Song of the Week

Album of the week: Destroyer - Notorious Lightning and Other Works EP (I mean, it’s just an EP, but it really is quite wonderful)

Song of the week: Silver Jews - room Games and Diamond Rain(feeling rather jubilant given those recent announcements regarding a new album)

album of the week: A coworker handed me this CD filled with MP3s—mostly Dylan, which I haven't touched in ages. Since he was being so nice about giving it to me, I started listening out of pure politeness, and honestly? I haven't stopped for five days straight. Most of these tracks are stuff I already own somewhere in my house, but I’d never have thought to spin them under any other circumstances. It’s funny how good it feels to rediscover things like this. Honestly, we should all just lock ourselves away for six months—no new music, nothing—and just dig through our old collections to remind ourselves of these gems. I immediately went out and stocked up on more stuff and I'm still going (thanks, ziggy!)
You won't find one standout track here, let alone a single lyric—there's just too much good stuff from Dylan to pick just one.

n/p mentioned - everything is broken

song of the week : Silver Jews - room Games and Diamond Rain. Back when the witch played a set in New York City, they tracked this live in the studio and the composition just floored me; after hearing the studio version with all that Sacher influence, I’ve been stuck in a loop, honestly losing count of how many times I’ve hit replay—it's been a minute since a track hit me this hard.

Album of the week is the LP featuring this track—without silence! Calling this "folk" would be a massive oversimplification—to be as precise as I tend to be, I’d label it post-punk Krautrock pop, something uplifting but with actual teeth, mixed with some ballads including one that's gorgeous yet biting called Too Often, which is the first of two tracks sharing that title.

np red house Painters - Silly Love Songs

The album of the week is that live set from September 🙂

driftingeagle27 said:plus some ballads—one of which is absolutely gorgeous, though it’s got teeth—called "Too Often," and it's the first of two tracks sharing that title.

I haven't listened to this... what, ten years ago? (too lazy to pull out the vinyl). thanks for the reminder, though—this stuff is truly special. I think I'll spin some witch music later this week.

Albums of the week:
a Perfect circle - Thirteenth step
Killers - hot Fuss
The Detroit cobras - Mink rat or Rabbit

Just realized I don't actually have "without silence" on vinyl—only the cassette. I could shove it into the Ritman, but it wouldn't play anything. 😢

All I have to say this week can be summed up in two words: George Jones. No Tammy, no Jesus. Just him and me.
Song of the week: White Lightning. It’s probably the most bizarre country arrangement in history. There’s so much going on, it almost sounds like a New Orleans brass band.
I'm waking up to Music from Big Pink. It’s such a shame regarding the vocals, considering how incredible the band is (ha; alright, fine, I see I used more words this week than my dramatic intro suggested). Still, I prefer their second album.
Second song of the week: Chest Fever. This is what I listen to while brewing my coffee (and yes, I need it; I haven't had a real strong cup since the eighties). The amps really amplify that ceremonial vibe.
TV program of the week: A documentary on Hank Williams. That’s what sends me off to sleep.

song of the week : Roxy Music - Dance Away the Heartache.
Why bother with men or some tragic heartbreak when you can just shatter your own soul perfectly by picking the right tracks? 😁

album -

mob - signals calls and marches

Just another brilliant record born from the genius of a thirteen-track masterpiece🙂. Pure magic!

ironcrane7 said:Song of the week - Thunderbolt. Probably the most bizarre country arrangement in history. It’s got everything... almost sounds like a New Orleans brass band.

The Fall covered that one. Great. I need to dig up the original...

The Birthday Party - Fears of Gun

clouddead - the peel session

Woof Woof, bark bark, hamna hamna!

Kevin Chavez3 said:That was a cover by The Fall. How delightful. I really ought to hunt down the original version.

Go find it. It’s pure bliss, really. It’s like hearing a bluegrass band from Tennessee belt out a classic country anthem in a high-octane rockabilly style.

Nellie McKay was all over my rotation this week—specifically Get Away from Me. It’s like watching a nineteen-year-old girl observe the world through this hyper-intelligent teenage lens, just writing songs and vibing; honestly, it feels like if Avril Lavigne ever tried to channel Jens Lekman.

Bella & Sebastian also brightened things up with Your Cover's Blown, which is basically their version of Bohemian Rhapsody.

