Fluxblog 416: this was summer 1976!
Plus new songs by Crumb, Mui Zyu, Billlie, and Gina Birch
This week’s playlist is THIS WAS SUMMER 1976, another entry in my series of playlists presenting the sound of a particular moment in time. This one covers the summer of the bicentennial in the US and is a lovely mix of funk, disco, classic rock, early punk, and a lot of AM easy listening gems. [Spotify | Apple | YouTube]
I interviewed AC Newman of The New Pornographers about his songwriting and arrangement process and working with Neko Case through the years and it will be posted as a podcast to the Fluxblog Patreon this weekend. It will eventually be posted publicly, but I want to give something cool to the people supporting the site!
Tell Me If You Like Hell
Mui Zyu “Talk to Death”
Eva Liu sings “Talk to Death” in a low cool-girl register, understating everything so that the premise of communicating with the dead seems almost banal. It’s magical thinking applied to a world without much evidence of magic, mostly just a desire to get some advice on what to do with live while it’s still being lived and looking for advance tips on the afterlife. The arrangement feels ice cold and eerie but also slightly goofy, mainly thanks to a keyboard hook that sounds like a toy instrument or music from a forlorn arcade game. It’s not that Liu is undermining the mood so much as finely calibrating it, making a broad concept feel very specific and lived-in.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
We’ll Overlap
Billlie “Eunoia”
I don’t always check on the English translation of lyrics sung in other languages but I’m glad that I did for “Eunoia,” a song that definitely feels a little deeper upon realizing it’s a fantasy about meeting another version of yourself. The music feels like a euphoric dance pop love song, so I suppose the intended effect is taking this twin fantasy as something exciting and romantic. Maybe not the musical version of the old “would you have sex with a clone of yourself” question, but not too far off either, since I think there’s lines that allow that interpretation. I think what Billlie is going for is more like a literal take on self-love – if you could meet yourself as a person entirely separate from your existence, would you love that person? Would you be excited to have so much in common?
Buy it from Amazon.
Forgive Me For This Sin
Crumb “Crushxd”
The lyrics of “Crushxd” are about feeling guilty for accidentally running over a turtle on the road. It’s a potent and relatable feeling, but also a small and kinda funny story. Crumb head in the opposite direction with the arrangement, pushing everything towards a cinematic grandiosity while retaining their slightly aloof and mildly jazzy aesthetic. They pull off a tricky balance here – a little nod towards the surreal and silly aspects of the story, but mostly taking the death of this turtle very, very seriously. The main line that’s repeated and cuts through the haze of the mix is “I’ll never see you again,” and while that sentiment matches the scenario, there’s something deeper to it, some sense that Lila Ramani is singing about someone else or something much bigger than just this turtle.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
Now We’re All Upset
Gina Birch “Big Mouth”
“Bad Mouth” is very funky and groovy but gives off a lot of bad vibes, coming off like a very flashy and stylized soundtrack for someone running to the bathroom to puke because they’re so nervous. Gina Birch takes on a few different voices in the track, laying out a scenario in which rampant gossip has made everyone involved miserable. It’s all played as dark comedy, particularly when the song breaks down midway through and Birch takes on a righteous and prim tone as her voice is digitally warped into something sounding like C-3PO’s peevish grandmother.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
This week marks the 40th anniversary of the release of R.E.M.’s Murmur, one of the best and most influential debut albums of all time. I wrote about all of the songs on Murmur back in 2007 and 2008 and you can read all those posts collected in album order here.
Finally…happy Avril 14th to those who celebrate!