Video and Audio: January 2021
"It wasn't inappropriate touching, it was attempted murder"
Jerry Joseph feat. Drive-By Truckers: “Sugar Smacks”
The most pissed-off song the Truckers have been involved with, which is saying something, stars The Three-Body Problem, Me Too, fentanyl, Isis, ambiguity about violence, and Johnny Thunders. Worst in show: jam bands.
Dinner Party feat. Phoelix: “Freeze Tag”
A bunch of people (K. Washington, R. Glasper) I previously would not have thought to invite to my socially distanced cookout create a genuinely delicate easy listening response to stop-and-frisk-and-shoot, with Saba/Noname collaborator Phoelix’s smooth falsetto the binding substance. (The full video adds unnecessary rap and Snoop, as well as striking imagery.)
Groupe RTD feat. Asma Omar: “Raga Kaan Ka’Eegtow (You Are the One I Love)”
A guy named Alto plays pentatonic sax riffs over a syncopated beat, while Omar sings with girlish experience about love, or so the title says.
Nathalie Joachim & Amanda Gookin: “Dam mwen yo”
Impresario Gookin timeslips composer Joachim’s echoes of Haitian women past into TED talks present, where she adds downcast but indefatigable cello.
Reol: “The Sixth Sense”
The theme to something called Boat Race 2020 staged for gambling purposes (or a TV series about same, I can’t tell), the kitchen sink post-dubstep production is an appropriate paean to the current global capital glut.
Porridge Radio: “Sweet”
In sound and substance this is almost exactly like Rid of Me PJ Harvey, which given that PJ Harvey doesn’t sound anything like that anymore, has its uses.
Ladi Rosa: “Ain’t No Taylor Swift”
Then-fifteen Ladi Rosa knew that if you believe it when somebody tells you they love you, that’s a kind of privilege. (It might not last.)
Siti Muharam: “Sikitiko”
The best available evidence that the inheritor of the title “Golden Voice of Zanzibar” deserves it, with legato low-register phrases and what feels very much like mournfulness even if I don’t have a translation in front of me.
Katie Pruitt: “Loving Her”
This standout track from a promising but uneven debut is a straightforward declaration of capital-P Pride (plus some horniness) with a nice vi-III start to the chorus signifying progress.
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RIP SOPHIE and Duke Bootee. Next week: Top 19th century novels, if I get Fathers and Sons read in time (which I might, it’s not long.) Otherwise, something else.