bahamas

Playlist #280

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It’s Labor Day, and still technically Monday. We had to have our beloved elderly cat, Cici, put to sleep over the weekend. The house feels weirdly empty now.

  1. Aubory Bugg, “ive come to realize”: I think a lot about grief. Probably too much, if we’re being honest. I completely understand where this song is coming from, asking if my mother ever needs her mother. I get the feeling that never goes away.
  2. Ben Folds Five, “Evaporated (Shelved First Attempt)”: I’m a sucker for sad Ben Folds songs, even if they’re still rather unpolished and rough. I like sad songs that are a little rough around the edges. Feels more authentic.
  3. Cassandra Wilson, “Harvest Moon”: Ever wanted to hear a jazz cover of a Neil Young song? I didn’t think so either, but it’s really damn good.
  4. The Jayhawks, “American Midnight”: I always thought it seemed a little weird, referring to the Jayhawks as “alt-country.” They didn’t seem to have the punk energy of Uncle Tupelo or the jumped up amperage of the Old 97s. But they’ve got that country heart and those beautiful harmonies, so I let it slide. They just make good music, whatever genre you want to call it.
  5. The Head and the Heart, “Rivers And Roads”: There’s a longing in this song that I can’t quite express with words. You just have to listen to it to understand it, I think.
  6. Bahamas, “Lost In The Light”: I always like it when a band’s name gives you a good idea of what they sound like. The Beach Boys? You know that surfin’ is in their DNA. AC/DC? If they even know what an acoustic guitar is, I’d be surprised. With Bahamas, I can feel the warmth from the beach bonfire, hear the young people singing along and playing volleyball as the sun sets. It’s evocative and effective.
  7. The Gaslight Anthem, “Positive Charge”: One of the things I like about the Gaslight Anthem is that they remain, at heart, hopeless romantics and eternal optimists.
  8. Iron & Wine, “Hard Times Come Again No More”: Returning to the topic of grief, I wish I could set it aside and move on from it. It’s probably something I should discuss with my therapist. All that being said, this old standard feels fresh and timeless in the hands of Iron & Wine. I love it.
  9. Langhorne Slim, “Put It Together”: What I like about this guy’s stuff is it all sounds like it’s on the verge of just absolutely falling apart, but the band manages to hold it together at the last second and pull it all off. I like that ramshackle feel.
  10. Wilco, “What Light”: Jeff Tweedy remains another optimistic songwriter, crafting simple songs that remind you that you’ve got all that you need to add something beautiful and wonderful to the world if you just try. I kinda love that.

Playlist #266

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Happy Monday, folks! I’m glad we’ve finally seen the back of May; that month had it out for me, I swear. But now it’s June, and the end of the school year beckons. Here’s a playlist to start your week.

  1. Paul McCartney, “Lost Horizon”: McCartney released a new album last week. It’s pretty good. It’s a McCartney album, which I feel like is a known quantity at this point in his career. His voice is still in fine form, even if there’s the occasional warble to it, and the man still crafts beautiful melodies like most people craft bowel movements.
  2. SUSS, “Sunset IV”: These guys do “cosmic Americana,” which is ambient music with pedal steel. This particular collection, Counting Sunsets, gets the closest they’ve actually been to composing what I’d think of as songs, but it’s all very pleasant music to listen to while you do your laundry on a rainy Sunday.
  3. nep, “A Big Brown Dog Named Bagel”: a musician I discovered via Facebook last week. Her first album, which this song is from, is mostly acoustic singer-songwriter fare, while her more recent album (last year’s Noelle) incorporates more modern styles and sounds. Both are pretty good, though, and this particular song is great.
  4. Billy Bragg & Wilco, “California Stars”: Could Mermaid Avenue be done nowadays? Could you get an anti-folk folkie like Billy Bragg and alt-country darlings like Wilco together, throw a bunch of Woody Guthrie lyrics at them, and get a masterpiece like this? I’m not sure you could, but I’m glad we did.
  5. Grateful Dead, “Touch of Grey”: It’s very difficult to ever actually say exactly what a Grateful Dead song is about (other than psychedelic drugs and overlong guitar solos), but I’m pretty sure this one is about trying to age gracefully, even when you fall on your ass or you, like, drop trou in front of your fiancée’s parents. I could be wrong, though, and this one could just still be about drugs.
  6. Mike Doughty, “Grey Ghost”: I just love the rhythm and feel of this song. It’s great.
  7. Drive-By Truckers, “Everybody Needs Love”: Is this contemporary southern rock’s answer to the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love”? Maybe. Is it a great song? Definitely.
  8. The National, “Bitters & Absolut”: Who doesn’t love a song about being an alcoholic?
  9. Bahamas, “Lost in the Light”: A lazy, laconic guitar riff helps this song lope along to those beautiful harmonies in the chorus.
  10. Camera Obscura, “If Looks Could Kill”: I love how bouncy and jangly the guitar part is in this song, and the vocals are just perfect. No notes.

Playlist #9

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Kickin’ back, takin’ it easy, sleepin’ in until way later than I should…these are all things I am doing right now. Here’s this week’s list:

  1. MILCK, “Quiet”: We watched a neat documentary series about pop music on Netflix last week, and this song was featured on the episode about protest music. It’s a #metoo song about refusing to remain silent about sexual abuse, and it’s a damn good song.
  2. Parker Millsap & Sarah Jarosz, “Your Water”: Millsap is an Okie! And this song coulda just been pumped straight into my veins and I would’ve been mighty fine with it.
  3. Angels & AIrwaves, “Everything’s Magic”: A student of mine years ago turned me onto this song. It’s not a band I’m particularly familiar with, nor a style that I’d usually go for, but it’s fun and bouncy and the album cover looks like a Star Wars poster.
  4. Augustines, “Cruel City”: Can a city be cruel? The Augustines seem to think so, and it’s a pretty damn good song, so we’ll go with “yes.”
  5. Bahamas, “Lost in the Light”: When I think of the Bahamas, I think of ocean breezes and strummy guitars. I don’t usually think of choirs, though, but this song has one of those as well.
  6. Ben Lee, “Catch My Disease (That’s the Way I Like It)”: I’m not particularly sure what disease Ben Lee wants people to catch, but if he’s a carrier for something he should really see a doctor and stop singin’ about it.
  7. Yeasayer, “Rome”: I first came across this band on the Dark Was the Night project. This song sounds nothing like the song they did on that album, but it’s still very catchy and fast and I like the little electronic squiggles.
  8. Stone Temple Pilots, “Dancin’ Days”: Many years ago, my father picked up a CD that was a collection of bands doing Led Zeppelin covers. It was called Encomium. This song is off that collection, It’s on this list specifically to remind you that you could, in fact, be listening to Led Zeppelin instead of this particular cover. Why aren’t you doing that?
  9. Spacehog, “In the Meantime”: Someday, I will put together a list of songs by ’90s bands with weird-ass names. This song will be on there, because c’mon, Spacehog? Spacehog? Was there not a second round of voting on the band name before y’all picked that one?
  10. Sheryl Crow, “Mississippi”: Another cover?! Well, yes. I like covers. And this one of a Bob Dylan tune (released before Dylan released his own version of the song on Love & Theft) is actually pretty darn good.
See what I mean about it looking like a Star Wars poster? Seriously, imagine the guy on the bike had a lightsaber.