Good morning! Welcome to each of you who joined us over this past week! You’ve landed at what was recently described as “the nicest place on the internet.“
If you’re looking for a place to share the music you love with like-minded people, you’re in the right spot.
It’s great to have you here.
For those of you who are new, we kick off every week by sharing what we’ve been playing.
The playlist below is some of what I’ve had in heavy rotation:
Now it’s your turn.
What caught your ear this week? Did you pick anything up on Record Store Day this weekend? Are there any upcoming releases or shows you’re excited about?
So whatcha got? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Compilations, tributes, and a posthumous remake — all with their share of surprises.
"Live on Mountain Stage: Outlaws and Outliers" was a treat, a solid mix of artists I follow performing songs I know and love, plus a few surprises thrown in.
"The Power of the Heart," a Lou Reed tribute, got some attention with its lead track (Keith Richards' cover of VU's "I'm Waiting for the Man), but the rest of the songs focus on Reed's solo work. And with the exception of a couple of clunkers, they work extremely well. It's a better than most tribute album, one that showcases Reed's ability to craft vivid tales in pop songs.
Finally, there's the posthumous redo of Glen Campbell's "Ghost on the Canvas" as a duets album. The track with Dolly Parton is stunning, Sting manages not to ruin the title cut (written by Paul Westerberg), and there is a certain amount of perverse genius in pairing Campbell's vocals with X. You have to hear it to believe it, and then there's the element of surprise when it actually works.
A Certain Ration 'It All Comes Down To This' - Chin jutting, head bopping grooves.
Cindy Lee 'Diamond Jubilee' - Apparently this is hypnagogic pop?! I suppose I would call it all over the place cool.
Maggie Rogers 'Don't Forget Me' - Wow!
Pineapple Thief 'All Over The Place' - Anthemic, crisp modern prog rock BUT then there's LP 2 'Y Aqui Estamos' which flips the script. Gorgeous production all around.
Tomato Flower 'No' - Discordant, raw and... beautifully jarring.
Stesasonic 'Here We Go Again' - Old school hip-hop returns in most excellent form.
I see PJ & CN in your playlist. The thing is after listening to the new records I have determined that while I still love guitar rock, these don't work for me, at least not yet.
I'd like to recommend a great singer-songwriter who you've probably never heard of. He has a lot of albums on Spotify etc, but why not check him out on Bandcamp. He's me! https://steveswindells.bandcamp.com
Kevin, I see The Church up there. Do you have any particular punkish-gothish Church songs I might consider adding to my goth/punk playlist? Yes, I am still working on it! It's up to 67 songs now: https://www.pandora.com/playlist/PL:198494836309887817:74638688
* Continuing my rabbit holing with songwriters I love, I went deep on Matthew Ryan. If you don't know his work, start with his debut May Day (produced by David Ricketts, who was mentioned here recently), Boxers, or Regret Through The Wires. While some of his later work is too downbeat for where my head is and a bit samey, he's a terrific singer and songwriter who's been championed by folks like Ricketts, Lucinda, and Brian Fallon, but never broke through. He seems to have disappeared from the internet in 2021. Here's my favorite song of his: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neG6CV8AOMY
(Side note: I opened for Matthew on his Boxers tour in 2015. Only last night did I learn that his bassist on that tour was Bones Hillman from Midnight Oil. I missed a chance to talk to a member of Midnight Oil!)
* The Sorcerers - I Am Too A Stranger, a really good 2023 release that falls between Mulatu Astatke's Ethiopian jazz and 1960s exotica. Props to the Tottenham Hotspur blog I follow for the tip.
* Pillow Queens - Name Your Sorrow. I'm still settling in with this one. I loved their debut which was full of smart, jangly pop, and they've gone in a more moody, brooding Interpol-esque direction on this one. It's good, but I don't think I'll love it as much as the debut.
Looking forward to everyone's recommendations, as always. Have a great week!
Great list -- that somesurprises record is gorgeous, and we are all better off listening to songs like Driveway to Driveway. And the new cloud nothings is fantastic. The song I have on repeat is Belligerents from the new Supercaan record -- slow build and then turns into a gorgeous epic of a song. https://supercaan.bandcamp.com/track/belligerents-6. Feels like the track that the National never made after Boxer (with some synths over top).
