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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. This week, we’ve got a new one from Mo Lowda & The Humble, Medicine Speed by Ryli, and one from fellow Substacker, Lail Arad! That and a whole lot more.
Now it’s your turn.
What caught your ear this week? Any new releases or shows you’re looking forward to?
As some of you may have seen, I recently wrote about a Best Record of 1989 challenge and noted that I'd be occasionally writing some of these up.
I've started doing some quick hits of each match up and posting them directly to the page here. There's probably some typos. Check 'em out and let me know your thoughts! Chin wags & hot takes welcome! Sharing and restacks always appreciated.
Also: As most of you have seen, I am a huge fan of the music streaming platform Qobuz. The sound quality is second to none, and the entire UX is fantastic. Thanks to our friend Kenn Richards, you can now see it for yourself.
I’m thrilled to share this exclusive offer for 2 free months. Not an ad, and there’s no catch. Just hella good sound quality, solid recommendations tailored to your tastes, and editorials well worth your time.
Note: The codes will be sent out by an actual human over the next several days. Please be patient.
Nice that you have Son Volt here. Over at 3Albums6OldGuys, we just posted a very long revisit of No Depression, focused on the way that Jeff's songs (and I've always been a Jay guy with that band) on that classic record tell us something about the politics of today. Will be curious to the takes of folks here on it. https://3albums6oldguys.substack.com/p/jeff-tweedy-presaging-trump-voters. And speaking of politics, we also did a "review" of Lara Trump's music; would definitely *not* recommend having that on repeat, but hopefully the review is more entertaining than the songs.
Otherwise, buzzing from two amazing shows here in DC and have their stuff on repeat:
-- Mei Semones - https://meisemones.bandcamp.com/album/animaru. Have mentioned her before; this album is a brilliant mix of bossanova-y jazz, indie rock, and even folk at times, with lyrics that go between English and Japanese. Her band is just stunning, and her show was jaw-droopingly tight, energetic, and uplifting.
-- Takaat - https://purplishrecords.bandcamp.com/album/takaat-is-noise-vol-1. This is the backing band for Mdou Moctar, and the band's name means "noise" in Tuareg. And wow, do they bring an amazing amount of drive and noise. Souleymane Ibrahim may be the most compelling and insane drummer I have ever seen.
Oh, and Yugen Blakrok has a new one out - https://yugenblakrok.bandcamp.com/album/the-illusion-of-being. She's my favorite MC doing trip-hop, and this album delivers again. Track 2, Osiris Awakens, and Track 9 (which features DC native Sa-Roc), are stand outs.
Good morning everyone, I am busy playing catch-up on new music after a week devoted to The Smiths. When I was in the UK a couple of weeks back a friend of mine told me he was going to see Morcheeba, possibly THE archetypal trip-hop act, this summer and I expressed surprise that they were still going/had reformed. Maybe it's a UK thing, as Qobuz dropped me an ELEVENTH album up top of its recommended new albums on May 23. The record is Escape The Chaos, and it's as good as I remember them ever being. The title is supremely apt also. https://open.qobuz.com/album/h91yp40krgg4a
Crystal Palace Park, right? That's the show my friend is going too. I lived close enough to that park for my upbringing (in two different locations) that I could hear the concerts from home... And I will never forget being able to sit out in my garden as a youngster and listening to the entirety of Bob Marley's performance at the Bowl there back in... Yes, fantastic album.
Thanks Kevin. If I was able to get some of the joys of a great English football day across to sports fans of a different kind in the mid-west, then I did my job!
Next Friday (June 13). They’ve enlisted some intriguing producers who’ve worked with some recognizable indie names. Glad you liked it - think you will enjoy the record!
I was in a hotel room last week which had a small speaker that would keep kicking me off Bluetooth after 10 mins. When I felt like reconnecting I started with Audience with the Queen by Galactic and Irma Thomas, just like the week before.
Kevin, you should like this. New Order! This past Friday, my wife and I went to see Peter Hook and the Light, and he played a whole lot of Joy Division and New Order tunes. The show was so good that I've started a deep dive into your favorite band!
I love it! I've been meaning to see a Peter Hook & The Light show, but life keeps getting in the way! Maybe at some point on this tour? We'll see.
