Dance, Fuzz, and Tears

I somehow knew that it was going to end when I read that Charlie Watts, the Rolling Stones' drummer for almost 60 years, had to undergo emergency surgery.

On Tuesday, Charlie Watts died at 80 years old.

It was already clear that Watts wouldn't be part of the upcoming world tour. The band replaced him with Steve Jordan, the former drummer for the Blues Brothers.

It took me some time to get into the Stones' sound. I instead listened to The Who, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, and The Beatles. Not bad either, but once the Rolling Stones universe opened up for me, it swallowed me whole.

It was Sticky Fingers that did the job. I bought it in a store in Zurich. The cover features the original zipper. And I started listening and was blown away. There were the faster hits like Brown Suger or Bitch. And there were slow ballads like Sway and Moonlight Mile. You can hear blues, country, and Americana influences in Wild Horses, You Gotta Move, and I Got The Blues.

But nothing was quite like You Can't Hear Me Knocking. Lord, this track is just insane. 7 minutes long, it starts with a rather relaxed groove. Then, the instruments start building upon each other; the song gets more complex by the second.

Suddenly, with still 4 minutes on the clock, the song breaks down and transitions into a devilish instrumental that lasts for the rest of the song. It's epic beyond belief!

Sticky Finger was released in 1971. For anyone who has Apple TV+, I can recommend the original series 1971. It's a fantastic documentary about the "year that music changed everything" – covering rock, soul, funk, and singer-songwriters, connecting the dots between shifts in society, sound and culture.

Alright, you're not here to hear me rambling about the old days (that I haven't experienced myself, unfortunately). You're here to get a new fix of new music.

And today's selection features frenetic indie rock, heavy fuzz, obscure synth-pop, jazzy hip-hop, and a song that made me cry.