New(ish) music - December 2022

For the past few years, I and a group of friends have been using Spotify to turn each other on to new music. Each month we upload two songs each to create a playlist; we chat about the songs on WhatsApp, and at the end of each month we try to get together to review our picks.

On those occasions where I haven't been able to make our video chats, I've written short reviews of each song. Here is what I thought of December 2022's picks!

December 2022

As we crawl to the finish line for 2022 I find some pleasure in using its dying gasps to write-up the latest TFJ. A great month to wrap up a strange and turbulent year - hey, the NHS is going up in flames and it’d be cheaper to pump liquid gold into my radiators, but at least I’ve heard Wet Leg!

A word on my picks - the Pastor T.L. Barrett one came about from reading up on the life of one of Chicago’s more colourful sons. Has to be one of the few people to have been found by a court to be running a pyramid scheme (he had to repay $1.2 million dollars to his church’s congregants) only to be honoured nine years later through having a road named after him.

The cineastes among you may have heard of Jules Dassin, director of The Naked City and one of the greatest crime films of all time, Rififi. Well, this is his son doing a dopey song about a bunch of cartoon cowboy banditos. For those who detected a note of silliness in the endeavour, please look up the music video on YouTube for confirmation. Somehow, Dassin emerges from the fray looking cooler than could be imagined. The French, eh?! Brexit means Brexit!

‘Seven Red Rose Tattoos’ - Jessie Buckley and Bernard Butler
Yes, yes, a beautiful voice. Not too dissimilar from the one that ‘When the Night Is Long’ track (a JS pick many moons ago?), and frankly it’s enough to elevate what is a reasonably ordinary song. Still, I do like the rather sparse backing, which is redolent of early Tom Waits - back when his material has about walking around whilst drunk or comparing his penis to an ice cream. It works because it foregrounds the voice, plus it sounds suitably grown-up. You’ll never hear tasteful muted trumpet in chart fodder. Good, but not quite great.

‘Superman Lover’ - Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson
A track I knew before this month, but very welcome nonetheless! I was poised to add a JGW cut in the new year but JC's beaten me to the jump. I have an unabashed love for Watson, a man who seemingly couldn’t keep still in any creative sense. When Muddy Waters or Albert King tried to update their sound to appear hip, the results were embarrassing; Watson sounds utterly at home as a funkster. Although he did do ‘straight’ material, my favourite stuff is where he’s a little goofy, as on ‘Superman Lover’. His soloing is something that has always intrigued - it tends to flow more like a brass instrument, or even a vocal line. There’s even a song on his Funk Beyond the Call of Duty album where he scats along with the notes - fun!

‘Shook Ones, Pt. II’ - Mobb Deep
As someone who has affection for the ‘dusty’ production sound of Wu Tang releases (the pops and crackles of samples taken straight off vinyl, I guess) I found the sound of this very appealing. Pair with a sturdy backbeat and you’re cooking; add some guys with superb rhythmic and lyrical facility and you got a stew, baby. The kind of psych-up track I put one before being walloped by a bunch of teenagers at five-a-side.

‘Wet Dream’ - Wet Leg
My brain says there’s nothing sophisticated going on here, but my (dry) legs just won’t stop twitching to what is an infectious, candy-coated earworm. The vocals are cool and wry, the chorus absolutely pops out of the speakers and it’s catchy, catchy, catchy. H.G. Wells once said that the greatest challenge that faces a writer is to get a reader to want to turn the next page - a feat that doesn’t require the work to be great literature, but does need it to be intriguing and interesting enough to tempt the reader into desiring more. That’s what I get from this - it’s addictive, like sugar. But is it good for you, like sugar?

‘Jet’ - Wings
Jellyfish are one of my favourite power-pop bands (I included one of their tracks on the ill-fated Christmas-themed month a while ago), and they used to perform live covers of ‘Jet’. To cue it up they would always say “...and now for the sexiest song of all time!”. A little drollery involved there, but Jellyfish liked chewy song structures with strong melodies and big hooks, so go fish. Yes, this does sound like it was recorded down a 56k baud modem, but that just adds to the charm. Part of Paul McCartney’s eccentricity as a songwriter is that he’ll tackle whatever subject floats into his consciousness, which results in delightfully quirky results like this. The only album cover in this month’s TFJ to feature a paedophile?

