Soundtrack songs, favorite bands, and a discussion of the bhakti yoga practice of Kirtan. Suit up and strap in for another exciting installment of Alphabet Soup!!
Another great list! Though I really was hoping the first 5 songs were by women. I know you intentionally don't do that anymore since I pointed it out!:)
I had no idea that The Cure were your favorite band! They are up there for me. "Kyoto Song" is a great pick. Hadn't thought about that one in a long time. I loved that '85-'92 era best of all. From Head on the Door through Wish.
I'm excited to hear the 6 disc box set of Synchronicity coming next month.
And I haven't done a lot of chanting, but I have really dug it when I've done it in a big group. I didn't do Kirtan, but it was part of a Vipassana retreat.
Haha I hear you on the starting with 5 songs written by women. It was an interesting observation but I definitely don’t not do that anymore. The playlists come together quite organically and once I’ve narrowed the playlist down to ten, the tracks almost scream out to me on how they should be sequenced.
In fact, next week’s installment begins with six male artists and only has one female-fronted track. Which is quite unusual as I do seem to have an affinity for female artists.
I tend to agree with you on that period in The Cure’s career, there are some real standouts there. While Head on the Door >> Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me >> Disintegration is my favorite three album stretch, it’s pretty close to the Seventeen Seconds >> Faith >> Pornography run for me. Very different musically so on any given day, depending on my mood, my ranking of those two three album runs could flip flop. Bloodflowers is by far their best album from the last three decades. I’m really looking forward to Songs From a Lost World if it ever arrives.
I’m intrigued about that Synchronicity box set but I’m concerned about the potential level of bloat.
While solo call and response chanting can be impactful and powerful in its own right, there’s no denying the power of chanting in a larger group. The energy that’s generated is indescribable.
Just yesterday, while visiting NYC, I was in a juice/smoothie cafe in Brooklyn and they were playing Seal's 'Crazy.' It sounded so good and made me realize just how great he was/is. Even his early Acid House days were interesting, but as he got older he created some fantastic soul, funk, pop, and dance songs.
I am one of those who was blown away by Kid A. I loved The Bends and most of OK Computer, but Kid A came out of nowhere. It was so risky, creative, and totally unexpected. They could have done the easy thing (like Oasis) and just kept putting out guitar-based rock, but they needed more. In my opinion, both Kid A and In Rainbows are flawless albums. But, I also think Johnny and Thom are creative, artistic geniuses.
In closing, I will share with you both the intro & outro lyrics of Kool & The Gang's "Light of Worlds" (one of my favorite songs by K&TG):
"In the darkness of this world
Please give us your light..."
Thank you, as always, for your vulnerability, Mark.
I have to admit that I don’t know much of Seal’s music outside of the bigger hits. My wife was a huge fan and she brought her albums of his music into our joint collection. I’ll have to set aside some time to listen to his catalog.
I was talking to a friend yesterday about Kid A. He’d been a huge fan of the band as he was based in Oxford at the time. And he was disappointed with Kid A. At the time he was looking for something that would represent the next step on the continuum from Pablo Honey >> The Bends >> OK Computer and Kid A was such a departure from his expectations that he was disappointed. I think that’s probably much more where my dislike of the album came from than from any industry press. But I really enjoyed listening to Kid A the other day and accept that it’s past time to open up In Rainbows and other albums to more scrutiny.
I’ve not heard that Kool & The Gang song, thanks for sharing, I’ll check it out.
Re: my vulnerability, thank you for your kind words and know that you are among the handful of writers here whose openness and authenticity inspires me to bring my full self to my writing.
As usual, some great music here. The demo version of King of Pain is currently in the running for my playlist too this week, to mark the announcement of the SDE of Synchronicity.
My partner has a serious yoga/spiritual practice. I’m with her in theory but am yet to devote enough time. I’ll get there 🙏
I’ve not heard any of the demos on the SDE, look forward to checking them out.
While my wife is currently wrapping up her 200 hour yoga teacher training over the next few weeks, my physical yoga practice is quite limited right now for numerous reasons.
I do have a dedicated daily spiritual practice that’s served me well for quite some time and has become a real stabilizing feature in my life.
