Happy (almost) Halloween! I figure this year has been spooky enough on it’s own so you won’t be finding “Thriller” or “The Monster Mash” on this month’s playlist (CLICK HERE). But you will find…
- INVISIBLE STRING by TAYLOR SWIFT
Once upon a time, I used my college meal plan dollars to buy 2 copies of the album Red along with a Papa John’s pizza. Interest rates being what they are, I may still be making payments on those CDs. It was totally worth it though because that has since become one of my favorite autumnal soundtrack albums. It comes up on my phone about the same time the cold weather clothes come out of storage every year just like clockwork. However…
I think folklore might end up supplanting that album. I’m a sucker for well done acoustic music and the intimate yet still somehow baroque-pop sound of this album were note perfect for the mood I was in when I first heard it. For me, “Invisible String” stands out among the tracklist because I love the sonic textures from the first opening plucks and my inner romantic loves the idea of forces beyond our perception guiding us inevitably and eventually to something good.
2. I DON’T MIND by STURGILL SIMPSON
This album is still fresh to my ears but so far I’m really digging it. To be fair, I’ve been a massive fan of Sturgill’s ever since I discovered Metamodern Sounds In Country Music back in 2014. Being a fellow Kentuckian, I’ve dug into his discography and even managed to track down some hard-to-find relics like his previous band (Sunday Valley)’s album To The Wind and On To Heaven. “I Don’t Mind” was originally released as part of that collection. I can’t say that I prefer one version over another but I can say the pickers for Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1 did an amazing job adapting his previous work from different genres. I wonder when the anime film for this album is coming out.
3. COLD WAR by CAUTIOUS CLAY (explicit)
My buddy Asher played an acoustic version of this song for me the last time we got to chat and I had to track down the original. I love the weird blend of electronica and folky singer/songwriter you get from artists like James Blake, Sampha, and sometimes Maggie Rogers. This song falls right in line with that aesthetic to me. Don’t be surprised if I try my hand at the bleeps and bloops one of these day.
4. CLOSEST THING by RUSTON KELLY
Ruston Kelly’s first official album Dying Star is a masterpiece and I won’t even bother debating somebody who can’t recognize it as such. When I first started writing songs, Ryan Adams became my guiding light through his album Heartbreaker and everything that followed up through Easy Tiger. About that time, I started to realize that I’m probably not hip enough to be a Ryan Adams fan and kind of drifted away to other things. Mostly a hip-hop binge that lasted for a decade and is still a heavy current in my listening rotation. When I discovered Ruston Kelly, his music ticked all of the boxes that had been blank for so long and I fell in the deep in head first. I’ve enjoyed just about everything in his discography. (His Dirt Emo Vol 1 EP is also really great.) “Closest Thing” was one of the first tracks I heard from his second album Shape & Destroy and I loved the confessional Jackson Browne-esque lyrics from the jump.
I totally did not intend for this playlist to be so heavily thematic. I guess it is what it is.
5. 22 LETTERS by VICTORIA HANNA
Full disclosure: I have no clue what the lyrics to this song are about. But I don’t need to understand the lyrics to love the beat, the violins, and the obvious passion behind the performance. I found this song and a lot of cool others in this article from Bandcamp.
6. DOWN by MARIAN HILL
I discovered this song in this video of Shaq killing it on the 1s and 2s in his kitchen and having a party with his kids. The original song is great… but come on. That remix is objectively SIIIIIIIIIIICCCKKKK.
7. SASTANAQQAM by TINARIWEN
Desert Blues aka Tuareg Rock has become a serious musical addiction of mine. I’ve been digging into artists like Tinariwen, Bombino, Dag Tenere, and Mdou Moctar and loving everything I’ve found. The fusion of North African melodies with blues/rock electric guitar is something I had no idea I needed in my life so badly. I can’t recommend falling down this rabbit hole with me strongly enough.
8. HOMESICK by CATFISH & THE BOTTLEMEN
Apparently rock didn’t die quite the same death across the pond that it did here in the States. I discovered a handful of great songs like this one via a few acoustic livestreams from UK based artists I follow (Thanks for that at least, COVID-19, you slimy sunuva…).
9. JESUS IS COMING SOON by THE COWBOY JUNKIES
I discovered this folk song (originally by Blind Willie Johnson) when Jack White performed it as part of a medley on his recent performance on SNL. Time is a flat circle as they say and I think we can all appreciate the precise narrative thread of a musical guest getting booted for not following pandemic safety protocols and his replacement performing a song about a century old plague that suddenly also describes exactly what’s happening now.
(Something else that crossed my mind when discussing this song with a friend is how interesting the perspective of the narrator is. There seems to be a distance like the author is telling of a mythological or long-past historical event even though Johnson absolutely lived through the Spanish Flu. To me, it’s a very effective narrative device and gives even more gravity to the song’s apocalyptic claims.)
Anyway, the Cowboy Junkies recorded their version long before either of those things happened and did a great job. I love the choice to sample the original on the chorus. Here’s Jack White’s SNL medley in case you want to hear it too:
10. ERUPTION by VAN HALEN
The guitar is my primary instrument but I have always been frustrated by my technical limitations on the instrument. Eddie Van Halen’s playing has been something I have always admired from afar but never been able to even approach as a player. Even just as a listener, it is so alien at first blush that my brain has no idea how to begin parsing what he was actually doing to create the sounds I was hearing.
With his untimely passing, I feel like I owe to myself to try breaking through what I’ve accepted as being my limits for a long time. It’s so easy sometimes to look at our current situation and despair that we will never move past it. But I’ve recently had an epiphany brought on by hearing my old recordings compared to what I’m doing now. I no longer fear that I am doomed to remain as I am when I can look back and see how far I’ve come. I only wonder what else I can will myself into in the future. As Joseph Campbell would say, the treasure one seeks most is in the cave he or she most fears to enter.
So Rest in Peace, Mr. Van Halen. Thank you for the inspiration you’ve already given and thank you for all the inspiration you’ve left for all the guitarists in your wake.
11. FLUX CAPACITOR by JAY ELECTRONICA feat JAY Z (explicit)
I never thought that we would live to see Jay Electronica officially release an album. But somehow 2020 has given us both A Written Testimony and the long-awaited Act II: The Turn: Patents of Nobility. Truly an embarrassment of riches. I could have picked just about any song from either album but I went with this one because Jay Z’s commentary on our algorithm driven culture, where everybody’s doing whatever they can for the likes, really hit home for me.
When I die, please don’t tweet about my death (Death)
Tryna get mentions, bringin’ attention to yourself (To ya)
Please don’t post some pic from in the club (Club)
With some quote you stole like we was tighter than what we was (Uh)
Jay Z
If there’s anything we need these days, it’s tact, class, and compassion. I know I miss them.
That’s all I’ve got for now but I’ll be back soon. Until then, keep your hands to yourself and your eyes turned to heaven.
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P.S. You should check out my new merch store if you get a chance and use the code MOONLIGHT for 10% off everything you purchase until November 1st, 2020.