Music Nerd 17: Summer Somersaults
Five music things to jump up and down about
Happy August, y’all! Here’s some music stuff I’ve been distracting myself with so far this summer:
A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs
This podcast goes down long rabbit holes of deep background and explanation to contextualize music. Did you know the harmonica was one of the most popular musical instruments from the 1920s through the 1940s and there were tons of harmonica bands and orchestras at that time? Host and author Andrew Hickey will tell you all about that and a million other things about music.
Noname hip hop
Last summer, Rolling Stone called her “one of the best rappers alive,” and I agree. Her beats and vocal delivery are very low-fi and laid-back but her lyrics lean forward. While we wait for her next album to come out, check out her Noname Book Club advocacy work.
Trombone Shorty’s Voodoo Threauxdown
I was lucky enough to catch this show at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in July: a celebration of New Orleans artists like Tank & the Bangas, The Soul Rebels, Big Freedia, Dumpstaphunk, Cyril Neville the Uptown Ruler, and Trombone Shorty. The show is a history lesson on New Orleans music and also a showcase of where it’s going: Trombone Shorty’s live performance is a high-energy funk-rock showcase.
Loud aggressive music is cathartic
I’m obsessed with genres like jazz, soul, funk, reggae, and afrobeat, but some days I want nothing more than to crush my eardrums with high-decibel, fast, aggressive music.
Lately I’ve been listening to the STIFF RICHARDS, a punk band from Melbourne, Australia.
The 2002 “Irony is a Dead Scene” EP from Dillinger Escape Plan featuring Mike Patton was reissued recently on vinyl to commemorate its 20th anniversary: it’s worth a listen to hear skull crushing alternative metal from the early 2000s that has aged well.
Here’s a recent roundup of metal from Bandcamp, including grindcore from Singapore, melodeath from Japan, and and all-female death metal band.
Here’s a fun recent video from IDLES, one of the best live British punk acts performing today.
And this video of the punk band The Linda Lindas performing “Racist, Sexist Boy” at the LA public library is just pure punk gold: I’m sure you’ve seen it, but watch it again!
In this recent NYTimes story about teenage punks in New York City in the 70s, Kate Schellenbach — original Beastie Boys drummer and later with Luscious Jackson — says this about joining the punk scene: “Everything about it made me think, ‘Oh, maybe this is something I can do.’ These people were still in high school — it seemed attainable.”
The Funky and the Jazzy
Pitchfork argues that songs like “Not Tight” by “zoomer jazz prodigies” Domi Louna and JD Beck — and their collaborations with artists like Anderson .Paak and Snoop Dogg and Thundercat — is bringing jazz fusion to a new hyper-brained generation. I dig it.
Black Thought collaborated with Danger Mouse and it sounds like this.
And there’s fantastic instrumental cinematic-soul/funk-jazz coming out of Australia: The Pro-Teens recorded an instrumental tribute to MF Doom and Surprise Chef are releasing a new album of moody, quirky, low-fi funk-jazz and are touring this Summer and Fall.
Happy listening and thanks for reading MUSIC NERD! The Summer Somersaults Playlist is up on Spotify