It took me a while to realize that it’s a journey not a sprint and sometimes I’ve needed to take time to make time.
I think Kiss from a Rose is an exquisitely produced track. I remember it sounding like nothing else on the radio back in the early 90s (or since!) Two other K tracks I really like are Kiss on My List by Hall & Oates and Kick in the Teeth by Hippo Campus.
I just wrote a long response and it disappeared...oy. I'll try again.
The Brat Pack doc (directed by Andrew McCarthy) is out on June 14. I've got it on my calendar! I'm curious whether it's based on his memoir, "Brat." It might be. He was never friends with the other actors, so we shall see if he gets beneath the surface.
Regarding Ivy - 1000x, yes! They had the same number of albums (6) as Fountains of Wayne. I still miss Adam Schlesinger practically every day.
I’m certainly gonna try and stream Brats before we head out for our travels on June 23. I loved Ivy but never really listened to Fountains of Wayne outside of some of their more popular tracks (Stacy’s Mom being the most obvious). I’ve just started listening to their self-titled debut as it seems as good a place to start as any.
I just watched the trailer of the doc and it looks like the setup is that he gets in touch with the pack after decades of being out of touch, which made me way more excited. Clearly way different than the book. https://youtu.be/MxVNQkRM5Qw?si=8eBxc8u0QKxtRRo_
Their debut is my favorite. It's the one I first heard and it's the one I go back to the most, by far. I think their first two albums are stellar and the ones after are a mixed bag. It also has to do with where I was at in the late '90s and early aughts, why those two albums resonated so much with me. I have marked "Leave the Biker" as a future earworm piece that I might/hopefully will write.
Another great list! Though I really was hoping the first 5 songs were by women. I know you intentionally don't do that anymore since I pointed it out!:)
I had no idea that The Cure were your favorite band! They are up there for me. "Kyoto Song" is a great pick. Hadn't thought about that one in a long time. I loved that '85-'92 era best of all. From Head on the Door through Wish.
I'm excited to hear the 6 disc box set of Synchronicity coming next month.
And I haven't done a lot of chanting, but I have really dug it when I've done it in a big group. I didn't do Kirtan, but it was part of a Vipassana retreat.
Haha I hear you on the starting with 5 songs written by women. It was an interesting observation but I definitely don’t not do that anymore. The playlists come together quite organically and once I’ve narrowed the playlist down to ten, the tracks almost scream out to me on how they should be sequenced.
In fact, next week’s installment begins with six male artists and only has one female-fronted track. Which is quite unusual as I do seem to have an affinity for female artists.
I tend to agree with you on that period in The Cure’s career, there are some real standouts there. While Head on the Door >> Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me >> Disintegration is my favorite three album stretch, it’s pretty close to the Seventeen Seconds >> Faith >> Pornography run for me. Very different musically so on any given day, depending on my mood, my ranking of those two three album runs could flip flop. Bloodflowers is by far their best album from the last three decades. I’m really looking forward to Songs From a Lost World if it ever arrives.
I’m intrigued about that Synchronicity box set but I’m concerned about the potential level of bloat.
While solo call and response chanting can be impactful and powerful in its own right, there’s no denying the power of chanting in a larger group. The energy that’s generated is indescribable.
Just yesterday, while visiting NYC, I was in a juice/smoothie cafe in Brooklyn and they were playing Seal's 'Crazy.' It sounded so good and made me realize just how great he was/is. Even his early Acid House days were interesting, but as he got older he created some fantastic soul, funk, pop, and dance songs.
I am one of those who was blown away by Kid A. I loved The Bends and most of OK Computer, but Kid A came out of nowhere. It was so risky, creative, and totally unexpected. They could have done the easy thing (like Oasis) and just kept putting out guitar-based rock, but they needed more. In my opinion, both Kid A and In Rainbows are flawless albums. But, I also think Johnny and Thom are creative, artistic geniuses.
In closing, I will share with you both the intro & outro lyrics of Kool & The Gang's "Light of Worlds" (one of my favorite songs by K&TG):
"In the darkness of this world
Please give us your light..."
Thank you, as always, for your vulnerability, Mark.
I have to admit that I don’t know much of Seal’s music outside of the bigger hits. My wife was a huge fan and she brought her albums of his music into our joint collection. I’ll have to set aside some time to listen to his catalog.
