Play it By Ear #008: Back on the Bloggin' Train

Written by Parisa

Play It By Ear is an ongoing series by T&E writer Parisa where she shares music discoveries along with informational tidbits, anecdotal musings, interactive dialogue, reader prompts, recurring mini-segments, and whatever else spills out of her brain. This installment features horror film soundtracks and other spooky digs, country music for people who don't like country music, plus some new recurring mini-segment series!

I was just looking back at my previous Play It By Ear posts, and it seems like every one starts with a “wow, I can’t believe it’s been a year since the last blog!” and once again…it’s been over a year. Rather than that inspiring me to get back on the train, it kinda freakin’ bums me out!! The imposter syndrome spirals out and makes me wonder what the purpose of blogging is anymore or what it’s “supposed to” look like. I’ll spare you the year’s worth of self-depricating thoughts, but will say that my main takeaway has been that creativity lives in its own timeline. If you reading this take literally any time to do something creative in your life - no matter how big or small or how professional or DIY - then you should feel real damn proud of yourself! I’m sure proud of ya. 

I’m not a good writer, but the greatest joy in the world for me is to share and connect with people on musical discoveries and discussions. And in an increasingly algorithmic world, well shoot, it’s the least we can do to stay human. So, thank you for being here. My new goal is to share a PIBE every month, so I hope you can join along for the ride. As always, I’ll be sharing some interactive questions that you can either enjoy on your own, or leave comments in the comment area below, or send me an email and chat! Oh, and each post will now also have some recurring mini-segments! Read on through to find out more about those. Hope you enjoy my lil mixtape I made for you, it was made with lots of love xx

Let’s get rockin’!
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Speaking of living in an algorithmic world, I recently, like so many others, ended my Spotify subscription. I almost feel embarrassed that I didn’t do it sooner, as it’s always been evident how horrible streaming models are, but hey,  better late than never. Even as someone who’s always indulged in physical media and consistently discovered music via non-computerized formats, I realized upon quitting that even still my brain got a little hooked on the apps. It’s so easy to open your phone and just play whatever was on your “recently played” playlist. It’s been refreshing to be totally disconnected from that, and give myself time to think about what I actually want to listen to throughout my day. 

One of the ways I’ve been trying to break out of that pigeon hole is digging into movie soundtracks. The logical thing is to discover a soundtrack whilst watching the movie, but recently I’ve been checking out soundtracks to films I haven’t seen before. That way if the soundtrack seems cool, then I’m also inspired to check out the movie - a win/win! 

I recently heard the soundtrack for a 1976 Iranian film called Chess of the Wind.
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The soundtrack was put out by Mississippi Records, and from the liner notes I learned more about this mysterious film and its complicated past:

A masterpiece of world cinema, Mohammad Reza Aslani’s “Chess of the Wind” was banned in Iran and thought to be lost until a complete print of the film re-emerged in an antique shop in 2014. Restored by Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation and released to rapturous reviews in 2020, “Chess of the Wind” has taken its rightful place as one of the most visionary and daring films of pre-revolutionary Iranian cinema.

The film’s soundtrack, by one of the nation’s most revered female composers, Sheida Gharachedaghi, is just as daring - a combination of Persian classical instrumentation and atonal dissonance drawn from her Western conservatory background. Woodwinds, traditional Persian percussion, and the eerie moan of the ancient sheypour horn reflect the film’s battle between feudalism and modernity. As one scholar said, it sounds like “Ornette Coleman visiting a holy shrine in Iran.

The film was banned due to its violent horror themes and suggestions of a lesbian romance. Like the liner notes mentioned, all copies of this film were thought to be destroyed until the director’s daughter stumbled across it accidentally in a junk yard sale. The merchant was selling the film canisters as decoration without having any idea of what the film was inside. Can you believe that?! It took six years to restore the film and soundtrack, and knowing this film was almost lost in history makes the viewing and listening experience all the more precious.

Beyond enjoying this experimental work of film and music for its artistic nature and historical significance, this really resonated with me for two special reasons. I made a new Iranian friend and we watched this together, and we got to share our interpretations based on our lived experiences and emotions. After the movie, I called my mom to talk about the film, and it turns out that she was at the one and only screening of this film before it was banned! My mom used to be a journalist in Iran and got tickets to the premiere. We talked for an hour on the phone about the screening - how she remembers everyone booing the director when it was over, the actors being in attendance, etc. I couldn’t believe that my mom was one of the 100 or so people in the entire world that had seen this movie! And furthermore, that me and another dear Iranian friend found each other in Tucson and could bond over it all these years later. Truly the epitome of what good music and good art in general is supposed to do <3  take that, algorithms!!