I busted out an old record I hadn't listened to since the mid-90s: "Lucky Dumpling" by Moonpools and Caterpillars. Still holds up. That's a band that should have been bigger than they were. It was catchy with solid pop riffs and a lead singer who could really belt it out.
I also got a live recording of Fish at Shank Hall in Milwaukee in 1997 from a Danish record site. I was actually at that show, and it was the second-to-last time Fish toured the US. It was recorded for FM broadcast in Europe, so the sound quality is really good.
Einstruzende Nuebauten - Rampen. Forgot these guys existed until I saw their name pop up on some comments on these weekly threads. Amazed at EN’s output over the years.
Pearl Jam - Dark Matter. Kind of a letdown versus the energy of the singles that were released. Saw them live in St. Paul last year; their shows are still wicked fun. I was one of the lucky souls to see PJ20 @ Alpine Valley in 2011.
Not as new:
Jane Weaver - Flock + Sunset Dreams. True to my word last week, research has begun in earnest. Some vaguely familiar, some new to me.
Whitest Boy Alive - Dreams + Rules. Delicious grooves. I make sure to visit these records every couple of years and call it maintenance. Just these two records, sadly. SO GOOD.
Meatbodies - Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom. Been going back to this record often and not putting it in these weekly threads. Might have visited their S/T record for good measure.
Things I listen to often:
Kal Marks - My Name Is Hell. This record owns me. I own it on vinyl. Who wins? MY EARS. More albums: Life Is Murder + Life Is Alright, Everybody Dies + Universal Care are worth pursuing.
Pile - Magic Isn’t Real + Dripping. Start with Uncle Jill, stay through The Jones. Intense. Cathartic. Dense.
Pixies - Doolittle. HEY; I wasn’t OG Pixies, didn’t know they existed until 2002. Made up for lost time. Praise be to Matt Fish AND Kevin Alexander for the assists this week
Band of Skulls - Baby Darling Doll Face. Just some straight up rock music, LOVE this record.
St. Vincent. Getting my brain ready for All Born Screaming on Friday.
Gearing up to see Puscifer, A Perfect Circle, and Primus at Red Rocks this week https://sessantalive.com/. Physiologically ready.
Shufflepuck, I know, I know, but you SHOULD know them... and will if you tune in Wednesday. Also, did anyone else hear that Tay Tay dropped some new music (he asked with tongue firmly in cheek)?
Also purchased the complete discography of the Chantepleurs and the brand new album by The Black Watch on Bandcamp and a free new single by Armstrong and that'sjust a tip of the iceberg. So much great music coming out these days, it's hard to keep up.
RSD 2024! I grabbed The Spotlight Kid; 2 glorious vinyl slabs of prime Captain Beefheart. Here's one of my favorite tracks, "I'm Gonna Booglarize You Baby": https://youtu.be/xiJVac8bCH8?si=cQGfoH7tevUq8HtG
On the digital front, I've been grooving on :
"Eyesight to the Blind" - Mose Allison
"Moanin'" - Karrin Allyson' also the Ray Charles version
"Twisted" - Lambert, Hendricks & Ross; also the Joni Mitchell version
Over the weekend, I finished up my 60th anniversary appreciation of The Rolling Stones, a debut album from a band that went on to have moderate success, which had me grooving to the original artists as well as the Stones. Appearing soon in the Rock & Roll Globe.
Also listened to Bodega’s latest on the vinyl my daughter brought back from her RSD excursion - a fun album, combining the more straightforward impulses of the last with the edgier side of the first.
Cool to see Superchunk in your playlist. Great NC band! I saw their drummer, Jon Wurster, a few weeks back at the Cats Cradle in Chapel Hill. Jon also played with a terrific band out of my area, The Accelerators, back in the early 90's. I've been heavy into Band of Heathens this week since I'm going to see them with Hayes Carll this Thursday at.....the Cats Cradle.
Since Saturday was Record Store Day I'm busy spinning the vinyl titles I picked up from my local store, School Kids Records. I tend to skip the RSD release bins, unless there's something that I know I just won't see again, so this year I did my usual in store route of heading straight to the bargain bins.
