The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
Every Tuesday, the Sounding Board is a space for a short-ish review of a recent-ish release and conversations about new-to-you music. I’ll get things started with a write-up about a newer, likely under-heard album, and invite you to share your music musings in the comments.
Artists who decide to make new music that sounds like old music have a tough row to hoe.
They’re generally working in genres that have long been out of fashion. They have to stay faithful enough to the tropes, structures and sonic textures that comprise the legacy of their predecessors while trying to do something to set themselves apart. If they echo the past too strongly, it can come off like a gimmick, and if they veer too strongly off the established path, they seem intentionally iconoclastic and off-putting. Artists who pull it off with tact and panache can rack up accolades and carve out their own legacy, like Jack White or Lady Gaga. Those who stumble are destined to be labeled interlopers or punchlines, like Greta Van Fleet or one of the not-Sinatra crooners whose CDs used to congregate near coffee shop cash registers.1
That’s a long-winded way of saying Curtis Harding achieved something commendable and enjoyable with Departures & Arrivals: Adventures of Captain Curt.2 The Atlanta-based singer-songwriter wrote and produced an aggressively likable album that sounds like a whole lot of ’70s soul, R&B, and funk giants without ever lapsing into corny pastiche. Departures & Arrivals lacks the sort of time-stopping moments to push open the dopamine floodgates that some of this year’s absolute best releases have, but it is a pleasant listen from start to finish.3 A few of this LP’s songs are worthy of cracking a heavy rotation playlist, but it seems unlikely any choice cuts will be entering anyone’s personal Desert Island Jukebox.4
Many of the album’s high points arrive atop lush strings and spectral organs that Harding says are meant to draw parallels between being lost in space and the untethered feeling of being a touring musician. 5 While these throwback touches add dimension and richness that pair wonderfully with Harding’s warm voice, they’re more table dressing than centerpiece — swirling means of conveyance that get a song going or keep it grandly moving.6 The standout moments come when Harding uses that base to do something unexpected with familiar sounds. The slow-motion Ernie Isley guitar near the midpoint of album-opener “There She Goes” breaks up what otherwise sounds like a lost Philly soul song. It’s great fun. Ditto for the decision to reverse Harding’s vocals near the end of “The Power,” which up to that point is an extremely straightforward song with a disco strut, trilling woodwinds and occasional bursts of handclapping. It pales in comparison to the album’s truly out there choice to process the vocals on “Hard As Stone” until Harding sounds like a warbling alien.7
Despite the occasional flourish, Harding never fully cuts loose. It’s a shame because the creative choices he does make — and past collaboration with members of the Atlanta punks Black Lips — suggest he could get a lot wilder than simply coloring a bit outside the neo-soul lines. Still, there are many worse ways to spend time than listening to thoughtfully arranged soul music paired with buttery vocals and a lightest touch of weirdness.
While Departures & Arrivals: Adventures of Captain Curt fails for the celestial ambitions implied by its title and guiding concept, at the end of the day, it’s still a worthwhile album to trek with.
About the writer
Ben Hohenstatt
Ben Hohenstatt is an Alaska-based dog owner who moonlights as a music writer and photographer.
For more information, consult your local library or with parental permission visit his website.
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The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
Department of
Conversation
What Did We Watch?
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, “Guilty Witness” – probably won’t be around to discuss this one on Thursday, I had mixed feelings about it: Story / twist felt particularly week but I kinda liked the characters and performances, especially the woman suspected of being a killer.
Halt and Catch Fire, episode 3 – ehh I dunno, this is pretty watchable but I’m not feeling like I’m going to end up sticking with it.
That’s about where I stand on this AHP episode too.
I hope you stop short of typing “week” instead of “weak” in your verdict, though.
I haven’t proofread it yet, so anything could happen!
Haven’t seen it but I’ve heard H&CF substantially improves, maybe after the first season, maybe at some other point.
The Practice, “Food Chains” – Lindsay’s demand to be a partner continues to roil things till Bobby – after he dramatically if unrealistically slams the office door and shatters the “Donnell and Associates” pane – decides to make everyone but Jimmy a partner. Including Rebecca the secretary. And now Jimmy’s pissed! But frankly, he’s been acting like a 12 year old of late. And without Rebecca, there wouldn’t be plot, since having been the only witness to a murder is now being sucked into an insurance scam only she is happy to work with the DA to run a sting operation. Boy, it’s like David E. Kelley really wants to use her as much as possible. Oh, and the doctor helping with the scam is, unknown to anyone else, dating Ellenor, who has no idea he’s a crook. (Wacky fact: the doctor is named Spivak, and played by a JC MacKenzie. Who played a character named Spivak on Murder One. I guess Kelley was a fan.)_
And the one actual court case has Ellenor helping a researcher try to gain custody of a chimp to prevent him from being possibly killed in the sort of experiments the researcher doesn’t do. The story manages to not really take sides about animal rights while giving the chimp a happy ending. This works mainly because Linda Hunt as Judge Heller is believable in her decision. I suspect neither committed animal rights activists or those who believe any research that saves lives is good would like this one.
