Consuming the Tangible

It turned out Saturday was a bit of a bust in terms of mental and emotional health, so instead of my usual morning ritual of making playlists I dealt with that. It happens, and I’m working through it. My brain has been spinning with different wants and needs when it comes to music, and the most recent batch of stuff that’s either come to my attention or possession has been a balm. So let’s knock this one on an Easter morning where everyone is still asleep and the tunes are just beginning to work their way through the speakers.

I’ve been digging into Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde a lot, reading Daryl Sanders’s That Thin, Wild Mercury Sound: Dylan, Nashville, and the Making of Blonde on Blonde. It’s a fun read, and started turning me on to The Band, a group I’ve generally paid little to no attention to outside of “The Weight” and The Last Waltz. It’s also been a few days of intense Robin Trower education – I’ve had a beat up vinyl of Bridge of Sighs forever, but took advantage of some credits and sales to grab not only some of the recent anniversary editions that have been released, but also some early Procol Harum, of which this monster prog suite might be my favorite, and an early glimpse of Trower’s power.

The Paul Cauthen, Thundercat, and Arlo Parks are gimmies – they’re some of my favorite recent artists so their new releases are always something I’ll jump towards; I was surprised I did the same for Soft Machine, a band I only just started to really investigate in the last year. Thirteen is a great jazz rock experience, with incredible guitar. I also spent the last few days (and my remaining Amazon points) shoring up holes in my collection – can you believe despite being in college when they hit it big, I didn’t own any Alice in Chains albums? That’s been fixed, with their first three LPs and the excellent re-launch of the band with Adam Duvall and Black Gives Way to Blue, of which “Last of My Kind” is represented here. I also grabbed some recent soul/R&B albums, grabbing the phenomenal 2016 release from Solonge, as well as albums from Sza and Erykah Badu (not in this week’s playlist but maybe next time?).

Finally, how about another version of “Maggot Brain,” this time from the solo jazz debut of Flea? I’ve really been enjoying this record, and feel a kinship with the man I never did before, despite being a big RHCP fan.

Be safe, be good to each other. See you next week.