For $4 I grabbed a near mint copy of Vanilla Fudge's terrific album Rock & Roll. I followed that find up with Russ Ballard's 1984 self titled album (his second self titled album after his 1975 self titled release). Ballard is a prolific songwriter known probably more for the tunes he's pinned for others, but I had to have this album since Simon Phillips is at the drum set. I grabbed a copy of the Allman Brother's 1971 release Live at Fillmore East and Wes Montgomery's 1967 A Day In The Life with Herbie Hancock on piano and Grady Tate on drums. I rounded out my RSD haul with Metallica's 1988 album, ...And Justice For All, which was my splurge at $34!
A good chunk of my regular weekly listening is always given over to We Are Scientists but yesterday I listened to all 8 albums (plus stand alone singles and b-sides) back to back in an effort to categorise all the songs thematically and by use of imagery. I am a list-maker at heart 🤷♀️
Loving the new singles from Fontaines D.C. and Bad Nerves and pleasantly surprised by how much I’m enjoying the Cloud Nothings album as I’ve been a little underwhelmed up to now.
I saw Pet Needs in Bristol on Friday and I’m going to their Camden show on Thursday so they have been getting a lot of play too.
Cloud Nothings, Pearl Jam, and GBV have all been in rotation for me too the past few days...when I am not dissecting Tortured Poets Department with the rest of the household 😜
Seeing Wussy and GBV on Friday will get me through this week!
Here are my Top 10 artists for the past month - some older and some newer. I'm really digging the ones that are new to me, like The Glad Machin, Tristen, and Underwater Sunshine.
Bowie - I love Eno’s idea of nature gaining a royalty when natural skins are used on tracks, to be donated to environmental causes, and the Bowie remix to support the initiative. Plus Ziggy Stardust for a post going out later.
And David Byrne/Talking Heads - I’m reading his book ‘How Music Works’ - some of his comments about the industry are dated already, but of his writing is revealing and insightful.
There's a few bands who can make an album no one else ever could. And sometimes they even manage to do so. Elbow has, astonishingly, done it twice: In 2008 with Seldom Seen Kid and now with Audio Vertigo. Nothing wrong with what they did in the intervening 16 years if you like self-indulgent twaddle :)
I had a very busy listening week, I was able to fire up the old vinyl spinner and plowed through a good sized chunk of the letter G. There is Haytch next week. Highlights of this batch were Taylor Swift, Vetiver and Great Lake Swimmers. For a more in depth review of what I listened to: https://weatheredmusic.ca/2024/04/22/6-52/
Taylor Swift obvo! Gotta at least understand it a little bit. Thought the album was perfectly fine. Will I seek it out? Nope. But there is nothing offensive about it, which i think is the point.
They're a very atypical band in many ways. Guy Garvey is sly - he sprinkles bon mots through the album so you can't say "here, this is the definative song." I like it - like Seldom Seen Kid, it's an album. There's catchy bits but it works best played as an album.
It's interesting because they've never made much of an impression on our side of the Atlantic. There's been great bands from Manchester because they're humble (except Oasis, bleh). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1Xd6pIiXvU
Seldom Seen Kid, btw, was a behind-the-scenes guy who put the posters up, trucked the equipment in and out, talked up bands, etc.
(Other than those two albums I don't listen to them btw.)
I had to take a trip to Pembroke MA so, based on a restack from Kevin about Neko Case (I lost the link), I had Spotify cue up some Neko Case songs. I gotta tell you that I wound up listening to Neko for the trip over and the trip back. Excellent ride music and a favorite new entry in my "indie twang" catalog. If you have the link Kevin, let me know because I would like to thank the person that you restacked.
Then things got weird. HBO/Max had "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World" for free over the weekend so I watched that again. My third of fourth session? Anyway, in the beginning of the film, when Scott's roommate Wallace is first introduced, Wallace is reading a tabloid magazine and has it open to an article about (I am not making this up) my gal Neko Case! It is a sign........
My kids have been reminiscing about the Curious George movie from 2006, so we finally watched it together again. The whole soundtrack was done by Jack Johnson and is delightful. It puts me in a good mood!
