Day 26: If Our Love Is Real

Galt MacDermot's funky, sometimes cheesy instrumentals pop up often in films, samples, and on mixes, but unless you own the sheet music to "Hair," you have likely never seen his name in the print. It's the kind of thing you would have heard at the fabled Blow-Up club in Bonn circa 2002, halfway between a Michel LeGrand theme and a Serge Gainsbourg outtake, part Library music; part Swinging London. My favorite collection of his work is the "Up From The Basement - Unreleased Tracks" comp from 2002. "Woe Is Me" is sexy and downright sinister. "Piano Concerto Pt. 2" sounds like the Peanuts gang getting high for the first time. But I like the mellow, measured "If Our Love is Real." No wah-wah, blow, or breakbeats, just a pleasant trio of bass, drums, and electric piano. Something dreamy to nod off to, your fingers touching the stem of your wine glass, your foot absently tapping to the rhythm, your eyes closed, your cigarette still burning while your lover stands up and accepts a dance with the man in a dark brimmed hat.