The New Cue #376 April 26: St. Vincent, Deadletter, Kelley Stoltz, Nilüfer Yanya, Willie J Healey, Overmono, Fat Dog, Thom Yorke, Adult Jazz, youbet, Odetta Hartman, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

"A sonic staple on family road trips to Suzuki violin camp every summer..."

Good morning,

Welcome to your weekly Recommender fix! Is it too early for an exclamation mark? Depends what time you open this email. But we’re not apologising. No looking back. Here’s another one!

Whoa, that was one too far. Let’s crack on, we have music to recommend and Odetta Hartman has a children’s album to tell you about, there’s no time to listen to you whining about an exclamation mark, here have a playlist:

And here for the Apple Music crew.

Enjoy the edition,

Ted, Niall and Chris

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An Album To Blow Your Mind

Odetta Hartman picks a 70s cult classic

Last month, New York singer-songwriter Odetta Hartman released her new record Swansong, a restlessly inventive album that fidgets from folk to electronic-pop to ambient-pop and jazz. Have a listen:

Here, she tells us about why a children’s album put together by US actress Marlo Thomas has stayed with her since she was a kid:

Marlo Thomas & Friends
Free To Be… You And Me (1972)

“Free To Be… You And Me by Marlo Thomas and Friends was a sonic staple on our family road trips to Suzuki violin camp every summer. Despite divergent musical tastes (from DMX to Dvořák to Disney) and the 10-year age gap between my older brother, Leon & younger sister, Camellia, we all cherished singing along to our favourite songs on this iconic album. 

With the help of special guests Harry Belafonte, Roberta Flack, Diana Ross, Mel Brooks, Shel Silverstein & more, Marlo Thomas' unique project utilized disco, funk and folk anthems to imagine a new model of the world defined by equality and freedom. The lyrics challenged gender stereotypes (at a time when women were literally not allowed to have their own credit cards) and reframed "traditional" expectations through a positive emphasis on self-reliance. This revolutionary record ensconced progressive ideals into catchy songs [Sisters & Brothers + Parents are People + It's Alright to Cry] and empowered generations with emotional intelligence, self-confidence and radical compassion.   

As a new mama of a music-obsessed infant, I've been revisiting this album and pondering the cultural significance of such an ambitiously optimistic song cycle. Equal parts stand-up comedy, wholesome ho-down, spoken word, vaudeville and dance floor hits, there is something for everyone (and all ages!) to enjoy.”

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Recommender

Ted Kessler

It’s a relief to write this week’s Recommender, as it’s forced me to listen to some music that isn’t Diamond Jubilee by Cindy Lee. A good transition from Cindy Lee is Ghosted II, the follow-up to 2022’s (yes, good guess) Ghosted by the Australian multi-instrumentalist Oren Ambarchi alongside Swedes Johan Berthling (bass) and drummer Andreas Werlin of the trio Fire! It’s an intense but not overly heavy set of deeply, satisfyingly repetitive instrumentals that the trio have largely played live, built entirely around improvisation but without any needless noodling. There’s no showiness. It’s all about building tension, release - and rhythm. It’s also better than Ghosted, possibly because they’ve had another two years playing alongside each other in the bank.