Welcome back to Melissa Recommends Music! Today I have another LR installment for you, featuring ten songs pulled from my Latest playlist, along with my typical track-by-track commentary.
If you’ve been keeping up with the newsletters, you know the last edition deviated from my usual format due to a months-long writing slump that has only persisted. Lethargy seems to be my defining state these days, and all I feel inclined to do is lounge about my room and listen to music1. So while my writing may have stalled, my music consumption has certainly not, and that in itself is enough to motivate me to resist The Sluggishness.
Today’s newsletter is shorter than usual but there ended up being some great music history in the track selection, so I’ve supplemented some of the sparser reviews with footnotes so you can do some independent research if you feel so inclined. I found myself learning a lot researching today’s playlist, which is always a treat. Hope you enjoy it too!
Read on for pure mambo, Japanese surf rock, and a 10/10 track in today’s high-energy playlist.
Track Listing
“Greatest-Hits” - Sublime
“Brother” - Oh-OK
“Patricia” - Machito Orchestra
“A Little Evil” - Chet Atkins
“CEO of the friendship group” - Zino Vinci
“Too Soon You’re Old” - Penny Goodwin
“Mancala (feat. Vince Staples)” - Earl Sweatshirt, The Alchemist, Vince Staples
“You Can Make Me Feel Bad” - Arthur Russell
“Sanosa” - Takeshi “Terry” Terauchi
“Yamar” - Dry Bread
1. “Greatest-Hits” by Sublime
Sublime… I hadn’t heard that name in years until my sister Michelle posted this song to her IG a few weeks ago. Of course, I was immediately intrigued, not just because the song itself was a banger (and the photo she posted along with it), but because who even listens to them anymore? Clearly not I. I had to know more, and I was not disappointed.
The opening guitar riff is rewarding in itself, cheeky and confident to the point of swagger (one might even say it has… rizz…). Structurally this song is all over the place, held together by the characteristically chunky bass and punchy vocal melody. For how haphazardly put together it sounds it’s actually impressively well choreographed. Lyrically, this song is pretty in line with the overarching Sublime ethos, which I would sum up as a dark “fuck it we ball.”
Best part for me is the drum break + looped vocals at exactly 2:00 — what did I say about well choreographed?
2. “Brother” by Oh-OK
OF COURSE this band is from Athens, Georgia, home of Very Cool ‘80s Music and an iconic music scene spearheaded by Pylon, the B-52’s, and R.E.M. — in fact, one of Oh-OK’s members was Lynda Stipe, younger sister of R.E.M.’s lead singer Michael Stipe. The other member was Linda Hopper, and while their project was short-lived (two years and two records long, to be exact), they went on to bigger and better bands after splitting up.
I found some great interviews of them in Perfect Sound Forever (killer name for an online music zine, no relation to the Pavement EP) where they talk about their careers at large and the Athens scene, in case you’re curious.
3. “Patricia” by Machito Orchestra
I’d like this song to sweep me across the dance floor. It’s pure mambo from Machito Orchestra, headed by Afro-Cuban/Latin Jazz pioneer Machito Grillo, who’s credited with bringing Cuban rhythms to New York City in the 1930s alongside his brother-in-law Mario Bauzá. Machito was the bandleader while Mario was the music director of Machito and his Afro-Cubans, the “original Mambo Kings” and “the most innovative and influential orchestra in the genre.”2
Thank you to Ben for showing me this gem!
4. “A Little Evil” by Chet Atkins
We’re still on the dance floor, but now we’re doing the twist instead of the mambo. This song kind of gives “Monster Mash” or Scooby-Doo energy — throw in an organ or a similarly spooky instrument and it’s perfect for your local Halloween carnival. Which makes the name of this song all the more fitting…
Chet Atkins AKA “Mr. Guitar” AKA “The Country Gentleman” was a Nashville legend, an ace guitarist, producer, and eventually record label executive for RCA who helped shape the “Nashville Sound” that turned country music into popular music, ushering in the golden era of that genre3.
5. “CEO of the friendship group” by Zino Vinci
Impeccable flow from East London rapper Zino Vinci, impeccable production from LA-based 16-year-old Dominic Sookin. This track feels weightless despite pulling together a good amount of interesting glitchy elements, and blends samples from AJ Tracey’s 2016 “Packages” freestyle and Ark Patrol’s “Let Go”4. At 1:49 it’s both the perfect length and just short enough to leave me wanting more. It’s a 10/10 from me.
