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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 sounds from the Silvis to Deep Sea Diver to Social Distortion.
Now it’s your turn.
What caught your ear this week? Any new releases or shows you’re looking forward to?
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I'm a big fan of Jenny Hval, and I have been listening to her new album "Iris Silver Mist," over and over this weekend. Also revisiting Smokey Robinson's "Quiet Storm" album.
I'm on it, and thanks for getting it on my radar. Trying to convince myself to go to the gym after work this afternoon, and need all the help I can get.
As for The Grassy Knoll, what can I say? It's a great track! I hear the guy behind the project is pretty cool, too. :)
Nice combo! You might've already checked it out, but Guadalcanal Diary's Murray Attaway was recently on the Center Stage podcast. Definitely worth checking out.
Fun fact, I played in a band in college who opened for The Connells on the One Simple Word tour in Baton Rouge, LA. It was our first big show. On my 21st birthday. June 26th, 1992.
In the search for good instrumentals, I've discovered the White Lotus Season 3 soundtrack. There's some acapella stuff in addition to pure instrumentals, but it's a great mix for writing or reading.
You probably have a much wider range of stuff you listen to, but I'm up to about 400 instrumentals ranging from Erik Satie to the Beatles to Nuclear Assault. As long as there are no words, it all works great for stimulating my mind and allowing me to craft my own words.
New Order Substance! I broke down and bought it on vinyl last week after someone commented here 😂 I’d had it in my hand at the record store several times. I used to have it. I must have also had Substance II back in the day because I remember playing 1963 (on vinyl) obsessively.
Went to see EXTC (Terry Chambers from XTC). They were fantastic!
Some great tracks on this week's playlist Kevin! You know I'm loving the Cure on here! And followed by Deep Sea Diver? Perfect! Billboard Heart is definitely a strong contender for the AOTY list this year. Social Distortion isn't a band I've spent enough time with, need to dig into their catalog.
In addition to spending a few hours with Neil Diamond on the weekend, I've been catching up with some fantastic new releases from Friday, here are some of my highlights:
I've been listening to a few groups who've put out their first full length album in the past year: Nectar Woode, Head Above Water; oreglo, Not Real People; Cari Cari, One More Trip Around the Sun; and Matteo Mancuso, The Journey. And also City of the Sun, who have several albums out.
I don't recall where I pulled these suggestions from. If it was someone here in a prior week, please let me know.
* Suzanne Vega - Flying With Angels. She's so consistent -- this is as good as anything in her catalog. This led me back to 99.9°, an all-time favorite that led me to think differently about marrying roots music with other influences.
* The Alarm - Strength, followed by other favorites. RIP, Mike Peters.
* Lene Lovich - Stateless. A brewery that always spins vinyl played it while we were there and I realized I never checked out her music beyond what was on MTV. It holds up well.
Looking forward to the playlist (that Grassy Knoll song is great) and everyone's picks!
I'm in the middle of a Neil Young Music League, so it's been all-Neil, all-the-time for the last few days. Currently playing Rust Never Sleeps so loud that I expect a neighbor to come by and ask me to turn it down any second now. Not going to happen.
Playlist looks great. I love the Bug Club track! There have been a lot of great releases this week that I really need to catch up on at some point but I’m not sure when that will happen tbh because we’ve just got back from a weekend in Germany seeing We Are Scientists in Düsseldorf and Munster and right now I can’t imagine listening to anything else! It’s killing me that the album’s not out until July. The new tracks sound so good and I just want to play them on repeat!
I didn't listen to any full albums over the past week, but the Mothership Music League has been going strong. We tackled three more rounds over the past week - Tower of Babel (songs not sung in English), Unc (songs that came out before the year 2000) and Who is this? (songs from artists with less than 50k monthly listeners on Spotify). Here are some of the highlights from those rounds, in my opinion:
Tower of Babel: Nikt by Lor (a song sung in Polish which has entered my rotation of heavily played songs), Flag by Ichiko Aoba (song in Japanese, ethereal like Aurora and very much unlike milet), and Fehu by Wardruna (song in Norwegian)
Unc: Echoes (Part 1) - Live in Pompeii by Pink Floyd (probably the definitive version of Echoes), I've Got a Crush on You by Ella Fitzgerald, and Nocturne in C-sharp minor, B.49 by Chopin
Who is this?: Have a Wonderful Day by Kobsolite, The Cold by Exitmusic, Low Water by Lindy-Fay Hella, and Stockholm by Ominous Duck
My picks for these rounds (Tejjel Kifli, Get 'Em Out by Friday and Dream Rotation) didn't do so hot in terms of getting votes, but I don't care - I'm enjoying exploring the various songs people are submitting for these rounds.
