There were certainly some sights to be seen, none less than these weird art installations of children and women just sort of creepily popping out of the river. Pretty scarring stuff.
Currently, as may be evident, I’m writing a blog every single day for a month. It occurred to me last night that I’m usually pretty shit at sticking to challenges which require repeated contributions every day without messing it up halfway through. Exactly 6 months ago, I swallowed my pride and, in an effort to fight against the much-maligned Lockdown Boredom, did one of those annoying ’30 day challenges’ that had been gaining popularity on Instagram amidst a sudden surge of people staying inside on social media due to something called Coronavirus. The challenge (although, in fairness, it’s not really challenging) was to name a song you liked which fit into a given category every day for a month. Here’s where I got to:
Doing these blogs this November, I’ve learned two things:
1. That it’s very rewarding to finish off things that you start.
2. That it’s equally rewarding to discuss things you enjoy and are passionate about, because there’s an (admittedly small) chance that you end up introducing new things to people that they end up liking too.
With that in mind, I’m gonna finish off the last 16 days of this cringey challenge from April in today’s blog. It’s a nice chance to recommend some music, which is one of my favourite things to do, and it’s also really satisfying to finally finish something off after leaving it undone for half a year. I’ll write a tiny description of each song as we get to it. Here we go:
Day 14: A song you’d love to be played at your wedding… Roberta Flack — The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face
Roberta Flack has an unbelievable voice, and it blends perfectly with the sensitive and honest lyrics of this song. It’s romantic without being soppy, and uses beautiful language and metaphors without going too far. “The first time, ever i kissed your mouth I felt the earth move in my hands/ Like the trembling heart/ Of a captive bird /That was there, at my command”. Lovely.
Day 15: A song you like that’s a cover by another artist… José González — Teardrop
There are a few great covers of Massive Attack’s 1998 hit Teardrop, including a fantastic one by Newton Faulkner, but González’s version is just perfect for me. Just like the original song, it starts stripped back and bare, but builds and becomes louder and more layered. González really shows off both his pure vocals and classical guitar skills here and builds the song to a sick dramatic crescendo. Really impressive, but — more importantly — an absolute bop.
Day 16: A song that’s a classic favourite… Otis Redding — Cigarettes and Coffee
Rumour has it that if you look up soul in the dictionary, Otis Redding jumps out of the page and gives you a nice pat on the head. He should, anyway. His vocals on Cigarettes and Coffee are absolutely stunning, set against a backdrop of relaxing horns and jazz piano. The lyrics present a pretty simple premise — “It’s early in the morning/ About a quarter till three/ I’m sittin’ here talkin’ with my baby/ Over cigarettes and coffee” but the delivery of Redding’s vocals transform a basic story into a visceral, emotional experience. Super relaxing and beautiful tune.
Day 17: A song you’d sing a duet with someone on karaoke… Better Oblivion Community Center — Dylan Thomas
I’ve loved Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst’s music separately for a fair while, and when they teamed up for a 10-track album last year it felt like someone scratching an itch you never even knew you head. Their voices blend together wonderfully on Dylan Thomas, a song named in homage to the Welsh poet who died aged just 39. It’s more of a bop than the typical song named after a dead person, though. I’d definitely give it a go on karaoke.
Day 18: A song from the year you were born… Moby — Porcelain
Yes, I know Moby’s a bit of a weirdo. I’ve read the excerpts from his autobiography where he somehow manages to be self-loathing and full of himself at the same time. “I didn’t have a knife, so I used the subscription card from a copy of In Minneapolis magazine to spread mustard on two pieces of bread. I put my tofu pups and bread on a hand towel, and ate them while watching an old episode of The Simpsons, and drinking day-old carrot juice.” Or my personal favourite line: “Maybe I was a new god. A benign god. But a complicated god, with a secular dominion over sweetness and filth.” Okay, Moby, that’s enough from you. Get back in your box now. Despite his disastrous foray into writing, his album Play still is pretty great. Porcelain, the lead single, is a cornerstone of 90s electronic music. It also slaps when you’re driving.
