Stingray Music highlights XCIV

Choice U-verse selections heard this afternoon:

Alt Rock Classics

• Close (To The Edit)-Art Of Noise (Fit for a sitcom scene in which robots produce widgets in a factory.)

Bluegrass

• Merriam Special-Andy Falco (Guitar playing suitable for a reasonably paced steeplechase.)

Classic Masters

• Charles-Camille Saint-Saens: Romance For Violin And Orchestra, Op. 48 (Ensemble Orchestral de Paris/Jean-Jacques Kantorow) (Kantorow's ringing, resonant tone on the violin illuminates this composition's lyricism.)

Folk Roots

• Mississippi Moon-Melody Walker & Jacob Groopman (This track has several key ingredients that attract me to all-acoustic tunes--sincere vocals, prominent guitar, and well-played mandolin.)
• La Serenissima-Loreena McKennitt (Tasteful, ornate strings.  This could segue with "One Winter's Night" by Strength In Numbers.)

Jazz Masters

• Bewitched, Bothered, And Bewildered-Artie Shaw (My default version of this is by Charlie Watts & Bernard Fowler, but this is an excellent rendition.  Shaw carries the melody gracefully, letting it flutter naturally on the clarinet, and the piano underscoring is top-notch.)

Latin Lounge

• Nora Se Va-Bronx River Parkway (The piano establishes a slinky cha-cha-cha groove, which the horns and vocals augment.) 
  

Motown

• Hungry For Love-The San Remo Golden Strings (This instrumental makes the listener appreciate how much the right string arrangement matters in setting a mood.)

Retro R&B

• I Can Feel Your Love-Felice Taylor (The vocals and horn punctuation hold up a danceable groove.)

Soul Storm

• Make A Move-Yuna (This 2022 track has an endearing, laid-back, throbbing chill/trance vibe in the vocals and instrumentation.)

Persistent earworm alert CCLXXVI

Over the past week, the Jools Holland & George Harrison tune, "Horse To The Water," has run through my mind frequently.  Whenever I see or hear of anyone reasoning in vain with supporters of a political figure I detest, these lyrics take root.

As frustrating as it is for that to be the song's catalyst, I take consolation in realizing how well it segues with Crowded House's "Chocolate Cake."

An atypical standout XIV

It's appropriate that I'm thinking of Billy Joel's song, "Allentown," on Labor Day.  It isn't usually played on the radio these days, but I think it's one of Joel's strongest hits.  Shining a light on the closing of factories forces the listener to think about the labor that goes into products we all use--and how automation compromises and sometimes ends workers' livelihoods.  That's not conventional subject matter for most pop songs, but it netted a respectable hit for Joel in late 1982 and early '83.

On another labor-related note, my father made sure that the record pressing plant didn't get away with slipshod work.  When I played the 45 at home and found that it skipped, Dad drove me back to the record store and explained the situation to a clerk.  The clerk put another copy of "Allentown" on the store's turntable, played it all the way through, and exchanged my defective copy for it.

As I listened to the new skip-free record, another thought occurred to me: You don't usually hear pop singers admit in their lyrics that a lot of education's benefits are delayed or indirect.  When you learn a trade, you typically learn one or more skills that make you employable right away.  The benefits of interpreting poems, reading about the Renaissance, and learning that hydrogen and helium are core components of stars, however, don't usually translate as directly into gainful employment.  Nevertheless, you become more well-rounded as a result--and can shape that realization into a blog post nearly 40 years later.

Rhythmic synchronicity

Hearing Cheryl Dilcher's song, "Together," on the "KSHE Klassics" stream today got me thinking.  Kool & The Gang isn't an album rock group, but rhythmically, "Jungle Boogie" would flow into "Together" better than any other non-album rock song I can think of. 

Among album rock tracks, Dennis Coffey & His Detroit Guitar Band's "Taurus" would be a compatible lead-in, as well.

I'm guessing that the cross-categorical vocals and instrumental backing of "Together" sounded--or, at least, should have sounded--fresh to listeners in 1974.  They still deserve their due today.

Context? CXCV

I'm sure that returning to the airwaves after having a serious bout of Covid is no easy adjustment.  As one such DJ joked on-air Thursday, "I wasn't even facin' the microphone.  That's how out of practice I am."

I could still hear her clearly, however, and she picked out some fun, eclectic music for her station.  If a threatening virus doesn't entitle you to some slack, what does?

Context? CXCIV

This morning, I heard a radio talk show host say a reporter was "doing yeoman's work" by filling in for a regular employee.

"There's a phrase you don't hear every day," I thought.  "That's an interesting way to tell people on-air that their work is valuable--and underappreciated."

Online radio sampler highlights CLXXX

Ten Thursday morning highlights:

KKBB (Bakersfield, CA)

• Upside Down-Diana Ross (Of Ross's uptempo hits, this strikes me as her most enduring and endearing.  It's hard to believe 42 years have passed since it topped the charts.)

KMMS (Bozeman, MT)

• Waiting For The Sun-The Jayhawks (Eight years into this blog, it surprises me that I haven't reviewed this tune previously.  Back when our former AAA station, WVRV, played this, I always used to let it play in its entirety.  No matter how many times I heard it, the vocal harmony on the "waiting for" part of the chorus always got my attention.  Even if singer-songwriter music isn't your genre, how could anyone not respect how well-structured and sung this tune is?)

KNCJ (Reno, NV)

• Ren Guang: Silver Clouds Chasing The Moon (Jie Chen, piano) (Chen conveys the hint of the chase and the chase itself effectively.  Moments of trilling delicacy are interspersed with more assertive, energetic passages.)

WGMC (Rochester, NY)

• September Morn-Freddy Cole (Cole's voice, which resonates with life experience, shows how well this Neil Diamond hit works in a jazz combo arrangement.  Kudos to WGMC for welcoming September this way.)
• September-Philippe Saisse Trio (I honored the dawn of September with my requisite playing of Earth, Wind & Fire's infectious hit a while ago.  I'm impressed that Saisse and company honor the song's spirit so faithfully in their piano-centered instrumental cover.)
• Funky Girl-Akiko Tsuruga (Until this morning, I'd never heard this artist.  Now that I've heard how much she sounds like Jimmy Smith playing the organ, I'm inclined to seek out more of her music.)
  

WRIR (Richmond, VA)

• Running Back-Cheekface (For indie rock singers, perfect intonation isn't always necessary.  If you've got a strong enough rhythm section maintaining a strong enough groove, that sometimes suffices.  I'd be curious to hear Field Music cover this.)
• Fortress-Thee Oh Sees (If the manic propulsion of the guitar and drums doesn't make you want to get on a bike and pedal furiously until at least one pedal falls off, maybe you're just indifferent to this tune.)
• Ghost Dance-Truett and George (How Santo & Johnny might have sounded doing some freewheeling guitar improv.)

WSUM (Madison, WI)

• Falling-Here We Go Magic (Sometimes, it pays to listen to just one more song.  I was originally going to cap this review at nine selections but then thought, "Nah...Let's go for an even 10 and see what else is out there."  I'm glad I did because I would have missed out on this life-affirming, jangly guitar-and-vocals track otherwise.  Rhythmically, this reminds me of Cake's "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" and "Rotten World Blues" by Eels.)