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.“
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.
It’s also graduation season in my part of the world. Congratulations to you or anyone in your life who has just earned a diploma, certification, license, or degree!
On to the music:
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? Any luck crate digging? Some yard sale finds? Are there any upcoming releases or shows you’re excited about?
So whatcha got? Share your thoughts in the comments!
📻📻📻
P.S. Have you seen this yet? Some of your favorite music writers got together and wrote about your favorite records. Check it out!
Beak> - >>>>. Tuesday morning surprise album drop! Geoff Barrow might have had a hand in another band or two (Portishead). Beak> is back and this album is proper-good!!! Windmill Hill has a guitar part that sounds like bullfrogs. ***SATURDAY UPDATE*** oh I really like this record. Been on repeat all week. BEAK> IS BACK, BAABAYYYYYYYY!!!
Water Damage - In E. Some noisy groove makers. Long songs that are infectious.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Wild God singles. Grinderman is my Nick Cave hill (Wild God is a great track. Frogs ain’t no slouch neither).
Sasami - Honeycrash (single). Don’t know how I found Sasami a few years ago, but the last record - Squeeze - is excellent and worms its way into my ears often. Excited for this new single and future record!.
Wand and GUM & Ambrose Kenny-Smith singles are still in HEAVY rotation.
Philippe Cohen Solar & Mike Lindsay - Outsider. Due to my obsession with Laura Marling and LUMP, I found this gem. Check out this is a description i found in the inter webs:
A tribute to the brave and courageous spirit of children standing up against adult cruelty. This text, written 50 years ago by the famous raw artist Henry Darger, is set to music for the first time, here by Philippe Cohen Solal (Gotan Project) and Mike Lindsay (Tunng).
Due for first oil change:
Cindy Lee - Diamond Jubilee. I swear the first half lulls me into a trance
100,000 mile maintenance:
Jockstrap - I Love You Jennifer B. Surprise favorite of 2022 that I revisit often.
Ben Folds Five - Whatever and Ever Amen. Not a huge Ben Folds fan, but this record has always hung around. It’s the only Ben Folds project that is on my all time list (577 records and counting).
Mos Def - The Ecstatic. This is my favorite hip hop record. Madlib, MF Doom, Slick Rick, Talib Kweli, and - of course - Mos Def. The samples are something else (and probably the reason for this statement: good luck finding this record on streaming platforms). Every beat moves, this whole record has a swing to it. Mos with the half rap half singing. There isn’t a bad track on this record. The Embassy is the crown jewel (look up The REcstatic on Bandcamp for alternate versions).
Black Star - Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star + No Fear of Time. No Fear of Time isn’t available everywhere, but if you find it, give it a spin. I don’t know if you can tell or not; but I might have a thing for Mos Def and Talib Kweli. Listen or you get arrested for domestic silence.
Tomahawk - Tomahawk. Mike Patton has been around in different forms for a long time. Guy has a crazy good set of lungs and can sing in 98 different octaves or some such nonsense. Remember; God hates a coward, sonny.
Steve Lacy - Gemini Rights. This record is so smooth.
LUMP - Animal. I’ve written about this record a few times. You will all suffer through mention of Animal many more times. We have some work to do…
Awesome songs as always. I included Wand in my playlist this week but couldn't get into Frogs. As with plenty of Nick Cave stuff, maybe it'll take a few listens. will have to check out Beak tonight after your capital letters endorsement!
Nice! We saw them at the Bourbon & Beyond festival in Louisville in summer 2019 -- our last big show before the pandemic -- and they were amazing live. I hadn't seen them live since 1986 when I was in college (with The Hooters opening).
So far, I've really enjoyed "Argybargy." It was "Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)" that got me into them, as it's both a great track AND leans heavily into my favorite genre: songs with unnecessary parentheticals. 😂
Bikini Kill, Le Tigre, and The Julie Ruin. I’m a third of the way through Kathleen Hanna’s book, and I already feel like it will be the best memoir I read this year. Trying to talk myself into driving five hours to see Bikini Kill later this summer.
Also, really enjoyed your piece on The Yellow Melodies. Glad I picked up a copy of the Remember The Lightning journal. Highly recommend to others. Have a great week.
Arrington de Dionyso’s Malaikat dan Singa: Live at the Crypt 3/8/2024…. hugely inspiring for my own music project recently, beautiful yet brutal proto-punk
The Free Triple Live Album by Deerhoof…30th anniversary concert of the world’s best band!? and for free!??
Hear The Children Sing The Evidence by Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Nathan Salsburg, Tyler Trotter…. never even heard of Lungfish before this came out but loving these covers.
And Yet Still by Oddisee… only listened to this once so far but love it already. great beats, great flows, great rhymes. short and punchy hip hop record. haven’t bought it yet but might just have to.
