I’ve been tied up with the latest Decades series for the past few weeks, so I never got a chance to chime in on the Oscars. Don’t worry, that ship has sailed, and I don’t plan to revisit this year’s Academy Awards at this point.
But I did want to take a minute to acknowledge one of my favorite moments from the ceremony: Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga’s performance of ‘Shallow.’
Through more than ten years and nearly 4,000 Songs of the Day, I have written exclusively about songs written and performed by other people. That’s a long time to spend as an observer.
Not many people know this about me, but I have dabbled in a bit of songwriting myself. And today, I’ve summoned the courage to post one of my own songs.
Nil Lara is a Miami musician who my wife and I saw live a few times back in the 90s. His early self-released albums and EPs were excellent.
Lara signed with a major label in 1995, releasing a self-titled album that collected his best work in more polished (and less effective, IMO) form. He didn’t put out another album until 2004’s Da, on which today’s SOTD is the opening track.
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.
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.
Meet Me In Montauk 