Good morning! Welcome to each of you who joined us over this past week! You’ve landed at what was recently described as “the nicest place on the internet.“
If you’re looking for a place to share the music you love with like-minded people, you’re in the right spot.
It’s great to have you here.
For those of you who are new, we kick off every week by sharing what we’ve been playing.
The playlist below is some of what I’ve had in heavy rotation:
Now it’s your turn.
What caught your ear this week? Find anything good while crate digging? Are there any upcoming releases or shows you’re excited about? What’s on your list for Record Store Day?
So whatcha got? Share your thoughts in the comments!
“Little America” from your REM bit last week has been doing it for me, but also “Burning Up” by Anna Ash. The New Yorker did a profile of Maggie Rogers that was pretty interesting.
Mondays are always made easier by this post, the music you share, and the subsequent comments. Looking forward to digging into your playlist as always! I've been listening to a hefty slice of Black Keys, a layer of Divorce and a sprinkling of Rosali. And here's this week's Recent and Decent playlist for a smattering of other such musical things: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1ZflSWTHIEoHzYJBz2iQXE?si=Sf8DsEVFQO-0UQjK8IAECw&pi=e-ZF4GhHkrTGio
Lo Moon - I Wish You Way More Than Luck. Saw on a few lists last week, many thanks!
Greg Saucier - Grow Like a Plant single. Drummer and singer for Deerhoof releasing his first solo record later this month. Expect to see Deerhoof further down this list.
Cynthia Nelson Band - For Days. Fun album.
Jane Weaver - Love in Constant Spectacle. This I like a lot.
Not as new:
Jeff Tweedy - wish I had known about Together At Last SEVEN YEARS AGO.
Bill Callahan - Apocalypse. Not my first rodeo with Bill, just haven’t spent much time/energy with his music. My list of deep dives extends by one.
Son Volt - See below Wilco update.
Comfort listenings:
Radiohead - Hail to the Thief + Com Lag: 2 + 2 = 5 EP. Sustenance for the soul. OK Computer thru In Rainbows disc 2 are Radiohead’s pocket (for me).
Wilco and Jeff Tweedy related things. Finished Jeff Tweedy’s book - Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back) - in a couple of reading sessions which meant also listening to solo stuff. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot / A Ghost is Born / Sky Blue Sky are right up to the top for me, and everything since has been fun listening.
Deerhoof. Haven’t taken a Deerhoof Dive in a while, that streak ended with the above news of drummer Greg’s pending album. Fave records include D-Hoo vs Evil, Breakup Songs, The Magic, and pretty much everything they have ever made ever, forever.
Desert Session 1 thru 12. Do you like Queens of the Stone Age? How’s about PJ Harvey? Piano bench’s breaking? Any one of those or a combination therefore of, could lead you to Desert Sessions. I recommend all of it, although streaming services will only have 9 thru 12. I’m still a little bit old school in that I have media saved locally.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magic. Comfort food for the ears + head. Some of the lyrics are CRINGE, but damn is this is a fun album all these years later. ‘Member BMG? Yea, I got this CD for a $0.01 and never paid them a penny more. 11 y/o me was such a badass.
Pages:
Nuclear War: A Scenario. Read. This. Book. If you aren’t a golfer, there is a podcasty thing that has the writer of this book, Annie Jacobsen, talking with a guy named Dan who is known for talking about history from time to time.
I hit a record show this weekend and bought a bunch of CDs. Joe Jackson Live in New York, Tank Girl soundtrack, Sarah McLachlan live performance, and 10,000 Maniacs The Wishing Chair. Listened to all of them.
I'm a big Springsteen fan, but he recorded his recent soul-influenced album about 20 years too late.
But I've dived this week back into the the album that sounds like the one he should have made back in the day. "On The Line" is the second comeback album Springsteen & the E-Streeters worked on with Gary U.S. Bonds, it's by far the better effort. Seven songs by Springsteen, another by Steve Van Zandt. I'd love to hear Springsteen's version of "Love's On The Line," which is just spectacular here. But maybe my favorite is "Club Soul City," which includes just absolutely smoking backing vocals from veteran R&B singer Chuck Jackson.
