Tag: music (Page 1 of 90)

Another big, eclectic mix of music this week.

“Summer Drive” – Dragon Turtle
For those moody, nighttime drives when summer’s hold begins to slip.

“mangetout” – Wet Leg
It took a minute, but a song from the new WL album finally jumped out at me. This track has all the cheek of their first album – so many sly lyrics! – with a slight edge that, to my ear, recalls the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

“Alright Alright Alright” – Westside Cowboy
My records indicate that I’ve not shared this song before. My brain keep telling me that I have, though. Oh well, it’s a fun enough song that it’s worth including again if my records are suspect. I’m not sure I believe this group is from Manchester, either. They sound very West Coast to me.

“Willow” – she’s green
This sounds a lot like Hatchie, both in vocals and music. The group is from Minneapolis, which is about as opposite of Hatchie’s native Australia as you can get.

“Punch Drunk” – Broken Fires
BF’s “East London Hotel” is one of my favorite songs of the summer. I finally checked and they indeed have an album coming out in November and this is another pre-release from it.

“Pay Per View” – Georgia Maq
The wonderful Camp Cope officially broke up two years ago. Maq had already released music on her own before, so this is not really her solo debut. The music takes a different path, but her voice remains magnificent.

“Quiet Life” – shame
Man, I’m not sure how to categorize this song. At first it seems like it’s taking a run at the Lord Huron sound. Then it picks up the pace and its Britishness presents itself, falling closer to bands like Fontaines D.C. or The Clockworks, with just a hint of rockabilly in there. I think it slaps.

“Ain’t Quite Right” – Still Blank
Stereogum described this band as “folk-grunge.” That’s a new one on me. I guess it fits.

“Can’t Do Nuttin’ For Ya, Man!” – Public Enemy
My brother-in-law, Mahk in Bahston, shared a wonderful blurb with me a few weeks back. Responding to the notion that the United States would deport immigrants from nations like Venezuela to Nigeria, the Nigerian foreign minister said, honest to God, “…you’ll remember a line from Flavor Flav, ‘Flavor Flav has problems of his own, I can’t do nothing for you, man.’” Nigeria is my new favorite country.

“Huddle Formation” – The Go! Team
I heard this one night this week while making dinner. Let me tell you, that dinner tasted a little better than normal thanks to my bopping around to this jam!

“Boys on the Radio” – Hole
Maybe a stretch to call this a summer song, although the word summer is in it. And, hell, it is a perfect song for cranking up while driving around with the windows down at night. Which, honestly, I haven’t done in about 30 years, but it is one of those core summer experiences I can never shake and can’t help but reference often.

“Hey Ladies” – Beastie Boys
Over the weekend I came across a great YouTube vid breaking down Paul’s Boutique. All the excuse I needed to listen to that classic album and then share this amazing video with you. Free James Brown.

Back to extra-stuffed this week. So stuffed that I’ll only include one summer song. And apologies to Chuck Mangione, but there’s no room to honor his passing with more than these words.

“Summer Nights” – Van Halen
Perfect late July song.

“Touch Myself” – The Beaches
Not a remake of that song, but definitely about the same subject. And a strong Song of the Summer contender.

“Cowbella” – bar italia
I’m not sure if they were going for this, but every time I hear this song I think of Elastica. Or maybe druggier Elastica?

“The Scene” – Hotline TNT
Some poor DJing here. I’ve only been sitting on it since the summer began. It deserved to be shared much sooner.

“Adored” – Been Stellar
Not quite as good as the songs they released a year ago. It’s a little more contemplative and less straight rock. It reminds me a bit of Silversun Pickups.

“Paint By Number” – Coral Grief
I’ve been kicking a few of this band’s songs around for several weeks. I finally broke down and picked this one to share with you. I hope you like it.

“Reticence” – Girls Names
This song is a decade old, so from before I started doing Friday playlists. I 1000% would have included it had FPL’s existed then. I love this band’s blend of dark post punk and jangly indie rock.

