1) Matt Nathanson, “Achtung Matty” / I’m always skeptical when an artist covers the entirety of another artist’s album—especially when it happens to be my favorite record. But U2’s “Achtung Baby” is Matt Nathanson’s favorite record too, so I was willing to extend the benefit of the doubt on the original’s 30th anniversary (which I wrote about here). What I found was a high-quality, thoughtful rendition; Nathanson clarifies some of the great nooks and crannies in these songs by adopting a slightly more organic style. Especially on the record’s first half, he shows true appreciation by making these songs his own while preserving their high, high fidelity.
2) Makaya McCraven, “Deciphering the Message” / Makaya McCraven is a modern wizard, directing and driving traffic from behind the drum set on his inventive jazz and avant-garde records. His latest, a Blue Note joint which folds in the the likes of Jeff Parker, De’Sean Jones and Joel Ross, is a delight; “Deciphering the Message” is vibrant and vivid and a real pleasure from start to finish.
3) Kiwi Jr, “Cooler Returns” / Man, I dig this collection of ear candy from Canadian outfit Kiwi Jr. All these songs pop with a real melodic acumen and the sort of smarter-than-we-look attitude that marks so much great indie-rock.
4) Susan Orlean, “How Bruce Foxworth Changed the Rules of the Game” for the New Yorker / The remarkable Orlean, whose work I teach in my writing course, lends real weight to the term “service journalism” with her soulful Afterword column, a unique and generous take on the traditional obituary. Here, in this look at a dearly-departed tennis pro, Orlean does what any great obituary writer should—that is, cause our eyes to widen and our hearts to come alive as we marvel at the beautiful strangeness of any single life. Of Foxworth, she writes:
His defiance of expectation faced the ultimate test in 1992. By then, Foxworth had retired from the pro circuit and was teaching tennis for a living in Los Angeles. One night, he flipped his ancient Datsun truck on a wet, curvy canyon road and broke his neck, a terrible injury that nearly guaranteed that he would not walk again. But, in time, he did. He could no longer glide around the court, but, with the help of a motorized scooter, canes, and grit, he eventually was able to feed balls to his students, and over time he built up the strength to stand for hours during lessons. It turned out that he was very good at coaching verbally. He could describe what he wanted his students to do so well that it didn’t seem to matter that he couldn’t demonstrate it.
5) Marisa P. Clark, “Lisa Being Born” for Whale Road Review / This Clark poem begins: “The wish list doesn’t change from year to year: / warm socks, fine chocolate, good rum or wine, / a book you haven’t read. A gift to open / on Christmas, a gift just for your birthday.” And I am hooked. This consideration of what brings us to life only yields further loveliness.