Tag: music (Page 3 of 89)

Weird week around here. So weird I’m putting this together Thursday afternoon as I have some plans Friday morning.

“Fur Mink Augurs” – Bob Mould
Bob’s new album came out last Friday. It is exactly what you would expect from a Bob Mould album. This is probably the best song on it. Sounds like a good song to end a set or show with. I’ll find out in two months.

“Dreaming” – Witch Post
WP is a duo of a Scotsman and an LA girl. Odd combo, but it works.

“It’s Amazing To Be Young” – Fontaines D.C.
FDC continue their stylistic change. This song was inspired by the birth of guitarist Carlos O’Connell’s child. Carlos O’Connell is a wild name!

“Garden” – Maria Somerville
Well this song is just freaking gorgeous.

“The Lights Won’t Shine Forever” – Floodlights
Take The Airborne Toxic Event and combine them with Midnight Oil and you might get this band.

“It’s Not Easy” – Ofege
I watched Showtime’s The Agency this past week. This song was featured in an early episode, and apparently has been used on many shows over the years. The reason for its popularity is apparent immediately, as it slowly ambles out of the speakers and takes over your life for a little over four minutes. That it was recorded in 1973 by a group of Lagos kids all aged between 15-17 makes it even more amazing.

“Whatever You Want” – Tony! Toni! Tone!
D’Wayne Wiggins, one of the founders of 3T, died last week. His brother Raphael Saadiq sang lead on most of their songs, but this is one where Wiggins was up front. I’ve always loved the “Just as sure as my name is D’Wayne (D’Wayne)” line in this jam. Ironically Saadiq sings that line.

“Sulk” – Radiohead
Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the release of Radiohead’s second album, The Bends. I don’t think I listened to it in full until later that summer when one of my roommates bought it. I heard it blasting from his room and asked who the hell he was listening to. I didn’t believe him when he said Radiohead, as it sounded light years beyond “Creep.” I got into it quickly, though. Today The Bends is one of my very favorite albums ever. We need more albums like it that rock with abandon. I could picked any one of seven or eight tracks to honor the anniversary, but I think this is my favorite of those.

“Welcome To The Terrordome” – Public Enemy
Whoa! Holy remix!

“Dollar Store” – Ben Kweller featuring Waxahatchee
Katie Crutchfield is starting to show up in as many songs by other people as Phoebe Bridgers. Thank goodness both of them are always great collaborators.

“Bethany” – Craig Finn
Speaking of collaborations, can we just send Finn and The War On Drugs out on tour together and make old guys like me super happy? A perfect melding of their sounds here.

“No Front Teeth” – Perfume Genius with Aldous Harding
Another collab, and another terrific song from PG’s upcoming album.

“Better Half of a Dollar” – Fime
Absolute ripper!

“Bubblegum Nothingness” – Jetstream Pony
Both the song title and band name seem like gibberish selected by flipping through the dictionary and attaching random words together. The members of this group have been in no fewer than eight other acts, so that mishmash of words makes sense.

“More Than Life” – The Horrors
The Horrors might be the ultimate, 21st century, post-punk band. Their first album of new music in eight years stays right in that groove.

“The Slim” – Sugar
Bob Mould’s new album is out today. Brother-in-music Sir David V sent me an article earlier this week in which Mould identified some of his favorite songs. However, he stuck to his solo work. I love a lot of that, but if I had to pick only one Mould-based album to listen to, it would be Sugar’s amazing 1992 disk Copper Blue. It might be as close to a perfect LP as you can make.

“Spaceman In Tulsa” – Counting Crows
I was in college in the 1990s, which meant I owned CC’s debut album August And Everything After. It was the law; you had to own it if you were a white college student. That album still holds up. I also really enjoyed their 1996 follow-up Discovering the Satellites. Like most, though, I lost track of them after. They are still around making new music. I’m not sure how good this song is, but I felt I owed it to my generation to share it.

“Snowflakes” – Dropkick
Some beautiful, hazy, power pop to start this week’s list. Is it asking too much that our days of snowflakes on the ground be done for this year?

“Hardly” – Free Range
This week’s Alternative Number One was Juliana Hatfield’s “My Sister.” Thus I listened to a lot of other ’90s alt rock by women and women-fronted groups. This song is new, but it would fit right in with those acts.

“Nostalgia’ Lie” – Sam Fender
Good golly this is a gorgeous song! I hear both Boston and Tom Petty in those opening guitars. That would be Adam Granduciel playing the acoustic guitar. He had to be in there somewhere given the sound.