Guns by Quelle Chris…. kind of a throw back to high school for me. listened to this album a LOT right around the time i graduated and i can see why. amazing and completely unique production to match Quelle’s voice and style.
kind of just recently discovered Talk Talk because my fiancée and i loved the song “It’s My Life” by No Doubt and we didn’t know it was a cover! so took a deep dive into some Talk Talk singles on the Tubes and am in love with their sound and songwriting chops. Other than “It’s My Life”, “Talk Talk”, “Life’s What You Make It”, and “Such A Shame” stick out as favorites. any recs for albums of theirs??
I only knew "It's My Life" and "Talk Talk" from the MTV days. Something I read a few years led me to check out their catalog and it's all good. They were so much deeper than what I wrongly assumed to be a band with a couple MTV hits.
yes absolutely, i had heard of them previously and thought they were just another 80’s synth pop group but they’re so much more. Hollis’ songwriting and the band’s orchestration moves them beyond. thanks for the reply!
'It's My Life' is my favorite, followed (probably) by 'Spirit of Eden' (two very different records stylisitcally). Also worth noting that of everything I've ever posted here, nothing has generated more emails and/or responses than my write up of "Laughing Stock." It's a record that clearly still means a lot to a lot of people.
i’ve heard a lot of good things about Laughing Stock though i haven’t heard any of the songs myself. Your favs seem like better places to start. thinking that maybe working my way up their discography chronologically might be the best way to go. thoughts?
A funk-rock band I recently discovered called Goose. Seem to have a rabid following. I’m going to try my best to see them live in Charlotte later this month!
Sometimes I just run across a song so randomly catchy & weird that it gets stuck in my brain, even if I am not able to quite articulate why. That's certainly the case with the Princesses track "Fouille Fouille," which also happens to have one of the odder videos I've seen recently https://youtu.be/_cqT4QRrMzg?si=AHQa4-oldc65ltbg
I just saw someone else recommneding this, and it's on my listen of records to check out. Might have to move it up the list after seeing your endorsement!
And while everyone is rightly obsessed with the shoegaze trend these days, let’s also note how much great jangle/power pop there is. Especially in/from/released by labels based in the Bay Area. Add the new one by neutrals to the list. https://neutrals.bandcamp.com/album/new-town-dream
Oh man, I'm really happy you mentioned this! Neutral's 'Bus Stop Nights' was one of my EPs of the year for 2022, and Lauren Matsui is also in Seablite, who's 'Lemon Lights' record made my Top Ten for last year.
You have my attention with the description of Beak. Will check them out later. I'm excited to check out the new King Hannah -- I just realized late last night that it's out.
I was considering ordering the vinyl reissue of Ill Communication that was just announced but $125 is out of line. Decided to seek solace and joy in Paul's on vinyl, and live with the Ill CD for now.
Most recently, Proud Mary by Ike and Tina, Love Buzz by Nirvana, Hazy Shade by Bangles, and With a Little Help... by Cocker, among others. For the 5 people out there with Pandora, let me know what you think!
Nice. Let me know if you're into any of the others I've got - would love feedback. I have old school punk, proto-punk, goth/punk, metal, death metal, thrash, a playlist called "black" where every song has black in the title, and a ton more. I need to make a list.
Yes! Do you think all these are actually better versions than the original? I have another one called "Covers that are Still Great." I'm pretty pedantic.
Looking forward to checking out the playlist as always. The Fagen record with "IGY" is so underrated.
My last week was included the new ones from Local Drags and Bodega (based on Kevin's recommendations), and Richard Thompson's latest which is as solid as ever. I also heard a few new songs from Willie Nelson's new record which sounds promising.
My left-field/experimental pick for the week is the new one from Amy Aileen Wood, a drummer and composer best known for playing with Fiona Apple. The Heartening is on Colorfield Records which has a series of releases that do not sound like anything else. Pete Min is a brilliant producer/engineer (Meshell Ndegeocello, Feist, Jose James, Andrew Bird) and on his label, he has artists come to his studio and improvise, and he manipulates the recordings in real time -- then the artists responds to/builds up on them. I love almost every record on the label. Here's Amy's:
I know I mentioned it before, but I'm really happy to see you're digging Local Drags & BODEGA! I'm looking forward to checking out richard Thompson's new one.
For obvious reasons, I’ve been listening to the cast album of Illinoise that dropped on Friday. As much as I enjoyed Sufjan’s classic album, these arrangements and trio of vocalists cast the music in a whole new light. It’s truly beautiful.
On the other side, I’ve been revisiting John Hiatt and Steve Earle this past week. Transcendental Blues was a transformative experience for me in 2000, and I remain amazed at how well it holds up.
Still Nervous by Bad Nerves is a great album. They are absolutely my favourite punk band and I’m very excited to be going to the release show in London this weekend.
Finally, I actually listened properly to Doolittle by Pixies for the first time this weekend. Can’t believe it’s taken me so long. What a great record!