‘GFY’ - Amyl and the Sniffers
I love the animating spirit behind both the music and the supercharged lyrics, but I think I’m also faced with a plaint that’s been said before; formally, there’s little wriggle room for this brand of agit-punk. And I agree with others who have said that ‘GFY’ could’ve gone either much scuzzier or much cleaner. As such the production sounds like an awkward compromise whereby they’re aiming to be kinda dangerous, but perhaps also angling for a mid-afternoon slot on the second stage at Glasto too?

‘Just Dropped In..’ - The First Edition
Spotify says it’s the First Edition playing this, but it ain’t. This is the version that Kenny ‘the Gambler’ Rogers re-recorded a few years after the fact. As such, we’ve got a slightly cleaner, slightly funkier sound - but it misses the backwards taping that intro’d the original and Glen Campbell’s guitar solo. No matter though, this acid-washed tripper is indestructible - cool key changes, mind-bending lyrics remain intact, and the six-string work here is altogether very hip. Is that a talk box I hear? Has there ever been a bad song to feature a talk box?

‘Bleak’ - Opeth
This month I was asked to provide a non-metal fan with a few choice cuts, and I included the title track off Blackwater Park. I could’ve easily gone with this, though. I’m in the pro-Opeth camp, owning a couple of albums and having witnessed them live. If I were to try to explain ‘Bleak’, I’d say it feels like a puzzlingly arcane machine, powered by intricately wrought cogs and sprockets, all whirring together in serene harmony. It’s got enough to keep the church-burners happy, it’s got enough to keep Crimson-heads like me happy, though in its ‘quieter’ moments it does veer towards old skool Porcupine Tree, which admittedly is an acquired taste (and one that I have acquired).

‘Strangers’ - Danger Mouse, A$AP Rocky, Run the Jewels, etc.
I feel like I’m going against the grain a little in preferring the Mobb Deep cut in this month’s hip-hop offerings, but still, this is good. All contributing vocalists are characterful and adroit in a way that I enjoy. The sample that anchors everything is pleasingly oblique - about my only real gripe are the breakdowns in between verses. Who made that creative call? Man, I know they only last a few seconds at a time and act as a bit of a breather, but they suck ass. Do something cool next time!

‘Ghost With a Boner’ - Diarrhea Planet
Full marks for name of both track and band. Yes, it does sound like it’s been recorded in the back of a meat wagon. As far as I can tell, it literally is about spectral priapism. I don’t think this is music that bears too much intellectual scrutiny - this is music to be felt. It calls to a more primal part of us all, a part of us that ponders ‘what about a ghost with a boner?’, and scratches that itch admirably.

‘Crosseyed and Painless’ - Angelique Kidjo
Angelique Kidjo is a name I’ve heard plenty, but I can’t recall ever hearing a lick of her music. Decent, isn’t it? The Afropop backing, as with many examples uploaded to TFJ, has a rolling, kicky, nagging (in the best way) quality to it. The brass section burbles and punctuates in all the right places, and I love the sound of the guitar - it seems to bob and weave between the lines. But what really shines through is the sheer charisma of Ms. Kidjo’s personality - she is one of those vocalists who imposes herself onto her material, which works much to her advantage.

‘Lone Ranger’ - Julianna Riolino
I’m a bit sad to finish up on this one, because it left the smallest impression on me. I didn’t dislike it - there was nothing in ‘Lone Ranger’ to offend. But I’m curious to know where the appeal lies for everyone else? It sounds like a pretty okay, fairly middle-of-the-prairie slice of Americana to these ears. Voice? Fine, a bit anonymous. Instrumentation is a touch beige. You could hum bits ‘n’ pieces, but equally this could dissipate like the last cloud of an Arizona summer morning.

 Looking forward to everything 2023 holds, including being introduced to more new music courtesy of you lovely chaps. Salut! [NB: I am no longer looking forward to 2023.]

New(ish) music - October 2022

For the past few years, I and a group of friends have been using Spotify to turn each other on to new music. Each month we upload two songs each to create a playlist; we chat about the songs on WhatsApp, and at the end of each month we try to get together to review our picks.

