Music On My Mind #6: Magdalena Bay, Scour, Steely Dan
Playing Catch Up
Welcome back! I hope everyone enjoyed having a shorter work week. I wrote a lot of new music last week. On Wednesday, my good friend Darion—I’ve mentioned him in previous installments—told me he had a massive pack of beats due by Monday and asked for my help. I leapt at the opportunity and had the best time, as always. However, those sessions would often go pretty late, which, combined with my girlfriend getting up an hour earlier because of her new job, led to me being exhausted by the end of the week. We were supposed to get drinks with a few friends of mine from college on Saturday, but by the time Saturday rolled around, I had developed a slight cold and was so tired that we had to reschedule. I guess this is what getting older feels like.
There weren’t many new releases that piqued my interest this week, so I mostly stuck to catching up on albums I missed, as well as diving into the discographies of newer artists I heard for the first time last year. Here are the highlights:
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A Little Rhythm and A Wicked Feeling and Mercurial World by Magdalena Bay
My introduction to Magdalena Bay was last year’s Imaginal Disk, which wound up being one of my favorite releases of the year. Since I loved that record so much, I knew I had to go back through their catalog.
A Little Rhythm and A Wicked Feeling is the duo’s fourth EP. I loved this record a lot, but I was surprised by how straightforward it felt compared to Imaginal Disk. The music here is very Magdalena Bay: lots of interesting chord choices and whimsical chorus sections. By contrast, however, the sound design is run-of-the-mill for its dance-pop aesthetics. Now, as I often say, this is not necessarily a bad thing. The sound design here is very good, just different from the expansive sound that I was used to from Imaginal Disk.
The biggest hit here is “Killshot,” with its funky bass lines, catchy-as-hell hook, and excellent drums. However, my real favorite is “Stop & Go,” which I’ve been playing in my headphones all week. Everything about the song is perfect: the drum parts are groovy, the crescendo in the bridge leading to the sparse chorus is delicious, and Mica’s multilayered vocal harmonies are superb. I also love that the song seems to disguise a bit of sadness in its lyrics. Even though Mica sings that she loves it when her partner tells her to “stop and go,” she admits at the end of the chorus that she feels somewhat neglected by them—“And every time I tell myself, ‘it’s just a game, it’s a laugh,’/But that moment in between your love/Sometimes it’s not enough.” Damn.
All in all, A Little Rhythm and A Wicked Feeling is a great EP that signals the better things to come in the duo’s discography.
I followed up the EP with their debut LP, Mercurial World from 2021. This album felt a little more like what I expected from the group. It’s the perfect middle ground between the maximalist indie/synth-pop of Imaginal Disk and the dance-pop of A Little Rhythm and A Wicked Feeling.
Mercurial World, conceptually, seems to deal with telling a story backward. After all, the album starts with the song “The End.” You also have moments like “Halfway,” a short interlude in the middle of the album, and “The Beginning,” the final track, which loops perfectly into the start of the record. Little details like this are what make me come back to an album over and over again.
The music on this record is divine, a massive step-up from A Little Rhythm and A Wicked Feeling (which, again, is very good). Take the title track, with its video game-inspired arpeggios and wild chord progressions. Or “Secrets,” with its similarly intriguing chord progression and insane synthesizer ear candy during the verse sections. What about “Chaeri,” with its minimalist verses that build to a massive burst of energy toward the end? Or even my personal favorite, “Hysterical Us,” with its major disco vibes and classic rock-y sound design. Each part is crafted meticulously to create a vibe reminiscent of Y2K, but without completely getting wrapped up in nostalgia. In a word, it’s incredible.
Magdalena Bay are among the best that pop has to offer right now, in my opinion. Whenever the follow-up to Imaginal Disk comes, I know it’s going to be amazing.
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Boat Songs by MJ Lenderman
Similar to Magdalena Bay, last year’s Manning Fireworks was my introduction to the world of MJ Lenderman. I loved that album a lot; it was one of the first times I listened to an album with country aesthetics that I wanted to hear more of. I call MJ Lenderman “country written by smelly indie rock kids,” which is the perfect equation to me. His music cleverly combines certain musical and instrumental elements from country with classic rock guitar licks and lyrics laced with indie rock/ironic hipster poeticism. I knew I needed more after my first listen.