The X-Files, “731”
Some good stuff in this episode, both in terms of awe and horror–the mass execution, Scully among the lepers–and in terms of tension–Scully replaying the alien autopsy video to get the door code to Mulder is a cool bit of payoff–but I think the mytharc’s diminishing returns have set in for me. As always, Mulder and Scully as characters are so vivid and well-defined that it can be a pleasure just watching them do their stuff–of course Scully would believe the hoax explanation, especially when she encounters physical proof of it, and of course Mulder wouldn’t–but the knowledge that they’re not going to ever really get anywhere on this front is beginning to make it tiring. And they didn’t even get to share the screen very often in this episode! Looking forward to getting back to some MOTW episodes.
I enjoy a good grounded thriller as much as anyone else, but I am glad the show didn’t ultimately go with “it’s all a hoax to cover up equally dark but less science fictional experiments.” The X-Files needs a sense of awe and wonder to accompany the things that go bump in the night and get covered up by the government. Stripping that away from this series–and inevitably stripping it away from Mulder–would make it a radically different, and much less artistically varied and meaningful, experience.
I think the myth-arc finds its feet again in the fifth season because they manage to make an actual dramatic story out of it, with characters making meaningful choices within their complete lack of awareness of what the hell is going on (something LOST would run away with). Otherwise I’m definitely with you on getting sick of it by the point you’re up to. I like Mr X but the myth arc really loses its lustre with Jerry Hardin leaving.
The Kids In The Hall, Season Four, Episode One
“Maybe it’s my fault for never having named the dog.”
“Boy, wok cooking sure is harder than it looks.”
“Because I believe childbirth to be a beautiful and natural thing, no meter!” This got me thinking of stilted comedy dialogue, given my writing about 8 Bit Theater at the moment, noticing it in The Simpsons and Futurama more strongly. It’s fairly basic absurdity in that a) you’re not supposed to say that subtext out loud and b) you’re not supposed to speak so elegantly.
“Must have stopped ringing in all this confuuusion.”
“No, that’s ACT UP. We’re the really angry people.”
“Should I hit the spider with my newspaper?”
“If your aim is to housebreak it, hon’, then sure.”
“What would you do if aliens tried to pick us up?”
“Would they pay us in their own money?”
Bruce McCullough’s angry executive sketch was really weird even for this show.
Jaws – 50th anniversary screening – I’ve always been of the opinion that Jaws is pretty good, though it drags a lot in a kind of dull way. I understand the movie’s pop-cultural importance and all that but always put it in the “not for me” basket along with Close Encounters. I’m now realising that seeing it on a muddy VHS on a tiny screen in the nineties was maybe not the ideal viewing experience. Having seen it in beautiful colour on the big screen I can now raise its esteem to “really quite good.”
I no longer think it drags. In fact, middle-aged me enjoys the family stuff and town politics more than the boat stuff. I love the Altman-style sound design of the town scenes. I love Roy Scheider as a bewildered protagonist. He’s a stand-up guy. I love the Orca as a location. You really come to know that space and its cranny’s; every part of the boat serves a purpose. I LOVE the meteor – what a moment. But I still kinda hate Quint, despite Robert Shaw’s beautiful baby blues. As a blowhard, know-it-all fisherman he’s akin to my most hated kind of man: the farmer. I just don’t enjoy his company.
I’d forgotten about the meteor. Might be time for a rewatch.
What Did We Listen To?
How many podcasts about the Clippers and Kawhi and the salary cap is too many? Well, I am close to that, and it’s eating into my other podcast time. They have one of my favorite guests on Blank Check and I haven’t started it yet!
I’m only aware of this at a very headline level, but I really need to dig into it. Salary-cap sneakiness is a topic I find extremely entertaining. Any recommendations on podcasts?
It’s got real potential to stay entertaining for a long while, assuming Silver does not let the richest sports owner in America bully him.
1001 Albums, etc.:
Marvin Gaye – Here, My Dear: Marvin’s big divorce album. I love that after a bunch of songs exclusively about breaking up with his wife, he throws in one about getting funky on a spaceship. As a whole, the album is a little one-note for me but it sounds gorgeous at least.
Willie Nelson – Stardust: Naturally I expected country music, but this is Willie’s jazzy “I want to sing the great American songbook!” album. Old fashioned but pleasant.
Chic – C’est Chic: love a bit of Nile Rogers, this is top-tier funky disco music.
X-Ray Spex – Germfree Adolescents: The wailing sax sometimes gets a BIT much for me but otherwise this is great, they have a good mix of melodic and furious in their sound and I enjoyed the songs I haven’t heard many times just as much as the ones I have.
Brian Eno – Ambient 1: Music for Airports: Brian just casually inventing a genre, as you do. I prefer one or two of his other ambient albums but this one is gorgeous too.
Siouxsie and the Banshees – The Scream: Hugely influential but not much fun, I like some of the big Siouxsie singles a lot but this debut is very grey and low on hooks.
AC/DC – Highway to Hell: Kinda grew on me, the screechy vocals have always put me off AC/DC in the past but the riffs are undeniable and they make good use of backing vocals for anthemic purposes.
