Happy Monday(s)! 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.'“
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? Find anything good while crate digging? Made a mixtape lately? Are there any upcoming releases or shows you’re excited about?
So whatcha got? Share your thoughts in the comments!
P.S. The 2024 Reader Survey is still open for a few more days! To share your thoughts, click here!
I know you weren't asking me, but I'm still working mine out as well! Every time I think I've landed on one, it swtiches. Currently 'jamcod,' but 'Mediterranean X Film' and 'Second of June' have both held the top spot at points.
Inspired by my Tune Tag with Brad Kyle last week, Buck Owens' Live in Scandinavia album, which I hadn't heard before, and e3k;ljdr;lkj! the band had HOT hands that night. Recorded in 69, Buck has shed the last of his old-timey country ways and gone full country rock, embracing one of the genres he helped to invent.
The next song is released end of April - this will be the opening track of what will eventually become Album Two… the complete album will be finally released early 2025 🙏🙏🙏
Thanks! Some of the songs have a deeper personal meaning, but I just like the overarching concept of "these songs have that word in the title." Oddly, it seems like enough of a connection to keep me listening (and hey, I love most of these songs).
Great playlist! "Margin Walker" is a banger for the ages and The Go-Betweens are so underappreciated in the US.
My past week was all about Austin: the new Alejandro Escovedo record, Echo Dancing, is very good, a re-imagining of songs throughout his deep catalog.
That led me to dig into a couple records I've missed by a fellow Austinite, Jon Dee Graham. JDG has been a favorite for years, and like Alejandro, is underappreciated outside of the Americana scene. His most recent record, Only Dead For A Little While, made my top ten for 2023. I was happy to find a documentary about JDG called "Swept Away" that is well done and features many full-length songs live (for anyone interested, it's available to rent on Amazon).
If you're new to Alejandro, start with his early work (Gravity, Thirteen Years, With These Hands) or The Boxing Mirror. If you're new to Jon Dee Graham, start with Hooray For The Moon. And if you dig both of them, check out Hard Road, a compilation of tracks by their pioneering band, The True Believers.
Have a great week, everyone! Looking forward to your recommendations.
I've been spinning Alejandro's album, La Cruzada, and have tickets to see him in Raleigh this Saturday. Looking forward to the show. JDG is a great artist too!
I've listened to both The Crossing and La Cruzada a lot, and seem to prefer La Cruzada. My Spanish is horrendous but there's some musical subtleties on that album that I don't hear in The Crossing. Maybe it's due to the time gap between releases, 2018 and 2021. I've often thought it would be really cool to have his niece and brothers join him on a tour. What a line up that would be!
This weekend I went through my copy of Nat King Cole’s Ramblin’ Rose that my wife bought me at a thrift store a few weeks back. A 1965 repress but in immaculate condition for being nearly 60 years old.
Had a long-ish drive to visit my mother. Felt I needed a power pop clinic. Listened to “Chronicles” and “White Out” by Verbow, “Bully” by Sugarbomb and “Fuzzbubble” by Fuzzbubble.
I've been wading through obscure 1970s pop & rock, trying to decide if there's enough interesting stuff for a Substack. I'm now in a rabbit hole of Lesley Gore singles. She released a lot of stuff in the late 1960s and 1970s that was...interesting. A couple of Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell one-off singles, A Bob Crewe-produced album that mostly tanked because the label went under. Another album for the short-lived Motown L.A.-based label Mowest.
In 1976, she reunited with Quincy Jones, who had produced most of her early hits on the A&M album "Love Me By Name." Most of the album was comprised of ballads, but the lead-off single "Sometimes" featured backing from the Brothers Johnson. I can't decide if I really like it or not, but I've listened to it maybe 20 times in the last day.
I've been doing some post on and off, but it doesn't really fit in with the rest of my site. I keep thinking about a stand-alone Substack. And then I could take a year's worth of posts and turn them into a fun book.
Thanks for this! I'm a year (or two) behind on your latest series, but am looking forward to seeing what I've been missing. Not for nothing, I also fell down a TWA rabbit hole after the last one (I work in aviation for my day job).
