On the Dotted Line

7/1/2021

1. Can You Get to That - Funkadelic
   I like songs with refrains that ask their listeners questions like “you know what I’m saying?” or “Can you dig it?” or, in the case of this 1971 cut from Funkadelic’s Maggot Brain, “Can you get to that?” We do this kind of gentle dialogic probing all the time IRL to make sure our interlocuters aren’t swept off in the stream of conversation, and I appreciate when songs check in on their audiences in the same way, even with the knowledge that they’ll never receive an answer.

2. Sarhoş Gibiyim - Erkin Koray
   People with the credibility to confer these kind of declarative titles call Koray a father of Anatolian rock, one of the first to blend Western, electrically amplified sounds with Turkish themes and folkways. It’s a rich artistic heritage that continues to produce some of my favorite music on Earth. Thank you for plugging in that six string, Erkin.

3. Thot Shit - Megan Thee Stallion
   By God, she’s done it again. Megan’s on one of those singular two-year runs where practically every song she drops immediately becomes the most popular song in the country. She’s also rocking a quotable bar-per-second ratio that has very few if any parallels among her competitors. Her title is undisputed.

4. Llorando - Rata Negra
   The Madrileño punks just released a killer record full of tunes that underscore their dexterity for tonal and dynamic range. Llorando is a lament for that ineluctable, stalking loneliness unique to a solitary life in the bowels of a big city.

5. Finger Pies - Anika
   A song that starts as a kind of halting guided meditation but quickly turns into a cutting condemnation of its listener/subject. I am amused by the idea of a Headspace-style, soft-spoken guided meditation that prods at its listener’s deepest insecurities:
   “Feel present in your body, from your shoulders and arms down to your toes, which are too long and caked in reeking crust.”

6. Superhero - Kiefer
   I wonder if the adventurous LA-based producer had a specific superhero in mind when he put this one together. When I was a wee lad, my favorite was Spiderman, but now, my favorites are the indominable men and women who fight every day for our freedom and comfort. I’m talking about these guys. Thank you for your service.

7. Perdido de Amor - Luiz Bonfá
   The trick, I think, is to get lost in love without losing yourself in love. Good luck!

8. Portrait of a Time - Peter Cat Recording Co.
   Five dudes from Delhi who sound like a starry-eyed, jazzy cabaret house band.

9. Take Me - George Jones
   In today’s parlance, ungenerous listeners might describe this song’s narrator as being “down bad.” I thoroughly reject this. Take Me demonstrates the potential of romantic desperation to be channeled into timeless and transcendent art. What we really need to do is find all of these poor “down bad” folks who are embarrassing themselves in the DMs, confiscate their smartphones, deactivate their accounts, and give them acoustic guitars, standard tuning. We could have a whole new generation of George Joneses on our hands.

10. Burnt Orange - Elkka
    Here in New York City, clubs and bars are back. The music is loud. The crowds are jostling. The girls are going out, having screamed conversations over the party noise, and coming home with voices that sound like they’ve been smoking two and a half packs a day for 25 years.
    
    If something similar is happening in your city—if you’ve benefited from the awesome power of mRNA technology and you find yourself back among a throng of people in a dark room listening to music you can feel in your pelvic floor—here’s what you should do.
    
    First, march yourself right up to the DJ table. Don’t be shy—this is your moment to assert yourself and be bold.
    
    Next, position yourself in the DJ’s line of sight. Wave your arms, jump up and down, do whatever you can to get their attention. They will be preoccupied, so it’s very important that you be persistent.
    
    Finally, once the DJ acknowledges you, lean in toward them, cup your hands over their ear so that your instructions will be clearly audible, and demand that they play Burnt Orange by Elkka. The DJ will thank you graciously for your excellent suggestion and irreproachable taste, and the crowd will lift you on their shoulders and coronate you as the King of The Party.

⛺