Musical Thesis: Iron & Wine “The Shepherd’s Dog”

At the center of every album is a musical thesis. This thesis can be the driving force behind the album, a theme that interweaves songs together, or a feeling you are left with after the last song plays. With some albums, the thesis is easy to find. On others, it is hidden and requires you to be more than a passive listener. These reviews are not about rating an album. Instead, it is about uncovering a musical thesis.  

Have I found you?
Flightless bird, jealous, weeping
Or lost you?
American mouth
Big bill looming

The Shepherd’s Dog served as my introduction to Iron & Wine. When I gave this record a spin for the first time in the early part of the last decade, I was unsure what to expect. I also didn’t fully comprehend the world I was about to enter.  

For a few years, I had been flirting with the sounds of Mumford & Sons and Fleet Foxes. Beyond that, I hadn’t dug any deeper into the roots revival or the storied sounds of Americana. Iron & Wine would serve as my gateway drug. This record would take me by the hand and lead me down a path that would reach all the way back to Robert Johnson. Traveling forward to the present day, I would dance with Woody Guthrie, spend hours lost in the sounds of Pete Seeger, and I would get lost in the poetry of Bob Dylan. I would also discover new, emerging, and underground artists who are carrying the torch and keeping the rich tradition of American folk music alive.  

But why? Why was this album the catalyst for such a journey? Quite simply, it was Sam Beam’s songwriting. Each song on this album painted beautiful tapestries filled with interesting characters and stories all their own. Nothing on this album is given easily or freely. It begs for repeated listening and intense focus. All these years later, I am still uncovering hidden meanings, messages, and stories buried in the lyrics. Almost without exception, what I discover can be applied to my own life. That feels special to me, and to find it in an American art form stripped of overly produced instrumentation, vocal trickery, and electronic distractions hooked me.  

This album does more than tell stories with song, poetry, and prose. It also possesses moments when the pace is accelerated, and the result becomes a jam. I assume many think of folk music as dour and self-reflective. It can be, and that is often what attracts me to the genre, but it can also let its hair down, party, and let loose. Your troubles can be moved to the back burner, and you are encouraged to let the spirit move you.  

For me, this album is a celebration of the singer/songwriter. There are an army of people out there who would have you believe this sort of creator is a rare or extinct bird in the world of music. I don’t think they are digging deeply enough. Mired in a world of popular music, you are bound to be disappointed. But if you allow an album such as this to unlock a world of music discovery, I am positive you will begin to see music differently.  

Be good to each other,  

Nathan  

Musical Thesis: Drive-by Truckers “American Band”

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At the center of every album is a musical thesis. This thesis can be the driving force behind the album, a theme that interweaves songs together, or a feeling you are left with after the very last song plays. With some albums, the thesis is easy to find. On others, it is hidden and requires you to be more than a passive listener. These reviews are not about rating an album. Instead, it is about uncovering a musical thesis.  

I’m gonna love you ‘til the big one comes 
And shakes my bones and washes us out to sea 
Have a blast ‘til the markets crash 
And smoke and ash what’s left of these beautiful trees 

It was 2018 or 2019. My television overflowed with images from another senseless killing of an unarmed black man. Helpless and hopeless, I went searching for comfort in music. Driving around Los Angeles, I hoped and prayed my favorite streaming service would deliver exactly what I needed in my hour of desperation.  

Parked in an empty lot of a generic shopping center, What It Means filled the car. When the song was over, I hit repeat. After a second listen, I repeated the song one more time. After it ended and moved onto the next song in the playlist, I lowered the volume and sat in stunned silence. Someone put to music feelings I had not even named yet.  

This served as my introduction to the music of the Drive-by Truckers. I soon discovered I was a little late to the party. Better to arrive late than never arrive at all, right? As I spent time with their catalog, and the album, American Band, in particular, I find myself moved in the same way Rage Against the Machine used to move me. Their brand of protest music does something wildly different for me, though. See, I grew up in Oklahoma. At an early age, I felt the call of progressive politics. In Oklahoma, this always meant I was the odd man out. With friends or total strangers, I often found myself defending my beliefs. At some point, a compounding effect occurred. The weight became too much, and I headed for the west coast. I needed to know that I was not alone in what I hold dear.  

In this band’s music, I hear artists who have held onto their southern roots. They even find pride in them, but they have also carved out a space where protest can break through. As I think back on my upbringing and the myriad reasons I left Oklahoma, this gives me something new to consider. I no longer see my home state as a lost cause, and I should do my part to support those still fighting for it.  