Anyway, would highly recommend this film and score, especially now that we’re in horror movie season!

Another soundtrack I recently came across at the record store was for the 1986 film River’s Edge. The cover boasts that it’s “the soundtrack to the most controversial film of the year”. I had never seen the movie before, and I can understand why it was so controversial at the time, as it’s based on a true teen murder story and depicted the evergrowing disdain of youth culture. Nowadays, however,  it doesn’t come off as shocking as the cover might make you think. 

The soundtrack features Slayer, The Wipers, Agent Orange and Burning Spear so I figured it should be a pretty righteous setup for the movie. I was surprised, however, that the soundtrack isn’t featured super prominently. It’s more like…you can faintly hear a Slayer song playing in their car as they talk over it. 

It was a smidge of a letdown, because I love a heavy metal movie and there aren’t all too many fiction films in mainstream that show heavy metal subculture in an authentic way (but there are plenty of heavy metal B-movies out there, would recommend this book for further suggestions). But I guess it was entertaining to watch Crispin Glover as a tweaked out metalhead and learn about his stupid stunt on the Letterman show that got him kicked off the air. Which also led me to learn about Crispin Glover’s batshit insane movie he made in the early 00s, and read this ridiculous interview he did with Tucson Weekly when he did a residency here.
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Anywho, this movie and article led to me and my friends in a group chat in a deeply thought provoking discussion of who we think is the ultimate buggy-eyed, slightly terrifying, seemingly unwell lizard man Hollywood actor - Crispin Glover or Vincent Gallo*. Perhaps not as wholesome as the conversation I had with my mom after the Chess of the Wind film, but sometimes a dumb and goofy group chat convo with your friends is just as important in life as those big “a-ha” moments too.

Reader prompt: What are some of your favorite movie soundtracks? Have you ever heard a soundtrack before you saw the film? How did that process inform your movie experience? Who do you think is the ultimate buggy-eyed lizard man of Hollywood?

*Speaking of Gallo, I gotta mention that one of my favorite soundtrack moments is when Christina Ricci’s character tap dances in the bowling alley to King Crimson in Buffalo 66. So good

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Wednesday, October 1st was World Postcard Day, so what better time to introduce a new recurring segment I’d like to call…
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Wish You Were Here

This series will pull a postcard from my postcard collection, and I’ll pair a song that either relates to that imagery or specific location. First up, I have a two-fer, what I like to call the “rank and dank diners”. 
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Some of my favorite postcards are these old ones from small, local, off-the-freeway kind of diners across the U.S. Homecooked meals, no fancy frills, and even name drop the owners as if they’re family members. The aesthetic of these diners really get me. You can smell the place just from the photo. 

I’ve spent quite some time thinking about how to pair these. I wanted something that captures the musty, humid, dank air and the greasy, poorly seasoned food that you’d probably drown in Tabasco sauce. Through all that, the atmosphere is still friendly and homely. 

As far as humidity, there are lots of great tropical songs that have that production quality, but that simply wouldn’t work for this establishment. I also thought of a lot of dungeon synth - something like Frog Concert is definitely moist and swampy --  or perhaps some sludge metal like Eyehategod. My boyfriend was mentioning how The Gun Club’s Miami feels like a very sticky and warm album to him, to which I definitely concur.  But none of those quite hit THIS kind of mustiness and this type of aesthetic. Then it dawned on me…

“Eggs and Sausage” - Tom Waits

When I first remembered the Nighthawks at the Diner album, I thought it might be too literal - but it really checks off all the boxes for the above criteria. The mustiness comes provided by Waits’ signature swampy voice croaking over the basslines, you hear the friendliness and warmth of the live audience in the background, and both the postcards and album are so dank you feel like your clothes are stained in cigarette smoke just from thinking about ‘em. 

Reader prompt: What’s a song that you’d describe as musty, humid or damp? 

You know, the first time I ever heard Tom Waits, I must’ve been 11 or so years old. I fell asleep on the couch one day to take a nap, and woke up sweating to Tom Waits singing Clap Hands from the Big Time documentary. I thought I was having a fever dream. Best intro to Waits I could’ve ever hoped for. 

