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Song of the Day #3,921: ‘Melancholy Mood’ – Bob Dylan

Here’s Bob Dylan sounding better than any man of his age and limited vocal range has a right to on a cut from his 2016 album of standards, Fallen Angels.

Before those vocals kick in, we get a full minute of sublime instrumental work. One element of Dylan’s recent covers albums that goes underappreciated is how amazing his backing band sounds. This handful of rock musicians — the same group who back him up on tour — bring nuance and grace to standards that were often recorded with full orchestras.

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Song of the Day #3,920: ‘Movin’ On Up’ – Primal Scream

So many of the noteworthy albums from 1991 are loud and aggressive. From classics I’ve already covered like Nirvana’s Nevermind, Pearl Jam’s Ten and Metallica’s Metallica to lesser-known but heralded albums by Soundgarden, Fugazi, Mudhoney and Hole.

When I saw that a band called Primal Scream released a celebrated album in ’91, I assumed it would be another loud one. But Primal Scream turns out to be a much more interesting band than their name suggests. Somewhere a metal band wishes they’d gotten to that moniker first.

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Song of the Day #3,919: ‘Watch Me Fall’ – Uncle Tupelo

Uncle Tupelo is regarded as the definitive alt-country band, pioneering a blend of folk rock and traditional country sounds. Great contemporary artists like Neko Case and Jason Isbell can be traced back to the music these guys put out in the early 90s.

Uncle Tupelo’s members are better known for their follow-up efforts, as Jay Farrar went on to form Son Volt and Jeff Tweedy achieved even bigger success with Wilco. When still together, they released four albums between 1990 and 1993. Still Feel Gone was their third.

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Song of the Day #3,918: ‘Letter to Memphis’ – Pixies

Noisy pop bands were big in the late 80s and early 90s, and the Pixies stand out as one of the most celebrated and influential of the bunch. I’m surprised to see I’ve never featured a Pixies song on the blog, given how often they’re referenced by bands I like.

‘Trompe Le Monde’ was the band’s fourth album and their last before the original lineup broke up. The band reunited ten years later without bassist Kim Deal and released two more albums this decade.

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Song of the Day #3,917: ‘I Don’t Know’ – Teenage Fanclub

These Decades weeks usually turn up a couple of artists I feel like I should like, whether or not that ends up happening.

For 1991, the lucky winner is Teenage Fanclub, the Scottish alternative pop act that released its breakthrough third album, titled Bandwagonesque, that year. Influenced by bands like The Beatles, The Byrds and Big Star, Teenage Fanclub paid as much attention to melody as the grunge guitar sound of the time.

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