BTW, Jackson had a couple of decent sized hits in the early 60s. But he also recorded the original version of two songs that later were much bigger hits when they were covered by other artists. Ronnie Milsap had a hit with "Any Day Now" and Michael McDonald had a big pop hit with "I Keep Forgetting." Although the latter song is arranged so differently, original songwriters Lieber & Stoller share the credits with McDonald.
I've been doing a bit of a deeper dive into Donovan, which has been on my to-do list for awhile. Of course, I was familiar with the hits, but as usual, the most interesting stuff is not the hits.
I'm only a bit of the way through, but I'm appreciating his obviously-Beatles inspired playful, inventive lyricism and wordplay and his folky, flower child confection of sound.
"The Walls Came Down" -- one of my favorite songs ever and one that showed the promise of early MTV. I have it on some running playlists and when Michael Been gets to the "whoop whoop!" at the end, I swear I'm running twice as fast. And Garth Hudson is on keys! Totally underrated band.
My last week was about:
- Continuing my benders with The Mekons and Alejandro Escovedo. Alejandro was a guest on Marc Maron's podcast recently and while Maron is an annoying interviewer -- so many interruptions, shut up, dude! -- he draws some good stories out of Al.
- Revisiting the R.E.M. IRS period, inspired by last week's piece on Reckoning.
- Digging into James McMurtry's catalog to see if he clicked with me this time, as he's coming here to Albuquerque in June. Sadly, he's just not my thing.
- Mark Knopfler's new one, One More River. It's still sinking in, but I like it so far, even if it's mellower than most of what I'm listening to at the moment.
Have a great week, everyone! Looking forward to your recommendations, as always.
Well, I finally did it and listened to Cowboy Carter. It'll take more than one listen, but I can't deny its epicness. I thought of all the guest duets, the one with Miley Cyrus was the best.
The only other album I listened to was the latest from Kim Gordon, The Collective. Also epic. I'm sure there's an article to be written comparing the Beyonce and Kim Gordon albums. Not by me, but I thought I'd toss it out there....
What else....I finished the audio book of Geddy Lee's "My Effin Life." As a lifelong Rush fan I loved it, but it seriously needed an editor.
My Weezer fan added Pearl Jam to his list! So I spent last week playing a lot of Pearl Jam. He turned 13 Friday, so I officially have four teenagers now!
My daughter pulled Hole - Violet out as her selection on the way to school one day last week!! I love it when she randomly plays something I love! She wasn’t too thrilled when I cranked it and sang loudly hahahaha!
I spent most of the week trying to figure out quirks with apple car play in my new (used) car! If it’s plugged in, it just keeps pausing… apparently, if I make a call and hang up that will fix it because it has something to do with Siri? But, I don’t do phone calls and am not about to call someone and hang up every time I go somewhere hahahaha!! So, if my phone needs to charge I’m listening to the local alternative radio station, which is good because this car stereo actually has the digital read where I know what is playing! My last car stereo didn’t, so I never knew what I was hearing if I didn’t already know it! The station is actually pretty great because it plays a mix of new and old alternative music. And I now have seen that a lot of the newer stuff they play that I like, I’ve seen discussions about in a lot of the music newsletters!
Also did a bit of revisiting Morphine after it was mentioned in the 60 Songs that Explain the 90s final episode.
My husband had a business conference in Vegas over the weekend. I wasn't going to join, but Mariah was performing... so here I am, replaying the concert on my phone while I try to readjust to BST (GMT+1) 🤣 🤣
Mickey Hawks singles Screamin' Mimi Jeanie and Rock and Roll Rhythm.
