E2TG 4/8/2021 - Dreaming My Life Away - Way Too Hard Mix (Clarity Remix)

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Got out last night - visited Sid Gold's Request Room and partook of food from the Dreamers food truck.  Dreamers was started by Doug and Telisha Williams (aka Wild Ponies) and photographer Laura Schneider after the pandemic shut down their normal careers. 

The story of Dreamers* is inspirational in the best way. A prime example of turning adversity into triumph (and not personal triumph so much as triumph for the world). The Roasted Vegetable bowl I had was delish, too.  

*I don't have the time to recount the story - but here is a link you can check out.  

I can't believe it is time to wrap up this week's Featured Friday Playlist (As always we saved some great music for our final segment) Songs 47-55

47. "Knocks Me On the Floor" by Julez and the Rollerz

Southern California rock and rollers (formerly known as Julez) with their latest single. We featured the first single a few weeks back.

48. "Gravedigger" by The Damn Devils

Recorded remotely over the internet (which they were doing before the pandemic). This band features two brothers-in-law and a childhood friend of one of them. Brought together life-long love of rock and roll. 

49. "How to Weigh a Whale Without a Scale" by Leanie Kaleido

The title track from the recent album by this UK singer-songwriter. The album was produced by Ride front man Mark Gardener.  Kaleido's father was the original lead guitarist for the Yardbirds. 

50. "The Call" by Death of a Legend

This is the third single (and our second feature) of the rock and roll band who emerged from the hardcore scene in Milano, Italy. 

51. "I Am the Dance Floor" by Art d'Ecco

A fascinating artist from Vancouver - who brings a classic style and a modern sound - blurring whatever lines he can. I dig this a lot. 

52. "Landscape Simulation" by The Green Kingdom

The Green Kingdom is the solo project of Michael Cottone a sound artist from Michigan.  This was released on sound of silence records - a diy label from Athens, Greece.

53. "Through Somebody Else's Eyes - Leaether Strip Remix" by Nature of Wires

Nature of Wires is a UK artist who have been doing originals and remixes since the mid 1980s.  Here they get the remix treatment from the legendary Danish EBM artist Leaether Strip. 

54. "High Teens Low Twenties" by Ritual Cloak

Single from the forthcoming Divine Invasion album (due May 7) by this band from Cardiff, Wales (yes more Welsh music.)

55. "Monsters Mind Consuming" by Manntra

And we end on a high note with our second track to feature from this Balkan folk-metal band who combine Croatian folk influences with metal and industrial music from an original sound. A great way to take us out. 

 

    Featured Friday Playlist

Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - SCOTUS Mix!

R.I.P. Don Grady

I'm not at work today, so my morning shuffle was not part of my morning walk, but instead, I listened to the shuffle while waiting with my daughter for the bus to take her to ESY and then while feeding the dogs.  Enjoying what will be the only bearable part of the day.  Temperatures here in Nashville are predicted to hit 101 today, and they will only rise from there over the next few days.

My wife is volunteering for an appearance by Michelle Obama at the Opryland Hotel - and it looks like mood should be jubilant over there.

To the shuffle:

First up we have theB-side to a 7" from The Flint Hill Specials which is a side project of Americana band National Grain.  The song we have today is Unknown Folk Singer  and took me to the Last Motel Room (the A-Side of the 7") where the faces of the forgotten and never known pass unseen along the concrete sidewalks and on the metal and concrete staircase.

You can grab the Downloads (plus a couple of covers) over the the Flint Hill Specials site.  You can catch up with National Grain on their site.

(by the way, you may have noticed over the past couple of days, I've been posting the Amazon ad rather than just the album cover image.  That's because the embed code for the image link has been truncated.  I like the way just the album cover looks, and I hope to return to that format as soon as Amazon fixes the code)

Here's The Flint Hill Specials from this years SXSW.

Next up we have another track from The Bluefields' debut album, Pure. This time around Warner, Dan and Joe make a departure in Dub Step territory... just kidding... Seriously thought, ya'll Don't Let Me Fall  is pure Rock 'n' Roll in a slow burner that speaks to the yearning that all good Rock 'n' Roll has at it's core.

