This is the latest in a continuing irregular series of musical thoughts. As always, I'm eager to hear your recommendations.
Unlike the Giants, I've only got four starters penciled in. I might find a fifth among the free-agent bargains at winter's end, but until then...
Komeda / Pop Pa Svenska
Every blue moon or so a pop record comes along with depth. Deep, deep depth. Sergeant Pepper's. What's Going On. I'm sure there are more. I'm not convinced Pop Pa Svenska is on that level, but it has the rare quality of giving more upon every listen: a treasure trove for the ears. And it rocks in a smart delightful way. Using a typewriter as percussion? Sure. And it's all in Swedish. Imagine how I'd feel if I understood what they hell they were saying, except for the line where the female singer name-checks both Peter Frampton and Albert Einstein. (I asked a Swedish friend what the title of the opening track "Oy Vilket Liv!" meant, and she said, "Oy, vat a sound!" which makes me think that Komeda are Swedish Jews.)
After flagging a bit in the late-middle songs, Pop rebounds with four or five tracks that sound like long-lost Velvet Underground jams, brightened up with chimes, harps, and oboes. It's a majestic slow-motion sprint to the finish. I like long songs with droning, rhythmic repetition (the Velvets, Feelies, Smog, "Found a Job"-era Talking Heads). The end of Pop -- which, OK, cheating a bit, actually includes an EP that was tacked onto the US release -- is all about exploring spacey, jangly rhythm, but with elegant flourishes that you'd never hear from, say, the Velvets pounding away in a junkie fog at Max's Kansas City. If you've heard Komeda's English-language work and thought, meh, be advised that Pop Pa Svenska is a different kettle of lutefisk.
Rolling Stones / "Gimme Shelter" (deconstructed)
[[Argh, the files have been removed from Dangerous Minds because of copyright claim. If anyone knows where to find them, let us know.]]
Speaking of pop masterpieces...how rare to hear a song for the zillionth time over three decades and still catch a chill. I feel it up my spine when the opening swampy swirl resolves with Charlie Watts' double-flam on the snare and the engine of Keith's reverb riff carries the song toward the first verse. So imagine my delight when I found this deconstruction. I wasn't surprised to find the real heart of the song is Keith's guitar work, but also Nicky Hopkins' aggressive, percussive piano. You can also hear Watts' famous ever-so-slight lag, a real treat. Perhaps the most surprising element was at long last hearing how bad Mick Jagger's harmonica chops are (I'm assuming it's Mick); unmixed, he's smeary and blown-out, thankfully fixed in the final mix. It's just a kiss away.
NPR's All Songs 24/7 Channel
Sometimes I crave the randomness of music on the radio, but without the crappy music and the commercials. Internet radio hasn't satisfied my jones. Pandora feels like a precious specialty shop -- when I can get it to work at all. KEXP has too much hipster DJ blather. I've finally found my Internet radio home: NPR's 24/7 stream of every song they've ever played during "All Songs Considered." It's vast, it's eclectic, it's music-only (no commercials, no DJs, only an occasional 5-second ID spot). I could do without quite so many clever kids and their slashing guitars (Vampire Weekend, TV on the Radio, Franz Ferdinand all in the past hour or so) and more jazz, soul and hip-hop, but there are still plenty of diverse diversions -- modern ambient orchestrations, Hawaiian slack key, Fats Waller, traditional Chinese, Leonard Cohen, and West African high life.
"In Treatment" soundtrack
I never thought half-hour episodes of other people's therapy sessions would make for riveting TV, but Mrs. Malo and I are in the midst of season two and addicted. If you watch, make sure to stay through the credits, because composer Richard Marvin's one-and-a-half-minute outro pieces are instrumental marvels of mood and tempo. They probably wouldn't work without the context of the episodes, which fade into the pieces like this. Not all are so melancholy; Marvin often mixes in electronic beats and some knob-twiddling. Once in a while the piece will be jazzier or a bit unsettling. As far as I can tell, there's no soundtrack available for sale.