“Let It Happen” – Tame Impala
Currents was released 10 years ago last week. Its highlight is this stone-cold classic. Five stars all around.

“Twilight Zone” – Golden Earring
George Kooymans, guitarist and vocalist of Golden Earring, died this week. His passing got lost in the wave of other, more notable deaths this remarkable week. Shame. One of the obits I read suggested that if the term Two-Hit Wonder was a thing, Golden Earring might be the best example. “Radar Love,” from 1973, is a Classic Rock radio staple. This track went to #10 in 1982 and has never dropped out of rotation on Eighties stations. Eleven-year-old me thought it was the coolest song on the radio.

“War Pigs” – Black Sabbath
You didn’t have to be a fan of Ozzy Osbourne to know a shitload of his songs. That’s certainly the case with me. I never owned one of his albums or singles, never taped a song of his off the radio, never downloaded any of his songs. I was never deep enough into metal to be interested in his music. But I can sing along to the choruses of at least half a dozen of them because Ozzy was always in the air.

A few years ago I learned that Ozzy was actually a big hippie in the Sixties. That helps to explain this song, one of the most incandescent, ferocious anti-war songs ever made. It kicks all kinds of ass. He may have loved darkness and the occult, but deep down he just wanted everyone to love each other and have a good time.

It’s amazing he made it to 76. One obituary this week stated that researchers had studied him and determined that he was a genetic freak, able to tolerate drugs and alcohol in quantities far beyond the normal human being. That explains a lot.

“Killing in the Name of a Terrible Holy Lie” – Nine Inch Nails and Various Artists
I miss good mashups like this. I know things got a little out of hand in that moment, about 20 years ago, when mashups blew up. But when done well, how can you not like them?

This week’s playlist is dominated by the ladies.

“Pool Hopping” – illuminati hotties
Yeah, pool hopping sounds great and all, until every pool you jump into is 95°.

“Jealous Boy” – The Bug Club
A suggestion from brother-in-music E$. I’ve been trying to figure out who this group sounds like for a couple weeks but can’t quite pin it down. So I stopped worrying about it and focus on enjoying the song.

“davina mccall” – Wet Leg
I somehow completely missed their new album dropping last week. It has an 86 on Album of the Year, so I need to get on it.

“Wreck” – Neko Case
Neko never sits still, so you her output can vary. This is in line with her best work.

“Welcome To The End” – Maren Morris
This is on a benefit album for an organization that supports LGBTQ+ kids. Lord knows our government is going to do anything to help those kids anymore.

“Quitting” – Eliza Mclamb
A delightful power-pop jam produced by Sarah Tudzin of illuminati hotties.

“If She Was A Boy” – Gatlin
I was sure this was Katie Gavin of MUNA at first. It sounds a lot like her. Wild that their names are so close.

“Summer Girl” – HAIM
I recently saw someone describe HAIM as the “queens of the summer song.” If that is true, this was the song where that began.

“No Curse” – Waxahatchee
From 2017, when there was a little more of her punk origins in Katie Crutchfield’s sound.

Between the holiday weekend and me spending mornings watching the Tour de France, I’ve been a little slower on getting through the music this week. I think I can still come up with a few decent ones to share with y’all.

“Summertime” – The Sundays
Pure pop genius.

“Paint A Picture” – The Hives
Yes, it is those Hives, back for more nonsense.

“Stay Out Of Place” – Idlewild
Speaking of bands that first broke out in the early part of the new millennium, these Scots are also back with new music. No where near their best, but I will always give them music a chance.

“All The World” – Pale Fire
Holy crap, these guys sound like classic Idlewild! And they are Scottish, too! This is from their 2020 album Husbands.

“Bag of Bones” – Lord Huron
Steven Hyden has a great piece on Uproxx about how Lord Huron might be the best example of a “popular but not famous” band at the moment. They sure don’t drift from the sound that made them famous.

“Insulin” – Black Honey
In addition to the latest shoegaze revival, can we also admit there’s a strong ‘90s alt rock revival thing going on? It seems like I’m playing a song that could easily be from 1995 every couple of weeks.