Boat Songs is very similar to Manning Fireworks. It’s on the shorter side, clocking in at 33 minutes, but it’s nonetheless chock-full of all the things I mentioned above. “Hangover Game” starts the record out on a particularly rocking note, with its Southern rock flair and nonsensical lyrics about Michael Jordan signing to Nike and crappy pizza in Utah. “You Have Bought Yourself a Boat” has a bit of a ZZ Top groove to it mixed with Skynyrd, with more lyrical non sequiturs and an excellent guitar solo toward the back half. Meanwhile, “TLC Cage Match” has the most straightforward country feel, with its pedal steel guitars, minimalist bass line, and Lenderman crooning like a cowboy.
Other highlights include “SUV,” which is the hardest rocking song on the record, almost shoegaze-y in its production choices; “Dan Marino,” with its silly lyrics about the football legend and muffled, lo-fi structure; “You Are Every Girl To Me,” which reminds me a lot of “Teen Age Riot” by Sonic Youth; and “Six Flags,” the album’s dirge-y, droning closer.
While I will admit that I didn’t enjoy Boat Songs as much as Manning Fireworks, it’s far from a bad album. I can already tell I will be listening to this album a lot more.
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Sharon Van Etten and The Attachment Theory by Sharon Van Etten
I came to this album two weeks after its release because I was going in blindly, like I have done with a lot of the albums I’ve reviewed so far on this Substack. In fact, I learned about this record from seeing that Anthony Fantano reviewed it (I am not ashamed to say that I get a lot of album recommendations from Fantano lol). I’d never listened to Sharon Van Etten before, which is a shame, because this album is excellent.
This record is the first Sharon Van Etten release featuring her new backing band, The Attachment Theory, whose members comprise Van Etten’s previous collaborators Devra Hoff on bass, guitar, and more, and Jorge Balbi on drums, as well as Teeny Lieberson, who is responsible for much of the keyboards. You can tell there’s a lot of musical chemistry going on here; the songs are tight and beautifully composed, and the musicianship and production are nearly perfect.
There’s a lot to love here, so I figured I’d break down every song. Opening track “Live Forever” is haunting, beautiful, and very gothic, with its tasteful electronic drums and gorgeous key changes. “Afterlife” has a folktronica feel to it, with more ethereal vocals and intense synth arpeggios. “Idiot Box” is a fun, post-punk romp with elements of Siouxsie and the Banshees and Killing Joke on full display. “Trouble” is a beautiful, textural cut with its spacey synth pads and guitars, bolstered by a Peter Hook-style bass line. “Indio,” my favorite song, is another fast-paced post-punk tune with lots of weird, outside-of-the-box chord choices and a really catchy chorus. “I Can’t Imagine (Why You Feel This Way)” feels like an updated Talking Heads/Blondie tune, with its dance-punk groove, swelling synth parts, and funky bass line riff toward the end. “Something Ain’t Right” is the most Joy Division-y track on the album, with fantastic falsetto vocals from Sharon, two bass lines playing at once, an impeccable guitar solo, and another great chorus (“Do you believe in compassion for enemies/who is to blame when it falls to decay?”). “Southern Life (What It Must Be Like)” has the feel of a gothic marching band tune, with its driving bass line, Phil Collins-esque drums, and big, washed-out vocals. “Fading Beauty” is the most peaceful track on the album, replete with haunting cellos and drone elements. And finally, “I Want You Here,” starts off similarly peaceful but sees Sharon really belting at the end. It’s all killer, no filler.
Sharon Van Etten and The Attachment Theory is going down as one of my favorite indie releases of the year. If the rest of her albums are this good, I’m in for a real treat.
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Gold by Scour
When I was looking for potential new albums to listen to and I saw that this record had come out this week, I immediately pressed play. Scour is one of the many side projects of former Pantera singer Phil Anselmo, this one being a blackened death metal supergroup featuring members of Pig Destroyer, Cattle Decapitation, and more. I also realized this was their debut album; up until this point, Scour has released only EPs. I’ve enjoyed every other release from the band, so I knew I’d feel the same about Gold.