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Since spooky season is almost upon us, I’ve been preparing by listening to a lot of Mighty Sphincter. You may have already seen me talk about this group on T&E before, but just a quick recap ICYMI: they were a hardcore turned death rock group from Phoenix, fronted by local legend Doug Clark. He was rumored to be a real vampire, sleeping in coffins and drinking blood and all that. One of my favorite bands to come from Arizona

​What I haven’t mentioned on T&E before, however, is the pre-Mighty Sphincter/JFA group called The Brainz. They only put out one 7” with two tracks and it totally rips. Originally released in 1978 on their own label, Placebo (which later released all the JFA and Mighty Sphincter albums) and reissued once in 2017 on Slope Records. These tracks are a strange crossover between punk, space age synth music, proggy instrumentalism, proto-death rock and freakazoid experimentalism.  

Reader prompt: Can you think of other bands that blend 5+ genres in their sound?
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I’ve been meaning to write a segment called “Country Music for People Who Say They Don’t Like Country” because I too was once a poor sap who thought country music sucked. I first had to mention this Sanford Clark song because:
 
a). It’s a murder ballad that fits within the spooky season themes of this blog 
b). He’s from Arizona…just like the last group I mentioned. SEGUES!
c). To me, this is peak “country music for people who say they don’t like country”. You simply cannot deny its greatness.
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Recorded in Lee Hazlewood’s studio in Phoenix, which explains the impeccable production on the song. And ends with perhaps one of the greatest murder ballad lines:

"Oh, well, that's life. Or, so it was. It's nothing to me.”

A side note that I also just finished reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, perhaps the greatest book I’ve ever read, and it’s got me listening to murder ballads and imagining them being sung by Judge Holden. 
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​When I first got country-curious, I started noticing qualities in the genre that I already loved in other styles of music. From there, I went looking for songs and artists that really embodied those traits. So hopefully this quick guide can assist the start of your journey:

• Outlaws: Probably my favorite lane of country, since it fits in with any other anti-establishment forms of music -- you can be a fan of gangster rap, punk, whatever, it’s the same message but in a different melody 
• Attitude: Country is one of the founding forefathers of ‘tude, so I’m told
• Production: Where would we be without reverb and twang?? Ask any of your favorite Austin psych bands from the 2010 explosion where they’d be without reverb and twang and they’d probably tell ya they’d be dead in the streets somewhere
• Harmonies: I’m a sucker for a good harmony. And you are too, naturally, because it’s objectively pleasing to the human ear!!! Even the most esoteric, experimental, dissonant noise heads can pretend to be all aloof and hate harmonies, but guess what you’re a human with ears so shut up 
• Fashion: Not a sonic feature,, but it doesn’t hurt to mention ;) 

So here are a couple more quick recommendations from a non-expert if you want to dabble into country:

Wanda Jackson, the raspiest voice that blows away any other rock ‘n roller out there:

Marty Robbins, an obvious recommendation but for good reason. Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs is a pioneering album of outlaw country. Even if you’re not drawn to the Western sound, you can appreciate his storytelling and his crooner-esque style of singing
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Jody Reynolds, a voice that effortlessly fills the whole room. Gnarly twang, astounding production, also fits the “Rockabilly Songs for People Who Say That All Rockabilly Sucks” category. This song also fits the Halloween theme, perfect for all the dark-haired spooky queens out there, sounds like it could be a Cramps song
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His best song is likely “Where the Woodbyne Twynes”, although I could only find this YouTube rip that’s low quality and doesn’t do the song much justice, but still recommend. Also “Making Out” is a great song if you like cool music and making out.

​Reader prompt: Is you is or is you ain’t gonna love this country music??  If not, I reckon you better r-u-n-n-o-f-t! 

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Since I briefly mentioned murder ballads above, I thought I’d share a couple more since we’re in the Halloween spirit. 
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​The eeriest murder ballads, in my opinion, are the folk tracks like this whose origins can’t quite be traced. There’s an unsettling feeling knowing that we can’t know who wrote this and why. There are plenty of versions of this song, the first one from Charlie Monroe who carries it through with excellent guitar pickin’, the most popular version from the Everly Brothers that I always found a bit humorous given their clean-cut sound, and an honorable mention to the Iron Mountain String Band whose version sounds like a sweet, dizzying bluegrass waltz. However, the Kossoy Sisters version with their heavenly high-soaring close harmonies is by far the best. 
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While I listen to a lot of extreme, gory styles of metal, the often exaggerated imagery makes the stories come off more fantastical than actually frightening. The songs that do get under my skin are ones like "Lonesome Cowboy", where you're swooning along to a seemingly sweet 'n simple Americana tune only to realize you're singing about stabbing a man to death and watching the floorboards flood with blood.

