Down with Literalism!
NEW MUSIC FOR OLDS #83
Hello and happy Monday!
As you may have noticed, today’s installment of New Music for Olds is arriving three days late. I apologize for any duress this may have caused.
As I mentioned, Kambri and I are currently trying to buy a co-op and we’ve spent the past week in the “board package” trenches, combing through bank statements and wrangling reference letters. SPOILER ALERT: not fun!
Anyway, I could have sent this off over the weekend, but decided to hold off until Monday. But that got me thinking: Posting these on Fridays has made the most sense for me, given the ebb and flow at QED Astoria. But with that now off the table, NMFO’s “release date” is kind of arbitrary. So I ask you: when would you prefer to receive this email? You have seven options!
As for NMFO #83, I offer up these riches:
An audio SSRI!
An offering to the gods of music supervision!
Digestible sludge!
Back to the retrofuture!
Plus, an exciting opportunity to do artistic combat!
BUT FIRST…
IMPORTANT PRE-TUNES MESSAGE!
I have decided to start an NMFO Music League. If these words make sense and you already know you’re onboard, join up!
(I’m a computer dummy and can’t get this link to open in a separate window, so be sure to right-click.)
Should you require more explanation/context, you will find it in today’s SOME BULLSHIT.
Shall we proceed?
GOOD STUFF
I give unto thee, this Glossary of Terms.
Erika de Casier, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”
Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music
Album: Lifetime
Nutshell: Airy R&B pop
Voltage: 4
Thoughts: Relax: “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” is not a cover of the Rolling Stones song, which I acknowledge as a classic but never need to hear again. No middling-and-slightly-annoyed choirs to be found here! Relaxation happens to be key to this particular iteration, so spend this three minutes and thirty seconds luxuriating. After all, life is stressful. Not for me, of course—my life is an unending string of pearls. But for those of you less clearly blessed, I recommend the de-stressifying powers of Lifetime, the latest album by Portuguese-Danish songwriter Erika de Casier. It should be a welcome and familiar sound to any fan of Sade’s Love Deluxe or the first two Seal albums: diaphanous synths over lightly funky beats. It’s Trip-Hop on Wellbutrin.
Pairing Suggestion: Dissolving into pure vapor
These New Puritans, Caroline Polachek, “Industrial Love Song”
Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music
Album: Crooked Wing
Nutshell: Mournful sophisti-pop
Voltage: 3
Thoughts: I’m quite enjoying this new album by longtime UK duo These New Puritans, an artist I’d sorta forgotten about. A number of tracks evoke The Blue Nile, which you may recall is a direct path to my heart. I’m instead highlighting this collaboration with Caroline Polacheck because I have a prediction: sooner or later, some “prestige television” program is going to drop “Industrial Love Song” into a pivotal episode. Specifically, the chorus—I prognosticate that it will accompany the death of some beloved character, maybe serve as a series capper. From that point forward, it will be forever beloved as “the song from that show”. Think Sia’s Breathe Me”, or “Baby Blue” by Badfinger. Let no one say I didn’t call it!
Pairing Suggestion: The sun slowly peeking out over a funeral
Pelican, “Pining For Ever”
Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music
Album: Flickering Resonance
Nutshell: Instrumental hard rock
Voltage: 7
Thoughts: Chicago quartet Pelican has been making groove-oriented atmospheric metal for twenty-plus years. I’ve been a casual fan, and I’d say their consistently solid (but never ostentatious) riff-ery lends itself to casual fandom. This sounds like faint praise, but what I enjoy about Pelican is that their sludge is easily digestible in a way that’s uncommon to this genre. Instrumental bands tend to flaunt technical prowess, cramming each song with showy solos and time changes. By comparison, Pelican keep things simple, settling into a groove and chugging away—like Rocky Balboa to their peers’ Apollo Creed. To paraphrase Brian Eno, this makes for superb background music, rewarding close listening but not requiring it.
Pairing Suggestion: Slow-motion footage of an avalanche
Stereolab, “Melodie Is A Wound”
Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music
Album: Instant Holograms on Metal Film
Nutshell: Avant-pop
Voltage: 5
Thoughts: You didn’t really think you were going to make it through this newsletter without me mentioning the new Stereolab, did you? Am I not a white, college-educated, Gen Xer? Indie adjacent, with a faint whiff of try-hard sophistication? I am duty bound to carry water for this artist! I’m therefore grateful to founders Lætitia Sadler and Time Gane for releasing music worthy of the praise I’d probably be giving it anyway. It’s been fifteen years since the last Stereolab album, but Instant Holograms on Metal Film picks up pretty much where the band left off: in a tiki bar for Midcentury French robots. At least, that’s how I hear it.
Pairing Suggestion: Casually sipping your Hydraulic Fluid Colada
And now, that fateful moment.
And here’s your chance to tell me about how you struggled to make it through this past weekend without a new installment of NMFO. Or just generalized pontification on this week’s music. (This small section of) the floor is yours!
SOME BULLSHIT
As I’ve mentioned time and again, I waste a good amount of time on Music League, the charming “competitive playlist” app that debuted in Fall 2023.
Inspired my pal Mike Joseph of the Detoxicity podcast, I have decided to start an NMFO-centric music league. I would like you to join it.
After playing Music League for an year and a half now, I have developed a few pet peeves about how users approach these “competitions”. Far be it from me to deny anyone the dopamine hit that comes with seeing one’s name atop a leaderboard. But given that I’m the controlling partner here at NMFO Global Industries Worldwide, I’d like to establish a few ground rules for this particular league:
When you choosing a song, the app will sometimes inform you that another player has already picked a song by the same artist. For reasons that will become obvious once you start using the app, this is known as “orange-boxing”. Music League will still allow you to submit your choice, redundancy be damned. But avoid that, if you can.
If choosing between a song that nails the theme lyrically and one that doesn't but nonetheless "feels right", go for the one that feels right. Down with Literalism!
If choosing between a personal fave and a popular song you think will "win", go for the personal fave. If you have one that checks both boxes...how very nice for you, BIG SHOT.
I hereby declare the chat a Pedantry-Free Zone. Engage as much or as little as you like. Don’t be a weirdo!
So let it be posted, so let it be done.
By the way, the Music League is Spotify-based, but you don’t need a paid account to play. If you’d like to convert a playlist from Spotify to a less-terrible music service, you can do so at tunemymusic.com.
So, you up for this?
That link is unlisted for the time being. I’d prefer this league not fill up with a bunch of random puds. I’d rather have you—very specific puds. But join as soon as you can, else I’ll be forced to call in the rabble. Also, I may tweak the Round One submission deadline, depending on how quickly the league fills up.
Here’s how things will be getting started:
ROUND ONE: The Song From That Show
In this inaugural round of the NMFO Music League, we’re looking for songs that have become an linked to TV shows in which they’ve appeared, either in popular culture or in your mind. Include the show/episode number in the comments, along with any context you’d like to provide.
Note: Stick to television—we’ll save movies for a different round. Also, theme songs don’t count!
The theme for Round Two will be revealed two weeks from now, in NMFO #84, along with a few thoughts on our collective Round One playlist and rankings. Future themes will be inspired by what I’ve decided to write about in a given NMFO, but I’m more than happy to reverse-engineer that process. So if you have a good idea for a theme, I’m all ears. Get weird with it!
That is all for NMFO #83. As always I thank you for your support. See you in two weeks and/or on Music League!
I’d say a .750 batting average ain’t bad!
Hey man. Post whenever it works for you. I mean nobody said the Mona Lisa had to be done by Friday. I think it was a Monday or maybe Tuesday when she finally dropped. That worked out OK.