My Friday Playlist pool has been pretty full this year. There was a little lull in the past month where I had to do some digging to fill out the weekly lists. Suddenly, though, I am overflowing once again. When I started working on today’s edition, I had 17 songs in the queue, only two of which were older tracks. Which is a good problem, obviously, as it means extra music for you as I work to get through them all.
“This Is A Photograph II” – Kevin Morby
My KC homie just announced his latest project, More Photographs (A Continuum), which expands on last year’s This Is A Photograph by re-imagining a few songs (like this one) and adding some new songs from those original sessions that he’s continued to work on. No surprise that it sounds like another great release already.
“I’m Going To Get Free” – Dexys
I had no idea Dexys Midnight Runners, who now perform as just Dexys, were still making music. Although a classic ’80s one-hit-wonder here in the States, they’ve never stopped recording and remain super popular back in the UK. I can’t say I’ve heard any of their music since 1983. This is their latest release and it’s very fun.
“Run To The Moon” – Beach Fossils
Super summery vibes here. It was 85 in Indy yesterday so it’s finally time to play songs like this without a healthy dose of hope for warmer days to come.
“Every Day Like the Last” – Wye Oak
WO just announced they will no longer make full albums, instead concentrating on singles and EPs. Which makes total sense in the current music environment. It also allows them to chase their always meandering muse a little easier. As almost always happens when they shift their sound, I love this track.
“Silhouette” – Human Tetris
This sounds straight out of the 1982, British synthpop world. Which makes sense, as the band is from Moscow and may just be discovering the first wave of post punk. Moscow, Russia, not Moscow, Idaho.
“Watching The Credits” – The Beths
A leftover track from last year’s Expert In A Dying Field. I always wonder why songs this good don’t make the final track list for albums.
“Mountain at My Gates” – Foals
An oldie I heard for the first time in ages this week that still sounds pretty good.
“Underground” – City and Colour
I swore I included this song in a playlist earlier this spring, but can’t find it. Apologies if my search skills aren’t working properly this morning and it was in an earlier edition.
We went to our first concert of the year Wednesday, seeing these guys at The Vogue theater. I knew very little about them, only that our friends we often attend concerts with suggested it as a good show. I listened to a little of their music over the past few months, but other than this, one of the early singles off their latest album, I couldn’t really get into them. But I figured S would really like them and it would be an excuse to hang with old friends we don’t see often enough.
I was a little shocked when we walked into The Vogue just after the opening act – Courtney Marie Andrews – began her set. The place was packed. I pride myself on at least knowing of the bands that are making waves in this part of the music world, but I had no clue how long C&C had been around or that they had carved out a loyal audience. The venue was near capacity and a lot of the folks there knew many of the words to the songs, loudly singing them back at the stage.
Dallas Green has a remarkable voice. The acoustics at The Vogue can be tricky, but his voice rang out clearly even over their songs that rock. I knew from my buddy that Green had been in a screamo band back in the day, and I’m amazed that a guy who used to shriek his lyrics can sing like this.
(Oh, you should read the story about his name. Baseball fans, he was named after the person he shares a name with.)
I found the songs I sampled before the show a little too gentle for my tastes. In concert, the band veered closer to a southern rock sound, sometimes borderline country, with several that exploded into loud solos.
I’m not going to dive deeply into their music but I enjoyed listening to them play live for about 90 minutes.
“Age of Consent” – New Order live on BBC
Someone posted this on Twitter this week in a thread about the greatest live performances. He pointed out that the band was late getting to the studio and apparently pissed off about a lot of things, and how Bernard Sumner played a totally different song early on, yet it still comes together in a scintillating performance. The entire rhythm section of this song is incredible.