dear listeners,
One of my favorite albums of the year came out today: “Manning Fireworks” by the North Carolina singer-songwriter-guitarist. MJ LandermanAn old soul and a young artist with a keen eye for observational detail bring his canted portraits of small-town life to life. I strongly believe Landerman is worth your time on today’s playlist — or, if you’re already familiar, an introduction to his music and the scene around it in Asheville.
There’s a fine art to writing songs that are both comedic and heartwarming, but Landerman has this knack: His best lines are as smart as funny bone-rattling wallops. “If I was with you I wouldn’t be in seminary,” he wails over wild, bitter chords. “Rudolph,” A single from the new album you’ll hear on today’s playlist. I love that song because it showcases one of Landerman’s songwriting superpowers, his sense of brevity. It’s basically an entire tragicomic short story in 12 simple words.
The flurry and economy of his writing sometimes reminds me of the great folk singer Bill CallahanSo I wasn’t surprised when Landerman mentioned it A recent Times interview with Will HermesHis love of Callahan’s previous projects the fog. Other Landermannian touchstones, to my ears, include Shambolic Blaze Neil Young and Crazy HorseThe twangy sparkle of the opening REM and sad-sack poetry of Silver Jews Frontman David Berman. But another thing I love about Landerman’s music is the way it carries the weight of rock history with sincerity and irreverent lightness. “Rudolph” and the final song on this playlist, “Knockin,” riff on Bob Dylan The lyrics, while new album closer, “Bark at the Moon”, are, in part, about playing the title Ozzy Osbourne Tune … on Guitar Hero.
In addition to his solo work, Landerman is the guitarist in the punky Southern rock group. Wednesday and has also played on records such as indie mainstays Waxahatchee And Indigo de Souza. I’ve also included tracks from those artists to give a broader sense of Landerman’s musical milieu.
I don’t know what Landerman fans call themselves — Landerheads? Lender? Landermaniacs? – But regardless, count me in their ranks. Maybe you will join us too.
Don’t go to New York City, baby, it’ll change the way you dress,
Lindsay
Listen along as you read.
1. MJ Landerman: “She’s Leaving You”
“You can put your clothes back on, she’s leaving you”: how’s that for an opening line? Lead single “Manning Fireworks” expertly mixes pathos and wry humor, tracing the aftermath of a breakup in what feels like a midlife crisis: “Rent a Ferrari, and sing the blues/Think Clapton’s coming second.” But Landerman somehow turns this chronicle of almost painfully banal male behavior into an actual song, complete with a fist-pumping chorus and a killer guitar solo. In the final moments, the song is reduced to just the instrumental backing vocals of Wednesday frontwoman Carly Hartzman, “She’s Leaving You” — which becomes all the more poignant if you know she and Landerman were a couple.
2. Wednesday: “Selected for Merit”
As for Hartzman, here’s my favorite song from Wednesday’s 2023 album, “Rat So God,” which showcases her affecting yowl and her unique songwriting voice. Hartzman is a lyricist sharp enough to build this song’s emotional progression on subtle turns of phrase — “the girl you’re chosen to deserve” to, ultimately, “the girl you’re meant to be.” have Chosen as worthy.” Her first observations about teenage boredom are at once banal and devastating, while Landerman’s guitar playing adds some muscle to the song.
3. MJ Landerman: “The Hangover Game”
The scrappy leadoff track from Landerman’s 2022 release, “Boat Songs,” is, to my knowledge, the only tune written about Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals, but if you can think of another, I’d love to hear it. The “Hangover Game” concerns the historic event commonly known as the Flu Game, when Michael Jordan heroically overcame gastrointestinal distress to score 38 points and lead the Chicago Bulls to victory. Here, Landerman entertains a controversial theory that the flu game really was The hangover game. Not that he’s judging Jordan if that were indeed the case: Over a slurred, distorted guitar, Landerman croons, “Yeah, I like to drink too.”
4. MJ Landerman: “Joker Lips”
Embroidered with quiet, mid-tempo guitar licks, this gently rocking highlight of “Manning Fireworks” is filled with vividly absurd imagery (“coward cutting joker lips in a rubber mask”) and quintessentially Landermannian wisdom. “Please don’t laugh,” he pleads with a straight face. “Half of what I say is a joke.”
5. Waxahatchee featuring MJ Landerman: “Right Back to It”
Landerman plays guitar on every track on Waxahatchee’s acclaimed 2024 album “Tiger’s Blood” and is the featured backing vocalist on its lead single, the warm and sultry “Right Back to It”. Her voice blends well with Waxahachie’s Katie Crutchfield on the chorus, matching her airy falsetto with her earthy croak.
6. MJ Landerman: “Tastes like it costs”
Here’s a caustic character sketch of a couple arguing outside a butcher’s shop, “where we bought our expensive meat that we planned to eat.” Landerman is often compared to Neil Young, and while I hear plenty of other influences in his music, this rusty, yelpy track from “Boat Songs” is definitely him at his most “Rust Never Sleeps.”
7. Indigo de Souza: “Darker than Death”
Before he established himself as a solo artist, Landerman played drums for Asheville, NC-based singer-songwriter Indigo De Souza, with a gritty vocal style. She plumbs the depths of her psyche on this highlight from her 2021 album, “Any Shape You Take.”
8. MJ Landerman: “Rudolph”
Landerman’s flawless, deadpan delivery gives the song a raw edge. It also begins with one of the most memorable surreal images on “Manning Fireworks,” imagining Santa’s favorite red-nosed reindeer companion being brutally executed by Pixar’s own hands. Lightning McQueen. “My father asked me who he was,” Landerman said in an interview The Guardian“And I had to explain that it was an animated car.”
9. MJ Landerman: “Knockin'”
Ultimately, this 2023 single is one of Landerman’s most influential songs to date. It is particularly indicative of the irony and sincerity – and the interplay between past and present – that enliven his perspective. After dryly riffing on the infamous viral video of golfer John Daly performing a barroom cover of “Knokin’ on Heaven’s Door,” the song slowly builds to a climax of Landerman belting out his own disarming rendition of the Dylan classic, his voice cracking. does With emotions when he realizes that those endlessly quoted lines are actually the perfect way to describe a fleeting moment of bliss.
Amplifier playlist
“Meet MJ. Landerman, Southern Rock’s Tragicomic Poet” track list
Track 1: MJ Landerman, “She’s Leaving You”
Track 2: Wednesday, “Chosen For Worthy”
Track 3: MJ Landerman, “Hangover Game”
Track 4: MJ Landerman, “Joker Lips”
Track 5: Waxahachie featuring MJ Landerman, “Right Back to It”
Track 6: MJ Landerman, “Taste Like It Costs”
Track 7: Indigo De Souza, “Darker Than Death”
Track 8: MJ Landerman, “Rudolph”
Track 9: MJ Landerman, “Knockin'”
Bonus tracks
Not speaking Bob DylanIt is accompanied by a large collection of live recordings from the 1974 tour band Releasing on 20th Sep. (431 tracks total!) We have a version of “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues,” recorded at Madison Square Garden, on today’s Friday playlist, along with his new songs. Linkin Park (who just added a new singer, Emily Armstrong), Halsey, The and more. listen here
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