This album is a whirlwind of blast beats, tremolo-picked guitar lines, and crazy vocal performances (for the uninitiated, blast beats are a style of drumming wherein the drummer hits the kick drum, snare drum, and cymbals all at once and at an intensely fast pace, yielding a blasting wall of noise). Phil’s voice has changed quite a bit since his Pantera days, a time during which it also changed significantly. At the start of his career, he could hit higher notes than Rob Halford; by the time Pantera split up, he began to lean into his lower register, combining a Southern rock drawl with aggressive, thrash- and punk-inspired shouting and harsh melodies. As a result of improperly achieving this sound, there was a time when his voice was fairly weak live. Recently, however, he has recovered much of his signature power, and while he can’t go as high as he once was able to, his changing voice has allowed him to explore new techniques, like death metal growling and black metal shrieking, as well as different styles (including gothic rock with En Minor). It’s this continued experimentation that, in my opinion, makes Phil one of the most adaptable singers in metal history.
The action is nonstop on Gold. From the full-throttle opener, “Cross,” to the Bathory-inspired “Serve,” each song on this record makes me want to headbang so hard my neck snaps. Once again, Phil’s vocals are incredibly strong here—his growls and gutturals are some of the best I’ve ever heard, and his shrieks are bone-chilling. His breath control is also noticeably better on this record, particularly on “Evil,” where he clocks in a 24-second-long scream. For a guy in his mid-fifties, Phil is sounding more spry than ever. His other bandmates are in similarly great form. Guitarists Derek Engemann and Mark Kloeppel are bringing their A-games in terms of riffs; bassist John Jarvis is delivering some powerful bass lines; and drummer Adam Jarvis is drumming like his life depends on it. This band is undeniably tight.
Other highlights include “Infusorium,” which has an incredible solo; “Blades,” with some truly devastating growls from Phil; “Ornaments,” my favorite track, and another one with a Bathory vibe; and “Invoke,” which excellently employs the black metal trope of Satan worship for a classic-sounding banger.
Gold is a solid entry in the Scour discography and a strong debut LP from a group nearly a decade into its existence. This is undoubtedly the heaviest metal release of the year so far, in my mind.
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Infinity by Smif-N-Wessun
I didn’t finish this album and don’t have much to say about it. Smif-N-Wessun are a classic East Coast rap duo, but this album is pretty mid lyrically. Great production from Khrysis and 9th Wonder, though.
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A Review of a Classic Album and a Tribute to My Dad
This coming Thursday would’ve been my father’s 69th birthday. When I was 19, Dad passed away after a brief battle with colon cancer at 62.
Dad was a complicated guy. He could be very moody; he wasn’t exactly cuddly, but he could be incredibly charming, funny, and generous. He wasn’t terribly chatty, but was a great listener; he preferred only to share his thoughts when he felt he actually had something of value to add to the conversation. He had many talents, but often chose to hide them. When he picked up the guitar again after many years of not playing, he chose to practice in my parents’ bedroom with the door closed; if you listened really carefully, however, you could hear him playing some very difficult Chet Atkins tunes note for note. When I took weekend drawing classes as a comic book-obsessed kid, my dad would join me and come home with a sketchbook filled with beautiful drawings that he had made on his own, away from everyone else. His greatest talent was fixing things; he was incredibly handy and would often spend his time tinkering in the basement of our house. He even loved to cook and had a few staple recipes that he came up with on his own.
One of the things we had a pretty close bond over was music. While Mom got me hooked on classical music, it was Dad that first introduced me to rock—but not the rock you might expect. Most of my friends’ dads would show them Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones (which, ironically, is what Mom loved the most); Dad showed me The Doobie Brothers and—my favorite—Steely Dan. I remember standing in the kitchen as a little kid while Dad made dinner one weekend and being transfixed by the sound of Donald Fagen’s voice as he sang about crossing his old man back in Oregon (the first song Dad showed me was “Don’t Take Me Alive”). I was a fan from the start.
So, to honor Dad on his birthday week, I thought I would give a review of my favorite Steely Dan album: 1977’s Aja.