“Lonely Town” – Steve Queralt & Emma Anderson
Queralt is in Ride. Anderson was in Lush. This track manages to sound like both bands, which isn’t that big of a stretch since both were among the giants of the original British shoegaze movement.

“Cropduster” – Pearl Jam
The old joke about Pearl Jam was that they couldn’t keep a drummer. Over their first eight years, they had four official drummers and two unofficial, temporary ones.[1] Then in 1998, when Soundgarden was on hiatus, Matt Cameron filled in on tour when Jack Irons was unable to play. When Irons decided he did not want to tour anymore, Cameron became a permanent member of Pearl Jam.

As I stood in line to get lunch at IU orientation on Monday, I received an email from the band saying that Cameron was leaving. Reasons were not given. There was speculation he had tired of the band’s touring cycle, or that he was just interested in working on his own projects while staying close to home. Chris Cornell’s widow finally reached an agreement with his former bandmates and there is expected to be a new album of leftover Soundgarden songs, so perhaps he is focused on that. He gave Pearl Jam 27 years. I think he’s earned the right to do what he wants. Like so many fans, I hope Cameron isn’t facing some kind of major health issue.

He wasn’t my favorite drummer; I’ve said many times I found his style too clinical and precise, and I thought his best playing was on their last album when he seemed to let loose more. But if he was the big brother they needed to get out of the Nineties alive, it was worth it. I don’t think rest of the band are ready to stop touring, so it will be interesting to see who they bring in next.

Props to Matt. He had several writing credits, this is my favorite of them.

“Sunchaser” – Arc de Soleil
This cat is Swedish. His music is very reminiscent of Khruangbin’s.

“Atlas Drowned” – Gang of Youths
I was listening to some GoY this week and wondered what they were up to. My internet sleuthing suggests they may be taking a long sabbatical before they begin work on their next album. And then they are infamous for taking a long time once they get into the studio. That’s a bummer. To you bells in the curve, I will love you but love not the powers you serve.

It’s been 12 years since I’ve updated my Favorite Songs of All Time list. Which seems like a crime for someone like me: a music freak with lots of free time and a blog. I’ve thought about it a lot, trust me. I’ve reached the point in my life, though, where the return on that process doesn’t seem to justify the effort that would go into it. Streaming has messed with my head too, and I just don’t listen to the old songs as often as I used to, so I think I’m worried I would need to scrap big parts of the 2013 list if I ever jumped back into it.

However, last week The Bridge, 90.9 FM in Kansas City, which I stream often, played their top 909 songs of the century (so far), based on listener voting. I streamed off-and-on all week, but really locked in Friday evening, somewhere around #50, after all our holiday guests had left. It’s amazing how fast you can go through a countdown when there aren’t commercials!

That experience inspired me to crank out my own Best of the 2000s list. Which, again, seemed daunting. I gave myself a couple rules to simplify the task. First, I would only select songs from my annual Best Of lists. Second, for the years I did not make a Favorites list, I would only do a quick glance at my Apple Music catalog, The Bridge’s list, and a brief search of the Internet to make sure I was including anything important for those years. I wasn’t going to spend hours on 2000–03. Finally, I would try to keep the descriptions of each song brief.

(Several of these appeared on The Bridge’s countdown, so I’ll put that number in parenthesis.)

25 – “Wreckage” – Pearl Jam
I’ll sneak this in at 25, as recency bias is still in play, but after spending most of this century making good but rarely great music, Pearl Jam found a new path in 2024 and it paid off with one of the best songs of their entire careers. I still listen to it often.

24 – “Can’t Do Much” – Waxahatchee
Katie Crutchfield is an American treasure.

23 – “The House That Heaven Built” – Japandroids (#294)
Straight ahead, roaring, beer drinking, gasoline burning, rock ’n’ roll.