I come to this feed one day after it's live and there are 120 comments?! How the hell am I gonna get through all this? I've started with listening Somesurprises' full album and I'm very happy with the start. Onto the next thing...
I've been spending every day for the last week listening to a different Radiohead album.
Scarlet by the Stones, Ghosted at Home by Lol Tolhurst, Cartoon Earthquake by Blondshell and Wetsuit by The Vaccines have all been getting some heavy rotation.
Didn't pick up any special edition LPs from Record Store Day, but did finally get Portishead's Dummy and Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here on vinyl this week.
Flowers by Echo and The Bunnymen,
Had some RSD luck. Couldn’t go until later in the day and still landed Malfunkshun, Joe Strummer and some De La Soul. All have been on repeat.
Compilations, tributes, and a posthumous remake — all with their share of surprises.
"Live on Mountain Stage: Outlaws and Outliers" was a treat, a solid mix of artists I follow performing songs I know and love, plus a few surprises thrown in.
"The Power of the Heart," a Lou Reed tribute, got some attention with its lead track (Keith Richards' cover of VU's "I'm Waiting for the Man), but the rest of the songs focus on Reed's solo work. And with the exception of a couple of clunkers, they work extremely well. It's a better than most tribute album, one that showcases Reed's ability to craft vivid tales in pop songs.
Finally, there's the posthumous redo of Glen Campbell's "Ghost on the Canvas" as a duets album. The track with Dolly Parton is stunning, Sting manages not to ruin the title cut (written by Paul Westerberg), and there is a certain amount of perverse genius in pairing Campbell's vocals with X. You have to hear it to believe it, and then there's the element of surprise when it actually works.
I’m really digging Diamond Jubilee by Cindy Lee. I love a sprawling, gnarly double album and it delivers in spades.
A Certain Ration 'It All Comes Down To This' - Chin jutting, head bopping grooves.
Cindy Lee 'Diamond Jubilee' - Apparently this is hypnagogic pop?! I suppose I would call it all over the place cool.
Maggie Rogers 'Don't Forget Me' - Wow!
Pineapple Thief 'All Over The Place' - Anthemic, crisp modern prog rock BUT then there's LP 2 'Y Aqui Estamos' which flips the script. Gorgeous production all around.
Tomato Flower 'No' - Discordant, raw and... beautifully jarring.
Stesasonic 'Here We Go Again' - Old school hip-hop returns in most excellent form.
I see PJ & CN in your playlist. The thing is after listening to the new records I have determined that while I still love guitar rock, these don't work for me, at least not yet.
I'd like to recommend a great singer-songwriter who you've probably never heard of. He has a lot of albums on Spotify etc, but why not check him out on Bandcamp. He's me! https://steveswindells.bandcamp.com
Kevin, I see The Church up there. Do you have any particular punkish-gothish Church songs I might consider adding to my goth/punk playlist? Yes, I am still working on it! It's up to 67 songs now: https://www.pandora.com/playlist/PL:198494836309887817:74638688
My last week was about:
* Continuing my rabbit holing with songwriters I love, I went deep on Matthew Ryan. If you don't know his work, start with his debut May Day (produced by David Ricketts, who was mentioned here recently), Boxers, or Regret Through The Wires. While some of his later work is too downbeat for where my head is and a bit samey, he's a terrific singer and songwriter who's been championed by folks like Ricketts, Lucinda, and Brian Fallon, but never broke through. He seems to have disappeared from the internet in 2021. Here's my favorite song of his: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neG6CV8AOMY
(Side note: I opened for Matthew on his Boxers tour in 2015. Only last night did I learn that his bassist on that tour was Bones Hillman from Midnight Oil. I missed a chance to talk to a member of Midnight Oil!)
* The Sorcerers - I Am Too A Stranger, a really good 2023 release that falls between Mulatu Astatke's Ethiopian jazz and 1960s exotica. Props to the Tottenham Hotspur blog I follow for the tip.
* Pillow Queens - Name Your Sorrow. I'm still settling in with this one. I loved their debut which was full of smart, jangly pop, and they've gone in a more moody, brooding Interpol-esque direction on this one. It's good, but I don't think I'll love it as much as the debut.
Looking forward to everyone's recommendations, as always. Have a great week!