This track was recorded in the 1920's from Texan cowboy Arthur Miles, and nothing is known about his life before or after this song. What’s endlessly fascinating about this track is that it features overtone singing - similar to the Tuvan sygyt style of throat singing. If I’m not mistaken, it’s the only country song or really any song recorded in the West at this time to feature overtone singing. There’s a lot of speculation on how Miles learned about this style of singing, and it most likely comes down to pure experimentation. 

The whole mystery of this track really paints a vivid picture - a murderous cowboy wandering the desert, singing night after night in solitude  ‘til he accidentally discovers overtone singing, finds a recording studio and sings his story, and continues on his lonesome journey. Makes you wonder if his ghost is still out there aimlessly drifting 

Also have to mention that I first heard this song played on the legendary Kid Squidd’s Mystery Jukebox - thank you Kidd! RIP to the local radio legend

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This blog ended up becoming more Halloweenie and dark than I had anticipated, but that’s the nature of Play It By Ear bloggin’ baybee!! We start spinnin’ and where we land, no one knows!!! Before I close out this subject, here’s one more song that fits the bill. A year or so ago, I saw a movie called Monster Dog featuring Alice Cooper. It was pretty awful, even for a B-horror movie, but the highlights were the two original songs he made for the film.

This killer music video is the opening sequence to the movie, and doesn’t tie in to the story whatsoever. 
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This song sorta blew my mind to be honest. Alice Cooper did an Iggy Pop rip off and I never knew about it??? Goddamn is this song cool. He does the Iggy quite well (and if you read that sentence as Grandpa Simpson, then you get +10 points and 5 gold stars).

And here’s a song that closes things out near the end. 
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Feels pretty similar aesthetically to that Mighty Sphincter video, no? And wow look at that, we started and ended this blog talking about film soundtracks and also brought it back to other artists mentioned throughout this post!!!! All by accident!! HOW NEAT! 

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The problem with Play It By Ear is that once I start a ‘ramblin, I don’t know when or how to stop. I had a few other recurring segments I wanted to introduce, such as “Parisa’s Hot Hot Takes”, “Animal Rights Corner”, “How to Karaoke” and “Overheard in a Record Store”...but I feel like we’re at a good point to wrap up here and end on my closing mini-segment called…
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Fortune Cookie Finale 

In this segment, I grab a slip from my prized collection of fortune cookie fortunes at random and pair it with some songs that relate to its meaning. Here’s what I pulled from my magic fortune box today…
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Well hey, what better way to end this blog on a light-hearted note. We could all use a little laughter in these trying times, no? Here are some songs I could think of that have laughter literally incorporated in them, though I can’t guarantee they’ll fuel your spirit’s engine.

Charlotte Adigéry & Bolis Pupul - “HAHA”  This song is literally nothing but laughter - happy sad, frightened, a full laughter spectrum. Absolutely recommend watching this live at KEXP version. it's unhinged and yet perfectly poised
Outkast - “We Luz Deez Hoes” A very literal “ha ha ha ha” 
Ozzy Osbourne - “Crazy Train”  Perhaps the most iconic laugh in a song? Followed by the track below
Gorillaz - “Feel Good Inc.”  See above
The Sufaris - “Wipe Out”  Wait…actually maybe this one, lol
Pink Floyd - “Brain Damage”  I’m impartial to this one because I do love the lunatic’s laugh
Miss Kitten - “Frank Sinatra” - Unlike others on this list, a very sarcastic, dry and mean laugh. Went through a big electroclash phase in the 2010s, this takes me back
Voodoo Glow Skulls - “El Coo Coi” Was recently reminded how much this band rules when I watched Biodome the other week. Hell yeah 8)
Modest Mouse - “The Devil’s Workday” A short snippet at the end of the track

Reader prompt: What are your favorite songs with laughter in them? 

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​If you made it this far, I salute you. See you next month, for likely a more succint version for PIBE. Thank you so much for reading!! 

Xoxo love you lots,
Parisa