Ann Peebles AND Mattiel? That's a couple of powerful women right there...
Did a bunch of driving this weekend, so I put together this 10+ hour playlist to keep me from fiddling with the phone on the road: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7Gyx8JQjbRvFbLlJfBtAqU?si=d12e3878c7844911. Includes albums from H. Pruz, Boeckner, Claire Dickson, Earth Flower, Mike/Tony Seltzer, Rosali, Outer World, Sun Seeker, Olivia Chaney, Astrel K, Faye Webster, Hannah Frances, Frances Chang, Friko, Levitaton Room, Nathalie Joachim, Mary Timony, Alena Spanger, and Arushi Jain. It worked like a charm, too...we didn't hit the last album until we were almost home and then glided into a parking space on my block to the transporting tones of Jain's synths, vocals, etc.!
Right? The Ann Peebles record was featured in my local record store's newsletter, and the Amtteil track is at the end of an epsiode of The Gentlemen. My wife has been watching it, and now I'm roped in too. lol.
Didn't realize my favorite Cuban singer/guitarist Eliades Ochoa released a record last year, it would have made my list. I need to keep two lists now: one for publication, the other to hold onto for leftovers of things I've missed:
Vinyl - Alejandro Escovedo's, La Cruzada. Will also see him live this Saturday in Raleigh, NC.
Picked up a batch of Buddy Rich albums on Saturday and the collection standouts to me are Stick It and Swingin' New Big Band. Even non-drummers, and what I call civilians (non-musicians), can appreciate the articulation under the fast tempos that Buddy and the band execute. There's so much going on in these charts that you start to loose sight of what Buddy's doing with his phrasing, not to mention his extraordinary chops, behind the orchestra.
Spotify - Three excellent local/regional bands from Raleigh, NC; Duck, JULIA and Boy Named Sue. I know the member sin these bands and have played with several of them in other projects, but they all shine in these particular groups. Check them out here:
Spent the weekend working on music for my daughter's wedding. And to be absolutely clear, nothing I picked for the father or daughter dance is even remotely in the running. I even gave the first rendition of night Father's speech, and that was denied.
So taking inspiration from Kevin, I'm listening to a little fugazi today to unwind and relax
I'm really pleased that The Artisans have a new album out on the Subjangle label and even more excited to finally get a copy of their extremely rare first album on CD that will come free with the new album as I've been searching for a copy for a few years. Here is the link if anyone is interested :
As part of my ongoing "research", I went and had a listen to the first 3 albums of the Atlanta Rhythm Section; to see if they were ever an unpolished, scrappy band on the rise before their smooth hit "So Into You".
They were not. They were clean and AOR-friendly from their very inception in 1971. Good players, but I didn't find what I was looking for. It happens.
So many things to keep coming back to! Particularly Fugazi, The New Romantics and, oh man, Ann Peebles! Last week I enjoyed the new Brimheim record and chilled quite a bit to Saint Saviour.
The new Waxahatchee album has been on heavy rotation this week - as have the latest albums by Rosali and Hurray For The Riff Raff. Also finally got around to listening to Linda Martell's excellent Color Me Country after her inclusion on the new Beyonce album.
Anything Karl Wallinger/World Party/ The Waterboys. Mentally planning a best of/my favorites playlist. So many of his lyrics are so relevant today/still
Bangles - Eternal Flame
Nice. I always want to follow that song up with Cheap Trick’s The Flame.
That takes me right back to middle school dances...if you need me, I'll be over by the punch bowl over against the wall. :)
Just heard Manic Monday on my large “All the Girls I Love” playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5C2HaYDVFXEW6n17IYIkG4?si=cLGWfPxfSySHL6EK31FTPw&pi=u-BKtx9WWhQbuJ
Bad Mary - hint hint
Nice! I'm liking these sneak previews.
New and newer things:
Katie Pruitt - Expectations. New album out soon, very much like everything tried so far.
