Nice to be back after a Super Bowl break from the show. Unfortunately, we found out about the passing of Donald Byrd earlier in the week, so we had to pay tribute to a true giant in modern music and do so during the first hour, playing music from the many different periods of Byrd’s career. At the start of the second hour we have an interview and performance with New Orleans’ Hot 8 Brass Band (separate post coming). This left us with only one set of music, featuring the Hot 8’s brilliant cover of the Specials “Ghost Town,” “new” music from Jimi Hendrix and a short tribute to J Dilla, who passed away 7 years ago yesterday. Next week we’ll be back with a full show and loads of new music + tickets!
Melting Pot on KPFK #115: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #115: Second Hour
Playlist: 2-10-2013
{Opening Theme} Booker T & the MGs – Melting Pot – Melting Pot (Stax)
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Donald Byrd – Quiet Temple – The Third World (TCB Records)
Donald Byrd – Cristo Redentor – A New Perspective (Blue Note)
Donald Byrd – Senor Blues – Senor Blues (Blue Note)
Donald Byrd – Penecostal Feeling – Free Form (Blue Note)
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Donald Byrd – Blackjack – Blackjack (Blue Note)
Donald Byrd – Weasil – Fancy Free (Blue Note)
Donald Byrd – The Little Rasti – Ethiopian Knights (Blue Notes)
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Donald Byrd – Black Byrd – Black Byrd (Blue Note)
Donald Byrd – Think Twice – Stepping Into Tomorrow (Blue Note)
Donald Byrd – Spaces & Places – Spaces & Places (Blue Note)
Donald Byrd – Lansana’s Priestess – Street Lady (Blue Note)
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Hot 8 Brass Band – Interview & Performance – Recorded Live At KPFK (KPFK Archives)
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Hot 8 Brass Band – Ghost Town – The Life & Times Of… (Tru Thoughts)
Jimi Hendrix – Mojo Man – People, Hell & Angels (Experience/Sony Legacy)
J Dilla – Stop! / People / Diff’rence – Donuts (Stones Throw)
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{closing theme} Carlos Nino & Miguel Atwood Ferguson – Find A Way – Suite For Ma Dukes (Mochilla)
Donald Byrd – Quiet Temple
Donald Byrd – Prophesy
Donald Byrd & Booker Little – Wee Tina
With the passing of Donald Byrd, this album has been very much on my mind. I can’t remember exactly how I came across this record. I know that I had it while living in Atlanta, so I might have gotten it out there, or on a trip to Chicago or New York. I’m sure I was drawn to it because of what at the time was my recently developed love affair for all things Booker Little, who remains my favorite trumpet player. Running at a close second is likely Donald Byrd, so the two of these men playing together was well worth whatever price I paid for this one.
For quite some time, I was convinced that the signature song from this set, the exquisite and heartbreakingly beautiful “Quiet Temple” featured Booker Little’s trumpet. The way the opening notes flow out full of melancholy just sounded like Booker to me. But running across a discography of Booker’s work online started to get me to doubt that assessment and forced me to listen a bit more closely. More digital sleuthery confirmed that “Quiet Temple” features Donald Byrd solely on trumpet, in addition to Pepper Adams and Bill Evans. Part of the mystery is connected to the fact that this session was originally released on Warwick Records closer to the recording date of 1960. These songs were featured on a record called “Soul Of Jazz Percussion” which featured a large number of musicians in different configurations including all the aforementioned players plus Mal Waldron, Philly Joe Jones, Ed Shaugnessy, Paul Chambers, Curtis Fuller, Armando Peraza and more. Though the TCB version that I have gives both Donald Byrd & Booker Little top billing, the two masters only share three songs on the album, “Chasing The Bird,” “Wee Tina,” and “Call To Arms,” with Byrd as the soloist on “Prophesy” and “Quiet Temple.”
“Prophesy” sounds really different than most everything else I’ve heard from Byrd in this period of time. If you had told me that this was a Mingus composed or orchestrated track I would have believed you. I just sounds like a Mingus tune with the urgent rhythm and odd flourishes throughout. “Wee Tina” also sounds a bit different than what we’d associate with either Byrd or Booker, particularly because of the unique drum solo featuring what must be tiny tiny cymbals played by either Philly Joe Jones or percussionist Peraza.
