1. Baltimore by Nina Simone
A few days ago I watched Liz Garbus' 2015 docu What Happened, Miss Simone? (highly recommend) and have naturally been listening to nothing but Nina Simone's discography for a few days. I have so much more exploring and learning to do about the music icon and activist, but in the meantime let's start this week off with Baltimore, her iconic version of the Randy Newman original, which appeared on her 1978 album of the same name.
This is a cover done right. Simone takes the original melody and lyrics but completely changes the song's style to become her own, and the musical arrangements are incredible: she uses a hypnotic reggae-style beat throughout the verses so that you inevitably sink into its rhythm. And then since the verses are so long, when the strings finally take over the melody and carry it upwards in the chorus, you can’t help but follow its flow and feel drawn upwards with it.
(For a modern sampling of Simone's song, listen to Jay-Z and Frank Ocean’s "Caught Their Eyes".)
2. Roma Fade by Andrew Bird
I owe this rediscovery to Andrew Bird's Song Exploder podcast episode on Roma Fade, which completely changed my understanding of the song after listening this week.
Bird is best known for his animated violin arrangements and impeccable whistling --- both of which I came to love through two other beautiful tracks of his, Pulaski and Manifest. But after hearing his story and thought process behind the music, I have a new appreciation for Roma Fade.
The song recounts the memory of the first time he saw his now-wife standing across the room at a party. He wrote it to convey the subtle dance between the observer and the observed in that kind of moment --- a feeling we all know: of being completely aware of another person's presence in the room and their every motion. As he sings in the first verse, “You take such pains that she won’t notice you."
In the podcast episode, he explains that the song is “about how seeing something can change it…and the field of electricity between two people as they’re regarding each other or pretending not to see them.”
A really interesting section comes with the 15-second build-up of tension at around 2:40 --- but it doesn’t burst after its crescendo, instead just casually blossoming into a new chorus. About this composition the singer describes: “I was really adamant to walk right through the wall there without any announcement… It’s a real emotional thing not to crash down on the down beat, to just kind of push right through.”
Brilliant, Bird.
3. Goodnight Moon by Boogie Belgique
Alright! Electro swing! Such a cool genre of music in general, but Boogie Belgique adapts it in their own unique way --- usually by keeping the beats mellow instead of speeding them up like many other electro swing artists.
They love to sample old school ballads, so as a lover of forties and fifties music (cheesy and corny and overdone as it always is), their music truly hits the spot for me.
Sampled in Goodnight Moon is Perry Como’s 1947 recording of When You Were Sweet Sixteen, and I love the feeling of these two completely distinct eras of music being merged. The song is perfectly upbeat yet nostalgic – not to mention the irresistible brass arrangements playfully rolling through the beat. I find myself queueing it over and over again.
4. At the River by Groove Armada
Be ready to slow down when listening to At The River, Groove Armada's 1997 hit, because the band is certainly in no rush. Spellbinding feels like an apt description: the constant rhythm and distinct trombone melody that carry the instrumental verse are so peacefully mesmerizing.
Not unlike Goodnight Moon – only much slower – At The River samples an oldie and adapts it with an electro twist. In this case it’s Patti Page’s 1957 song Old Cape Cod – but only one line from it, hypnotically sung over and over: “If you’re fond of sand dunes and salty air / quaint little villages here and there.”
This song'll make you want to be watching a soft sunset over the ocean somewhere, probably high.
Listen on Spotify to all 'Songs of the week' here.
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