Added The Cure and Social D from your playlist to my queue! Lately there have been some great songs I discovered from TV shows I'm watching - Bless the Telephone by Labi Siffre (from Hacks) and I Married Myself by Sparks and Cosmic Dancer by T. Rex (from Etoile). I had only ever heard the Morrissey cover - OG one is better!
Well, since I’ve only just released a new track, I’ve been listening to it intensely over the last couple of weeks as I finished up mixing it. https://mothershout.substack.com/p/gravity
Fleetwood Mac - Dreams
Oh, that's one I haven't heard in a bit. An all-timer for sure!
In honor of his HOF induction, the 3albums6oldguys resident Warren Zevon Superfan did a beautiful and heartfelt post on the meaning of the induction that includes a 99-song playlist. Worth your time - https://3albums6oldguys.substack.com/p/6ogs-special-brian-takes-a-drink
Thanks for sharing that here! The comparison to Gil Hodges was (chef's kiss).
Looking forward to reading this later! 3A6OG + Zevon is a hella combo.
like the play list
A lot of Emmylou Harris and some of The First Aid Kit!
A perfect combo!
I'm a big fan of Jenny Hval, and I have been listening to her new album "Iris Silver Mist," over and over this weekend. Also revisiting Smokey Robinson's "Quiet Storm" album.
I'm not sure I've ever heard that one! I'll cue it up here shortly.
Also really enjoying:
-- the new Mei Simones - https://meisemones.bandcamp.com/album/animaru. Gorgeous integration of Japanese and English lyrics with indie sounds, at times almost bossanova in sound.
-- Dead Gowns gets better with every listen - she's opening for Califone on some tour stops; perfect sound that integrates everyone from Margaret Glaspy to Torres to some alt country sounds - https://deadgowns.bandcamp.com/album/its-summer-i-love-you-and-im-surrounded-by-snow
-- fascinating new jazz record from Nadal Schneerson with some intriguing Middle Eastern elements - https://nadavschneerson.bandcamp.com/album/sheva
-- Still diving into the latest Brother Ali - https://brotherali-mmg.bandcamp.com/album/satisified-soul - after seeing him a couple weeks ago in DC. The new one is strong, despite him being in the game for over 20 years
Thanks for the links! All of these are new to me. "Almost bossanova in sound" has got my curiosity piqued.
Such a great Social Distortion song. It feels like California should be.
Right?!
The Grassy Knoll!!!
The new Snapped Ankles is pretty cool. Check out this track, an excellent track for the gym : )
https://open.spotify.com/track/6tVhAzlSCLERxiic5W5pez?si=7c1fe9b2f3a049c7
I'm on it, and thanks for getting it on my radar. Trying to convince myself to go to the gym after work this afternoon, and need all the help I can get.
As for The Grassy Knoll, what can I say? It's a great track! I hear the guy behind the project is pretty cool, too. :)
That's not what I've heard, I've been told he is kind of an asshole.
Lol. Well, shit…
so far...
Frank Black- Headache
Guadalcanal Diary - Trail of Tears
REM - Shaking Through
Nice combo! You might've already checked it out, but Guadalcanal Diary's Murray Attaway was recently on the Center Stage podcast. Definitely worth checking out.
https://www.abandonedalbums.com/murray-attaway-of-guadalcanal-diary/
Thanks for this! GD and The Connells occupy an outsized roll in my musical development
The Connells! Yes! Incredibly underrated band.
Fun fact, I played in a band in college who opened for The Connells on the One Simple Word tour in Baton Rouge, LA. It was our first big show. On my 21st birthday. June 26th, 1992.
Nice! Hopefully, they were all cool/down to Earth? What band were you in?
They were! Mike Connell insisted I play his Marshall. We were called Meantree.
https://open.spotify.com/album/7kffnSJADJGe0qhj9oyW48?si=5xdk-9U-RG-1hAGyeol-eg
Henrik Lindstrand - Space Between
I'm on it! Thanks for sharing this one here.
Hiya! Flying back home today, but I’ve got Soul II Soul (and a potential vinyl experiment 🤓) waiting for me at home. Let’s see how that goes!
Hopefully it goes (or went?) well!
Thanks! It did, I think! Might write about it at some point as it was an interesting experiment.
In the search for good instrumentals, I've discovered the White Lotus Season 3 soundtrack. There's some acapella stuff in addition to pure instrumentals, but it's a great mix for writing or reading.
I've only listened as we watched the episodes. Hadn't thought to play it while working!
