Trace Elements of FOMO
NEW MUSIC FOR OLDS #84
Happy Friday night. As any Elton John fan will tell you, Saturday night’s alright for fighting. But everyone fails to mention that Friday night is perfect for building up resentments!
In today’s six-hours-late edition of NEW MUSIC FOR OLDS:
Hot chocolate for your ears!
Psychotic hobnobbing behavior!
A screenplay I’ll never write!
A graduation to the big leagues!
Goofy wizard metal!
Plus, a Round 1 recap of the NMFO Music League!
Shall we?
GOOD STUFF
Your very own Glossary of Terms.
Ken Yates, “Sidewinder”
Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music
Album: Total Cinema
Nutshell: Gentle pop-rock for adults
Voltage: 4
Thoughts: I’m not entirely sure what to say about this unassuming little tune, other than to note that I’ve listened to it 50+ times over the past week. I stumbled across Canadian songwriter Ken Yates whilst spelunking in last week’s new releases. When bingeing music, it’s easy to skim past stuff that doesn’t immediately impose its will—big guitars, impassioned performances, brash production, etc. So I’m glad I happened to be in the right frame of mind to appreciate “Sidewinder”, which doesn’t so much grab you by the lapels as lightly tap you on the shoulder to say “I’ll be over here if you need me.” In addition to being an efficient little composition, the production conveys real warmth—especially on headphones. It’s hot chocolate for your ears.
Pairing Suggestion: Late night drive with a starry sky and nowhere to be
The Bug Club, “How to Be a Confidante”
Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music
Album: Very Human Features
Nutshell: DIY garage pop
Voltage: 6
Thoughts: This one came to me via my good friends Bob and Amanda, with whom Kambri I did some primo hobnobbing over Memorial Day Weekend. Mid-burger, Bob jeopardized the entire afternoon by cueing this song up on the bluetooth speaker and pulling a classic “Hey, check this out” ambush. Psychotic behavior! I feared I’d have to pull out the ol’ “whoops gotta go mom died!” maneuver. Thankfully, “How to Be a Confidante” is four and half minutes (and two chords) of ramshackle fun. What this tune lacks in compositional sophistication it makes up for in enthusiasm and sheer earworm-iness. At least once a day, I find myself singing “If I’m lucky, I’ll never have another friend like you.” I hear the Velvet Underground and Cornershop, but Amanda mentioned Los Campesinos, which may excite you “Elder Millennial” types.
Further thoughts: This song inspired in me a screenplay premise that I’m quite sure I’ll never get around to writing: A junior high art teacher and the school’s janitor are having an affair on school grounds. One night they’re found canoodling in the school’s music room and, as cover, claim to be there because they’re starting a rock band. Unfortunately, they’re been spied on by the school’s most annoying student, who’s determined to play drums in this nonexistent “band”. He extorts them into performing at the talent show and they spend two weeks practicing really hard. Basically, this is the song they come up with. In the end, they realize they didn’t actually want to leave their spouses after all—they just needed a hobby. Think “Ted Lasso”, but written and directed by Todd Solondz.
Pairing Suggestion: Dusting off that Final Draft CD-Rom
Activity, “Heavy Breathing”
Listen on Apple Music // Listen on Amazon Music
Album: A Thousand Years In Another Way
Nutshell: Slinky and unsettling indie rock
Voltage: 6
Thoughts: Remember those post-heydey Smashing Pumpkins albums, when Billy Corgan tried to present himself as a darkwave synthpop guy? This tune, by the Brooklyn art rock band Activity, posits the question, “What might that have sounded like if it didn’t suck?” I mean, the vocal resemblance is uncanny. Beyond that, you’ll hear some Robert Smith guitar plink-ery and lots of claustrophobic percussion, both programmed and organic. Disclosure no one asked for: I included Activity in my GOOD STUFF OVERLOAD round-up a few newsletters ago, making this something of as retread. But the full album has finally dropped last week and it’s thoroughly blurb-worthy. Congrats Activity, you made it to the big leagues! From here, it’s all gravy.
Pairing Suggestion: Ever so slightly panicking
Alright, make your mark.
And now, speak your mind.
WAIT, ONE MORE SONG!
This popped up in my YouTube feed yesterday and I found it charming/amusing. It’s a pretty cool song, but I’m not sure I’d recommend it without the added bonus of this very silly video. Enjoy it for what it is!
MUSIC LEAGUE UPDATE
Our ballyhooed NMFO Music League now has one round in the books and…let’s just say it’s not going well for Finny! Our current leader is Bill Shunn, followed by Jay P and Steven Rosenthal. I’ll be keeping a Google Sheet with a running tally of the scores/rankings, as well as any notes players included with their song choice.
NMFO Music League — Round 1 results and player notes
NOTE: Four players failed to vote in Round 1, for which I blame myself. To be clear, you have a period of time in which to submit a song, and then another period of time in which you listen/vote. If you don’t meet the voting deadline, you don’t get to keep any of the votes your received from other players. To keep things simple, I’ve made all due dates Fridays at noon. In other words, you have until 12pm on 6/20 to submit your song for Round 2 and then until 12pm on 6/27 to cast your votes. Capisce?
There’s a ton of great stuff on this playlist, so indulge yourself! Keep in mind, the track order here is random—check out the Google Sheet for actual rankings.
A few thoughts on this playlist:
I considered barring Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” and now I kinda wish I had. Not that I dislike the song—it’s super duper! It’s just that I knew it would win, given it’s recent ubiquity. In the future, I reserve the right to remove clear favorites BECAUSE I AM A TYRANT.
“In the Air Tonight” is a great one, but I had to weigh its use in Miami Vice against the fact that the song had already appeared in a pivotal Risky Business sex scene. I may have only been ten years old, but Rebecca de Mornay made made me Hecka de Hornay1.
Love the Buffalo Tom inclusion. Hot Take: “My So-Called Life” was the actual beginning of Prestige TV.
When I was 14-ish, my high school performance choir participated in a competition at Bush Gardens Williamsburg. BRAG! Anyway, the park had this mini “recording studio” where you could live out your pop star fantasies. Somewhere there exists a cassette tape of me badly mangling “At This Moment” by Billy Vera & the Beaters and if it ever comes to light I swear to god I will walk straight into the ocean.
My nominee, “Wrapped in My Memory” by Shawn Smith, came in SECOND TO LAST (not including the non-voters). Philistines, all of you!
Any non-leaguers have thoughts?
Feeling left out?
Our little music league currently has 19 players (one player has already dropped out, which is not uncommon). I have decided to expand the league to 25, which means we have room for SIX MORE OF YOU DINGUSES.
So if you’re feeling trace elements of FOMO, why not enter the fray?
ROUND TWO THEME: Thanks, Dad!
For Round 2, pick a song you love that was first introduced to you by your father. Something he used to play on road trips.
If appropriate, feel free to substitute “father” with a father figure or older relative.
If there’s no room left to join the league (or if it’s just not your thing), drop your favorite Dad Song in the comments.
That’s all for today, peoples. If you’re attending a protest tomorrow, give ‘em (safe and nonviolent) hell!
Sorry. Trying to delete.
I only played it to get into the substack!
Old relative (brother) played Leonard Cohen's Songs of Leonard Cohen over and over again in his room. This was the the late 60's.