2019 is only a few weeks old, but of course there is always new music to discover and share. Below are a few tracks that I’ve been enjoying recently.
Martha – Heart is Healing
I heard this song on a new music playlist right at the end of the year, as it was released in December Martha are a power pop/punk band from the UK (from the unusually name town of Pity Me in North East England). They’ve been around since about 2012 and have put out a couple albums and singles which I definitely want to check out. Interestingly, there is no designated front person, with all the members taking turns singing lead on different songs. Just absolutely love the guitar riff in this song!
Tallies – Midnight
Tallies are a dream pop band from Toronto that just formed in 2018. This song is from their self titled debut album just released this past Friday. It reminds me a bit of early Cranberries and definitely of the Sundays – perhaps its because lead singer Sarah Cogan’s voice reminds me of Harriet Wheeler from the Sundays.
Ex Hex – Cosmic Cave
Ex Hex is a all female rock trio from here in the Washington DC area who formed in 2013, although its members have been in a number of both local and national bands for a while before that. Cosmic Cave is the first single off their forthcoming album Its Real, due in March 2019. I’ve always loved loud guitars and female vocals, and this is just up my alley.
So 2018 was an up and down year musically but as it happens every year when I look back I realize that an up and down year can produce some great music. My spotify mix (created by some algorithm) seemed to think I was primarily interested in country rock and to some extent , I was, but as you’ll see in this list my favorites, as in most played, are all over the spectrum.
1. Honestly this album could have been written in as #1 the day it was released. Its no secret I’ve become a huge Frank Turner fan. His live shows are amazing and on this record he diversified his style without sacrificing the passion. FT produced a perfect elixir for our tumultuous times with Be More Kind. Here’s an alternate live version of Little Changes
2. I’ve become huge fan of the Wild Feathers over the course of three stellar albums. The crisp harmonies , multiple vocalists and crack musicianship won me over. They are the closest thing I can imagine to a modern version of the Eagles, except from the South. From “Greetings from the Neon Frontier”:
3. i knew one song by Lucero before I saw them open for Frank Turner this year but what I saw prompted me to dig in to their catalogue and now I’m hooked. This band from Tennessee has been around for years . Their 2018 album “Among the Ghosts” has been in constant rotation for me since its release in August
4.The Record company followed a good first record with a great second album. This songs just blew me away (involuntary dancing alert)
*bonus track cuz its soooooo cool ( a Beastie Boys cover) not on album
5.This seemed to be the year when I “discovered” bands that have been around a while. This album caught my attention literally a couple weeks ago and blew up my top ten list. Rock, pop with some R&B influence for good measure. Cant stop playing this song from from the album “Take Good Care”
*bonus- My 19 year old with her own college radio show loves this song……but I found it first
6. This years top ten is chock full of FTRP (Frank Turner related product) in the sense that I first encountered these bands because they toured with him. Here’s another one. The Arkells are a great band from Canada that reminded me of Fitz and the Tantrums who made this list a few years ago. Great pure pop music
7. Death Cab for Cutie “Thank You for Today” Ive liked a song here and there by this band but I like this album top to bottom, especially this one.
8. The Vaccines are a London based indie band. Their album “Combat Sports” is great English pub rock. This song demands demands a sing-a-long every time I hear it
9. Some bands have the ability to make you feel like you’re standing in a small club listening to them play. Nathaniel Rateliff and the Nightsweats do just that. This song channels Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes in the best possible way.
10. One of my favorite songs of the year came off Ryan Culwell’s album “The Last American”. He captures the feeling of everyday people struggling to get by the way Bruce Springsteen did on Darkness and Nebraska
Thats just a smattering of some of my favorite albums of the year. Wishing everyone a great 2019.
Well we’ve reached the end of 2018, the inaugural (half!) year of our blog that we started this past June. It’s been a blast sharing our love of music with the world, especially the music blog community. We’ve tried a few different types of things, some have panned out while others haven’t, but we have lots of great ideas for 2019. Here’s some interesting stats looking back at 2018 (interesting at least to us!):
Since Mike’s wife Wendy created the original site in June and called Mike’s bluff about starting a music blog, our little project has had 3785 views (full disclosure: about 1000 of those views are by Paul and Mike) , from 1612 visitors, from 35 countries on 6 continents (we guess the researchers in Antartica don’t have time for music blogs!), with 616 likes and 264 comments. Our most viewed submission was our piece entitled “Remembering Rich”, fitting as our missing third amigo is with us in spirit always, especially in all things musical. We profiled 213 songs in our Song of the Day.
