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Thinking today of isms. Some seem objectively bad but are they all? I kind of think it depends. I tend to see myself as an idealist, and I usually think it is a good thing. Idealism is NOT synonymous with naiveté. Being idealistic does not mean I see the world through rose-colored glasses, but just that I have a vision of how I think the world should be. My problem is that I often disappointed when I see the way the world is compared to how I want it to be. But, if my idealism drives me in my efforts to shape the world around me, then it is good.
Realism - I tend to think of in negative terms. I tend to see realists as lacking vision. They see the problems of the world and resign themselves to it. But, what if, instead of resignation - the realist instead has a clearer vision of the world and can better react to the situation at hand?
Cynicism - I think an idealist can also be a cynic. Especially, if we let our disappointment in the gap between what is and what we believe should be make us bitter. But, healthy cynicism can be a good thing.
I also don't think these three are mutually exclusive. One can have idealism, realism, and cynicism. The issue is how you use it. I think the world needs all three working together to come up with solutions that are practical but which strive for an unattainable ideal - while being questioned by a discerning eye and mind.
But ah- Fascism... do the true fascist of today seem themselves in that light? Some do - maybe, but most do not. Thinking about the creeping rise of fascism in the United States which has been marching hard in recent years. People can get caught up in their vision to the point that they only see it. I do think it is possible for an idealist and a realist to become a fascist without knowing it. Which is why I think my idealism needs the voice of the realist and the cynic -whether an internal or external voice to keep it in check.
Today we featured the Next 4 songs in this week's Featured Friday Playlist. Songs 13-16:
13. "Bury" by Christian Singles
First up, we have the lead track from the first solo release by Rob I. Miller (Mall Walk, Blues Lawyer) - a Bay Area singer-songwriter. The album is called Maybe Another Time and is out now on Mt. St.. Mtn. records. I dig it.
14. "Distraction" by Kevin Burnstein
Next up, we have the lead single from the new album by recent Nashville resident Kevin Burnstein. The album is called Attack Distract Divide, and it is out October 23. This first single - "Distraction" is out now, and it is - as the titles might suggest a song and an album for our time. The song reflects the divided nation at a time when unity was most needed, and the role of leaders and some media and their tactics of distract and divide. Powerful stuff.
15. "Prana Light" by Laraaji
After some heavy truth telling, it is time for some beautiful piano music courtesy of New York City based musician, mystic, and laughter meditation practitioner Laraaji. His album is called Moom Piano - which is his companion to his previously released Sun Piano. Just a lovely piece of music.
16. "Alive Again" by So Are We
And we close out this segment of music with a fantastic song by this duo from Norway. So We Are has been together five years, and they just released their debut full-length album Piece of the Puzzle. This is the lead track, and I was captivated by the vocals ofGuro Vikingstad and the guitar work of Stian Haslie.
Tomorrow - songs 17-20
Featured Friday Playlist
"No Hope" by Nathan Kalish (from Songs for Nobody)
First up in our daily shuffle - a track from the 2020 release by Nashville singer-songwriter Nathan Kalish One of my favorites from 2020.
"The Needle and The Damage Done" by Neil Young (from Harvest)
A 1972 classic from one of my all-time favorite albums. Dealing with the effects of heroin addiction on musicians that Young knew - including his bandmate Danny Whitten who would die of an overdose that same year.
"There is Only Love" by Jon Brooks (from Moth Nor Rust II)
Next up, a track from this 2019 release by the Canadian singer-songwriter. Wonderful music, and a great fit for this shuffle.
"While My Heart is Still Beating" by Roxy Music (from Avalon)
One of my desert island albums. I always think of Avalon as my hangover album, but that is more a coincidental thing. I think it captures the band at their peak which happens to also be the end.
"Desiderium" by The Wild Blue (from Anonymous Future)
And, we close the shuffle with a track from this 2020 released by the New York post-punk band. A great way to take us out for today.
VIDEO PLAYLIST
NEW AND RECENT RELEASES
THIS WEEK
10/16 - Malin Pettersen - Wildhorse (LP)
10/16 - Monette - "Monotony" (single)
10/16 - Matt Eckstine - Lil' Blue (LP)
10/16 - The Mastersons - Red, White & I Love You Too (EP)
10/16 - Watch Clark - Generator Room (EP)
10/16 - Taiwan MC - Special Request (LP)
10/16 - Jeremy Ivey - Waiting Out the Storm (LP)
10/16 - Shape & Sound - "All Day Morning" (single)
10/16 - Davey Woodward & the Winter Orphans - Love and Optimism (LP)
10/16 - Burris - "Who I'm Thinking Of" (single)
10/16 - Bad Sauna - "Haluun pois (“I Wanna Get Out”)" (single)
10/16 - Isabelle Stillman - Heartrender (LP)
LAST WEEK
