Music to Quarantine by — vol. 2 (wk. of 3.23)
Albums worth dropping the needle on…or pressing play.
Albums worth dropping the needle on…or pressing play.
23 March 2020
A Tribe Called Quest
Peoples Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm
1990
I’ll be the first to admit I was late to the party on hip-hop.
But the perk of good music is that it transcends moments and trends in time…A Tribe Called Quest’s first album is one of those.
Another perk is that when if you’ve never heard it, because there is so much hip-hop, good and bad, in the rearview mirror that you can hear PITatPoR for the genius that it is.
“Can I Kick It” is well known among rock fans, if for no other reason than because it samples Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side”.
But for my money, it’s the lethargic road trip narrative of “I Left My Wallet In El Segundo” that always makes me smile. And everyone, at some point in their life, has a “Bonita Applebaum” that they’ve crossed paths with.
Released before the full-blown commercial embrace of the gangsta rap movement, it was Tribe who brought an element of relatable normalcy that made their music accessible to everyone. And they did this while still injecting inventiveness in both sampling and lyrics.
PITatPoR embraces an encyclopedic knowledge of music genres and the album is all the better for it — of course, this was the period of time before songwriters and publishers got wise and began charging for samples, so the canvas here is very large.
In the liner notes for the 25th Anniversary release, A Tribe Called Quest member Ali Shaheed Muhammad has said of Peoples Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm:
It was about having fun, being lighthearted, being witty, being poetic. Just being good with one another. That’s what we presented. Just be. Just exist. Be comfortable in your own skin. People’s Instinctive Travels was about celebrating you, whoever you are.
All of those elements, and it’s subtle brilliance, still makes Peoples Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm a great listen.
24 March 2020
Charlie Christian
The Essential Charlie Christian
2017
It’s rare that I would recommend a compilation set, but there isn’t that much of recorded Charlie Christian.
Much is made of Robert Johnson and his influence on rock and roll. And no matter where you land on that, the one thing we could agree on is that you probably have no idea who Charlie Christian is…despite being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990…before the hall even had a home.
I suspect that he’s overlooked for two reasons. One, he died at 25 and just never had a chance at longevity. Two, he played in the shadow of Benny Goodman, one of the most popular musicians of the 20th century. He even played in Goodman’s sextet with Lionel Hampton. Of course, it didn’t help that he was black.
After auditioning for famed A&R executive John Hammond (who signed Billy Holiday, Bob Dylan and Stevie Ray Vaughn, among many others), it was Hammond who recommended him to Benny Goodman (who Hammond had also signed to Columbia Records.)
Nonetheless, Christian’s indelible footprint can be found on everyone from Miles Davis and Pat Metheny to Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn).
You may not be a fan of swing or jazz or be-bop but if you’re a fan of music, you should listen to Charlie Christian.
25 March 2020
Shelby Lynne
Just A Little Lovin’
2007
It’s a bold artist that decides to make an album almost entirely of Dusty Springfield songs.
But then Shelby Lynne is not your average artist, she’s fearless.
The recording industry had long recognized Lynne’s talent, but never quite knew what to do with her. After years of attempting to pigeonhole her as a country singer, they gave up. It would take 1999’s I Am Shelby Lynne for her to find her true voice and artistry (and this sixth album would win her a Grammy Award for Best new Artist…go figure).
She is a singer, a songwriter and a guitar player, but above all else, Shelby Lynne is an artist.
Just A Little Lovin’, her tenth studio album, was released in 2007 to widespread praise and proves just how intrepid an artist she is. Like Dusty’s voice, her versions were big and bold.
Lynne and producer Phil Ramone chose to go with a more acoustic, bare and hushed sound. It’s in this subtle, almost inverted sound that breathes new life into these songs. It modernizes them without losing any of their classic beauty.
Shelby Lynne is an enigmatic artist and like any artist she doesn’t always hit…but when she does, as she does with Just A Little Lovin’, she crushes it.
26 March 2020
Pearl Jam
Vs.
1993
Now celebrating 30 years together and getting ready to release their 11th studio album, Gigaton, I dropped the needle (seriously) on this second album by the other band from Seattle.
I like that other band just fine, but for unknown reasons, it was Pearl Jam that hit me harder. While their first album, Ten, is a classic but its this second one that is still my favorite.
Structurally and tonally Vs. is a kissing cousin to Ten…it’s just that the songs are well, better.
It’s on this album that you begin to hear the push and pull for band leadership between Stone Gossard and Eddie Vedder.
That tension drives creativity and can be heard in songs like “Animal”, “Blood”, and “Leash” — songs so powerful that aside from Eddie Vedder’s growl, they might not be out of place on any album by the other band from Seattle.
Vs. was also the band’s first collaboration with producer Brendan O’Brien, who has played a studio role either as a producer and/or mixer on all but a few of Pearl Jam’s studio albums.
Upon first glance, it almost seems like the album was designed to alienate the fans they gained from Ten. At least until you listen to it and then you recognize that the track arrangement and flow are strikingly similar to but…the songs are just better.
The band had clearly leveled up.
For me, the songs on Vs. serve as a harbinger that Pearl Jam was never going to be a band that was going to go out quietly.
Now at 30 years together, it’s safe to say they’re not going anywhere.
27 March 2020
Tori Amos
Little Earthquakes
1992
No, I get it…Tori Amos can be a polarizing artist. Still not exactly sure why, but I get it.
Owing as much to the naked songwriting of Carole King and the quirkiness of Laura Nyro, Tori Amos dropped this album just as grunge was picking up steam.
Despite the fact that Little Earthquakes stood out in 1992 it found a substantial worldwide audience. And that’s because it’s just that good…and unlike anything else in the early 90s.
I was a young lad back then and was fortunate enough to be involved with a girl who took the time to explain some of the female aspects of the album and its lyrics — I never would’ve pieced together that Little Earthquakes was really coding for orgasms. It makes sense, but I didn’t know a whole lot about women back then…to be fair, I still don’t.
Amos’ raw and exposed lyrics were deftly matched with sparse arrangements that lent an unsuspecting depth to the songs that remain unique.
And those lyrics:
Precious Things
Dressing up every day
I want to smash the faces
Of those beautiful boys
Those Christian boys
So you can make me cum
That doesn’t make you Jesus
Crucify
Every finger in the room is pointing at me
I want to spit in their faces then I get afraid of what that could bring
I got a bowling ball in my stomach I got a desert in my mouth
Figures that my courage would choose to sell out now
Me and a Gun
And do you know Carolina
Where the biscuits are soft and sweet
These things go through your head when there’s a man on your back
And you’re pushed flat on your stomach it’s not a classic Cadillac
Sex, pregnancy, and rape…that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Amos peels back the curtains and exposes some of the inner workings, and rawness, of a woman. And she does it brilliantly.
Even listening to it now, its sound was uniquely hers. It’s no easy task for an artist to create such a unique sound…and find success.
For me, it’s Little Earthquakes that paved the way for the Lilith movement of the mid-’90s and you can see what almost 30 years later it is one of the most respected and revered albums by any artist.
29 March 2020
The Tragically Hip
Road Apples
1991
For those Hip fans in the US playing the home version, I will concede that Fully Completely is a better album, but my favorite remains Road Apples.
The creative jump from Up to Here to Road Apples is significant.
It’s on this album that The Hip found their distinctive voice. Rob Baker’s distinctive guitar sound had solidified and was front and center, while Gord Downie had begun to find the tremolo in his voice. The two most distinctive auditory identifiers of the band. The rest of the band (Johnny Fay, Gord Sinclair, and Paul Langlois) were the glue that held it all together.
It’s also on Road Apples that the band began sinking their lyrical teeth into Canada — going so far as to call the album Saskadelphia…before the record company put the kibosh on that. Among the Canadian shout outs are to Canadian artist Tom Thomson and the politics in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (thank you Wikipedia).
If you have a predilection for guitar-driven rock, the double blast of “Little Bones” and “Twist My Arm” will welcome you quite warmly, with a heavy tip of the hat to “Three Pistols” (see Tom Thomson).
Perhaps a little too cerebral for most, but “Cordelia” is a nice nod to Shakespeare.
“Fiddlers Green” was written by Downie for his nephew’s death, who passed away during the recording of the album. Given the context, the song was seldom played by the band…until their final tour in 2016 as Downie himself was dying of an incurable glioblastoma — a brain tumor.
Road Apples was the first of The Hips to reach number one in Canada but barely made a sound south of the border in the US. A problem that would repeat itself repeatedly throughout the band's career.
If you’re a fan of The Tragically Hip, odds are you have a favorite album…it’s a discussion better had for at a happy hour where you can find a hi-ball for two-fifty or a buck and half for a beer.
For me, it’s Road Apples.