“Messy” – Lola Young
The Bridge has been playing this a lot lately, and it sounds very familiar, but I can’t find that I either shared it last year or even added it to my Spotify catalog. I guess it was a pretty big single, though, going to #1 in Britain and six other countries. It peaked at #14 here in the States, getting to #2 on both the Alternative and Rock Airplay charts.

“Heroes’ Blood” – Pastel
I was sure I shared this last week, although I think I just heard it for the first time right after I posted that week’s PL. You can’t miss the Oasis influence from the beginning. As the song progresses, you get more and more Urban Hymns era Verve. So, yes, a little derivative, but still totally awesome.

“Saint Teresa” – Doves
When the Doves returned with their first album in 11 years in 2020, it seemed like a miracle. Lead singer Jimi Goodwin faced mental health issues which had kept the band apart, but had recovered enough to record again. And the album itself was remarkable, fitting right into their earlier, classic albums.

That they stuck together to make another album, out today and which a couple reviews I skimmed call a masterpiece, is another miracle. Goodwin is unable to tour, which puts a downer on things, but at least he’s given us some more terrific music and there is hope he may recover enough to eventually perform live again.

“Teen Age Riot” – Sonic Youth
I stumbled across a discussion of Pearl Jam’s 1995 “pirate radio” event Self Pollution Radio on YouTube this week. That was the first time the band rented out satellite time, brought a bunch of Seattle friends together – Soundgarden, Mad Season, and the first public performance of Dave Grohl’s Foo Fighters – and played live music, spun some of their favorite records, and had long discussions. Any radio station in the country could grab the feed and broadcast it. I remember sitting there with a stack of cassette tapes and recording the entire thing. This was the first record Eddie Vedder played after signing on. Can never go wrong when you start a set with this one.

“Shout” – Tears for Fears
The 40th anniversary of the release of the legendary Songs From The Big Chair was Tuesday. Tears for Fears had success before and after that album, but there is zero doubt it was their commercial peak, and a lot of people know nothing other than the stretch of “Shout,” “Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” and “Head Over Heels.” If you’re only going to be known for three songs, it’s hard to do better than those three.

A crazy week in our house, for a bunch of reasons, so my comments on this week’s batch of music will be even more half-assed than normal. Never fear, the songs are still good!

“Focus” – Preoccupations
This band’s sound never changes much, even though their name has changed over the years. They still have this great, timeless, post-punk sound.

“Champagne Taste” – Sunflower Bean
Maybe a little Veruca Salt…salt? in this latest SB track?

“Draggin’ On” – Pink Chameleons
This band reminds me of The Jesus and Mary Chain with the psychedelic slider cranked all the way up.

“This Town” – Brooke Combe
If I gave you a million chances, would you ever have guessed that this wonderful piece of neo-soul comes from Scotland? Doesn’t exactly fit the standard, Scottish sound, does it? And Combe isn’t even from Glasgow or Edinburgh proper, she’s from a tiny town on the far outskirts of Edinburgh.

“Pushing Daisies” – Star 99
If you took mid-90s J. Mascis, in his Dinosaur Jr. form, and added a heathy dose of classic R.E.M., it might sound like this San Jose band.

“Volume Control” – Swervedriver
This band doesn’t sound like anyone but themselves. Swervedriver making a comeback about 10 years ago and then sticking around to keep making more solid music was a very good thing.

“Damage” – Salim Nourallah
Two weeks in a row we have a song that features vocals that sound like Soul Asylum singer Dave Piner. That seems super random, no?

“If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Nest” – Manic Street Preachers
The Manics have new music out, which is ok. But it made me think of their greatest song and how it applies to the current state of the world.

We stay knee-deep in the new music another week.

“Prisoner of Beauty” – The Limiñanas, Bobby Gillespie
I can find almost no information about this song or band, which is from the far south of France. So all I can say about it is that it 100% sounds like it should have been in some gritty film during the mid-90s indie movie craze.

“All My Freaks” – Divorce
Kind of funny that a brand new band is writing a song about all the troubles that come with being famous. Like, how do they know anything about that yet?

“Never Said Goodbye” – Jake Bugg
Favorite song of the week alert. This absolutely majestic track draws a straight line back to DMAs and then to Oasis. Apparently Bugg’s latest album came out in September but I just discovered it in the past couple weeks. So, yes, I’ve been hating myself about that even since.

“I Want You (Fever)” – Momma
There’s some serious Nineties alt rock queen DNA in here, touching up against Garbage territory.