On those occasions where I haven't been able to make our video chats, I've written short reviews of each song. Here is what I thought of October 2022's picks!

October 2022

So perhaps this wasn’t the greatest month for TFJ - and in truth, the middle part of it was quite crap for me. I became so ill I went delirious with fever, and started to hallucinate wildly at one point. Not that it excuses ‘Your Ontario Town…’ - nor should there be an excuse. I like the song. It sounds like it was recorded in the back of a butcher’s van and it’s a mean-spirited take on growing up in rural Canada. You may think of those as demerits, but in my musical constellation, recording a barely-listenable melodic black metal song using nowt but a circa-2001 Line 6 Multi-FX pedal is admirable.

I was briefly elated when OH mentioned that he liked “the Scottish track”, thinking he meant Orange Juice (from Glasgow), but alas, I think he means Stephen Durkan. Hmm! You know, that’s Edwyn “A Girl Like You” Collins fronting the OJ boys. That was a cool song…

Powered Up - Cobra Man
Great name, great tune. If it were up to me, there would be far more groups who sound like Recycler-era ZZ Top around and making moves. But then I recall that I’m about the only dude around who likes Recycler, so what the fuck. Maybe these guys dig it too. Maybe they like Trans by Neil Young also? We could be friends. Anyway, absurdly fun, a bit goofy, and it sounds like Recycler by ZZ Top.

I’m Bored - Iggy Pop
Wasn’t this on an advert once? It’s good - as one of those lizard-brain clank-a-longs this is primo Iggy. When did he stop sounding insane though? My only problem here is that he sounds like a more reasonable version of Lou Reed on this, and I don’t want either of those mofos acting as if you can chat with them about sports or the weather. 

Also, the Stooges are right there.

I Was Dancing in the Lesbian Bar - Jonathan Richman
I’ve long enjoyed the peculiar universe conjured up by Mr Richman. Another Lou Reed devotee, take note! I love that this track could’ve come from virtually any time within the span of twenty years of Richman’s career. His devotion to musical simplicity is, by now, heroic - and I adore his unaffected singing style. No need to groan and roll around for ol’ Jonny boy, the purism of his craft sees him through. One of the best this month. 

But, the Modern Lovers are right there. 

Hit the Breaks - PLOSIVS
You know what would’ve made this song a lot better? If they were singing “let’s hit the bricks”. Anyway, I don’t get this. It’s fine as a competently crafted rocker but doesn’t get the blood pumping, nor does it really get one’s head scratching. I’m neither feelin’ a dip in the hip nor a glide in my stride, so what’s the point?

Weird Fishes / Arpeggi - Rodrigo Y Gabriela
What is this, Enya for people who like acoustic guitars (and fretless bass)? I feel like these jabronis have drifted in and out of the periphery of my musical understanding for a while, and this crystallises why - every time I’ve given ‘em a chance it bores me. This is no exception - I can hear this playing in coffee shops patronised by folk in kaftans, but you know where I can’t hear this playing very often? My stereo. 

Breakin’ My Heart - Tom Verlaine
Tom Verlaine has one of those peculiar voices, like Tom Petty or Mark Knopfler, where you suspect it’s also exactly how they talk. Did they get bullied at school? Regardless, this is another highlight of this month’s action as it sounds like summat offa side two of Television’s Marquee Moon album, and Lord knows that’s a platter I love. I ooze love for it! Yet another track that hypnotises through the insistence and confidence of its central conceit, and works. Like Iggy Pop, like Jonathan Richman. See? This rock ‘n’ roll lark isn’t too difficult. Halfway through, this song busts out into guitar playing that feels like those clean, skeletal, geometric patterns that typified the best…Television songs.

And yes, Television are right there.

I Want My Minutes Back - Snapped Ankles
Beep! Bip! Boop! Now we’re really makin’ music, bay-beh! Just fuzz up them vocals, stick a few dits and doots over a Krautrock riff and we’re laughing. See? This rock ‘n’ roll lark isn’t too difficult. It’s alright, isn’t it? The only issue, I would say, is that it feels like every move this track can be telegraphed a mile off. Surprises don’t have to be big, they just need to be there in the first instance. Ironically, given their name, Snapped Ankles failed to wrong-foot me. 