Spotify's recommendation from Hawks led me down the Rockabilly rarities rabbit hole to Ersel Hickey's Hangin' Around at Heartbreak Hotel from 2005
Tracy Pendarvis's 1960 singles A Thousand Guitars and is It Too Late from Sun Records
Benny Joy's 2001 re-release Crash the Rockabilly Party and finally the compilation Rockabilly Gold Masters with Al Ferrier's Let's Go Boppin' Tonight, Pink Cadillac by Jimmy Evans and other great tunes from the era.
On my turntable I've been enjoying Bloodrock's excellent 1971 album., Bloodrock U.S.A. and Bill Bruford's album Gradually Going Tornado with the incredible Jeff Berlin on bass and lead vocals, The Unknown John Clark on guitar and Dave Stewart on Keys.
New: Sunny War - "Anarchist Gospel." So good all around. Excellent guitar and vocals and a super interesting take on the world. Beginning my journey here so I'm sure there are many layers I have yet to reach.
I revisited some old Lissie after seeing her in a storyline on Loudermilk. She plays a promising young singer who's dreams were shattered by critics. Not a big stretch for her (although to be fair to the critics, I never thought her records ever really captured how she was in her bedroom on MySpace)
I'm calling it my current, absolute top pick for AOTY. Blend 'Black Country, New Road' with Funeral/Neon era 'Arcade Fire', add a touch of Vampire Weekend, and finally a dash of Moving Pictures 'Rush'(!?) and you've got English Teacher. Headphones and complete album listen are recommended. AMAZING!
Hey Kev: Loved listening to you talk about behind the scenes at airports on that podcast you told us about. Next time I fly I'm gonna sprinkle a few factoids around from "my insider pal."
Gotta share a social media post I saw this week about a guy telling his kid how we used to send a penny to Columbia House and get 12 CDs back in the mail. Kid said:
Any playlist that starts with The Call, has to be an A-list. I had a good week with listening to my playlist, it's all over the place and very eclectic, and very enjoyable.
Pink Floyd - Meddle
Tom Waits - Small Change
Ludovico Einaudi - In A Time Lapse
Brian Duncan - Whistlin' In The Dark
The Silvertones - I'd Rather Have Jesus
9 Volt - Riptide
Syd Arthur - A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble (Remixes By The Amorphous Androgynous)
Like others here, your Reckoning piece sent me off into a deep dive into my REM album starting with Collapse Into Now and working backwards. I’ve got as far as Lifes Rich Pageant. General verdict is the IRS period is my favourite but Out Of Time also makes a strong showing.
In other news my son introduced me to Conan Gray’s new album and my initial reaction is extremely positive.
Some great albums came out on Friday. A couple I was expecting: Elsa Hewitt’s Chaos Emeralds and Bodega’s Our Brand Could Be Yr Life, with the former among her best and the latter a fine and fun ride. Then there was the unexpected: Cindy Lee’s Diamond Jubilee - absolutely fantastic! Don’t miss. Also got an advance copy of Lionlimb’s next album and it is incredible, epic, widescreen, passionate. You can hear the single with Angel Olsen now. I also got to see Friko on Saturday night and they were magnificent a passion, charisma, dynamics and a little chaos. One of the great bands of our time.
I've been listening to Lael Neale's "Star Eater's Delight" on repeat lately, and a deep dive into Folk Implosion, who I kind of overlooked for the longest time but love now.
“Little America” from your REM bit last week has been doing it for me, but also “Burning Up” by Anna Ash. The New Yorker did a profile of Maggie Rogers that was pretty interesting.
I'd currently revisiting Lana Del Rey's discography from Born to Die to (upcoming) Honeymoon - loving It!
Mondays are always made easier by this post, the music you share, and the subsequent comments. Looking forward to digging into your playlist as always! I've been listening to a hefty slice of Black Keys, a layer of Divorce and a sprinkling of Rosali. And here's this week's Recent and Decent playlist for a smattering of other such musical things: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1ZflSWTHIEoHzYJBz2iQXE?si=Sf8DsEVFQO-0UQjK8IAECw&pi=e-ZF4GhHkrTGio
Soft Kill’s new LP has been on repeat. Have a great week.