22 – “American English” – Idlewild
True story: one of the first nights that S worked a 24-hour shift in the summer of 2003, after we had gotten married and moved to Indy, I listened to this over-and-over-and-over. I loved it so much I was sure there had to be some kind of hidden meaning in it. Turned out it was just a great song, and also my introduction to Scottish indie rock.

21 – “Bohemian Like You” – Dandy Warhols (#271)
Looking back this may have been the first, big indie rock song I ever loved.

20 – “Catch the Sun” – Doves
Then again, I heard this a few months earlier in 2000, so this would be first.

19 – “Pynk” – Janelle Monáe featuring Grimes (#669)
I’m not sure that any artist this century has been as successful making insanely ambitious music as Ms. Monáe.

18 – “Believe” – Amen Dunes
There were a couple better known and possibly more deserving songs that could have filled this spot. None of them have the hold on me this song has.

17 – “Anything But Me” – MUNA
The best indie song that is sneakily a straight pop song of the century.

16 – “For Nancy (’Cos It Already Is)” – Pete Yorn
Musicforthemorningafter was the first great album of the century, and maybe the first new album I ever downloaded in full from “file sharing” sites and then burned onto a CD-R. Ah, nostalgia! This absolute banger was the first thing I heard from that album, on the Music Choice channels on my cable TV package.

15 – “Motion Sickness” – Phoebe Bridgers (#93)
Phoebe is our Indie Rock Queen, and this is the song that will likely stand above everything else she does in her career.

14 – “Call Your Girlfriend” – Robyn (#199)
Any one of three Robyn songs could have been here, but this wins thanks to perhaps the greatest video of the century.

13 – “Stacking Chairs” – Middle Kids
Marriage is hard. This song is a reminder that sometimes the best way to tell your partner that you love them and will always be there for them is through a simple act of helping to clean up after a party.

12 – “Hey Ya!” – Outkast (#2)
The greatest crossover song of the 21st Century. You heard it on pop stations, Black stations, and rock stations, saw the video on MTV. It was everywhere. And, at least to me, it never got old. This was #2 on The Bridge’s countdown.

11 – “Wild” – Spoon (They had 10 songs on the list, but somehow this didn’t make it.)
The best song from the most consistent and enduring indie rock band of the last 30 years.

10 – Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand (#25)
What an amazingly awesomely arranged song.

9 – “Ball & A Biscuit” – The White Stripes
OK, allow me to brag for a moment. When The Bridge started their countdown, I thought ahead to what might possibly be the #1 song. Their playlist leans to the alt/indie rock side of the spectrum, although what makes them so great is how they play plenty of modern soul, thoughtful hip hop, a smattering of enlightened country, and plenty of classics that have influenced all those modern genres. I gave the subject about 30 seconds of consideration before landing on what I thought would be the top song.

When they got to #1 sometime around 10 PM eastern Friday, my guess was confirmed: “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes. It was so obvious! I told S and she was whatever the exact opposite of impressed was. Oh well…

Anyway, “SNA” is a GREAT song. But as my brother in music E$ put it, it would be better if we had all heard it 10,000 fewer times. And it’s not even the best song on the album it comes from. This is that song.

8 – “Phantom Limb” – The Shins (#160)
The most beautiful song of the century.

7- “Mistaken For Strangers” – The National (#213)
The most cinematic song of the century.

6- “Float On” – Modest Mouse (#6)
This was the song I was listening to when S’s water broke the night before M was born and we officially became parents. Good thing it is a jam!

5 – The Rat – The Walkmen (#206)
Anger kind of went out once Korn and bands of that ilk ruined it in the late 90s. This is the best angry song of this century, though, a lament of both a fractured relationship and what that relationship cost the narrator.

4 – The Gold – Manchester Orchestra (#530)
The moment MO figured out if they dialed everything back just a touch, their music worked better than when everything was pushed to 11.

3 – “Stuck Between Stations” – The Hold Steady (#164)
I had dabbled a bit in The Hold Steady’s music before they released Boys and Girls In America in 2006. Notably “You Little Hoodrat Friend,” one of the key songs that helped guide me into the indie rock world. But the first time I heard this? It blew me away with its literacy, its humor, and its pure, American, bar-band rock.