Morrissey. How Smiths-like, melodic and riff-laden his early solo work is. And fun.
I'm doing my best to investigate the new Taylor Swift album, but so far I feel it could have like 10 songs instead of 31. Lol.
Pilori
Great list -- that somesurprises record is gorgeous, and we are all better off listening to songs like Driveway to Driveway. And the new cloud nothings is fantastic. The song I have on repeat is Belligerents from the new Supercaan record -- slow build and then turns into a gorgeous epic of a song. https://supercaan.bandcamp.com/track/belligerents-6. Feels like the track that the National never made after Boxer (with some synths over top).
And I've made a few playlists inspired by Passover themes over the year - much on this one I made in 2016 still resonates for me: https://jewschool.com/fan-flames-indiepunkhip-hopchimurenga-playlist-passover-76445
I busted out an old record I hadn't listened to since the mid-90s: "Lucky Dumpling" by Moonpools and Caterpillars. Still holds up. That's a band that should have been bigger than they were. It was catchy with solid pop riffs and a lead singer who could really belt it out.
I also got a live recording of Fish at Shank Hall in Milwaukee in 1997 from a Danish record site. I was actually at that show, and it was the second-to-last time Fish toured the US. It was recorded for FM broadcast in Europe, so the sound quality is really good.
New:
Einstruzende Nuebauten - Rampen. Forgot these guys existed until I saw their name pop up on some comments on these weekly threads. Amazed at EN’s output over the years.
Pearl Jam - Dark Matter. Kind of a letdown versus the energy of the singles that were released. Saw them live in St. Paul last year; their shows are still wicked fun. I was one of the lucky souls to see PJ20 @ Alpine Valley in 2011.
Not as new:
Jane Weaver - Flock + Sunset Dreams. True to my word last week, research has begun in earnest. Some vaguely familiar, some new to me.
Whitest Boy Alive - Dreams + Rules. Delicious grooves. I make sure to visit these records every couple of years and call it maintenance. Just these two records, sadly. SO GOOD.
Meatbodies - Flora Ocean Tiger Bloom. Been going back to this record often and not putting it in these weekly threads. Might have visited their S/T record for good measure.
Things I listen to often:
Kal Marks - My Name Is Hell. This record owns me. I own it on vinyl. Who wins? MY EARS. More albums: Life Is Murder + Life Is Alright, Everybody Dies + Universal Care are worth pursuing.
Pile - Magic Isn’t Real + Dripping. Start with Uncle Jill, stay through The Jones. Intense. Cathartic. Dense.
Pixies - Doolittle. HEY; I wasn’t OG Pixies, didn’t know they existed until 2002. Made up for lost time. Praise be to Matt Fish AND Kevin Alexander for the assists this week
Band of Skulls - Baby Darling Doll Face. Just some straight up rock music, LOVE this record.
St. Vincent. Getting my brain ready for All Born Screaming on Friday.
Gearing up to see Puscifer, A Perfect Circle, and Primus at Red Rocks this week https://sessantalive.com/. Physiologically ready.
Shufflepuck, I know, I know, but you SHOULD know them... and will if you tune in Wednesday. Also, did anyone else hear that Tay Tay dropped some new music (he asked with tongue firmly in cheek)?
Here is an amazing album that was lost for over 30 years and just released last week by Micky Greaney. It has been described as follows:
“With traces of Van Morrison, Nick Drake, Scott Walker and Paul McCartney, Micky Greaney remains a unique talent”
Birmingham Evening Mail
“This is a stellar retro release from an incredibly gifted songwriter. Highly recommended!”
David J.
Musician, Bauhaus, Love And Rockets
https://mickygreaney.bandcamp.com/album/and-now-its-all-this
Also purchased the complete discography of the Chantepleurs and the brand new album by The Black Watch on Bandcamp and a free new single by Armstrong and that'sjust a tip of the iceberg. So much great music coming out these days, it's hard to keep up.
