Center Of The Universe #4
Giant Sand, “Center Of The Universe”
(Welcome to the Center Of The Universe, featuring the finest in folky feelings, boogie-woogie, adult techno and trumpet rock. We’re going to kick things off with a band who excels in all four quadrants, the only band I’ve told myself I can play every week on this imaginary show. From their debut album, Fire, turning 20 this summer, it’s Electric Six.)
Electric Six, “Synthesizer”
SG Lewis, “Another Life”
Me'shell Ndegeocello, “Thankful”
(Me’shell Ndgeocello, with the closer of her swoon-worthy 2003 album, Comfort Woman. Before that, SG Lewis, collaborator on jams for other modern dance-pop artists like Dua Lipa and Jessie Ware, with a song from his new album AudioLust & HigherLove. Surprised the dude would indulge in a title that ersatz Futuresex/Lovesounds, but it’s got some real hooks and he sure won’t hurt for work. Up next, we go back to the early aughts with a song from Kimya Dawson’s Hidden Vagenda.)
Kimya Dawson, “Blue Like Nevermind”
Wussy, “Airborne”
Eagles Of Death Metal, “Eagles Goth”
Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba, “Te Duniya Laban”
(Mali’s Bassekou Kouyate and his band, Ngoni Ba, named after the type of West African guitar he plays, with wife Ami Sacko on lead vocals, and a song from 2015’s Ba Power. Before that, the Eagles Of Death Metal paid tongue in cheek tribute to the immortal genre goth, the song giving their excellent ’07 album Death By Sexy its name. And Wussy, from their ’05 debut album Funeral Dress, with their biggest hit on Spotify that isn’t either a New Order cover or name-checking “Baba O’Riley” in the title. There’s no real theme to this week’s imaginary episode, so we might as well move on to Mary J. Blige, an artist whose discography I’ve been working my way through of late. This is the fourth single from her sophomore album, My Life, hooked around a sample of Barry White’s classic “It’s Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me.” Does she make it her own? Of course.)
Mary J Blige, “You Bring Me Joy”
The Honeycombs, “Have I The Right?”
Ian Dury & The Blockheads, “Common As Muck”
Mission Of Burma, “Prepared”
(I got to see Mission Of Burma twice in 2004, and I still smile anytime I think about it. Maybe I should find another t-shirt somewhere. The first only lasted me a decade. We heard “Prepared,” a truly unexpected ballad with strings from their first reunion album OnOffOn. Before that was Ian Dury, who I’m delighted to say finally clicked with me last week. I’ve always been cold on music hall, anglophilia, and any other reason you’d want to hear a song like “Billericay Dickie.” But I put on the Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll compilation and was able to connect him to David Johansen at his most gregarious, rather than Ray Davies at his most insufferable. “Common As Muck” was the B-side to his excellent Top 3 UK hit “Reasons To Be Cheerful, Pt. 3.” Before that, the worldwide 1964 hit “Have I The Right?” by the Honeycombs, with producer Joe Meek using multiple mics to record them stomping in a stairwell, another mic being hit with a tambourine. While we’ve been all over the map chronologically, I haven’t played anything from the ‘80s. To make up for it, let’s get truly ‘80s with the third single off the Psychedelic Furs’ fifth album, 1987’s Minutes To Midnight. It’s better than “Heartbreak Beat” if you ask me!)
Psychedelic Furs, “Shock”
Erykah Badu, “Drama”
Cristina, “What’s A Girl To Do?”
Deathprod, “Composition 11” (currently only "Composition 1" is on YouTube)
(Ambient music is a genre where I know what I don’t like, which often leaves me listening to vaguely ominous appliance hum. Deathprod, also known as Helge Sten of Norway, is pretty damn good at deploying those tones. Damned if I understand how the 17 tracks on his new album Compositions are individual compositions, but it’s still my late night zone out shit. Cristina’s “What’s A Girl To Do?” from 1984’s Sleep It Off. You’d be forgiven for assuming it’s a cover of some surprisingly bawdy Marlene Dietrich number, but actually an original lyric by Cristina, with music by producer Don Was - back when he was wacky! - and Marianne Faithfull collaborator Barry Reynolds. Before that, a deep cut from Erykah Badu’s debut album, Baduizm. Modern hip-hop is another genre where I know what I don’t like, and am delighted when a rare album manages to avoid the pitfalls while still keeping me entertained. While I wasn’t grabbed by his most recent stuff on first listen, I dug The Fool by Sweden’s Bladee in 2021. Not really sure why. Maybe you can help me figure it out?)
Bladee, “BBY”
Smash Mouth, “Your Man”
The Police, “Voices Inside My Head”
Randy Newman, “I’ll Be Home”
(My kid loves Disney movie quizzes on YouTube, and I recently discovered that, while I can’t Name That Tune for most Disney/Pixar movies since The Lion King, I can usually guess when the tune was written by Randy Newman. We heard “I’ll Be Home” from the back half of 1977’s Little Criminals, preceded by the Police’s biggest hit on the US dance chart, a double A-side with “When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What’s Around.” I optimistically checked Discogs about that promo, and sadly, unsurprisingly, it ain’t cheap. Don't tell me to just get Zenyatta Mondatta, because that isn’t happening. Before that, said the guy with no right to be so snide, was Smash Mouth's ironically peppy declaration of self-loathing and romantic confusion, “Your Man,” from their self-titled 2001 album. You know, the one with “I’m A Believer” on it. It’s not as good as Sugar Ray’s self-titled 2001 album, but I’ve always loved this track. What can I say, I'm a sucker for climactic tubular bells. And now, the only Luna song I’m aware of that has a Hammond organ solo (courtesy of Kramer), the closer from their debut album Lunapark.)
Luna, “We’re Both Confused”
Fats Domino, “Poor Me”
Hank Williams, “A Mansion On The Hill”
(Hank Williams, far less impressed by “A Mansion On The Hill” than Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen or Barack Obama were. Fats Domino, similarly spurned but less proud on “Poor Me,” a #1 R&B hit from 1955 not to be confused with 1952’s “Poor Poor Me,” which only hit #10. We’re going to wrap up the imaginary with a tribute to Tom Verlaine, who sadly passed away this last weekend. His influence on semi-popular guitar music is hard to overestimate, between the Feelies, the Go-Betweens, Sonic Youth, Luna and Stephen Malkmus alone. First is Television’s “Days,” an appropriately reflective number from 1978’s Adventure, an album I’ve got at number 11 on my Top 300 Albums Of All Time list, Marquee Moon (currently) at 188. Both are magnificent, but Adventure is a touch less try-hard while equally gorgeous. Perfect for Sunday mornings, especially when Saturday night was kind of wild. Then comes “Bomb” from 1987’s Flash Light, which I coincidentally first heard around New Year's, and is probably my favorite of his solo albums. Finally, 1981’s “Always,” which should have had a snazzy, slick video and been at least as big as Lou Reed’s “I Love You Suzanne.” If Richard Hell was the first punk, then Tom Verlaine was the first person to decide he couldn't be constrained by it. RIP.)