GoGo Penguin – Screen of Distance

Not early, but better. Let’s see if we can keep this momentum up. Thanks to any of you who are still out there.

https://tidal.com/browse/playlist/c48a8b75-386f-49e4-887a-4c19e9aee87a

Natural Information Society, “Moontide Chorus” – I’ve gone on at length about the Chicago improvised music scene as my gateway to so much of my tastes up to now. Bassist-composer Joshua Abrams is one of the main players I gravitated toward early and every new document of his Natural Information Society project is a cause for celebration. The new one, Since Time is Gravity, assembles a larger group, anchored by Mikel Patrick Avery on drums and the great Hamid Drake on percussion, and from the opening guimbri riff from Abrams that melts into the horn fanfare (with Josh Berman and Ben Lamar Gay on cornets, Ari Brown on tenor, Nick Mazzarella and Mai Sugimoto on alto, and Jason Stein on bass clarinet) and propelled by Lisa Alvarado’s harmonium and Kara Bershad’s harp, it paints a tapestry that moves like a rolling river.
Lucinda Williams, “New York Comeback” – I devoured Lucinda Williams’ riveting memoir Don’t Tell Anybody The Secrets I Told You in a couple of days and it sent me down the rabbit hole of her work. While it didn’t alter my overall opinion (love the self-titled through Car Wheels, like Essence, lose interest through Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone, come back with Ghosts of Highway 20 and Good Souls Better Angels) and the first couple of singles of Stories from a Rock and Roll Heart stoke my revitalized interest. This co-write with Jesse Malin (who Williams and her husband Tom Overby produced his best record with), is the kind of sly indictment and even slyer seduction – a tribute to the show’s manifest ability to still surprise and a plea for the chance to do just that, in a world full of distractions – that she writes and sings better than anyone, painted in three dimensions and spattered in just the right amount of grime. “No one’s brought the curtain down; maybe you should stick around until the stage goes black. Maybe there’s one last twist: two outs, nobody on base, we’re down to the last strike. You could hear a pin drop in this place, hoping for a miracle tonight.”
Caroline Spence featuring Lori McKenna, “The Next Good Time” – I’ve liked Nashville singer-songwriter Caroline Spence for a while but I completely missed her last record True North, so I was extremely glad this single featuring Lori McKenna came out to redress that failing on my part. A slow-burn slice of beautiful quiet desperation and the things we find to keep going. “Most things gonna lose their shine. Some things string up party lights.”
Hydrone, “Heart Explode” – Latest up-and-comer in the always fertile Columbus garage rock scene, Hydrone brings an appealingly frayed, grooving quality to the genre of yelp and jerk. In less than two minutes, they get their hooks in and leave me wanting more, with special attention to that perfect guitar break.
yMusic, “The Wolf” – NYC’s yMusic – Alex Sopp (flute), Hideaki Aomori (clarinet), CJ Camerieri (trumpet), Rob Moose (violin), Nadia Sirota (viola), Gabriel Cabezas (cello), all names you’ve seen show up regularly here for good reason – have turned me onto more new composers and pieces than just about any new music ensemble. They were my first inkling my generation was breaking out in the world of chamber music without pandering or bullshitting (I think Wordless and ACME maybe predated them but I hadn’t heard them yet). This opening salvo from their hotly anticipated eponymous album is a marvel of shifting, sweating, glowing texture, and intensity.
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, “Clear Sky” – I mostly know Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith for her synthesizer pieces, so this beautiful, fresh-air miniature from the great compilation Piano Day Vol 2 highlighting acoustic piano at its heart was a balm and a surprise. The kind of piece I grasped and loved immediately but still enjoy wrestling with, convinced I won’t exhaust its power.
Abby Anderson, “Heart on Fire in Mexico” – The luminous guitar chords kicking off this song, my introduction to singer-songwriter Abby Anderson, felt like it belonged in the same open and distorted window into the Americas as the last couple of instrumentals. The wry vocal and sharply-sliced detail of the lyric had me rapt the minute I heard this, and still do. “One cigarette smoke break by the back door turned into a pack on the hood of his Ford; where he is now, the Devil knows.”