“Blackstar” – Fanning Dempsey National Park
Not a Radiohead cover – that would be “Black Star” anyway – but another fine song from this newish, Aussie, super-duo.

“Loving You” – Jorja Smith featuring Maverick Sabre
This week’s neo-soul track.

“Nice Clean Shirt” – Beeef
I’ve reached the point in the year where I start exploring options for new t-shirts for warm weather months. Mmmmmm, nice, clean shirts…

“Holding Pattern” – Prism Shores
Speaking of spring, this jangly tune is full of springtime vibes.

“Give It Time” – Goose
A perfect combination of Goose’s mainstream and jam band sides.

“Santa Monica” – Everclear
I had to make a quick run to the grocery store around the corner for a couple things last night. It should have been a minute in-and-out type deal. But suddenly I heard a familiar guitar riff over the in-store music – one of the greatest riffs of the Nineties – and had to walk around for a few minutes to enjoy “Santa Monica” is all its glory. If you muted this and just watched the visuals, there would still be no doubt what decade this video was from.

“Giving Up” – Michigander
This sounds super happy, which was how I wanted to start this week’s playlist. Then you evaluate the lyrics and see it’s not happy after all. There’s a metaphor in there somewhere.

“Jealousy” – Phantogram
While we need happy songs at the moment, I’m also down with ones that sound good and pissed off.

“Wants Needs” – Bartees Strange
Strange is like a 50-50 artist for me. Half his songs I really like, the other half I’ll listen to once or twice and be done with. This one definitely falls into that first camp.

“Erotica” – Miya Folick
A song that challenges the notions of what sex and fantasy are “supposed to look like” yet sounds this sweet is the perfect distillation of the Miya Folick experience.

“Following The Taillights” – Supercrush
Some series Posies echoes on this track. I like how it starts with 90s vibes then rolls in two very 80s guitar solos.

“Cradle The Pain” – Morgan Nagler
Nagler has been a member of a couple smaller bands, then helped artists like Phoebe Bridgers, the Breeders, and HAIM write their songs. This is her debut solo single, and it both kicks ass and shows a lot of promise for where she’s headed.

“Up To The Mountain (MLK Song)” – Patty Griffin
I heard this Monday during a radio tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr. and was completely floored by it. And was mad that I had never heard it before this week.

“10 Lbs.” – The Super Friendz
I’m not sure if I remember this band or song or not. Their name sounds vaguely familiar, but glancing at their discography nothing really jumped out at me. Spotify spit out this track from 1997 and I loved it right away. I especially enjoy how it spins a little out of control in the closing section.

“Fuck, I Hate the Cold” – Cowboy Junkies
Good grief, can we get a little warmup around here? I’d be thrilled with a couple days in the low 40s.

“Orange Crush” – R.E.M.
I did some random scrolling through my Spotify catalog and landed on this for our video of the week. Great, great song from that moment when the broader music audience (including me) was just starting to realize what a fantastic band R.E.M. was.

The new music for the new year continues to pile up, so for at least the next couple weeks I’m going to share extra-stuffed playlists. Think of them as musical firewood to keep you warm as the polar vortex announces its unwelcome arrival.

“Here We Go Crazy” – Bob Mould
Hey, Bob Mould has new music out! Hey, I just got tickets to see Bob Mould in May!

“Sugar in the Tank” – Julien Baker, TORRES
Well here is an interesting-as-hell test case for my Country Or Not identifier. This might be the twangiest song I’ve ever shared. And at first listen it should come across as completely country. But when you dive into the lyrics, assess its vibe, and understand who sings it, that categorization changes. You have two Queer (and at least one super liberal) artists singing a song that uses a euphemism for being gay in its title (I did not know that was another meaning for the phrase “sugar in the tank” until this week). Something tells me country radio isn’t ready or interested in a song with that background.

You know what, despite the twang, I freaking love this song. Each year it’s a fun exercise to see how long it takes me to create my working folder for favorite songs of the new year, and what the first song I drop into it is. This year the date was January 14 and this track was responsible.

“Knockin’ Heart” – Hamilton Leithauser
Leithauser’s post-Walkmen music has always been eclectic. This track still doesn’t have the majestic power of those classic, early 2000s songs, but it does come a little closer to the classic Walkmen sound.

“Southern Life (What It Must Be Like)” – Sharon Van Etten
Man, what a fantastic, moody, beast of a song.

