Dinner Music 85: The weekly lineup
Brazilian bossa, cameroonian jazz-funk, "that summer feeling"
This week we’re leaning into sounds like capture “that summer feeling.” As Henry James wrote: “Summer afternoon – summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” And now, we try to capture it in sound.
We begin with Luis Melodia’s album Maravilhas Contemporâneas, which was first featured on Dinner Music last year in a special Thanksgiving edition of the newsletter. Melodia takes samba and injects it with soul and funk to build something both listenable and surprising. The Brazilian native was largely a recording industry outsider, so his sound is untainted and original, meant to evoke his own interests and predispositions. We move into Raw Honey by Drugdealer, a project from LA’s Michael Collins, crafted as an ode to the crackling and searching music of the early seventies. If you liked the newsletter we did on the Laurel Canyon a few months back, start here. I’ve had “Wild Motion” on repeat for weeks. We stay with that crackling and searching sound, but jump over the ocean to Japan for Nagisa Ni Te’s Dream Sounds. The Osaka-based duo blends late nineties lethargy with straight-forward lyricism, akin to Bob Dylan or The Beach Boys, while occasionally dropping into keyboard or electric guitar “freak-outs” to make this a tried and true psych-folk album, with the dreaminess of something like Beach House or Weyes Blood. It’s angst, but not the “teen spirit” kind. It’s the kind that haunts you all your life. We move into something more embodied and upbeat with Manu Dibango’s African Voodoo. Dibango is one of Cameroon’s, and arguably Africa’s, most acclaimed jazz saxophonists and this album gives a glimpse into his power. Staccato woodwinds over funky organ with bongos and the most fun type of percussion, like woodblocks and tambourine, sustain the album throughout — the energy builds, much the same way it would in a jazz club. This album is fun as hell. We end with Gilberto Gil’s Laur, which I can’t believe I haven’t featured before. “Palco” was a go-to track for me during the pandemic, with its soaring goodness and warmth, like plugging straight into a stunning summer’s day. This album from one of Brazil’s greats is a must-listen.
Enjoy.
The playlist
Monday
Maravilhas Contemporâneas - Luiz Melodia (1976)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Tuesday
Raw Honey - Drugdealer (2019)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Wednesday
Dream Sounds - Nagisa Ni Te (2005)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Thursday
African Voodoo - Manu Dibango (1972)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Friday
Luar - Gilberto Gil (1981)
Spotify / Apple Music / YouTube / Other streaming services
Pair with:
Pasta al Limone. Never not suggesting you make lemon pasta during the summertime!! It’s always easy, always delicious and everyone likes it.
‘She’s Electric’ Chenin Blanc. It’s the summer of Chenin Blanc! (Every summer is the summer of Chenin Blanc).
Bramble by Boy Smells candle. Rhubarb, tree moss, blackberry, strawberry, white cedar, basil, amber. Anything with Rhubarb gets me every time.
The Swimmer by John Cheever. One of the best summer short stories. It was one of those midsummer Sundays when everyone sits around saying, “I drank too much last night.”
Royal Beatings by Alice Munro. RIP to one of the best short story writers to ever live. I have a feeling that is so hard to describe. It's like a boiled egg in my chest, with the shell left on. That was like a hand clapped against Rose's chest, not to hurt, but astonish her, to take her breath away.
Thank you for reading. Have a great week.
I’ll be in New York City all week, send food, record shop and bar recommendations. I’m out of touch!
Raw Honey is a great album - I remember the spotify algorithm sneaking it into a 70s playlist and it didn't seem at all out of place. As always, thanks for the recs!