In the meantime, I'm excited to see you're doing a deep dive on New Order! Please let me know what you think once you've had a chance to get some listening in.
* Wilco - A Ghost Is Born super deluxe box set. Amazon had a great one-day deal on it, so I finally went for it. It's a gorgeous package with an excellent essay by Bob Mehr. I'm slowly working my way through the outtakes/alternate takes before I get to the "Fundamentals" -- seven sessions of the band brainstorming where they could hear Jeff, but he couldn't hear them.
* Spoon - They Want My Soul and Gimme Fiction. Because they're great.
* Peter Murphy - Silver Shade. Kristin mentioned it in last week's discussion. I've only listened once, but so far, so good. Looking forward to digging in more.
* Sports Team - Boys These Days. Lou mentioned this last week. So far, so good here as well.
* I'm also binging The Mighty Boosh which I couldn't find online when I first learned about it around 2010. Every episode features music and plenty of music-related jokes including an ongoing gag about Gary Numan. It's exactly the kind of surreal, bonkers humor that makes me laugh in these strange times and it's not dated at all. It's on Hulu -- highly recommended.
I didn't know that The Honeydogs are still active! Seen A Ghost got a lot of spin in our house when it came out in 1997. Looking forward to the playlist and everyone's picks!
Bizarre how the memory works - I could have sworn the It’ll End in Tears album cover was the one for Filigree and Shadow. Both have been in my rotation forever. It’s been a while since I have gone through my CDs though.
Mustard is listening to Aesop Rock's new album Black Hole Superette and Miley Cyrus's Something Beautiful. Aesop's recent run of albums, including their newest, has cemented them as Mustard's favorite hip hop artist. The Miley album surprised Mustard in the best way. She created something really fun and engaging.
My local radio station’s fave are “Luke and Leanna” by Craig Finn and “Little Things” by Brian Grilli. My current faves on Spotify are “Windfall” by Son Volt and “The color of a cloudy day” by Jason Isbell. And my personal fave is my daughter singing “You are my sunshine” to me before going to bed.
I have had the best week travelling around the country following the We Are Scientists UK tour. I’ve just got home today and have one more gig tomorrow in Cardiff but I’m on a massive comedown so I’ve obviously now put them on to cheer me up! So much live music has meant that I’ve not listened to much else but I did come across this excellent Bristol band on instagram
Lana Del Rey NFR! wrecked me for a week on repeat. Last few days has been Mystery Macine's Glazed. A BC grunge band w a few Canadian credo, but faded to fatherhood long ago. Replacements Jam × Hűsker Hip.
Current play is a Sony back to school mix fr 1993. Dining Hall Classics: Bad Brains, Eve's Plum, Boo Radley's, Jamiroquai, Suede, a Mudhoney/Sir Mix-a-Lot collab, and Ren & Stimpy w Don't Whiz On the Electric Fence
Hi Kevin, I may have raised this before, but given that you rightly plug Qobuz as a much better streaming platform than Spotify, why are your playlists on the latter? I backed out of Spotify entirely for reasons I wrote about the time, I just cannot, ethically, give them more money. Wouldl it not maybe make sense to put your own playlist on Qobuz and thereby encourage people to check out what we know to be an artist-friendly, high-quality-audio driven platform? Thanks so much, Tony.
Some of it is down to featuring emerging artists that aren't on Qobuz. Some of it is down to meeting people where they're at-- I'd love every to make the move, but the data tells me most people are still using Spotify. And some of it is...well, some of it is done to me not being the most technically proficient. I've used Soundiiz to port most of my playlists over. Now I just have to figure out a way to do it consistently and/or automate it.
Last week I participated in 2 rounds of the Mothership Music League: Only Favs (favorite song at the moment) and Epic Finale (song with amazing endings). Here's the songs that I liked from these rounds:
Only Favs: Baller by Abor & Tynna, Golden Brown by The Stranglers, and a live version of Avalanche by Bring Me The Horizon
Epic Finale: Defying Gravity by Cynthia Erivo (from the Wicked Soundtrack), In the Flesh? by Pink Floyd, One by Metallica, and Ghost Love Score by Nightwish
Next week we will reach the end of this contest, but this round we will tackle three more rounds: No Shame (guilty pleasures), Patriarchy (songs that feature male singers) and Speechless (instrumental songs only).
