This week's playlist is a little longer than usual. There was a lot of music out this week with potential, and I whittled it down as much as I could without leaving out things that I felt some people might be interested in. This week I also tried to make a You Tube playlist for people that do not use Spotify or other streaming services. Hopefully it worked out. My first time ever making a You Tube playlist. It is HERE You can listen to the Spotify playlist HERE give the playlists a save as they update weekly.
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I wrote about five albums out this week here, and I would love to have people check out Walt Disco also. I am on the fence personally with it as the music is pretty great, as is the concept, and I am hoping the dramatic vocals sink in with me, but I personally get a little thrown off by overly dramatic vocals. I'm curious about other people's takes on that album.
Cola-The Gloss-Second album from the post-punk trio. This follows 2022’s excellent Deep In View album. This one will probably break the band out further, as Deep In View is a very stagnant, angular, and straight-forward listen, where the only song that stands out with any kind of hook what-so-ever is “The Black Curtain." I dug the sound, but almost gave up on it as I needed hooks. I then went and saw them at Slowdown, and it drove it home. This band is made up of members of two other bands I have liked in recent times: Ought and U.S. Girls. The Gloss adds to their sound, making it more accessible, but still really keeping it that laid back post punk angular, straight-forward thing. Think Wire, Gang of Four, the start of The Cure, or maybe even Cursive a bit. I hear a little bit of early The Strokes also if the Strokes hadn’t tried to be rock stars. It is a very good album, and one that you need to give a chance to. I really hope they come back through town.
The Decemberists-As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again-So I have had an advance copy of this album for quite a while now. Well over a month. I listened to it a couple of times and found it pleasant, except for the last song, the twenty-minute long “Joan in the Garden” at the end of the album. A couple weeks after my initial listens, a co-worker puts an album on, and I know many of the words and hooks to most of the songs but could not place the album. It was the new Decemberists album. So then we started playing it every day, as it became a pretty addictive listen. These are good songs; there is variety, and they hold up well to repeated listens. Colin sounds good, and the band sounds good. There is a shanty type song (which I typically hate), “The Reapers," country tinged Americana with “Long White Veil,” complete with pedal steel. There is a folky campfire sing-a-long with “William Fitzwillam” and a lot of baroque dad rock. Today we were listening to the album again in the store, and I was totally getting into one of the songs, and it kept going and going and going. It was that damn 20-minute song. WTF? Check this out.
Hermanos Guiterrez-Sondido Cosmico-this is the second album from the two Ecuadorian-Swiss brothers that form this instrumental duo that is produced by Dan Auerbach from the Black Keys. This is their fifth overall. The duo has made music rooted in Latin music; there is an obvious reference to Ennio Morricone spaghetti western scores that is required to be made also. On this album, they use more space and more touch and try to make it sound cosmic. I hear a lot of similar style and sound to my favorite guitarist, Vini Reilly of Durutti Column, and I get the same feeling listening to this album as I do many of his. Something about how they are performing this music gets inside of me. The touch, the tones. They have said that a feeling, a connection, or a moment they experienced with an audience influenced this, and oddly enough, I understand that listening to this. They are not all short songs, but many of them are, and this allows ideas, moods, and vibes to flow over the course of the album. This is an extremely pleasant and easy listen that will set the mood right and transport the listener somewhere else. A must listen.
Hockey Dad-Rebuild Repeat-I need to go back and listen to the Australian bands other albums. I know I listened to them in the past, and thought they were fine, but maybe I was missing something. When I put this album on, I almost didn’t continue. The first song is a fine mainstream kind of fun sing-a-long indie pop song, but kind of insipid. Then after that, they toned down the sugary sweetness a lot and hit you with three well-crafted, hooky indie rock songs that don’t go deep musically or lyrically, but damn, they are good songs. If this whole album were like “Still Have Fun," “Saftey Pin,” and “Wreck & Ruin,” this would probably end up toward the top of my year end list. I need some more simple but quality straight ahead pop rock music. They make some swings in style after those songs with some acoustic-ish mid-tempo songs like “That’s On You” and "Unhinged,” with the second of those being a really good track also. Besides that first song, this is a good album, but those three songs show me they could put out a great album.
