Boy do I have a list for you this week. A couple gems I’ve come up with on my own. Some discovered via Spotify’s suggestions. Two new entries in the “Country Or Not” category. One track from a performer facing a huge challenge. And our latest shoutout to a lost artist.
“No Reason” – Sunny War
If this song doesn’t get you tapping your toes, snapping your fingers, nodding your head, or wiggling your ass a little, I don’t want to be friends with you.
“Before” – Swiss Portrait
The latest dreamy offering by Scottish bedroom popper Michael Kay Terence.
“Portrait” – The Goa Express
This track rips. And it is the first one in this week’s list from Spotify’s Discover Weekly. I love it when they push stuff like this on me; songs/artists I had not heard before and which fit my sensibilities. This week’s inclusions were especially good…
“First High” – Nikki Lane
Like this one, which was sequenced right after the Goa Express track. Lane is officially a country artist. If you didn’t know that you wouldn’t call this a country song, as it is straight sassy, fun-as-hell pop.
“All For the Best” – Miracle Legion
I definitely love it when the Discover playlist includes a classic that is new to me. I don’t recall ever knowing about Miracle Legion. Probably because they came up in the 1980s college rock scene, something I was not a fan of at the time. And they never were very popular, having more success in Europe than in the States. They were compared by some to R.E.M. Maybe a few strands of shared DNA, but I don’t find them to be much alike at all. This nice track comes from their 1987 debut album Surprise Surprise Surprise.
“When the Storm Has Passed” – Great Lake Swimmers
Just the right amount of twang in this gorgeous track. I’m not surprised that these guys are A) Canadian and B) influenced by Neil Young. Just like Young, they are not country, but there is some influence from that world.
“The Weakness” – Ruston Kelly featuring Samia
Earlier this year I shared the original version of this as a “Country or Not” entry. Releasing an updated, toned down version with additional vocals by Samia nudges it maybe half a notch closer to country. Maybe it’s just my imagination, but Samia sure sounds a lot like Kelly’s ex-wife Kacey Musgraves on this track.
“Wendy” – Jesse Malin
News broke earlier this week that Malin suffered a very rare spinal stroke earlier this spring and is, for now at least, partially paralyzed. Perhaps in an effort to raise funds for his medical care, there is a new EP on Spotify featuring three tracks from his 2003 album The Fine Art of Self-Destruction, which had been updated an re-released a year ago. That album was produced by Ryan Adams and you sure as hell hear his presence on this track. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought it was an Adams song, not a Malin one.
“Summer Is Here” – ARMSTRONG
It is true. Summer is here.
“Sister Havana” – Urge Overkill
RIP to UO drummer Blackie Onassis, who passed this week. One of the best names in ’90s rock. Hell of a good drummer, too.