XK9

01/21/2023

Today I attended an online workshop with the fantastic Ken Barber—he of Type & Lettering and Chief Lettering Officer at House Industries. The title of Ken’s workshop is Lettering for Logos & Branding. I was delighted to get a glimpse into Ken’s process.

This sketch is of my own rough idea of what the proposed brand project—a fictional, artisanal bakery—might look like if XK9 were proposing a solution. The second sketch is a rough pencil portrait of Mr Barber. Doodlers gonna doodle.

Hat tip to Lynn Barber—Ken’s better half—for coordinating and co-hosting the class, and for curating Ken’s awesome backdrop.

01/20/2023

XK9 Presents: No.190
Musicisgoodmedicine

Billy Bragg & Wilco – Mermaid Avenue (1998)

(Deep breath, this is a run-on sentence). Before T. Bone Burnett gathered supergroup (Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens, Marcus Mumford, Jim James, and Taylor Goldsmith) to form The New Basement Tapes—creating songs from a trove of unused Dylan lyrics—there was Mermaid Avenue. In the mid 1990s,

Billy Bragg enlisted Wilco (then Jeff Tweedy, Jay Bennet, Ken Coomer, and John Stirratt), and at the behest of Woody Guthrie’s daughter Nora, the group set a collection of those lyrics to music. The result was Mermaid Avenue.

They gentlemen were joined by Natalie Merchant of 10,000 Maniacs on two standout tracks, “Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key” and “Birds and Ships.” Ms Merchant sings backup on the former, and takes the lead on “Birds and Ships.”

It’s been a while since I listened to this collection. It really is so good. The album is actually chock full of standouts. Lead vocals on the other tracks are shared by Bragg and Tweedy. Favorite songs include Bragg’s ’Ingrid Bergman“ and Tweedy and Bennet’s ”California Stars” and the group collaboration on the raucous “Hoodoo Voodoo.”

In 2000 the collective dropped a second collection, Mermaid Avenue Vol. II.

A three disc collection—“Mermaid Avenue – The Complete Sessions” was released in 2012. The first two discs are respectively the first and second volumes. The third is a collection of songs that did not make it to finish for either of the first two releases.

I don’t recall if this collection preceded my love of Wilco or not, but it certainly cemented there place on my life’s playlist.

01/17/2023

XK9 Presents: No.189
Musicisgoodmedicine

Meshell Ndegeocello – Peace Beyond Passion (1996)

The fantastic sophomore album from Meshell Ndegeocello.

Soulful. Smart. Seductive.

That amazing voice. Grooves. Beats. Jazz meanderings and the occasional string section.

A brilliant late night work album. But it’s certainly worth a listen any time of day.

Get it on.

01/09/2023

XK9 Presents: No.188
Musicisgoodmedicine

Old Crow Medicine Show – Remedy (2014)

Time to kick out the jams, country style.

Harmonies. Humor. Bluegrass. Banjos. Yep. Works for me.

01/02/2023

XK9 Presents: No.187
Musicisgoodmedicine

Sierra Ferrell – Long Time Coming (2021)

Sierra Elizabeth Ferrell came to my attention by way of Instagram. A New Year’s gift. It was a reel of her live performance of her song “In Dreams.” Sierra is a riveting performer. Her voice cuts through everything. It reminds me of Dolly or Emmy Lou. She’s that good.

This is the kind of country music I love. A unique performer in an old style. Authentic and transcendent.

12/28/2022

Words to consider from the late Tibor Kalman, graphic designer and provocateur.

Tibor’s work challenged ideas and his peers. A true rebel. Tibor prodded us all to consider that design can be a catalyst for change.

12/22/2022

XK9 Presents: No.186
Musicisgoodmedicine

Lenny Kravitz – Are You Gonna Go My Way (1993)

In a couple weeks the calendars will switch to 2023, and Lenny Kravitz’s Are You Gonna Go My Way will be (almost) 20 years old. Seriously, how is that possible.

In the late 80s Lenny Kravitz arrived, a fully formed rock star. This morning I arrived at the scientifically proven conclusion that Lenny Kravitz is one of the two coolest humans currently residing on Planet Earth. (The other is Pink, of course. If you need proof of that, check out her performance of Get the Party Started as part of Greg Kurstin and Dave Grohl’s Hannukah Sessions 2022. Case closed.)

It takes an immense amount of talent and self-confidence to pull off being Lenny Kravitz. And he’s got both of those in abundance. Keep an eye out for his Yves Saint Laurent fragrance commercial. This late fifty-something can still strut.

There is so much talent in Lenny’s genes. His Mom is the late, great Roxie Roker, who expertly played George Jefferson’s foil Helen Willis on the 70s CBS sitcom The Jeffersons. Lenny’s daughter Zoë, is another immensely gifted actress. For me, she was the best thing in The Batman. That girl has her Dad’s swagger—and once upon a time her Mom was the coolest thing about The Cosby Show.

ATGGMW is a beautiful collection of songs that comes out screaming of the gate with that title track—the biggest banger of 1993. That song continues to age as well as its creator.

12/19/2022

XK9 Presents: No.185
Musicisgoodmedicine

The Postal Service – Give Up (2003)

The Postal Service are Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello. The iridescent Jenny Lewis offered backing vocals and harmonies. The Postal Service is musical alchemy.

They decided to collaborate after a couple of side hustles from their day jobs—Ben’s as frontman of Death Cab from Cutie, and Jimmy’s as Dntel. They chose the band name because Jimmy utilized the US Postal Service to send Ben Digital Audio Tapes of his instrumental parts. Ben used those tracks as the foundation what became the songs on Give Up.

In the new year, The Postal Service will celebrate the 20th anniversary of this release by playing a double bill stadium tour with Death Cab. Ben and his other bandmates are celebrating the 20th anniversary of their album Transatlanicism.

12/16/2022

XK9 Presents: No.184
Musicisgoodmedicine

Wilco – A.M. (2013)

It’s Wilco. What more needs to be said?

12/07/2022

XK9 Presents: No.183
Musicisgoodmedicine

Would you like to be in a better mood? Listen to this album.

Blue-eyed soul, well-done.

I’m not sure how I feel about that term—blue-eyed soul. It refers to a white performer singing black music. I wonder if that’s an acceptable description (or an acceptable genre) in an era where we are all hyper-aware of cultural appropriation. Is Jamie Lidell engaging in cultural thievery by writing music and singing music that is soulful? I refuse to see it that way.

Jamie Lidell is a genuinely soulful singer and performer. And I am here for that.

Is that wrong?

11/29/2022

XK9 Presents: No.182
Musicisgoodmedicine

The Avalanches – Since I Left You (2000)

On Since I Left You by Avalanches nobody plays. Nobody sings. It’s an album of found sound. Samples on samples on samples. And it works.

The Avalanches are Robbie Chater, Tony Di Biasi, and Andy Szekeres, Australians from Melbourne. Since I Left You was their debut album as The Avalanches.

It would be 16 years before they would release a second album. Their third dropped in 2020.

11/24/2022