But everything always comes back to “Quiet Temple.” Even with the imperfections of this particular pressing, the power of this song can’t be denied. The feel of the opening part, with the rhythm section and piano from Evans sets the contemplative tone, one that all conjures up a scene of rain falling steady in the night. When Byrd’s trumpet comes in there’s a mix of longing, sadness and perhaps a bit of loss that is further deepened by Pepper Adams soft baritone playing. The middle section, where the tempo picks up a bit seems like a memory of the past before things return back to those sad sad notes we heard at the beginning. And lord, the way that song ends, with that slowing down of the melody and into a totally unexpected crash of a gong or large cymbal. Breaks my heart every single time…just like the passing of another giant from the Earth.
Michael
We learned this week that another giant has left us. Donald Byrd has passsed away at the age of 80. As is the case with a lot of people from my generation, my love affair with Donald Byrd was largely connected to the use of several of his songs as samples in Hip-Hop. Having been into jazz even before I got deep into sample lore, I appreciated the depth and breadth of his playing from the late 1950s into the 1970s. Unlike some of his contemporaries, Byrd’s sound seemed to fit perfectly wherever it found itself. Whether he was playing blistering hard bop, the most soulful soul jazz, serene and pretty ballads or sweaty dancefloor jazz-funk, Byrd always sounded like he was just where he was supposed to be, comfortably at home. We’ll pay tribute to the many moods of Donald Byrd during the first hour of Sunday’s Melting Pot, for now here are 5 of my favorite songs from a legendary musician and great teacher, peace be with you Donald Byrd.
Donald Byrd – Blackjack
Likely the first track that I recognized as a being from Donald Byrd, even before I fully discovered Byrd’s playing with the Mizell Bros., was this deeply soulful number from a 1967 album of the same title. Pianist Cedar Walton lays it down hard and heavy, Smilin’ Billy keeps things soulful and breezy with the drums and Byrd, as usual soars through his solo. To this day, still on my all-time favorite soul-jazz numbers.
Horace Silver feat. Donald Byrd – Senor Blues
While Byrd had an amazing career as a leader, he also had a part in the recording of a number of exceptional recordings as a sideman. Perhaps my favorite is the vocal version of “Senor Blues” which unfortunately is not online, but the instrumental version also showcases Byrd’s playing very nicely.
Donald Byrd – Lansana’s Priestess
“Lansana’s Priestess” was the song that started my love affair with the Mizell Bros. style of production. More so than any other artist they recorded with during the 1970s, the Mizell Bros. sound blossomed with Donald Byrd. Though I’ve never had the guts to throw this on while DJ-ing in a club, as soon as the song begins I immediately want to dance. One of the most uplifting grooves of all time.
Donald Byrd – (Fallin’ Like) Dominoes
Simply put, my single favorite song recorded in the 1970s. Nothing fills my heart with joy quite like this song. “Dominoes” truly is the sound of summer. Trips me out that I was exactly 4 days old when this song was recorded.
Donald Byrd – Quiet Temple
I’ll saying quite a bit more about this one in a moment, but for now, I’ll just say that this is also one of my all-time favorite songs. “Quiet Temple” is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I’ve ever heard and more than any other song it’s the one that’s been in my mind since hearing of Donald Byrd’s passing. A fitting elegy for a true giant.