Day 19: A song that makes you think about life… Stornoway — Fuel Up
Ahh, Stornoway. A welcome break from the mess that is Moby. These guys are popular in Oxford which is where they all met, and before they broke up they released polished and beautiful tracks such as Fuel Up. The song walks through an average person’s life — at 9, then at 18, then at 27 — and reflects on the passage of time and how you move in your life from a ‘passenger’ to a ‘driver’. I’d really recommend it, it’s sweet.
Day 20: A song that has many meanings for you… LCD Soundsystem — I Can Change
This is one of those songs for me that you hear when you’re young and which then take on an entirely different meaning as the years pass. It’s got all of the contagious dance pop elements that were so present on their This Is Happening album, and I can remember having a little jig around the room when it came on while I was playing FIFA 11. I added it to a music playlist when I was like 14 and gave it very little thought. Now I’m a bit older I can understand the story of domestic problems and a failing relationship being evoked in the lyrics. “Turn on the light, make it easy for me/ Feel the divide, fumble in the kitchen/ ’Til it’s right.” :(
Day 21: A song you like with a person’s name in the title… Bon Iver — Beth/Rest
I had to shoehorn in my favourite song from my favourite album somewhere. In 2012 my family and I went to Latitude Festival in Suffolk. Some band called Bon Iver were headlining the first night. We weren’t too bothered and got some sleep in our tent. They were touring their self-titled album from which this track is taken. I wasn’t to discover them until a couple of years later. Thinking about that missed opportunity still makes me want to throw something out of a window 8 years later. Beth/Rest closes the album, and its synth and horn-heavy instrumental feels like a sudden Rest after the guitar-heavy and thickly-textured nine tracks which came before it. Justin Vernon, as ever, crafts lyrical poetry and wraps it all into an impassioned and falsetto-laden delivery. I love this song rather a lot.
Day 22: A song that moves you forward… Pinegrove — Old Friends
Old Friends is such an infectious song, from lead singer Evan Stephen Hall’s rambly wordplay and honest, forthright lyrics to the vibrant musical explosion each time the chorus kicks in. There’s a particular live version that I’d recommend which features just a toy casio keyboard and an acoustic guitar as instrumentation. The constant crotchet beat of the verses provides a bit of solidity amidst the constantly changing pace of the vocal delivery. It’s a really wonderful mix, and the beat is great for running hence why I’ve selected it here. I adore Pinegrove and have seen them in concert, but their album recordings seem never to be as good as the live stuff. Worth looking them up on YouTube, you won’t regret it.
Day 23: A song you think everybody should listen to… Gabriel Kahane — Empire Liquor Mart
This is a must-listen for me. The album version is fantastic, but there’s a live version on YouTube where Kahane somehow stuffed an entire orchestra into a one-bedroom apartment. Lyrically and musically, this song is fucking astounding. Kahane tells the true story of the murder of a young black girl named Latasha Hardins in L.A. around 30 years ago. She was murdered by a shopkeeper in a local corner store for nothing more than simply trying to buy a bottle of orange juice. The song is written from the perspective of Hardins — and when I say ‘song’, I really mean four different tunes over a nine-minute track beautifully linked together by orchestral instrumentation. The first time I heard it I had to listen back at least half a dozen times. It’s just stunning. Well, well worth a listen.
Day 24: A song by a band you wish were still together… The White Stripes: In The Cold, Cold Night
I miss the White Stripes. It goes without saying that Seven Nation Army is a masterpiece, but I’ve always thought that Meg never got enough credit no matter what she did. When she was drumming, as in the vast majority of Stripes songs, she was far too often criticised for being too simplistic. But when you’re playing with Jack White, who’s obsessed with mental guitar interludes and wacky vocal performances, isn’t the best tonic to play simply and effectively? I’ve never understood that. That’s not to mention that she has an unbelievably good singing voice, a talent totally distinct from her drumming prowess. This track, In The Cold, Cold Night, highlights that pretty well. Worth checking out.