Be good to each other,  

Nathan  

Musical Thesis: Fleet Foxes "Sun Giant"

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE MUSICAL THESIS PLAYLIST 

At the center of every album is a musical thesis. This thesis can be the driving force behind the album, a theme that interweaves songs together, or a feeling you are left with after the very last song plays. With some albums, the thesis is easy to find. On others, it is hidden and requires you to be more than a passive listener. These reviews are not about rating an album. Instead, it is about uncovering a musical thesis.  

And you will go to Mykonos 
With a vision of a gentle coast 
And a sun to maybe dissipate 
Shadows of the mess you made 

The year is 2020 (everyone’s least favorite year). I am driving across the country from Oklahoma to Washington. The country is reeling from a misguided approach to the pandemic. Fresh off a failed attempt at a thru-hike of the Colorado trail and a few weeks at my mom’s home, I decide it is finally time to return to Seattle. Waiting for me is the prospect of a terrible job market and an extended stay with my future in-laws.  

Hoping to find some inspiration in the mire of ceaseless bad news, I drive toward the Devil’s Tower National Monument. From there, I will continue onto the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Park.

I spend hours alone in the car. There is nothing but an endless playlist to keep me company. When I must stop, I keep my distance and eat alone in my room. This much solitude is a blessing. I need time and space to think. I need to process. I have turned my life upside down. I am only beginning to understand what the last three months have done to me.  

As expected, each stop is more breathtaking than the last. It has been said many times, but the national parks system is America’s best idea. When I arrive at Glacier National Park, it is nearly empty. I know this is normally not the case at the height of summer. I decide to take advantage of the situation and slowly drive up “Going-to-the-Sun” road. For the next few hours, I stop as many times as I want and snap photos with a sense of awe. Gladly, the vistas and music steal my attention. The album I chose to guide me through the park is Sun Giant by Fleet Foxes.  

As I absorb the music, stare longingly, and search for undiscovered angles, I hear folk music in a new way. I also proclaim this is a road trip album destined for the perfect national park. With Mykonos on repeat, I feel free. I feel released from the claws of the pandemic and see a world where everything is new. Pain is on the way out. I think surely this cannot be the thesis of this album. On this day, for me, it holds true. It continues to hold true.  

Be good to each other,  

Nathan  

Musical Thesis: Radiohead “The Bends”

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At the center of every album is a musical thesis. This thesis can be the driving force behind the album, a theme that interweaves songs together, or a feeling you are left with after the very last song plays. With some albums, the thesis is easy to find. On others, it is hidden and requires you to be more than a passive listener. These reviews are not about rating an album. Instead, it is about uncovering a musical thesis.  

Rows of houses all bearing down on me 
I can feel their blue hands touching me 
All these things into position 
All these things we’ll one day swallow whole 
And fade out again and fade out 

The year is 1995. I am obsessed with Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and the Seattle scene. At 12-years-old, I am shaping my taste in music. I am also deeply influenced by my friends. Without a doubt, they serve as my greatest source of music discovery.  

In our small town in southwest Oklahoma, Radiohead was not on anyone’s radar. We had no way of understanding that beneath our feet, the landscape of music was shifting from grunge toward a more introspective form of alternative rock. We did not know The Bends was in the process of changing everything. A moment in music history washed over us simply unnoticed.  

After finishing college, I would get my first proper introduction to Radiohead. A friend of mine, whose musical taste I hold in high regard, made the introduction. That introduction was an invitation to dig deeper, explore lyrics that slowly reveal their meaning, and spend quality time with pulsing and soaring sounds that often feel like an out-of-body experience.  

I explored with vigor. As I did, I discovered songs that often feel open to interpretation. To Radiohead, a song like Street Spirit might mean something specific. For you, it might mean something entirely different. In my hands, I am forced to wrestle with the consuming nature of suburbia. In my hands, I am forced to question my place in the world and how I want to be remembered. And this is just one example. We could do this with their entire catalog.  

And this might be my favorite thing about art in all its forms. I love art that forces you to derive your own meaning. The angst of Radiohead is not something that reveals itself easily. The meanings behind their songs can reveal themselves slowly. If I think deeply about their entire catalog, that feeling remains constant. For this listener, that is so deeply appreciated.  

Be good to each other,  

Nathan  

Musical Thesis: Moby “All Visible Objects”

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE MUSICAL THESIS PLAYLIST 

At the center of every album is a musical thesis. This thesis can be the driving force behind the album, a theme that interweaves songs together, or a feeling you are left with after the very last song plays. With some albums, the thesis is easy to find. On others, it is hidden and requires you to be more than a passive listener. These reviews are not about rating an album. Instead, it is about uncovering a musical thesis.  

One of these days 
Gonna rise up singin‘, yeah 
One of these days 
Gonna rise up in love 

Back in 2020, I named Moby’s All Visible Objects my Album of the Year. After some time away from the album, I returned to it, hoping to discover something new about myself and the record.  