Blvck Hippie-Basketball Camp-I assume this is emo music. I have never understood the term, and must not listen to any of it, or maybe I listen to a ton of it and don’t know it. I just can’t wrap my head around what bands would go into this genre. I have to assume this is it, though. This is actually typically not a sound I would get into, but on their last album, a song called “If You Feel Alone at Parties” struck me, and then I listened to the album, and there were experimental things happening deep in the music and even surprisingly, the general tone that appealed to me. I then went and saw them live at Reverb Lounge, and even though they came off super bummed out on stage, it still appealed to me. This new album has that same vibe, but the songs are more interesting, fleshed out, and confident, they are a downer, but not as much? The lyrics are very matter of fact and personal, and I am sure other younger listeners will relate to them in the moment, whereas I can only really look back on my younger days to try and relate. There are many experimental things happening in the music that are interesting, and there are some surprising detours along the way. I think Blvck Hippie has something, and I don’t think we have scratched the surface of what they are going to do yet.
Annabel – Worldviews
Axel Rudi Pell – Risen Symbol
Bad Breeding – Contempt
Been Stellar – Scream From New York, NY
Bilal feat. Questlove, Robert Glasper and Burniss Travis – Live at Glasshaus
Black Country Communion (feat. Joe Bonamassa, Glenn Hughes, Jason Bonham, and Derek Sherinian) – V
Blvck Hippie – Basketball Camp
Channel Tres – Head Rush
Chicken P – 4evaLit
Cola – The Gloss
The Decemberists – As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again
The Dead Tongues – Body of Light / I Am a Cloud
The Early November – The Early November
Fana Hues – MOTH
Hermanos Gutiérrez – Cósmico
Hockey Dad – Rebuild Repeat
Immersion (Colin Newman of Wire and Malka Spigel of Minimal Compact) – Nanocluster Vol. 2
JasonMartin and DJ Quk – Chupacabra
James Vincent McMorrow – Wide Open, Horses
John Cale – POPtical Illusion
John Grant – The Art of the Lie
Jordy – Sex With Myself
Christmas – Ridiculous and Full of Blood
Julius Rodriguez – Evergreen
Kevin Richard Martin (The Bug) & KMRU – Disconnect
Kneecap – Fine Art
LAUREL – PALPITATIONS
Lay Zhang – STEP
Lindsey Stirling – Duality
LUCKI – GEMIN!
Luke Combs – Fathers & Sons
LULLANAS – Pretty Lies & Time Machines
Madeline Hawthorne – Tales From Late Nights & Long Drives
Martha Skye Murphy – Um
Me First and the Gimme Gimmes – Blow it…at Madison’s Quinceañera!
Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs – Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits
Mike Lindsay (of LUMP) – supershapes volume 1
Mike Shinoda (of Linkin Park) – Post Traumatic (Vinyl Reissue)
Moby – always centered at night
MONO – OATH
Normani – Dopamine
nusar3000 – 3000
Oliver Wood – Fat Cat Silhouette
Paul McCartney & Wings – One Hand Clapping
PJ Morton – Cape Town to Cairo
Pocketboy Solid – Pocketboy Solid
Pride Month Barbie – All The Girls in the Room Say ‘Sorry,’
Raveena – Where Butterflies Go in the Rain
REZN – Burden
RJD2 – Visions Out Of Limelight
Sam Morton – Daffodils & Dirt
skaiwater – gigi
Squid Pisser – Dreams of Puke
Staples Jr. Singers – Searching
Stumbleine – Deleted Scene
$uicideboy$ – New World Depression
This Is Lorelei (Nate Amos of Water From Your Eyes) – Box For Buddy, Box For Star
Walt Disco – The Warping
Walter the Producer – Please Help Me I’m Scared
Will Gregory Moog Ensemble (feat. Goldfrapp’s Will Gregory) – Heat Ray
Veps – Dedicated
Zsela – Big For You