Hot 8 Brass Band – New Orleans (After The City)
Currently making preparations like a whole lot of people in the US for watching the Super Bowl on Sunday (which means I won’t be hosting Melting Pot tomorrow, instead I’ll leave you in the VERY capable hands of SeanO from KPFK’s Soundwaves!), which this year is going to be in probably THE place it should always be, New Orleans. With New Orleans on the mind (and with the possibility of interviewing the band very soon, hopefully more on that next week), I’ve been listening to the Hot 8 Brass Band’s album which came out at the tail end of the year. As has been evidenced here, the end of 2012 was kind tough on me, so there’s a lot of music that came out that I haven’t been able to bring out nearly enough on Melting Pot. Hot 8 Brass’s record is certainly one of those. Hot 8 shares the city with other highly talented brass bands, including Rebirth, Soul Rebels and Dirty Dozen. Like those bands, their particular brass band style mixes a bit of that New Orleans second line sound with jazz, R&B and Hip-Hop. Hot 8 puts their own special brand on the style and shows that in a city full of great musicians, the band is worthy of acclaim all their own. Hot 8 Brass has also been a guest on one of my favorite TV shows, and one of the best television shows about music and musicians, Treme. “New Orleans (After The City)” was featured in the show and on the soundtrack and now finds it’s way on this album as well.
One of the great surprises of the album, is the band’s choice to cover the Specials’ “Ghost Town,” recontextualizing it into a post-Katrina anthem for NOLA, as haunting and soulful as the city itself:
Our first all vinyl show of 2013, featuring a few records I’ve already gotten here in the new year (including the Ray Barretto Acid gold label copy I recently flipped out over at new store Gimme Gimme Records in Highland Park!). The weather here in LA had a lot to do with the second hour of the show. The rain had all pushed through and we were left with clear, breezy and cool skies that always seems to bring to mind parts of John Handy’s “If Only We Knew.” I so rarely play it (I think once on the Blue Note at Album 88, once on the KCRW.COM show I used to do) because it’s such a long song at close to 27 minutes. Every second is well worth it. Same goes for “Blues On A Westside,” which I’ve already talked about here. Closing out with “Looking At Tomorrow” from John Mayall and Eric Clapton reminded how happy I am to own that “Roots” record yet again…look for more on that later in the week. Until then enjoy these sounds, I’ll be taking a Super Bowl break from the show this Sunday but I’ll leave you in the capable hands of Seano from KPFK’s Soundwaves. Back in a couple weeks with lots and lots of new music and hopefully a suprise or two.
Melting Pot on KPFK #114: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #114: Second Hour
Playlist: 1-27-2013
{opening theme} Boris Gardiner – Melting Pot – Is What’s Happening (Dynamic)
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Rahsaan Roland Kirk – Theme For The Eulipions – Return Of The 5000lb. Man (WB)
Dave Pell Singers – Oh Calcutta! – Mah-na Mah-na (Liberty)
Tim Maia – O Caminho Do Bem – Nobody Can Live Forever (Luaka Bop)
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Ray Barretto – Mercy Mercy Baby – Acid (Fania)
James Brown – Sayin’ It and Doin’ It – Hell (Polydor)
The Heads – Land Of The Stoned Soul – Heads Up (Liberty)
Sapo – It’s The Music – Sapo (Bell)
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Farida – Il Pianoforte – Farida (Muza)
Poe – There Is A River/Your Prayers Have Been Answered Little Boy/What Do You Want To Do/I Want To Heal The Sick – Up Through the Spiral (UNI)
Research 1-6-12 – Lookin’ In My Toaster – In Research (Flick City)
The Meters – Stormy – The Meters (Josie)
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John Handy – If Only We Knew – Recorded Live At The Monterey Jazz Festival (Columbia)
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Siren – Wake Up My Children – Siren (Elektra)
Michael Bloomfield & Friends feat. Nick Gravenites – Blues On A Westside – Live At Bill Graham’s Fillmore West (Columbia)
John Mayall feat. Eric Clapton – Looking At Tomorrow – Back To The Roots (Polydor)
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{closing theme} Booker T & the MGs – Cleveland Now – Up Tight: Original Soundtrack (Stax)
Siren – Wake Up My Children
Siren – Gardener Man
Siren – I Wonder Where
Not sure why I hadn’t posted this one up months ago when I picked it up at Mount Analog, one of several recently opened and very good record stores in Highland Park. The name Kevin Coyne rang a few bells when I saw this record at the store, but what really piqued my curiosity was the fact that John Peel was the executive producer. Though my copy was on Elektra, the album was originally released on Peel’s short lived Dandelion record label. With one listen it’s pretty clear why Peel would have like the group. Aside from their fine bluesy sound, there are the very distinctive vocals and style of Coyne.