I'm glad you finally got to hear Doolittle for the first time! If I'm honest, I'm a little jealous, too. Girl Scout is great, and thanks for the link! Bad Nerves is a new one for me; I'll check them out here shortly.
Spotify - from a post you made last week Kevin, I went down the Peter Gabriel rabbit hole which led me to the complete Genesis catalog over the weekend.
Currently I'm spinning 1986's Live at Rockpalast in Essen by Big Country and just picked up a copy of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band's, The Lost Elektra Sessions that will go on the platter next.
Dinosaur Jr - 'You're Living All Over Me' - I get a +1 for that from Kevin I'm guessing! First listen... well, kinda' weird. Cool sounds and some tunes underneath it. Yeah, good I'd say. Sai's DEEP MVMT mix (bass-driven techno) on SoundCloud was nice to play guitar to. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon OST sounded a bit old. Some ambient c/o Sonic Tapestries at Substack https://sonictapestries.substack.com/p/sonic-tapestries-s2-e3-w-mystery was very nice and different (I'm trying to take life a bit easier this week!). Didn't blast Mattiel's Keep the Change (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-CjjIOlHWg) out at 4am the other morning but it was a little tempting. Sorry this is all old stuff; must check out Beak :)
Riding the train home drunk the other night I listened (for the first time in a while) to the entirety of the Bee Gees Living Eyes album and remembered those three Australian men were geniuses.
Had a good day record shopping on Friday and got (among) others Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes and Robert Plant & Allison Krauss - Raising Sand. The Tori is mostly for my wife, who is a big fan. I wouldn't necessarily call myself a fan of hers, but I respect what an incredible talent she is. We did see her in concert probably 10 years ago and I was blown away. She puts on a hell of a show.
Texas Country artist Red Shahan released a new one this week called "Loose Funky Texas Junky". It's so new he hasn't even updated his website yet. First stream was pretty good, I'm glad he's making new music.
Currently, as I type, Earth Wind & Fire's 3rd LP, 'Last Days And Time' is playing.
If you are only familiar with EW&Fs big hits I can't recommend highly enough their first three albums (S/T, 'The Need of Love,' and 'Last Days And Time'). They are so funky, jazzy and soulful. They definitely deserve to be heard and appreciated.
I didn’t get the advance of Anastasia Coope’s debut until Wednesday so I listened to it 8-10 times between then and Thursday night so I could pick a track to be A Song For Friday. It never ceased to baffle and amaze in equal measure! I ended up going with the title song, Darning Woman, partly because it has a video. Please listen! Most of the weekend was embroiled in moving my son to his new apartment but when I finally stopped and sat down, for some reason I went down a Kid Charlemagne rabbit hole, which jibes nicely with the Fagan song. I tried to find as many live versions and interviews as I could. While Larry Carlton’s guitar solo gets justifiable praise, the lyrics are likely underrated. Novelistic detail and poetic impact never sounded so good and bleakly black-humored. Top FIVE Steely Dan song!
My latest vinyl hunt was Grace by Jeff Buckley. It’s not a record you see very often on the shelves (at least, in this part of the world), so I did not hesitate!
My anticipation for the new Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds album grows with the listening of the recently released 'Frogs'. With only two songs released from the album, I get a sense that this will be quite a cohesive and wondrous work, even if we don't even have the edge pieces of the puzzle yet. There is a joy exuding from the music, something new, fresh and resolved (if anything can ever be resolved).
Black Sabbath has always fascinated me. The first time I heard them was in the band's second incarnation with Ronnie James Dio, appearing on an episode of Don Kirshner's Rock Concert in a performance of the 'Black & Blue Tour they did with Blue Oyster Cult. I was introduced to the band in reverse; not in their original lineup, but second. Then came a third incarnation with Ian Gillan grabbing the microphone for 'Born Again'. And, again, a new singer after that: Tony Martin. Tony Iommi finally released remastered versions of the Tony Martin albums, and they are fabulous. "Headless Cross" sits firmly within the top five all-time Black Sabbath albums in my opinion. This is the album that has gotten the most spin time for me since Friday. Definitely not for the meek or the fundamentalists. Long live Sabbath, in all of its devilish forms.
Thanks for the Black Sabbath info . . . while not fair, I've mostly written off anything beyond their first 5 classic (and still the best Sabbath IMO!) albums. I took a listen to the Dio and Martin albums again, and there is a lot of great music here. I appreciate you pointing this out!
Had to listen to Born in the U.S.A. yesterday on occasion of its 40th anniversary. Gave the live MJ Lenderman album a first listen and boy, I've been depriving myself on that one. Really liked my first listen of King Hannah's new one and enjoyed the new one from the always reliable Buffalo Tom.
I’ve been digging the new track, “Cosmic Confidante”, by Widespread Panic. It makes me think of my childhood friend that I vacationed to Florida with since we were nine years old. My brother’s friend got us on to Widespread Panic back in the early 2000s, and they were always part of those beach trips.
On another song, “Shuffle on Through” by Chris Casper has been in head lately.
