the end, the ingratiating little synth part, every piece of this reminds me what I want from a rock band. “Lock all the windows and shut all the doors. And get into the house and lie down on the cold, hard floor. Talk back to the radio, think loud in the car, I miss everything now. We’re worth nothing at all.” 
• Tony Monaco, “My Shining Hour” – One of Columbus’s preeminent tenders of our illustrious soul jazz legacy, B-3 legend Tony Monaco, assembled a crew of some of our finest players who have all worked with him at various times, but I’d never seen as a quartet together, Willie Barthel III on drums, Eddie Bayard on tenor sax, and Kevin Turner on guitar. The combination led to his best album in a while, Four Brothers. Their swinging, sizzling take on this Harold Mercer tune (best known to a lot of us for its definitive John Coltrane reading) is a reminder how much life and energy there is in standards when you have a group as committed and powerful as this one. 
• yMusic, “Together” – Since the mid-’00s, yMusic has been a shining light in the Brooklyn-based chamber music scene, commissioning and working with new music, and providing sympathetic backing with pop artists like Ben Folds, Bon Iver, and Paul Simon. This Judd Greenstein composition highlights the deep bonds of friendship and community running through that scene, a shimmering piece that moves in waves, rhythms shifting and melodies rubbing against each other before coming together. A delicious tension and chaos keep the piece from getting placid or monotonous, but it comes back, always, to beauty. 
• Jenny Hval, “Cemetery of Splendour” – I’ve been an unabashed stan of Jenny Hval since her first record, and that fandom bloomed when I first saw her live. Classic Objects is her most accessible record yet, crisp, clear vocals and sharp production, a collaboration between Hval and Kyrre Laastad, that doesn’t sacrifice any of the mystery or weirdness of her earlier records but gives it more of a handshake. The chuckling, spoken travelogue, delighted and curious about the world, “Shoes came here, and here, and here, someone once lay down here. But the trees, and the pinecones,” while the glowing harmonies of the chorus seem to recede in the background like a sunset, makes me grin like an idiot every time. 
• Kirby, “Still into Ya” – A surging reaffirmation of the power of feelings from UK soul singer Kirby with subtle production from Def Starz that keeps her vocal front and center. 
• Su’Lan featuring Baby Stone Gorillas, “6pm on Melrose” – Oakland rap duo Su’Lan crafted this perfect dread-laced sunset snapshot, aided by the frenetic energy of Baby Stone Gorillas, the thudding creep of the beat – by DTB – sets up the contrasting vocal tones and flows of the performers beautifully. 
• Oumou Sangaré, “Wassulu Don” – I think I got into this great Malian singer with her eponymous best-of Oumou, and this early single for her new record Timbuktu sets the power and the conversational ease of her voice against a driving, moaning electric blues guitar and those rhythms she owns like nobody else, while she sings a tribute to her hometown. 
• Green/Blue, “Bad Looks” – Fiery Minneapolis power trio and Blind Shake offshoot Green/Blue knocked me sideways when I first saw them at a Gonerfest and their new record Offering delivers more of the same sweet hooks rolled in motor oil and rusty nails, fuzz and pummeling rhythms.  
• Son of Dribble, “Candy Boy” – This Columbus quartet keeps hitting it out of the park, and this might be my favorite single of theirs yet. Andy Clager’s classic wry lyrics with a laconic vocal delivery melt right into the hard-swinging dance beat from Vicki Mahnke and the intertwined guitars of Darren Latanick and Mike Nosan. 
• Say She She featuring Priya Malik, “Forget Me Not” – The classic disco groove of this single from Colemine Records sensations Say She She, with Priya Malik stepping out as lead vocalist, is right up my alley, and felt right after the updated mutant disco vibes of the previous song. The thick and sinuous bass line and crisp, big drums recall Chic (as does their name) and those keys help set the tone. As I started putting together a playlist for the next party we’re going to throw, this was the first thing on it. 
• Gen and the Degenerates, “Girl God Gun” – This frenetic, refreshing track from Liverpool’s Gen and the Degenerates’ debut EP requires a slightly different move but inspires me to get out of my seat and dance just as much as the last two. That furious post-punk bass line fits beautifully with the barbed guitar and the vocals growling “I’m a girl, I’m a god, I’m a gun,” on the chorus. 