Coyne has an interesting back story, a youth spent admiring American bluesmen and time served at art school as you might expect, but also working as a therapist and nurse for the mentally ill before forming this band. Perhaps that explains his signature style, raw and seemingly a little manic. It’s a style that sticks with you and works it’s way deep down once you let it in. I’m not surprised the band didn’t attract a large audience, just as i’s no suprise that they were a cult favorite of quite a few, including John Lydon of the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd. and Sting of the Police. John Peel sure knew how to pick ’em…
Cheers,
Michael
Dominique Pinto is the woman behind Dom La Nena. Born in Brazil, Pinto has spent time moving around France and Argentina and her music has a simultaneously serene and restless quality that might be related to that background. There’s also a very cinematic quality which also makes sense since she’s worked as a cellist for a number of quite fantastic singer/actresses including Jane Birkin and Jeanne Moreau. “O Vento” is the kind of thing I expect to hear early in an Almdovar film before anything really crazy happens and instead Pedro is just allowing us to fall in love with his style and his characters. Quite a debut, and already a record that will likely be on our playlists for months to come.
Yesterday’s show feautred a few gremlins in the broadcast, though that’s been cleaned up for archiving. Quite a bit of newer tunes and many things that slipped through the cracks in 2012. Show begins with a short tribute to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Civil Rights leader here in the US, and someone who we celebrate on this day. Playlist should be up tomorrow. Enjoy!
Melting Pot on KPFK #113: First Hour
Melting Pot on KPFK #113: Second Hour
The Dave Pell Singers – Oh Calcutta!
The Dave Pell Singers – Laughing
The Dave Pell Singers – Honky Tonk Women
Back in the early 1990s when I started out in radio, I was already pretty confident that I knew a thing or two about music. I deserved to be humbled just about every other week as I found more and more and more that I’d never heard before (even after almost 20 years as a DJ I’m still floored by how much music is actually out there just waiting to be heard). One of the many head-blowing musical discoveries I made during that period of time was a well regarded collection of largely library music called the Sound Gallery. I can’t remember entirely at this point, if I was asked to review it or if it came up during a “rotation” shift at Album 88, but I still remember how I felt the first time I heard “Oh Calcutta!” from the Dave Pell Singers. Utter disbelief. I was convinced that it wasn’t an actual group from the 1960s, but instead a clever ruse perpetrated by members of St. Etienne and/or Stereolab. Something about the way the rhythm rolls out reminded me of those bands at that time, let alone the purring female vocals that sound exactly like Sarah Cracknell. When I finally ran into some records from the Dave Pell Singers, I figured it had to be the real deal.
Strangely, I’d never run into the record that features that lovely song until just recently. Most of the record is not my cup of tea, far too easy listening. But there are some nice moments, mostly because of the band that’s backing the singers. I’d always thought this was a British group with British players, but hearing those drums on “Calcutta” and “Laughing” it’s really hard not to believe that Earl Palmer is not playing on this album. Something in the sound of those drums reminds me too much of Palmer’s legendary work with David Axelrod from this same period of time. Perhaps it’s all in my head, just as the St. Etienne conspiracy was, but you never know…one day someone may even track down an instrumental version of this record and that will be a most happy day.
Cheers,
Michael
p.s. this is also the record that includes this:
…which might also remind you of this if you’re over the age of 30:
Despite all my best efforts, it seems there are always some amazing records that slip through the cracks from year to year. In this case, this was literally true, with Swedish outfit The Amazing’s album Gentle Stream. The Amazing have a very familiar sound, courtesy of Reine Fiske and Johan Holmegrad who are both members of one of my favorite contemporary bands Dungen (that duo also turned up in ANOTHER record that I missed from 2012, the more jazz oriented Svenska Kaputt). Needless to say it’s a sound that I’m very much enamored with even though The Amazing have a bit less neo-psych style going on and fall a bit more on the pastoral indie-rock side of things. In addition to missing hearing and playing this record, I’m really kicking myself that I missed them performing here in LA back in November. This video for “Gone” (featuring Moussa Fadera on drums instead of Holmegrad but absolutely no drop off in style or sound) gives a bit of a taste of what was missed and what is still yet to come.
