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So, I was thinking about being objective when it comes to music. It is not always impossible, but also, I do not think it is often preferable. Here is what I mean. In my opinion music can be and should be a very personal thing. It is why I try not to criticize types of music that aren't my thing - except to say that I don't like it and perhaps to explain why. But, I try not to aim that criticism at people who do like that particular style of music - nor do I try to take on an air of superiority for what I like or don't like. I am, admittedly human (not always easy to admit), so I do fall short - so don't dig back and use my own words against me.
I guess it comes down to personal taste and all the factors (nature vs. nuture) which influence what we like and what we don't like. Take cilantro, some people like it and some people hate it, and at least in some instances, there appears to be a genetic reason. I tend to think all matters of personal "taste" may be similarly derived. Maybe not all genetic, but perhaps other factors.
There is a prevalent idea that the music we first heard at a particular age - like 14 or so - has a lasting impact on us. I know that music I that meant something to be at an early age, still holds an appeal to me even if my overall tastes may have changed. I cannot objectively explain why I like that music - maybe when others seem to hate it - I may even understand where the other people are coming from (and I may feel embarrassed about my affinity) - but that affinity is there (and for the record, there is no reason for me to feel ashamed).
So, I can't (nor do I want to) objectively analyze the songs that are foundational for me. I would rather described how they make me feel or what memories they evoke or where my head was when I first heard them. To me - that - and not some technical analysis on the weakness of the lyrics or the derivatve nature of the music - is what is important. Yes, band B may have ripped off band A's sound - but the fact is, I heard band B when I was fourteen years old and not band A - and so I am linked to band B. I may grow to appreciated band A and maybe even acknowledge what band B did - but my link to band B remains intact.
So, if I cut myself some slack for "ctinge-worthy" music from my youth that I still like, then I have to also cut other people slack for their tastes - even if I don't understand it. A song or a band may be linked into their subconscious. Then again, it maybe a case of cilantro.
Today - we feature songs 19-22 from this week's Playlist:
19. "Everything is Alright" by Dirk Powell
First up today, we have a good one - the lead track from the new album, When I Wait For You" by producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and sideman Dirk Powell. The album features a stellar array of guests including Rhiannon Giddens, Sara and Sean Watkins, and more. Dirk Powell is based in Louisiana where he is involved in the Cajun and Creole music scenes. He owns his own studio on the banks of Bayou Teche. His earliest musical influences are from his native Kentucky, and he combines all of those influences with his original vision to make some compelling music.
20. "By You Now" by Leila
Next up, we have the new single from this Pennsylvania based singer-songwriter who blends soul, jazz, and indie pop into a wonderful sound.
21. "You Are" by COY Swede; Matthew Titmouse
We switch things up, with our next track - the latest single from Stockholm based EDM producer, songwriter, and musician COY Swede (aka Thom Maximus) joined here by ocalist Matthew Titmouse. The song deals with loss. It is a great addition to the playlist.
22. "Just Another Dance Song" by YEWO
This segment of music wraps up with a track from this eclectic band from Hungary. I was sent three tracks - all very different, and I went with this dance/disco flavored song. It is a lot a fun, and I really dig the sound. I love getting new music from all over the world.
Tomorrow - we wrap up this week's Playlist (yes - already!)
Featured Friday Playlist
Wednesday Morning Shuffle
"These Rocks" by Phosphorescent (from C'est La Vie)
We start off with a track from the 2018 7th album by singer-songwriter Matthew Houck - who began performing under the name Phosphorescent in Athens, Georgia in 2001. This comes from the annual mix CD sent to me by a friend. Houck is currently based in Nashville. The album features several prominent Nashville musicians and singers including E2TG favorite Nicole Boggs.
"When the Water's This Low" by Graber Gryass (from Late Bloom)
Next up, we have a first listen to a track from the forthcoming (Oct. 30) from the Memphis based bluegrass collective led by Michael Graber. This is a fabulous song, and an album that definitely should be on your radar.