Our goals for 2019? Keep enjoying music, pestering our readers and followers with our thoughts, more original content and more concert reviews (we still owe you a John Hiatt, Steve Earle and Mumford & Sons review).
As a big thank you to everyone, here’s a Spotify playlist of all 213 songs that were featured on our Song of the Day feature – new music, classic favorites, slower contemplative stuff, and other songs we just love.
We’ll see everyone on the other side of New Year’s Day in 2019!
Ok, let’s round out my list of favorite new music from 2018. For Part 1, see here
Meg Myers – Tear Me to Pieces
Heard this on an NPR earlier this year and was blown away by the intensity of the emotions – about getting into a situation which you know you will regret but doing it anyway.
Hatchie – Sure
Another Australian singer/songwriter from her debut EP Sugar & Spice. I love the huge atmospheric pop feel of this song about the mixed up feelings at the end of a relationship (or is it the end?)
The Wild Feathers – On My Way
Another band my co-blogger Mike turned me onto. One of my new favorite bands.
George Ezra – Shotgun
English singer/songwriter George Ezra’s sophomore effort, Staying at Tamara’s has his biggest pop hooks to date, and that’s a good thing. I could have picked many from this album.
John Hiatt – Over the Hill
34 years and 22 albums in, John Hiatt is still turning out amazing, funny, soulful music – truly an American treasure. From his latest, The Eclipse Sessions. I had the thrill of seeing him twice in concert this year.
Frank Turner -1933
Frank Turner’s latest is his most ambitious musically to date, but still includes the kind of punk folk that I have always loved about him. When I saw him earlier this year in Baltimore, he opened with this number, and absolutely blew the roof off the stage from the get go. About the scary times we are living in. Bonus live version below!
Well that’s it – I am looking forward to discovering lots of new music in the new year and sharing it with you all!
Its been another great year for music, both reconnecting with the classic songs I grew up with, older songs I love, and discovering new music. I really feel that one way to stay young is to seek out all the great new artists and music that’s being continually made. So here are some of my favorites from 2018 in no particular order (but I will save my favorite for last). These are the songs and in a couple cases whole albums that connected with me this past year. I’ll do this in 2 posts, here’s post 1.
Skinny Lister – Thing Like That
I first got into this self described “shanty punk” band when they opened for Frank Turner a few years back and saw them live earlier this year. This song is their statement about all the craziness that has been happening in their own country re: Brexit and in the US with the election of Trump.
Amy Shark – I Said Hi
Great pop song from an artist getting a lot of attention down under in her native Australia. She’s been quoted saying this song is “It’s an anthem for anyone who is waking up everyday fighting for what they believe in and challenging the universe!” And its catchy too!
Miya Folick – Thingamajig
Off her debut album Premonitions, this hauntingly beautiful song is all about saying your sorry and truly meaning it.
The West Coast Feed – You Belong to Me
I first heard about this 9 piece self described “swagger rock/soul” band off a fellow music blogger’s site (but I am forgetting who!). I love the video where they completely upend the laid back cocktail party. If this doesn’t get your toes tapping, there is no hope!
Liz Brasher – Body of Mine
This quote from this Memphis based artist says it all: “I don’t like rules, and I don’t like to be put into a box. I make music that’s garage rock meets the Delta blues meets gospel meets soul. It’s southern music — my version of southern music.” This sultry song sums it up perfectly.
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
My partner in crime Mike turned me onto this Denver based band. I love the old school soul/R&B vibe of this song off their album Tearing at the Seams
Ah, settling in for a nice evening with family and Christmas movies…
Wait, what’s that noise?!?
MUST BE SANTA!!
I’ve said before that one of the great things about doing a music blog is getting turned on to music I may not have heard of before – perfect example, Thom at The Immortal Jukebox posted a wonderful entry last night on Christmas (here), and included this video. I knew Dylan had done a Christmas album but had not checked it out. I have no idea why he is wearing a wig in the video, or what’s going on with the altercation and chase at the end of the video, but the look that Dylan and Santa exchange at the end is priceless. My new favorite Christmas song and video!
Christmas songs – there are as much a part of the holidays as all the other traditions – at least in our house. Start with the canon of songs, perhaps a couple dozen or so? This leads to endless variations on the same songs, some of which are horrendous, most just shrug your shoulders eh?, and few good ones. Of course, I realize that what fits in that last category varies widely – as the saying goes, your mileage may vary. Here are some of my favorites.