The Acid Commune - Stephen Durkan
The lyrics mention an ‘endless cycle’, and that’s how I feel about TFJ’s seeming regard for anyone barking out sprechgesang doggerel in a Scottish accent. We’ve had this song before, no? Oh, that was Arab Strap? Ah, how to tell these irascible Scots, if one may employ a tautology, apart. If it’s gonna be this way, the lyrics need to be a jot smarter for my tastes, but this one actually does feature a badass Krautrock backing and some utterly unnecessary space-rock flourishes. And because the Hawkwindisms sound superfluous, they of course, sound fantastisch.

Janey - Foy Vance
What purpose does this serve?

Our Film - Tigran Hamasyan, Areni Aghbabian, Artyom Manukyan
Well, I like this, but could’ve done with more of the stuff the features early doors, which reminds me of the music I heard in Japanese malls, or perhaps the Tokyo Subway Museum. I’ve been chasing that particular high ever since. This kind of music, a kind of fey Hot Rats Zappa, wiv dance beats, feels rather modish these days. The dude I saw supporting Tricot sounded like this, as do Polyphia from time-to-time. No bad thing - the music has craft, skill, ideas and imagination. I just wish these guys properly went wild, you know? The jazz urge must exist within them, somewhere! 

Figure Skating - Porij
One of the daftest fucking names around, but this dancey little number wormed its way into my affections over the course of the month. Again, this feels like a bunch of stuff I’ve heard at the artsier end of the pop spectrum. Lots of contemporary artists seem to have come together to make music that sounds both sad and upbeat at the same time. Still, there’s a euphoric, slightly hysterical note to this, possibly enhanced by the airlessness of the production. I probably can’t listen to loads of this, but sprinkled into a playlist it’s a nice left turn.

Sleep Like a Baby Tonight - U2
Urrrghhhh, I really like this. What a revelation! If only U2 didn’t spend literal decades being shit, and instead made moody industro-pop like this, I might - might - forgive the rainforest-bothering prick some of his more venial excesses (I am, of course, talking about Larry Mullen Jr here). Seriously though, that falsetto is a revelation, and the boys certainly know their way around a chorus. Prowling, dark, sepulchral - another one near the top of the tree this month. And it’s bloody U2! C’mon Bono, let’s see you pull a Depeche Mode and transform into full-on leather sex perverts for the next album.

 That’s that, then. I didn’t listen to the playlist as much as I often do due to a combo of work, illness and holiday (Strasbourg is a very decent long weekend destination) but when I did it held my attention. Even the tracks that didn’t necessarily get my motor running often featured something to commend them. Except Foy Vance, that s-s-s-s-s-sucked!

New(ish) music - June 2022

For the past few years, I and a group of friends have been using Spotify to turn each other on to new music. Each month we upload two songs each to create a playlist; we chat about the songs on WhatsApp, and at the end of each month we try to get together to review our picks.

On those occasions where I haven't been able to make our video chats, I've written short reviews of each song. Here is what I thought of June 2022's picks!

June 2022

And so we come onto the second most significant event of June 2022 - the summing up of a month’s listening on TFJ. I’ll refrain from any encomia about seeing you all at the weekend, because that’s pretty much a given - besides, I know you’re eager to see if the Sword of Damacles hovers over your selections, so without further ado, let’s begin.

JC, you’re a fine fellow and I admire your questing nature where song selections are concerned. I like the fact that you tend to push the envelope somewhat, guiding us into the darkest realms of the 6Music playlist. Yet this Kendrick Lamar and Taylour Paige collaboration has little aside from its sheer vehemence to commend it. I’m in that uncomfortable place of condemning something that’s quite worthy, namely a depiction of domestic abuse; but I can’t look past the execution, which at turns I find irksome, gratuitous and dull.

The other track that wore on me - only a little - was JS’s Garbage selection. A little surprising, as I’ve listened to Garbage lately due to the album review thing I do with my Stateside pals and dug it. My only real explanation is that it feels quite dated, its loud, shiny late-90s production ageing the track prematurely.

