A playlist of songs that intrigued me from Sunday to Saturday. Week of 23 Jan 2022 to 29 Jan 2022.

WILT_2022-04

1. Strange Times – Robohands
2. Idiom – Jose Armon-Jones, Maxwell Owin, Oscar Jerome
3. Trupé – Amaro Freitas
4. The Wheel – IDLES
5. Meds – IDLES
6. Happy – bdrmm
7. Gangs – Do Nothing
8. World Impact – Drug Church
9. The Crack – Goat Girl
10. The Hunter – Slaves
11. BLACKOUT – Turnstile
12. Metallic Taste – Show Me the Body
13. Exploding House – Geese
14. In Between – Deafheaven
15. Sad Cowboy – Goat Girl
16. Sockets – Slaves
17. Unconscious Melody – Preoccupations
18. No Need – Oscar Jerome, Ben Hauke
19. A Pegada Agora É Essa (The Sway Now) – Antonio Neves, Marcos Esguleba
20. Miami – Baxter Dury
21. Saul – The Limiñanas, Laurent Garnier
22. Leak at the Disco Intro – Baxter Dury
23. Leak at the Disco – Baxter Dury
24. Slumlord – Baxter Dury
25. Saliva Lord – Baxter Dury

Hyperlink to Spotify playlist: WILT_2022-04

Notes

I started the week by putting on the Amaro Freitas album Sankofa and when that album ended, the algorithm kicked in and I stumbled on Strange Times, which was just the most wondrous mood of a misty morning, hot coffee in hand as you look out into the great beyond.

I continue on this mood and vibe, chasing it but not really, as I diligently go through my work tasks, but at a comfortable pace. Idiom comes on, and the tight bass line sitting under shimmering piano and synth part till the beat comes on and you are just allowed to flow down the river that the song takes you through, letting your fingertips touch the water’s surface, brushing past the reeds.

Trupe starts dissonant and with intent, light percussion pulses through and clamours with the note choices, but spirit and joy bristles underneath, and Amaro Freitas continues asking if you enjoy the sights he is showing you, and the answer is yes.

Decided to listen to Idles, a band that I had heard being talked about in some social circles. That leads us down a path of fourteen songs that range across the genres of post-punk, no-wave, and dream-pop.

After Unconscious Melody by Preoccupations, another radio playlist was generated, but not in any music of similar vein to the previous fourteen songs. Instead, we get No Need, a surprising breath of fresh air, and a laid-back jazz/r&b tune to shift gears.

A Pegada Agora É Essa (The Sway Now) comes on next, and a brilliant energy percolates as Brazilian rhythms licked by free form jazz whisper from down the hall. It’s begging you to take a look, and you ought to go down the rabbit hole.

A Pegada Agora É Essa (The Sway Now) is Neves’ second album: a vibrant portrait of the current Brazilian music scene. From the regional to universal, popular to erudite, samba to rap, Latin rhythms to jazz, MPB and pop to good old rock’n’roll, Neves walks with fluency and mastery amongst all the musical genres that Brazil has to offer.

My offer to the musicians was complete freedom to express themselves through the songs I proposed – classics like “Summertime”, “Luz Negra” and “Noite de Temporal”, and compositions of my own – creating a space of authorship for the band and the guests. A space for inventions, purges, delusions, laughter. The idea was to bring the freedom of jazz crossed by Brazilian rhythms, such as the traditionals Partido Alto (A Pegada Agora É Essa) and Jongo (Jongo no Feudo and Luz Negra); rhythms of African-Brazilian religions like Candomblé (Noite de Temporal) and Umbanda (Forte Apache); and a tribute to newest Rio de Janeiro’s contribution to Brazilian music, the Funk Carioca (Simba)

From A Pegada Agora É Essa (The Sway Now) Bandcamp page

The bass line for Miami comes on and I am immediately hooked. It’s nothing special, but it sounds sleazy and downtrodden. The vocals come on, “Welcome to Miami. Broken promises are here.” Okay, let’s see where this goes. Then almost without warning (or rather unexpectedly), Baxter Dury’s dreary, cynical spoken word smokes into your ears. “I don’t think you realise how successful I am.” You’re right, I don’t. And now I’m in love. Tell me more. What do you have to say? I’m listening. You sound interesting. Tell me stories, tell me life, tell me about the thing that killed your soul and left you a wandering corpse.

The fascination with Dury continues and I select the sleaziest melodies and grooves (apart from Leak at the Disco) that I can get my ears on. It sounds like a shit-stained back alley where niceties are a luxury, but you cannot help but look closer because you know this is the reality of the human condition when it has been discarded.

This isn’t the only time he wails at the endless scroll of modern life…

… On ‘The Night Chancers’, 48-year-old Baxter sees a darkness. Life is bleak. People are lame. You can’t rely on anyone. Not even yourself. Stranded after a one-night stand on the title track, he finds himself kicking around a lavish hotel room with only his intrusive thoughts for company, his Estuary chirrup sounding more than ever like Mick Jagger doing spoken-word poetry.

From “Baxter Dury – ‘The Night Chancers’ review: groovy misanthrope chips in on the endless scroll of modern life” by Leonie Cooper