• Extinction A.D., “Mastic” – This burst of intensity from thrash metal and hardcore adherents Extinction A.D felt like it slid into place after the Gen and the Degenerates, both taking what speaks to them from hardcore punk and taking it on to the next thing. Rick Jimenez and Ian Cimiglia’s guitars push this song – named after a New York town – to the next level for me. 
• Earthgang, “Lie to Me” – Also dark and heavy but coming from a different direction, this standout track from the Atlanta hip-hop duo’s second major-label album, this sardonically grinning look at contemporary hypocrisies and the lies we tell ourselves to get through the day, uses changes in voice and rhythm to create a consistent mood but a state of unease, an unsettled vibration, riding perfectly over the decaying guitar chords and lugubrious bass of James Latrell’s beat. “Perception of perfection gives me erections – yeah, lie to me, baby.” 
• Lucky Daye, “Fever” – I liked his debut album Painted but for me, Candydrip cements Lucky Daye as one of our finest soul singers. The track – produced by Ali P, xSDTRK, Pierre-Luc Rioux & D’Mile – surges and simmers, treading the viscous waters of the character’s obsession for someone, or at least the feelings that person evokes, the hunger of new love or lust, with a sharp new spin on the classic addiction/illness metaphor. “All night chase you, no lime; another round to help me pass the time.” 
• Horsegirl, “Anti-glory” – Drummer and pal Steve Kirsch turned me onto Chicago trio Horsegirl with a social media post in advance of their concert at Philly’s MoCA, with a totally just comparison to Yo La Tengo. The interlaced, expansive guitars and subtle, crisp vocals of Penelope Lowenstein and Nora Cheng surf on a snaking earworm of a beat courtesy of drummer Gigi Reese. This is everything I want in a rock and roll band, and I marked off their August appearance in my town on a post-Lollapalooza tour on my calendar right before hitting play a second time on this stunning single. 
• Javon Jackson featuring Nikki Giovanni, “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot” – Tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson was one of the first nationally regarded jazz artists I ever got to see up close instead of at a theater, at the much-missed restaurant K2U with two dear friends, Mike Gamble and Nick Albert, touring his beautiful Blue Note soul jazz updating Good People with a tight quartet of bass, drums, and guitar. His vocal tone and fluidity of ideas set a bar for what I’m looking for in a horn sound and jazz interplay to this day. So, upon discovering he had a collaborative record out with the great poet Nikki Giovanni the week before I was blessed to see Giovanni at Big Ears, I had to hear it. Giovanni selected the various gospel standards that make up The Gospel According to Nikki Giovanni. Jackson digs into the history of the tunes and grants them fresh life, as the gently swinging riffing he does on this, with supple backing by pianist Jeremy Manasia (who also lends a sparkling solo), bassist David Williams, and drummer McClenty Hunter. 
• Ryan Keberle’s Collectiv do Brasil, “Cio da Terra” – One of my favorite current trombone players and bandleaders, Ryan Keberle digs into history in a similar way on the gorgeous Sonhos da Esquina, with his Collectiv do Brasil (pianist Felipe Silveira, bassist Thiago Alves and drummer Paulinho Vicente). His rippling, shimmering tone showcases the breathtaking melody of this Milton Nascimento classic, and the band adds texture and nuance, shading and enhancing the glow (Vicente’s cymbal hits alone are a masterclass in understated, edge-of-your-seat drama). 
• Robbie Lee and Lea Bertucci, “Image Mirror” – Coming from a more deliberately avant-garde corner but with a similarly deep taste for tone, this stunning collaboration between multi-instrumentalist Lee and sound artist Bertucci builds whole universes in concise tracks. This tune finds Lee playing baroque flute in live dialogue with Bertucci’s tape loops and electronic manipulation. As full of the wonder of surprise as it is beautiful. 
• Tomas Fujiwara’s Triple Double, “Silhouettes in Smoke” – March is the strongest statement yet from drummer Fujiwara’s Triple Double, a sextet pairing Fujiwara with drummer Gerald Cleaver, guitarists Mary Halvorson and Brandon Seabrook, and trumpeter Ralph Alessi with cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum. The subtle textures and colors of this track speak to the long friendships and collaborative relationships between all the players here as well as the endless possibilities of each of these instruments and Fujiwara’s finely etched writing. This cinematic, atmospheric piece conjures something new for me every time I play it. 