'Things Are Great' is fantastic. Pretty sure I reviewed when it came out? I might have to go back and look.
New car smell:
Beak> - >>>>. Tuesday morning surprise album drop! Geoff Barrow might have had a hand in another band or two (Portishead). Beak> is back and this album is proper-good!!! Windmill Hill has a guitar part that sounds like bullfrogs. ***SATURDAY UPDATE*** oh I really like this record. Been on repeat all week. BEAK> IS BACK, BAABAYYYYYYYY!!!
Water Damage - In E. Some noisy groove makers. Long songs that are infectious.
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Wild God singles. Grinderman is my Nick Cave hill (Wild God is a great track. Frogs ain’t no slouch neither).
Sasami - Honeycrash (single). Don’t know how I found Sasami a few years ago, but the last record - Squeeze - is excellent and worms its way into my ears often. Excited for this new single and future record!.
Wand and GUM & Ambrose Kenny-Smith singles are still in HEAVY rotation.
Philippe Cohen Solar & Mike Lindsay - Outsider. Due to my obsession with Laura Marling and LUMP, I found this gem. Check out this is a description i found in the inter webs:
A tribute to the brave and courageous spirit of children standing up against adult cruelty. This text, written 50 years ago by the famous raw artist Henry Darger, is set to music for the first time, here by Philippe Cohen Solal (Gotan Project) and Mike Lindsay (Tunng).
Due for first oil change:
Cindy Lee - Diamond Jubilee. I swear the first half lulls me into a trance
100,000 mile maintenance:
Jockstrap - I Love You Jennifer B. Surprise favorite of 2022 that I revisit often.
Ben Folds Five - Whatever and Ever Amen. Not a huge Ben Folds fan, but this record has always hung around. It’s the only Ben Folds project that is on my all time list (577 records and counting).
Mos Def - The Ecstatic. This is my favorite hip hop record. Madlib, MF Doom, Slick Rick, Talib Kweli, and - of course - Mos Def. The samples are something else (and probably the reason for this statement: good luck finding this record on streaming platforms). Every beat moves, this whole record has a swing to it. Mos with the half rap half singing. There isn’t a bad track on this record. The Embassy is the crown jewel (look up The REcstatic on Bandcamp for alternate versions).
Black Star - Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star + No Fear of Time. No Fear of Time isn’t available everywhere, but if you find it, give it a spin. I don’t know if you can tell or not; but I might have a thing for Mos Def and Talib Kweli. Listen or you get arrested for domestic silence.
Tomahawk - Tomahawk. Mike Patton has been around in different forms for a long time. Guy has a crazy good set of lungs and can sing in 98 different octaves or some such nonsense. Remember; God hates a coward, sonny.
Steve Lacy - Gemini Rights. This record is so smooth.
LUMP - Animal. I’ve written about this record a few times. You will all suffer through mention of Animal many more times. We have some work to do…
Awesome songs as always. I included Wand in my playlist this week but couldn't get into Frogs. As with plenty of Nick Cave stuff, maybe it'll take a few listens. will have to check out Beak tonight after your capital letters endorsement!
Nick Cave is still a taste being acquired, I’m on the fence. I’ll stick with Grinderman for 100% enjoyment!
Incredible list! Mos Def is an underrated legend, and that Water Damage record is fantastic!
maria reis' album "suspiro..." ;)
Four Seasons - Beggin
Nice pick, Yana!
Research for a recent post led me down a rabbit hole, revisiting some of Baris Manço’s songs - Aynali Kemer has been on repeat all week
Those are the best kinds of rabbit holes!
Squeeze. So much Squeeze.
Nice! We saw them at the Bourbon & Beyond festival in Louisville in summer 2019 -- our last big show before the pandemic -- and they were amazing live. I hadn't seen them live since 1986 when I was in college (with The Hooters opening).
I love it! Any fave records/tracks starting to standout?
So far, I've really enjoyed "Argybargy." It was "Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)" that got me into them, as it's both a great track AND leans heavily into my favorite genre: songs with unnecessary parentheticals. 😂
Lol. Awesome (he said, while thinking about how much he also enjoys Argybargy).
Bikini Kill, Le Tigre, and The Julie Ruin. I’m a third of the way through Kathleen Hanna’s book, and I already feel like it will be the best memoir I read this year. Trying to talk myself into driving five hours to see Bikini Kill later this summer.
Also, really enjoyed your piece on The Yellow Melodies. Glad I picked up a copy of the Remember The Lightning journal. Highly recommend to others. Have a great week.
Thanks for the reminder about Hanna’s book. I need to be sure to get that.
Thank you for the kind words and for grabbinbg a copy of the book! I really appreciate that!
Arrington de Dionyso’s Malaikat dan Singa: Live at the Crypt 3/8/2024…. hugely inspiring for my own music project recently, beautiful yet brutal proto-punk
The Free Triple Live Album by Deerhoof…30th anniversary concert of the world’s best band!? and for free!??