The Jesus and Mary Chain - Glasgow Eyes. Haven’t listened to JMC much, that looks to be changing (h/t Kevin Alexander https://open.substack.com/pub/thekevinalexander/p/release-radar-the-jesus-and-mary?r=ax9p1&utm_medium=ios).
Basht. - Dirty White Lies. Interesting…very.
Elbow - Audio Vertigo.
Basht and Elbow found via last weeks thread, some great recommendations!
I'm exactly the same with Jesus and Mary Chain. Glasgow Eyes piqued my interest! Do you have a fav from the album? I'm still working mine out!
I know you weren't asking me, but I'm still working mine out as well! Every time I think I've landed on one, it swtiches. Currently 'jamcod,' but 'Mediterranean X Film' and 'Second of June' have both held the top spot at points.
Venal Joy got me, I was hooked immediately. Jamcod and Silver Strings annnnnd pretty much the whole record. I’ll dive back in later this week!
Between the two of you, you've convinced me to listen to the whole album much more!
Excellent!
Oh man; I hope you dig into some of JAMC's older stuff! It's all great, even if the records are different stylisitically.
I found Basht in last week's thread as well, and really enjoyed it.
Inspired by my Tune Tag with Brad Kyle last week, Buck Owens' Live in Scandinavia album, which I hadn't heard before, and e3k;ljdr;lkj! the band had HOT hands that night. Recorded in 69, Buck has shed the last of his old-timey country ways and gone full country rock, embracing one of the genres he helped to invent.
https://open.spotify.com/album/4HpNMfxNiSplleAJpfb1Yk?si=zqbLEg_vSCCFs_xRX6FvfA
Nice!
For anyone that may have missed it, here's Faith & Brad's Tune Tag. If you're new to the series, it's a lot of fun, and well worth your time!
https://open.substack.com/pub/bradkyle/p/tune-tag-33-with-faith-current-of?r=3cbf2&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
A new artist for me but one who has been churning out release after release for over 15yrs - Mark McGuire (and a fellow to you Midwesterner). I’m so enthralled I made a monster playlist of his outputs: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1xZoSTlSHHwrUYpI6CRItW?si=ePBwuPlZSSWM7GNt3VNt2Q&pi=e-HrowaapyQDyU
Thanks for the rec! The only Mark McGuire I knew was the baseball player.
Speaking of records, any updates on your latest?
The next song is released end of April - this will be the opening track of what will eventually become Album Two… the complete album will be finally released early 2025 🙏🙏🙏
Right on!
Lots of Arctic Monkeys over the weekend. This morning Curtis (by Curtis Mayfield) came for a spin.
I bet Tranquility Base Hotel on vinyl is a lovely thing in terms of the sleeve/cover art. Any AM album in particular?
Yes, it is. And the sound!
AM on this occasion, but I also own Tranquility Base and The Car on vinyl.
Starting my week off right with some Spiritual Cramp this morning. Take care.
I'm pretty stoked about this playlist. All the songs have "Black" in the title:
https://www.pandora.com/playlist/PL:197567948007672791:74638688
That's a wild (and awesome) mix!
Thanks! Some of the songs have a deeper personal meaning, but I just like the overarching concept of "these songs have that word in the title." Oddly, it seems like enough of a connection to keep me listening (and hey, I love most of these songs).
Listened to some of the new Jesus and Mary Chain album, the new Ride album, some of the Book of Mormon soundtrack (a friend took me to see it Saturday and it was amazing!), and a lot of my huge “All the Girls I Love” playlist lol https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5C2HaYDVFXEW6n17IYIkG4?si=cLGWfPxfSySHL6EK31FTPw&pi=u-BKtx9WWhQbuJ
Great playlist! "Margin Walker" is a banger for the ages and The Go-Betweens are so underappreciated in the US.
My past week was all about Austin: the new Alejandro Escovedo record, Echo Dancing, is very good, a re-imagining of songs throughout his deep catalog.