Nice that you have Son Volt here. Over at 3Albums6OldGuys, we just posted a very long revisit of No Depression, focused on the way that Jeff's songs (and I've always been a Jay guy with that band) on that classic record tell us something about the politics of today. Will be curious to the takes of folks here on it. https://3albums6oldguys.substack.com/p/jeff-tweedy-presaging-trump-voters. And speaking of politics, we also did a "review" of Lara Trump's music; would definitely *not* recommend having that on repeat, but hopefully the review is more entertaining than the songs.
I already had your piece on ND bookmarked to read when I can -- appreciate hearing your thoughts on it.
Many thanks — look fwd to hearing your thoughts.
Thank for the link! I'm on it.
And hard pass on any music Lara Trump is making. Life's too short. lol.
Otherwise, buzzing from two amazing shows here in DC and have their stuff on repeat:
-- Mei Semones - https://meisemones.bandcamp.com/album/animaru. Have mentioned her before; this album is a brilliant mix of bossanova-y jazz, indie rock, and even folk at times, with lyrics that go between English and Japanese. Her band is just stunning, and her show was jaw-droopingly tight, energetic, and uplifting.
-- Takaat - https://purplishrecords.bandcamp.com/album/takaat-is-noise-vol-1. This is the backing band for Mdou Moctar, and the band's name means "noise" in Tuareg. And wow, do they bring an amazing amount of drive and noise. Souleymane Ibrahim may be the most compelling and insane drummer I have ever seen.
Alphaville - Forever Young
Isn't that a blast from the past
Right?!
Oh, and Yugen Blakrok has a new one out - https://yugenblakrok.bandcamp.com/album/the-illusion-of-being. She's my favorite MC doing trip-hop, and this album delivers again. Track 2, Osiris Awakens, and Track 9 (which features DC native Sa-Roc), are stand outs.
Good morning everyone, I am busy playing catch-up on new music after a week devoted to The Smiths. When I was in the UK a couple of weeks back a friend of mine told me he was going to see Morcheeba, possibly THE archetypal trip-hop act, this summer and I expressed surprise that they were still going/had reformed. Maybe it's a UK thing, as Qobuz dropped me an ELEVENTH album up top of its recommended new albums on May 23. The record is Escape The Chaos, and it's as good as I remember them ever being. The title is supremely apt also. https://open.qobuz.com/album/h91yp40krgg4a
The new album is fantastic! I’m seeing them in London with UNKLE and DJ Shadow in August, really looking forward to it!
Crystal Palace Park, right? That's the show my friend is going too. I lived close enough to that park for my upbringing (in two different locations) that I could hear the concerts from home... And I will never forget being able to sit out in my garden as a youngster and listening to the entirety of Bob Marley's performance at the Bowl there back in... Yes, fantastic album.
Yeah that’s the one! What an amazing gift to be able to sit at your home and hear the entirety of the Bob Marley concert!!
WAY off topic, but before I forget, I wanted to mention that I really enjoyed your piece about Crystal Palace.
https://tonyfletcher.substack.com/p/a-perfect-day
Thanks Kevin. If I was able to get some of the joys of a great English football day across to sports fans of a different kind in the mid-west, then I did my job!
This record is awesome! I hope a lot of people see this and check it out.
Gonna check out some of these on the playlist!
Listening to the new Ty Segall album and an advance of a new album from a Michigan indie pop band called PHABIES.
I hope you found a couple of new favorites! Just listened to "I Care For you," and rally dug it. When's the record come out?
Next Friday (June 13). They’ve enlisted some intriguing producers who’ve worked with some recognizable indie names. Glad you liked it - think you will enjoy the record!
I was in a hotel room last week which had a small speaker that would keep kicking me off Bluetooth after 10 mins. When I felt like reconnecting I started with Audience with the Queen by Galactic and Irma Thomas, just like the week before.