The chaos and drama of 2020 feels both present and like an object growing fainter in the rearview mirror. As we settled into the reality of a COVID Christmas, my thoughts turned to what we had collectively experienced over the last 12 months.  

In my estimation, my country had missed a genuine opportunity to lead the world on issues such as community health, shared sacrifice, national pride, and collective effort. Instead, we ended the year more divided than ever before. I ended 2020 feeling less pride for my country and desperately searching for a fresh start elsewhere.  

Elsewhere would never materialize, but art (as it always does) showed me I wasn’t alone. All Visible Objects is a reflection of the time and place of its creation. Its somber and reflective nature was a mirror into my soul. I experienced heartache and devastation for what had been lost. In these arrangements, my grief could find a home.  

But this album is something more. It is also a call to action. The moral failings of those in power delivered us a year of enormous loss, but this album served as a reminder that we are not powerless against them. If only we could rise up in love, then we might speak truth to power. In this album’s second thesis, the reality of our power replaced the helplessness of my grief. In this realization, I felt a little less alone and a little surer.  

Years from now, I am sure I will return to this album. In that span of time, I am sure I will be flabbergasted by the speed of change and how little changes at the same time. As I reflect on this album, I hope to find new inspiration and reminders that my feelings are valid and that I possess great power.  

Be good to each other,  

Nathan  

Musical Thesis: Billy Bragg “Must I Paint You a Picture”

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE MUSICAL THESIS PLAYLIST 

At the center of every album is a musical thesis. This thesis can be the driving force behind the album, a theme that interweaves songs together, or a feeling you are left with after the very last song plays. With some albums, the thesis is easy to find. On others, it is hidden and requires you to be more than a passive listener. These reviews are not about rating an album. Instead, it is about uncovering a musical thesis.  

If I fall in love with a band or an artist, I fall deeply in love. Spending time with their discography is never enough. I must listen to side projects and musicians who influenced their work. This musical wormhole can take me to fascinating places. Throughout the journey, I watch as my fascination with this art form expands in all directions.  

I learned of Billy Bragg via the Mermaid Avenue sessions with Wilco. Having spent considerable time with those records, I was hungry to hear more of Mr. Bragg’s work. Unsure of where to start, I picked up Must I Paint You a Picture. This compilation/greatest hits album served as the perfect introduction to a musician who has been at it since the late 1970s.  

Listening to this collection of songs, some themes kept presenting themselves: Self-referential artists, protest, and revolution.  

In the same vein as Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, and Bob Dylan, Billy Bragg possesses a unique ability to create protest music that is also engaging. In this collection alone, Between the Wars, There Is Power in a Union, Help Save the Youth of America, and Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards all serve as protest anthems. But they are more than that, because they also feel self-referential. I think this line from Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards is a perfect example.  

Mixing Pop and Politics he asks me what the use is 
I offer him embarrassment and my usual excuses 
While looking down the corridor 
Out to where the van is waiting 
I’m looking for the Great Leap Forwards 

By using this method when singing of revolution, it does not feel as if we are being preached down to behind the safety of some recording booth. Instead, it feels as if the singer is an active participant in the struggle. Lots of musicians use their art to speak about injustice, but it does not always feel as if they are in trenches with us. That does not feel like the case here, and that may be the thesis of this album. When does art meet action?  

Be good to each other,  

Nathan  

Musical Thesis: The Decemberists “I’ll Be Your Girl”

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE MUSICAL THESIS PLAYLIST 

At the center of every album is a musical thesis. This thesis can be the driving force behind the album, a theme that interweaves songs together, or a feeling you are left with after the very last song plays. With some albums, the thesis is easy to find. On others, it is hidden and requires you to be more than a passive listener. These reviews are not about rating an album. Instead, it is about uncovering a musical thesis.  

Released in 2018, two years into the Trump presidency, I’ll Be Your Girl by the Decemberists sounds as if the thought process behind its creation began on the day of the first Women’s March. From there, it morphed into a realization that many of the things progressives feared from this president were coming true. This feels like an album written by a band simply trying to wrestle with disbelief. Working through those emotions seems like a necessary step before the work of actual change begins.  

I have been listening to The Decemberists for more than a decade now. I own their entire catalog and revisit it often (you should see my Spotify Wrapped Playlist at the end of every year). Without a doubt in my mind, this is the closest this band has come to creating a protest album. Normally, the focus of the band’s music is on narratives and is character driven. Sure, these stories and the people we meet along the way reflect the times in which we find ourselves, but never have they so blatantly driven home the point of fighting against the status quo.  

