This week’s show grew out of one of my favorite kinds of nights, a record night with friends. Records on, conversations drifting somewhere between Bob Dylan’s “Love Sick” and Willie Nelson’s Teatro. Naturally, Daniel Lanois came up. This week’s set is inspired by that hang, and by Lanois’ production more broadly.
Coincidentally, Walter Martin, on his fantastic radio show, discussed Daniel Lanois this week during his Bob Dylan season of shows. Walter’s show is great, and we seem to be on the same cosmic wavelength, sharing a very similar musical aesthetic, right down to some almost indescribable details.
This weeks show also circles a bigger idea, redemption, late career miracles, and the strange, beautiful ways artists find their way back to themselves.
I recently heard an interview with Daniel Lanois where he talked about his recording philosophy, especially his approach to reverb. He didn’t go as deep as I wanted, but one thing stuck with me. He said the problem with reverb is that harmonics can bleed across chord changes, muddying the timing, and even making things feel out of tune. Somehow, he learned how to control that by pushing the high end of the sound toward the back of the mix.
I’m not pretending I fully understand the technical mechanics of it. But I feel it when I hear those records. That Lanois echo. That clarity inside the space. It’s expansive without being blurry. Spacious without losing focus.
Overall, the set this week is a little indulgent. But it was also exactly what I needed.
Which meant I got an excuse to play Nick Lowe’s “Lately I’ve Let Things Slide”, a perfectly timed middle age anthem for a middle aged guy.
We also spent time with Leonard Cohen, pulling from his final album You Want It Darker, specifically “Treaty”. The record is a masterpiece, dark, dignified, and transcendent. I wrote about it here on Substack last week, and while I’ve always been a fan, I’ve recently found myself going much deeper down the Cohen wormhole, and genuinely excited about the journey.
We also hear one of my favorite Bruce Springsteen songs, “Tougher Than the Rest”. I sometimes joke that my favorite Springsteen records are the ones without the E Street Band, but it’s not really a joke. It’s true. As incredible as that band is, and as legendary those live performances were, solo Bruce just hits me differently.
Bruce also released “Streets of Minneapolis” this week. It’s not going to move the needle in any massive way, but I respect the hell out of it. It’s bold. Direct. Uncomplicated. He didn’t overreach. He leaned into the classic protest song form, and it worked. The lyrics aren’t trite, they feel heartfelt. They feel right. The Boss is the Boss. And honestly, doing anything like that right now is a risk. So yeah, good on him. Fuck ICE.
Set list
Daniel Lanois, Oaxaca
Willie Nelson, The Maker
Leonard Cohen, Treaty
Bruce Springsteen, Tougher Than the Rest
Tom Petty, Time to Move On
Van Morrison, Hungry for Your Love
Bob Dylan, Love Sick
Warren Zevon, Steady Rain
Neil Young, Eldorado
Steve Earle, The Kind
Nick Lowe, Lately I’ve Let Things Slide
David Crosby, Laughing
Michael Hurley, In a Dress
John Prine, The Great Compromise
Leonard Cohen, String Reprise, Treaty
I hope you dug the show. Share it if you think someone else might.
I’ve been feeling deeply inspired by this project lately, putting real time and thought into it, and I hope that comes through. But truthfully, I’d be doing this regardless. This show, this weekly mix of blog, vent, journal, and musical obsession, is a release for me. A way to log what keeps me motivated, what moves me, and what still feels worth listening to closely.
Thanks for being here.
Until next week.
DJ Lofi, keep searching.