• Sure Fire Soul Ensemble, “Step Down” – The lazy strut of the drums and guitar downstrokes that open this slow-burn instrumental felt like they created a transition out of the more atmospheric sound worlds of the last few tracks into the more song-based tunes that follow. The accumulating humidity of the horns and Tim Felten’s fiery organ – what Anne called “Somber Budos” – build into a head-nodding, summer afternoon classic. 
• Thee Sacred Souls, “Trade of Hearts” – Out of the same San Diego scene as SFSE, this sweet soul trio on the Daptone sublabel Penrose, craft a warm, candy apple red slow drive through the old neighborhood kind of song, full of promise and memory bleeding together, co-written by band members Alex Garcia and Jay Lane and produced by Bosco Mann. 
• Melissa Errico, “Angel Eyes” – Long one of my favorite cabaret/standard singers, and probably the single finest Sondheim interpreter working today, Melissa Errico digs into less often plumbed textures of her voice with Out of the Dark: The Film Noir Project, with arrangements by longtime collaborator, pianist Tedd Firth. For people who, like me, grew up with the Frank Sinatra version of this Matt Dennis and Earl Brent song, the restoration of the introductory verse makes it clear she’s not in his shadow, and the almost chuckling, flirtatious quality of her vocal – aided by Bob Mann’s silky martini-poured-in-an-ice-cold-class guitar and Lorin Cohen’s slinky bass – sets this version apart while still retaining the mystery and ambiance that’s kept us beguiled for all these years. And every song on this collection lives up to that high bar. “Pardon me, but I got to run; the fact’s uncommonly clear. I got to find who’s now the number one, and why my angel eyes ain’t here.” 
• Lola Brooke, “On My Mind” – A more contemporary torch song with a similar balancing of deep hurt and sense of wit about the situation, Lola Brooke rises from a smoky, neon-splashed beat from Semi Beatz, Tsunami, Trellsettaz & Wmarcos, and uses a disarmingly conversational delivery to drive daggers in my heart and get me laughing. “Went from the city bus to flying in a jet. You my little gang banging bae, I rep the set – ops on my body, but you know I ain’t impressed. Money come and go, I hope you know I ain’t upset.” 
• Kid Cudi and Nigo, “Want It Bad” – Kid Cudi teams with Japanese fashion icon and DJ Nigo for this 111 proof shot of that mix of swagger and melancholy Kid Cudi put his stamp on and injected into the pop music mainstream and still finds new things to say and new things to see through that lens. “I wanna sleep good at night. I want a tempo that’s right. Can I get it, man?” 
• Lil Durk, “Headtaps” – Chicago rapper Lil Durk plays with similar heavy colors – with a beat courtesy of Charlie Handsome – but brightens them with a younger perspective and this track is a fine example of his free associative style that crafts an intense, specific feeling through all the digressions. “I stayed at houses where my first pets were bug and mouses. I stayed at houses where it was full: we turned our beds to couches. I stayed at a house with a silver spoon, that shit had turned ‘em coward. I miss the old days. I miss my old ways.” 
• Rosalia, “Hentai” – Spanish singer-songwriter Rosalia’s Motomami finely tunes her approach and turns up the technicolor aspects of her songs and wit – my eyebrow shot to my hairline when I saw the pornographic anime subgenre in the title of this track. She works with The Neptunes as well as Michael Uzowuru, Noah Goldstein, and Dylan Wiggins on this perfect piece of sunshine pop. One of my favorite pop records so far this year and one of those albums that makes me hungry for summer. 
• Lady Wray, “Come on In” – I knew Lady Wray’s earlier duo project on Truth and Soul called Lady but didn’t realize until researching this she was the same Nicole Wray who enlivened Missy Elliott, Mike Jones, and ODB singles almost 20 years ago. This piano-driven shouter, co-produced by Leon Michels and Tom Brenneck, features beautifully dusty drums and a vocal that soars to the back of the room, a killer example of what makes Piece of Me such a great record. “Baby, come into my life. We don’t have a lot of time.” 