Day 25: A song you like by an artist no longer living… Her’s — What Once Was
The story of Her’s is absolutely devastating. Two unbelievably talented young lads from Liverpool who’d just released their first full-length LP and were on the cusp of breaking into stardom, only to perish in a tragic car accident while on tour in the US at the ages of 24 of 25. Even amongst their depressingly short body of work, they showcased superb versatility and songwriting. They shifted from bedroom pop to lofi-rock to dreamy indie at the drop of a hat. Stephen Fitzpatrick’s vocal range, as you’ll hear in their single What Once Was, is astonishing. Gone far, far too soon.
Day 26: A song that makes you want to fall in love… Vulfpeck — Animal Spirits
Vulfpeck just get you feeling GOOD. Everything from the jazz influences of their absurdly talented musical cast to their vibrant and meme-heavy online presence is full of energy and musical bliss. Animal Spirits is no different. The lyrics tell a typical love story “With only one small caveat..this one hasn’t happened yet”. We hear of a hilarious courtship between a zodiac-obsessed girl and a guy who can’t stand astrology. It’s witty, it’s romantic, and it’s musically faultless. Throw it on if you wanna feel happy.
Day 27: A song that breaks your heart… Christian Lee Hutson — Northsiders
Christian Lee Hutson’s debut album, Beginners, is Album of the Year so far for me. Look at that album art. It’s certainly a good start. On Northsiders, Hutson tells the story of a high school sweetheart with whom his relationship deteriorated, thanks predominantly to the awkwardness of being a teenager, and things seem to be on good terms until something awful happens. It’s touching and features a beautiful acoustic guitar interlude, slotted in either side of genius lyrics like “Morrissey apologists, Amateur psychologists, Serial monogamists, We went to different colleges”. Such a beautiful and haunting song.
Day 28: A song by an artist whose voice you love… Lucy Dacus — Night Shift
Hell yeah! This song is just about perfect. A beautiful opening with a catchy chorus, with a lyrical and musical crescendo setting things up nicely for a rock refrain at the end. Such a good structure, but of course it would be for nothing if not for Dacus’ unbelievable voice. She’s just as comfortable softly singing that “I feel no need to forgive but I might as well” as she is screaming out “You got a 9 to 5, so I’ll take the night shift/ And I’ll never see you again if I can help it” as the track reaches its thrilling conclusion. So good.
Day 29: A song you remember from your childhood… Don’t Let The Man Get You Down — Fatboy Slim
It feels like Fatboy Slim’s been left behind in history a bit, which is kind of a shame. Don’t Let The Man Get You Down, the opening track from his 2004 album Palookaville, holds a lot of happy memories for me. It was featured in the soundtrack to SSX 3, a snowboarding game that came out when I was 4 and which it’s no exaggeration to say that I’ve spent like 10,000 hours playing in my lifetime. As a young’un, the funky breakdowns between each verse were obviously great, and I loved repeating the refrain: “And the sign said long-haired freaky people need not apply”. Nowadays, it’s kind of an anthem about not listening to people who tell you that you can’t do something. Don’t Let The Man Get You Down. It’s a fun song.
Day 30: A song that reminds you of yourself… James Blake, Bon Iver — I Need a Forest Fire
A collaboration between my two modern-day musical heroes on a song which is dedicated to the idea of constantly beginning again and having a fresh start after things go wrong. As someone who’s recently been thrown into a brand new country doing a brand new job after completely messing up his studies, it’s fair to say this one hits home and reminds me of myself. Blake and Vernon have such beautiful and clear falsetto voices and they’re both firmly on show in this track, occasionally even harmonising. James Blake’s electronic influences are clear in the spasmodic recurring vocal sample, and Bon Iver brings the most unbelievable vocal contribution from a guest artist I’ve ever heard at the 2:20 mark. A magnificent song with an impactful and very timely message.
Well, this has been a long one! See you tomorrow for a bit more of a normal blog, probably. Have a lovely weekend.
