Video and Audio: July 2021
Fraught nostalgia for fraught pasts, hunger for the future, and the usual timeless beauty
No-No Boy: “The Best God Damn Band in Wyoming”
Yes I talked about this last week, but let’s reiterate this is top of the song of the year leaderboard, exulting in the ability of the human spirit to thrive in horrific circumstances while simultaneously being appropriately mad those circumstances avoidably arose in the first place.
William Parker & Eri Yamamoto: “The Golden Light (Hymn)”
The greatest avant-jazz bassist writes an extremely tonal solo piano piece that Yamamoto trills it up, but only a bit. Peak-McCartney beautiful.
Mariah the Scientist: “2 You”
The uncanny backing that chops up voices and makes you wait for the beat might distract you from how strong the writing is, cramming the fleeting joys and long flaming final act of a five-year relationship into less than three minutes.
Jack Ingram, Miranda Lambert, Jon Randall: “Waxahachie”
The best 20th century Lucinda Williams song—the yearning, the mappable specificity, the car wheels on a well-maintained interstate furnishing a locus for just feeling shit—the 21st century has yet produced.
Jimmie Allen & Brad Paisley: “Freedom Was a Highway”
I mean for me, the highway has always been a place to concentrate on not killing anyone, but I appreciate country for making preferences alien to me legible.
Dustin Lynch: “Momma’s House”
On the other hand, empathizing with toxic masculinity, not to mention arson, remains beyond me (though I would say that), but it’s clear that Lynch gets something out of it.
The Chills: “The Walls Beyond Abandon”
Above the low overdriven guitar is their brightest keyboard hook in decades, flatly contradicting Phillipps’s claim that the titular walls are insuperable. I think it’s a metaphor, unless this is actually about reading Attack on Titan.
Lexii Alijai ft. Wale: “Hoodie SZN”
Released a year after her death from fentanyl and alcohol, aged 21, this is a remarkably assured performance from a rapper chasing a dream that was tantalizingly within reach.
Megan Thee Stallion: “Thot Shit”
Back to her hard, fast, intermittent best. “I stop at every mirror just to stare at my own posterior”—you and me both, Tina.
ONF: “Beautiful Beautiful”
This is as much a dairy product as that other K-pop boy band is peddling these days, but you might as well have your milkmen be a group that has something to prove and total confidence that they’ll prove it.
Ashley Monroe: “Gold”
“You’re a ’50s record on the stereo” she tells her husband, over a backing that could be from Pure Heroine. I wish her the best for her chemo and hope she’ll be ripping off teenagers in the 2050s.
Thank you so much for these song recommendations Brad. Still not sure about Miranda's campfire vibe, but I loved -- and ordered the lp of -- No-No Band and am listening to some modern country right now. Yay. Plus, so far I like 'Animal Man' best. Simple and relatively traditional, but engaging and heartfelt. Liked 'We3' as well. Not so much of those qualities with 'The Filth': seemed too clunky, self consciously shocking. Some clever bits but... one thing is, the art is so inconsistent it's not always immediately obvious which character you're looking at. And the frickin' lettering, with random, unnecessary boldface and italics. Undermining meaning yeah sure. Never liked that about superhero comics. Not too interested in whoever Tex porneau is based on. Still very much appreciate all the recommendations.