10/08 - Melting Mallows - "I'm Okay" (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 - Laraaji - Moon Piano (LP)
10/09 - Tomas Welding - "Arcade" (single)
10/09 - So We Are - Piece of the Puzzle (LP)
10/09 - Howard Gladstone - The Promise (LP)
10/09 - Rick Hromadka - Better Days (LP)
10/09 - Josh Werner - Mode for Titan (LP)
10/09 - Amelia White - "No Sound" (single)
10/09 - Seagoth - "Dreamworld" (single)
10/09 - Lee Taylor - "Pat It No Mind" (single)
10/09 - Kevin Burnstein - "Distraction" (single)
NEXT WEEK
10/17 - The Fortune - "All Eyes" (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)
10/23 - The Luxembourg Signal - The Long Now (LP)
UPCOMING
10/30 - Andrew Grimm - A Little Heat (LP) *(NEW DATE)*
10/30 - Philip Parfitt - Mental Home Recordings (LP)
10/23 - Andrew Weiss and Friends - Lookout Mountain (EP)
10/23 - The Subtheory - Impact (EP)
10/23 - Kevin Burnstein- Attack Distract Divide (LP)
10/23 - Paul Nelson - Birmingham Woman (LP)
10/23 - Rodney Rice - SAME SHIrT DIFFERENT DAY (LP)
10/30 - Graber Gryass - Late Bloom (LP)
10/30 - Ghostlawns - Motorik (LP)
10/30 - Marten Larka - "Parfum Du Nuit "/ "Je Suis Un Rocker" (singles)
10/30 - My Politic - Short Sighted People in Power (EP)
10/30 - The Wake - Hammer Hall (LP)
10/30 - Strays Don't Sleep - A Short Film for a Long Story (EP)
11/06 - Love Tractor - Love Tractor - reissue (LP)
11/06 - Tom Mason - Under the Mistletoe Sky (LP)
11/12 - Spencer Cullum's Coin Collection - Spencer Cullum's Coin Collection (LP)
11/13 - The Flat Five - Another World (LP)
11/13 - Andrew Adkins - The Echoist (LP)
11/13 - The Silverbeets - Halcyon Days (LP)
11/13 - The Sensational Country Blues Wonders! - The World Will Break Your Heart (LP)
11/13 - SWANS - Children of God - reissue (LP)
11/13 - Last Year's Man - Brave the Storm (LP)
11/13 - Cindy - Free Advice (LP - Reissue)
11/20 - Stuffy Shmitt - "Sweet Krazy" (single)
11/20 - John Calvin Abney - Familiar Ground (LP)
11/20 - Life in a Blender - Satsuma (EP)
12/04 - Stuffy Shmitt - Stuff Happens (LP)
12/04 - Bad Sauna - Olen rikas sillä minulla on teidät (“I’m Rich Because I’ve Got You”) (LP)
1/01/2021 - This Frontier Needs Heros - Go With the Flow (LP)
2/05/2021 - The Orchestra of Cardboard - The Antidote (LP)
RECENT
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 - Once Upon a Flatline - "For the Wretched of Earth" (single)
9/04 - Leron Thomas - "Endicott" (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)
9/06 - Chrisy Mc Cullagh - The Sun That Does Not Set (LP)
9/08 - Petter Carlsen - "Good News" (single)
9/08 - Salem Wolves - Never Die" (EP)
9/09 - Dark McGwire - Wylde Bunch Presents Dark McGwire (LP)
9/10 - Conrad Deadly - "Apple Tree" (single)
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 - Blink - "Every Day is A Black Day From Today"(single)
9/11 - A Shoreline Dream - "Downstairs Sundays" (single)
9/11 - Bobby Royale - "Bang Bang Boogie" (single)
9/11 - ASM - "You Don't Know" (single)
9/11 - Malin Pettersen - "Wildhorse Dream" (single)
9/11 - S.L.D - Lost (LP)
9/15 - Darwin - "Unkind Lover" (feat. David J) (single)
9/16 - D.L. Marble - One Line at a Time (LP)
9/16 - HMS Morris - "Myfyrwyr Rhyngwladol" (single)
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 - Red Eye - "A Girl Too Far" (single)
9/18 - EG Vines - "Them" (single)
9/18 - Julian Shah-Tayler - "Devil Knows" (single)
9/18 - Wynnm - "Milk" (single)
9/18 - Wynnm - Moonwalking (EP)
9/18 - The Asteroid No. 4 - Northern Songs (LP)
9/18 - Adam Kurtz - "M-I-LL-E-R Lite" (single)
9/18 - Adam McIntyre - Black Planet (LP)
9/18 - Nick Faber - "The Lost Highway Tapes" (LP)
9/18 - The Wake - "Perfumes and Fripperies" (single)
9/18 - Fabien Jack - "Silent Alarm" (single)
9/18 - Various Artists - The Last Shall Be First: The JCR Record Story, Volume 1 (LP)
9/18 - Magazines - "Home Alone" (single)
9/21 - John Lensing - "Talk to Me" (single)
9/21 - The Silverbeets - "We Mattered (Once Upon a Time)" (single)
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 - ASM - Blue Cocoon (LP)
9/25 - Ethan Gold - "The Last Dive" (single)
9/25 - All Night Dining - "There Must've Been a Reason" (single)
9/25 - The Roogs - The Roogs (LP)
9/25 - Stuart Rolfe and the Daylight Stealers - No Gas Lost Roads (EP)
9/25 - KnightressM1 - Dreams and Devastation (LP)
9/25 - Healthy Junkies - Forever on the Road (LP)
9/25 - Mav Nuhels; Metodo - "Quixotic Neutrino" (single)
9/25 - Mt. Doubt - Doubtlands (LP)
09/30 - The Sea at Midnight - "Afterglow" (single)
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 - Leron Thomas - More Elevator Music (LP)
10/02 - The Subtheory - IMPACT (EP)
10/02 - This Frontier Needs Heroes - "Go With the Flow" (single)
10/02 - Fly the Nest - "Wild Ride" (single)
10/02 - Christian Singles - Maybe Another Time (LP)
10/02 - Elkyn - beech remixes (EP)
10/02 - Short-Haired Domestic - Short-Haired Domestic (LP)
10/02 - Steve Poltz - "Quarantine Blues" (single)
10/02 - Elkhorn - The Acoustic Storm Sessions (LP)
10/02- The Orchestra of Cardboard - "Black Flag" (single)
10/02 - Lefthnd - Ad Mausoleum (LP)
10/02 - Klammer - "I Don't Know What It Is" (single)
10/02 - White Ribbon - "You Say You Don't Want Me" (single)
10/02 - My Politic - Short Sighted People in Power (EP) - bandcamp release date
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