Unlike the Giants, I've only got four starters penciled in. I might find a fifth among the free-agent bargains at winter's end, but until then...
Komeda / Pop Pa Svenska
Every blue moon or so a pop record comes along with depth. Deep, deep depth. Sergeant Pepper's. What's Going On. I'm sure there are more. I'm not convinced Pop Pa Svenska is on that level, but it has the rare quality of giving more upon every listen: a treasure trove for the ears. And it rocks in a smart delightful way. Using a typewriter as percussion? Sure. And it's all in Swedish. Imagine how I'd feel if I understood what they hell they were saying, except for the line where the female singer name-checks both Peter Frampton and Albert Einstein. (I asked a Swedish friend what the title of the opening track "Oy Vilket Liv!" meant, and she said, "Oy, vat a sound!" which makes me think that Komeda are Swedish Jews.) After flagging a bit in the late-middle songs, Pop rebounds with four or five tracks that sound like long-lost Velvet Underground jams, brightened up with chimes, harps, and oboes. It's a majestic slow-motion sprint to the finish. I like long songs with droning, rhythmic repetition (the Velvets, Feelies, Smog, "Found a Job"-era Talking Heads). The end of Pop -- which, OK, cheating a bit, actually includes an EP that was tacked onto the US release -- is all about exploring spacey, jangly rhythm, but with elegant flourishes that you'd never hear from, say, the Velvets pounding away in a junkie fog at Max's Kansas City. If you've heard Komeda's English-language work and thought, meh, be advised that Pop Pa Svenska is a different kettle of lutefisk.
Rolling Stones / "Gimme Shelter" (deconstructed)
[[Argh, the files have been removed from Dangerous Minds because of copyright claim. If anyone knows where to find them, let us know.]]
Speaking of pop masterpieces...how rare to hear a song for the zillionth time over three decades and still catch a chill. I feel it up my spine when the opening swampy swirl resolves with Charlie Watts' double-flam on the snare and the engine of Keith's reverb riff carries the song toward the first verse. So imagine my delight when I found this deconstruction. I wasn't surprised to find the real heart of the song is Keith's guitar work, but also Nicky Hopkins' aggressive, percussive piano. You can also hear Watts' famous ever-so-slight lag, a real treat. Perhaps the most surprising element was at long last hearing how bad Mick Jagger's harmonica chops are (I'm assuming it's Mick); unmixed, he's smeary and blown-out, thankfully fixed in the final mix. It's just a kiss away.
NPR's All Songs 24/7 Channel
Sometimes I crave the randomness of music on the radio, but without the crappy music and the commercials. Internet radio hasn't satisfied my jones. Pandora feels like a precious specialty shop -- when I can get it to work at all. KEXP has too much hipster DJ blather. I've finally found my Internet radio home: NPR's 24/7 stream of every song they've ever played during "All Songs Considered." It's vast, it's eclectic, it's music-only (no commercials, no DJs, only an occasional 5-second ID spot). I could do without quite so many clever kids and their slashing guitars (Vampire Weekend, TV on the Radio, Franz Ferdinand all in the past hour or so) and more jazz, soul and hip-hop, but there are still plenty of diverse diversions -- modern ambient orchestrations, Hawaiian slack key, Fats Waller, traditional Chinese, Leonard Cohen, and West African high life.
"In Treatment" soundtrack
I never thought half-hour episodes of other people's therapy sessions would make for riveting TV, but Mrs. Malo and I are in the midst of season two and addicted. If you watch, make sure to stay through the credits, because composer Richard Marvin's one-and-a-half-minute outro pieces are instrumental marvels of mood and tempo. They probably wouldn't work without the context of the episodes, which fade into the pieces like this. Not all are so melancholy; Marvin often mixes in electronic beats and some knob-twiddling. Once in a while the piece will be jazzier or a bit unsettling. As far as I can tell, there's no soundtrack available for sale.