Tiwa Savage featuring Arya Starr and Young John, “Stamina” – This rippling song from Nigerian singer-songwriter Tiwa Savage pairs her with Arya Starr and Young John. I love the way their voices intersect, the panoply of percussion and strings surfing the border of melancholy and hope, and the infectious melody. Sleeper contender for song of the summer. “So many things I can do to you if only you give me the permission to.”
GoGo Penguin, “Everything is Going to Be OK” – I was slow coming to GoGo Penguin, not-entirely-fairly dismissing them as Bad Plus clones. While there’s still definitely that DNA, their beautiful new one, of which this is the title track, turns up the electronic music influences, the throbbing propulsion of this track has a cotton-candy-addictive quality but also laced with enough acid to not let the listener get too comfortable.
Arthur Russell, “The Boy With a Smile” – I remain stunned that the Arthur Russell estate continues finding unreleased gems, especially when they’re of this quality. This is classic Russell in the low-key, seductive, and disconcerting mode of “This is How We Walk on the Moon” or “A Little Lost” with what sounds like scratching building shifting textures underneath his fragile voice, wrapped in velvety echo, and cello, buffeted by a burst of mournful harmonica. “Find a move that goes with what you’re thinking now. Find a vow that goes with the things you’re doing now.”
Joeboy, “Body & Soul” – This title track from Nigerian singer-songwriter Joeboy’s upcoming record has – to my ears – a similar laid-back, mournful but seductive quality as the Arthur Russell despite being separated by an ocean and over 40 years. The snap of the percussion and those synthetic horns in the back mesh so beautifully with his voice – and the choral vocal arrangement around the light tenor of his lead vocals – that I keep revisiting this track and can’t wait for the album. “If I could, I would love you in my next life. I don’t really care about tomorrow.”
Taichu & Álvaro Díaz, “PRESIÓN” – Argentine singer Taichu teams up with Puerto Rican rapper Álvaro Díaz for this infectious, throbbing slice of trap-inflected pop, a highlight from Taichu’s great record Rawr. If this doesn’t make you want to hit the dance floor, I’d check for a pulse.
Shania Twain featuring Malibu Babie, “Giddy Up! (Malibu Babie Remix)” – I’ve always had a soft spot for Shania Twain, even when she ruled the world and my disaffected teenage ass didn’t have time for anything that wasn’t on a scuffed-up CDR or marked “(demo)” on Audiogalaxy. Her embrace of dance remixes toward the time I stopped paying attention was interesting – and she still owns a unique space in pop artists I grew up with as I heard a bass-enhanced version of one of her classics when I stopped at a gay bar for Anne’s niece’s birthday a few weeks ago – and her resurgence makes me smile as wide as anything in popular culture I can think of. This neon-bright rework of Twain’s Queen of Me single pairs her with superproducer Malibu Babie (Nicki Minaj, Megan Thee Stallion), and it’s a fucking barn burner, just the right amount of distortion on her voice and a clattering, woozy rhythm swathed in angelic acid-trail synthesizers. “Drunk in the city, got a litty in the cup.”
P2K DaDiddy, “Full Tank of Gas” – Current torchbearer of the southern soul genre, Shreveport’s P2k DaDiddy works the borderline between the history of roots music and the democratizing tools of contemporary production and created another instant-classic summer song that would work for every bar or party I’d ever want to walk into. “I got a pocketful of money and don’t tell them where I get it. I got my baby right beside me, and she’s looking real sexy. I got a full tank of gas, I’m not worried ’bout a thing. We gonna keep on rolling till the early morning.”
Melissa Pipe Sextet, “In Due Time” – I was turned onto this fantastic record, Of What Remains, by my great friend Andrew Patton, my introduction to Montreal-based baritone sax player Melissa Pipe. It’s a marvelous, kaleidoscopic chamber-jazz record with Pipe’s earthy, catchy baritone playing and compositions keeping it from getting too ethereal or cerebral. Her growling riff that kicks the song in gear and the thorny storm of horns with Lex French and Philippe Côté about 2/3 of the way through are favorite moments in this favorite track of mine from the record.