I’ve spent a bunch of time over the last couple weeks listening to Eric D. Johnson (Fruit Bats, Bonny Light Horseman) for a piece I wrote on my artist of the decade (excuse the shameless plug): https://open.substack.com/pub/joyinthejourney/p/my-pick-for-artist-of-the-decade
For the past few days I’ve REALLY been digging the Will Worden album (The Only One & All The Others) from February: https://open.spotify.com/album/4mwZdMXIEgyDIdVMwnSrCc
Also enjoying the recent releases from:
• Surprise Chef
• Sea Lemon
• The Raveonettes
Shameless plugs of Joy in the Journey are always welcome! :)
Good morning from California. Here is what has been in my ears>
1. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/627aLiTKOjoWAfyqcdqQie?si=c9e1474d8daa43c9
2. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3wBlm9P7dw8ZMh4DgXzNcJ?si=21f760d095644b28
3. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1knJSMzp6SWo8aUh3W2hVo?si=770eac3729d7429d
Another week, another trio of great listening. Thank you, Jon!
The Deele - Street Beat, especially Video Villain. Funk music in one of its finest forms, IMHO. Perfect for this sunny weather!
Oh, that sounds like exactly what I need right now!
Kevin, you should like this. New Order! This past Friday, my wife and I went to see Peter Hook and the Light, and he played a whole lot of Joy Division and New Order tunes. The show was so good that I've started a deep dive into your favorite band!
I love it! I've been meaning to see a Peter Hook & The Light show, but life keeps getting in the way! Maybe at some point on this tour? We'll see.
In the meantime, I'm excited to see you're doing a deep dive on New Order! Please let me know what you think once you've had a chance to get some listening in.
My week was about:
* Wilco - A Ghost Is Born super deluxe box set. Amazon had a great one-day deal on it, so I finally went for it. It's a gorgeous package with an excellent essay by Bob Mehr. I'm slowly working my way through the outtakes/alternate takes before I get to the "Fundamentals" -- seven sessions of the band brainstorming where they could hear Jeff, but he couldn't hear them.
* Spoon - They Want My Soul and Gimme Fiction. Because they're great.
* Peter Murphy - Silver Shade. Kristin mentioned it in last week's discussion. I've only listened once, but so far, so good. Looking forward to digging in more.
* Sports Team - Boys These Days. Lou mentioned this last week. So far, so good here as well.
* I'm also binging The Mighty Boosh which I couldn't find online when I first learned about it around 2010. Every episode features music and plenty of music-related jokes including an ongoing gag about Gary Numan. It's exactly the kind of surreal, bonkers humor that makes me laugh in these strange times and it's not dated at all. It's on Hulu -- highly recommended.
I didn't know that The Honeydogs are still active! Seen A Ghost got a lot of spin in our house when it came out in 1997. Looking forward to the playlist and everyone's picks!
Silver Shade has really been growing on me! I think I've got a favorite track set, and then another one comes along and takes it's place.
Frank by Amy Winehouse, not really listened to it since it since it came out but the songs have been rattling around my head all week
The new Miley Cyrus and the new Mt. Joy. Here’s a review of the Mt. Joy album my buddy wrote.
https://www.popmatters.com/mt-joy-hope-we-have-fun
Nice! Thanks for the link!
This Mortal Coil ❤️
Bizarre how the memory works - I could have sworn the It’ll End in Tears album cover was the one for Filigree and Shadow. Both have been in my rotation forever. It’s been a while since I have gone through my CDs though.
Whoa; that's a name I haven't heard in a minute!
Son Rompe Pera
https://youtu.be/Xg1z7YfiYkY?feature=shared
Dude, that was a *ride*! I'll take all of that you got!
Here's the whole performance. They also did a Tiny Desk at Salon Los Angeles during COVID that's a little mellower. They're incredible live.
https://youtu.be/wWMcan83GFM?feature=shared
Mustard is listening to Aesop Rock's new album Black Hole Superette and Miley Cyrus's Something Beautiful. Aesop's recent run of albums, including their newest, has cemented them as Mustard's favorite hip hop artist. The Miley album surprised Mustard in the best way. She created something really fun and engaging.
Kevin is happy to see you back here! He also thinks that Cyrus is good at surprising people--especially those that underestimate her.
New Stereolab!!!
YES
I have been enjoying a few records I bought on a recent trip to NYC.
Adding to my Edwin Birdsong collection (which until this trip I only owned his 'Dance of Survival' LP) I found:
Edwin Birdsong - What It Is
Edwin Birdsong - Super Natural (this album is wild and clearly inspired Lenny Kravitz, as it sounds like an unharnessed Lenny!).