First shows of the year are often difficult just because there’s not a lot of new music out at the very start of a new year. Today’s show was made more difficult because we lost our first major musician of 2013 in “Sweet” Lou Wilson of Mandrill. Our first hour was focused on a few newer and upcoming bits of music as well as a couple of things that slipped through the cracks in 2012. Second hour is devoted to some of my favorite tracks from Mandrill, all of which feature “Sweet Lou” on vocals, trumpet or percussion. Had a little technical difficulty with the first hour of the program, but thankfully everything worked out fine for the tribute to Lou Wilson of Mandrill in the second hour. I’ll add the first when I get a solid dub of the program later in the week.
Melting Pot on KPFK #112: Second Hour
Playlist: 01-13-2013
{opening theme} Booker T & the MGs – Melting Pot – Melting Pot (Stax)
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Melody’s Echo Chamber – Some Time Alone, Alone – Melody’s Echo Chamber (Fat Possum)
Nosaj Thing feat. Kazu Makino – Eclipse/Blue – Home (Innovative Leisure)
Alpha feat. Hannah Collins – Cilla – Eleventh Trip (Don’t Touch)
Rodriguez – I Think Of You – Cold Fact (Light In The Attic)
Svenska Kaputt – Trolestlolesa Talerar – Svenska Kaputt (Moserobie)
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The Amazing – Flashlight – Gentle Stream (Partisan)
Sun Kil Moon – Among The Leaves – Among The Leaves (Caldo Verde)
Toro y Moi – SO Many Details – Anything In Return (Carpark)
Procedures – Give Me One More Chance – Eccentric Soul: Omnibus (Numero)
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Wganda Kenya – Shakalode – Diablos Del Ritmo (Analog Africa)
The Budos Band – Scorpion – II (Daptone)
Adrian Younge w/ William Hart of the Delfonics – Love’s Melody – Adrian Younge Presents The Delfonics (Wax Poetics)
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Mandrill – Mandrill – Mandrill (Polydor)
Mandrill – Mango Meat – Just Outside Of Town (Polydor)
Mandrill – Fencewalk/Hagalo – Composite Truth (Polydor)
Mandrill – Lord OF The Golden Baboon – Mandrill Is (Polydor)
Mandrill – Silk – Solid (UA)
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Mandrill – Two Sisters Of Mercy – Just Outside Of Town (Polydor)
Mandrill – Peace and Love – Mandrill (Polydor)
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Mandrill – Love Song – Just Outside Of Town (Polydor)
Mandrill – Moroccan Nights – Composite Truth (Polydor)
Mandrill – I Refuse To Smile – Mandrill Is (Polydor)
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Mandrill – Chutney – Mandrill (Polydor)
Here is the final post in this week long look back at 2012’s year in music on Melting Pot, focused on the best songs I heard last year. For the most part this was an easy list to put together. Amongst the hundreds of songs I heard, four were absolute no-brainers. When it came time to pick that final track though, I was hard-pressed to choose a final song. There were a lot of songs that I felt very strongly about for that final spot, ultimately going with the one that affected most at an emotional level, as is often the case. So here we are, we say goodbye to 2012 with Melting Pot’s Top 5 Songs of the year, let me know what you’re favorites were of the past year here or on our facebook page!
