E2TG 9/15/2020 - Mid-Week Mayhem - Dash My Dreams Mix (Shine and Shine On Remix)

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This week has been going fast or slow or something, I don't know. I'm kind of disjointed and feel like the ground is a bit shaky.  This is another reminder that we are in highly unusual times filled with a lot of uncertainty and upheaval and change. It is okay to feel shaky and unsure and disjointed and confused. It is not okay to give up.  Step back, unplug from wherever you are plugged-in, pamper yourself, get rest or stay up all-night, get busy, be productive, be lazy. 

Whatever you need to do - but do it safely. Be kind to others. .Register to vote. Then make a plan on how you are going to vote. Mail, early voting - however you can do it. 

Don't take anything for granted but don't spend too much time worrying about things that haven't happened. 

All of the above is meant for me, and whoever else needs to hear it... on we go!

I miscalculated, I have been featuring four songs a day this week, but I should have been featuring five - so we will feature six songs today and tomorrow - to wrap up this week's playlist.  Today songs 16-21

16. "Good News" by Petter Carlsen

Petter Carlsen hails from the far northern part of Norway - above the Arctic circle.  This is the fourth single from his forthcoming new album The Sum of Every Shade.  I believe we have featured at least two of the previous three singles - I tried to go back and look, but anyway...  I have really been enjoying his music, and I look forward to the album release. 

17. "I Saw a U.F.O." by Victims of The New Math

Next up, we have a track from the Phoenix, Arizona based Victims of New Math which is a recording project of Thomas Young. The music is influenced by Guided by Voices and Big Star and the song was inspired by an episode of the new Unsolved Mysteries. I dig this a lot. 

18. "The Weeping Souls - Alain Johannes Remix" by Jonny Polonsky

Jonny Polonsky returns to the playlist with this remix from Alain Johannes who has collaborated with Chris Cornell, PJ Harvey, and more. Polonsky has a rich history which includes some incredible collaborations of his own. 

19. "Downstairs Sunday" by A Shoreline Dream

A Shoreline Dream (from Barnum, Colorado) return to E2TG with their latest single taken from their recently released Warming album.  They are becoming regulars here on E2TG - and their fantastic sounding shoegaze/post-punk sound is a big reason why. 

20. "Endicott" by Leron Thomas

There is a lot to unpack in this incredible new release. Leron Thomas was a major contributor to Iggy Pop's Free album from last year. He is a trumpeter, composer, and vocalist. This song was inspired by the Kid Creole and the Coconut's song of the same name.  It is absolutely wonderful, and I am really glad I got clued into this release. 

21. "Record Collector" by Brophy's Law

Brophy's Law are based in Copenhagen but the band hails from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Denmark.  Here - this lead single from their forthcoming True Stories album is about a young man in a cult record shop. A truly great way to close out this segment of music. 

Tomorrow -we finish up our recap with the last six songs on the playlist.  As usual, we saved some good ones for last. 
 

    Featured Friday Playlist

E2TG 8/05/2020 - Mid-week Blues and Greens - The Eye Openeth Mix (Memphis Remix)

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We have reached the mid-point of this work week. We are well into August. Here in Nashville, COVID-19 stats are improving, but for some reason this makes me anxious - because I fear that the increased precautions we have been in recent weeks (with some high-profile exceptions) will start slacking off and we will then see a resurgence, but I guess time will tell.  For me, it seems like it will be status quo for some time. 

There are things that excite and please me. There has been quite a bit new music released this year so far, and much of it is excellent.  Just looking back at the year so far at E2TG is evidence of that, but even outside the scope of this blog - there is a lot to be excited about. 

I also see many artists and venues being creative in dealing with the new reality, and I hope this continues. It will take thinking out side of the box to keep things going. 

I am excited about the state of activism - especially among the young - my hope is that even in a deep red state like Tennessee, the next generation of voters can help turn the tide. I have seen some demographics that bare out this hope. I hope we call find a sustainable way to keep up the fight for justice and human rights for all people. 

The November election fills me with equal parts hope and dread. I am not sure what I am going to do to survive election night... 

Finally, before we turn back to the music, a word about Spotify.  I join many in condemning the recent comments by the CEO of Spotify - his words were tone deaf and harmful. I have said this before, I held off a long-time before using Spotify extensively for this blog. I do think the platform is currently the best way to share music and a great way to discover music - if you know how - otherwise, you are just a tool of the machine.  Nevertheless, the platforms business model does not support independent artists well at all. 

I will once again say, if want to support musicians - you can like and follow and save etc on Spotify, but also buy physical copies and merch and tip at virtual or (when possible) at live shows. Help spread the word and encourage your fellow music lovers to support artists in a meaningful way.  