• Arooj Aftab featuring Anoushka Shankar, “Udhar Na” – Arooj Aftab made one of my favorites and presented one of my favorite concerts last year. Sitarist and vocalist Anoushka Shankar came on my radar with some stunning fusion records in the ‘00s. This collaboration more than lives up to the expectations in my head the minute I heard it was happening – the vivid, snapping textures of Shankar’s sitar flash around the beautifully hazy trip through memory Aftab paints in this song. 
• Stephan Crump, “Groove for Stacey Abrams” – I became a fan of Stephan Crump’s bass playing with his world-shifting work in the Vijay Iyer Trio and stayed a fan through riveting collaborations with Mary Halvorson, Ingrid Laubrock, Mat Maneri, and Kris Davis, as well as his work with partner, singer-songwriter Jen Chapin. His solo album, Rocket Love, distills the deep and idiosyncratic swing he brings to everything he touches, along with a vocal, singing quality, for a gorgeous listen that’s never just a showcase for virtuosity or technique. The kind of record you can put on for a cigar and a whiskey at the end of the day or sit with in full and deep meditation. 
• Cecile McLorin Salvant, “Ghost Song” – Salvant’s doing as much as anyone to bring jazz singing into the present day, attacking standards and new originals alike with a degree of abandon, irreverence, and passionate power. As blown away as I was by her last record, The Window, her debut for Nonesuch, Ghost Song, co-produced with pianist Sullivan Fortner, felt like a cannonball through my window. This title track, featuring Salvant’s own piano playing, Keita Ogawa’s percussion, Burniss Travis’s bass, and the Brooklyn Youth Choir, underlines what’s so fresh and vital about her work, how necessary it is. 
• Manuel Valera’s New Cuban Express Big Band, “Impressionistic Romance” – Cuban-born and New York-based pianist and bandleader Valera killed me with last year’s Jose Marti en Nueva York and might have topped it with his New Cuban Express Big Band’s new one, Distancia on Dave Douglas’s Greenleaf label. This stellar band leans into all the colors the instrumentation affords them on this track like a field of flowers in ecstatic bloom, with particularly strong work from Joel Frahm on tenor, Brian Pareschi’s lead trumpet, and Valera’s own dizzying, delighted piano solo. 
• Torozebu, “Ox”- Italian producer Clap! Clap! caught my attention almost a decade ago and every new record signals a progression both deeper and further out. Torozebu cements a long running collaboration with percussionist Domenico Candellori as a duo and “Ox” a funky, rippling shot across the bow. The kind of dance music I always want more of in my life. 
• Ex-Vöid, “No Other Way” – This bouncing and acid-tipped single from Don Giovanni band Ex-Vöid has enough jangle and a sharp chorus to keep me interested, with enough of the real world let in so it never feels like it fits in a strictly pop-punk bubble. The use of dynamics keeps it from ever getting stale and that soaring guitar solo reminds me of the best parts of a band Anne introduced me to, Smoking Popes. “Baby, I can’t take the strain. Always looking for another way.” 
• Bodega, “All Past Lovers” – Similar hooky and forceful pop comes from New York band Bodega who I didn’t quite catch onto with their first album, but I love Broken Equipment. Ben Hozie’s fraying lead vocal with his and Dan Ryan’s choppy guitars circling each other like sharks give me that perfect 19-years-old-in-a-basement feeling I treasure and try to keep in touch with. “And to my true best friend, I pushed red, imprinted in my head blue. At end I never really said goodbye or spoke truly at all. Still, we always used to talk in verse – that’s how I still say ‘I miss you.’ Put my yearn for you in our tunes, you play comfortable drums. So, when I’m reaching out and praising the new, I guess I’m praising what’s best in her ex too. ‘Cause all past lovers live inside of you.” 
• Freakons, “Abernant 84/85” – This Freakwater (Janet Bean and Catherine Irwin) and Mekons (Sally Timms and Jon Langford) collaboration is every bit as delightful as you’d expect. A rousing, gang-sung celebration of life and community underpins the entire album, delving into the mining communities they grew up around, with some proceeds going to Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. This revisiting of a favorite Mekons track of mine since I first heard Fear and Whiskey sums up the dancing while crying aesthetic, always coming out on the side of hope and knowing that hope comes with people. “The weeds choke, and the rust corrodes; you’d think it’d have been fifty years since the place was closed. Vengance is not ours, it belongs to those who seek to destroy us – how much more is there left to lose?”