**Honorable Mentions: Sureshot Symphony Solution – “Mr. Fortune & Fame” & “Chair On The Ceiling,” Michael Kiwanuka – “Tell Me A Tale,” Adrian Younge & Venice Dawn with Dennis Coffey – “Lovely Lady,” Big K.R.I.T – “Rich Dad, Poor Dad,” Robert Glasper Experiment feat. King – “Move Love,” Spain – “I Love You,” Quantic & Alice Russell with the Combo Barbaro – “Magdalena,” Ana Tijoux – “Shock,” Ariel Pink’s Haunted Grafitti feat. Dam-Funk – “Baby”
5. Sun Kil Moon – “Black Kite” – Among The Leaves (Caldo Verde)
Among The Leaves is an interesting record for Sun Kil Moon’s Mark Kozelek. While he’s known as a guy who writes and performs epic songs about matters of the heart, and there’s certainly a fair amount of that on the release, the record also finds him giving himself over completely to all sorts of whimsical musings, mostly about women he seems to have met on the road (just the titles, let alone the lyrics of “The Moderately Talented Yet Attractive Young Woman vs. The Exceptionally Talented Yet Not So Attractive Middle Aged Man” and “Not Much Rhymes With Everything’s Awesome at All Times” should give you a sense of what I mean). Deeply embedded amongst the ephemera of the release is one of my favorite tracks from this period of Kozelek’s work, “Black Kite.”
Since his shift to nylon-stringed guitar, Kozelek’s skill as a guitarist has never been more evident. Just based on the guitar playing alone “Black Kite” would be noteworthy, but for me what draws me in is the ambiguity of the song lyrically. After a hundred or more listenings, I’m still not sure what to make of “Black Kite,” it has some of the same seemingly disconnected observational musings of other songs on Among The Leaves, held together by a search for someone and the appearance of a Black Kite in the sky that is following the narrator. The song seems to have a wistful character to it, but there’s something about that reappearance of the “Black Kite” towards the end, sung three times in-between the final two verses that also seems to be filled with dread. There are multiple ways to read this, is this a kite that is flown by someone (which was my original thinking) or is the Black kite a reference to the bird, which looks a bit like a hawk to untrained eyes and is found throughout Eastern hemisphere and is most ominously associated with the Egyptian goddess Isis, who would take the form of a Black Kite in order to resurrect the dead. No matter the reference there’s something that troubles me about that Black Kite, something that fascinates me about it’s meaning and in addition to the gorgeous guitar work on display, keeps me coming back to this song to try to decipher it’s meaning.
4. Shintaro Sakamoto – “You Just Decided” – How To Live With A Phantom (Other Music)
Shintaro Sakamoto – You Just Decided
“You Just Decided” was the song that pushed Shintaro Sakamoto’s record from a good record into one of my favorites of the year. As I said virtually every time I played the record on the air, there’s a breezy funk in this song that reminds me not only of 1970s work from the likes of the Mizell Bros., but also especially the heyday of the acid jazz movement in the 1990s, a period of time I hold very dear to my heart and which coincided with my musical awakening as a young man in Atlanta. It’s impossible not to move and groove to this song, impossible to feel bad while hearing it (though since I don’t know Japanese, I honestly have no idea what the lyrics are and how they connect to the title). This entire write-up for this song was not only done in rhythm, but while I was dancing side to side as I typed, often with my eyes closed, which is when you know I’m really digging on the music. “You Just Decided” also wins hands down for the most trippy and smile inducing video of the year.
3. Adrian Younge & Venice Dawn feat. Rebecca Jordan – “It’s Me” – Something About April (Wax Poetics)
Adrian Younge & Venice Dawn feat. Rebecca Jordan – It’s Me
While I most immediately gravitated to the Charles Stepney styled “Two Hearts Combine” and admit that “Lovely Lady” has some truly fine moments featuring Loren Oden’s falsetto and Dennis Coffey’s guitar. The song that grabbed me the most from my favorite record of the year was also the shortest vocal song on the album, “It’s Me.” At various times throughout the year, I’d have this one on repeat as I was driving around LA. It’s one of the songs that best showcases the “post-Hip-Hop” sensibilities of Adrian Younge’s very distinctive retro “dark” soul sound. Part of it comes through in the instrumentation, heavy bass and drums, fuzzy guitar and washes organ. But as is the case with Adrian’s work, it’s more about the way in which all these various elements come together that draws you in, in the totality of the song and from moment to moment.