And then, of course, there's ISIS!😈

Outkast - Love below

One last thing—for me, 😁 feels like listening to Andre's autobiography delivered through one continuous, intense rant set against a backdrop that's basically Twilight... I mean, hip-hop is such a phenomenal genre because it opens the door to real storytelling... but honestly, that’s something only true masters like Andre 3000 can pull off 🙏 🙂

And I'm sure some of you might point out that someone like Nick Cave does something similar—you know, that kind of soulful, moody vibe... 😁

Sure, it's a bit of a marathon; it runs for an hour, which means you'll probably only get around three or four quiet moments in a whole day... but it’s just so incredibly diverse that you're constantly catching a new lyric or stumbling upon some gorgeous little jazz miniature...

....if I keep going down this rabbit hole, I might actually figure out jazz one of these days 😎

e.g., Outkast (Andre 3000 & The Love Below) - Track 2 😁

Gregory Garcia said:Outkast - Love below

What a brilliant record. It’s truly interdisciplinary, wouldn't you say? And quite intelligent, too. One can almost envision an entire existence lived in sync with the rhythm of dance music.

a/n Antony and the Johnsons - "I am the Bird Now" I am absolutely obsessed with this album.
This New York icon uses such an incredible, unconventional falsetto over the piano to belt out these deeply raw, gut-wrenching stories. While following along with The Johnsons, who stay 😁 wonderfully subtle in the background, you'll even hear cameos from Antony's circle of friends like Boy George, Rufus Wainwright, Lou Reed, and Devendra Banhart...

p/n Antony & The Johnsons - Man is the Baby

The Pretenders - Learning to Crawl

I felt compelled to write this in all caps just to ensure I give due attention to a band that I believe has been unfairly overlooked.
I’ve had this album sitting around for years on an archaic cassette tape, something I picked up at a local thrift store for next to nothing. After my first listen back then, I dismissed it immediately as "mainstream"—a rather shallow take, if I'm being honest, which reflected my general opinion of the group at the time.
Ah, what a massive misconception. If it is mainstream, then it is top-tier, though even now I’m not entirely certain it fits the label. Perhaps the slick production gives off that impression, or maybe it’s those infectious melodies and clever hooks. Who can say? Regardless, it’s hard to find a better specimen of pop-rock if we are going to define the genre at all.
Ultimately, this is an album for adults. It’s the work of people over thirty with a fair share of personal tragedies under their belts. So, I meet the criteria—at least on that one front. One should keep in mind that this is the work of a reformed lineup, following a period where two members ended up in much larger hunting grounds—the key guitarist and the drummer, who was originally ousted from the band due to a cause of death that would later haunt them. Toss in Ray Davies and Jim Kerra (sadly) as extra layers to this soap opera, and you have a situation that was frankly quite unsettling.
Yet, despite the underlying nostalgia, the longing, the indignation, and the guilt—despite the lyrical presence of resignation—the album is positive. We might even go so far as to call it optimistic. Energican. It grows better with every single listen.
Now, go ahead: pick your favorite track.

Here are two more hits from two stellar rock albums, if we are categorizing by genre:

Here Comes My Girl - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Damn the Torpedoes)
Because the Night - Patti Smith (Easter)

A hit for those blue-eyed soul moments:
Deep Dark Truthful Mirror - Elvis Costello (Spike)

A danceable hit that never gets old:
Train in Vain - The Clash

ironcrane7 said:The Pretenders - Learning to Crawl

and Jim Kerra (sadly)

Uh, talk about bittersweet....😁 I guess I have a bit of an ambivalent relationship with them—mostly because I absolutely adored them for "Alive and Kicking," but at the same time, I kind of loathed the fact that he was married to Chrissie Hynde, who, in my eyes, was one of the most beautiful women in all of rock and roll... thankfully, the marriage didn't last...😁

Anyway, my big hit of the week has to be Bloc Party - Silent Alarm . I mean, I just randomly threw it on in Winamp maybe three times before it finally clicked—it’s a minimalist masterpiece. It feels like these genuine fountains of fresh, energetic pop & roll, somehow managed to squeeze everything they could out of a standard, dry setup of bass, guitar, drums, and vocals. Just a little bit of extra flair, too. 😁 They really squeezed it out like a cow milking a desert, I suppose. 😁

There's no denying it, those guys are talented. But then again, you run into that old, tired trope of the Black musician being treated like a rare exception in a white landscape. It seems like whenever a group plays mostly white-coded music, if they happen to have a Black member—even unexpectedly—they're suddenly viewed as this "special" or outlier phenomenon. 🙂

The national "Gator" has a pretty ridiculous name, but honestly? This album is incredible. Over & out.