Eurythmics – Winter Wonderland
From the very first A Very Special Christmas benefit album from 1987 – I really love Annie Lennox’s vocals on this track, and very Eurythmics take on this classic
Brenda Lee – Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
Sixty years old this year, this song by Johnny Marks (who also wrote Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer) has always seemed a modern addition to the canon (even though it is 60 years old, when rock was in its infancy). Brenda Lee was 13 years old when she recorded it.
Chet Atkins, Jingle Bell Rock
Originally recorded in 1957 by Bobby Helms, this instrumental version by Chet Atkins was first released in 1961. Somehow hearing the song without the lyrics and just Atkins playing makes it a better song imho.
Vince Guaraldi Trio – Christmas Time is Here
I could pick any song off this album, the soundtrack to the 1965 classic A Charlie Brown Christmas. One of my favorite Christmas shows with a real message, and an thoroughly original set of songs that worked perfectly.
Pretenders – Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Another choice from A Very Special Christmas, Chrissie Hynde’s vocal take on this 1944 classic of the canon makes this song one of my favorites.
Bruce Springsteen and the E. St. Band – Santa Claus is Coming to Town
If you know me, or have followed this blog for any length of time, this isn’t a surprise – how could I include a list of favorite Christmas songs without including Bruce’s version of this classic! – of course I am biased, but I think this is one of those rare occasions where the cover version meets or exceeds the original! Just love this version!
Anyway, again, very best wishes to everyone for a joyous holiday season!
Ah, the holiday season. A time to celebrate with family and friends, to partake in long standing traditions of religious services, meal sharing, gift giving. And as music lovers, to appreciate the music of the season.
So just in time for Christmas, we have a new album from William Shatner (of Star Trek Captain Kirk fame) called “Shatner Claus”. Shatner, the self described “godfather of dramatic musical interpretation” (ahem…) has released a number of “albums” over the years in a number of genres. I’m not sure what is meant by dramatic musical interpretation, but if it means Shatner talk/singing lyrics to songs in his patented way over the top, overly emotional dramatic to the point of farce way, then he is in peak form on this album. The songs are so distractedly bad that when listening to it for the first time on my way home from work, I accidentally took the wrong exit off the freeway (a route I have taken so often I could normally do it in my sleep!)
Interestingly (or amazingly in my mind) he has recruited a number of legitimate musicians to accompany him on these songs. Its an eclectic mix, from Henry Rollins, Iggy Pop, and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, to Brad Paisley, Judy Collins, and Rick Wakeman of Yes. In a number of cases, this makes the songs tolerable, until of course we begin with the “dramatic musical interpretation of Santa Shatner.
So what does it sound like?- picture if you will the obnoxious uncle who comes over for the holiday celebration, has too much to drink, and commandeers the Christmas song karaoke machine to entertain the family. Let me give you some examples.
Have you ever wondered what Jingle Bells would sound like if on the sleigh ride you brought along a case of beer, and had Henry Rollins along to scream “JINGLE BELLS!!” at you? Well, here you go:
Winter Wonderland is one of my favorite Christmas songs, and when done right, it can really conjure up a beautiful traditional Christmas scene, even if its not snowing outside. And then there’s this.
After this performance, perhaps the other adults suggest you take your uncle out to get something to eat – unfortunately, the restaurant you choose is playing Christmas music, and Feliz Navidad comes on – Uncle Bill (after a few more drinks) decides he really needs to wish everyone in the restaurant a Merry Christmas. Well, it might sound something like this.
And it goes on from there. I won’t torture you with many more – but if you wonder how Silent Night as done by Shatner and Iggy Pop might sound, or Shatner’s take on the “ba radda da dum” of Little Drummer Boy” you’re on your own. Oh, and there is also a punk rock version of Jingle Bells again with Henry Rollins that sounds like an outtake after a long night of drinking – just perfect for the family sing along.
I leave you with the only official video from the album, Shatner Claus “singing” Rudoph the Red Nosed Reindeer” with some help from Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. If you can ignore the creepy elves and the fact that they appear to have decided midway through to finish the song at a college frat party/rave with Santa dressed as a Vegas lounge singer, its not that bad….
Time for a second episode of Digging in the Garage, where I feature some of my favorite garage tunes, as heard on Nuggets or Little Steven’s Underground Garage. See here for the inaugural episode which has more background. Let’s get digging.