Nothing this year was more thrilling to hear than the blissfully short and extra hard breakdown that happens 1 minute and 20 seconds into the song. There’s no real logical reason for that break to be there. I don’t know what possessed Adrian to put it there, but damn it hits hard. Those brief seconds of drums, organ and bass, seem to make the rest of the song sound even funkier even though nothing has actually changed. Just fascinating the attention to detail and attention to how things should sound on display on “It’s Me” and throughout the album.
The vocal performance is also a major highlight. In the way that Rebecca Jordan shifts from a breathy tenderness when singing “we kissed under the stars, we know just who we are,” to more of almost an angry tone as she brings it back down with “it’s me, just let me be, it’s us, sorry to see two fools for love” you get the feeling that this song is a kiss off. Sort of a “it’s not you, it’s me” break-up kind of a song. However, in the context of the concept of the album, the rise and fall of an extra-marital interracial relationship in the 1960s, as well as it’s placement on the record as the second song (and a full two songs before “Two Hearts Combine” which has the feel of the moment where the relationship is fully realized), we have to consider this as a song about the confusion associated with the beginning of this multiply muddled relationship. There’s nothing muddled at all about the way I feel about this music, and I can’t wait for even more from Adrian Younge and company in 2013 and beyond.
2. Michael Kiwanuka – “Rest” – Home Again (Cherrytree/Polydor/Interscope)
“Tell Me A Tale” was the first song that I heard from Michael Kiwanuka and it’s certainly a fantastic song, one that insistently requires you to pay attention to it at every turn. But anyone with ears and heart would surely agree that Kiwanuka’s finest work on his debut has to be the tender ballad “Rest.” As with many of the other songs on this list, there’s such a careful attention to detail and sound, from the long notes produced on the guitars, the shuffling funk of the beat underneath to the unexpected sweeps and swoons of the strings. Lyrically the song calls to mind a major hit form one of the artists Kiwanuka is often compared to, Bill Withers and his classic “Lean On Me.” “Rest” seems even more personally directed, more tenderly and lovingly sung. A track not sung to a friend fallen on hard times, but instead to your love as assurance that you will be there to carry them should they need you. Just plain gorgeous.
1. Allo Darlin’ – “Tallulah” – Europe (Slumberland)
It’s fitting that I first heard Allo Darlin’ in the summer, since “Tallulah” has summer song written all over it. But unlike most summer songs that are about falling in love, sunshine and reverie, this is an end of summer track. These tend to be more plaintive, sometimes a bit sad and always seem to be related to reminiscing about the past or about how things could have been. Elizabeth Morris wraps up all of that and more into the almost five minutes of “Tallulah.” Armed with only her unamplified ukulele and her absolutely darling voice, Morris spins a tale built on memories and musings. A summer drive, a letter written on a night out on the town with friends, linked together by the redemptive power of music, from finding a tape of Tallulah Gosh or a bar playing Toots & the Maytals. After these moments of reminiscing, Morris hits on a stunner of self-reflection.
I wondering if I’ve already heard all the songs that’ll mean something,
And, I’m wondering if I’ve already met all the people that’ll mean something,
It’s a profound question, something that is often unsaid for many people in their youth and a question that many only find the answer to when you’re at the end of your life. Implicit here is also a question, do you choose to move on with your life, or do you consider that what you’ve had in the past is the best that you’ll ever have and try to get it back. Morris seems to know her answer as she ends by fully engaging with the present, asking the unnamed person she’s been singing to if they’d like to go back to the places of their past, “when I’m finished over here, if you’re not finished with me.”
There’s a sadness in the sentiment of this song, Morris is clearly wishing she had appreciated the moments of her past more than she had, clearly wishing that she made her feelings more known or fought harder to keep alive a relationship that ultimately fell apart, perhaps due to distance. But the song is also strangely hopeful with those final lines and crystal clear visualization of cherished moments of the past. “Tallulah” is a rare thing, a love song that has as much potential to mend a broken heart as it does to leave you endlessly longing for something that will never come back to you, or forces you to come to grips with a truth that leaves you even more heartbroken than before. No matter how it ends for Morris, “Tallulah” is absolutely the best thing I heard all year long and might end up as one of the best songs of this decade when it’s all said and done.