I was talking to a friend yesterday about Kid A. He’d been a huge fan of the band as he was based in Oxford at the time. And he was disappointed with Kid A. At the time he was looking for something that would represent the next step on the continuum from Pablo Honey >> The Bends >> OK Computer and Kid A was such a departure from his expectations that he was disappointed. I think that’s probably much more where my dislike of the album came from than from any industry press. But I really enjoyed listening to Kid A the other day and accept that it’s past time to open up In Rainbows and other albums to more scrutiny.
I’ve not heard that Kool & The Gang song, thanks for sharing, I’ll check it out.
Re: my vulnerability, thank you for your kind words and know that you are among the handful of writers here whose openness and authenticity inspires me to bring my full self to my writing.
Enjoy the rest of your time in New York.
As usual, some great music here. The demo version of King of Pain is currently in the running for my playlist too this week, to mark the announcement of the SDE of Synchronicity.
My partner has a serious yoga/spiritual practice. I’m with her in theory but am yet to devote enough time. I’ll get there 🙏
I’ve not heard any of the demos on the SDE, look forward to checking them out.
While my wife is currently wrapping up her 200 hour yoga teacher training over the next few weeks, my physical yoga practice is quite limited right now for numerous reasons.
I do have a dedicated daily spiritual practice that’s served me well for quite some time and has become a real stabilizing feature in my life.
It took me a while to realize that it’s a journey not a sprint and sometimes I’ve needed to take time to make time.
I think Kiss from a Rose is an exquisitely produced track. I remember it sounding like nothing else on the radio back in the early 90s (or since!) Two other K tracks I really like are Kiss on My List by Hall & Oates and Kick in the Teeth by Hippo Campus.
It is a lovely track for sure. Amazing to think it might never have reached a wider audience if not for Batman Forever.
Kiss on my List made the first cut when I was selecting songs for the playlist but ultimately didn’t make it.
Not familiar with Hippo Campus and never had any of their music which is one of the parameters for the series. But I’ll give it a listen!
The Hippo Campus song is from last year. Not a big hit but it has some great lyrics and vocals.
Great picks all around!
My coworkers and I were just talking about John Hughes movies! Apparently, there’s a documentary about the Brat Pack on the way.
King of Pain is a killer track on a record packed with them.
Also, for anyone scrolling the comments, please check Ivy out! They are criminally underrated.
Thanks Kevin, hadn’t heard about that Brat Pack doc, I’ll look out for it!
So glad I got turned on to Apartment Life in 1997, I love Ivy’s music!
Have you ever listened to the Bettie Serveert album Lamprey? It’s so good!
I'm not sure I've ever listened to it all the way through?
Give it a listen when you get a chance, I think you’d dig it. Just saw the trailer for “Brats” last night, very much looking forward to it!
I just wrote a long response and it disappeared...oy. I'll try again.
The Brat Pack doc (directed by Andrew McCarthy) is out on June 14. I've got it on my calendar! I'm curious whether it's based on his memoir, "Brat." It might be. He was never friends with the other actors, so we shall see if he gets beneath the surface.
Regarding Ivy - 1000x, yes! They had the same number of albums (6) as Fountains of Wayne. I still miss Adam Schlesinger practically every day.
I’m certainly gonna try and stream Brats before we head out for our travels on June 23. I loved Ivy but never really listened to Fountains of Wayne outside of some of their more popular tracks (Stacy’s Mom being the most obvious). I’ve just started listening to their self-titled debut as it seems as good a place to start as any.
I just watched the trailer of the doc and it looks like the setup is that he gets in touch with the pack after decades of being out of touch, which made me way more excited. Clearly way different than the book. https://youtu.be/MxVNQkRM5Qw?si=8eBxc8u0QKxtRRo_
Their debut is my favorite. It's the one I first heard and it's the one I go back to the most, by far. I think their first two albums are stellar and the ones after are a mixed bag. It also has to do with where I was at in the late '90s and early aughts, why those two albums resonated so much with me. I have marked "Leave the Biker" as a future earworm piece that I might/hopefully will write.
I did enjoy the debut but not necessarily something I’d go back to that often.