New:
Lo Moon - I Wish You Way More Than Luck. Saw on a few lists last week, many thanks!
Greg Saucier - Grow Like a Plant single. Drummer and singer for Deerhoof releasing his first solo record later this month. Expect to see Deerhoof further down this list.
Cynthia Nelson Band - For Days. Fun album.
Jane Weaver - Love in Constant Spectacle. This I like a lot.
Not as new:
Jeff Tweedy - wish I had known about Together At Last SEVEN YEARS AGO.
Bill Callahan - Apocalypse. Not my first rodeo with Bill, just haven’t spent much time/energy with his music. My list of deep dives extends by one.
Son Volt - See below Wilco update.
Comfort listenings:
Radiohead - Hail to the Thief + Com Lag: 2 + 2 = 5 EP. Sustenance for the soul. OK Computer thru In Rainbows disc 2 are Radiohead’s pocket (for me).
Wilco and Jeff Tweedy related things. Finished Jeff Tweedy’s book - Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back) - in a couple of reading sessions which meant also listening to solo stuff. Yankee Hotel Foxtrot / A Ghost is Born / Sky Blue Sky are right up to the top for me, and everything since has been fun listening.
Deerhoof. Haven’t taken a Deerhoof Dive in a while, that streak ended with the above news of drummer Greg’s pending album. Fave records include D-Hoo vs Evil, Breakup Songs, The Magic, and pretty much everything they have ever made ever, forever.
Desert Session 1 thru 12. Do you like Queens of the Stone Age? How’s about PJ Harvey? Piano bench’s breaking? Any one of those or a combination therefore of, could lead you to Desert Sessions. I recommend all of it, although streaming services will only have 9 thru 12. I’m still a little bit old school in that I have media saved locally.
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magic. Comfort food for the ears + head. Some of the lyrics are CRINGE, but damn is this is a fun album all these years later. ‘Member BMG? Yea, I got this CD for a $0.01 and never paid them a penny more. 11 y/o me was such a badass.
Pages:
Nuclear War: A Scenario. Read. This. Book. If you aren’t a golfer, there is a podcasty thing that has the writer of this book, Annie Jacobsen, talking with a guy named Dan who is known for talking about history from time to time.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/182733784
https://youtu.be/0fKY2heVWoU?si=G2iWQ98F2vD6BDmN
I hit a record show this weekend and bought a bunch of CDs. Joe Jackson Live in New York, Tank Girl soundtrack, Sarah McLachlan live performance, and 10,000 Maniacs The Wishing Chair. Listened to all of them.
I'm a big Springsteen fan, but he recorded his recent soul-influenced album about 20 years too late.
But I've dived this week back into the the album that sounds like the one he should have made back in the day. "On The Line" is the second comeback album Springsteen & the E-Streeters worked on with Gary U.S. Bonds, it's by far the better effort. Seven songs by Springsteen, another by Steve Van Zandt. I'd love to hear Springsteen's version of "Love's On The Line," which is just spectacular here. But maybe my favorite is "Club Soul City," which includes just absolutely smoking backing vocals from veteran R&B singer Chuck Jackson.
BTW, Jackson had a couple of decent sized hits in the early 60s. But he also recorded the original version of two songs that later were much bigger hits when they were covered by other artists. Ronnie Milsap had a hit with "Any Day Now" and Michael McDonald had a big pop hit with "I Keep Forgetting." Although the latter song is arranged so differently, original songwriters Lieber & Stoller share the credits with McDonald.
https://youtu.be/kOEgaUp-3Pw?si=Td0Re4z8ZzwzO6NL
"One Last Dance" by Baby Rose & BADBADNOTGOOD stuck on repeat 🔁🎶✨ https://open.spotify.com/track/0MzrzzeC7IvFk1J9DFdu4d?si=1cc8a775157744d5
Happy Monday, Kevin and all!