You probably have a much wider range of stuff you listen to, but I'm up to about 400 instrumentals ranging from Erik Satie to the Beatles to Nuclear Assault. As long as there are no words, it all works great for stimulating my mind and allowing me to craft my own words.
Lyrics ruin everything.
New Order Substance! I broke down and bought it on vinyl last week after someone commented here 😂 I’d had it in my hand at the record store several times. I used to have it. I must have also had Substance II back in the day because I remember playing 1963 (on vinyl) obsessively.
Went to see EXTC (Terry Chambers from XTC). They were fantastic!
I might be biased (okay, I totally am), but Substance should be a required add to anyone's vinyl collection. Glad you were able to replace yours!
God, New Order are so great!
Truer words have never been spoken!
Some great tracks on this week's playlist Kevin! You know I'm loving the Cure on here! And followed by Deep Sea Diver? Perfect! Billboard Heart is definitely a strong contender for the AOTY list this year. Social Distortion isn't a band I've spent enough time with, need to dig into their catalog.
In addition to spending a few hours with Neil Diamond on the weekend, I've been catching up with some fantastic new releases from Friday, here are some of my highlights:
* Suzanne Vega's Flying With Angels: https://open.spotify.com/album/08K9yhbZAuNnbUPpvYy7l5
* Blondshell's If You Asked For A Picture: https://open.spotify.com/album/0b4ieMOkv7WGdJ4qYXbtzZ
* Jolie Laide's Creatures: https://open.spotify.com/album/4Wu815uZK5zpEGY2Frwctd
* Samantha Crain's Gumshoe: https://open.spotify.com/album/4RtdIqhVWgQ2moLXF9yooo
* Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings' Naturally (The Instrumentals): https://open.spotify.com/album/6OJAtrcMje6USyUiwL0RXt
* Eli Keszler's self-titled: https://open.spotify.com/album/4MFVsYFGjNgipwAAl7lUnL
Thanks for the links!
Thank you for all of these! I was late to the Deep Sea Diver party, but I'm definitely loving the record!
I like Suzanne's new one as well. I'll check out your other recommendations, thanks!
I've been listening to a few groups who've put out their first full length album in the past year: Nectar Woode, Head Above Water; oreglo, Not Real People; Cari Cari, One More Trip Around the Sun; and Matteo Mancuso, The Journey. And also City of the Sun, who have several albums out.
I don't recall where I pulled these suggestions from. If it was someone here in a prior week, please let me know.
It might've been here, but these are new to me, so thank you for getting 'em on my radar!
Butthole Surfers Abortion Locust Technician
Nice! That's one I haven't played in a while. Will change that ASAP.
My week was about:
* Suzanne Vega - Flying With Angels. She's so consistent -- this is as good as anything in her catalog. This led me back to 99.9°, an all-time favorite that led me to think differently about marrying roots music with other influences.
* The Alarm - Strength, followed by other favorites. RIP, Mike Peters.
* Lene Lovich - Stateless. A brewery that always spins vinyl played it while we were there and I realized I never checked out her music beyond what was on MTV. It holds up well.
Looking forward to the playlist (that Grassy Knoll song is great) and everyone's picks!
Now that you mention it, I'm not sure I've ever heard anything of hers besides "Lucky Number," either.
Hello from San Diego. Cloudy and drizzel here. Good morning for tunes.
Here is what has been in my ears:
1. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1knJSMzp6SWo8aUh3W2hVo?si=c72dc09777784143
2. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3wBlm9P7dw8ZMh4DgXzNcJ?si=644299c8ab7043f3
3. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5h2c4CIHOJ2SHsOYMpHyB7?si=67b189c106644e49
Thanks for the great leads everyone.
JP
Thanks for the lists! Hopefully, the sun's back out. :)
Not til Wednesday
I'm in the middle of a Neil Young Music League, so it's been all-Neil, all-the-time for the last few days. Currently playing Rust Never Sleeps so loud that I expect a neighbor to come by and ask me to turn it down any second now. Not going to happen.
Maybe they'll come by and thank you. :)
Hello again!
Talking Heads—Remain in Light (the outtakes are nuts)
Talking Heads—Speaking in Tongues
Talking Heads—Fear of Music (listened while getting ready for work this mornin, yet to finish)
Deerhoof—Noble and Godlike in Ruin
Geordie Greep—The New Sound (actually think I’m liking this more than his stuff with Black Midi)
Kraftwerk—Computer Liebe
Hello hello! Great list! Always a good time to play Talking Heads.
