Mike B & the Universe – One Thing (A Machine Can’t Do)
Who knows if the decades-in-the-works Spinal Tap sequel will generate enough money to warrant a third instalment, or, and apologies for pointing this out, if the members of The Tap will be around to make it.
But nobody’d be dumb enough to revive the sketches about dumb rock stars doing dumb things with a new cast, or worse, through the use of AI. That would get exactly zero laughs. Those gags wouldn’t live on as the kind of indie humour that musicians reference among each other for decades and decades.
The fact is that, as Mike B & the Universe points out, the world’s a bit of a beautiful mess. And, in a few places, it is better represented than in rock n’ roll, a living, breathing spectacle of weirdos, eccentrics and freaks trying their best to entertain an audience.
So, as you contemplate how many times Spinal Tap must wander through the backstage area in order to hit the stage, use “One Thing (A Machine Can’t Do)” as a soundtrack. Mike B & the Universe’s music has always been moody, funny and awfully dark. It makes you laugh, it makes you cry, it makes you hope Mike will never ask you out for pancakes. There’s no reason to worry that anyone will ever demand that a computer take over this kind of work.
Livingmore – Hurting
Songs are just make-believe, right? It takes a mighty talented person to write and perform them, but the suffering that they describe doesn’t last forever, broken hearts eventually get put back together, and nobody actually stops talking to their former friends and lovers for the rest of time.
That’s how it should all work, right? That is, at least, the impression that most listeners get and the very reason why they opt to listen to music, particularly while going through the most difficult periods in their lives.
The music of bands like Livingmore may describe the ache of waking up in an empty bed while having to get up and see yourself in the mirror. But the understanding is that once the song is done, a new chance will be given. Isn’t that encouraging to hear? Doesn’t pop music help to remind us that nothing is permanent?
With a sound that brings to mind the likes of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Livingmore’s “Hurting” is a beautiful-sounding folk-rock record. The jangly single specialises in a warm kind of melancholy, in showcasing a familiar kind of pain that, judged on the well-blended lead vocals, makes you almost want to yearn for it, or, at least, consider the fact that feeling this bad for a while might not be the end of the world.