I've been doing a bit of a deeper dive into Donovan, which has been on my to-do list for awhile. Of course, I was familiar with the hits, but as usual, the most interesting stuff is not the hits.
I'm only a bit of the way through, but I'm appreciating his obviously-Beatles inspired playful, inventive lyricism and wordplay and his folky, flower child confection of sound.
Ahh, yes. What am I listening to... SkyDxddy (pronounced Sky Daddy) hint hint... and LOADS of David Baerwald - hint hint. Stay Tuned....
"The Walls Came Down" -- one of my favorite songs ever and one that showed the promise of early MTV. I have it on some running playlists and when Michael Been gets to the "whoop whoop!" at the end, I swear I'm running twice as fast. And Garth Hudson is on keys! Totally underrated band.
My last week was about:
- Continuing my benders with The Mekons and Alejandro Escovedo. Alejandro was a guest on Marc Maron's podcast recently and while Maron is an annoying interviewer -- so many interruptions, shut up, dude! -- he draws some good stories out of Al.
- Revisiting the R.E.M. IRS period, inspired by last week's piece on Reckoning.
- Digging into James McMurtry's catalog to see if he clicked with me this time, as he's coming here to Albuquerque in June. Sadly, he's just not my thing.
- Mark Knopfler's new one, One More River. It's still sinking in, but I like it so far, even if it's mellower than most of what I'm listening to at the moment.
Have a great week, everyone! Looking forward to your recommendations, as always.
Shabaka - Perceive Its Beauty, Acknowledge Its Grace
Jim Snidero - For All We Know
Dayna Stephens - Closer Than We Think
Josh Johnson - Unusual Object
Alice Coltrane at Carnegie Hall
Noah Haidu - Standards II
Punk/Goth and Goth/Punk playlist is really coming along: https://pandora.com/playlist/PL:198494836309887817:74638688
I found a Voivods song I really like, and added a bunch of early Siouxie stuff!
All it takes is a three-week vacation to miss out on a shit ton of releases so I've been playing catchup.
"Only God was Above Us" - Vampire Weekend (The hype is real. This may be their best album.)
"Tigers Blood" - Waxahatchee
"A LA SALA" - Khruangbin
"Loss of Life" - MGMT
"Bright Future" - Adrienne Lenker
"Something in the Room She Moves" - Julia Holter
Down the rabbit hole for me with singer-songwriter Ellen McILwaine. I did not know this track, but it's a keeper:
"Jimmy Jean" - https://open.spotify.com/track/2aFTcoeXhsdFqCGcQfuQWC?si=ecf0df3a2aea431a
And this is her righteous cover of "Can't Find My Way Home" - https://open.spotify.com/track/0n0ciaddRLUUqTFmtPxHXe?si=f69279d80f3d44a2
Well, I finally did it and listened to Cowboy Carter. It'll take more than one listen, but I can't deny its epicness. I thought of all the guest duets, the one with Miley Cyrus was the best.
The only other album I listened to was the latest from Kim Gordon, The Collective. Also epic. I'm sure there's an article to be written comparing the Beyonce and Kim Gordon albums. Not by me, but I thought I'd toss it out there....
What else....I finished the audio book of Geddy Lee's "My Effin Life." As a lifelong Rush fan I loved it, but it seriously needed an editor.
My Weezer fan added Pearl Jam to his list! So I spent last week playing a lot of Pearl Jam. He turned 13 Friday, so I officially have four teenagers now!
My daughter pulled Hole - Violet out as her selection on the way to school one day last week!! I love it when she randomly plays something I love! She wasn’t too thrilled when I cranked it and sang loudly hahahaha!
I spent most of the week trying to figure out quirks with apple car play in my new (used) car! If it’s plugged in, it just keeps pausing… apparently, if I make a call and hang up that will fix it because it has something to do with Siri? But, I don’t do phone calls and am not about to call someone and hang up every time I go somewhere hahahaha!! So, if my phone needs to charge I’m listening to the local alternative radio station, which is good because this car stereo actually has the digital read where I know what is playing! My last car stereo didn’t, so I never knew what I was hearing if I didn’t already know it! The station is actually pretty great because it plays a mix of new and old alternative music. And I now have seen that a lot of the newer stuff they play that I like, I’ve seen discussions about in a lot of the music newsletters!