If I had to make a list of what I thought were “perfect” albums, Aja would be near the top. Each song is constructed carefully, played perfectly, and mixed and mastered cleanly, achieving a level of high fidelity that, for its time, was groundbreaking. Relying on a variety of musicians and recording in a marathon of sessions—often using different players to record the same part of a song to get the best sound possible—Fagen and Becker created not just the pinnacle in the Steely Dan catalog, but also one of the greatest-sounding albums in recorded music history.
The pacing of the album is also immaculate. At 39 minutes, it’s the perfect length to leave it on repeat throughout the day without ever getting bored. Aja’s opener, “Black Cow,” is a classic Steely Dan jam, laced with jazz, funk, and silly lyrics. I can fondly remember long car rides with Dad, listening to this album and singing along to the chorus: “Drink your big black cow/and get outta here.” The additions of the saxophones and horns in the second half of the song are so perfect, and that keyboard solo is so clean. What an incredible tune.
“Deacon Blues” similarly has funny lyrics: “They’ve got a name for the winners in the world/and I want a name when I lose/they call Alabama the Crimson Tide/call me Deacon Blues.” It’s classic Steely Dan irony. “Home At Last” is a slow, groovy track with hilarious lyrical allusions to the Odyssey. “I Got The News” is a funky banger; while each song on Aja showcases incredible musicianship, this track seems to be the one where everyone had the most fun in the studio. And “Josie,” with its opening riff, slinky bass line, and tight drums, is a total bop.
I’ve saved my favorite songs for last. First, “Peg.” This is one of those songs that, every time I hear it, I instantly feel happy. I always have to sing along to it, no matter where I am. Everything about it is effervescent. The chord choices are perfect; the harmonies on the chorus, sung by Michael McDonald, are intricate and divine; the funky bass line, the horns riffs, the guitar solo, the drum beat—I could go on and on about “Peg.” I even gained a new appreciation for it when I listened to De La Soul for the first time, through their prominent use of it in their classic track “Eye Know” on 3 Feet High and Rising.
Last, but certainly not least, the title track. This might be one of the most perfect songs ever written. “Aja” isn’t simply a song; it’s an experience. Every time I listen to it, I hear something new. The instrumental layers are so expertly arranged, not just musically, but within the mix. It all blends so seamlessly, but each element is distinct, each chord and note choice deliberate.
The first two verses, with their peaceful lyrical imagery and deceptively sparse instrumentation, are utter jams. While listening to this part, I always picture myself in a big grassy field on a late summer afternoon, with the wind in my hair lulling me to a gentle slumber. Then, we get to my favorite part: the instrumental solo. Suddenly, the heavens open up, and I’m transported to a tropical oasis in my mind, the sun softly kissing my skin. I love every second of this interlude. I think the vibraphone melody might be one of my favorite melodies of all time. The guitar solo harmonizing with it is iconic. That saxophone solo section toward the back half of it is so fiery and energetic. Then, with the last verse, my mind returns briefly to the field before the final instrumental solo kicks in. Here, using the same riff that propped up the saxophone solo, the band brings out the synthesizers and big drum fills. During this part, I imagine night has fallen and suddenly, fireflies are lighting up the sky, before it all fades to black as I drift asleep. This is what I mean when I say “Aja” is an experience.
It’s an album that rightfully sits in many “greatest of all time” lists, but to me, it’s something more. Aja is a shared experience for me and Dad. I know he felt the same way as I do about the album; after all, having grown up with Steely Dan, he listened to it way more times than I ever have. He’s the one who gleefully pointed out all the best parts of each song to me when he first showed me the record. It’s been the soundtrack of family dinners, barbecues, card games, road trips, and more. Aja is a cornerstone of my life, as with this album, I can still feel connected to Dad, nearly seven years since his passing.
Happy birthday, Dad, and thank you for everything—including Steely Dan.
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Another week is on the books! You can check out the albums I mentioned by clicking the links below, and remember: keep your ears tuned and your mind open.
Magdalena Bay - A Little Rhythm and A Wicked Feeling
Magdalena Bay - Mercurial World
Sharon Van Etten - Sharon Van Etten and The Attachment Theory