Hear The Children Sing The Evidence by Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Nathan Salsburg, Tyler Trotter…. never even heard of Lungfish before this came out but loving these covers.
And Yet Still by Oddisee… only listened to this once so far but love it already. great beats, great flows, great rhymes. short and punchy hip hop record. haven’t bought it yet but might just have to.
Guns by Quelle Chris…. kind of a throw back to high school for me. listened to this album a LOT right around the time i graduated and i can see why. amazing and completely unique production to match Quelle’s voice and style.
kind of just recently discovered Talk Talk because my fiancée and i loved the song “It’s My Life” by No Doubt and we didn’t know it was a cover! so took a deep dive into some Talk Talk singles on the Tubes and am in love with their sound and songwriting chops. Other than “It’s My Life”, “Talk Talk”, “Life’s What You Make It”, and “Such A Shame” stick out as favorites. any recs for albums of theirs??
I only knew "It's My Life" and "Talk Talk" from the MTV days. Something I read a few years led me to check out their catalog and it's all good. They were so much deeper than what I wrongly assumed to be a band with a couple MTV hits.
yes absolutely, i had heard of them previously and thought they were just another 80’s synth pop group but they’re so much more. Hollis’ songwriting and the band’s orchestration moves them beyond. thanks for the reply!
The new Oddisee is really strong. Mostly happy to amplify any mention of Quelle Chris. He's a gem. Great features on two of the records (Ol' Burger Beats and Heems) that I wrote about recently -- https://3albums6oldguys.substack.com/p/the-killers-bodega-and-6-new-producer
Also making sure you saw the WaPo interview with BPB on the Lungfish cover record - https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/2024/05/30/will-oldham-lungfish-covers-interview/
thank you so much! i’ll be sure to check that out!
'It's My Life' is my favorite, followed (probably) by 'Spirit of Eden' (two very different records stylisitcally). Also worth noting that of everything I've ever posted here, nothing has generated more emails and/or responses than my write up of "Laughing Stock." It's a record that clearly still means a lot to a lot of people.
i’ve heard a lot of good things about Laughing Stock though i haven’t heard any of the songs myself. Your favs seem like better places to start. thinking that maybe working my way up their discography chronologically might be the best way to go. thoughts?
IMO, this is a band that reinvented itself more than once, and listening to that unfold in order is a great way to go.
sweet! thank you Kevin!
A funk-rock band I recently discovered called Goose. Seem to have a rabid following. I’m going to try my best to see them live in Charlotte later this month!
I really like them! Just got their live album.
YES! They also usually record/post their live shows to Bandcamp, so keep an eye out for that.
Nice! Yeah, I saw their whole tour is streaming on nugs so I bet it’s on Bandcamp too
I'm listening to their Redmond show right now, and was not ready for a Kylie Minogue cover. Lol.
https://goosetheband.bandcamp.com/album/2023-09-24-cascade-equinox-festival-redmond-or
Looking forward, as always, to digging into your playlist. Already seen Aluminum there so that's a solid start!
Here's my weekly playlist. Haven't actually written my Recent and Decent post for this week yet so you could even go so far as to call this an exclusive! https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2XEeX9eS26chc0hlxYTUpK?si=4lQBb3UKTHCLNul-sHzjLQ&pi=0H-xjqVPQSy3b
Lol. We love us an exclusive!
Thanks for the link!
Sometimes I just run across a song so randomly catchy & weird that it gets stuck in my brain, even if I am not able to quite articulate why. That's certainly the case with the Princesses track "Fouille Fouille," which also happens to have one of the odder videos I've seen recently https://youtu.be/_cqT4QRrMzg?si=AHQa4-oldc65ltbg
Currently obsessed with the track “Here Comes the Order of Malta” from the new release by Irish heartland/ish punk band Oh Boland. https://ohboland.bandcamp.com/album/western-leisure
I just saw someone else recommneding this, and it's on my listen of records to check out. Might have to move it up the list after seeing your endorsement!
And while everyone is rightly obsessed with the shoegaze trend these days, let’s also note how much great jangle/power pop there is. Especially in/from/released by labels based in the Bay Area. Add the new one by neutrals to the list. https://neutrals.bandcamp.com/album/new-town-dream
Oh man, I'm really happy you mentioned this! Neutral's 'Bus Stop Nights' was one of my EPs of the year for 2022, and Lauren Matsui is also in Seablite, who's 'Lemon Lights' record made my Top Ten for last year.
https://open.substack.com/pub/thekevinalexander/p/5-questions-with-seablite?r=3cbf2&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Love seablite. This whole scene is just amazing.
I just learned about that last night as both Rosy Overdrive and Add To Wantlist wrote about it. Great stuff!
Someday I will be half as productive of writer as Rosy, and it will be glorious.
