Fluxblog 443: so many sad indie covers
Plus new songs by Sabrina Carpenter, Nation of Language, and The Rolling Stones
This week’s playlist is FAMILIAR SONGS Vol 1: MELANCHOLY INDIE COVERS, the first of a new rubric I have for collecting cover songs on different themes, or in the case of this one, vibes. You can check out the full track listing below - there’s some mind blowers in this one, but I won’t tell you what I think those are. [Spotify | Apple | YouTube]
Dirt published a story this week collecting thoughts from music writers on the state of music writing and I’m in there along with Molly Mary O’Brien, No Bells, Emilie Friedlander, Drew Millard, Geeta Dayal, Caryn Rose, and more.
With You Out My Life
Sabrina Carpenter “Feather” (Spotify session version)
The studio recording of “Feather” is good because the songwriting is strong, but the sound is a little too tight and rigid in the way so much modern pop music is – everything quantized to death, too much direct-input sound, no sense of space or texture. This live-in-studio recording of the song for a Spotify session is a major improvement that remedies that airless stiffness. The arrangement is pretty much exactly the same but the disco-ish groove has a better feel to it, there’s enough room sound to give the track some ambiance, and a little more looseness makes Sabrina Carpenter’s conversational tone and pithy punchlines land a lot better. Carpenter is very charming in this song, roasting an ex without getting too mean, placing her focus both lyrically and musically on the relief of being rid of someone rather than stewing on the ways they sucked.
Buy it from Amazon.
A Gentler Redesign
Nation of Language “Too Much, Enough”
Nation of Language are essentially like if Kraftwerk had pivoted into early new wave around 1982, with their particular synthesizer aesthetics applied to a distinctly early 80s melodic and lyrical sensibility. It’s clear to me that the band’s songwriter and singer Ian Devaney has internalized all this old music to the point that it’s all natural impulses rather than a contrived concept or rote pastiche. It certainly helps that his songwriting craft is strong, enough so that the band’s best songs sound as though they’re on par with their inspirations. “Too Much, Enough” is particularly great in the way its keyboard parts imply a widescreen cinematic scale and in how Devaney’s handsome vocal tone lends warmth and drama to lyrics that seem coldly analytical on the page. There’s some incredible turns of phrase in the lyrics, though – I’m especially fond of the “swimming in sweat, television sweat” hook in the chorus.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
Finally Quenching My Thirst
The Rolling Stones featuring Lady Gaga and Stevie Wonder “Sweet Sounds of Heaven”
The Rolling Stones have not set expectations for new material very high since the 90s, so “Sweet Sounds of Heaven” being as great as it is comes as something of a pleasant surprise for me. It’s a bluesy R&B ballad in the mode of “Loving Cup,” which helps as their rockers over the past few decades tend to be uncomfortably formulaic, like slightly off-the-mark simulations of themselves. But this actually sounds like the Stones at their best, and it feels a little loose and ragged despite the cosmetic “corrections” of modern studio technology. If you’re attracted to this band more for Mick Jagger’s quirked-up and distinctive version of soul singing more than Keith Richards’ riffing, this is right in the sweet spot. It’s the most present and engaged Jagger has sounded in quite some time, which I suppose makes a lot of sense as this song seems like it was written as a tribute to Charlie Watts.
Besides just nailing the vibe, the beauty of this song is in how eagerly the band swings for the fences and keep pushing it towards predictable but totally thrilling musical excesses. In other words, this is a song that is huge and campy enough in its sentimentality to justify the presence of Lady Gaga. Gaga seems thrilled to occupy the Merry Clayton role in this song – expressive to the max, but off to the side in the mix. I like how the implied distance between Gaga and Jagger makes it sound as though they’re singing at each other from across a great chasm, or from the realm of the living to the dead. Stevie Wonder’s presence on piano in the second half elevates the material further, his parts feel purely instinctive in a way that makes the rest of the song feel as though they might have just written it all in one very lucky improvisational jam.
Buy it from Amazon.
LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS
• Maris Kreizman wrote a great essay about eventually coming around to appreciating Liz Phair’s self-titled fourth album for The Believer.
• Uproxx’s Steven Hyden wrote about the sorta not really rivalry between The Replacements and R.E.M. in the 80s, which boils down to a clear case of Goofus vs Gallant.
• I’ve known Joe Keyes for a long time now so it’s really depressing to see that he was so vocally against Bandcamp writers unionizing, even from a management perspective. Brutal.
• Al Shipley wrote a cool career-spanning interview with rap producer No ID for Stereogum.