First up, (We Ain’t Got) Nothing Yet by the Blues Magoos.
The Magoos were a Bronx psychedelic rock band that was part of the NY scene in the mid 60’s, along with The Lovin’ Spoonful and The Youngbloods. According to Songfacts, the Magoos were a huge influence on Syd Barrett and Pink Floyd. Released in October 1966 on the album Psychedelic Lollipop, the song reached #5 on the US charts in February 1967. The boastfulness of the lyrics about being on their way to massive success was apparently matched in their live performances, where they wore electric blue suits with flashing lights. Ironically, it was their only hit.
Outside Chance – The Turtles
The Turtles are best know for their #1 single Happy Together, which famously knocked the BeatlesPenny Lane out of the top spot in the American charts. The vocalists Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman later achieved fame as Flo & Eddie. Outside Chance was a single released in 1966 that amazingly failed to chart. Fun fact – the song was co-written by a young Warren Zevon. I love the contrariness of the lyrics – rather than pleading with the girl to love him, the singer flatly states: Stone walls surround me I’m surprised that you even found me, And you don’t stand an outside chance. Although perhaps there is hope, since the next line is: But you can try!
Double Shot (of My Baby’s Love) – The Swingin’ Medallions
This is one of my favorite songs of all time. A classic example of “frat rock,” so called because the record sounds like it was recorded during a frat party (with party voices in the background). The Swingin’ Medallions were from, of all places, Greenwood, South Carolina – which just goes to show you that great songs can come from anywhere. Their 1966 cover of Double Shot (originally recorded in 1964 by Dick Holler & the Holidays) went to #17 on the charts. It contains the all time time classic line It wasn’t wine that I had too much of, It was a double shot of my baby’s love. Hilariously, it was banned from some radio stations (perhaps in the South?) for its mention of drinking and sex. My how times have changed. Anyway, I first heard of it on a Springsteen bootleg where Bruce mentions it while introducing Sherry Darling (an homage to frat rock songs).
If you have any favorite garage songs you think I should feature, let me know in the comments.
So its that time of year – Halloween. Traditionally its has been associated with ghosts, vampires, and monsters. Spooky fun. But in the US, especially in the last 50 years, the holiday has also become associated with slasher flicks, serial killers, and other psychopaths – blame John Carpenter’s classic movie Halloween. Or maybe not – maybe this is just my excuse to do a blog on some of my favorite songs about creeps and deviants. I’m sure there’s a whole subgenre of these songs that I’m not aware of – my picks are by artists that you’ve probably heard of and that I’ve always liked. And one is probably the creepiest song I have ever heard. So without further adieu:
More Than I Can Do- Steve Earle
From his come back album of sorts, I Feel Alright, this uptempo song seems at first to just be about a guy’s unrequited love for someone – but as it continues it definitely moves into stalker territory. “You left me just when I needed you So l ain’t even close to through with you.” Definitely Creepy.
I Feel So Good – Richard Thompson
From Rumor and Sigh, this song is definitely not an endorsement for the ability to reform juvenile delinquents. Again, a pretty uptempo melody but there’s no denying where things are going right from the start: “I feel so good I’m going to Break somebody’s heart tonight I feel so good I’m going to Take someone apart tonight.’ And it goes from there. Definitely Deviant.
Excitable Boy – Warren Zevon
From the album of the same name, this darkly humorous little ditty from the incomparable Warren Zevon starts weird and moves straight to deviant/psychopathic. Zevon’s tongue in cheek lyrics – “He’s just an excitable boy” also perhaps are a dark commentary on society’s penchant for making excuses? Also love the sax solo.
Midnight Rambler – The Rolling Stones
From Let It Bleed, this classic song from the Stones is pure psychopathy and evil. It was written in part about Albert De Salvo, aka the Boston Strangler, who murdered 13 women in the early 60’s Boston area. Keith Richards has called it a blue opera, or a blues in 4 parts, even though the chord sequence isn’t a blues one.
And the finale, the song that always creeps me out just listening to it –
What’s He Building in There – Tom Waits.
From the album Mule Variations. Not really a song, as much as a spoken word performance with a montage of assorted random background sounds. Is it about a misunderstood freak? A deviant, or something darker? That’s the beauty of it – you can only wonder. If you listen to any of these songs, listen to this one – even in the middle of the day, it’ll freak you out.
Ok I have to go turn on every light in the house right now – til later…… oh, and Happy Halloween!
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