Here are The Bluefields from what I believe was their first show back in September 2011 doing a cover of Led Zeppelin's When the Levee Breaks

From there, we move on to a track from Lo-Fi, Indie Pop band TV Girl from their recent release, The Wild, The Innocent and the TV Shuffle, called Loneliness Can Be Demanding. Give a listen below.

Some tunes from TV Girl from last year.

Next up we have Death Cab for Cutie with a track from their last album (2011's Codes and Keys) - The song is called Monday Morning - which is perfect for a Thursday morning.

And finally, we hit up another tune from Justin Townes Earle's Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now. Justin takes us Down on the Lower East Side.

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Thursday Morning Music Shuffle - Election Analysis Mix

With just 8 hours left to vote, just 8 votes separates first and second place in our Band of the Month Poll.  If you haven't voted, the poll is over on the left sidebar.  Just make your selection and click on the appropriate box and hit the Vote button.


We have 5 classic tracks to present today so let's get to it.



 Sometime back, Rolling Stone came out with one of their Best Albums of all time lists, and I perused that list and began acquiring some of  the albums which struck my fancy.  By this time, I was familiar with Richard Thompson, but didn't know much about his lengthy career.  Ryko reissued a bunch of Richard and Linda Thompson stuff, and I picked up this album along with the also excellent, Shoot Out the Lights. First up on my shuffle today, is the title track - I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight - which is one of my favorites songs of all time.  To find out more about the album just click on the album cover above.



 I have often said, in a perfectly just world, this album would have gone multi-platinum and Marshall Crenshaw would be the biggest name on the planet.  His catalog which began with this eponymous album includes some of the of the purest pop music of all time.  Someday, Someway is one of his most well known songs.  Since, it is not a perfectly just world, I will continue to write and speak about Marshall Crenshaw and his brilliant career.  If you're already a fan, drag out your old vinyl, cassette or CD or fire up your MP3 player and give a listen.  If you're not yet a fan, start your Marshall Crenshaw collection by checking out his debut by clicking the link above.




I was 12 years old in 1978, and still a few years away from having my life changed by rock 'n' roll. But in retrospect the Starburst 2 Record Set pictured above may have foreshadowed my future as a super fan of music. Here is a rundown of the music contained on these two slabs of vinyl.

Starburst (K-Tel, 1978)

Record One / Side One:
Shadow Dancing - Andy Gibb
Hot Child In The City - Nick Guilder
Shame - Evelyn 'Champagne' King
Boogie Nights - Heatwave
Every Kinda People - Robert Palmer
Record One / Side Two:
It's A Heartache - Bonnie Tyler
Handy Man - James Taylor
Emotion - Samantha Sang
Smoke From A Distant Fire - The Sanford/Townsed Band
Record Two / Side One:
Two Out of Three Ain't Band - Meat Loaf
My Angel Baby - Toby Beau
Too Much, Too Little, Too Late - Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams
I'm Not Goona Let It Bother Me Tonight - Atlanta Rhythm Section

Record Two / Side Two:
Dance With Me - Peter Brown
You & I - Rick James Stone Band
Get Off - Foxy
I Can't Stand the Rain - Eruption
Baby Hold On - Eddie Money

There were a few songs that my younger self dug,  but for whatever reason the Nick Gilder song, Hot Child in the City stuck with me. The driving guitar, the falsetto voice, the risque lyrics and the androgynous picture of Nick Gilder on the record jacket... To an impressionable kid from a small college town in Tennessee, this was a new world.  I still love the song today....  I can't tell you where you can find a copy of Starburst, but if you want to check out The Best of Nick Gilder click on the album cover above.

 A few years after I bought the Starburst album, a new cable television channel burst on the scene.  Yes, kids, what you've been told is true - at one time MTV stood for Music Television.  In those days, music videos were pretty rare.  Newer bands were more likely to make a video than established artists.  As a result, I got introduced to a whole slew of bands I'm not sure if I would ever been exposed to if it weren't for MTV. Love Plus One was one of  those songs that got in my head. Looking back, it's a slightly cheesy bit of 80s pop candy, but when I first saw the video, it was something fresh and new.   You can revel in the majesty that is Haircut 100 by clicking on the album cover above to read more about the Deluxe Edition of Pelican West which contains, Love Plus One.

I don't have a big story to go with Little Bribes by Death Cab for Cutie.  Just to say, I really love this song.  Check out The Open Door EP by clicking on the album cover above.


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