NEW & EXCEPTIONALLY SHINY
Beak> '>>>>' = [Tortoise + Broadcast + Suuns]
King Hannah 'Big Swimmer' = [All Them Witches + Cigarettes After Sex + Mazzy Star]
NEW & RELIABLY EXCELLENT
Crowded House 'Gravity Stairs'
Willie Nelson 'The Border'
Blow Monkeys 'Together/Alone'
POLISHED GEMS
Beastie Boys 'Paul's Boutique'
Godspeed You Black Emperor 'Alleluia! Don’t Bend! Ascend!'
Cyndi Lauper 'She's So Unusual'
You have my attention with the description of Beak. Will check them out later. I'm excited to check out the new King Hannah -- I just realized late last night that it's out.
New KH is fantastic, hope you enjoy it as much I do.
King Hannah - thank you for this gift!
Big yes to ‘Paul’s Boutique,’ it stays in my rotation constantly. Never fails to put a smile on my face 😎
I was considering ordering the vinyl reissue of Ill Communication that was just announced but $125 is out of line. Decided to seek solace and joy in Paul's on vinyl, and live with the Ill CD for now.
$125?! Oof. I'll stick with the CD too...
I'm looking forward to checking out the new Crowded House! On Notes it was compared (a little bit) to The Association.
Every record collection should include a copy of Paul's Boutique.
I enjoyed the King Hanna album! Fun stuff to listen to!
Some breezy new tunes I've been into this week that could easily become my songs of the summer:
No Economy - Mantarabyrn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrBqpreqeU4
Can't Slow Down - Almost Monday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v18oySsS58
Lost in Space - Foster the People https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UsXq64gl58
no economy is ear candy
These are all great, Dan! Thanks for getting them on my radar!
Fagan! Nice to see that one.
I managed to find a few more covers that are better:
https://www.pandora.com/playlist/PL:128498826574047793:74638688
Most recently, Proud Mary by Ike and Tina, Love Buzz by Nirvana, Hazy Shade by Bangles, and With a Little Help... by Cocker, among others. For the 5 people out there with Pandora, let me know what you think!
They Might Be Giants is my favorite on your playlist, which I collected.
Hey neat! You can listen to all these?
yep
Nice. Let me know if you're into any of the others I've got - would love feedback. I have old school punk, proto-punk, goth/punk, metal, death metal, thrash, a playlist called "black" where every song has black in the title, and a ton more. I need to make a list.
Unable to collect your play list or find any of your other play lists. Just started thirty day trial for 5 bucks a month, frustrating.
Dang, sorry! I just wanna talk about the songs. :(
Killer list! Love Buzz rules, and as you know, I'm a fan of RevCo. I much prefer that version of 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy' to Rod Stewart's.
Yes! Do you think all these are actually better versions than the original? I have another one called "Covers that are Still Great." I'm pretty pedantic.
Looking forward to checking out the playlist as always. The Fagen record with "IGY" is so underrated.
My last week was included the new ones from Local Drags and Bodega (based on Kevin's recommendations), and Richard Thompson's latest which is as solid as ever. I also heard a few new songs from Willie Nelson's new record which sounds promising.
My left-field/experimental pick for the week is the new one from Amy Aileen Wood, a drummer and composer best known for playing with Fiona Apple. The Heartening is on Colorfield Records which has a series of releases that do not sound like anything else. Pete Min is a brilliant producer/engineer (Meshell Ndegeocello, Feist, Jose James, Andrew Bird) and on his label, he has artists come to his studio and improvise, and he manipulates the recordings in real time -- then the artists responds to/builds up on them. I love almost every record on the label. Here's Amy's:
https://amyaileenwood.bandcamp.com/album/the-heartening
Have a great week, everyone!
I know I mentioned it before, but I'm really happy to see you're digging Local Drags & BODEGA! I'm looking forward to checking out richard Thompson's new one.
I've been really into Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes lately. Maybe the longer sunny days?
https://open.spotify.com/track/0odIT9B9BvOCnXfS0e4lB5?si=16ca8ac7adb24936
Might be! I also really like her cover of "More Love."
https://open.spotify.com/track/5hqa99q3MzWAf8lyttmipG?si=f825c60909b74d00
Good morning from St. James: These have been in my ears.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1knJSMzp6SWo8aUh3W2hVo?si=b1717e197e274a8d
Great list, and thanks for the link!
OK, this is out there, maybe.
The Golden Gate Strings - The Bob Dylan Songbook Played by The Golden Gate Strings
has not left the stereo all weekend.
"Out there" stuff is always a good thing! :)
This weekend I found myself listening to a few things more than a couple times:
Mr. Krinkle - Primus
Welcome - (k)now_name (the opening theme to Dorohedoro)
City Fade - Against All Logic
Primus! That's a band I haven't heard in a while.
For obvious reasons, I’ve been listening to the cast album of Illinoise that dropped on Friday. As much as I enjoyed Sufjan’s classic album, these arrangements and trio of vocalists cast the music in a whole new light. It’s truly beautiful.
