Songs of the Week #23- Editors Pick
“perfect brew of Oh My Goodness!”
+++
MATTY:
"Sweet Talk" -- Cosmonauts
I got the Cosmonauts latest album about a month ago as a birthday gift from some savvy music friends, and have not been able to quit it since. Everything from my high school years of listening to music roars back in a huge wave of sonic darkness and beauty, from the first track to the last, and the vinyl experience does not disappoint. A depth of reverb hovers around all of the instruments, with a droning, mid-range tempo to most songs hammered into place by the drummer's straightforward and weighty playing. Monotone talking style vocals harken back to nineties-era indie tunes that championed an earlier style of pre-punk music. Think Stooges meets Pixies meets Joy Division meets Jesus & Mary Chain, and you just might be enjoying the appetizer before the entree that is the Cosmonauts' album. Best listened to when loud, so find a good floor, turn up the stereo, and get ready to sink into it.
+ + +
CARRIE:
"Everything is Over" -- Ngozi Family
Paul Dobson Nyirongo, or Paul Ngozi, started this band in 1975, and they were the first to be called "Zamrock," Zambian rock 'n' roll that reflected the life and times of the people of Zambia in the 70's. For me, this music is full of movement and life. Its psychedelic qualities make it no surprise that Paul Ngozi would play guitar with his teeth, among other crazy performance antics. The reissue of this album on vinyl came out in 2009, though only 600 copies were pressed, so if you run into it I strongly suggest taking it with you.
+ + +
ROY:
"Wait for a Minute" -- tUnE-yArDs
I keep trying to pin this song down onto the page of some definitive musical era. It wants to land on the cusp of the 90s, some forgotten neon-colored party track on the A-side of a cassingle left fading in the sun on the dash of my friend Chad's beat-up Grand Marquis. But there's something about the way Merrill Garbus patches together the elements that is distinctly modern. And then there's that damn voice: a soulful throwback, yet unmistakably NOW, rolling (seemingly) effortlessly from purring to powerful. Lyrically a rumination on stagnation and self-reflection, the song's heart lies in the second verse. Following a hectic refrain and a buzzy synth break, the chatter drops out and Garbus' voice fills the space left atop the beat, stronger and more assured than the previous verse, an acknowledgement of her weakness but also a rejection of it:
"Why do I spend the soul of my day looking for any way to waste away?"
+ + +
REYNA:
“Benga Benga” -- Ajukaja
Play this song and tell me if it's possible, while listening, to:
A. Feel unhappy.
B. Sit still.
Here is the formula: Estonian DJ, Ajukaja, remixes an old Kenyan song by a group called Samba Mapangala, resulting in this warm, tropical, and happily danceable gem. The original song falls under the genre Soukous, but is closely related and very similar to the Benga genre, hence the title of the remix.
+ + +
SHENYAH:
"OMG OMG" -- Oh My Goodness
Therese Workman and Tyler Wood make up this multi-instrumental duo. Something I love about their musical goodness is that I just can't quite put my finger on a genre. Some of the genres that Therese has described the duo's music as are "Excite Bike, Cross-Eyed Soul, and Worry-Core." And yes, she made those up. I'm personally resonating with "Cross-Eyed Soul" on this song! Take some claps, stick snaps, whistles, string plucks and soulful vocals, carefully mix them all together with a few other secret ingredients and you have the perfect brew of Oh My Goodness!
+ + +