Obsessively devoted to excavating the unjustifiably overlooked, forgotten, hidden in plain sight & truly underappreciated in the musical universe, old and new.
Time for the WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST featuring the finest songs we’ve heard over recent days. These 13 tracks that follow are beautifully rockin’, magnificently sad, and oozing with melody. For the record, I’m one of those weirdos who thinks 13 is not a demonic number and is actually pretty cool. Oh, I used to be superstitious, in fact up until about a year ago if my daily commute playlist totaled 13 songs I would add or subtract one so as not to tempt fate. As an aside, I make a playlist every morning the contents of which are determined by my mood and general level of optimism that day which is usually sea level or lower, though I still don’t ever, ever put The Blue Nile in the AM playlist or else I fall into instant emo-ness and start to get misty wherever I happen to be standing so no “Let’s Go Out Tonight” for me unless I’m out of the public eye. Of course, if you feel like crying/cleansing your soul, don’t let me stop you and please have at it here. So anyways, my brain chemistry has shifted in some inexplicable way over the past year and the maligned and shunned 13 has become the track number I shoot for when assembling my daily playlist.
And with that, come now enjoy this devilishly seductive group of new wonders…and all hail the mighty 13.
Last week I went to Strand Bookstore to buy their one copy of The Richard Burton Diaries. Why? Well, I’m going through a bit of an Elizabeth Taylor-Richard Burton phase. In fact, it’s best not to mention them to me right now unless you want an earful of my questionable “insights” regarding their relationship and careers. Anyway, as it was very cold in NYC that day, I had to dress warmly to go get the book. So of course, that meant I was sporting my favorite piece of winter headwear: a 27-year-old black Jamiroquai beanie ( that’s it in the accompanying picture).
The enormously-hatted, slick, clubby soul funkster Jamiroquai was a big f-ing deal in the ’90s and the beanie was meant to be given away in a contest Sony was having in the HMV record store where I was working back then. The thing is, once I had it in my hands, I fell in love with it (because I’m weird) and didn’t want to give it away. The Sony rep saw how enamored I was with this silly thing and proceeded to cancel the contest on the spot and let me keep it (FOREVER).
When I went to pay for my Burton book, the woman at the counter, who couldn’t have been more than 25 years old, quite literally lit up and broke into a huge smile. No, it wasn’t that she too was going through a simultaneous Burton and Taylor phase and was excited to find a comrade. It was all about the hat. “OH MY GOD, IS THAT JAMIROQUAI?! I LOVE JAMIROQUAI!”. This never happens. Seriously. Neverever ever. I’ve worn this hat a kabillion times and the last time anyone recognized the logo on the hat was in the actual ’90s when the J-man was still a huge star. I was flabbergasted and praised her recognition accordingly. My hat was older than she was. We talked about him a little and before I left she ecstatically told me again “I LOVE JAMIROQUAI!”
It doesn’t matter when you meet a song or artist, if you’ve discovered them in real-time or decades after they came to be. You and the song/artist tend to find each other when the universe decides you’re ready to meet and connect. Simple as that. It’s a beautiful thing. It means the possibility of discovery is never ending which is one of the coolest f-ing things in the world I think. I know all this sounds kind of silly but that’s what I was thinking about after that whole bookstore exchange. It was cosmic (girl).
Speaking of discovery, it’s time for the latest WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST featuring the finest new songs that have crossed our path in recent days. It features a couple of weeks’ worth so it’s a bit stuffed but as every one is a heart-squeezing, lustrous anthem hopefully you won’t mind too much 😉 Listen below on Soundcloud or Spotify.
PICKING UP ROCKS 