RSD 2024! I grabbed The Spotlight Kid; 2 glorious vinyl slabs of prime Captain Beefheart. Here's one of my favorite tracks, "I'm Gonna Booglarize You Baby": https://youtu.be/xiJVac8bCH8?si=cQGfoH7tevUq8HtG
On the digital front, I've been grooving on :
"Eyesight to the Blind" - Mose Allison
"Moanin'" - Karrin Allyson' also the Ray Charles version
"Twisted" - Lambert, Hendricks & Ross; also the Joni Mitchell version
"Sex Kills" - Joni Mitchell
"Green Eyes" - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
I was going through my music library and stumbled across The Dragon Song.
https://open.spotify.com/track/6M2zCT4fXGdtHu2E0yjiSj?si=fee4075206c0480d
Big new favorites for me this week:
Here Comes the Fear - Youth Sector - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-x5YCxRAiU
Living in a Haze - Milky Chance & The Beaches - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pos3PhlWd0c
My Head's in a Hurricane - Love Fame Tragedy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alTTDE6ojPg
and from Substack:
Move On Up - Chris Dalla Riva - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGuaJhJ6O2o
Over the weekend, I finished up my 60th anniversary appreciation of The Rolling Stones, a debut album from a band that went on to have moderate success, which had me grooving to the original artists as well as the Stones. Appearing soon in the Rock & Roll Globe.
Also listened to Bodega’s latest on the vinyl my daughter brought back from her RSD excursion - a fun album, combining the more straightforward impulses of the last with the edgier side of the first.
I have had the new Project Gemini on repeat all weekend. Kind of a mixup between groovy psyche / library music and good old fashioned funky stuff. https://projectgemini.bandcamp.com/album/colours-light
Cool to see Superchunk in your playlist. Great NC band! I saw their drummer, Jon Wurster, a few weeks back at the Cats Cradle in Chapel Hill. Jon also played with a terrific band out of my area, The Accelerators, back in the early 90's. I've been heavy into Band of Heathens this week since I'm going to see them with Hayes Carll this Thursday at.....the Cats Cradle.
Since Saturday was Record Store Day I'm busy spinning the vinyl titles I picked up from my local store, School Kids Records. I tend to skip the RSD release bins, unless there's something that I know I just won't see again, so this year I did my usual in store route of heading straight to the bargain bins.
For $4 I grabbed a near mint copy of Vanilla Fudge's terrific album Rock & Roll. I followed that find up with Russ Ballard's 1984 self titled album (his second self titled album after his 1975 self titled release). Ballard is a prolific songwriter known probably more for the tunes he's pinned for others, but I had to have this album since Simon Phillips is at the drum set. I grabbed a copy of the Allman Brother's 1971 release Live at Fillmore East and Wes Montgomery's 1967 A Day In The Life with Herbie Hancock on piano and Grady Tate on drums. I rounded out my RSD haul with Metallica's 1988 album, ...And Justice For All, which was my splurge at $34!
Cheers Billy. The Who's Roger Daltrey also covered four of my songs with me playing keys.
A good chunk of my regular weekly listening is always given over to We Are Scientists but yesterday I listened to all 8 albums (plus stand alone singles and b-sides) back to back in an effort to categorise all the songs thematically and by use of imagery. I am a list-maker at heart 🤷♀️
Loving the new singles from Fontaines D.C. and Bad Nerves and pleasantly surprised by how much I’m enjoying the Cloud Nothings album as I’ve been a little underwhelmed up to now.
I saw Pet Needs in Bristol on Friday and I’m going to their Camden show on Thursday so they have been getting a lot of play too.
Cloud Nothings, Pearl Jam, and GBV have all been in rotation for me too the past few days...when I am not dissecting Tortured Poets Department with the rest of the household 😜
Seeing Wussy and GBV on Friday will get me through this week!
Here are my Top 10 artists for the past month - some older and some newer. I'm really digging the ones that are new to me, like The Glad Machin, Tristen, and Underwater Sunshine.
The Bishop's Daredevil Stunt Club
R.E.M.
The Glad Machine
The Second Summer
The Replacements
Tinted Windows
Underwater Sunshine
Sarah Jarosz
Wesley Fuller
Tristen
Bill Caldwell - What you Won't Do For Love
Bowie - I love Eno’s idea of nature gaining a royalty when natural skins are used on tracks, to be donated to environmental causes, and the Bowie remix to support the initiative. Plus Ziggy Stardust for a post going out later.
