Odds & Ends 106
Modesty's a virtue in all things except sex
Sturgill Simpson: Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 2 (The Cowboy Arms Sessions)
With the arrangements and band finally allowing his songs the modesty they deserve, the auteur imbues the fast ones with wit and wisdom enough for a pollywog, if not Jesus; the slow ones sing themselves (“Sea Stories”, “Oh Sarah”, “Welcome to Earth (Pollywog)”)
Hamell on Trial: The Pandemic Songs
It’s good there’s joie de vivre and some genuine open-heartedness, but I’m here for the taboo gags and the people you wouldn’t mind seeing go saying bye-bye (“This Is a Hamell Show”, “No Problem”, “Social Distancing”)
Rico Nasty: Nightmare Vacation
She tries on a bunch of different sonic identities for size: commercial Internet trap she doesn’t have the vacancy for, Kenny Beats remixes provide a safe fall back, 50-to-100% Gecs tracks offer a way forward (“iPhone”, “Pussy Poppin (I Don’t Really Talk Like This)”, “Don’t Like Me”)
“Experimental pop”, uh oh—yet there lots of funny sounds and tracks that are shaped like songs, such that asking for actual songs seems churlish (“Du Na”, “Sayonara - Full Moon Version”, “Telefon”)
Shaggy Dad Jokes, with John “Semisonic” Munson a Cool Dad who can pull off an occasional “OK kids, let’s be serious for a moment,” and Dylan “Dylan Hicks” Hicks is a Less Cool Dad whose encyclopedic knowledge of postwar popular culture you’ll appreciate when you’re older (“Only Smoke”, “Pennies on My Eyes”, “Sawtooth”)
Lisa Mezzacappa Six: Cosmicomics
Italo Calvino stories retold instrumentally by tenor/vibraphone over guitar/electronics over bass/drums, with my favorites being the one with Tim Perkis’s squelchiest synths and the one about a fish (“All at One Point”, “The Aquatic Uncle”, “Crystals”)
Kali Uchis: Sin Miedo
Her singing’s grown more assured in all registers; her songs and arrangements only sometimes achieve solidity, but the hit about “telepathic healing love” doesn’t have to (“Telepatía”, “De Nadie”)
Carla Bley/Andy Sheppard/Steve Swallow: Life Goes On
Drumless not funless ECM album, with canon quotes from Bley, electric rumbling from Swallow, and solid tenor and (rarer) strong soprano from Sheppard (“Beautiful Telephones - Pt. 3”, “Life Goes On: And Then One Day”)
A new life in multiple ways for this veteran cowpunk turned folkie with the vibrato to prove it b/w veteran heterosexual turned horndog for Beatrice, with payoffs in melodic development and a genuine thrill of belated self-discovery (“Effigy of Salt”, “Courage”)
Norwegian synth and/or piano jazz trio plonks out some fun live improv—the 36-minute one is a bit much for casual fans, the 24-minute one isn’t, and whatever sounds like a harmonica is a nice touch (“Første improvisasjon”, “Andre improvisasjon”)
Miley Cyrus: Plastic Hearts
Shouting too much is better than not shouting at all for a mid-tier pop star aiming at markets desperate for something that can pass for rock if you put a mullet on it (“Edge of Midnight”, “Never Be Me”)
Bruce Springsteen: Letter to You
The least surprising Bruce album ever, with songs about music, girls, and Bruce, and plenty of room for Max Weinberg to bring the melodramatics and for Roy Bittan to play like he’s afraid the Boss will finally pink slip him (“Burnin’ Train”, “Janey Needs a Shooter”)