NEW MUSIC FOR OLDS #46
Weak sauce is still sauce!
Greetings, readers old and new. Welcome to NMFO. I was elated to see a bunch of new signups this week and I can just tell that nothing will ever ruin this moment.
As I prepare to undercut that enthusiasm, let’s see what’s on the docket today:
The comedy opportunity of a lifetime (provided you die soon)
A superb headphone listen
Murder music
Ode to a fuckup
And just in time for Christmas, a thrash metal reunion
Speaking of Xmas, have your considered giving the gift of NEW MUSIC FOR OLDS? Just imagine your loved one’s face when they open up their inbox on Christmas morning to find a shiny new gift subscription!
“Wait,” you say. “You’re not hawking paid subscriptions right before telling us this week’s newsletter is shorter than usual, are you? Because that would be weak sauce.”
Well, amalgamated subscriber, I will remind you that weak sauce is still sauce!
So here’s the deal: I am a busy little bee this week, prepping for my big show at QED Astoria tomorrow night. “What big show?” you ask, once again holding up the proceedings. Why this one, of course:
I’ll be tackling all of life’s most important questions, namely:
Is it a bad sign if your surgeon has tattoos?
Has anyone ever successfully completed The Artist's Way??
What does it mean to "go hard" and can we make people stop saying it???
If you’re in or around NYC tomorrow night (Thu 12/14), come to QED for an evening of over-analysis, personal humiliation and, yes, a lot of heart.
I’m well aware that the vast NMFO readership (seriously, it’s wicked vast) is spread out all over this great nation. But I have a secondary motivation: I’m hoping you will excuse today’s rather truncated newsletter. In addition to all the material I’ve been working on since my last special, I challenged myself to write ten brand new minutes to debut at this show. An arbitrary goal, but it’s where my easily-depleted creative energies are focused this week. These dick jokes don’t (yet) write themselves.
The upshot is, I have three wonderful songs for you today—seriously, it’s a great batch. But I’ll be saving (almost) all additional bullshit for December 27th’s 2nd Annual NMFO Holiday Listacular! That’s right, 2023’s best albums, songs, movies, TV shows and other categories I either won’t spoil for you or haven’t come up with yet!
Onward.
GOOD STUFF
A brief Glossary of Terms.
Tor, “emily i’ll do it tonight”
Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music
Album: tor tape
Nutshell: Bedroom indie
Voltage: 3
Thoughts: I’m not sure where tor tape will land on my Year-End list, but it’s making a late charge. The songs are nuanced and restrained, and the inventive sound palette makes for a great headphone listen. I dig it much more than any of the music British songwriter Tor Davies has heretofore released under the pseudonym “Billy Nomates”. Her invented persona is brash and larger than life, but this more personal iteration of Davies feels appealingly smaller than life. It’s the most “interior” pop music I’ve heard since The XX. There may be practical reasons—everything on tor tape screams “pandemic home recording”. But I hope the re-brand is permanent. Not to piss off the No-mates (a toxic Billy Nomates fanbase that I just made up), but I’m fully Team Tor.
Pairing Suggestion: Cooking something amazing with random shit you found in the fridge
Chelsea Wolfe, “Whispers in the Echo Chamber”
Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music
Album: She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She
Nutshell: Metal/Darkwave hybrid
Voltage: 8
Thoughts: I could spend twenty minutes summarizing Chelsea Wolfe’s sound, but time is short and you have ears, so I’ll simply transcribe the first sentence of her Apple Music bio: Chelsea Wolfe’s music exists on the shadowy margins where gothic folk, grinding metal and harsh electronic music collide to exude a sense of creeping doom. Sure, that’ll do! My contribution is that “Whispers in the Echo Chamber” sounds like if Portishead collaborated with Tony Iommi. Wolfe has that breathy Beth Gibbons thing, where she sounds simultaneously terrified and terrifying. Like a rough beast slouching towards Bethlehem, the song builds ominously, culminating in a monster outro. That guitar riff at 3:30 makes me want to murder things (in a good way).
Pairing Suggestion: Going full “Carrie”
Hurray for the Riff Raff, “Alibi”
Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music
Album: The Past is Still Alive
Nutshell: Alt country
Voltage: 4
Thoughts: This is one of those cases where you file a band in a certain section of your mental record store, but then you actually hear to them and realize you must have confused them with someone else. In my defense, the name Hurray for the Riff Raff screams “freak folk”, a la Moldy Peaches or Devandra Barnhart. You know, cloying and weird-for-weird’s-sake. But “alibi” is a straightforward midtempo ballad, and a nearly perfect one at that. In a perfect world, this is what mainstream Country audiences would clamor for. Alas… Lyrically, “Alibi” belongs the “I’m in love with a fuckup” hall of fame, along with Concrete Blonde’s “Joey” and “Drive” by The Cars.
Pairing Suggestion: Googling “co-dependency”
The people wanna know:
Quick…before it’s too late!
SOME BULLSHIT
As mentioned, we’ll be keeping this brief. But I wanted to share this awesome clip of Dallas thrashers Power Trip reuniting for the first time since the 2020 death of vocalist Riley Gale.
I don’t consider myself a devoted Power Trip fan, but they have a few songs that rock my balls off, especially “Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe)”, which kicks off right at the 0:30 mark. It’s fun to imagine flailing around in this scrum, even while acknowledging that I’d likely be up in the balcony. Oh who am I kidding—I’d be cowering from the safety of a nearby taco truck.
Still, this is great shit! The moment at 2:06 when the entire crowd shouts “SWING OF THE AXE!!!” is particularly intense.
Okay, that’s all for today. Paid Subscribers, I’ll have something for you next week. The rest of yins, let’s meet back on on 12/27 for the 2nd Annual NMFO Holiday Listacular.
In the meantime, have yourself a very merry culturally non-specific holiday celebration!
This trio of songs was very enjoyable. Your kung fu is mighty!
Kick some butt tomorrow!