Floating 'Round My Tin Can
Hello all,
As we sift through the wreckage in our news feeds and wonder how long the start of 2021 will remain indistinguishable from the hangover of 2020, I figured it was a good time for a newsletter.
Strong Notes: The Horns Weigh In
Strong Songs year three is underway, with a new David Bowie double-header episode and a fresh theme song, to boot.
The new year three theme was a lot of fun to write and record - it features BJ Cord on trumpet, Kyle Molitor on trombone, and Carlos “insaneintherainmusic” Eiene on bari sax. I played all the other stuff.
Longtime listeners of the show will know BJ and Kyle from their previous outro solos, but Carlos is a newcomer - he plays a ton of instruments and posts some fantastic music on his YouTube channel, so go check him out.
This week’s two-parter on Bowie’s “Space Oddity” and “Starman” was a lot of fun to put together, though it wound up being a more ambitious episode than I’d anticipated. I’m actually hoping to make Strong Songs episodes a bit more focused in year three, and it was a dubious decision to begin that endeavor with a double-header. The next episode will just be a single song, and a bit different from anything I’ve done before. I’m excited about it.
Strong Songs has recieved a few cool media write-ups lately — the show was named “best music podcast of 2021” by The Australian, got a brief but nice endorsement in the New York Times, was featured up north as one of CBC Radio’s “podcasts we loved” from 2020, and most recently recieved a very kind blurb in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The Strong Songs Store has also been going well. Thanks to everyone who ordered a shirt or coffee mug over the holidays.
I’ve never run a Printful drop-shipping store before, and while there have been a few scattered issues with orders—mostly covid-delayed shipments, though one listener was mistakenly sent an “All I Want For Christmas Is Sick Gains” weight-lifting shirt that made me laugh—Printful has been good about addressing issues.
If you haven’t ordered anything yet, you should! I’ll probably introduce some new and limited-run merch in 2021. It’s fun to have a store.
Meanwhile, On Other Podcasts
- I recently went on Themes and Variation, the official podcast of the music instruction site Soundfly.com. Our topic was “Songs Defined by their Solos,” which proved a fertile topic for conversation. My pick was Clare Torry’s vocal solo on Pink Floyd’s “The Great Gig in the Sky.”
- A little while back I was also a guest on the SongFacts podcast, where I talked more generally about my musical background, philosophy, and approach to the show. It was a cool chat, and I don’t think I linked it back when I did it. Or maybe I did. Anyway, I’m linking it now!
- I was excited to be the first-ever guest on “Just King Things,” a terrific Stephen King-focused podcast hosted by Michael Lutz and Cameron Kunzleman.
We talked about the miniseries adaptation of King’s The Stand—the 90s one with Rob Lowe and Molly Ringwald, not the new CBS one, which I haven’t seen. The episode is currently a bonus for their Patreon backers, but I believe it’ll be in their main feed shortly.
If you’re a King fan, I recommend this podcast - each episode focuses on a single book, and they’re going in publication order. They’re each interesting on their own, and just as interesting as threads in the broader, decade-spanning tapestry of King’s ouevre.
- Things at Triple Click have been business as usual, by which I mean that the three of us have been having a good time. We did an episode on our favorite games of 2020, and going by the response to it, I made more than a few people aware of the wonderful Spiritfarer. We also just logged our 2021 predictions. Given how thoroughly 2020 subverted our expectations, it’s a safe bet that 2021 will do the same.
Music Recommendations
Every morning I go for a long walk up Mt. Tabor and listen to a different album. Some of those albums have included:
Joni Mitchell - Hejira - What a lovely and unexpectedly specific (?) album. I’ll admit my Mitchell awareness was pretty much limited to Blue, and I’d never heard this one. The most interesting thing about it, of course, is how much free reign she gave Jaco Pastorius with his bass parts.
Tame Impala - Currents - A bunch of listeners have been asking me to do an episode on Tame Impala, and while I’m not planning one anytime super soon, this album has more than a few songs that are strong enough to support an episode.
Sigur Rós - Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust - A band I knew of, but hadn’t really listened to closely, though I loved Jónsi’s music in the How To Train Your Dragon movies. A listener recommendation finally got me to sit down with it; this album is beautiful.
Yellow Magic Orchestra - Solid State Survivor - I enjoyed this Beyond the Bot video about the connections between Anime and Black culture, and it got me to finally sit down with YMO and dig into what they’re doing. You can hear echoes of this band in so much current stuff.
DANGERDOOM - The Mouse & the Mask - Like a lot of people, I’ve been listening to a lot of MF Doom since hearing the news of his death. I’d never heard this one, and while I was never the biggest Adult Swim guy, I still enjoyed all the crossovers and skits. Some genius-level phrasing, as usual from Doom.
David Bowie - Literally Every David Bowie Album - I’ve been doing a lot more proactive listening before each artist I tackle on Strong Songs, and that meant listening to the entire David Bowie discography in order. If you’ve never done that, I recommend it! Yes, even his self-titled debut.
Banjourou - Big String Theory - My buddy Andrew recommended this one, a straightforward record beautifully performed by Malian guitarists Djelimady Tounkara and Bouba Sacko along with vocalist Lafia Diabaté. Every time I listen to it, I feel good.
Laura Veirs - Judy Flame - I first heard Veirs’ singing as part of her Case/Lang/Veirs collaboration, and her solo record is just lovely. “Carol Kaye” legit made me tear up - what a wonderful song.
The Paris Monster - Lamplight - I’ve always loved drummer/vocalist Josh Dion’s music, and his project The Paris Monster doesn’t disappoint. Such a distinct sound on this record, and so many killer grooves.
Darlingside - Extralife (Again) - I believe I put this in my last newsletter as well, but I’ve still been listening to it, and I think you should, too. “The Singularity” is one of the most perfect songs I’ve heard in a long time.
Onward
That’ll do it for now. As always, you can find me on Twitter and Instagram, though I’m taking a break from Twitter for at least the next little while.
I hope you’re all staying as safe and sane as possible, and as always, that you’re finding time to listen to music. Here’s a picture of Appa (R) and her uncle Dyson (L), whom she met for the first time over the holidays.
Take care of yourselves and one other -
~KH
1/15/2021