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I feel like I'm limping into the long weekend... and today's dreary weather in Nashville is not helping, but nevertheless I persist... persist in bringing you music of all shapes and sizes.
It's Wednesday! That is the day, traditionally set aside to get wild. Okay, it's a recent tradition I guess... but...
Most days, our shuffle comes from a specific playlist (3 days a week it is our "New Music" playlist). On Wednesday, though, we shuffle up all the songs which are located on my phone's memory card. New songs, songs from albums we featured in the past, songs from the E2TG archives, random songs which came to me from a variety of sources - including my personal collection of CDs, and stray tracks lacking complete metadata which came from unknown moments in time.
We call it "Wild Wednesday" not because the songs are necessarily "wild" (just sometimes) but because it is a wildcard... you never know what the next song will be...
"Godzilla" by Kesha
First up is a track from the 2017 album Rainbow by Brentwood, Tennessee's own Kesha (formerly Ke$ha). I had been hearing great things about this album, so I decided to check it out. This is a song about a character that first appeared in the movies in 1954. Godzilla is widely considered a metaphor for the United States (or nuclear weapons) - appearing a few years after the end of World War II and the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Anyway, this is just a flat out great song.
"Smokestack Lightning" by Christopher Bell
We have been featuring the music of electric cellist Christopher Bell who is based out of Illinois. This is his take on the Howlin' Wolf classic.
INSTRUMENTAL INTERLUDE (The shuffle brought up three (albeit very different) instrumentals in a row.)
"Better Times" by Jing Chi
I guess the biggest problem I have doing E2TG (if you can call it a problem) is that I get so much new music that sometimes really awesome things either slip through the cracks or like Supremo - the 2017 album by supergroup Jing Chi doesn't come up in the shuffle in a timely manner. In any event, this song came up today, and I am glad it did. Jing Chi features Robben Ford, Jimmy Haslip, and Vinnie Colaiuta (all acclaimed blues and jazz musicians). Supremo is their fourth album as Jing Chi. The album was released in October 2017."Mr. Bikinis" by MIS+RESS
From jazz/blues fusion to ambient, drone, electronic music from MIS+RESS of Toms River, New Jersey. This from the self-titled MIS+RESS album which also released in October 2017.
"End Invevitable" by Clocks and Clouds
Closing out our instrumental interlude - we have a a song by Minneapolis based trio Clocks and Clouds. This is a band I first wrote about in 2014. It is off their album The Creation of Matter. The band which features cello (our second cello in this shuffle), violin, and percussion - meld classical, rock, and elements of electronic music is an original way.
"For the Love of Freyja" by Henry Metal
Moving back into songs with words - we have some Heavy Metal filled with Nordic imagery from prolific new metal artist Henry Metal off of Metal O'Clock. This is pretty darn metal.
"You Got to Me" by James McMurtry
Next up, we have a track from James McMurty's 2015 album Complicated Game. The great Texas songwriter - who is the son of novelist Larry McMurtry always puts on a great show. His name came up in conversation just recently.
"Run Girl, Run" by Renfree Isaacs
Next up, this is actually the final song we have to feature from the self-titled album by Nashville trio Renfree Isaacs. The band features Nashville guitar guru Dave Isaacs and Andrea and Ren Renfree. Solid music.
"On the Palm" by Matt Campbell
We close with another track from a CD I stumbled across at a thrift store some time back. It is from a documentary film called Music City Underground which was released in 2012 and featured some of Nashville's diverse musical talent - like Apache Relay, Andrew Combs and more. This is a great song. To be honest, I am not 100% sure that this is Matt Campbell - Troubadour who was instrumental in establishing the American Legion in Inglewood as a musical mecca. I'm kind of afraid to tag him - so if you read this and know if it is that Matt Campbell or not, let me know. Anyway, it is a great song.
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