by

Song of the Day #3,692: ‘All I Want’ – Joni Mitchell

It’s time for the latest installment of my Decades series, wherein I highlight the albums of a specific year in the 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s. I last wrapped up the ‘zeroes’ by hitting 1970, 1980, 1990 and (earlier this year) 2000. Before that I did the ‘twos,’ starting with my birth year — 1972 — and jumping ahead from there.

Now I turn to the ‘ones’ and kick things off with 1971. As usual, I will count down my own favorite albums from that year before spending a week on widely acclaimed albums of the year with which I am unfamiliar.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #3,691: ‘The Dream Police’ – David Byrne

Rei Momo, released in 1989, was David Byrne’s first proper solo album, coming on the heels of Talking Heads’ final album, 1988’s Naked.

Byrne had always explored Afro/Caribbean sounds with Talking Heads (Naked being a great example) but he doubled down on the concept on this album. Every Rei Momo track features a different musical style, which is noted in the track list: cumbia, orisa, salsa, merengue, bomba, rumba, all that good stuff. Today’s SOTD is an example of ‘cha cha cha.’

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #3,690: ‘The Long Way Around’ – Dixie Chicks

My daughters have recently rediscovered the 2006 Dixie Chicks album Taking the Long Way, so I’ve heard today’s random SOTD a lot lately. It’s the lead-off track to that fine album, which won five Grammys including Album of the Year.

This song, about leaving a small town to explore the world, reminds me of some of Miranda Lambert’s best work (at least thematically). It has the added element of responding to the controversy over lead singer Natalie Maines’ comments, spoken overseas, about then-president George W. Bush.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #3,689: ‘I’m Upset’ – Drake

My second week of ‘What the Kids are Listening to’ ends as the first week began, with a Drake song. ‘I’m Upset’ is the second single from Drake’s Scorpion and his fifth song in the top 16 of the latest Billboard Hot 100 chart.

This is a better video than song. Directed by Canadian filmmaker Karena Evans, who also helmed the great videos for ‘God’s Plan‘ and ‘Nice For What,’ the short film revisits the cast of the Canadian teen drama Degrassi at a high school reunion.

Continue reading →

by

Song of the Day #3,688: ‘Delicate’ – Taylor Swift

In the 13th and 14th spots on Billboard’s Hot 100 we have two songs I featured the last time I looked at the charts — ‘The Middle‘ by Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey; and ‘Meant to Be‘ by Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line. These two country-flavored hits were back to back in the top five in late May and they’ve stuck together lower on the chart.

At #15 is another (one-time) country artist, though it’s been awhile since Taylor Swift got her twang on. In fact, I think the best unexpected career move for Swift right now would be to put out another bona fide country pop album.

Continue reading →