That led me to dig into a couple records I've missed by a fellow Austinite, Jon Dee Graham. JDG has been a favorite for years, and like Alejandro, is underappreciated outside of the Americana scene. His most recent record, Only Dead For A Little While, made my top ten for 2023. I was happy to find a documentary about JDG called "Swept Away" that is well done and features many full-length songs live (for anyone interested, it's available to rent on Amazon).
If you're new to Alejandro, start with his early work (Gravity, Thirteen Years, With These Hands) or The Boxing Mirror. If you're new to Jon Dee Graham, start with Hooray For The Moon. And if you dig both of them, check out Hard Road, a compilation of tracks by their pioneering band, The True Believers.
Have a great week, everyone! Looking forward to your recommendations.
Yes! Chuck is great. My band opened for Alejandro and Chuck (different dates). They were both so kind and they're always amazing live.
I've been spinning Alejandro's album, La Cruzada, and have tickets to see him in Raleigh this Saturday. Looking forward to the show. JDG is a great artist too!
Love that record! Very cool that you're seeing him. He's not coming anywhere close to us on this tour, unfortunately. Enjoy!
I've listened to both The Crossing and La Cruzada a lot, and seem to prefer La Cruzada. My Spanish is horrendous but there's some musical subtleties on that album that I don't hear in The Crossing. Maybe it's due to the time gap between releases, 2018 and 2021. I've often thought it would be really cool to have his niece and brothers join him on a tour. What a line up that would be!
Same here -- I prefer La Cruzada as well.
That tour would be amazing. It always makes me smile when Sheila comments on his Instagram posts and calls him "Tio." ;-)
I'm glad to see some love here for Alejandro. He's so underappreciated.
The Go-Betweens never get enough love!
This is my playlist of things I want to listen to obsessively at the moment.
The stand out for me is The Ballad Of by Nicole Yun. I can’t get enough of it!
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0DWrsiYQUsXbtTNdBES3bx?si=4I8rCeBeSeKdv9xtW-ceEw&pi=e-iKu4nSXDQBme
This looks great! Lots of new (to me) stuff on it.
Hope you enjoy. Mallie deserves credit for a few of those tracks.
Sonic Universe is on repeat - first two singles out now, album drops May 10.
This weekend I went through my copy of Nat King Cole’s Ramblin’ Rose that my wife bought me at a thrift store a few weeks back. A 1965 repress but in immaculate condition for being nearly 60 years old.
That's a great find!
Had a long-ish drive to visit my mother. Felt I needed a power pop clinic. Listened to “Chronicles” and “White Out” by Verbow, “Bully” by Sugarbomb and “Fuzzbubble” by Fuzzbubble.
Always a good time for power pop!
I am really enjoying the new Starsilor, album and rediscovering Arlo Guthrie's mid 70s LPs
Right on!
I've been wading through obscure 1970s pop & rock, trying to decide if there's enough interesting stuff for a Substack. I'm now in a rabbit hole of Lesley Gore singles. She released a lot of stuff in the late 1960s and 1970s that was...interesting. A couple of Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell one-off singles, A Bob Crewe-produced album that mostly tanked because the label went under. Another album for the short-lived Motown L.A.-based label Mowest.
In 1976, she reunited with Quincy Jones, who had produced most of her early hits on the A&M album "Love Me By Name." Most of the album was comprised of ballads, but the lead-off single "Sometimes" featured backing from the Brothers Johnson. I can't decide if I really like it or not, but I've listened to it maybe 20 times in the last day.
https://youtu.be/MpfwqNebcyw?si=F6HkDDM57sPq5sab
Like a single post, or an all new Substack entirely?
I've been doing some post on and off, but it doesn't really fit in with the rest of my site. I keep thinking about a stand-alone Substack. And then I could take a year's worth of posts and turn them into a fun book.
Here's an example of the posts:
https://www.allyourscreens.com/1031-todays-70s-song-you-should-know-slip-away-by-ian-lloyd-2
I like it! I think it'd be a fun book to read.