"Soldiers in the Army of Mercy and Peace" by Joe Kidd & Sheila Burke (from Everybody Has A Purpose)
Our good friends, Joe and Sheila are back in the shuffle with their moving and powerful call to action. With so much hared and violence in the world, more of us need to be soldiers of mercy and peace. I am reminded of Mary Gauthier's song "Mercy Now" - "I know we don't deserve it but we need it anyhow"
"A Tiny Spark (In this Great Machine)" by The Colored Parade (from ...And The Walls of The City Will Shake)
As we celebrate and anticipate new music from Andrew Adkins - we go back nearly five years to this track from his old band The Colored Parade.
"If I Could Pray" by Monks Road Social (feat. Peter Capaldi) (from Humanism)
And, we close out today's shuffle with this track from the all-star UK collective known as Monks Road Social (featuring members of Style Council, Blow Monkeys, and more) here joined by the actor who played the twelfth incarnation of Dr. Who.
VIDEO PLAYLIST
NEW AND RECENT RELEASES
THIS WEEK
9/08 - Petter Carlsen - "Good News" (single)
9/11 - Fabien Jack - "Silent Alarm" (single) (? on release date?)
9/11 - of1000faces - "Astronomica" (single) (? on release date?)
9/11 - Mike Barnett - +1 (LP)
9/11 - Atta Boy - Big Heart Manners (LP)
9/11 - Johnny Thunders - Que Sera Sera: Resurrected (Boxset)
9/11 - Brian Cullman - Winters Clothes (LP)
9/11 - Sunday Someday - "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)" (single)
9/11 - Brophy's Law - "Record Collector" (single)
9/11 - SLD - Lost (LP)
LAST WEEK
9/02 - Leila - "By You Now" (single)
9/03 - COY Swede - "You Are" (single)
9/04 - India Ramey - Shallow Graves (LP)
9/04 - The Star Prairie Project - "Frantic Mind" (single)
9/04 - Soft Set - Love and Dancing (EP)
9/04 - Jabbawoki - Something's Cookin' (EP)
9/04 - Parker Lee- Scrundle (EP)
9/04 - Social Gravy - A Different Kind (EP)
9/04 - Andrew Adkins - "Vagabond Shoes" (single)***
9/04 - Dirk Powell - When I Wait for You (LP)
9/04 - Ghostlawns - "Ffoi" (single)
9/04 - Debbie Lagrange - "La chanson des moustiques" (single)
9/04 - Rob Clarke and the Wooltones - Putting the L in Wooltones (LP)
9/04 - New Way Vendetta - "Cool/Cough"/"1984 (On the Floor)" (single)
9/04 - Short-Haired Domestic - "A song in German concerning gardens and goodbyes" (single)
9/04 - Annie Dressner - Coffee at the Corner Bar (LP)
NEXT WEEK
9/18 - The Pull of Autumn - Small Colors (LP)
9/18 - Adrian + Meredith - "Kids These Days" (single)
9/18 - OUTWAVE - "Moving Tangles" (Single)
9/18 - Anton Barbeau - Manbird (Double LP)
9/18 - Rahway - Slumlords of New Jersey (LP)
9/18 - The Persian Leaps - Smiling Lesson (EP)
9/18 - Dan Friese - Jane Songs (LP)
9/18 - Pelvis Wrestley - Vortex Vorever (LP)
9/18 - 4 Track All-Star - 5123 (LP)
9/18 - McClendon - Room 33 (EP)
9/18 - Various Artists - The Last Shall Be First: The JCR Record Story, Volume 1 (LP)
9/18 - Magazines - "Home Alone" (single)
UPCOMING
9/22 - Babybird - King of Nothing (LP)
9/22 - Mighty Joe Nolan - "Lone Wolves Together" (single)
9/24 - Magnolia Bayou - Strange Place (LP)
9/24 - XL427; Mensa Deathsquad - "Ideas" (single)
9/25 - Buildings and Food - Up Down Strange Charm (LP)
9/25 - Music Maker Relief Foundation - Hanging Tree Guitars (LP)