Playlist looks great. I love the Bug Club track! There have been a lot of great releases this week that I really need to catch up on at some point but I’m not sure when that will happen tbh because we’ve just got back from a weekend in Germany seeing We Are Scientists in Düsseldorf and Munster and right now I can’t imagine listening to anything else! It’s killing me that the album’s not out until July. The new tracks sound so good and I just want to play them on repeat!
Nothing wrong with playing new faves on repeat!
Absolutely! Unfortunately they have to release them first! 😂
Lol. Oops. I misread that as they'd only released a couple of the tracks so far. Hang in there; July'll be here before we know it!
I didn't listen to any full albums over the past week, but the Mothership Music League has been going strong. We tackled three more rounds over the past week - Tower of Babel (songs not sung in English), Unc (songs that came out before the year 2000) and Who is this? (songs from artists with less than 50k monthly listeners on Spotify). Here are some of the highlights from those rounds, in my opinion:
Tower of Babel: Nikt by Lor (a song sung in Polish which has entered my rotation of heavily played songs), Flag by Ichiko Aoba (song in Japanese, ethereal like Aurora and very much unlike milet), and Fehu by Wardruna (song in Norwegian)
Unc: Echoes (Part 1) - Live in Pompeii by Pink Floyd (probably the definitive version of Echoes), I've Got a Crush on You by Ella Fitzgerald, and Nocturne in C-sharp minor, B.49 by Chopin
Who is this?: Have a Wonderful Day by Kobsolite, The Cold by Exitmusic, Low Water by Lindy-Fay Hella, and Stockholm by Ominous Duck
My picks for these rounds (Tejjel Kifli, Get 'Em Out by Friday and Dream Rotation) didn't do so hot in terms of getting votes, but I don't care - I'm enjoying exploring the various songs people are submitting for these rounds.
I came across a pretty good read/review of Live in Pompeii recently. If you haven't seen it yet, it's worth some space on your reading list.
https://brutallyhonestrockalbumreviews.wordpress.com/2025/05/04/album-review-pink-floyd-pink-floyd-at-pompeii-mcmlxxii/?
It was a travel day, and I do like to sleep on airplanes.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2uguI4ubcfxGf3CbN8bg27?si=iN_BBApYQJGM7yVG9ZNA-w&pi=Qr6WgUvWTweAp
It helps ease a Sunday travel schedule.
The Best of 2000 to 2010 (Part 3 – The Poppers). Admit it, you know and – maybe – love these songs!
The Ting Tings, “Shut Up and Let Me Go” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tolm-07if3c
Madonna, “Ray of Light” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3ov9USxVxY
Lenka, ”Everything at Once” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE9tV1WGTgE
Gwen Stefani, “Hollaback Girl” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_J0UtWgOhRM
Train, “Hey Soul Sister” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXpOVnHjfIg
Paul Simon, “Father and Daughter” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=freszq95qGw
Lily Allen, “Smile” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgG8OqyRQMA
Santana, “The Game of Love” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnboInNJzoE
Basement Jaxx, “Romeo” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2wUbgAAydY
Added The Cure and Social D from your playlist to my queue! Lately there have been some great songs I discovered from TV shows I'm watching - Bless the Telephone by Labi Siffre (from Hacks) and I Married Myself by Sparks and Cosmic Dancer by T. Rex (from Etoile). I had only ever heard the Morrissey cover - OG one is better!
Thanks for these! I should probably get on the Hacks bandwagon. Feel like I'm missing out.
Took me a long time as well to take the Hacks plunge but Eric and Sheila kept giving me FOMO so I had to do it, and I'm so glad I did!
Well, since I’ve only just released a new track, I’ve been listening to it intensely over the last couple of weeks as I finished up mixing it. https://mothershout.substack.com/p/gravity
Thanks for sharing it here with all of us!
Floral Image - Gone Down Medowland. The whole LP is great!
A new name for me. Thanks for the rec!
Two new-ish tunes I've been into this week: https://danpal.substack.com/p/new-music-sockittome-and-youth-sector?r=lru5s
The Hold Steady/Separation Sunday - 20th anniversary
Kevin Salem/Soma - falling for this one all over again
The Wallflowers/Exit Wounds - slept on this one when it came out in 2021; it's solid
I'm not sure I've heard any of these! *Maybe* the Hold Steady release, but even that one I'm only 50/50 on.
Does The Hold Steady work for you at all? If so, Separation Sunday is a must listen.
Soma is from 1994 and I wish I'd found it back then. Great songwriting and guitar playing.
Tracked down another commercial song I liked a lot. Have been trying for several weeks to find a commercial for the ION show FBI, saw it yesterday.
Song: Hallway Swimmers - A Million Drops
Nice song :)