I decided to go with a Thursday Playlist after noting the date.
We are off very early tomorrow for a week in the Dominican Republic with roughly a third of M’s graduating class. Two other local high schools will also have large contingents at our resort, so it’s going to be Indy in the Tropics, I guess. Knock on wood all travel goes well and there’s minimal drama amongst the kids (both ours and the larger group). Actually, I’m more worried about some of the parents. I bet I have more stories about adults than kids after we return.
The music lined up just right and I have what I think is an amazing group of songs to share this week.
“My Witch” – Jen Cloher
I’ve followed Cloher’s music casually over the years. She once made my year end favorites list, but not too many of her other songs have gotten more than a few cursory plays in my music apps. Until her new album I Am The River, The River Is Me dropped a couple weeks back. It’s terrific. This is one of the standouts, a not-subtle-at-all track about lust and the need to satisfy those urges. The video is something else. Not sure it is work safe for you non work at home types.
“Overrater” – Superviolet
This is one of those songs that sounds like something else, but I can’t quite place it. The lead singer comes from the band The Sidekicks, but I can’t recall listening to them much so that’s not it. Let me know if you make the connection.
“Wonder” – En Attendant Ana
I swore this band had been around for a while and that I played some of their music in my early music podcasting days, over 15 years ago. Nope, they’ve only been around since 2018. Looks like I first shared one of their songs on a Friday Playlist in 2020, just before Lockdown began. This song lives up to its name; it truly is a wonder.
“Black Earth, WI” – Ratboys
Not much this band does that I don’t dig. This was the band’s first-ever attempt at recording direct to tape. It turned out pretty well, and makes me want to see them live.
“Full of the Joys of Spring” – The Sundries
This song was released early last fall, but as I just discovered it in January I think you will understand why I sat on it a couple more months. Happy spring!
“The Woodpile” – Frightened Rabbit
FR’s third album, Pedestrian Verse, came out just over ten years ago. This past week they officially released the anniversary edition, complete with a reproduction of the notebook that Scott Hutchison scribbled his lyrics in. I remember when this single was released. I quickly bought it, put it on my iPod, and listened to it over and over and over again on a work trip to Bloomington. There are a lot of dated references in that sentence.
Once upon a time that’s what I did with new songs: play them continuously to absorb them. This song may well have been the last time I did that. I know at least one of my friends who also loved FR picked this as her favorite of their songs. It’s pretty high on my list, too, featuring arguably Hutchison’s best chorus.