2 – “Red Eyes” – The War on Drugs (#170)
Another band I could throw a handful of songs into a hat and be happy with any I selected. This is the song that launched TWOD’s ascent from esoteric indie rock darlings into the mainstream of the indie rock world.

1 – “The Modern Leper” – Frightened Rabbit
A song, and an album, that really fucked me up. In the best possible way. And continued doing so for years. Until the pain that birthed them became too much for Scott Hutchison and they took on a whole other level of fucked up-ish-ness.

Two other of my annual #1’s made the Bridge’s list:
2009 #1 “Whirring” – Joy Formidable was #309
2016 #1 “Pain” – The War on Drugs was #153

It’s one of my favorite music days of the year! For the seventh time, I present my Independence Day playlist!

As a reminder, these aren’t necessarily patriotic songs, nor ones that have anything to do with this holiday, other than their titles. The first edition back in 2019 included 11 songs. With one addition this year – can you find it? – we are up to 22 songs. It’s not really made for backyard parties, but more for the getting ready before the crowd comes moments, when things are a little quieter and you are more reflective.

Happy Independence Day, everyone!

Several new songs by old artists this week. And some new songs by new artists. In other words, a normal week.

“In The Sun” – Blondie
We’ve had a little too much sun this week. It’s been miserable. This song makes me feel a little better about it.

“Breakaway” – Been Stellar
These kids keep cranking out good tracks.

“Modern Man” – MORN
Kick ass music from Wales!

“Move Now” – Marshall Crenshaw
One of my all-time favorite writers of pop songs is back with a new album of old tracks. From The Hellhole collects songs he released on vinyl for Record Store Day between 2012 and 2016 and then went out of print. Not up to his classics, but still good stuff here.

“Got To Have Love” – Pulp
As with The London Suede last week, Pulp is one of those bands that went away for a while then came back, sounding the same, and as good, as in their prime.

“Live Forever” – Sloan
These Canadian power pop legends are about to release the 14th album of their career. That’s a lot, even with the CAD-USD conversion rate.

“Crossing Fingers” – Rocket
Another Rocket jam filled with ‘90s nostalgic goodness.

“DEAD” – Sudan Archives
One of the most original and interesting songs I’ve heard this year.

“Just Like A Flower” – Winter
Winter said this captures the essence of daydreaming in her bedroom as a teen. I definitely hear that.

“You’re Pretty Good Looking (For A Girl)” – The White Stripes
The Stripes second album, De Stijl, was released 25 years and one week ago. It would be another 18 months or so before they exploded into the mainstream with tracks off White Blood Cells, but you could hear them working on getting to that point on this album. Here is side one, track one. Because you know Jack would prefer you to listen to it on vinyl.

Also, the album came out the same day as my 29th birthday party. An evening where, after dinner and many drinks a large group of friends went to The Levee in Kansas City to listen to Sonny Kenner. A show at which I ignored a lot of my friends to talk to a young lady who had just moved there from Indianapolis.

“Summertime Girls” – Y&T
I just read a book about hair metal. More about that next week. Y&T didn’t get a ton of space in it, but they were referenced, so perfect week to throw this one in as our summer bookender.

“Dr. Feelgood” – Mötley Crüe
While we’re on that subject, let’s end things with one of the best songs of that era.

Summer is here (officially)! The time is right…

“Dancing In The Street” – Van Halen
A lot of people shit on it, but this is one of my all-time favorite summer songs.

“This Summer” – Sleigh Bells
This track comes from an album called Bunky Becky Birthday Boy. Hint, hint.

“Waawooweewaa” – OK Cool
We need more songs titled after things Borat said.

“Big Empty Heart” – Cardinals
NOT Ryan Adams former backing band, but rather another excellent group from Ireland.

“Incomprehensible” – Big Thief
The first Big Thief song I’ve liked for quite a while.