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, “They Wait” – Just saw another spectacular show by Isbell and his band a few weeks ago – in a weekend where I also got to see the last August Wilson play of the cycle I’d never seen live – and not only did he do three new songs, as Anne said, “Something a band playing this big a place wouldn’t normally have the balls to do,” they were all highlights. This coiled story song with a heavy foot on the gas is a prime example of Isbell at his best, drilling into a story anyone in the room can relate to with the kind of specifics that throw those feelings into relief. “And ain’t it something how the night can shine while you stand in line behind a velvet rope? And ain’t it something when the morning comes and desire becomes a little speck of hope.”
Esther Rose, “Chet Baker” – I think my first exposure to Esther Rose was her stunning “Don’t Blame it On the Moon,” but I missed the intervening record. Safe to Run is one of my favorite singer-songwriter records of the year, sharply told stories with jaw-dropping, perfect arrangements. Johnny “Up” Shahid’s pedal steel in conversation with Rose’s voice and rhythm guitar and Meredith Stoner’s liquid bass line make this song for me, or at least makes the tarnished nostalgia sink even deeper in my blood. “Welcome to the end of your rope. Well, you know, rock bottom shouldn’t feel this good. We could go down swinging, arm in arm, or we could just go out drinking at the 8 Ball. Two bucks, press play, baby, bully the juke. Outside the ladies’ restroom, there starts to form a queue. Six bucks, starlight special: a shot and a beer; we’re not doing great.”
Shannon McNally, “Magnolia” – Seeing Shannon McNally as part of Terry Allen’s band this past Big Ears Festival sent me on a merry chase revisiting her terrific work. She works with producer Mike McCarthy (Spoon, Patty Griffin, The Sun) on this gorgeous, definitive read of a slow-burn J. J. Cale classic. “Magnolia, you sweet thing. You’re driving me mad.”
Jessie Ware, “Begin Again” – British singer-songwriter Jessie Ware brings her soul influences to the fore on her infectious new record That! Feels Good! and I think this single is a shining example of everything I love about it. Her bobbing and weaving vocal, from an easy croon into a soaring swoop – co-written with Shungudzo, James Ford from Simian Mobile Disco, and Daniel Parker – benefits from the muscle and subtle power of Afrobeat band Kokoro. “Why do my realities take over all my dreams? Why does all the purest love get filtered through machines?”
Mya Byrne, “Come On” – Mya Byrne’s debut for Kill Rock Stars, Rhinestone Tomboy, retains the Americana grit of her earlier work but, especially on this track, adds a glitter-dusted classic T. Rex/Iggy stomp. It’s an infectious, invigorating, throw-yourself-around-the-room rock record and a look into a specific world. “I can’t take it no more, stuck inside, come on,” delivered as a shout that knocks a hole in the wall – maybe not forever, but at least for tonight.
Billy Valentine and the Universal Truth, “Home is Where the Hatred Is” – I hadn’t thought about Columbus natives The Valentine Brothers in so long I’m ashamed to admit it, though their ’80s R&B hits were as big a part of my understanding and pride in my town growing up as Hank Marr, Nancy Wilson, or the New Bomb Turks. So when this solo record from Billy Valentine covering classic socially conscious ballads with a crack band including Pino Palladino and Immanuel Wilkins came out on UK stalwart of my early musical awakenings Acid Jazz, I had to hear it. Every song on here is a stunning version that stands up to the original (saying something when these are some of my favorite songs ever) and this smooth-but-never-simple ride through the harrowing Gil Scott-Heron classic is next-level good. “Home is where the needle marks tried to heal my broken heart.”
DJ Finale featuring Deboul, “Pitschu Debou” – Congolese producer-songwriter DJ Finale crafted a stunning dance record with Mille Morceau, here featruing his Fulu Miziki bandmate Deboul on a piercing vocal as the track interweaves crisp, shiny guitar licks with tar-thick bass and the high-pitched snare and hi-hat strikes of trap.
Scowl, “Psychic Dance Routine” – One of my favorite guitar riffs of the year so far, and a song that backs up that immediately powerful burst of guitar, this title track off Santa Cruz’s Scowl’s new EP is a bracing reminder of everything I loved about punk rock when it first entered my life, and feels like exactly the kind of band that’s getting kids to see every damn show they can. “No spirits, no spirits in my dreams.”
