FM dial scan highlights CCCX

Six recommended tracks heard this morning:

WSIE 88.7 FM 

• Sky High-Donald Byrd (A sunny, joyful groove for trumpet, flute, and rhythm section.  The vocal punctuation is icing on the cake for this 1973 tune.  Also recommended: "Where Are We Going?")
• El Fuego-Althea Rene (Pleasant, upbeat smooth jazz flute and guitar, with a kick.)
• Paris-Janet Evra (The synergy between the vocals and piano is particularly appealing.  This relaxed rhythm could segue with multiple versions of "The Girl From Ipanema.")

KCLC 89.1 FM

• We Should Talk-Bleachers (Lyrically, this is a sad reminder that people you once knew well will drop out of  your life not out of animosity but because your life trajectories are radically different.)
• Paranoid-Hippo Campus (Are you on the right path?  Yes.  Or no, maybe.  Sometimes, the answer isn't immediately obvious.)

KCFV 89.5 FM

• Promise Me-Badflower (A discomforting warning, even more so than "We Should Talk" by Bleachers, that it's sometimes too late to get back in touch.)  

A sad sign of the times II

About 12 years ago, I visited an independent bookstore.  I found the quiet atmosphere welcoming, and the store's tasteful selection of reading material in a small space impressed me.  As I stepped up to pay for my purchase, I saw the wide selection of music magazines offered near the register.  I thought, "I really hope this store succeeds.  With this selection and friendly service, it deserves to make it."

Then, reality crept into my thoughts.  "Not many people buy magazines these days," I thought.  "Most likely, only a small fraction of this inventory will sell.  As much as I'd like to believe that hordes of customers will stop in and pick up the latest issues of magazines specializing in folk music, music critics' reviews of new releases, and various instruments, that probably won't happen."  

The optimism that the music magazines represented reminded me of the unexpectedly large selection of greeting cards I saw at a small pharmacy that opened around the same time as the bookstore.  I thought, "People still send greeting cards in some cases but not as often as they used to, and this won't likely be the first place where they'll select them.  Most of these cards will probably remain unsold." 

Unfortunately, the bookstore and the pharmacy are no longer in business.

Context? CDLI

During an FM dial scan in 1997, I heard a DJ say, "Isn't that about obnoxious?  But it's got to be done, in case the Russians are--No, forget it.  Let's get a look at traffic..."

Presumably, the station had just run a test of the Emergency Broadcast System.  I still wonder how the DJ would have completed his thought if he hadn't censored himself.

Context? CDL

A '90s memory: I'd been asked to read a critic's review of a rock concert for our company's information-by-phone service.  Ordinarily, I did voiceovers for events-around-town listings, business updates, and instructions for users on how to access various features.  I'd never read a concert review for that service before.  I read the review, I thought, with appropriate enthusiasm and gravity.  It struck me as slightly odd, however, that the reviewer referred to the band's performance as "a Dionysian delight."  I read it just as he'd phrased it while thinking, "That might be perfectly accurate, but Dionysian?  Why not just say the performance was emotive, passionate, or refreshingly unstructured?"

"The artist's work is an amalgamation of gourds and seed pods," from an events-around-town promotion, was the most offbeat sentence I ever read while recording voiceovers.  I never recorded a remotely comparable sentence during voiceover sessions again.  Similarly, I never expected to refer to anything as Dionysian, and not surprisingly, that review was the only voiceover I recorded containing that word.

Segue suggestion XIX

I'm going to surprise myself today by recommending a Dolly Parton solo track as part of a graceful segue.  For years, I've thought that Parton's voice works best in the context of backing vocals on "Creepin' In" by Norah Jones or with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris on their cover of Neil Young's "After The Gold Rush."

However, despite not hearing Parton's solo hit, "Here You Come Again," in many years, I've realized this week how well it could segue with Sheena Easton's "Morning Train" or Natalie Cole's "This Will Be."  All three songs have compatible bounces suitable for oldies station segues. 

SiriusXM highlights CLXXVII

Standout songs heard today:

Acoustic Guitar Instrumentals

• Renaca-Nicola Cipriani/Brad Myrick (A somewhat bittersweet midtempo melody.) 

The Big Easy

• Right On-The Dirty Dozen Brass Band ("Use Your Brain" is my go-to track from this band, but this could be effective underscoring for a turbulent scene.)

The Coffee House

• I Thought I Saw Your Face Today-She & Him (Lyrically and structurally, this sounds like a Carpenters song to me.)

North Americana

• The Returner-Allison Russell (I don't always agree with the expression, "That which does not kill us makes stronger," but Russell's lyrics make a solid argument in its defense.)

Piano Instrumentals

• Between Raindrops-Joshua Zimmerman ("After Hours" by Rickie Lee Jones could segue with this, as there's a compatible delicacy between both tracks.)

Real Jazz

• Baby Elephant Walk-Ted Nash (It impresses me that this version of a distinctive Henry Mancini tune sounds like it might swerve into Herbie Hancock's "Cantaloupe Island" at any moment.)

The Village

• Hymn For The Unholy (Live)-Emily Scott Robinson (A well-written, sincerely sung acknowledgment that much of life is uncertain and a certain resilience comes with surviving the curves it throws you.)

Watercolors Instrumental

• Lifted-Phil Denny (A steady, easy-on-the-ears smooth jazz saxophone groove.  I would segue this with Freddie Ravel's "Sunny Side Up.")

Community Radio St. Louis highlights XII

Seven recommended tunes heard today:

The Mix-Up 

• Any Old Fool-Thee Sacred Souls (This April release has appealing throwback R&B stylings in its vocals and instrumentation.)
• You're Never Around-Lake Street Dive (This tale of a dysfunctional relationship is set to a great driving beat.  Rachael Price's vocals pack an effective punch here, and this July release makes its point forcefully in just two and a half minutes.)

Memphis To Manchester 

• Sweet Sixteen Bars-Ray Charles (This classy piano instrumental could stand in for "Saturday Night Live"'s closing theme.)
• These Days-Glen Campbell (When covering this Jackson Browne song in concert, Erin Bode praised Browne for penning such grown-up sentiments at a young age.  Campbell's version, recorded late in his career, shows the gravity these lyrics carry with age.  Thematically, "These Days" pairs well with...)
• Reminder-Margaret Glaspy (...this new lyrically brave release, which acknowledges that some of our decisions will be missteps, but that shouldn't stop us from making the effort.  Sometimes, we have more agency to make people's lives better than we think.)

The Now Sound

• Universal Heart-Beat-Juliana Hatfield (There's an appealing energy in this tune about the inevitability of heartache in everyone's life.  If I'd been at KCOU in 1995, I would have played this on the air.)
• Lifetimeline-The Spongetones (If you're going to remind listeners that a lot of life involves just holding on and riding the waves, it's refreshing to sing about it as The Spongetones do here--in a way that's truthful without being heavy-handed.)