“drains” – mary in the junkyard
This UK band sure sounds a lot like Big Thief.

“Disintegrate” – The London Suede
Proper Suede music!

“Heaven Is A State Of Mind” – Pictureplane
This sounds straight out of a mid-Eighties movie that would replay endlessly on cable TV.

“Bitcoin Takes A Hit” – CVCHE
Totally not a scam.

“No Rain, No Flowers” – The Black Keys
The Keys are back. They sound less like Jack White each year. Speaking of Jack White…

“Archbishop Harold Holmes” – Jack White
John C. Reilly starring in a video for a Jack jam? Yes the hell please!

Well this has turned into quite a significant playlist. We lost two absolute musical giants over the past week. I found an incredible live performance from an artist we lost nearly 30 years ago. I am also headed back to Kansas City for the weekend, so I have to throw something from the (old) KC scene in there. And then I still continue to have tons of new music that’s worth sharing. Strap in for a long one.

“Hot Fun In The Summertime” – Sly & The Family Stone
Sly Stone was the first legend of the week to die. His peak was cut short by issues with drugs and mental health and the resulting chaos those caused in his personal and music lives, but Sly was one of the towering figures in music when the 1960s turned into the 1970s. As a DJ, he played The Beatles on Black stations in the Bay Area, spreading their reach. His band broke all kinds of barriers of race and gender. Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye were already headed towards more thoughtful, political writing, but Sly opened the door for that to be commercially viable. There is zero doubt that every funk artist that came later in the Seventies was indebted to him. And while Prince was inevitable, I’m not sure he would have been the same artist he was had Sly not paved the way. Oh, and Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation and sooooo much of sample-era hip hop would sound completely different without Sly.

“Good Vibrations” – The Beach Boys
I was never a Beach Boys fan. That mostly comes from their schlocky, late 70s revival when I was first discovering them and then how Mike Love turned them into a conservative, money making machine in the 80s. In time I learned to appreciate how good and inventive much of their early music was, and the impact it had on so many bands, most notably The Beatles. Especially this song.

All the good Beach Boys music came from the mind of Brian Wilson, who passed on Wednesday. He may have been the ultimate tortured genius, forever chasing the sounds he had in his head and never quite capturing them in the studio. Another talent who was derailed by mental health illness and resulting drug use. It’s kind of amazing he and Sly both made it to their 80s. RIP to each of them.

“Say Goodbye, Tell No One” – Kathleen Edwards
My favorite new song of the past week or so.

“East London Hotel” – Broken Fires
My second favorite new song of the past week or so. These lads are from Wales. This weekend I’m traveling to celebrate the life of a great Welsh American.

“Deep End” – The Lemonheads
“Hot Roy” – Peter Murphy
Two brand new songs by artists that were huge 30-ish years ago but have been quiet for a long time. Both of these are fine.

“Glad” – Saint Etienne
I’m not going to pretend I’m a big SE fan, but they deserve respect for hanging around for 35 years. They just announced their final album will come out this fall. The lead single features both Tom Rowlands of The Chemical Brothers and Jez Williams of Doves. Not bad partners.

“Inept Apollo” – Nation of Language
This is some good, mid–80s synthpop, made in 2025.

“Hope I Die Tonight” – Paw
Man, we are about to hit the 30th anniversary of Paw’s second album, Death To Traitors, being released. That was the one that was supposed to launch them into the stratosphere. Only their record label was merging and melting down and they lost their marketing support and it hardly sold at all despite getting terrific reviews. Still one of the best concerts I ever went to was in late July, 1995, when Paw played The Bottleneck in Lawrence. They were a lean, mean rocking machine that night.

“Summer Breeze” – Seals & Crofts
We’ve had those good summer breezes this week.

“Grace” – Jeff Buckley
My God is this an incredible performance. I discovered this on a Bluesky thread. I’m not even sure how that thread landed on this song, but the person who posted it said “GodDAMN he didn’t phone in one single performance.” Buckley really should have been a giant, but the Mississippi River claimed him on May 29, 1997.