SOMETHING OLD
Miles Davis - Honky Tonk
1970
At all times, my Getting Killed by Geese CD case sits on the floor next to my bed. And every weekday morning, I hear the hum of it beginning to spin inside my alarm clock. It plays the opening track, Trinidad, a heavy, disjointed, abrasive rock tune. I groggily turn it off before frontman Cameron Winter can begin wailing anything, no less the notorious lyric "there's a bomb in my car." The first thing I hear upon waking up is always just the first few seconds of the instrumental intro, and hearing it in any other setting always jolts my nervous system a little bit even if I'm already awake. Needless to say, I have studied these few seconds both in and out of consciousness since the song's release as a single last summer.
Miles Davis - Honky Tonk
1970
At all times, my Getting Killed by Geese CD case sits on the floor next to my bed. And every weekday morning, I hear the hum of it beginning to spin inside my alarm clock. It plays the opening track, Trinidad, a heavy, disjointed, abrasive rock tune. I groggily turn it off before frontman Cameron Winter can begin wailing anything, no less the notorious lyric "there's a bomb in my car." The first thing I hear upon waking up is always just the first few seconds of the instrumental intro, and hearing it in any other setting always jolts my nervous system a little bit even if I'm already awake. Needless to say, I have studied these few seconds both in and out of consciousness since the song's release as a single last summer.
You can imagine my surprise when I took a listen to Honky Tonk by Miles Davis and heard not only that same deeply experimental and disjointed sound in general, but nearly the identical introductory guitar refrain to Trinidad beginning around 0:57. This brilliant song, an outtake from 1970 released in 1974, comes from a very particular era of experimentation and fusion. Honky Tonk blends elements of free jazz, blues, and funk in a truly unique way, and even reminds me of Hendrix at certain points. At its core, it's a simple blues shuffle, but it's ornamented with so much more that makes it lean avant-garde. It's stacked with prolific personnel: Herbie Hancock, John McLaughlin, Steve Grossman, Keith Jarrett, Billy Cobham, Airto Moreira, Michael Henderson, and of course, Miles Davis. These guys shaped the future of jazz and are frankly the faces of musical experimentation.
We could argue that the flock has turned feline in an accusation of Geese of being copycats, but I see it more as a nod and tribute to these legends. Winter, the mastermind behind all that is Geese, has cited this (cocaine-fueled) era of Davis as one of his favorites. He wrote this on Perfectly Imperfect: "In these years Miles would frequently walk into Columbia Studio B and, seemingly with ten ounces of the good stuff dissolving in his rectum, offhandedly churn out total brilliance, music full of darkness and rhythm, at the cutting edge of several genres."
SOMETHING NEW
Yours Truly Nate! - Sunshine
May 22nd, 2026
Yours Truly Nate! - Sunshine
May 22nd, 2026
The latest project from Long Island rapper Nate Moore, known as Yours Truly Nate!, is an F1-inspired concept album titled New York Grand Prix. Protected by his white helmet, Moore is racing toward something bigger and better than ever before.
The album is a collaborative effort full of creative input from members of Manhattan Surf Club, a collective of young New York musicians spearheaded by Moore. My favorite track, Sunshine, was produced by MSC member Dee!, who brings sounds of the 70s to complement the modern song. It opens with a cut up, looped sample of Maxayn Lewis' voice singing Beloved, a dreamy funk-leaning R&B ballad from 1972. Though the song is sliced and reimagined beyond recognition to serve as a rhythmic foundation, the lyric being sampled is I saw the sun shine today, bringing the title to fruition. Soon, a hip hop beat is layered over Lewis' voice as Moore begins rapping about finding his direction as an artist. As he moves into a spoken-word contemplation, the beat seamlessly transitions into a brilliant blend of samples using The Third Eye by Roy Ayers Ubiquity from 1976. Most prominently featured is a looped vibraphone section from the song, alongside a part of the vocals. Just looking at the production groundwork for Sunshine, it's clear that Dee! has a trained ear for what works musically.