Kiko El Crazy featuring El Alfa, “Pichirry” – Dominican rapper Kiko El Crazy released an international breakthrough this year with Pila’e Teteo. It’s a wild sugar-rush rollercoaster ride of an album, shining light on various facets of the dembow rhythm with his immediately identifiable gruff laugh-bark of a vocal style mixed right up in the listener’s face. This track with fellow Dominican star El Alfa is a prime example of what makes his work so infectious.
Gael Stone featuring Trinidad Cardona, “Left & Right (Fantasy)” – French electronic music producer Gael Stone crafted this exquisite slice of slow-burn R&B, given a perfect vocal from Arizona-based crooner Trinidad Cardona. “Let me know what you want, girl, you get whatever you need.”
Roots Magic, “Amber” – Italian ecstatic jazz ensemble Roots Magic created a bursting-at-the-seams record, joyous even in its grief, led by reeds player Eugenio Colombo and vibraphonist Francesco lo Cascio. The slippery, elastic rhythm on this original, dedicated to great avant-garde cellist and Cleveland native Abdul Wadud, is first among equals for me, on a record with no dull tracks. I know it’s not likely but, hey, Winter Jazz Fest or Big Ears representatives….
Dan Rosenboom, “War Money” – This standout track from trumpeter-composer Dan Rosenboom’s great Polarity album plays with a similar groove and a similar dance of joy and darkness that feels a lot like life in the way the best jazz always has to me. With a killer band of saxophonist Gavin Templeton (that solo about a third of the way in crushes me), pianist John Escreet, bassist Billy Mohler, and drummer Damon Reid, is a prime temperature-taking of where small group improvisation stands.
Fire! Orchestra, “ECHOES: I see your eye, part 1” – I was a big fan of Mats Gustaffson the first time I heard that thick, rounded but spiky tone, originally on record through my Dusty Groove Records habit but also many ecstatic live experiences from seeing The Thing at Milo Arts here in Columbus and at the Standard as part of Big Ears, his trio Sonore with Ken Vandermark and Peter Brotzmann, several times in Chicago at various places. Originally his big band, Fire! Orchestra was an exercise in muscle, free blowing guided and shaped by the river of the personalities chosen, a lot like the Brotzmann Chicago Tentet. It’s evolved into a more open thing with a keen interest in texture and mood, with various players writing for it and records that feel like a journey. Echoes is another high water mark for the band, and this opening track written by drummer Andreas Werlin makes excellent use of the strings arranged by Josefin Runsteen and features a wrenching solo by (I think) Gustaffson.
Kara Jackson, “no fun/party” – I knew Kara Jackson’s work as a poet, but I was unprepared for the dazzling, unsettling soundscapes, and her subtle voice, orbiting around a few notes but owning them with authority, of her debut singer-songwriter album Why Does the Earth Give Us People to Love? One of the finest early morning/with your thoughts records I’ve ever heard. This single is a repeated stab in the heart in the best way, those slurred strings (from Macie Stewart, if I’m reading right) coming in feel like coming off a sluggish, just-trying-to-maintain high, the shaky banjo, and the track is filled with sonic touches that keep me coming back, intrigued. “I wanna be as dangerous as a dancing dragon or a steam engine, a loaded gun. Be loved for my hazard and a will to destruct. And isn’t that just love? A will to destruct.”
Planet Giza, “Quiet on the Set” – I’m late to Montreal hip-hop trio Planet Giza but their new record Ready When You Are got its hook in me easily. Vocalist Tony Stone’s easygoing delivery over textured beats from RamiB and DoomX gets an astonishing showcase on this early single from the record, it reminds me of those major label Blackalicious records without feeling like a pastiche. “You just need someone to listen. We pour a li’l some’ to feel some; fill my cup. The street’s cold.”
Black Thought and El Michels Affair featuring Kirby, “Glorious Game” – Instrumental soul band El Michels Affair are exactly the kind of perfect match for Black Thought’s expansive but classicist tendencies on their joint album Glorious Game, and this title track featuring R&B singer Kirby is a delightful slice of sunshine soul. “If we clash, I’ll haul the trash off, then haul the cash off and ball in Nassau.”
Be Your Own Pet, “Hand Grenade” – I loved Be Your Own Pet, and I really liked the things they did after the band dissolved – Jemima Pearl’s terrific solo album, JEFF the Brotherhood – but when I heard they were getting back together it was one of the few reunion announcements that actually got me excited. This new single, celebrating their return, stands alongside their best work. A drum part as catchy as the guitars, jagged backing vocals, and a powerful lead vocal and lyric. “I’m no survivor, I’m no survivor – another lit match on the pyre. When you can’t sleep – and you can’t sleep – I’ll be the reason in the middle of the night.”
