A half-dozen cool things in music, from two points of view:
6 cool things in music: Kacey Musgraves, Kaytranada with H.E.R. and 'After Life' soundtrack
Shoutouts, too, to St. Dominic's Trio, Gretchen Peters and an essay on compact discs.
January 21, 2022 at 5:00PM
Mare Lennon of St. Paul:
1 "After Life" soundtrack. The third season of Ricky Gervais' brilliant Netflix series — beautiful bumbling characters navigating life and especially death — is set to exceptional tunes, everything from Bob Dylan to Death Cab for Cutie. The finale (Episode 6) broke me wide open, using Joni Mitchell and the London Symphony Orchestra. The playlist is on Spotify.
2 Gretchen Peters' YouTube interview. The Nashville singer-songwriter recalls the last time the late, great Jimmy LaFave performed. The interview is a love song to old friends, a deep conversation, which led me to LaFave's phenomenal covers of Peters' "On a Bus to St. Cloud," "How It Must Remain" and "For Everyman."
3 St. Dominic's Trio, Driftwood Char Bar. Sax in hand, Vic Volare entered through the back door in the witching hour, expanding Terry Walsh's small combo, blasting us all to joyful smithereens. Spines straightened, dancers whirled, money and spirits raised for Foothold Twin Cities. This is still a good world.
Jon Bream, Star Tribune critic:
1 Kacey Musgraves, Xcel Energy Center. Literally wearing broken hearts (of rhinestones) on her sleeves, the recently divorced country-pop star kicked off her first-ever arena tour, overcoming the downbeat songs with her humorous patter/personality and creative, resourceful visuals, including a heart-shaped stage with a backdrop of a heart on fire.
2 Kaytranada featuring H.E.R., "Intimidated." On "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," the Canadian DJ/producer delivered this breezy, dreamy jam that was all about pianist H.E.R.'s enticing vocals, urging someone to not overthink it when "you could be loving me." Seductive shades of Sade.
3 "Jewel-Box Heroes: Why the CD Revival Is Finally Here," Rolling Stone. Critic Rob Sheffield waxes on his love for compact discs, which are not as sexy as vinyl, he argues, but more efficient and more satisfying artistically than streaming. Agreed. And superior fidelity, as well.
To contribute: popmusic@startribune.com
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Critics’ picks for entertainment in the week ahead.