My Top Ten most played recent songs this week, includes some cool new tracks from Lenny Kravitz, Hozier, and Two Door Cinema Club. I'm also finding Ben Platt's new song Andrew really touching! https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/a-current-10/pl.u-gxblgdGI58pPLJ
Thanks for this! I'm a year (or two) behind on your latest series, but am looking forward to seeing what I've been missing. Not for nothing, I also fell down a TWA rabbit hole after the last one (I work in aviation for my day job).
For anyone reading the comments and looking for a new listen: Argentinan shoegaze band Fin Del Mondo ♥️✨🇦🇷
I'm always looking for new shoegaze!
Been rotating a few albums in the past week:
Bruno Sanfilippo’s latest Pianette 2 (his 2019 Pianette was a top ten AOTY for me):
https://open.spotify.com/album/2IgUfzUgvkZJr3a5U0EUMl
The Cult’s 1985 classic Love:
https://open.spotify.com/album/2hallpchkYldMa5lGGf1Ko
My favorite VAST album, 2007’s April:
https://open.spotify.com/album/08IBSvQ1fuejEQ6JF5CImv
My ears are tuned to UTOPIA NOW by Rosie Tucker, the Blondshell/Bully single, Bright Future by Adrianne Lenker, and Pretty Words by Charlie Bennett.
BLONDSHELL/Bully single is excellent!
Yes!!!
I'm really digging that new Blondshell/Bully single!
It's a must listen, for sure!
Ann Peebles AND Mattiel? That's a couple of powerful women right there...
Did a bunch of driving this weekend, so I put together this 10+ hour playlist to keep me from fiddling with the phone on the road: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7Gyx8JQjbRvFbLlJfBtAqU?si=d12e3878c7844911. Includes albums from H. Pruz, Boeckner, Claire Dickson, Earth Flower, Mike/Tony Seltzer, Rosali, Outer World, Sun Seeker, Olivia Chaney, Astrel K, Faye Webster, Hannah Frances, Frances Chang, Friko, Levitaton Room, Nathalie Joachim, Mary Timony, Alena Spanger, and Arushi Jain. It worked like a charm, too...we didn't hit the last album until we were almost home and then glided into a parking space on my block to the transporting tones of Jain's synths, vocals, etc.!
Right? The Ann Peebles record was featured in my local record store's newsletter, and the Amtteil track is at the end of an epsiode of The Gentlemen. My wife has been watching it, and now I'm roped in too. lol.
Didn't realize my favorite Cuban singer/guitarist Eliades Ochoa released a record last year, it would have made my list. I need to keep two lists now: one for publication, the other to hold onto for leftovers of things I've missed:
https://music.apple.com/us/album/guajiro/1673776865
Also, I read that Anais Mitchell opens for Bonnie Raitt this season, and her record got more than one spin last week:
https://music.apple.com/us/album/ana%C3%AFs-mitchell-deluxe/1617863451
And here's a playlist of current tracks:
https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/24may/pl.u-EkqqhM1qMkr
Awesome list, Tim!
of course I goofed it up, Mitchell's record sounds good, but Maia Sharp opens for Raitt this season, check her out:
https://music.apple.com/us/album/reckless-thoughts/1698116741
Vinyl - Alejandro Escovedo's, La Cruzada. Will also see him live this Saturday in Raleigh, NC.
Picked up a batch of Buddy Rich albums on Saturday and the collection standouts to me are Stick It and Swingin' New Big Band. Even non-drummers, and what I call civilians (non-musicians), can appreciate the articulation under the fast tempos that Buddy and the band execute. There's so much going on in these charts that you start to loose sight of what Buddy's doing with his phrasing, not to mention his extraordinary chops, behind the orchestra.
Spotify - Three excellent local/regional bands from Raleigh, NC; Duck, JULIA and Boy Named Sue. I know the member sin these bands and have played with several of them in other projects, but they all shine in these particular groups. Check them out here:
JULIA - https://open.spotify.com/artist/7Kcq7xAi2Z4gbv0Suu6wYN?si=aDaA0pz-Tf-4Rgio3QDlCA
Duck - https://open.spotify.com/artist/03ITO7mknV0nM61n6X10U4?si=M1iGGahtTzecBdjCWAuBqA
Boy Named Sue- https://open.spotify.com/artist/4KzD8WRwONNZFhhuAwZuGU?si=-nxVJkXcQdaISd7h37Lq1Q
Thank for these! All are new to me. I'll bet those Buddy Rich albums are fantastic as well.
