The Cut - Shadow Talks (1981)

 

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I've had a steady diet of New Wave/Post-Punk the last week or more. It's most definitely because lately I've been filling my head with some of the foulest black metal the internet could share with me. Shadow Talks is so refreshing after all of that darkness. All of the pieces fit perfectly together like a deliciously balanced meal but for your ears. Guilt-free calories. It's best enjoyed around midday, right after lunch kicks in and the clock starts dragging it's ass and makes quitting time feel like an eternity away. The stark keys and jangling guitars blow the cobwebs out of my ears and perks me up to make that final stretch for the end. But mostly it's because the rhythm section is fucking killer and I can't help but shake my ass, so there's that. It's a banger of a debut to say the least. Click below for a good time.

Shadow Talks

Jan Garbarek - I Took Up the Runes (1990)

 

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There's something very nostalgic about this record. It's kind of reminds me of walking through the park with my grandmother, as a kid. She used to take me downtown Chicago on Sundays to go to this big ass church. After the show, we'd visit the Space Chapel on the 23rd floor, and the usher would always bitch at me about throwing pennies out of the stained-glass windows. He would threaten me with shit like, 'if that penny hits someone on head, it could cut them in half", which naturally only made me want to throw literally handfuls more. 

The point of that story was every time we visited the chapel, I could hear a busker on the corner blowing his own faith into his horn. Every single note floating upwards, towards the heavens and space beyond. I'm not a religious person. I wrestle with it daily. But whenever I hear this record, it reminds me of those simpler times I spent with her, which was a little slice of heaven.  

Happy Holidays if that's your thing. 

I Took Up the Runes