9/25 - Cayucas - Blue Summer (LP)
9/25 - of1000faces - Astronomica (LP)
9/25 - Shane Tutmarc - Written & Produced by Shane Tutmarc (Double LP)
9/25 - Mt. Doubt - Doubtlands (LP)
10/02 - Buckle Bunny - Pet Speak (LP)
10/02 - Divine Horsemen - "Mind Fever Soul Fire" (single)
10/02 - Will Payne Harrison - The Stratford Sessions (EP)
10/02 - The Jensen Sisters - Yellow Frames (LP)
10/02 - Mantis & The Prayer - Murder Ballad and the Blue (AA singles)
10/02 - Kouatchou - "My Teacher"/"Change" (AA singles)
10/02 - Gold Hick - Formed at Depth (LP)
10/02 - Laura Fernandez - Okay, Alright (LP)
10/02 - Stuffy Shmitt - "Jim's Dad" (single)
10/02 - This Frontier Needs Heroes - "Go With the Flow" (single)
10/02 - Fly the Nest - "Wild Ride" (single)
10/09 - Year of October - Wastelands (LP)
10/09 - Great Peacock - Forever Worse Better (LP)
10/09 - Zao - Preface: Early Recordings 1995-1996 (LP)
10/09 - Zao - All Else Failed: 25th Anniversary Edition (LP)
10/09 - Jeremy Ivey - Waiting Out the Storm (LP)
10/09 - Laraaji - Moon Piano (LP)
10/09 - Howard Gladstone - The Promise (LP)
10/16 - Malin Pettersen - Wildhorse (LP)
10/16 - Monette - "Monotony" (single)
10/23 - The Agency - In the Haunted Woods (LP)
10/23 - Lera Lynn - On My Own (LP)
10/23 - Stuffy Shmitt - "Mommy & Daddy" (single)
10/23 - Justin Farran - Pretty Free (LP)
10/30 - Andrew Grimm - A Little Heat (LP) *(NEW DATE)*
10/23 - Andrew Weiss and Friends - Lookout Mountain (EP)
10/23 - The Subtheory - Impact (EP)
10/30 - Graber Gryass - Late Bloom (LP)
11/06 - Love Tractor - Love Tractor - reissue (LP)
11/13 - The Flat Five - Another World (LP)
11/13 - Andrew Adkins - The Echoist (LP)
11/13 - The Sensational Country Blues Wonders! - The World Will Break Your Heart (LP)
11/20 - Stuffy Shmitt - "Sweet Krazy" (single)
11/20 - John Calvin Abney - Familiar Ground (LP)
12/04 - Stuffy Shmitt - Stuff Happens (LP)
1/01/2021 - This Frontier Needs Heros - Go With the Flow (LP)
RECENT
8/01 - YEWO - "Just Another Dance Song" (single)
8/03 - PXPRS - "Coup de grâce" (single)
8/05- Dissonance/Cat Hall - Trials (EP)
8/07 - The Furious Seasons - La Fonda (LP)
8/07 - Kevin Gordon - Down To The Well: Solo Demos Unearthed (LP)
8/07 - Jason Molina - Eight Gates (LP)
8/07 - Steven Bruce - Same Time, Same Place, Same Station (LP)\
8/07 - Laura Donohue - "Muse" (single)
8/07 - The Flat Five - "Drip a Drop" (single)
8/07 - Jason Erie - "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" (single)
8/07 - Ci Gofod - "Dyfodol (feat. Lloyd Bastian of ‘Pseudo Cool’)" (single)
8/07 - Vincent Cross - The Life & Times of James ‘The Rooster’ Corcoran (LP)
8/07 - Nelss - "In the Unknown" (single)
8/07 - Jonny Polonsky - "You Turn Me On (Jim Sclavunos Remix)" (single)
8/07 - Joshua - "If I'd Never Let Go" (single)
8/07 - Polymer - "King of Suburbia" (single)
8/07 - Carrus & Kurtz - The Genius of..., Vol. 4: The Humanity of Humility (LP)
8/07 - Anton Barbeau - "Manbird" (single)8/07 - Ryan Allen - Song Snacks Vol. 1 (LP)
8/07 - Depression, Baby - "Isolation" (single)
8/07 - Saronde (feat. Idd Aziz) - "Firewood" (single)
8/07 - The Party of Helicopters - Live at Earthquaker Day 2019 (LP)
8/07 - Phillip La Rosa - "Baggage" (single)
8/07 - La Cigarra - "Quimeras" (single)
