Thursday, August 17, 2017

Topical Thursday Morning Shuffle - Thin Ice Mix



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I am old enough to remember when the newspaper came every evening (or morning), and there was news in the morning, maybe at noon, and in the evening.  Local news usually followed the national news. If there was "Breaking" news they would interrupt the regularly scheduled program (I remember my great aunt hated when they did that during one of her shows). But, it was usually actual breaking news. Oh and Time and Newsweek came every week if you got them which we sometimes did.

I also remember when CNN started - I thought it was cool because of the possibility of digging deeper into stories. Like much of early cable television - there were some cool ideas and interesting possibilities, but most failed to live up to their potential.  (Music Television rarely has music, Arts and Entertainment is mostly reruns of Law & Order, need I go on...)

I didn't have cable for many years and so I kind of lost touch, but I remember walking into a bank or somewhere that had a television with CNN on and seeing the banner with BREAKING NEWS and thinking something really important and serious was happening, and then realizing it was an insignificant non-event that further realizing that such banners ran pretty much 24 hours a day, every day.  

Then, the proliferation of news and "news" on social media.

All that to say, the last seven months have been exhausting. My desire to stay informed sometimes - often leads me down disgusting rabbit holes (I have a hard time not reading the comments). This week has been horrible. No matter how hard I try, I keep getting sucked into this constant state of outrage. And, yes, I should be outraged (everyone of good conscience should be outraged) but I also know I need to take care of my mental and spiritual health. I think about the warnings on airplanes - you are supposed to put your own mask on before you try to help someone else. If I burn out, I cannot be useful to anyone or any cause.

I guess I'm saying - just because something new is "breaking" several times an hour, I want to stay informed - it is okay to put limits or look for places to get a summary (at some interval besides constant).  

Anyway... that's what's on my mind.....

It is Thursday.  Since May, we have set aside Thursday's to revisit some moments, songs, and artists who have been a part of E2TG from 2011 (when we started) to the present... .It's been good to revisit some old friends and to hear all these great songs along side each other.





"Hold On" by The Train Set

The Train Set are a Manchester band that originally formed in the late 1980s.  They reformed in recent years to make new music and revisit their past releases. I was lucky enough to get a hold of their album Never California a year or so back, and this is the opening song from that album. 

"The Way I Want You" by Turbo Fruits

Back before I really became embedded in the Nashville music scene, I used to joke about being a Nashville music blogger who mostly wrote about bands not from Nashville.  That being said, Turbo Fruits were one of the exceptions, and I have been a big fan of their music every since.  In 2015, when I was writing for No Depression, I got to review a Nashville Sunday show that Turbo Fruits opened.  This is from their album that came out that year called No Control. 


"Gonna Be Damned" by The Defeated County

One of my favorite aspects about writing this blog is finding out about music that I might otherwise never know about. Case in point, The Defeated County. They are from St. Louis, and I love their album Bar Tabs and Baby Names. More recently, I have featured songs from the solo album that band member Langen Neubacher released. 


"awesome tapes" by Valued Customer


Ah! The first of two songs in the shuffle by E2TG Bands of the Year (2016 this time).  Most recently, I have been playing solo stuff from Ugggy and Pat Power - the two members of this Toronto band. This goes back to last year and the band's album hugecup. "awesome tapes" is a good example of why I love  this band so much!


"Alex" by Bay Kee

I have come to a lot of music via the Mama Coco's Funky Kitchen Collective out of Brooklyn.  Bay Kee is one such example.  This was a spin off from the band The Jean Jackets which we also featured on E2TG and their album Wonder Wild which came out in 2016.

"Automobile" by Josh Morris

E2TG has followed Josh Morris since his days in the Florida/Nashville band And the Giraffe.  I next met him on the steps at Jed's Sport Bar (RIP) during an open mic night when I was hanging out with Jon Latham and Darrin Bradbury in 2014. (yes I'm name dropping even though Mark Robinson and Tim Carroll have both told me that name dropping is a bad habit). Fast forward a year or so, and Josh produced Latham's Real Bad News album (and he produced Jon's latest album Lifers which will be released on September 1.  In the meantime, he has released two solo releases - Green Fields (from his song was taken) and Can't Wait 'Til Now.

"Living on Thin Ice" by Chase Walker Band


I was introduced to Chase Walker Band - lead by young blues phenom Chase Walker 0 - a couple of years ago.  I can't remember is this was the first song I heard from them or not), but it is a still timely and topically important song. Chase has since started school here in Nashville, and the band will be performing wiith Derke St. Holmes at The City Winery Nashville on Labor Day. 

"Black Magic" by The Mad Doctors

I was introduced to The Mad Doctors by The End Men back in 2013 or so. This is a track from their 2013 release Fuzz Tonic. They play grungy, garagey, surfy music that is so much fun.  Their most recent single is called Yuengling Malmsteen.

"Night and Day" by The Slang

The Slang are a Washington D.C. band who we first heard around the time they released their self-titled debut. This is the title track to the follow-up. They just recently released a new single called Alibi. 

"The Price Put on You" by Skeletons in the Piano


And we close things out with the band that won the last ever E2TG Reader's choice Band of the Year award in 2012.  They celebrated that illustrious win by releasing awesome Please Don't Die which included this song.  At the time of the release of this album, I think they band had like 50 members (okay - maybe not but there were a bunch). They eventually disbanded in 2014. Band member Elijah Hargrove reformed a smaller version of the band.  There have been some recent updates to the Facebook page so maybe something new coming???  In the meantime, a few of those other members have been a part of the Death Wish Coffee company and  two - Jeff Ayers and Dustin Alexander host the company's podcast Fueled by Death Cast.  The most recent cast featured Matthew Hendershot of The End Men - who co-hosts another podcast called A Brave New Weed.    Anyway, I love this song. 

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