Sister Sledge – We Are Family: more Nile Rogers, and this is even more packed with bangers than the Chic album maybe? Such a lush sound.
The Crusaders – Street Life: knew the title track, was curious to hear more but it turns out the rest of the album is tasteful jazz for soundtracking dinner parties, oh well.
Germs – (GI): again, hugely influential but not all that much fun. If this had been a 25-minute blast of their best stuff I might have been won over but it dragged on me over almost 40 minutes. Can’t fault the furious punk energy though.
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Blank Check – the O Brother episode felt a little lacklustre to me, it was fine but the discussion felt a little dry. No such problem with The Man Who Wasn’t There which was delightfully unhinged, haha. I love hearing David get annoyed with everyone else.
The Laser Age – tried the first couple of episodes of this, it’s not bad although I’m not sure Keith Phipps is the best host. Don’t think I’ll be a regular listener but might drop in occasionally when they cover particularly interesting films.
Oh Brother came soooo close to touching on the racial politics of O Brother, and then veered off. I am ever more convinced that Griffin and David just aren’t good at that. Or as interested as I am.
It’s definitely not what I come to this particular podcast for, it feels like they’ve fumbled things in the past when they have tried to get a little more serious so I’m generally happy for them to stay light and concentrate on driving David slowly insane.
(I am also checking out a more academic Coens podcast on the side but I haven’t gotten deep enough to know whether to recommend it or not)
The Kill James Bond podcast did an episode on Hail, Caesar! recently that I really enjoyed
Ooh nice, thanks! I love Hail, Caesar! so much, I hope they touched on the most important and serious subject of all: Hobie Doyle being the cutest Coens character ever.
They do! In their words, “he’s just a sweet kid who wants to get a good grade in being in the movies”.
I feel that way about Siouxie too — their hits are so good but whenever I try to listen to an album I’m left entirely cold. So different than many other acts.
Stankonia, Outkast
Almost wall-to-wall bangers. I didn’t realize how many of these I would already know going in–the singles from this were really on the radio constantly when I was in middle school, and they just became part of the fabric of things I hum or occasionally sing bits of. Highlights: “Gasoline Dreams,” “So Fresh, So Clean,” “B.O.B.” (great percussive force to these beats), “Ms. Jackson” (even though I now often tend to think of the joke version: “I’m sorry, Ms. Jackson! I am four eels / Never meant to make your daughter cry / I am several fish and not a guy”), and “We Luv Deez Hoez.” It was interesting coming back to this after having listened to Outkast splitting up into two creative forces on the chronologically later Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, because I’m aware of the different voices and approaches being unified here into one powerfully catchy jam-generator.
American Gangster, Jay-Z
Kind of love that this is all wrapped around a Denzel Washington movie that I enjoyed but feel doesn’t get discussed very much anymore? It gives the album a storytelling heft and an unusual and kind of dorky commitment that I like, and a lot of the songs are great. I especially loved “Pray,” “No Hook,” “Roc Boys (And the Winner Is…)” and “Say Hello.” The celebratory bounce and beat of “Roc Boys” probably gives it my #1 slot.
Tha Carter III, Lil’ Wayne
Here, I’m going to pick a more unusual favorite track, because while Lil’ Wayne’s breathy, imaginative, endlessly inventive, pop culture reference-heavy rapping is consistently exciting to me to here, “Phone Home” went beyond that to actually … personally speak to me in a strangely moving way? Been feeling a little like a Martian myself lately.
Electric Version, The New Pornographers
Gorgeous, bright, beautiful power pop. An album incredibly consistent in its lovely (even lush) soundscape, but my favorite might be “July Jones.” Hard to choose, though.
Hard Headed Woman, Margo Price
Sounding Board gets results! And while I have a big backlog of previously reviewed albums that I want to catch up on, I have zero regrets about listening to this most recent one first. This has all the earthiness and twang that I want, coupled with both spunk and an occasional ragged, emotional sense of loss and wear and tear. It’s especially there in “Nowhere is Where,” one of my favorites: “On your way down, won’t you pick me up? / If there’s room enough and you’ve got gas in the truck / If you’re going nowhere, I could use a ride.” Other songs I particularly liked: “Don’t Let the Bastards Get You Down,” “Close to You,” and “Don’t Wake Me Up.”
Screen Drafts
Why do I keep forgetting to include podcasts? Anyway, the 1939 Mini-Mega Draft was my favorite of this week’s bunch-gathered up several recommendations from that, and things got interestingly (if stressfully) heated towards the end. I’m almost done with the Michael Crichton Super Draft now, and that’s another winner, with a format that means it’s obviously full of deep cuts.
Year of the Month update!
This September, we’re covering these movies, albums, books, from 1938!
TBD: Cori Domschot: Bringing Up Baby/Holiday
Sept. 15th: Bridgett Taylor: Rebecca
And here’s a primer on some of the movies, albums, books and TVwe’ll be covering for 1973 in October!
Oct. 7th: Lauren James: Working
Oct. 22nd: Lauren James: The Wicker Man
Oct. 29th: Lauren James: Don’t Look Now