Gems #037 ‘Wrecking Ball’ - the album-length playlist including Bruce Springsteen, Emmylou Harris, The Beach Boys, and more

Classic and new tracks, compiled by Ian Sharp of LP.

Jun 09, 2024

Welcome to Gems, my weekly playlist ranging from classic to current tracks. Each playlist is 40–45 minutes long, sequenced as ‘Side 1’ and ‘Side 2’. From this week, each album has a title, although I won’t be designing a cover - yet.

Gems #037: Wrecking Ball

This week I was reminded of the Emmylou Harris album Wrecking Ball, and that reminded me of the not universally loved but to me amazing, genre-crossing Springsteen album called … er … Wrecking Ball. I decided to include both tracks in the album and give each weekly playlist a title. If having a title was good enough for Peter Gabriel after four not even officially numbered albums, it’s good enough for me.

The Spotify playlist, and a link to the Apple Music version, follow after the notes.

Side 1

Bruce Springsteen 2. Barry Adamson 3. King Hannah 4. The Joy Hotel 5. John Cale & Terry Riley

For a while, I did a lengthy commute by train and the Bruce Springsteen album Wrecking Ball made it almost bearable. I was reminded of it when Apple Music suggested I listen to the Emmylou Harris album of the same name - and it’s equally great.

Barry Adamson has played bass with Magazine, The Birthday Party, and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, among others. ‘Cut to Black’ has a conversational, filmic, quality - Adamson is a director of short films.

King Hannah is new to me. I wasn’t sure about the track as ‘New York, Let’s Do Nothing’ begins - with a conversation, again, and then the song takes off.

The Joy Hotel’s debut album Ceremony is released on 19th July. I’ll be diving in then, because ‘Jeremiah’ is a promising beginning. The guitar patterns have a faint echo of a different song and I can’t quite put my finger on it - anyone? Leave a comment below.

John Cale & Terry Riley’s album Church of Anthrax has been reissued on vinyl. This is an intriguing combination as we await the release of Cale’s new album. I’m also listening carefully to Terry Riley as I dive deeply into Pete Townshend’s songwriting for another project about Who’s Next.

Side 2

7. Emmylou Harris 8. Katherine Priddy 9. Salt House 10. The Zawose Queens 11. Gumshoes 12. The Beach Boys

Katherine Priddy was a guest on the BBC music show ‘Later’ a couple of weeks ago (here’s the video). This song appealed to my folkier side and she performed it well. Richard Thompson and Guy Garvey recommend her; her album The Pendulum Swing is out now.

Salt House continue the folk theme with a gorgeous instrumental from Riverwoods.

In my Glimpse of Peter Gabriel’s third album last week I mentioned WOMAD. Having attended the festival for several years in succession it’s high time world music infiltrated Gems. One of the highlights of WOMAD was Dr Hukwe Zawose from Tanzania, and now there’s an excellent new album by Pendo and Leah Zawose, The Zawose Queens, performing traditional music with a contemporary feel.

Gumshoes describe their project as ‘Homespun indie pop about eccentrics, losers and fools’. This lively track reminded me of The Pogues, and they have excellent album covers - follow the link to Bandcamp (above) to view them.

Finally, The Beach Boys - there’s a new documentary, and I selected this track because it’s a comment on the state of the water in the UK just now, even if it was recorded half a century ago.

Listen on Apple Music

Video Gem of the Week

Hukwe Zawose at WOMAD Rivermead 2000

Messages and comments are open. I’d love to know which track you enjoyed most this week.

Enjoy the music,
Ian

Thank you for taking the time to listen to Gems, and read the notes. LP also includes a weekly 5-minute read (a Glimpse) about a classic album, and a monthly long-read for paid subscribers. If you have not yet subscribed to LP please do - paid subs are invested in buying new music and keep me writing

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