“Can You Feel It” – Floodlights
This band is from Australia, which I think is apparent. But this song was fleshed out while they were in London, and I hear a healthy dose of British post-punk that they picked up while they were there.

“last night’s mascara” – Griff
Some quality “post night out regret” pop. Hey, I just invented a new musical subgenre!

“Adriana Again” – Elbow
Elbow has been around since the turn of the millennium, making a unique brand of literate music that sometimes hits with me, sometimes totally misses. This track is a definite hit.

“Hammer” – Hana Vu
Not sure why it took me nearly a year to get to this track, but I’m glad I finally did.

“Coinstar” – Runner
I seriously thought about saving this track for next week. It is so, so good but I was worried it might get lost in this larger playlist. But when I listened to it one more time this morning, I decided I couldn’t sit on it another week. And hopefully by placing it last, it will stand out a bit. This isn’t an immediate add to that Best of 25 working list, but it is under serious consideration.

“What A Fool Believes” – The Doobie Brothers
My current morning routine is wake up, give our senior her first gentle, verbal nudge to get out of bed, come downstairs and read a chapter of whatever book I’m working on, and if she’s not out of bed in 20 minutes go attempt to get her moving again. I’m currently reading super producer Ted Templeman’s biography, which you’ll hear more about next week. This morning’s chapter was about the making of The Doobie Brothers’ Minute By Minute album, including the arduous process to record this, their second #1 hit. Despite being the biggest hit of their career, it was also the song that drove the classic lineup of the band to breakup. I’m going to disagree with my man Tom Breihan: I thought this was a terrific track when I was 7-8 years old and still think it’s pretty great. A neat trick, for 1979, on this video to include a live take of the song while also layering in Michael McDonald’s own background vocals.

We’re finally back in the normal swing of things this week. I’m pleased to say my various new music playlists are being refilled after the holiday break. I should have no trouble coming up with regular-sized playlists full of new music for the foreseeable future.

“Mallee Country” – Indian Pacific
Nothing like some lovely, jangle pop from Down Under to make you think of warmer days. Especially good on a day when our second snow storm of the week is expected.

“this is my california” – mary in the junkyard
This song would be a little more poignant, given current events, if this band was actually from Cali and not London. They sound like a mid-point between Mazzy Star and Big Thief.

“When He Comes Around” – TOLEDO
This band is neither from Toledo, Ohio nor Toledo, Spain. I guess they just like that word.

“Sanitized” – Katie Gavin
It’s not very often an album lands three different songs on my weekly playlist. Gavin has done that with her debut solo album. There’s a little Neil Finn quality to the music of this one.

“Nothing’s Ever Gonna Be The Same Again” – Darker Lighter
Salar Rajabnik lists on his biography that he was shaped by splitting his childhood between Tehran and Kansas City. That’s quite a combo! This sounds 100% like the alternative rock I heard on Music Choice back around the turn of the millennium.

“Nothing Compares To Nineteen” – Fiona-Lee
This singer sounds like at least two different Australian artists I can think of off the top of my head. Naturally that means she’s British. A really good song about the shit kids deal with today.

“Small Changes” – Michael Kiwanuka
One of my goals for 2025 is to listen to more of the great, new, modern soul music that is available. Part of that is because that’s one of L’s preferred genres – she’s gotten into Leon Bridges because of my influence – and while we have a lot of similar interests, this would be another good touch point for us. This is the first of several of songs in that vein I’ve added to my playlist of current music.

“Gepetto” – Belly
This week’s The Alternative Number Ones entry was about Belly’s “Feed The Tree,” which was number one for three weeks in the spring of 1993 (subscription required). This was one of my favorite posts in the series because Tom Breihan related how he was an eighth grader when Belly’s debut album came out, and in many ways Belly was THE alternative band to him at the time. While sharing Belly’s fascinating history – Tanya Donnelly was a founding member of both Throwing Muses and The Breeders before starting Belly – he also turned it into a big nostalgia piece for himself, talking about that part of his life and how music came to be important to him. His music writing is always great; this one was a little extra great.

Anyway, I loved Belly. I loved their first album Star. I’m pretty sure I bought their second album, King, the first day it came out. I loved it too. I was so bummed that broader musical tastes were changing and King and its singles made very little impact on the chart. So I loved this entry in the series. It made being a Stereogum subscriber even more worth it.

I bet most of my readers my age remember “Feed The Tree.” How many of you remember their next single, “Gepetto,” which was arguably better but peaked at just #8 on the alt rock chart? Total banger. Or, since Donnelly was from the Boston area, bangah!