6. “Too Soon You’re Old” by Penny Goodwin
Sultry arrangement and rich vocals from Milwaukee, WI native Penny Goodwin, a jazz club singer who only put out one LP in her lifetime: Portrait of a Gemini, released on Sidney Records in 1974. While the LP features covers of Marvin Gaye and Gil Scott Heron, this is an original composition from herself and her manager, Sy Lefco. I heard it on the fabulous Crooked Bay radio show — another great rec from Jillian!
7. “Mancala (feat. Vince Staples)” by Earl Sweatshirt, The Alchemist, Vince Staples
This comes off of Earl Sweatshirt’s 2023 album VOIR DIRE, which I listened to a little bit on a whim when it came out in early October. I’m a casual enjoyer of Earl Sweatshirt, not one to get too caught up in his releases but I liked him enough to check out this album, and I was not disappointed. The gospel sample on this track — “God Has Smiled On Me” by Sister Ida Maxey and the Tampa Chapter Mass Choir — is huge, as is Vince Staples — another artist that I enjoy in general but not specifically, even though I specifically like his flow. (Please do not ask me to elaborate…)
8. “You Can Make Me Feel Bad” by Arthur Russell
I cannot overstate how important Arthur Russell is to me, but it wasn’t until recently that I gave Calling Out of Context, his first posthumous album, a full listen-through. Compiled by Melissa Jones, Steve Knutson, and Tom Lee and released in 2004, this album has some killer dance tracks on it (thinking in particular of “Hop On Down”) alongside experimental electronics and the seminal “That’s Us / Wild Combination,” but “You Can Make Me Feel Bad” is the track that stole my heart on this first full listen. It reads as a true power ballad thanks to that epic electric cello (?) which provides an excellent juxtaposition against his subdued, vulnerable vocals.
9. “Sanosa” by Takeshi Terauchi and The Blue Jeans
Very fun virtuosic guitar playing from Japanese “surf rock god” Takeshi AKA Terry Terauchi. A little bit about him courtesy Bandcamp Daily:
“Takeshi was one of the first stars of the country’s post-war “Eleki Boom,” kicked off by American surf-rockers The Ventures touring the country in 1965. That inspired young musicians like Terauchi to pick up the electric guitar, form their own bands (in his case, Takeshi Terauchi and Blue Jeans), and play. He became a star, appearing on TV shows and in movies celebrating this new youth craze.”
His technical approach to the guitar was unique in that it took cues from the shamisen, a traditional Japanese stringed instrument, which he gained exposure to as a child — his mom was a shamisen instructor. In general, it was that fusion of traditional Japanese elements and American surf rock that made his music so groundbreaking.
10. “Yamar” by Dry Bread
If the first few tracks didn’t make you get up and dance then hopefully this one will. Something about the rhythm and the vocals, especially in the chorus, really makes me wish I could vogue. Something about this song also compelled me to make it the closing track on today’s playlist, which truthfully went through a good amount of iterations. I think this track has a certain “end credits” energy to it.
Cyril “Dry Bread” Ferguson is a Bahamian musician who came to prominence in the early ‘70s and has continued making music ever since. I found some good background on him on “Musicians & Entertainers of the Bahamas,” a website created by musician and assistant professor at the University of the Bahamas, Chris Justilien, as part of his Master’s degree in instrumental music at the VanderCook College of Music. The site is clearly a labor of love and does a great job of compiling historical information on the music of the Bahamas in a very accessible way. “It is the hope of the author that the information contained herein makes a valuable contribution to music education not only in the Bahamas, but globally.” Very heartwarming and impressive — I recommend checking it out!
Thank you for reading today’s newsletter :) I’m hoping to release an end-of-year reflection/roundup this month as well, so stay tuned for that. As always, if you care to share your thoughts, reactions, suggestions, etc. I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
That’s not entirely true — I’ve also been very good about watching movies lately. If anyone wants to chat about Priscilla, Fingernails, Badlands, La Femme Nikita, Saltburn (!), or The Sweet East, please hit my line.
Credit: https://www.allaboutjazz.com/musicians/machito/
More reading on him: https://alancackett.com/chet-atkins-biography
Credit: https://clover-penguin-sfhk.squarespace.com/archive/zino-vinci