And David Byrne/Talking Heads - I’m reading his book ‘How Music Works’ - some of his comments about the industry are dated already, but of his writing is revealing and insightful.
Fugees, Alice in Chains, Ethel Cain
There's a few bands who can make an album no one else ever could. And sometimes they even manage to do so. Elbow has, astonishingly, done it twice: In 2008 with Seldom Seen Kid and now with Audio Vertigo. Nothing wrong with what they did in the intervening 16 years if you like self-indulgent twaddle :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDYlnFlQbqo
I had a very busy listening week, I was able to fire up the old vinyl spinner and plowed through a good sized chunk of the letter G. There is Haytch next week. Highlights of this batch were Taylor Swift, Vetiver and Great Lake Swimmers. For a more in depth review of what I listened to: https://weatheredmusic.ca/2024/04/22/6-52/
Taylor Swift obvo! Gotta at least understand it a little bit. Thought the album was perfectly fine. Will I seek it out? Nope. But there is nothing offensive about it, which i think is the point.
Novelty Island! https://noveltyisland.bandcamp.com/
Still lots of Mariah, ain’t gonna lie. The concert got me hooked! Have a great week ahead
They're a very atypical band in many ways. Guy Garvey is sly - he sprinkles bon mots through the album so you can't say "here, this is the definative song." I like it - like Seldom Seen Kid, it's an album. There's catchy bits but it works best played as an album.
It's interesting because they've never made much of an impression on our side of the Atlantic. There's been great bands from Manchester because they're humble (except Oasis, bleh). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1Xd6pIiXvU
Seldom Seen Kid, btw, was a behind-the-scenes guy who put the posters up, trucked the equipment in and out, talked up bands, etc.
(Other than those two albums I don't listen to them btw.)
I had to take a trip to Pembroke MA so, based on a restack from Kevin about Neko Case (I lost the link), I had Spotify cue up some Neko Case songs. I gotta tell you that I wound up listening to Neko for the trip over and the trip back. Excellent ride music and a favorite new entry in my "indie twang" catalog. If you have the link Kevin, let me know because I would like to thank the person that you restacked.
Then things got weird. HBO/Max had "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World" for free over the weekend so I watched that again. My third of fourth session? Anyway, in the beginning of the film, when Scott's roommate Wallace is first introduced, Wallace is reading a tabloid magazine and has it open to an article about (I am not making this up) my gal Neko Case! It is a sign........
So long story short, I put a scratch in my wife's new car. Less than a 1k miles on it new.
So I spent the weekend listening to Spinal Tap. Mostly "Hell Hole" .
I just booked this young band to be on a big show I'm putting together with the Saints. They're called Quick Mystery; + their videos are top-quality.
https://youtu.be/TTXCleiaRmQ?si=A6ZnfUa-eYdN1La9
Hi Kevin! Just updated my playlist and these were the chosen:
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6EcLhgESeOBX3Fvfxt8SH4?si=U4mVwzUWSUyv9hfZricxYw
Today’s recommendation from Songletter - ideal background music for work 🎶 https://open.substack.com/pub/songletter/p/berlioz?r=2ig8p&utm_medium=ios
My kids have been reminiscing about the Curious George movie from 2006, so we finally watched it together again. The whole soundtrack was done by Jack Johnson and is delightful. It puts me in a good mood!
I come to this feed one day after it's live and there are 120 comments?! How the hell am I gonna get through all this? I've started with listening Somesurprises' full album and I'm very happy with the start. Onto the next thing...
I've been spending every day for the last week listening to a different Radiohead album.
Scarlet by the Stones, Ghosted at Home by Lol Tolhurst, Cartoon Earthquake by Blondshell and Wetsuit by The Vaccines have all been getting some heavy rotation.
Cheers peeps!
For me, it's been the albums I wrote about it today's post.
Didn't pick up any special edition LPs from Record Store Day, but did finally get Portishead's Dummy and Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here on vinyl this week.
Yo La Tengo's 'And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out' kept me company earlier this week.
Couple of songs I came across recently plus two that I've come back to that I've been listening to a lot are:
Trigger of Love, by JAWNY
Telltale Boogie, by Epileptic Lizards
Tarova, by Snarky Puppy
Apophenia, by They Might Be Giants