Also did a bit of revisiting Morphine after it was mentioned in the 60 Songs that Explain the 90s final episode.
Newish:
Bodega- Our Brand Could Be Yr Life
The Black Keys - Ohio Players
Woods - Perennial
Older:
The Feelies - The Good Earth, In Between & Live Show on Sat Night in DC
Nick Drake - Bryter Layter
Miles Davis - Workin’ With the Miles Davis Quintet
R.E.M. - Reckoning (like others, the various write-ups, including Kevin’s, led me to break out my CD)
My husband had a business conference in Vegas over the weekend. I wasn't going to join, but Mariah was performing... so here I am, replaying the concert on my phone while I try to readjust to BST (GMT+1) 🤣 🤣
Delbert McClinton's 2001 album Nothing Personal
Cocktail Slippers' Shout It out Loud from 2021
Mickey Hawks singles Screamin' Mimi Jeanie and Rock and Roll Rhythm.
Spotify's recommendation from Hawks led me down the Rockabilly rarities rabbit hole to Ersel Hickey's Hangin' Around at Heartbreak Hotel from 2005
Tracy Pendarvis's 1960 singles A Thousand Guitars and is It Too Late from Sun Records
Benny Joy's 2001 re-release Crash the Rockabilly Party and finally the compilation Rockabilly Gold Masters with Al Ferrier's Let's Go Boppin' Tonight, Pink Cadillac by Jimmy Evans and other great tunes from the era.
On my turntable I've been enjoying Bloodrock's excellent 1971 album., Bloodrock U.S.A. and Bill Bruford's album Gradually Going Tornado with the incredible Jeff Berlin on bass and lead vocals, The Unknown John Clark on guitar and Dave Stewart on Keys.
Adding to my most listened to Top Ten this week is Falling in Love Again by The Selfless Lovers - very Springsteen-esque! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F4qZR0KpAc
Also really digging Kenny Wayne Sheperd's version of Elton John's Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQtwrU9RbME
Loving the new Einstruzende Neubaten LP. Total return to form. New Discovery is Scott Hepple and the Sun Band scottheppleandthesunband.bandcamp.com
The new Vegyn album from last week was 🔥🔥
https://vegyn.bandcamp.com/album/the-road-to-hell-is-paved-with-good-intentions
And i’m really looking fwd to the new Claire Rousay and Cloud Nothings releases as well
https://clairerousay.bandcamp.com/album/sentiment
https://cloudnothings.bandcamp.com/album/final-summer
New: Sunny War - "Anarchist Gospel." So good all around. Excellent guitar and vocals and a super interesting take on the world. Beginning my journey here so I'm sure there are many layers I have yet to reach.
Old: I wrote a long Substack piece recently on what I call "The Great Anti-LA Country Song" (early '70s - mid-'80s). I find it a hilarious and sometimes touching sub-genre of the Countrypolitan phase. I included a playlist and I keep listening to it. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4Y2U6HGF3q4uOaL3cRlYet?si=LMl-Qu4kTL6nUAnVzIkzRw&pi=u-p0eH5fcSQFmP
Dolly Parton - Jolene
I revisited some old Lissie after seeing her in a storyline on Loudermilk. She plays a promising young singer who's dreams were shattered by critics. Not a big stretch for her (although to be fair to the critics, I never thought her records ever really captured how she was in her bedroom on MySpace)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXPRG_xkuyY
ENGLISH TEACHER - 'This Could Be Texas'
I'm calling it my current, absolute top pick for AOTY. Blend 'Black Country, New Road' with Funeral/Neon era 'Arcade Fire', add a touch of Vampire Weekend, and finally a dash of Moving Pictures 'Rush'(!?) and you've got English Teacher. Headphones and complete album listen are recommended. AMAZING!
https://open.spotify.com/album/4gd3XcQ7dR37m8GimBfiYT
Hey Kev: Loved listening to you talk about behind the scenes at airports on that podcast you told us about. Next time I fly I'm gonna sprinkle a few factoids around from "my insider pal."
