Concrete Blonde is rad! Once again not at all familiar and really enjoying it, particularly the lead vocal. Speaking of comparisons, you know I love most of the ones you mentioned, but I want to add Patti Smith, PJ Harvey, and Alanis Morrissette to that list as Johnette Napolitano is right up there with them, just on first listen. With that in mind I’m preferring the more raucous moments like Still In Hollywood.
Outside of the lead vocal, I’m generally not huge on 80s production unless its really overdone like Talking Heads or whatever, but they’ve made this work very well with the tone, and it feels very California to me.
This album brought up an interesting juxtaposition for me. I’ve got to listen to something at least twice to get a good feel for it, and even then, it feels pretty conservative. Some of my current favorite albums I nearly wrote off after the first listen. BUT! When an album doesn’t strike me the first time through, what incentive do I have to listen to it a second time? I feel like this happens most when I’m listening to something way outside of my wheelhouse.
This album was like that for me. I didn’t dislike it, but it was so far from anything that I’ve been really interested in recently that it was hard to be IN to it. But that’s why I’m here. I’ve always had this idea that every time you listen to something you’re not familiar with, you get a few experience points towards potentially liking it in the future. Things I don’t like now might REALLY do it for me somewhere down the road. Like planting a seed.
The vocals seemed like the highlight of the album (and maybe the group?), the highlights are when she really ERUPTED a few times throughout the album. What a range. One song kinda reminded me of Mazzy Star, and another kinda reminded me of Phoebe Bridgers. I love when you hear something really similar to newer music, but much older. The last few songs were my favorites, starting with Make Me Cry - just kinda like, playful and folksy sounding. I like the instrumentals on Cold Part of Town, and oddly enough the True instrumental was my favorite track. HA! See ya’ll next week, right here on the internet.
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I like the experience point concept. I am a Sufjan Stevens fan, but I tried a couple of listens to The Asencion album when released in 2020, but it just wasn’t connecting. I recently gave it another listen, and it all suddenly clicked and the album instantly became a favorite. Almost every track sounded both fresh and familiar, likely because of those listens back in 2020 when I wasn’t quite ready for a new Sufjan album.
Yes Johnette’s vocals are the highlight of the group as most songs are structured in a way that allows here to belt out the chorus or maybe one of the verses. If the first half of any song seems a bit boring it probably means she will get loud in the 2nd half and she can make it look so effortless, like in the David Letterman video of Someday I linked. Most of the songs are good imo, but its her voice that really elevates a bunch of them to great.
Interesting you bring up Alanis Morrissette. Because of her voice I was big into her when You Ought To Know broke out and actually saw her live at the Odeon in Cleveland in August 1995 right as she was becoming a mega star. The song probably broke a few weeks before and the place was already way to small to how big she was getting. It was a great show, but I probably got into Phish a few months later and caught my first phish show the next summer. I never really listened to Alanis after that and never came back to her like I did with Concrete Blonde.
PJ Harvey is near the top of my list to try and get into. I’ve heard a couple of albums once or twice but hasn’t clicked yet. Patti Smith is cool, but also not something that I find myself listening too all that often, similar to Annie Lennox, Sinead O’Conner, Lady Gaga, Beyonce, and a few others. If I was to expand my initial list to include other female artists that get the most airplay in our home I’d add:
Kim Deal (Breeders/Pixies)
Lætitia Sadier and the late Mary Hansen (Stereolab)
Victoria Legrand (Beach House)
Kim Gordon (Sonic Youth)
India Arie and Jill Scott (two of my wife’s favorites that I enjoy too)
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Ah man PJ Harvey is awesome, can’t say I’m familiar back to front with every album, but maybe try Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea? Right in the lineage of Concrete Blonde I think.
Having a good time with these live clips and the next album too, not quite as ‘California’ sounding, but the more I hear the more I wonder how I have never heard of them before? Wrong time/place I suppose.
if you heard anything by them it would probably be Joey, their biggest hit:
oh wow found an early HQ live version of Still In Hollywood. Her voice is ridiculous…starts at 9:50. Whole video is interesting with The Doors, Los Lobos, and Mike Watt interview:
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Loved this! I was familiar with Bloodletting, but this was my first listen of the self titled. Listened a bunch over the week.
I gotta say, I am not a fan of the opener. It gets better as it goes along, but I thought this was not a good way to open. I would have loved if Your Haunted Head opened the album. That one starts with some energy and I feel like the rest of the album kinda vibes with it more than True (sorry fans of True).
A couple other favorites:
- Dance Along The Edge brings a gothy 80s feel, which I really liked.
- Still In Hollywood was quite punky!
- Song for Kim goes back the to gothy 80s.
- Beware of Darkness does what True tried to do (I think) but better.
- Over Your Shoulder is a fun rocker with a bit of a creepy/stalkery feel.
