"THE PRICE YOU PAY" LOW (2021)

You can get off to a fast start. You can sustain your opener with the main course, not filler. But can you end on a high note? Sometimes I wonder if recording a strong closer is the most difficult thing to pull off when it comes to album rock. When it comes to the cream of the crop in music, I can think of more strong openers than strong closers. Nonetheless, I still have my favorites which I’ll be featuring on Mental Jukebox all month.

The harmonies of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker are some of the most beautifully haunting elements of music ever uttered. When Mimi passed away from cancer late last year, the music world lost a great human being but also one half of the greatness that is Low. Even if Alan continues on, Low will never be the same again, which saddens me. As their last studio album release prior to Mimi’s death, HEY WHAT builds on the distorted, experimental sound of their more recent recordings. The album ends in epic fashion with the seven-minute anthem “The Price You Pay”.

The track contains large swaths of distortion where no lyrics are sung, where Alan and Mimi are locked in instrumentally. The engineering work of BJ Burton emphatically takes this track – along with all the album’s songs – to the next level. It even earned him a Grammy nomination. But the most powerful element of “The Price You Pay” is and always will be the bone-chilling vocal harmonies where Alan and Mimi sing together in their final studio recording. It feels so final and infinite at the same time.

“I put a lot of thought Into the price you pay To hear the morning come. Keep the ghost another day.”

"BRIGHT HORSES" NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS (2019)

I generally gravitate to the music first before the lyrics. But as a writer, I still marvel at well-spun verses and choruses. This month, I’m joining the music Twitter community in #SeptSongLyricChallenge

Day 12

Nick Cave is one of a handful of artists who I deeply regret not discovering sooner. The recordings are so powerful and moving, and I can only imagine how extraordinary it is to see him perform live. Each element in “Bright Horses” is filled with anticipation and a deep sense of yearning. The ethereal piano chords. The delicate string arrangements. The angelic backing vocals. And, of course, Nick’s baritone voice so full of life and vigor. The lyrics, so full of despair and disappointment, yet love still triumphs in the end.

“Oh the train is coming, and I'm standing here to see. And it's bringing my baby right back to me. Well there are some things too hard to explain. But my baby's coming home now, on the 5:30 train.”

"I'M THE MAN WHO LOVES YOU" WILCO (2001)

Each day in December, I’ll be reflecting back on a song from the 2000’s. The decade saw the return of post-punk and the popularization of folk music, all while some of music’s biggest acts gained their indie footing. Thankfully, it’s a period that I can look back at fondly without cringing. #31DaysOf2000sSongs

It’s hard to believe it’s already been 20 years since the release of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Released just one week after 9/11, the landmark album ushered in a new era for Wilco, one where they shed their alt country roots and embraced a new experimental rock bent that earned the ears of many music listeners, including mine. Songs like “Jesus, Etc.”, “Kamera” and “Heavy Metal Drummer” are timeless favorites of mine. But one track, in particular, from Yankee Hotel Foxtrot felt like the definitive statement of this new period of creativity: “I’m the Man Who Loves You”.

Like a cross between Jimi Hendrix, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and a mad scientist, this track felt more like a dangerous experiment than a song. Haywire guitar interludes and horn blasts headlined a series of instrumental cacophonies, which became trademark effects of Wilco. “I’m the Man Who Loves You” sounds like it was born inside a factory that maybe didn’t pass all its inspections. It’s a reminder that often the best rock music out there is the kind that pushes limits and creates moments that we never saw coming.

“If I could you know I would.”

"KAMERA" WILCO (2001)

A musical monument of the 2000s, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot first made its appearance one week after 9/11. It’s the album that put Wilco on the map. I had the pleasure of hearing a few of the songs performed live. But “Kamera” was always one of my favorites. It didn’t have the experimental side. No musical cacophony explosions on this track. But it displayed Wilco’s chill, folk side as good as any other song they’ve written.

“I need a camera to my eye, to my eye reminding which lies have I been hiding.”

"E-PRO" BECK (2005)

At the end of the music video for “E-Pro”, Beck is seen hopping from one celestial musical note to another. It’s quite an accurate portrayal of what he was doing experimentally in this song. As the opening song to Guero, it was a refreshing departure from the beautiful doldrums of Sea Change. But what made “E-Pro” hugely addictive during a time when post-punk was running rampant was its electro-charged guitar jumpstart.

“The good in us is all we know. There's too much left to taste that's bitter.”

"HEAVY METAL DRUMMER" WILCO (2002)

“Heavy Metal Drummer” has the honor of being one of the best tracks on one of the best rock and roll albums from the last 20 years. It grabs you with that accessible melody, but draws you in with those delicious signature Wilco elements. My favorite aspect of the song though has always been that innocent and nostalgic look at summer. Love. Music. And KISS covers. Lots and lots of KISS covers.

“I sincerely miss those heavy metal bands. I used to go see on the landing in the summer. She fell in love with the drummer. She fell in love with another.”

"ROCK & ROLL" VELVET UNDERGROUND (1970)

“Rock & roll” is one of my all-time favorite Velvet Underground songs. It’s about Lou Reed’s rabid love for music. Something I’ve always identified with. That borderline ridiculous attraction to music—more than film, books or any other creative expression. This was the b-side to “Sweet Jane”, which is a spectacular song in itself. But I think those two songs could’ve easily swapped sides with each other without anyone blinking an eye.

“There was nothin' goin' down at all, not at all. Then one fine morning, she puts on a New York station. You know, she don't believe what she heard at all. She started shaking to that fine, fine music. You know, her life was saved by rock and roll.”