Fluxblog #293: R&B 2020 / Jamaica 70s playlists | The Smashing Pumpkins | Linden Jay | Sabrina Claudio | Loony
This week's free episode of Fluxpod features Jasamine White-Gluz from the band No Joy! We talked about her excellent new album Motherhood, plus some digressions into Madonna, Nine Inch Nails, Boards of Canada, and how arts grants work in Canada. This weekend's premium episode will feature music journalist Bianca Gracie, and that one will focus a lot on Rihanna, Mariah Carey, and dancehall. You can find the show on all the major platforms, and you can subscribe to get all the episodes on Patreon.
Two playlists this week! They're both very good.
R&B 2020 is the second in my series of genre-focused year-end playlists and, well, it obviously covers R&B in its various forms. I believe we're in a truly amazing period for this music, and I strongly encourage you to listen to this, as it contains a lot of my favorite songs of the recent past. [Apple / Spotify]
Armagideon Times: Jamaica in the 70s is a playlist I've had in the works for a while, and it's basically a new version of an old personal playlist I had. I have a personal tradition of listening to a lot of reggae, dub, rocksteady, and related music in December and the darker months of the year – there's something about the atmosphere and warm spirit of it that really works for me, to the point that it's kinda like my own personal holiday music. If you've never heard this music before, this is a great introduction. [Apple / Spotify]
December 3rd, 2020
Death Will Change A Heart
The Smashing Pumpkins “Anno Satana”
Some artists will zig when you expect them to zag, but Billy Corgan is a guy will zib or zir instead and leave you wondering what just happened. The new Smashing Pumpkins album CYR is a totally perplexing record – it feels slick and commercial, but it doesn’t quite sound pop or like anything that would fit in on radio right now. It’s the first full-length record Corgan has made since getting both Jimmy Chamberlain and James Iha back in the band, but the abundance of keyboards and crisp programmed percussion makes it sound like neither was actually involved at all. The aesthetic isn’t far off from that of Adore, but without the gothic atmosphere or delicate melodies. The Smashing Pumpkins is a band with a mastery of dynamics, but all 20 songs on CYR feel like they’re stuck in the same gear and share nearly identical tonal palettes. I don’t dislike any of the songs, but I also have trouble remembering any of them when they’re over. I suspect that if I was in a situation where I heard CYR front to back over and over I might come to really like a lot of these songs, but I also really would rather not do that.
“Anno Satana” is one of the best songs on the record, and feels like a cousin to “Stand Inside Your Love” from Machina. I’ve never particularly liked that song, so this one feels like an improvement – the melody pops a bit more, the late ’80s 120 Minutes aesthetics feel a bit more lived-in. While this and the rest of CYR seems like Corgan may be deliberately pushing himself and the band away from their core competencies in order to find some new moves, his voice is a major strength here. This melody flatters his natural tone and the icy textures of the track neatly frame the androgynous qualities of his voice. A lot of the lyrics sketch out an occult fantasy, but the bits that jump out – “young hearts will change,” “I never needed anyone” – resonate because he delivers them with a soft, feminine sigh.
Buy it from Amazon.
December 1st, 2020
The Way I See Right Through You
Linden Jay “Got Me All Wrong”
Linden Jay’s arrangement for “Got Me All Wrong” doesn’t include very many musical elements but it feels like it’s shifting around like a glob of liquid mercury. Even the apparent gender of the vocalist sounds like it’s in flux – the song starts off in vocalist Frida Touray’s natural range but gets pitched down to a tone that’s close enough to Sampha that I initially assumed he was on the track. It’s interesting that music that feels so amorphous is supporting lyrics that are quite clear-headed and decisive, as Touray sings to someone who’s misinterpreted their feelings – “you don’t know me at all, you like the way I make you feel.” It’s a very “letting them down easy” sentiment, but there’s a bit of exasperation in Touray’s voice and it makes the bass and keyboard parts seem like representations of shifting perceptions about them which don’t quite line up with reality.
Buy it from Amazon.
December 3rd, 2020
Look Under The Tree
Sabrina Claudio “Short Red Silk Lingerie”
This is a Christmas song, and while the holiday is mentioned prominently in the lyrics, it mostly just comes across as an R&B ballad – y’know, like, a normal song. But I like this as a Christmas song, in as much as that category surely could use a few more low-key melancholy but high-key sexy songs in the mix. Sabrina Claudio sings it like an inverted “Santa Baby,” making it more plaintive than sassy and far less consumerist. The expensive taste is still there, but there’s also an acknowledgment of grim fiscal realities. The entire gist of the song is “hey, budget is tight, so I got myself some nice lingerie and we can fuck later.” This is such a 2020 Christmas song – financially responsible, a little depressing, extremely horny.
Buy it from Amazon.
December 4th, 2020
Orange Or Something Like It
Loony “In Code”
“In Code” is the kind of gospel-based pop song where the tone of the piano chords are so bright that they seem to shine through the speakers. Loony’s voice swings gracefully from soul belting to Beyoncé-esque syncopation, all the while projecting as much warmth and generosity as the chords. It’s not all syrupy sentimentality, though. The verses put all of these kind vibes in the context of day-to-day turmoil bordering on crippling anxiety, so when she sings “coming home never made sense until I found you” in the chorus, the gratitude feels very genuine and hard-earned.
Buy it from Amazon.