Unchipped, “Systematic Deletion” – This Columbus band fuses metalcore and industrial textures with a pummeling rhythm section and always leavens it with a sense of joy, a sense of play, for some of my favorite no-bullshit rock and roll being made in this town. Every time I put on this four song EP I find myself playing the whole thing. “Reducing all that we love to ash.”
Drive-By Truckers, “Puttin’ People on the Moon (Vocal Recut)” – I’ve gushed about DBT over the years, including very recently after seeing a blistering show with Anne, but to this day my favorite record of theirs is The Dirty South, a sprawling testament to the power of their lineup that included Jason Isbell and Shonna Tucker, so believe I’m looking forward to the reissue coming soon. One of my favorite songs on that record has always been “Puttin’ People on the Moon” but I remember several of my friends who were big fans like I was griping about the lessened affect of the vocal. Clearly Patterson Hood agreed, so he took the chance to recut that over a remastered and remixed version of the original track, and he’s right. The new vocal keeps that sense of coiled menace and desperation but shades it with a nuance the original didn’t have. It’s a fucking masterpiece. “If I could solve the world’s problems, I’d probably start with hers and mine. But they can put a man on the moon and I’m stuck down here just scraping by. Mary Alice got a cancer, just like everybody here; seems like everyone I know is getting cancer every year.”
Kid Koala featuring Crayfish, “When U Say Love” – I loved Kid Koala twenty-five or so years ago when I was a fanatic for anything Ninja Tune. I didn’t keep up on his work in the intervening years but Creatures of the Late Afternoon hit me exactly right, especially this track with quavering girl-group vocals from Crayfish riding on top of Koala’s signature mix of texture and groove. “My life keeps moving faster; my world is such a blur. The work I’m chasing after keeps me so unsure.”
Kenny Reichert, “Balance” – Shifting Paradigm records has been documenting an exciting scene in the midwest with beautiful sounding albums by players I knew well before and those I’m just learning about. Chicago guitarist Kenny Reichert teams up with a great band, including my old friend Tony Barba (Barbarians, Youngblood Brass Band, Brooklyn Qawwali Party) on reeds, John Christensen on bass, and Devin Drobka on drums for a record that’s beautiful all the way through. This gorgeous tone poem just glows, everyone’s tone is perfect.
Nickel Creek, “Stone’s Throw” – As big a fan of the later work as I am of the three, Nickel Creek didn’t land for me in the same way – I liked them as a breath of fresh air but I never made it through a whole album. Celebrants changed that. This song, starting from a dissection of the harmony of Radiohead’s “Kid A” and fusing some identifiable lyrics, is a favorite of mine off a record I don’t think has dull moments, with Sean Watkins’ lead vocal perfectly buoyed and punctured by Chris Thile and Sara Watkins’ harmonies. “Went out for a drink with a friend from a while back, her trials and triumphs ringing clearer than my phone. And that drink turned into three, happy hour into bedtime. You were drowning in your head when I came floating home.”
Laura Cantrell, “Push the Swing” – A shining light of New York’s country music scene for longer than I’ve loved that scene, Laura Cantrell is returning with her first new record in 9 years, and this single is everything I could have hoped, with a swinging organ part and a loping guitar line that flows around her laidback vocal just right. “I can’t be your confidant. I can’t be your long-lost pal. But if I’m not the one you want, just tell me so right now.”
Lisa O’Neill, “All Of This is Chance” – As usual, I end the playlist with a string of songs that work – for me – as prayers or benedictions. As with so much, I was turned onto Lisa O’Neill’s work from great friend John Wendland’s fantastic radio show Memphis to Manchester; as soon as I heard the song he played, I had to hear the whole record and loved it immediately. A rich drone – I’m guessing a mix of Kate Ellis’ cello and Cormac Begley’s concertina, but it could be O’Neill’s harmonium – underpins this song and sets up its shadowy, mysterious world. “Are you frightened of dying? Are you frightened of the dead? Are you frightened of living, so you don’t live instead?”