The Day That Love Came to Play
We’re knee deep in September and 2021 already seems to be careening toward its end. Must be time for a newsletter!
A Bottle of Red, A Bottle of White
I had a great time with the two most recent single-song episodes of Strong Songs, though “single song” is stretching it in the case of the second one. I kicked off August with an episode on Billy Joel’s “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant,” a sax-heavy saga that I’ve been looking forward to dissecting since I started making the show.
I had a great time researching the episode, and learning about Joel’s fruitful relationship with producer Phil Ramone. (Joel’s 2013 Rolling Stone obit for Ramone is a lovely tribute and a great read.) I also came to appreciate how thoroughly Joel mastered the art of musical pastiche - throughout the Ramone years on albums like The Stranger and An Innocent Man, he moved seamlessly from schmaltz to rock to do-wop to Broadway to Four Seasons acappella.
After Joel it was time to tackle another of my white whales: the great They Might Be Giants. I went back and forth on how to approach this episode, since I really wanted to talk about their 1990 standout “Birdhouse In Your Soul.” It’s a great song that would’ve made for a good episode, but I’ve learned over the years that when I’m faced with a tough song-selection choice, it pays to go with the more challenging option. So instead I chose “Fingertips,” the Giants’ collection of 21 micro-songs that brings their 1992 record Apollo 18 to its conclusion.
It was indeed a challenge — I thought I was losing my mind about halfway through production — but with a lot of nipping, tucking, and editing, the episode came together. (They usually do.) Among other things, it gave me a new appreciation for “Something Grabbed ahold of My Hand,” the beautifully arranged mid-point ditty featuring the wonderful Amy Allison on vocals. I hadn’t been aware of her music before learning she was the singer on that track; check her out, she’s great.
Most recently was this week’s Q&A episode, which featured an unexpectedly deep dive into the rabbit hole of Steve Gregory’s sax solo on George Michael’s “Careless Whisper.” Turns out it’s not an alto, and it wasn’t recorded at 1.0x speed. Want to know more? Well, you’ll just have to go listen to the episode.
Elsewhere in Strong Songs land: I’ve added a new Patreon-exclusive bonus podcast feed for anyone in the quarter note tier or higher, and I’ll be using it more in the near future. So if you’d like to get some fun little extras, sign up for the Patreon! I’ve also heard from several folks who’d prefer to support the show with a one-off donation rather than a recurring charge - you can do that too, through Paypal.
Join the Strong Songs Discord
Last thing: The previously Patreon-exclusive Strong Songs Discord server is now open to the public! If you’d like a place to talk about episodes of the show with other listeners, make or get music recommendations, share practice tips, or get gear recommendations, come join in.
Music Recommendations
Some listening highlights from the past month and a half:
Bruce Hornsby - Spirit Trail - I went on a Hornsby kick back in August, and man, the guy is just so good. (And a fellow UMiami jazz alum, to boot!) Spirit Trail might be my favorite record of his, opening with the unstoppable “King of the Hill.”
Ibrahim Maalouf - Kalthoum - A trumpet player I wasn’t that familiar with, Maalouf’s record reminds me of what I love about Avishai Cohen’s International Vamp Band. At one point early on I thought, “this sax player sounds like Mark Turner.” Turns out it is indeed Mark Turner.
Bennett Sullivan - Green Song EP - A great record from banjoist/songwriter Bennett Sullivan, produced by my buddy Sam Howard. I recently bought a banjo and this album was an inspiration while I was deciding which type to get. (The nice thing about a resonator is that you can just take it off.)
Sammy Rae & The Friends - Let’s Throw a Party EP - One of the most pleasant albums I’ve been introduced to by the Strong Songs listening club. Killer band, killer vocalist, just killer stuff down the board. I’d love to see this group live.
Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator) - A recommendation from my sister Amanda, and the first time I’d sat down with a Gillian Welch album in a while. It’s no surprise that she’s great, but guess what? She is.
Sparks - Kimono My House - A fair number of people have recently asked me about Sparks, thanks mostly to the recent Edgar Wright movie about the band. So I figured I should probably do some listening. This is widely held up as one of their best albums, and it’s pretty great!
Public Service Broadcasting - The Race For Space - Another one from the Discord listening group. This band uses historical public radio broadcasts as the “script” for their albums; in this case, a musical narrative about the 1960s space race. The album works exactly as well as I hoped it would, once I realized what they were doing.
Yeasayer - Fragrant World - One of the denser alt/rock albums I’ve listened to lately, and one that I keep coming back to.
Big Red Machine - How Long Do You Think It’s Gonna Last? - The new one from Big Red Machine is a beautiful collection of songs with some terrific guest artists. I could listen to Anäis Mitchell sing anything.
TROKER - Imperfecto - I’ve been so into this band since discovering them a couple weeks ago. A horns + rhythm + DJ kinda thing out of Guadalajara, this album is just nasty from top to bottom. So many good tunes, grooves, tones, and melodies. Go listen.
Halsey - If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power - Halsey’s new one has Trent Reznor’s fingerprints all over it. Their two sounds are well suited to one another.
Parquet Courts - Wide Awake! - A band I learned about thanks to a listener question for Strong Songs. A great band, kinda post-post-post rock, all sharp edges and harmonic angles. It was really fun learning the title track’s guitar parts for the show.
Ric Robertson - Carolina Child - Straight ahead, strong songwriting from multi-instrumentalist Ric Robertson. Beautiful use of reverb and vocal harmony on this record.
Onward
That’ll do it for now. As always, you can find me on Instagram and Twitter (more on the former than the latter these days). And hey, do come join the Strong Songs Discord.
I’ll leave you with Appa, watching the sun set on the Oregon coast. She’s sad to see the day end, but knows that tomorrow’s just around the bend.
Take care and keep listening -
~KH
9/10/2021