Fluxblog 472: WE LOVE THE BEATLES!!!
Plus new songs by Andra Day, Audrey Powne, and Kamasi Washington
This week’s playlist is WE LOVE THE BEATLES: 90s BEATLESQUE POP, a collection of songs released between 1990 and 1999 that blatantly emulate the sound of the Fab Four in their various eras. This isn’t about being influenced by The Beatles – most musicians are in some way or another, who cares – it’s about artists blatantly trying to make their own Beatles songs. It features songs by Elliott Smith, Olivia Tremor Control, Sloan, Oasis, Guided by Voices, Ween, The Chemical Brothers, Lenny Kravitz, and many more.
[Spotify | Apple Music | YouTube]
If you like this playlist, check out my Black Beatles playlist from 2021, which collects covers of the Fab Four by their Black contemporaries.
Making Enemies Of Everyone And Everything
Andra Day “Maybe Next Time”
“Maybe Next Time” opens Andra Day’s second album with a message to the listener: “Now I wish I could write you an album full of love songs but I can’t seem to get one.” And then she explains herself by getting into her problems with a guy who she describes as being very insecure and defensive. (Her language is more vivid than that.) Her vocal phrasing is smooth even in the busiest parts of the melody – it doesn’t seem like a stretch to guess that Erykah Badu is a formative influence here, it’s a similar flow and tone – and conveys a nuanced blend of irritation, bitterness, relief, and most of all, resignation. Once she’s done airing her grievances midway through the song, she circles back to addressing her audience. Or maybe at that point it’s really just psyching herself up – “maybe next time will be the right time,” and she’ll have all those love songs ready to go.
Buy it from Amazon.
Of The Sun And Of The Earth
Audrey Powne “From the Fire”
“From the Fire” is a gorgeous piece of music that’s all the more impressive when you take into account that it’s very much a work of auteurism – Audrey Powne is the composer, the arranger, the producer, the lyricist, the singer, and the trumpet player, and she excels in all of those roles. I’m particularly into the keyboard chords and the trumpet solo, which she openly credits to her love of Herbie Hancock and Roy Hargrove. The lyrics were inspired by the bushfires in Australia back in 2019 and evoke the notion of a cleansing fire and rebirth. With this in mind, the music feels like watching a phoenix slowly emerge from the ashes and then take flight.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
Kamasi Washington featuring BJ the Chicago Kid “Together”
“Together” is something of an outlier in the Kamasi Washington body of work – not an instrumental jazz piece, not a psychedelic epic, and in the context of his new record Fearless Movement, not a rap-adjacent party track. The song, composed by Ryan Porter, is a contemplative R&B ballad with lyrics by Washington and vocalist BJ the Chicago Kid that positions both singing and romantic love as a sort of ongoing spiritual practice. The tone is grey and drowsy but the implied scale of the music feels cosmic, like the music is illustrating the lyric’s notion of “our hearts whirling’ through time and space.” Or more likely, the other way around.
Buy it from Bandcamp.
LINKS LINKS LINKS LINKS
• Molly O’Brien wrote a terrific recap of the Kilby Block Party festival in Salt Lake City, covering the music, the vibes, the sound, the audience, the food, and more.
• Larry Fitzmaurice interviewed Kevin Barnes about the new Of Montreal album, moving to Vermont after living in Georgia for decades, and parenting a daughter who’s just started college.
• Nicole Tremaglio of Nicstalgia on the difference between the Y2K and McBling aesthetics. Get it right, people!