Happily, I had a few surprises in store, not least the Bouncing Souls. As one of the few pop-punk bands I’ve actually seen live I was expecting them to coast by on nostalgia fumes, but their knucklehead charm did a number on me. Even more eyebrow-raising was the offering from Minor Threat. Given their reputation I’d imagined their music to be near-unlistenable but ‘Salad Days’ is vying for my favourite track this month; bells, acoustic flourishes and a peculiarly ruminative air to proceedings hit the mark for me. Fantastic.

What of those that ever so slightly missed the mark? As in, joints that were good without knocking my socks off? ‘Cure for Pain’ by Morphine is one, and probably ‘This Much Is True’ by Rob Eckland and Brendan Reilly fall into this category. On the former, I really like the lugubrious saxophone and hangdog vocals; it’s certainly thick with atmosphere. The latter is an interesting one, because I dig a good pop song - and here one can draw a straight line between Michael Jackson and Bruno Mars to this; I feel it scrapes the firmament but doesn’t quite burst through the clouds. It’s missing one little signature or quirky factor to push it into the stratosphere. 

Sticking with pop music (after a fashion), how about that Ink Spots number? What a beautiful facility with a melody they demonstrate. This has been the chorus I find myself singing in the shower. JC, you’ve reached into the past before with cowboy music and early British blues before and uncovered the odd gem or two, and the same applies here.

MM, I’m going to take yours together because I appreciated them both in different ways. I have heard the name Neko Case before, but was unfamiliar with the music. The first twenty seconds made my heart sink; I thought we were in for another outing of a female singer trying to sound like Feist, which we were plagued with about ten years ago. Well, this was much, much better - a belter of a voice, no? And another sticky chorus. The one that really grabbed me, though, was the Mermen; listen, psychedelic surf guitar will always be fucking cool, no matter what other twists and turns the vagaries of popular music has for us. This is the kind of thing I pay £6 a ticket to see in small venues around Brighton, and I invariably have the best time. My ticket often costs less than my pint! Funny!

So, now we’re onto a trio that really broke through. I spoke with James about the Brant Bjork (the only Bjork I give a fig about) at the weekend, how he is essentially a Zelig figure in the desert rock scene ‘n’ all that. Now, I think the riffs and changes in ‘Chocolatize’ can be seen a mile away - in terms of groove, tempo and composition it’s as predictable as it gets - so why does it scratch the itch? Attitude, swagger, delivery, a kind of dusty, sleazy B-movie redolence? Is it just that indefinable quality of ‘cool’? Interested to hear what others think.

Next up is Steve Earle, who I’ve been tempted to put on TFJ for a while now. OH beat me to the punch! (Though that hasn’t stopped months with two Steely Dan tracks or, more peculiarly, two Dr Octagon tracks in the past.) Probably my favourite contemporary country musician, and you’re reading the words of a guy who’s very recently purchased a banjo. Earle namechecks Doc Watson in the intro, which gave me an insta-boner. Await the day I trade in my MG for a pickup.

Which leaves my clear favourite - HAZEY’s absolutely bonkers ‘Packs and Potions’. Without wishing to over-elaborate, everything works - the twisty waterslide rhymes delivered in thick demotic, the surreal references to footballers and the sparse musical backing, which almost acts as punctuation at times. Again, a surprise, a big surprise…but that’s TFJ, baby!

New(ish) music - April 2022

For the past few years, I and a group of friends have been using Spotify to turn each other on to new music. Each month we upload two songs each to create a playlist; we chat about the songs on WhatsApp, and at the end of each month we try to get together to review our picks.

On those occasions where I haven't been able to make our video chats, I've written short reviews of each song. Here is what I thought of April 2022's picks!

April 2022

I don’t think we can begin with anything other than a look at the covers on April’s playlist, given that there were five - count ‘em, five - of those bad boys to enjoy. I recently read an early history of pop music and it was interesting to learn that until the mid- to late-forties, individual songs took precedence over performers. Often, the same tune - especially one that could be performed by big bands or swing combos - would be recorded and released by as many as ten or fifteen of the heavy hitters at a go. Even in the 1950s rock ‘n’ roll era, it wasn’t uncommon to see two or three artists vying simultaneously in the charts with the same song.

