Listening Diary 15

Two tunes for the masses, eight for the subscribers

Hello! Here are ten songs that I’ve enjoyed listening to lately. Many are pulled from my pile of “to listen to” albums, which I’m proud to say has made it to August of last year. That’s the closest I’ve been to caught up in a loooong time. Other selections come from my on-going research for Drumming Upstream. Sometimes these collections of tunes fall into themes. Not this time! These are just songs that I enjoyed for their own sake. You may enjoy them too… if you’re a paid subscriber. Subscribe now to receive bonus letters like this on a semi-frequent basis or continue your day tuneless. Choose wisely. To make your choice a bit easier, I’ve included the first two tunes for free!

“Moonlight” by Jay-Z (4:44, 2017)

Apologies for the video version instead of just the audio, but I couldn’t find any uploads of this tune that didn’t scream “copyright takedown” and I would like these Listening Diaries to be at least somewhat insulated from the ravages of digital time.

Speaking of aging for better or worse, as part of my research for an upcoming entry of Drumming Upstream I finally caught up with 4:44, the latest of late period Jay-Z albums. As it so happens, 4:44 was produced by No I.D., who has also already figured into Drumming Upstream. The production is terrific across the record. The beat for “Moonlight” is a good example, that sample should sound so obvious but No I.D. frames it so precisely that it sounds inspired instead. His production also brought out an intimacy in Jay-Z’s delivery that had never surfaced before. I love how he starts this song rapping barely above a whisper before revving up to his usual register. Late era Jay is still a tough hang. Too much unsolicited financial advice. But at least on 4:44 Jay-Z sounds like an actual person and not the loose assemblage of brand names that showed up on Magna Carta Holy Grail.

“Deer Ghost” by Gospel (The Loser, 2022)

I was over a decade late to the party for Gospel’s The Moon Is a Dead World (2005), so by comparison I feel pretty close to on time for their much delayed follow up from last year. Completely obliterates the distance between screamo and progressive rock in a way that I bet will infuriate purists of either form. Using organ instead of a second guitar gives their stuff such a unique texture. I’d recommend any track from The Loser (it’d be a likely lock on a list of my favorite albums of 2022 if I were at all inclined to make such a list) but I especially like how “Deer Ghost” gets so much material out of its central rhythmic hook. Tightly written, tightly arranged, tightly played.