Buy through Bandcamp on the first Friday of every month when the waive fees. 

Time for today's recap of our weekly Featured Friday Playlist - today, we have a good one, songs 18-22:

18. "Adrenaline" by Above Snakes

Out of the gate, today, we have some hard hitting metal - a single ahead of the forthcoming debut EP by this Boston based band. I am not that familiar with all the genres listed in the e-mail, I got about this - the danger of having wide-open musical tastes I guess, but this sounds great and like I said, it hits hard. 

19. "Mafitishei" by shishi

Here at E2TG, we cover all kinds of music from all over the world. Today, we have a fantastic track - our first listen to this surf/punk/whatever band from Lithuania. Seriously, I really love this track. It is the title track to their recent album. 

20. "If I Were a Dinosaur" by Arlan Feiles

A shuffle with some New Orleans flavored piano.  Feiles is based in New Jersey - by way of Miami and Los Angeles. This is a track from his recent album What Kind of World?  I am very happy to have this song in our playlist. 

21. "Do You Want to Buy a Guitar" by Bob Nanna

Bob Nanna (Braid, Hey Mercedes, The City on Film, Lifted Bells) with a track from his recently released Celebrations States album - his debut full-length under this new name. The album - all-acoustic - was recorded all on September 7, 2019 on what would have been his wedding anniversary.  It is a highly personal album, and I highly recommend you give it I listen. 

22. "Exploding Head" by R.E. Seraphin

We close out this segment of music with another debut under a new moniker. R.E. (Ray) Seraphin recently returned to his Bay Area hometown after having lived in Austin. He recruited some local musicians - included the bass player of Neutrals - who we have featured before. Seraphin was previously of the band Talkies.  The music here has elements of paisley pop and post-punk, and it is truly a great sound. Check it out. 

Tomorrow we wrap up our recap with songs 23-27...  
 

    Featured Friday Playlist

E2TG 3/26/2020 - Quarantine Music Day (who's counting) - High on Love Mix (Waiting for God Remix)

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In case you missed it, we premiered the new song from Nicole Boggs &#33 the Reel this morning.  Check it out HERE!

One thing I have been struggling with recently is keeping up with all of the livestreams being done by musicians.  Don't get me wrong, it is a great and necessary thing in this strange and difficult times, but even as just a fan, I have trouble keeping up with all the scheduled and impromptu streams. I have had a few requests to mention some streams, but I struggle there, too.

I don't have any solutions for this except keep up with your favorite bands and if they post a livestream share it as best as you are able. Check out some of the on-line festivals to potentially discover new music and share that, too.

Honestly, I don't think E2TG is flexible enough nor do I have time enough to be a good source for sharing these events, but as  fan, I will definitely share whenever I am able.

Something else that has been on my mind, as I have been shuffling from my phone memory, sometimes songs come up by bands that no longer exist and maybe bands that broke up over difficult internal issues. In some cases, every reference to the band has been scrubbed from the internet. Also, some bands disavow or at least remove older music from their sites possibly because it no longer represents who they are.

In any case, I don't delete songs from my phone memory and so they may come up in the shuffle. While I support anyone's decision to distance themselves from certain parts of their pasts - I personally think every part of my story has contributed to who I am today. Even the parts I am not at all proud of.. anyway, that has been on my mind...

Meanwhile, I am just going to keep on keeping on.

    Featured Friday Playlist

E2TG 1/23/2020 - First First Impressions - End of the World Mix (Night Growls Remix)

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First Impressions

So I started a new thing on E2TG called first impressions.  It is exactly what the name implies, which is me listening to an album or song and giving you my initial impressions of what I am hearing and what ever else the music brings to mind. I will be doing this fairly often I hope and cover as much ground as I can. These will be separate posts and I will link to them on the Release Calendar next to the related entry. In case you missed the first, here is the LINK. But come back here because we have more goodies. 

Other goodies

Please tune in to my WXNA radio show this Saturday (Double Shot with Joe and Sue on WXNA). Our theme will be Before They Were Stars, and we will our special tribute to our friend, hero, and one-time fellow DJ, David Olney.  You can catch us Saturday morning beginning at 9:00am on 101.5FM in Nashville or at wxnafm.org   If you can't catch the show live, you can check out the archives at the same website. We will have some early recordings from some E2TG favorites like Meghan Hayes, Darrin Bradbury, Adam Kurtz, and Adrian Krygowski (pre-Adrian+Meredith).

Also, please keep checking back with our NEW RELEASE calendar below. I am adding to it almost daily, and I am starting to add links to where you can pre-order, buy, hear/stream the music. I will be fine-tuning that who experience soon.

