Everyone says it because it’s true: The holiday season is stressful. Why? Because it’s the time of year when you’re supposed to spend a lot of money and spend time with the ones you love. Unfortunately, everyone is broke and their families are annoying. But cojelo con takeiteasy, ol’ CT is here to wipe that cooling salve on your burning head with some… End of the Year Relaxation Jams.
Everyone says it because it’s true: The holiday season is stressful. Why? Because it’s the time of year when you’re supposed to spend a lot of money and spend time with the ones you love. Unfortunately, everyone is broke and their families are annoying. But cojelo con takeiteasy, ol’ CT is here to wipe that cooling salve on your burning head with some… End of the Year Relaxation Jams.
1. William DeVaughn – Be Thankful for What You Got
I love when drummers hit a tom at the same time as the snare for a thick, mellow sound. Willie Mitchell had his drummers do that on a lot of Hi Records stuff like Al Green, O.V. Wright and Anne Peebles. Anyway, this song just floats, the lyrics are a positive message, and it reminds me of spring because I listened to it three times in a row a couple birthdays ago, in late March–when days start staying sunny longer, birds sing, and the air is alive.
2. Bobby Caldwell – What You Won’t Do for Love
When Caldwell first came out in the late ‘70s, his promo shots only showed him in silhouette, because he’s white, and his record label was trying to sell him to a black audience. It’s interesting how, in the space of a quarter of a century, popular music went from Chuck Berry whitening his face on tour posters so he could play country bars, to Bobby Caldwell’s silhouette. I place Caldwell in that weird gray area between soft rock and soul, where it’s smooth music with a thick rhythm section. Sort of like late ‘70s Steely Dan or that Michael McDonald song that Nate Dogg and Warren G sampled for “Regulate.”
3. Hang Glider – Ako
This sounds like L.A. to me–sunny and opulent, but melancholy. It’s an updated version of the reflective drives that Phillip Marlowe would take into the ritzy hills above Los Angeles in Raymond Chandler novels. But this is more like Robert Altman’s swingin’, sun-drenched version of The Long Goodbye than the hard-nosed Humphrey Bogartisms of the original The Big Sleep.
4. Brenda Ray – Star Light
A white woman from the UK travels to Jamaica and whispers over music by premier reggae musicians. It sounds like a joke that a leftist would make about liberals. The resulting album is the ultimate example of Recently Divorced New Age Mom Vacation Music. I assume that new age vacations are relaxing because they must involve yoga, easily digestible foods, soft drugs and thinking “If Brett could only see me now,” while having sex with sinewy kinda-ethnic-but-nonthreatening dudes. This still sounds like a joke that a leftist would make about liberals, but I like it.
5. Fleetwood Mac – Sara
The musical equivalent of a wine cooler. Mmm, wine. Another example of soft rock with a bumpin’ rhythm section. I need to hit a few thrift stores until I find a dollar copy of the Tusk double LP.
6. Paul McCartney – Heart of the Country
From his early, pre-corny solo album Ram. I like when he scats along with the guitar break. Cute video, too. Makes me want to move somewhere rural with the one I love and drink tea and smoke tea and create stuff. And, oh yeah, be obscenely rich because I was in one of the most popular music groups of all time.
7. Mississippi John Hurt – Let the Mermaids Flirt with Me
I love his fingerpicking and how every one of his songs sounds like a lullaby. This one could also go on an Alternative Funerals playlist with The Pogues’ “If I Should Fall from Grace with God.”
8. Mount Kimbie – Before I Move Off
Mount Kimbie are a British duo who make electronic music that samples organic found sounds. I throw on their album Crooks and Lovers every time my nerves are jangling and I’m riding the train home–so, like, once a week. I suspect that as I evaluate what I listened to most this year, Mount Kimbie will be towards the top of the pile. This comment from YouTube user mollywoodTM says it all, dude: “this is sooo fuckin sick. love how chill it is, seriously.”
9. Curren$y – King Kong
The beat on this song is like a black hole. It sounds like you’re floating in space and Curren$y’s voice is just whipping past you, spitting some of his most urgent flows. It’s an interesting song to hear out of context of his really good Pilot Talk album, because on the record, this song comes right after the lumbering timpani drums of “Audio Dope II,” which creates a great contrast between the biggest and most minimal songs on the album. Alone, it’s a little feverish and, since we’re going with relaxation, let’s take the hook, “King Kong ain’t got shit on me,” as motivational.
10. A Tribe Called Quest – Electric Relaxation
This beat out “Jazzy Belle” by Outkast because, even though that song is like a pillow, “Electric Relaxation” has “relaxation” in the title, and it’s about fucking. And what’s more relaxing than fucking? This song has a great video with black and white footage of early ‘90s New York, but the audio is the song’s clean version, and it messes up the classic opening line. They’re fat-ass thighs, not fat-[pause] thighs. For the longest time, I was in the small camp of people who like A Tribe Called Quest’s Low End Theory better than Midnight Marauders, because Low End was the first Tribe album I heard and Marauders reminds me of this scary dude on my bus in ninth grade who thought “Award Tour” was called “World Tour.” He was far too gully to be corrected. Also, while Marauders is the polished hit, it wouldn’t exist without the innovations that took place during Low End, so Low End has the thrill of discovery. Now, years later, I bump Marauders more often, but I suppose that’s because I’m aged and complacent and just want the hits.
11. BONUS: Cooley High Dance Line
If this doesn’t cheer you up, then call a shrink. Found this while looking for the dance party scene in Cooley High, so I could brush up on dance moves before attending an ill-fated mod soul night. It’s probably for the better that I stood in line outside of the club for a while instead of going in, because the people inside might not have been ready for my version of the coochie shake. Think about this: These are the kids of the people in the dance lines on “Soul Train.” Aaand… their kids are keeping Soulja Boy in business.
Written by Chris “C.T.” Terry/ctwashere.tumblr.com