On the other side, I’ve been revisiting John Hiatt and Steve Earle this past week. Transcendental Blues was a transformative experience for me in 2000, and I remain amazed at how well it holds up.
A friend and I just talked about his brilliant run from Train A Comin' to Transcendental Blues. He was en fuego.
I’ve been thinking about writing a piece on that particular era.
It really does, doesn't it. Not bad for being 24. As for Hiatt? Well, you know how I feel about him.
Still Nervous by Bad Nerves is a great album. They are absolutely my favourite punk band and I’m very excited to be going to the release show in London this weekend.
https://open.spotify.com/album/6PWrD6nfaFP8DEJNCvz9Eh?si=oUf0jFD9R-yJ6Hs1_dBQpg
In a similar vein I am also loving Hold My Hand, God Damn It by Gaffa Tape Sandy. Can’t wait for them to tour in the autumn!
https://open.spotify.com/album/4AMveWpJQdwGIqAHsNNZoV?si=yM_amQLYQZi_ZhZh_TcM7Q
The new single from Girl Scout also came out last week and it’s bloody brilliant.
https://open.spotify.com/track/1LCovl7CSqDuKJRlFQEA5V?si=WCnrTr6dT76OpaIWZt35tA&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A2Xhvdg9rLRGvhlcOznttch
Finally, I actually listened properly to Doolittle by Pixies for the first time this weekend. Can’t believe it’s taken me so long. What a great record!
I'm glad you finally got to hear Doolittle for the first time! If I'm honest, I'm a little jealous, too. Girl Scout is great, and thanks for the link! Bad Nerves is a new one for me; I'll check them out here shortly.
Bad Nerves are well worth your time. Their first album is also worth a listen.
Hello Kevin,
Jumping down the rabbit hole and listening to a lot of Pennywise and AFI.
The evenings have been filled with Grace Potter.
Pennywise rules!
Spotify - from a post you made last week Kevin, I went down the Peter Gabriel rabbit hole which led me to the complete Genesis catalog over the weekend.
Currently I'm spinning 1986's Live at Rockpalast in Essen by Big Country and just picked up a copy of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band's, The Lost Elektra Sessions that will go on the platter next.
I wish more people knew that Big Country has so many more great tracks besides "In A Big Country." I mean, I love it, but still...
Someone on IG posted about Paul Butterfiled yesterday (their 'Keep on Moving' record). I don't know anything about them. Where should I start?
I love the the album Sometimes I Just Feel Like Smilin' https://open.spotify.com/album/4xnuqCyK4QkT9iYvJ3YX0R?si=_4lyB0V_QTeTh5jszrRc_w
In 2015 a massive box set was released containing every album. It's hours of fantastic music: https://open.spotify.com/album/74Q5wVKJAvWBv2wDOSoJPg?si=mKynz9uHROqxr7fKvPt5ag
Excited to listen to the new Beak >>>
Plus these live CAN recordings are incredible- https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kl50eWJcsG-2ldervtxRGlfVmJpYBZHiM
Nice! Thanks for this!
Good playlist Kevin. I listened to BTO, Isaac Hayes, Jigsaw and Kamasi Washington.
Short rants are here: https://weatheredmusic.ca/2024/06/03/22-52/
Thank you and as always, thanks for the link to the blog!
Dinosaur Jr - 'You're Living All Over Me' - I get a +1 for that from Kevin I'm guessing! First listen... well, kinda' weird. Cool sounds and some tunes underneath it. Yeah, good I'd say. Sai's DEEP MVMT mix (bass-driven techno) on SoundCloud was nice to play guitar to. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon OST sounded a bit old. Some ambient c/o Sonic Tapestries at Substack https://sonictapestries.substack.com/p/sonic-tapestries-s2-e3-w-mystery was very nice and different (I'm trying to take life a bit easier this week!). Didn't blast Mattiel's Keep the Change (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-CjjIOlHWg) out at 4am the other morning but it was a little tempting. Sorry this is all old stuff; must check out Beak :)
Old stuff is always welcome, and yes, definitely a +1 from me about Dinosaur Jr.!
The new Swamp Dogg!
https://youtu.be/IIyinAIlblY?si=xsoQW2mKrcSwdq2c
That's a new one for me. I'm on it!
Riding the train home drunk the other night I listened (for the first time in a while) to the entirety of the Bee Gees Living Eyes album and remembered those three Australian men were geniuses.
Been vibing with “69 Love Songs” and holy shit idk how it took me this long to get into this.
Revisited Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” and Sade’s “Love Deluxe” and goddamn they are amazing.
It's incredible, isn't it? Took me a long time to find it too, but I'm sure glad I did.
New find: Sunday Morning Cartoon's Greatest Hits. Ramones do Spiderman, Butthole Surfers do Underdog, etc.