As for Moore, this song contends with vulnerability and humility, even concluding the song with the admission that his flaws are all on wax for you to hear. It's a meditation on how directionless he can sometimes feel as an artist, whether it be due to anxiety, competition, lack of support, and more. Fitting right into his race car motif, he has no map as his hands turn the wheel over and over until he somehow finds his destination. The notion that comes through the strongest, though, is that he's going to keep trying in spite of it all. It's clear that he is steadfast in his journey no matter the difficulties. He never loses sight of his loved ones who keep him afloat. In addition to multiple lyrics throughout the album about how hard his parents have worked to afford him his opportunities, he wonders here if this is what his cousin would "want him to be." The cousin in question is late De La Soul legend Dave Jolicoeur, who served as a close mentor and major inspiration to Moore. New York Grand Prix is evidence of a resounding "yes" to that question; I suspect steering toward absolute ambition the way that Moore does would most certainly make his cousin proud.
SOMETHING BORROWED
The Chicks - Landslide (Fleetwood Mac)
2002
The Chicks - Landslide (Fleetwood Mac)
2002
When you cover a beloved song that would be better described as "ubiquitous" than simply "ridiculously famous," you have to accept that you are one of the millions, and you cannot expect to make the song any bigger than it is. You can still, however, make it yours. That's what The Chicks, known as Dixie Chicks at the time, did in more ways than one with their 2002 cover of Fleetwood Mac's Landslide.
The song was written by a 27-year old Stevie Nicks during a difficult transitional period in 1973, before she joined the acclaimed band. Feeling the financial strain of being a starving artist, she was unsure if she should keep on pursuing a music career with her partner Lindsey Buckingham or just return to school. This emotional battle of feeling like you may be running out of time to chase your dreams, and feeling the weight of that on your relationships, comes through clearly in the famously tear-jerking song. Buckingham and Nicks, the tumultuous West Coast lovers, would go on shortly to join the British Fleetwood Mac, and bring Landslide with them for a 1975 release. No member had a background in country music, but some listeners felt that Buckingham's guitar parts veered in that direction, which he objected:
"Landslide is a great song, but I don't want anyone to get the funny idea about Fleetwood Mac and country. Somebody at our label was talking about how we should broaden our audience, and they started talking about putting us on Country Music Television. I had to say, 'Whoa! Stop right there.' There's a certain kind of profile you want to put out there. And that isn't it."
Fast forward, The Chicks didn't "stop right there." The three Texans went forward with their country touch, replacing guitar with mandolin and banjo and flourishing every lyric with vocal harmonies. There's a stunning bluegrass sound that's present throughout Home, their 2002 record. Maybe Buckingham wasn't game for country, but writer Stevie Nicks saw the cover as something of a metamorphosis between generations, beautifully remarking that she had always viewed the deeply personal song through "her eyes" until the release of The Chicks' cover, when she could see it through theirs.
This is an extraordinary rendition that retains all of the original beauty that makes it so timeless while also adding so much. It's no surprise that it reached the top 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 upon its release. But after the band publicly condemned the Iraq War, the song promptly fell to #43 and fell off the chart completely only a week later. They were as strong in their voices, proven by the breathtaking harmonies here, as they were in their values. While they may have been punished by their own culture for that, it makes their commitment to country music all the more revolutionary.
SOMETHING... SO SERIOUS
Daryl Johns - I'm So Serious
2024
Daryl Johns - I'm So Serious
2024
Once upon a time last year, I discovered bassist Daryl Johns through his work with The Lemon Twigs and Mac Demarco. I checked out I'm So Serious and frowned. It did nothing for me. It carries a sort of corny 80s production that's all been purposely slightly degraded, giving an especially glitchy effect to his voice. It's also pretty repetitive.
But for some reason, I listened again. And again. All of a sudden, it was playing on a loop. The begrudged earworm quickly became my deep obsession, and within days I loved it so much I bought a ticket to see him live at the Bowery Ballroom.
I became very serious about I'm So Serious, even hand-painting a shirt for the show, where Johns' small repertoire enabled him to play the song twice, to my elation.
photo by @bigheartblueeyes
The song is crafted through strange lyrics and even an identical drum fill to Fleetwood Mac's Dreams, which I find endlessly funny for some reason. It's layers upon layers of some musical irony, while somehow being truly good music. Johns, who performed live with his shoes off and destroyed his bass by impulsively throwing it on the ground with frighteningly strong arms, may or may not be so serious.
I regularly brush my teeth while listening to it. Why don't you give that a try?