So people come up to me all the time and you know what they say? They say, “Mike-(because that’s my name)-why a newsletter? What is this, 1973? Do you even know how to work a mimeograph machine? What’s going on man?”

A reasonable question, thanks for asking. The tentacles of the Tell You What! Studios empire, each powerful and far reaching, have been carefully curated over time, selected in service of the overall goal of the operation: to spread the gospel of the power of music. Whether podcast, house concert series, or facilitating our local open mic, we are just trying to make the universe a very slightly better place, one decibel at a time. (That, and also (mostly?) each just seemed like a fun idea at the time.) Getting some random music related thoughts out in (virtual?) printed form seemed a worthwhile next step. And evidently email newsletters are a thing now, clogging innocent inboxes with gibberish has caught on for some reason. I hope you find something in these scribblings to widen your gaze, slightly brighten your corners, and perhaps send you toward a musical path you may not have noticed before.

As we are circling the end of 2022, best of the best lists are out there telling us all the things that the cool people say are the coolest and aren’t you an idiot for not knowing about them already? I have trouble using the superlative form when it comes to music/art, there’s an endless amount of great stuff out there, no need to crown a winner, runner-up, etc.

I will, however, offer you this, dear newsletter subscriber: the album I may have enjoyed the most over the last year (immediate family members’ releases excluded from this category). Lucifer on the Sofa, released by the band Spoon, grabbed me on first listen, and it has had me nodding, clapping, shuffling and occasionally exclaiming at regular intervals since. With this record Britt Daniel and his mates in Spoon show they have not lost one step over the decades. They are in an elite category of pop craftsmen; their ability to put the perfect studio shine on cut after cut, hooks spilling out at every turn, puts me in the mind of personal favs Nick Lowe, New Pornographers, XTC. I’m talking about records that shimmer on the surface while sounding deep and intricate at the same time; that send vibes that remind you somehow of something cool but you can’t quite put your finger on what; and every time you listen to the album you decide on a different favorite cut.

Tell You What! the Podcast focuses on songwriting, but our conversations often end up covering the production and arrangement decisions in the song making/recording process. I find myself wondering where we draw the lines around the term “songwriting”-while the guts of a song can usually be framed as words/melody/chords, decisions are made all throughout the process of creating the song as we eventually hear it-What instruments shall be played? How loud or quiet should this part be? Some vocal harmonies here? What studio effects can be implemented to properly further the statement of the song? I’m thinking of Brian Wilson here-he attempted in the studio to record the sounds he “heard” in his head, employing whatever means necessary: upside down water bottles, dogs barking, passing trains. Or, obviously, the Beatles-consider “A Day in the Life”, certainly this song’s creation cannot begin to be described simply in the lyrics and melody framework. Where does songwriting end and “producing” begin? When I dig deep enough, I often find myself wondering what the true essence of any song is-does it include all these arrangement and production decisions, or are some of them just ways of framing the bones of the song, which exists on its own as an underlying structure? These topics have made for some interesting conversations with songwriters, and I have found it a fun facet to explore among the always fascinating mysteries of the creative process.

So anyway, listening to Lucifer on the Sofa on repeat this year raised those questions about music making to the surface for me, but maybe you will just have some fun spinning it. (Note-don’t get confused by the band’s later release Lucifer on the Moon-a remix of the original album by UK dub artist Adrian Sherwood). And if you do like it, maybe check out a couple others from the archives I consider studio pop rock gems-Nick Lowe’s Pure Pop for Now People, and Skylarking from XTC.

Lucifer on the Sofa