With this new playlist, I also arrive to announce that it’s time for another Fingertips hiatus. I’ll be taking a few months off, so no more song reviews or playlists until (at least) February 2027. This time I’m leaving things potentially open-ended. I want to feel into what it’s like to relieve myself of all self-imposed tasks associated with running Fingertips. If I like how it feels the sabbatical may continue indefinitely, with perhaps the occasional playlist popping up from time to time.
Thanks to everyone out there reading this, in particular you long-term visitors (you know who you are), and anyone who has taken the time to send regards over the years.
See you down the road apiece. In the meantime, here’s a playlist to wrap things up:
1. “Don’t Look Back” – The Remains (The Remains, 1966)
2. “Haunted” – Phoebe Bridgers (Lost Weekend 2026)
3. “When the Angels Lift Our Eyelids in the Morning” – Devin Davis (The Sound the Hare Heard compilation, 2006)
4. “Right Here, Rignt Now” – Cassandra Wilson (Traveling Miles, 1999)
5. “I Follow You” – Melody’s Echo Chamber (Melody’s Echo Chamber, 2012)
6. “Memo From Turner” – Mick Jagger (Performance soundtrack, 1970)
7. “Don’t Go” – The Donkeys (single, 1980)
8. “Safe From Harm” – Massive Attack (feat. Shara Nelson) (Blue Lines, 1991)
9. “Le Lis” – Billy Cobham (Spectrum, 1973)
10. “What I Can’t Have” – Mod Lang (Borrowed Time, 2026)
11. “Light Enough To Travel” – The Be Good Tanyas (Blue Horse, 2000)
12. “The Impression That I Get” – The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (Let’s Face It, 1997)
13. “You Don’t Have to Cry” – Crosby, Stills & Nash (Crosby, Stills & Nash, 1969)
14. “When I’m Alone” – Rosa Mack (single, 2023)
15. “Little White Lie” – The Sinceros (The Sound of Sunbathing, 1979)
16. “Perish” – Brooke Waggoner (Originator, 2012)
17. “I Feel Possessed” – Crowded House (Temple of Low Men, 1988)
18. “Been a Long Time” – Betty Everett (single, 1969)
19. “Love Yourself” – The Boxer Rebellion (Ghost Alive, 2018)
20. “Little Sparrow” – Dolly Parton (Little Sparrow, 2001)
Random notes:
* I was shocked and saddened in early September by the death of the peerless singer/songwriter Cassandra Wilson, at the age of 70. Routinely identified as a jazz singer, she operated well outside the strict encasements of genre. Gifted with a remarkable alto and a distinctive ability to interpret wide-ranging material, Wilson caught my attention as she released a series of well-regarded solo albums in the ’90s, including the Grammy-winning 1995 album New Moon Daughter. “Right Here, Right Now” is a track from her self-produced Miles Davis tribute album Traveling Miles, Davis being one of Wilson’s abiding influences. The album contains a mix of songs written and/or performed by Davis, along with songs written for the album, including some instrumentals for which Wilson wrote new lyrics. Wilson co-wrote “Right Here, Right Now” with guitarist Marvin Sewell, who performed on most of the album’s tracks.
* Phoebe Bridgers is getting a lot of well-deserved love for her excellent 2026 release Lost Weekend, and I do encourage you to check it out. While the various singles have been getting all the attention, I found myself slayed by “Haunted,” a strummy acoustic track with a bluegrassy vibe and old-school melody that shows off Bridgers’ emotive, silvery voice at its best.
* The Sinceros were one of a gaggle of synth-based new wave bands that major record companies were eager to sign for a brief shining moment or two in the 1979 to 1982 range. The Cars’ indelible and hit-filled debut album became the model and the rationale; to make the connection clear, Columbia Records in the US altered the track listing on The Sinceros’ debut to lead with the overtly Cars-like “Take Me To Your Leader.” The somewehat less Cars-ish “Little White Lie,” smart and peppy, was always the one that stuck in my head. The band was fronted by guitarist Mark Kjeldsen, who also wrote most of the songs. He had first been in a previous band with Ron François and Bobby Irwin, bassist and drummer, the two of whom gained attention in 1978 performing on Lene Lovich’s Stateless album, a Stiff Records production. Keyboardist Don Snow (later in the band Squeeze) joined those two in a Stiff Records promotional tour, leading the three to reunite with Kjeldsen, become the Sinceros, and sign with Epic Records in the UK. Sadly, Kjeldsen died in 1992 of complications from AIDS.
* Melody’s Echo Chamber is the performing name for the French musician Melody Prochet. Her self-titled debut was produced by Kevin Parker, of Tame Impala. There are four Melody’s Echo Chamber albums to date, most recently 2025’s Unclouded.
* The fact that they have named themselves after a song from Big Star’s Radio City album tells you a good bit about Mod Lang’s lineage and ambiance. Then again you are not wrong to hear a good helping of Beatleisms in the Detroit band’s crisp and capable “What I Can’t Have,” with its jangly guitar lines and intertwining vocals.
* The elusive Devin Davis has still just given us one proper solo album, 2005’s Lonely People of the World, Unite!. I only recently came across his contribution to the 2006 Kill Rock Stars compilation The Sound the Hare Heard, which is a terrfic gathering of demo recordings from the likes of Laura Veirs, Colin Meloy, and many others. Davis’ song leads the album off, memorably.
* And we close with a more blatant helping of bluegrass, via the late Dolly Parton and the title track to her well-regarded 2001 album Little Sparrow. I can’t claim to be any kind of Dolly expert, but I surely admired her musicianship and her moral center. If you’re at all curious about her path through life, I highly recommend the engaging 2019 podcast “Dolly Parton’s America,” from WNYC Studios.
