Streaming Playlists

Pandemic Highlights

Picked by Tanner Guss

An abridged look at last year. During Covid I’ve…

Played more Dungeons & Dragons characters than gigs.
Pondered the looming impacts of automation and other joys of my brooding robo-dread (hey Jaron)
Enjoyed weekly movie-club meetings with Brent Wallarab (Ep. 15), Wayne Wallace (Ep. 22), and friends
Acquired an amateur understanding of string-theory and quantum physics (thanks Dr. Greene)
Discovered the singular artistic achievement that is Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag (Amazon Prime)
and listened to some truly delightful music

Blue – Joni Mitchell

Those who say you can’t put a price on happiness clearly never found this 1971 masterpiece for $1 at the DI! If you’re not familiar with Deseret Industries think Goodwill but it’s owned by the LDS church and the furniture is overpriced. It took a global pandemic (and dumb luck) for me to find Joni’s music, so this is an admittedly late addition to the mountain of praise surrounding her and her art. In 2020 – after Rolling Stone realized women and people of color also make great albums – Blue became #3 on the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. I’m in the “ranked lists are dumb because art isn’t a competition” camp, but it’s still nice to see this one up there. What’s more telling to me is the earnest respect and love for Joni Mitchell from my musical heroes: Brain Blade, Herbie Hancock, and Ambrose Akinmusire to name a few.

On Blue we’re hearing the product of not one, but two romances: her recent breakup with Graham Nash and her budding relationship with James Taylor (get it Joni). Between the two, not to mention the traumatic experience of giving up her daughter for adoption, there are soaring highs and crushing lows throughout. While the sentiment changes from track to track, brazen honesty unites every moment of Blue. I can never get over these bubbly, pure love lyrics in All I Want:

All I really really want our love to do
Is to bring out the best in me and in you
I wanna talk to you, I wanna shampoo you
I wanna renew you again and again

Joni! I literally can’t even. If you pull out your theory magnifying glass, you’ll find Joni’s rhythmic delivery is wonderfully varied and complex throughout. Yet it sounds so natural you’d never once think she’s trying to be fancy or impressive. It’s truly magical, so if you’re a horn player looking for phrasing inspiration LOOK NO FURTHER! Overall, this is one of the most rewarding listening experiences I’ve ever had.

Tragically, I loaned this treasure out to my buddy one day after work and never saw it again. I’ve been told it was swallowed by his truck’s faulty cd player, but I remain hopeful for its return. Orion, if you’re reading this… do the right thing.

Orange – Caroline Shaw + Attacca Quartet

Okay so I am not anywhere near familiar enough with string quartet rep. to know how this holds up historically. But I did shell out to get this one on orange vinyl, so you know it’s special. The set included a score for Entr’acta which I keep telling myself I’ll sit down and learn on the piano… There’s always tomorrow! I don’t throw out genius lightly, but Caroline Shaw is well deserving of that title. Her brilliant mind has also graced us with Partita for 8 Voices, this mesmerizing Kanye West collab, and detailed soft-boiled egg instructions via her IG page.

Shaw’s master of texture and dynamics really shine in this collection; guiding the quartet to new boundaries on their instruments. The sheer amount of unique sonic landscapes she leads us through is astounding. Sometimes we convince ourselves we’ve explored everything there is to experience in music, and that’s when we lose our passion. A powerful way for musicians to find the magic again is to listen to music we don’t play ourselves. Honestly, it’s so refreshing to hear music as a listener instead of a practitioner. This one really does that for me, and is absolutely worth 1:03:43 of your time (apparently Tidal thinks we need to know fractions of seconds).

Fetch The Bolt Cutters – Fiona Apple

This year’s Grammy winner for Best Alternative Music Album (can anyone tell me what that means?) is perhaps the most compelling offering yet from Fiona Apple. Like Joni Mitchell, I didn’t get into Fiona Apple until the past year. The more I listen and learn about her the more inspired I get. Despite industry pressure early on to become a rock darling, Fiona has fearlessly done things her own way. She releases whatever she wants, and she does it when she wants to. Over her 25 year career she has released only 5 albums, each one sounded new but still undeniably herself. What’s even more exciting is her process works. She makes things on her own terms because it serves the music, and her personal well being, and audiences reward her for these efforts! Each of Apple’s albums to date were commercial successes and garnered significant critical acclaim. How cool is that?

For context, Apple followed up her 1996 Tidal triple-platinum debut album with 1999’s When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks Like a King What He Knows Throws the Blows When He Goes to the Fight and He’ll Win the Whole Thing ‘fore He Enters the Ring There’s No Body to Batter When Your Mind Is Your Might So When You Go Solo, You Hold Your Own Hand and Remember That Depth Is the Greatest of Heights and If You Know Where You Stand, Then You Know Where to Land and If You Fall It Won’t Matter, Cuz You’ll Know That You’re Right.
So yeah, she doesn’t give a shit about what we think, and for that I’m grateful. And yes, that set a world record for album title length.

Fetch The Bolt Cutters is an apt album for a world trapped at home. It has all the signature Fiona devices: stellar storytelling, overlapping vocal lines, drum voice duets, delightful triplet melodies, and Sebastian Steinberg’s upright bass magic. Plus there are some unique, compelling production devices. Much of the record was done with samples and field recordings from around Apple’s home. Check out the title track’s 3 bar drum pattern (the rest of the track has regular 4 bar phrasing) played on household items perfectly finished off with neighborhood dog barks.

Soil – serpentwithfeet

This album makes me uncomfortable. The harmonies are eerie and challenging. The lyrics pointedly honest. Our sonic environment is cavernous; like we’re attending Serpent’s sermon in a massive cathedral. This, like the church organ and choir textures throughout, likely comes from Josiah Wise’s upbringing in the Pentecostal Church. Repetitive, off-kilter loops accompany most songs. His drum parts (when present at all) are sparse, and there is no way for us to hide from Serpent’s bold, revealing narrative. Simple voices emerge and overlap as they churn their way to an overwhelming, claustrophobic boil. And I love it. I’ve never heard anything quite like Soil, and I keep coming back to this one. He has a new album out this week, on the 26th, which the 32 year old promises is a more optimistic exploration of his relationships with black men.

We so hope you enjoy these selections! We are fortunate to live in an era with immediate, cheap access to virtually all of the music ever recorded. Unfortunately, streaming is not a sustainable form of income for most artists. If you find music you enjoy please consider supporting the artist directly or purchasing their music through a service like Bandcamp. We’ll see you next week. Happy listening!