However, we now have a much greater notion of artistic agency and interpretation, which puts a premium on the ‘definitive’ version of a tune; Prince may have been the originator, but few would argue that Sinead O’Connor’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ is the version worth shouting about. Likewise, feel for the poor old Nerves, who wrote a cracking pop-punk track called ‘Hangin’ on the Telephone’, only for Blondie to coast past the finish line with it. Without doubt, the respective songs were utterly transformed by those artists who tasted success with them, which was a point of discussion when a few of us met to pick over the bones of April’s offerings. Generally, we thought a straight cover to be lesser than a reinterpretation, especially where a new angle draws on a differing reservoir of emotion than the original. 

To date, Marc Almond has had two number one hits in the UK, both with covers - a radical take on Gloria Jones’ ‘Tainted Love’ and a pedestrian version of ‘Something’s Gotten Hold of My Heart’, which cleaved so close to the original that he even duetted with Gene Pitney on the latter. One of those covers is transformative; the other has hardly made a dent in the collective musical consciousness.

We have two rather breathy takes on non-breathy songs here, and for my money Phoebe Bridgers wins out with her Cure cover. Why? Because it brings a note of tenderness and yearning to ‘Friday I’m in Love’, whilst Kina Grannis and Clara C struggle to rise above the sophomoric sentiments of ‘Bad Blood’ and, if anything, highlight its deficiencies through deconstruction.

Good without being great are Zurito with an old Buena Vista Social Club joint called ‘Amor de Loca Juventud’ (the mad love of youth?) which is pretty and skips along with sun-dappled lightness without landing a punch. I felt the singer was so close-miked that it sounded like he was right on your shoulder, like a parrot. On the other hand, the Valkyrians (from Finland! Not Mexico!) did do something new with Blondie’s ‘Heart of Glass’ but turned a hard, shiny disco number into an amiable ska plod, which rather took the juice out of it. Fun nonetheless.

So we’re left with one cover that really stands out; the late Charles Bradley shaping Black Sabbath’s rather somnolent ‘Changes’ into a churchified soul stirrer. Yowzer! I know a performance is a performance, but he sings it like he really means it. In fact, soul bangers did very well for me as the standout track of the lot was ‘Going In Circles’ by the Friends of Distinction. I knew it, ironically, as a cover - but whilst Isaac Hayes applies all the bells and whistles from the start, the FoD climb the mountain. The low-key, lugubrious beginning pulls at heartstrings every time, whilst Hayes wraps everything in gauze from the off - well, it’s too rich, like pouring clotted cream over a wedding cake.

I didn’t like Alt-J’s offering at all, though I’ve been prevailed upon by some of you to give their first album a go (thanks for the link); why the guy decided to sing this delicate number in the voice of a cartoon rodent is beyond me. That’s my only frowny face of the originals - I found something to dig in everything else, including Full of Hell’s frantic sub-two minutes of sheer aggression. I thought the alarm clock at the end was a nice touch - just in case it hadn’t woken you up, right?

The late Taylor Hawkins (& the Coattail Riders) were interesting and kicky without ever tempting me back to listen. I compared it to Satellite Party, another act who did a fine job meshing disparate genres within the same track. Parquet Courts were likewise cool without feeling essential; marrying the vocal hook to a drum pattern was a neat trick but I also got the impression of a singer who can’t quite ever close his mouth.

Which leaves, I believe, just the two other songs. I am familiar with what might be considered the classic era of Love but not their latter offerings. I knew that Arthur Lee began to go off the rails somewhat, so it’s heartening to hear that he was still able to pull the rabbit out the hat when it mattered. ‘Everybody’s Gotta Live’ is the perfect encapsulation of the 1970s bummer ethos; whereas in their earlier guise Love were conjuring up baroque psychedelic mind-quests, here it’s a single burnt-out acoustic guitar strumming three chords. It’s an overused phrase, but the song works purely on the vibe. At the other end of the spectrum, consummate songwriting professional John Hiatt cruises through like a high-end Audi, every moving part gleaming and in its proper place. There are zero musical surprises, but each touch is assured, the lyrics are wry and knowing, plus Hiatt knows exactly how to deploy a voice gnarled through experience and wisdom. Bob Dylan, take note!