Listening to The Rutles Archaeology, Lonely-phobia current track
My favorite at the time was Helmet's version of 'Gigantor.' Matthew sweet's take on Scooby Doo was pretty good too.
Fam, head on over to YouTube (or the Geocities site, link in the video description) and give "Diamond Jubilee" a spin. It's truly spectacular.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LJi5na897Y
Soooo good!
Lately I have been digging deeper into Rammstein's older stuff, Buck Dich, Spring, etc.
Right on! If I was a baseball player, the opening riff to 'Asche Zu Asche' would be one of my walk up songs.
Outstanding song and my favorite of Rammstein
Had a good day record shopping on Friday and got (among) others Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes and Robert Plant & Allison Krauss - Raising Sand. The Tori is mostly for my wife, who is a big fan. I wouldn't necessarily call myself a fan of hers, but I respect what an incredible talent she is. We did see her in concert probably 10 years ago and I was blown away. She puts on a hell of a show.
Texas Country artist Red Shahan released a new one this week called "Loose Funky Texas Junky". It's so new he hasn't even updated his website yet. First stream was pretty good, I'm glad he's making new music.
Sounds like a good haul! Agree 100% w/you about Tori Amos.
Currently, as I type, Earth Wind & Fire's 3rd LP, 'Last Days And Time' is playing.
If you are only familiar with EW&Fs big hits I can't recommend highly enough their first three albums (S/T, 'The Need of Love,' and 'Last Days And Time'). They are so funky, jazzy and soulful. They definitely deserve to be heard and appreciated.
I didn’t get the advance of Anastasia Coope’s debut until Wednesday so I listened to it 8-10 times between then and Thursday night so I could pick a track to be A Song For Friday. It never ceased to baffle and amaze in equal measure! I ended up going with the title song, Darning Woman, partly because it has a video. Please listen! Most of the weekend was embroiled in moving my son to his new apartment but when I finally stopped and sat down, for some reason I went down a Kid Charlemagne rabbit hole, which jibes nicely with the Fagan song. I tried to find as many live versions and interviews as I could. While Larry Carlton’s guitar solo gets justifiable praise, the lyrics are likely underrated. Novelistic detail and poetic impact never sounded so good and bleakly black-humored. Top FIVE Steely Dan song!
I'm on it! Still working throgh my inbox, but I'm getting there!
Vibing to Da Hool's "Meet her at the love parade".
https://open.spotify.com/track/5atmUwQngfhOfZvgGJCrJ0?si=ad868c88f611448a
Yes!
My latest vinyl hunt was Grace by Jeff Buckley. It’s not a record you see very often on the shelves (at least, in this part of the world), so I did not hesitate!
Not in this part of the world, either! That's a great find.
My anticipation for the new Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds album grows with the listening of the recently released 'Frogs'. With only two songs released from the album, I get a sense that this will be quite a cohesive and wondrous work, even if we don't even have the edge pieces of the puzzle yet. There is a joy exuding from the music, something new, fresh and resolved (if anything can ever be resolved).
Black Sabbath has always fascinated me. The first time I heard them was in the band's second incarnation with Ronnie James Dio, appearing on an episode of Don Kirshner's Rock Concert in a performance of the 'Black & Blue Tour they did with Blue Oyster Cult. I was introduced to the band in reverse; not in their original lineup, but second. Then came a third incarnation with Ian Gillan grabbing the microphone for 'Born Again'. And, again, a new singer after that: Tony Martin. Tony Iommi finally released remastered versions of the Tony Martin albums, and they are fabulous. "Headless Cross" sits firmly within the top five all-time Black Sabbath albums in my opinion. This is the album that has gotten the most spin time for me since Friday. Definitely not for the meek or the fundamentalists. Long live Sabbath, in all of its devilish forms.
Thanks for the Black Sabbath info . . . while not fair, I've mostly written off anything beyond their first 5 classic (and still the best Sabbath IMO!) albums. I took a listen to the Dio and Martin albums again, and there is a lot of great music here. I appreciate you pointing this out!
I listened to the albums I wrote about in my latest post - https://open.substack.com/pub/shooflypie/p/undefeated-primitive-dark-matter?r=4iw9&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
Had to listen to Born in the U.S.A. yesterday on occasion of its 40th anniversary. Gave the live MJ Lenderman album a first listen and boy, I've been depriving myself on that one. Really liked my first listen of King Hannah's new one and enjoyed the new one from the always reliable Buffalo Tom.
I’ve been digging the new track, “Cosmic Confidante”, by Widespread Panic. It makes me think of my childhood friend that I vacationed to Florida with since we were nine years old. My brother’s friend got us on to Widespread Panic back in the early 2000s, and they were always part of those beach trips.
On another song, “Shuffle on Through” by Chris Casper has been in head lately.
Nice! What part(s) of Florida, if I can ask?
Panama City, Ft. Walton, and sometimes Gulf Shores in Alabama
One of my son's friends used to take him along w/his family on spring break down to Gulf Shores. He loved it.