Persistent earworm alert CDXXI

If you prefer to acknowledge Valentine's Day without being overly syrupy, I recommend "Valentine" by The Elvis Brothers.  As I've written before, the band's name is misleading, as their sound is actually Beatles-influenced power pop.  "Valentine" is a high energy track suitable for cranking up while driving.  I used to play it on KCOU and have never heard it anywhere else.  Lyrically, it's a sound way of being direct with someone by saying, "Baby, let me be your valentine."  That directness, fortunately, doesn't have the melodrama that ballads often have.  It's an uptempo, forthright way of conveying, "Hey, I like you, so what would you think of us being together?"

A function of age XLV

Recently, a radio talk show host mentioned how strange he felt having guitar lessons with a 24-year-old instructor.  I understood what he meant.  Logically, if someone has a skill you don't have and is able to teach it well, that person's age shouldn't matter.  In an awkward way, it does, however.  A few years younger isn't a big difference, but when the teacher is decades younger than you are, it feels odd to regard that person as an authority figure. 

At age 55, this perspective is inevitable, I think.

Online radio sampler highlights CCXCI

Seven standout selections heard today:

KMFA (Austin, TX) 

• Robert Schumann: Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129: I. Nicht zu schnell (Royal Scottish National Orchestra/Scott Yoo, conductor; Bion Tsang, cello) (A lyrical, somber interpretation.)

KQAL (Winona, MN)

• My Heart Is Full-Norah Jones (The echo on Jones's vocals and replication of a heartbeat give the song appropriate gravity, especially during its crescendos.)
• Too Late To Turn Back Now-Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose (I've always liked this oldie, as the lyrics express sentiments appropriate for Valentine's Day in a classy way often missing from today's pop hits.)

KUVO (Denver, CO)

• Sandu-Freddie Hubbard/Woody Shaw (A cool walking rhythm and excellent synchronicity between the trumpet and saxophone.)

WCBN (Ann Arbor, MI)

• Perdue A Paris-Clare And The Reasons (Unusual vocal harmonies, a swirling instrumental backdrop, and an unconventional use of trumpet make this indie rock track stand out.)

WUSC (Columbia, SC)  

• After All You Put Me Through-Joyce Manor (There's nothing like power pop guitar stylings to take the edge off of negative lyrics.)

WXNA (Nashville, TN)

• Slide-O-Mike Barone Big Band (The brass, winds, and piano swing the rhythm appealingly.)

Community Radio St. Louis highlights VII

Wednesday morning highlights:

Feel Like Going Home 

• Sadness As A Gift-Adrianne Lenker (A painful, realistic acknowledgment that a relationship has reached its end.)
• Work-Thelonious Monk (Proof that a jaunty melody on the piano doesn't have to be consistently sunny; with the right melody, there's room for dissonance.)
• Sunday-Yuck (Tuneful power pop with quietly confident lyrics about winning someone back.)

Shady Grove

• Look Down That Lonesome Road-Laurie Lewis & The Right Hands (One of the interesting tricks bluegrass music pulls off is pairing sorrowful lyrics with lighthearted instrumentation.  Somehow, that combination gels appropriately here.)
• Cricket On The Hearth-Bryan Sutton (If you're a guitarist who can stay in tune and in time at this brisk tempo, you ought to clean up financially as a session musician.  Fast instrumentals such as this are this genre's main appeal to me.)

Context? CDXXIII

In recent weeks, I've heard multiple live and recorded radio commercials for Collette, the travel company.  I keep hearing announcers saying things like, "Collette will take care of everything," and "Collette will handle all the arrangements."

Then, I look at my cat, Collette, who doesn't suffer fools gladly, and imagine a commercial in which the announcer says, "If everything isn't to your satisfaction, Collette will bite you."

It's probably best that my cat isn't a travel company employee.

Persistent earworm alert CDXX

I haven't heard it on the radio since it was a hit, and I haven't seen "Footloose" since the '80s, but "I'm Free (Heaven Helps The Man)" by Kenny Loggins is on my mind this morning.  I haven't thought of that song in decades, but it's one of Loggins's somewhat underrated hits.  Right from the intro, "I'm Free" conveys urgency and longing convincingly, builds to its chorus well, and has a respectable hook.  Its dramatic structure is rooted firmly in 1984, and that's to its credit.

Community Radio St. Louis highlights VI

Saturday morning standouts:

Family Reunion 

• Barrett's Privateers-Stan Rogers (This isn't a happy tale, but just try not to get into the story once you start listening.  The Irish Descendants recorded the best version of this, but this original version by Rogers is strong in its own right.)
• Amelia Earhart's Last Flight-Plainsong (This is a tragic tale, as well, but it's a dignified tribute, sung with Crosby, Stills & Nash-style harmony.)

Songwriters Showcase 

• Morning-Sarah Jarosz (As often as I've praised Jarosz's music on this blog, this is one song I've overlooked.  I plan to listen to it more often, as comparing a great blue heron to a significant other is one of the reasons these lyrics are endearing.)
• The Dutchman-Steve Goodman (I was pleased to hear the opening guitar part of this tune, as it's one of Goodman's best recordings.  Lyrically, it illustrates the "in sickness and in health" vow that couples make when they marry.  I first heard "The Dutchman" on KDHX's "Blue Highways" in the early '00s, and it became a favorite Goodman track immediately.) 
• Years-Beth Nielsen Chapman (Even if you're relatively happy with your life as it is, reflecting on the people and places that were once central to your life might make you understandably wistful.)