SOMETHING OLD
Rab Noakes - November Afternoon
1975
Rab Noakes - November Afternoon
1975
Lately I’ve been loving old demos and rarities by legendary Stealers Wheel founding members Rab Noakes and Gerry Rafferty. Their music as a duo is so beautiful, and the same goes for their solo tunes. Something like Rafferty’s famed Baker Street, however, exists on a totally different energy level from Noakes’ solo works. No sax here, just acoustic guitar!
In honor of the start of November, here’s an exemplary gentle and sweet song from Noakes. November Afternoon has such poetic lyrics. He describes his fall landscape with lines like look at the trees so old and bare, silhouetted against the sky, holding a sun that has no heat.
He also sings about simply being happy to be outside, and how everything seems within his reach. It’s the kind of feeling you get on those beautiful days in nature that makes you get sentimental and grateful for the world around us, encapsulated perfect in a less-than-3-minute song.
He also sings about simply being happy to be outside, and how everything seems within his reach. It’s the kind of feeling you get on those beautiful days in nature that makes you get sentimental and grateful for the world around us, encapsulated perfect in a less-than-3-minute song.
SOMETHING NEW
SPELLLING + Weyes Blood - Destiny Arrives
November 4th, 2025
SPELLLING + Weyes Blood - Destiny Arrives
November 4th, 2025
Destiny Arrives was originally released early this year by Chrystia Cabral, known as SPELLLING. Much like Caroline Polachek’s decision to “reimagine” a previous release with Butterfly Net last year, SPELLLING invited Weyes Blood along for the ride for a new version of Destiny Arrives. It seems to me like getting a feature and sonic input from the inimitable Natalie Mering is irresistible in the indie scene – and for good reason.
The new version was described this way: “With strings ringing through the track, dynamically layered synths calling in listeners, and Chrystia and Natalie’s vocals intertwining in complimentary harmonies, the remix opens up a new portal into SPELLLING’s musical world.”
Weyes Blood delivers a gorgeous bridge just before slipping into what is, to me, the peak of the song at 3:25, when the two women sing together with exceptional force.
SOMETHING BORROWED
The Pointer Sisters - Yes We Can Can (Lee Dorsey)
1973
The Pointer Sisters - Yes We Can Can (Lee Dorsey)
1973
Allen Toussaint wrote one of the most feel-good, inspirational, and powerful political songs for fellow NOLA man Lee Dorsey in 1970.
It has a simple message: yes we can. It’s the exact tune you’d hum along to with the feeling of hope, justice, and revolution. Anyone feeling that?
Check out this Pointer Sisters cover and feel the early roots funk flowing through their determination to create a better world.
SOMETHING... JONI
Joni Mitchell - Amelia
1976
Joni Mitchell - Amelia
1976
My dearest Joni Mitchell turns 82 years old today. And thank God for that.
To celebrate, I selected one of her most gut-wrenchingly beautiful songs from my favorite album of all-time.
Amelia resonates with the independent woman, the dependent woman, the heartbroken woman, the yearning woman, the mistaken woman, the traveling woman, and the lost pilot in us all.
Oh Amelia, it was just a false alarm rings in my mind every time I lose something I was certain I’d always hold on to. Certainty is never a given, and Amelia Earhart knew that when she disappeared in flight in1937. But like Joni, and like me, and perhaps like you; Amelia had a dream to fly.
Joni mourns the false alarms and the things lost: the lovers and dreams alike. But fulfilling her dream to fly is worth it all, she hopes.
Happy Birthday, Joni. Love you forever.