Two years into the Trump administration, I shared many of Colin Meloy’s feelings about the state of our country and the world. Indeed, everything felt awful, and that feeling was exhausting. In hushed conversations with other progressives and even a few shocked conservatives/moderates, we expressed many of the emotions that you hear on this album. I knew then, as I know now, that we cannot linger in that space for long. We must recognize those feelings, and then get to work. Along the way, in the art I consumed, it felt great to discover I was not alone.  

Be good to each other,  

Nathan  

Musical Thesis: Car Seat Headrest “Making a Door Less Open”

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE MUSICAL THESIS PLAYLIST 

At the center of every album is a musical thesis. This thesis can be the driving force behind the album, a theme that interweaves songs together, or a feeling it left you with after the very last song plays. With some albums, the thesis is easy to find. On others, it reveals itself slowly and requires you to be more than a passive listener. These reviews are not about rating an album. Instead, it is about uncovering a musical thesis.  

When the Seattle-based band Car Seat Headrest released their 2016 album Teens of Denial, I found myself enamored. This band seemed to come out of nowhere. Their sound felt original, new, sonically tight, and lyrically tight. Like lots of listeners, I found myself hungry for more. Since discovering I was late to the party, I have added three more albums to my collection and watched as they opened for Death Cab for Cutie at the Hollywood Bowl. I am doing my best to catch up.   

One of those albums demanding my attention was 2020s Making a Door Less Open. In this expansive collection of songs, a couple of themes stick out to me. The first theme centers on an openness or willingness to change. The second theme focuses on a life in transition. In my mind, these are fascinating topics to marry together. They provide ample space to ponder and wonder.  

Changes and transitions define our lives much more than the mundane and the routine. Looking back as we age, the major milestones or “fork in the road moments” will be the spaces in time we remember. We will not recall the hours chained at a desk or the time spent commuting to work. We will remember moving away from our hometown, graduating college, starting our first job, falling in love, getting married, buying a house, having kids, and a thousand other brief moments. There will also be heartbreak, unexpected news, and things that did not go our way.  

When I listen to this album, I hear a reminder to be open to these moments, both the good and the bad. Our lives are constantly transitioning between the crests of extreme highs and the valleys of lows you might feel are beyond your capabilities. Standing in these moments, it might be hard to vocalize appreciation, but I think this album serves as a reminder to do just that.  

Best,  

Nathan  

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Musical Thesis: Monthly Album Digest (February 2020)

Musical Thesis: Sam Beam & Jesca Hoop “Love Letter for Fire”

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE MUSICAL THESIS PLAYLIST

At the center of every album is a musical thesis. This thesis can be the driving force behind the album, a theme that interweaves songs together, or a feeling you are left with after the very last song plays. With some albums, the thesis is easy to find. On others, it is hidden and requires you to be more than a passive listener. These reviews aren’t about rating an album. Instead, it is about uncovering a musical thesis.

When we write, we write of love. When we create, we create out of love. When we sing, we sing about love. It may be the world’s favorite subject. Hidden in “Love Letter for Fire” is the reality of the work associated with this most complicated of human experiences. From building a life together to making a home, this album attempts to wrestle with it all. As it does, it offers an epiphany. Love doesn’t enter into the realm of possibility without some patience. If you think hard on all the relationships you hold dear, you will realize this is true.

Be good to each other,

Nathan 

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Musical Thesis: The Shins “Heartworms”

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE MUSICAL THESIS PLAYLIST

At the center of every album is a musical thesis. This thesis can be the driving force behind the album, a theme that interweaves songs together, or a feeling you are left with after the very last song plays. With some albums, the thesis is easy to find. On others, it is hidden and requires you to be more than a passive listener. These reviews aren’t about rating an album. Instead, it is about uncovering a musical thesis.

The thesis behind “Heartworms” by The Shins is slightly mysterious and requires some detangling to find. It wasn’t until my third listen through the album that some themes began to emerge for me. As always, it is these themes that I attempt to tie to something much bigger.

First to emerge was “digging in.” Much of this album is about self-identification. The concept of digging in has so much to do with being firm in our beliefs, understandings, ways in which we see the world, and admitting what we don’t know. As we age, this sense of identity becomes easier to define. For a band that has been around for a while now and if you’ve spent significant time with their music, you get the sense they have arrived at a point of fully understanding who they are in the world at large and among their peers.

The idea of digging in then becomes even more reflective as the second concept, the way we look at ourselves, emerges fully formed. I don’t know if we should ever be satisfied with a life of comfort. There should always be things we should attempt to perfect about ourselves. Of course, we will never achieve all of these lofty ideas we have for ourselves, but the pursuit must mean something. It must and can bear fruit

Be good to each other,

Nathan

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