Let’s have a change of pace, shall we? I keep an iTunes file
called 2008 Old Songs. With 2008 halfway finished, and this being the
deadest summer for singles that I can remember, I’m going to present
its contents with commentary over the next few columns. Maybe that’s
indulgent. But these tracks are as life enhancing as any of the new
stuff normally covered here, and many double as recommendations for
their host album.
Beck’s “Deadweight” (from Odelay: Deluxe Edition,
Geffen): Still one of his prettiest songs, and one of the handful I
treasure.
Billy Eckstine, “Ask the Lonely” (from The Complete Motown
Singles Vol. 9: 1969, Hip-O): Eckstine was one of the suavest of
the post-Sinatra crooner brigade, but he never fully transitioned into
R&B, which is why he’s so obscure today. His voice was huge and
deep and stolid, and he murders this great Four Tops hit, primarily by
sounding like Levi Stubbs a few years and a handful of real regrets
down the line. There isn’t a trace of false hope.
The Elcados, “Ku Mi Da Hankan” (from Nigeria Rock
Special, Soundway):
Organ-guitar combo to melt the heart, with
vocals to match. Then after two minutes, they decide to turn loose: The
funk and the rock aren’t distinguishable, either in the rapid,
comfortable beat or the rangy, rattling, fuzz-guitar solo.
George Akaeze & His Augmented Hits, “Business Before
Pleasure” (from Nigeria Special, Soundway): Do you know how
much fun it is to cherry-pick from Soundway’s recent miniglut of
African re-issue comps? This one is buried on Nigeria Special‘s
second disc, but its instrumental textures are so juicy you want to
bite into them like you were Chairman Kaga from the Japanese Iron
Chef.
Grand Kalle & L’African Jazz, “Parafifi” (from The
Rough Guide to Congo Gold, World Music Network): A Congolese rumba
from the early 1960s, and one of the most shamelessly beautiful pieces
of music I’ve ever encountered. The highlight is a high-pitched guitar
solo that ripples ecstatically over occasional depth-charge bass pokes;
when a lower-pitched six-string comes in to relieve it, it’s like the
world shifting color. 