đ· Springtime Music is Here!
Liner Notes: The Queen is Dead by The Smiths
The days are slowly getting longer and warmer. I can feel it. After months of hibernation, thereâs something about April that makes you want to open the windows, dust off the turntable, and get outside. More live music, more record shopping, more reasons to leave the house. New beginnings are everywhere, and honestly, Iâm here for it.
The cats are still adjusting, but theyâll get there.
And with that, letâs get into some music talk.
Talib Kweli at Jimmyâs Jazz & Blues Club
Friday night, I caught Talib Kweli at Jimmyâs Jazz & Blues Club in Portsmouth, NH, and it was one of those shows that remind me why live music matters. He played two nights, two sets each, and all four sold out. That tells you everything you need to know about where Kweli stands in 2026. We caught the 9:30 set, which didn't actually start until almost 10 pm, but nobody seemed to mind.
I first heard his music back in 1997 or 1998, through the Mothership Connection on WUNH 91.3 FM. When the Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star record dropped in 1998, it was in my CD player nonstop, and itâs still one of my favorite hip hop records. So hearing him perform songs live, nearly 30 years later, was something special.
But the show was so much more than a nostalgia trip. Kweli and his talented band moved through genres as if flipping through a crate of records. We got hip-hop, rock, some reggae rhythms, a taste of Fela Kuti, a Beatles cover, and an incredible 80s & 90s hip-hop montage led by the keyboard player that had the whole room moving. The setlist felt like a music education course compressed into 80 minutesâŠ
What struck me most is that Talib Kweli has not wavered. Heâs still rhyming with that conscious hip hop style that made him who he is, still telling the crowd to think, still paying attention to whatâs happening in the world, and asking us to do the same. In a time when that message feels more urgent than ever, he delivered it with conviction and without pretense. If heâs coming to a city near you, go. You wonât regret it.
Liner Notes
Sharing stories about albums in my collection. My mission is simple: one record and one story at a time. Since I bought my first record in 1982, Iâve been obsessed with the stories hidden in the grooves. This is a sanctuary for the music nerds and the audibly curious, dedicated to records and the liner notes that keep them alive.
The Smiths, The Queen Is Dead (Rough Trade Records, 1986)
I was introduced to The Smiths right after they broke up. My friend Ken and I bought most of their albums on cassette at the local mall, and The Queen Is Dead was often on repeat on the boombox in my backyard. This was during my high school years, between 1987 and 1991. I probably first heard them through college radio and through friends at school, but however it happened, the music stuck. Ken and I eventually saw Morrissey live in 1992 at Brandeis University on the Your Arsenal tour, and that only deepened my obsession.
Released on June 16, 1986, The Queen Is Dead was the Smithsâ third studio album, produced by Morrissey and Marr, with engineering by Stephen Street. The album cover, designed by Morrissey, features a still of French actor Alain Delon from the 1964 film The Unvanquished. The albumâs title was borrowed from a chapter in Hubert Selby Jr.âs novel Last Exit to Brooklyn. In the late 80s, I had no idea about the film or the book it was named after. No one in my orbit did! đ
Many of the references in each song also flew right over my head. I was a teenager. I just loved how it sounded. But as Iâve gotten older, Iâve come to understand much more of what Morrissey was writing about. The anger at the monarchy, the class frustrations, the dark humor wrapped in simply gorgeous melodies. That said, for me it has always been about the guitar work of Johnny Marr, the subtleness of the drums, and Morrisseyâs vocal style.
Marrâs playing on this record is some of the finest guitar work in that era. The album had a denser sound than the Smithsâ earlier records. Bassist Andy Rourke composed his bassline in the studio, a performance Marr later described as something other bass players still havenât matched.
I just love the jangle pop sound of Manchester, England, in the 1980s, and The Smiths were the best at it. The production, the mix, the way every element sits in its right place. Itâs just a beautiful record all around. NME named The Queen Is Dead the greatest album of all time in their 2013 list, and Rolling Stone ranked it 113th on their 2020 update of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. I wonât argue!
I own a repressing on Rough Trade Records, along with a handful of Smiths 12â & 7â singles. And I still love Morrisseyâs solo work, even though, well, heâs gone a bit nuts these days. But this album? Forty years on, and it still sounds like the future. I wish they had made more.
New Music Playlist: April
Les Imprimés - Miss The Days (feat. Ama Li)
Gorillaz - Orange County
Out Of/Into - Familiar Route (feat. Gerald Clayton, Immanuel Wilkins, Joel Ross, Kendrick Scott, Matt Brewer)
Jasmine Myra - Likeness and Shadow
Parlor Greens - Drop Top
Tenor Saw and Sly & Robbie - Roll is Called (7-inch mix)
Jill Scott - A Universe
Madvillain - Accordion
Nightmares On Wax - Looking at You Dub
Kevan Adrian - Give It Up (single)
New Music This Week
A few purchases this week, between Bandcamp and a trip to a record shopâŠ
On Bandcamp, I preordered the new Jeff Parker IVtet album, Happy Today, on International Anthem, due out May 15. If you know Jeff Parkerâs work, whether from Tortoise, his solo records, or with Flea, you know this is going to be worth the wait. I also picked up Antonio Carlos & Jocafi from Jazz Is Dead, featuring Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad. The Jazz Is Dead series continues to be one of the most consistently rewarding reissue and collaboration projects going.
I also made it out to Dyno Records in Newburyport, MA, which is always a good time. I grabbed a used vinyl LP of the John Abercrombie Quartetâs M from 1981 on ECM Records, a gorgeous record if youâre into that ECM sound.
On the CD side, I picked up Bill Evans and Eddie Gomezâs Intuition (Fantasy, 1974), Yusef Lateefâs Live at Ronnie Scottâs (Gearbox Records, 1966), and a Japanese pressing of Cecil McBeeâs Music from the Source (Enja Real Jazz Classics, 1977). That McBee record is a deep cut and an absolute gem!
Until next time, thanks again for reading. - JB