Gotta share a social media post I saw this week about a guy telling his kid how we used to send a penny to Columbia House and get 12 CDs back in the mail. Kid said:
What's a penny?
What's a CD?
What's mail?
Any playlist that starts with The Call, has to be an A-list. I had a good week with listening to my playlist, it's all over the place and very eclectic, and very enjoyable.
Pink Floyd - Meddle
Tom Waits - Small Change
Ludovico Einaudi - In A Time Lapse
Brian Duncan - Whistlin' In The Dark
The Silvertones - I'd Rather Have Jesus
9 Volt - Riptide
Syd Arthur - A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble (Remixes By The Amorphous Androgynous)
Like others here, your Reckoning piece sent me off into a deep dive into my REM album starting with Collapse Into Now and working backwards. I’ve got as far as Lifes Rich Pageant. General verdict is the IRS period is my favourite but Out Of Time also makes a strong showing.
In other news my son introduced me to Conan Gray’s new album and my initial reaction is extremely positive.
https://open.spotify.com/album/39gMxRpFKgIVvw3krIIam5?si=Trw9aCNZSECLI3KzMMbuZw
:)
"To Whom It May Concern", Lisa Marie Presley
Some great albums came out on Friday. A couple I was expecting: Elsa Hewitt’s Chaos Emeralds and Bodega’s Our Brand Could Be Yr Life, with the former among her best and the latter a fine and fun ride. Then there was the unexpected: Cindy Lee’s Diamond Jubilee - absolutely fantastic! Don’t miss. Also got an advance copy of Lionlimb’s next album and it is incredible, epic, widescreen, passionate. You can hear the single with Angel Olsen now. I also got to see Friko on Saturday night and they were magnificent a passion, charisma, dynamics and a little chaos. One of the great bands of our time.
Late to the discussion but after seeing a great show by Ratboys, have their 2023 record on repeat. Wrote it up (along with previously recommend The Umbrellas and a revisit of Hepcat) here — https://3albums6oldguys.substack.com/p/spring-break-is-over-the-umbrellas
And two really great hiphop records. Both with excellent lyrics and chill production. https://realbadman.bandcamp.com/album/temple-needs-water-village-needs-peace
And
https://mosesrockwell.bandcamp.com/album/regular-henry-sessions (Has a song referencing John Kruk and the big Lebowski and another about gas station sushi. What else could you want?)
The new James album 'Yummy' is really growing on me. The middle age-centric songwriting on tracks like Rogue must be why 😳
Just posted about all the hip-hop tracks that I had in rotation during the last quarter. (new format I'm trying out)
Bas - light of my soul
Nas - sitting with my thoughts
Rapsody - Astroids
The Alchemist - Bless
Ransom - AND1
Conway the Machine - Vertino
Mick Jenkins - Show & Tell
Schoolboy Q - Yeern 101
Courtney Bell - Westside
Conway the Machine - Mind Tricks
Blockhead - AAU Tournements
Boldy James - They Vouching
my friend turned me on to elliot smith! such an incredibly talented musician :)
If anyone is a fan of Yo La Tengo or Galaxie 500 than here is a band from Japan, Sugarplant, that might be of interest -
https://kilikilivilla.bandcamp.com/album/hiding-place
I've been listening to Lael Neale's "Star Eater's Delight" on repeat lately, and a deep dive into Folk Implosion, who I kind of overlooked for the longest time but love now.
I remember seeing The Call's video for "The Walls Came Down" on MTV back when it first came out. Loved that Garth Hudson was playing keyboards on it!
The new album from The Reflectors, Going out of Fashion, is hitting me in the power pop pleasure center.