Spent the weekend working on music for my daughter's wedding. And to be absolutely clear, nothing I picked for the father or daughter dance is even remotely in the running. I even gave the first rendition of night Father's speech, and that was denied.
So taking inspiration from Kevin, I'm listening to a little fugazi today to unwind and relax
It's all you can do, right? :)
Congrats in advance to you & your daughter on her big day!
It's all going down in September....I just hope I make it. Apparently my humor is stressful to everyone except me.
I just hope I make it.
Why by... what is she called... Olivia Chaney and just enjoying The Animals' We Gotta Get Outta This Place. Music is great 🙂
I'm really pleased that The Artisans have a new album out on the Subjangle label and even more excited to finally get a copy of their extremely rare first album on CD that will come free with the new album as I've been searching for a copy for a few years. Here is the link if anyone is interested :
https://theartisansmusic.bandcamp.com/album/saturday-comes-around-double-album-with-bonus-disc-of-self-titled-debut
Right on. Thank you, Wally!
I’ve liked Sierra Ferrell’s cover of John Anderson’s “Years” this week.
We do not deserve MJ Lenderman + Katie Crutchfield.
I was curious about Noah Faulkner's new pedal steel EP, but Just Like Heaven sounds...really good? His dog Kara steals the show.
https://pedalsteelnoah.bandcamp.com/album/texas-madness-ep
When I first came across an article about Faulkner's record, I thought it was a joke, but man, you're right; it's really good.
I just can't quit listening to Jonathan Peyton's Nothing Here's the Same.
Albums
Onceweresixty/Loco Sunset Boulevard / Ghetto Blast Noise Machine.
Generation Blue/Various Artists
Stephen Wilson Jr../son of a dad
Modest Mouse/Good News For People Who Love Bad News
Singles
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds/Wild God
The Pogues/Dirty Old Town
The Dead South/In Hell I'll Be In Good Company
Baby Lemonade/Pop Tarte
Bob Dylan/Subterranean Homesick Blues
The Beatles/Across The Universe
The Pursuit of Happiness/I'm An Adult Now
Stephen Wilson Jr./son of a dad
Now that's a list!
As part of my ongoing "research", I went and had a listen to the first 3 albums of the Atlanta Rhythm Section; to see if they were ever an unpolished, scrappy band on the rise before their smooth hit "So Into You".
They were not. They were clean and AOR-friendly from their very inception in 1971. Good players, but I didn't find what I was looking for. It happens.
A worthy endeavor, just the same though...
So many things to keep coming back to! Particularly Fugazi, The New Romantics and, oh man, Ann Peebles! Last week I enjoyed the new Brimheim record and chilled quite a bit to Saint Saviour.
I've been listening to this: https://headphoneson.substack.com/p/flying?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2
Thanks for the list & welcome! Your Substack looks cool as well--thanks for linking it here. :)
https://open.spotify.com/track/6SNja7FTHw7sazeyKqdk28?si=6454a266796b49d3&nd=1&dlsi=f76a19a3b7b2473e
Watch Them Come (Men on the Nile) - bopper track!
Yes! Good to see you back, Punit! :)
🙌
The new Waxahatchee album has been on heavy rotation this week - as have the latest albums by Rosali and Hurray For The Riff Raff. Also finally got around to listening to Linda Martell's excellent Color Me Country after her inclusion on the new Beyonce album.
Tigers Blood finally got me on the Waxahatchee bandwagon. It’s fantastic. A little more on the record coming later this morning.
Anything Karl Wallinger/World Party/ The Waterboys. Mentally planning a best of/my favorites playlist. So many of his lyrics are so relevant today/still