Cory Wong

Lately, I’ve been in the mood to listen to my favourite radio program, Guy Garvey’s Finest Hour on BBC 6 Music. I’m subscribed to the show on the BBC Sounds app, and up to four or five back episodes are usually available when I haven’t listened for a while. Over the two previous days, I’ve posted a couple of songs from the show’s February 26, 2023 instalment (“Pancakes with Same Fender!”): “In My Room” and “That’s the Way.”

Today I made my way as far as Garvey’s March 12 episode (“No Correspondence About Food – Please”), and one track early on in the program really caught my attention, “Cory Wong,” by the Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA-based funk group, Vulfpeck. The song is named after a frequent collaborator and touring band member who plays lead guitar in the piece (in the video below, there are three electric guitarists; one is in shorts, and Wong is the non-bearded of the two others, the one making all the facial contortions).

It’s a fun instrumental track with a great, joyful vibe. The video for the song has notes superimposed, but since there are no lyrics, it’s telling stage moves and other commentaries about the music and who’s playing what. It’s quite a clever and enjoyable presentation. The video cuts between the band playing in a living room and a music venue.

After the video for “Cory Wong” ended, YouTube autoplayed for me a film of a full live show by the band at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels, Belgium, in September 2017. If you enjoy today’s selection as I did, you may want to join me in heading over to watch the full show, too. I can wait for you if you don’t want to go there alone.

Formed in 2011 by a group of students from the University of Michigan’s school of music, Vulfpeck has released six studio albums, a live album and four EPs. I’m grateful to have been introduced to their music today, and I hope you’ll enjoy it, too.

“Cory Wong” is the closing track on the band’s second studio album, The Beautiful Game (2016), available for purchase or streaming. As Garvey would say, buy their albums so they can afford to make more! (In 2020, he gave evidence at a government inquiry on the effect of streaming, saying the low payments to artists are making the industry unsustainable for up-and-coming musicians, and that the services should be charging and paying more. I agree with him 100%.)

Now you know a little about why this is my Song of the Day for Today. Thanks for joining me here.

Here’s the video of “Cory Wong” from the Vulf YouTube channel: