Brenda & Herb – “I Who Have Nothing”: I have no idea when or where I picked up this 12” single, but it is a total jam. The bass, the kick drum, the strings, all of it is on fire. Lyrically, it’s one of those songs like “Every Breath You Take” that is open to interpretation, maybe it’s a humble love song and maybe it’s a creepy stalker song. No matter what, this is prime 1978 disco that deserves far more success than it received.
Carly Rae Jepson – Day and Night: The spirit of this album is what I hoped to get from The Life of a Showgirl. No bitterness, no feuds, no revenge, just a celebration of finding love. I only listened a couple times so maybe the honeymoon will end, but so far, I love the joy of love on Day and Night.
Joe Jackson – Night and Day: If Carly Rae wrote Day and Night as a love letter to her new husband and child, then Joe Jackson wrote Night and Day as a love letter to his New York. His New York was a city filled with people like him, a city with no wrong turns, a city where a Yellow cab is always waiting to take struggling lovers into the electricity. The night/day theme doesn’t hold up across the album and “T.V. Age” is an embarrassingly bad ripoff of David Byrne, but even with those flaws, Jackson came close to writing a perfect love letter.
Elbow – Dead in the Boot: I’m amazed that this sounds like a cohesive album when it’s a collection of B-sides. For all the “night” albums I’ve listened to this week, this is more of a night album than any of the others.
Nina Nastasia – Dogs: I finally picked this up on vinyl and it sounds as lovely as I hoped. To sit and listen on the stereo late at night feels like a gift after streaming it for so many months. I didn’t realize Steve Albini produced it. Hearing this and the Mono records I bought has given me a new appreciation for his work.
Joy Oladokun – Hope Is a Heavy Thing: The title and cover art pulled me in. Oladokun offers a unique mix of folk, indie, and classic arena rock, and every time I was tempted to turn it off, I heard something that made me stay. “Dear Maria” is a standout, and I love both the song and the production.
Bela Bartok – Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion, Dorati, London Symphony Orchestra: I played the sonata in the background a half-dozen times, hoping my brain will absorb it like a textbook beneath my pillow. Eventually, I’ll sit down and listen with intention, but not this week.
Grateful Dead – May 20, 1973: I finally had a bit of a breakthrough with this show, starting with the second set and carrying over into the third. Many of the solos build around minimal themes, a couple of notes repeated and manipulated into something completely different and new. I want to listen again, but this week I heard a mix of simplicity and complexity that piqued my interest.
Old friends who made it into rotation this week: Shirley Scott: For Members Only
Record store finds this week: After reading Kyle Simpler’s article on collective improvisation and how Coltrane influenced the Dead, I wanted to listen to Kind of Blue again. My old copy was a casualty of the great 2001 CD purge, so I headed over to my local shop and found the Music on Vinyl 2010 release in the used bin. Clearly the universe wants me to listen to this record!