E2TG 2019 Recap - Part 5 - Porchlight Mix (Arcadia Remix)

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I am back after an unexpectedly long weekend.  I was under the weather Friday and so I stayed home. 

I did make it out to the 14th Annual Get Behind the Mule: Tom Waits Tribute and Benefit at The 5 Spot on Saturday.  As always, it was an incredible event that raised money to support an organization that has been working to combat the issues of hunger in the Middle  Tennessee for as long as I can remember.  I actually have a 1985 vinyl compilation of local musicians that was done as a benefit for 2nd Harvest. 

This year's tribute featured several of my favorite local artists (like Sally Jaye - backed by Brian Wright and Jon Latham - all two E2TG Artists of the Year, and one member of an E2TG Band of the Year), Laura Rabell, Raygun, Tom Mason, Afton Wolfe, Annie McCue, Ned Hill, Anana Kaye, Kevin Gordon and more!  What a great night!

Back to the recap of 2019.  We still have 114 songs left (after today).  You can get a preview of what is still to come on these recaps by visiting the Spotify Playlist I created.

The list today is a good representation of the diversity of music we have been fortunate enough to feature over the course of 2019.  Some only made one appearance, and some are from albums that we returned to time and again. 

Let' go!

Trending Tuesday Morning Shuffle - The Far Side Mix (Mortal Flames Remix)

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  *Note: The video playlist at the bottom of the post attempts to closely approximate the shuffle I listened to on my way to work this morning. When a video for a song was not available, I substituted another song by the same artist. When I could not find any videos by an artist, I included a related video or did not include a video for that track. This blog may reference unreleased tracks, however, no unreleased music is ever included.


And we are back after an extra long weekend.  Time for a Trending Tuesday shuffle.

Featured Friday Morning Shuffle - Hammerheads Mix (Piss and Vinegar Remix)

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*Note: The video playlist at the bottom of the post attempts to closely approximate the shuffle I listened to on my way to work this morning. When a video for a song was not available, I substituted another song by the same artist. When I could not find any videos by an artist, I included a related video or did not include a video for that track. This blog may reference unreleased tracks, however, no unreleased music is ever included.


Ready to head into the weekend.  The Residency is over, but still much work to be done.


Today's Featured Friday shuffle is up next!

Trending Tuesday Morning Shuffle - Young and Stupid Mix

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  *Note: The video playlist at the bottom of the post attempts to closely approximate the shuffle I listened to on my way to work this morning. When a video for a song was not available, I substituted another song by the same artist. When I could not find any videos by an artist, I included a related video or did not include a video for that track. This blog may reference unreleased tracks, however, no unreleased music is ever included.



The E2TG 8th Anniversary is now only 8 days away!  

September 25 - Week 1: Ben Arthur + Conrad y Skordalia

October 2 - Week 2: Ryan Sobb + Don Gallardo

October 9 - Week 3: The Truehearts + Jason Erie

October 16 - Week 4:  Josh Gray  + Meghan Hayes

October 23 - Week 5: Microwave Mountain + The Big Dumb


I owe you all a full-recap of Muddy Roots and of AmericanaFest. Right now, I am running head-long into the E2TG 8th Anniversary Residency - which begins one week from tomorrow!!!!!

I had an extra long commute due to traffic and stuff, so we have 13 songs in the shuffle today. I've been too chatty of late - so I am going to try to keep it short and sweet.  Let's go!

Wild Wednesday Morning Shuffle - Keeping Up Mix

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  *Note: The video playlist at the bottom of the post attempts to closely approximate the shuffle I listened to on my way to work this morning. When a video for a song was not available, I substituted another song by the same artist. When I could not find any videos by an artist, I included a related video or did not include a video for that track. This blog may reference unreleased tracks, however, no unreleased music is ever included.


The first official day of the Americana Fest is in the books. As has become my habit, I went to the Basement East for the Better Together kickoff event. It was packed and I saw so many friends from out of town and in town. The music - as always - was top-notched - this year honoring the City of Memphis - with songs from Memphis, associated with Memphis, and about Memphis. The list of performers included some of the hottest tickets on the AMA line-up and many of my friends.

Sleep is optional during AMA week, but I got a couple of hours. 

Tonight, Broken Jukebox Media is hosting an unofficial showcase at The 5 Spot - the night includes several artists we have featured at E2TG (Broken Jukebox is one of my major sources of new music).  After that, I will head to Dee's for another unofficial event - this hosted by Nick Nace and featuring a full-band set from the one and only Jon Latham and a lot more.

On with the shuffle - It is Wild Wednesday, but once again, I am sticking with our New Music playlist because I have so much new music to get to... It's still kind of wild!