12/17 - I Woke To The Sound of Dogs

From hope, to anger and sorrow, to hope again.

Ella Fitzgerald - Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

Listen, it's the First Lady of Song seducing you in the most sensuous, sultry manner. So many fantastically naughty lines delivered in the most innocuous way: "worship the trousers that cling to him", "Thank God, I can be oversexed again", "Those ants that invaded my pants"...

Jean-Philippe Rameau - Castor et Pollux, Acte I, Scène III: Prélude "Tristes apprêts,  pâles flambeaux"

Sad apparitions, pale flames. 
</3

Gonzaguinha - Geraldinos E Arquibaldos

Everybody! Let's sing along to oddball acapella samba and feel our fighting spirits rise!

Grizzly Bear - Mourning Sound

Obsessed. I want the new album NOW!

We woke with the mourning sound
It's the sound of distant shots and passing trucks

Radiohead - Man of War

After two decades of listening to various live bootlegs, suddenly, there's a studio version of this quintessential lost gem. It's a strange feeling listening to it, and at first I was hesitant, but I'm coming around to the conclusion that they fuckin nailed it.

The worms will come for you, Theresa May...

11/17 - How Could You Disappoint A Moon That Shone So Bright?

After the first uplifting (kind of) election result since I moved to Britain, let us relish socialism's return to the accompaniment of some old time afternoon jazz. I inherited a whole bunch of records from my late uncle and am slowly working my way through them and finding little gems.

Stan Getz - Her

Gorgeous innit? Sentimental perhaps, but come on; it's got all the confident panache of a classic Bogart/Bacall melodrama!

J.J. Johnson - Who Will Buy?

J.J.'s trombone tone is something I always react positively too, but rarely has it been so sing-a-long-friendly as here. And how awesome are those shuffling drum-shifts?

Basie's Bad Boys - Love Me or Leave Me

Early Count Basie slays. Tightest swing there is. 

Django Reinhardt - Finesse

A tune that lives up to its name. Every line, every single note, is simple elegance incarnate. The little clarinet flourishes round 1:30 give me the shivers.

Johnny Hodges & his Orchestra - You Walked Out of the Picture

That perfect voice of sadness shows up on a whole bunch of old Johnny Hodges recordings, and apparently it belongs to a Mary McHugh, whom I haven't been able to find a single picture of. I guess she walked out of them, and left an air of delicate melancholy for us to build a fantasy around.

10/17 - I Remember Syrup Sandwiches and Crime Allowances

Unloading some incredible tracks with a red thread of simple but deadly basslines.

Big Boi ft Killer Mike and Jeezy - Kill Jill

Big Boi and Killer Mike on the same track has been a recipe for greatness for 17 years now, and the new single from the former is no exception. I could kinda do without Jeezy, but that otherworldly Hatsune Miko sample makes up for that easily.

TV On The Radio - Golden Age

Can't believe this modern classic hasn't been on a list yet, and of course it's ironic to include it a day after Trump betrayed the planet, but hey, let's hope a golden age is coming 'round!

Give it up 'stead of grabbing for decay
What we viewed as gold I believe pollutes this space
And its grace ascending
Like a snake up your tree

Bootsy Collins - I'd Rather Be With You

Sleazy and irresistible. Those massive farts of bassnotes, and then that super-weird/-pervy outro chat. Plus handclaps. Brilliant.

Schoolboy Q ft. The Dogg Pound - Big Body

Continuing on an almost identical recipe: sex-crazed lyrics and 3-4 notes of ridiculously fantastic bass sounds.

Kendrick Lamar - HUMBLE.

I wanna go to a party where we all dance to this. Soon. Again, it's the simple details that does it. If you don't rock to that piano riff, I don't know what you're made of.