Sounds of Silva – Vol. 2
Still Listening After All These Years
It’s amazing how music can still dominate our daily news, even as it ages. This week, everyone’s talking about Get Back, the Peter Jackson documentary on the Beatles’ Let It Be sessions. Last week, everyone was talking about Taylor Swift’s re-imagined version of her album Red and the accompanying fervor especially around the 10-minute redux of “All Too Well”. The former originally took place half a century ago, the latter about a decade ago, and yet millions of people are still going nuts for both.
Of course it’s easy to see how the music industry cashes in on nostalgia (see: the latest anniversary/reunion tour at your local bar, or the 8xLP box set of a largely ignored 70’s album), but it makes sense. I was watching The Last Waltz, the final concert from The Band held on Thanksgiving 1975 with tons of special guests (Joni Mitchell was my favorite), and was amused when Robbie Robertson said something to the effect of “We’ve been together on the road for sixteen years. Eight years in bars and dives, eight years of stadiums and arenas. So it felt like time to call it quits.” In this case, their fans have such a limited amount of content to pore over until labels found unreleased tracks, live recordings, etc. to package for release.
For The Beatles, it’s an unprecedented look into the songwriting process of the most celebrated band of all time. Taylor Swift’s reasoning, however, is more than simply an easy cash grab, rather a legal necessity to reclaim ownership of the art that is rightfully hers. I’m actually curious if we’ll see more artists putting a fresh coat of paint on their back catalogue in the way that she has. As a regular concertgoer, I’ve seen how songs are transformed over time, or the flipside, how some old favorites are ignored as the bands grow out of the original recordings. We’ll see if Taylor’s Versions set a positive precedent moving forward.
But it just goes to show that there’s something for everybody; every artist has fans, even if you’re not one yourself. That’s something I’ve had to learn to respect as I’ve grown into my own weird fandoms – to let people have their fun and reduce my own snobbery and unsolicited criticism. Hope you all can enjoy an avalanche of new content from your favorites one day.
Hand Habits - “Aquamarine”
Starting this week’s newsletter is a real warm hug of an album, Fun House, the newest from Hand Habits. Meg Duffy has a real sincerity and Springsteen-ian awareness in their songwriting (they even reference “Tougher Than The Rest” in the opening cut). “Aquamarine” is the second track, with bouncing electronics and what they explained was a story about “this period of trying to make sense of my life”. I’ve been a big fan of Hand Habits since I saw them open for an Angel Olsen livestream last year and can only imagine the atmosphere at the next Hand Habits headline show, whether in an intimate church setting or full-on rock club – either is earned at this point in their young career, which is a difficult feat to accomplish.
Additional Listening: Bruce Springsteen – Tunnel of Love; Angel Olsen – “New Love Cassette”; Circuits des Yeux – “Dogma”
Mr Twin Sister - “Beezle”
I’m fascinated with the sector of ‘10s indie rock bands that put out a couple buzzy records and then *poof* disappeared. Indie-dance group Mr Twin Sister in particular put out a fantastic sophomore album which is around when I saw them live in Chicago opening for Wild Beasts, another one of those indie bands that put out a few moderately successful records and called it quits. Twin Sister then went through a name change (which is where the “Mr” comes in) and a relatively quiet decade, but I noticed they recently put out a new record called Al Mundo Azul. Fortunately the grooves remain, especially with the single “Beezle”. I hope they find their way back and get the credit they deserve because the music rules.
Additional Listening: Wild Beasts – “Bed of Nails”; TOPS – “Waiting”; Passion Pit – Gossamer
Japanese Breakfast – “Posing in Bondage”
Michelle Zauner’s 2021 effectively came to a close with the end of her lengthy Fall tour, but what a year it was for her. Her memoir Crying in H Mart was an instant best-seller and her newest record Jubilee will certainly be on many year-end best album lists, including mine.
Jubilee is just a wonderful collection of joyous and peculiar pop. My favorite is the curiously named “Posing in Bondage” about the desire for affection, starting as a slow-burner and transforming into a flowering club beat. Zauner deserves all the accolades she’s been getting – hope she gets some well-earned rest and is ready to do it all again in 2022.
Additional Listening: The Cranberries – “Zombie”; Angel Olsen & Sharon Van Etten – “Like I Used To”; BUMPER – pop songs 2020
The Beatles - “Don’t Let Me Down”
One of my favorite Beatles tracks and one of the songs featured in the famous rooftop concert, “Don’t Let Me Down” is a dreamy ballad with unreal vocals from Lennon, guitars from Lennon and Harrison, bass from McCartney, and, most importantly, keys from Billy Preston (who apparently just wandered by the studio and instantly became the most important person in this session). Yes I did just list the full band lineup… but it really is the perfect combination of all pieces. Watching the songwriting unfold in the new doc Get Back is a gift. My favorite part of the clip is when they let Billy Preston improvise and jam – smiles light up on everyone’s faces as they realize they had something special.
Taylor Swift - “Forever Winter (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)”
About a decade ago, my friends at Northwestern politely asked me to contribute a review of Taylor Swift’s then-and-now-again highly anticipated album Red for our weekly radio show. The joke was that I never cared to listen to Taylor Swift nor did I have any interest in ever listening to Top 40 Pop music (I’ve softened a little bit). Nine years later, Taylor Swift has released Taylor’s Version of the album, which adds a handful of unreleased tracks and alternate versions but otherwise sounds pretty much the same since that review, a review which is simultaneously Nostradamus-like in its future-telling of Taylor’s full send into pop and also incredibly naïve about Taylor losing her popularity as the teenage heartbreak themes stay the same and her fans get older.
Now, we could talk about the 10-minute extended version of “All Too Well” which has brought on a public onslaught of Jake Gyllenhaal, or the sonic flattening of the hit single “I Knew You Were Trouble”. But the song I’d like to feature is “Forever Winter (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)”, one of the new songs on this release and co-written with Mark Foster of Foster the People. It’s a really nice track that leans into the folk where she began and eventually returned to on folklore and evermore.
Additional Listening: My review of the original release
Follow the full playlist of Sounds of Silva featured tracks.
Follow Zach’s Favorite Songs of 2021 (So Far).
Listen to Zach’s radio show archive for Friend From A Big City on Deadbeat Radio – Episode #2 on Omaha, featuring Conor Oberst and Elliott Smith.