Dinner Music 137: The weekly lineup
rhythm & blues, soul, romantic summer
This week is a bit romantic. What is it about romance that sounds like aching? The finiteness of any given moment? That’s what I’m trying to capture here. The music comes from R&B (old school), soul, and a bit of funk and motown. Romance always feels a bit sweeter in the sun, am I wrong? Let’s begin.
First, we have laconic dream-pop album Jassbusters from “R&B surrealist” (his, or his label’s, words) Connan Mockasin. This sparsely populated album throws fuzz-guitar over sultry drum taps and overlays some searching vocals, in and out of falsetto, giving the tracks a searching coherence. Reminds me a bit of Okay Kaya, similar vibe, that sonic dream-world of vocals and guitar, all the feeling floating in between. Next, we pick up the energy with Bobby Boyd’s self-titled album (produced by George Benson (DM 108), a classic modern soul album, full of good feeling and that classic blues-adjacent melancholy, with songs titles like: “why are you cryin’” and “let bygones be bygones.” The record was originally released on Tiger Lily Records, allegedly a “tax scam” label with a fascinating (and extremely predatory) history. Basically, it meant that the record got no publicity and fell into relative obscurity, but has since been re-issued twice (first on CD, second digitally by Athens of the North). A great one for a lively dinner party. We move into a score Nicolas Godin (of Air) did for a French television show, Au service de la France. Godin calls the album “exercice de style, savoir faire, nothing original” — it was intended as “an homage to classic composers of the ’60s such as Lalo Schifrin.”1 As an American, it’s my euro-desiring right to swiftly fall in love with anything that sounds like Paris in the 1960s. This is a fun album, with a lot of sexiness and nostalgia, great for wine on a summer night. What to say about Our Day Will Come? Did you know it was composed by Mort Garson? Yes, Plantasia Mort Garson (DM 76)! He composed it and handed it off to Ruby and the Romantics, who rocketed it to #1 on the Billboard charts in 1962. Ruby and the Romantics came out of Akron, Ohio, and, as the name might suggest, crafted song after song of romantic ballad, silky smooth, that reached into an abyssal depth of the heart. They were highly influential to The Carpenters, who, as you may know, are at the very center of my musical soul. In 1983, a man named Lewis recorded an album named L’Amour and…that’s about all we know.2 Regardless, the album “begs to be listened to on headphones, and doing so brings you in close.”3
Enjoy.
The playlist: Spotify / Apple Music
Paid subscribers have access to the full Dinner Music archive (via Spotify and Apple Music), an after hours playlist, a “New York Grooves” playlist and more — hundreds of hours of groove, jazz, folk, samba, hi-life, disco, funk and more, lovingly selected.
Plus, paid subscribers get a monthly playlist (here's May’s), albums recs for new music, and access to the “for consideration” weekly playlists (2-5 hours of additional music!).
Monday
Jassbusters - Connan Mockasin (2018)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Tuesday
Bobby Boyd - Bobby Boyd (1976)
Bandcamp / Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Wednesday
Au service de la France - Nicolas Godin (2018)
Bandcamp / Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Thursday
Our Day Will Come - Ruby and the Romantics (1968)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Friday
L'Amour - Lewis Baloue (1983)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Pair with:
Lemon zucchini pasta. “Think of this zucchini pasta recipe as your gateway to the Italian summer in your mind’s eye.”
Ovum’s Big Salt. Look, this is not a rare or specially allocated natural wine. But, it’s very accessible, and, in my opinion, a very good American, white table wine. Goes with everything. Including romance.
Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt. One of the best books I’ve read in such a long time (and, to be honest, I’ve read a lot of good books this year!). It excavated me. Scooped me out. Left me to inspect what had been turned inside out.
“In the Age of the Algorithm, Roots Music Is Rising.” The overlapping genre and format labels — country, Americana, bluegrass — can get slippery, but the underlying cyclic exchange between the roots and pop ends of the musical spectrum creates an essential dynamic in American culture.
From the archive
I’ve been busy updating past newsletters with the playlists from that specific week. Here’s a few recent ones that you can now go back and listen to (if you’re a paying subscriber. if not, consider it!):
Dinner Music 76 | music for plants, desert dreamscape, so much moog
Dinner Music 108 | deep crate groove, soul jazz, cathartic cowboy
Dinner Music 131 | folk, twang, songs about heartbreak
Dinner Music 130 | zamrock, afro-psychadelia, tezeta (a crowd favorite!)
A section of “You Be The Dancer” by Cyrus Cassells, from his poetry collection Is There Room For Another Horse on Your Horse Ranch?
Thank you, thank you. Have a great week.
As usual, paid subscribers can find the “for consideration” playlist in the chat. 5+ hours of funk and disco!!! Access it here: dinnermusic.substack.com/chat.
If any of y’all are in New York, I’ll be playing my debut gig on June 21 (!!!) in the city (as 1/2 of Horse Opera) at Jupiter Disco. Come say hi :)
https://floodmagazine.com/73891/airs-nicolas-godin-doesnt-feel-the-music-industry-pressure/
https://lightintheattic.net/collections/lewis?srsltid=AfmBOopmaU4SHvXzFVNgI8UXxUuaY-ugD5iJ4SW-Q1Q8K-_449rhIHjb
https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/let-whisper-ear/
Love this Jacqui! Just reached out to you over IG with an idea.
the title of the second Lewis album? Romantic Times (it is not nearly as romantic as the first it is actually kind of harrowing)