good disc, man: Routine Layup
I began life as a CD Girl. I got my first Discman when I was 10 or so. My booklet of discs to bring on family road trips was modest but comforting. In high school, burned CDs spilled from every orifice of the 1995 Volvo sedan I timeshared with my three sisters. When I went to government-sponsored art camp at a state college in southern Vermont, I stayed up late with my roommate and we burned each other data CDs of our growing libraries. (I think I got The Cure Disintegration from her, just as an example.) J. Alfred Prufrock measured out his life in coffee spoons; I measured out mine in 80 minute chunks of spinning plastic.
The proliferation of the iPod cut my love affair with the compact disc short, and by the end of college I was streaming music almost exclusively. But a couple of years ago I, disturbed by the chaotic mutability of streaming—the way music or its trappings could be removed or changed at will ("Ima fix Wolves" syndrome, Charli XCX changing all her album art to Brat styles)—started perking up a little bit at the idea of buying physical media again. My husband is more of the vinyl guy in our house so I started buying tapes and CDs. Woo!!
This brings me to Routine Layup. This is the project of Pacific Northwest-based singer-songwriter Justin Cox (also of Polyorchids and Bad Dads). Cox recently pulled songs from a handful of Routine Layup releases like last year's Eclectic Folk Music and 2021's Coxswain onto a lovely CD compilation, and when he offered to send me one, I said, yes please!!
I played this CD while my freshly born daughter was sleeping in her convertible bassinet thingy and it sounded great. I don't want to divide all of music history into "headphones music" vs. "speakers music" or anything, but Routine Layup's cozy, communal folk stylings sound real good projected into air and through the room.
Cox has an unadorned and emphatic singing voice that delivers a song's message like a firm handshake. I especially love the pairing of the intense melody vocal and its ghostly harmonies on "Single Issue Voter," the lo-fi novelty beat of "Reading All The Books," and the surprise arrival of a big ass ELECTRIC GUITAR STROM (I wrote STROM in my notes, not strum, on purpose, because that's what it sounds like) at the end of "Seasonal Compression." And I must shout out "Coxwain," the only folk song I've ever heard that references Operation Varsity Blues, and features a perfect topical/comedic mispronunciation of the title word that takes the song to the next level.
Routine Layup
In my disc listening, I heard what sounded like a snippet of sampled audio midway through "Holding Pattern (Circling the Sun Until We Die)" and I asked Cox about its origins. He responded:
"Love that question! The sampled music is from a scene in the movie Morvern Callar, which I watched around the time I was writing that song and a few others. I loved it but the rest is only obliquely related to it. The accents are pretty thick in that movie so I had captions on. At one point I paused it for a bit on a frame that just said [ECLECTIC FOLK MUSIC], and I kind of decided on the spot that I'd name whatever little batch of songs I was writing after that. The sampled audio on that song Holding Pattern is the 'eclectic folk music' that's playing during that freeze frame. It's while they're riding in the back of a taxi. My version just said those words but i I just looked it up and the freeze frame has a specific song! Possible I pirated it. The song is Taraf de Haidauks - Cind Eram La '48. Didn't know that till now though! Fun to learn that."
Amazing. I check it out and that song is apparently on a 1994 album called Honourable Brigands, Magic Horses and Evil Eye. Taraf de Haïdouks is a Romanian-Romani ensemble. Look at that album art. Whoaaaaa. Might have to delve more into this song history later. Nothing better than music listening that kicks open at least a couple doors to future explorations. Good Disc, Man!
Thank you Justin! Listen to Routine Layup's music.
And thanks for reading I Enjoy Music! If you like it, tell a friend.