The Crusaders - Southern Comfort (killer double LP!)
Brick - Good High (I have been searching for this one for a while and found an original, still sealed copy!).
Some great pickups here! Also love that you've been able to get in some awesome trips lately!
Lavinia Blackwall. - The Making.
She of Trembling Bells fame. Now solo. Best album yet
That's a new one for me. Thanks for the rec; I'm on it!
My local radio station’s fave are “Luke and Leanna” by Craig Finn and “Little Things” by Brian Grilli. My current faves on Spotify are “Windfall” by Son Volt and “The color of a cloudy day” by Jason Isbell. And my personal fave is my daughter singing “You are my sunshine” to me before going to bed.
Nothing'll ever top that last one! :)
The new caroline album is really lovely.
Also have been listening alot to:
Mourning [A] BLKstar - Flowers for the Living
Friendship - Caveman Wakes Up
I have had the best week travelling around the country following the We Are Scientists UK tour. I’ve just got home today and have one more gig tomorrow in Cardiff but I’m on a massive comedown so I’ve obviously now put them on to cheer me up! So much live music has meant that I’ve not listened to much else but I did come across this excellent Bristol band on instagram
https://open.spotify.com/track/3pIkjnbsiwiV3DxGIhE9mc?si=gFIEGcW0QrCJ-16liz44Bg
Normal business should be resumed next week!
Knowing how much you like this band, I can only imagine how this week has gone. Must've been on Cloud 9 the whole time!
Lana Del Rey NFR! wrecked me for a week on repeat. Last few days has been Mystery Macine's Glazed. A BC grunge band w a few Canadian credo, but faded to fatherhood long ago. Replacements Jam × Hűsker Hip.
Current play is a Sony back to school mix fr 1993. Dining Hall Classics: Bad Brains, Eve's Plum, Boo Radley's, Jamiroquai, Suede, a Mudhoney/Sir Mix-a-Lot collab, and Ren & Stimpy w Don't Whiz On the Electric Fence
That comp sounds incredible! I'll bet I haven't heard the name Eve's Plum in 30 years?
Cool that The Honeydogs are still around.
I'm still digging into some of the new albums from last week:
Matt Berninger/Get Sunk
Ben Kweller/Cover the Mirrors
The Minus 5/Oar On, Penelope!
Also listening to Pulp in preparation for the new one this Friday.
The new Minus 5 is already one of my favorites of the year! I still need to check out the Ben Kweller record.
Hey Kevin, here are the latest tunes happily bombarding my ears: https://danpal.substack.com/p/new-music-the-black-keys-cautious?r=lru5s
Right on! Thanks for the link!
Hi Kevin, I may have raised this before, but given that you rightly plug Qobuz as a much better streaming platform than Spotify, why are your playlists on the latter? I backed out of Spotify entirely for reasons I wrote about the time, I just cannot, ethically, give them more money. Wouldl it not maybe make sense to put your own playlist on Qobuz and thereby encourage people to check out what we know to be an artist-friendly, high-quality-audio driven platform? Thanks so much, Tony.
Fair question!
Some of it is down to featuring emerging artists that aren't on Qobuz. Some of it is down to meeting people where they're at-- I'd love every to make the move, but the data tells me most people are still using Spotify. And some of it is...well, some of it is done to me not being the most technically proficient. I've used Soundiiz to port most of my playlists over. Now I just have to figure out a way to do it consistently and/or automate it.
Last week I participated in 2 rounds of the Mothership Music League: Only Favs (favorite song at the moment) and Epic Finale (song with amazing endings). Here's the songs that I liked from these rounds:
Only Favs: Baller by Abor & Tynna, Golden Brown by The Stranglers, and a live version of Avalanche by Bring Me The Horizon
Epic Finale: Defying Gravity by Cynthia Erivo (from the Wicked Soundtrack), In the Flesh? by Pink Floyd, One by Metallica, and Ghost Love Score by Nightwish
Next week we will reach the end of this contest, but this round we will tackle three more rounds: No Shame (guilty pleasures), Patriarchy (songs that feature male singers) and Speechless (instrumental songs only).