- Cold Part of Town was a great psych-rock closer, great way to end a great album!
Thanks for sharing this one, I really enjoyed it!
Haha you needed this version i think:
YESSSSSS!
This week we’ve got Secrets by Herbie Hancock. I was hoping to give this a listen once I knew it was selected but I just got off work. Very excited to give it another listen in the next couple days though.
For me, the bottom line is - This album is SICK top to bottom. It’s got a little bit of everything I like about music. It’s fun, it’s funky, it’s easy to listen to. But at the same time it’s got some great psychedelic aspects, and like, heady-jazz instrumentation that gives you goosebumps when you listen closely. It makes a killer backdrop while cooking, but provides a TON for a closer listen.
I’ve been slowly learning some keyboard the past year and just got an entry level synthesizer and another part I love about Herbie and this album specifically is some of the NOISES!! Damn. bubbling, popping, beautiful funky synth jazz tones. I love it.
Here’s the album on youtube:
enjoy, and PEACE OUT!
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I’m definitely going to listen to this while cooking
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Well Herbie was certainly cooking when he made it (as he always was), listening to it for the first time now.
Fuck yeah!!! Nice pick!!
Herbie is a great study for keyboard!
Unfortunately my Jazz orchestra days were the beginning of the end of my piano playing (as far as you can blame anything but yourself for no longer practising), but I have very fond memories of playing Watermelon Man in it.
Like most people I am subsequently most into Head Hunters, and have only sporadically picked other albums of his at random, but they’re all great and so is this.
Has a few less funky moments, but I liked Wharf Rat most on first listen with that sax.
Finally, an album I’ve heard. I actually know Secrets pretty well, to the point that it’s a bit of an inside joke with an old college friend. I actually dragged the same friend to Forest Hills and Philly King Gizz shows last year. I don’t see or speak with him that often, but when I do this album seems to come up and “Gentle Thoughts” typically gets referenced, like “let’s pack a bowl and throw on Gentle Thoughts”, or sometimes just “Gentle Thoughts” is all it takes to grab the bowl. Its still probably my favorite Herbie track.
I first heard Secrets probably back in 1997-1998. It was 3rd or 4th year of college and most people I knew were listening to funk. It seems like it started with The Chronic being by far the most played album on campus my freshmen year, even though it was a few years old by then. That lead to a lot of Parliament Funkadelic, and then Herbie, James Brown, Maceo Parker, etc. being played. MMW released Shack Man in 1996 with Bubblehouse briefly a house party hit and even Phish went heavy into funk in 1997-98.
I think between myself and my college neighbor I mentioned previously, we had 3 Herbie albums: Head Hunters, Man-Child and Secrets. I feel like of the 3, Secrets got the most play, so many years later it is strange to me that Head Hunters is much more well regarded.
Someone has been listening to Grateful Dead lately…wharf rat
lol I was getting into Red Rocks 7/8/78 this week, Wharf Rat included, but that was after Herbie. I guess they’re starting to get into the subconscious haha
I immediately put on this album after you made the announcement and I have listened to it like 3 times this week. Every time I wasn’t ready for it to be over.
Doin’ It
I love noises !!! So much!!! It’s kind of hard putting what I like into words like oh yea I like that sound that went bwwwhhhwweewwnn . or like the fire siren going through a sprinkler. like I don’t care what exactly it is just keep on doing it lol
People music
Early morning morning dew vibes. Waking up in the morning before the sun rises. Plants and nature waking up together and harmonizing. Build an environment and ecosystem with music. Magical funk? The way it builds up feels like noises are telling a story here and I’m listening along.
Cantaloupe island
Video game jazz lol kind of like funky animal crossing. I’m like totally seeing this as like music to the back ground of a video game , but it goes off !!! I get down to it. Totally the type where you do a little jig while you’re playing.
Spider
Monkey sample lol ? It popped off lol let him cook. Something kind of reminds me of TV show sitcom theme music here for some reason.
Gentle thoughts
This song is lightweight. It brings you gentle joyful thoughts like sunshine on a cloudy day. It makes you feel like a great thing is just moments away!
Swamp rat
I fw title name lol. Alley cat chase type beat.
Sansho Shima
Feels like a perfect way to end this album even though you can’t get enough. A grand finale that feels like that final reach to the finish line .
Cantaloupe island
Video game jazz lol kind of like funky animal crossing. I’m like totally seeing this as like music to the back ground of a video game , but it goes off !!! I get down to it. Totally the type where you do a little jig while you’re playing.
Haha, this one made me think of The Sims. Not sure what it is that gives that vibe, but its interesting how hard some of the soundtracks go for these chill life-sim games.
But yeah, very on board with what everyone else has said: really impressive electronic sound design all round, especially from 1976.
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