8/07 - Marble Mammoth - "Have the Sun Lick Your Mind" (single)
8/08 - Miss Molly Simms - Reckless (LP)
8/11 - Brandon Phillips & The Condition - "Veronica" (single)
8/13 - Cindy - Free Advice (LP)
8/14 - R.B. Morris - Going Back to the Sky (LP)
8/14 - The Blam Blams - "Opening Night" (single)
8/14 - Michael McArthur - How to Fall in Love (EP)
8/14 - Sylvie Simmons - Blue on Blue (LP)
8/14 - Mark W. Georgsson - Comes a Time (EP)
8/14 - Soft Set - "Never Die"/"7 on Up" (single)
8/14 - Ivan Moult - "What More Could I Want"'/"Toxic" (single)
8/14 - Biomechanimal - "Enter the Animal" (single)
8/14 - The Veer Union - "Slaves to the System" (single)
8/14 - Magnolia Bayou - "Sweet Magnolia" (single)
8/14 - Eito - While You Were Sleeping (EP)
8/14 - Razorwire Halo - "Cover My Eyes" (single
8/14 - Calm and Concise - "That Wave" (single)
8/14 - Skylar Gregg - Roses (LP)
8/14 - Mandril! - Mandril! (EP)
8/17 - KnightressM1 - "Lock and Key" (single)
8/18 - Jeremy Ivey - "Someone Else's Problem" (single)
8/18 - Matte Blvck - "Bare" (single)
8/19 - KC Beck - "Wake Me Up When This Year's Over" (single)
8/19 - The Persian Leaps - "Lost Cause" (single)
8/20 - Jessica Luise - "Television Mister" (single)
8/20 - Various Artists - For Belarus (LP)
8/21 - Eric Bolander - "Window" (single)
8/21 - A Shoreline Dream - Melting (LP)
8/21 - Liar,Flower - Geiger Counter (LP)
8/21 - Xanthe Alexis - The Offering (LP)
8/21 - Reardon Love - "Locked in the Panopticon" (single)
8/21 - Ghostwood Development Project - "Almost Human" (single)
8/21 - The Sea At Midnight - "We Share the Same Stars" (single)
8/21 - Buckle Bunny - "Lizard Brain" (single)
8/21 - Parker Lee - "Drunk" (single)
8/21 - Pozzi - Tyrant (LP)
8/21 - The Hengles - "Fire in the Rain" (single)
8/21 - Julien Shah-Tayler (feat. MGT) - "Evolution" (single)
8/21 - Bad Sauna - "Niin kuin se ennen oli (“As It Was Before”)" (single)
8/21 - Aquabats - Kooky Spooky ... In Stereo! (LP)
8/21 - Aquabats - "Dangerous Leon" (single)
8/21 - Little King - "Blend" (single)
8/21 - I LIKE TRAINS - KOMPROMAT (LP)
8/21 - Dan Friese - "Streetlight" (single)
8/21 - 3eon Vibe - "REDRUM" (single)
8/21 - Q&A - One More Jazz Thing (EP)
8/21 - Benchmarks - Summer, Slowly (LP)
8/28 - The Northern Belle - We Wither, We Bloom (LP)
8/28 - Special Moves - Little Help (LP)
8/28 - Molly Tuttle - ...but I'd rather be with you (LP)
8/28 - Caterpillars - Where Shadows Go to Speak (LP)
8/28 - Certain Animals - "Truth" (single)
8/28 - The Agency - "Defender" (single)
8/28 - Dianne Davidson - Perigon: Full Circle (LP)
8/28 - Andre Salvador & the Von Kings - Self Titled (LP)
8/28 - Raveis Kole - "Angel from Montgomery" (single)
8/28 - The Blam Blams - Opening Night (LP)
8/28 - Jessy Yasmeen - "Let's Slip Away" (single)
8/28 - Michael Landin - On a Clear Day (LP)
8/28 - Jacob Wallace - "Wanderer" (single)
8/28 - Pace - "Boatman's Weather" (single)
8/28 - From Venus - "Unconditional" (single)
8/28 - Maria Shiel - Fire in the Sea (LP)
8/28 - Gold Hick - "Up Arrow"/"Trad Ghost" (single)
8/28 - Jonathan Plevyak - "Love After Midnight" (single)
8/28 - Thrillsville - "The Fever" (Single)
8/28 - ReMission International (Wayne Hussey) - "TOS2020" (single)
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