E2TG 12/10/2020 - It's Okay to Not Be Okay - It Just Happens Mix (White China Remix)

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UPDATE:  This is the post I had prepared last Thursday when I received the devastating news of the sudden loss of one of the members of my immediate family. Obviously, I never completed this post. Over the weekend, as we have been dealing with the loss and saying goodbye, I have thought about it, and I have decided to post this - as is it stands now.  I am going to take the rest of this week off - except I will be posting a new Featured Friday Playlist on Friday which will cover two weeks worth of new and recent music.  Next week - believe it or not - is Christmas week. So far - the new releases for Christmas week are pretty slim - so I have been working on a E2TG Christmas Playlist which I will be unveiling.  I am off the next two Thursdays and Fridays after this week, so I will have to see how posting goes for those days.  

In the meantime - enjoy the final part of our Featured Friday Playlist recap from last week and check out the Shuffle below for some random music from 2014-2020 without any explanations. The video playlist covers either the songs or at least the artists listed. 

I will be back. Thanks for your patience. 

Whew! We have made it to the end of this week's Featured Friday Playlist - at 55 songs and almost three and half hours this was our longest Playlist yet - coming on the heals of one of our shortest...  Today - we wrap up our recap with songs 46-55:

46. "Faceman" by Death of a Legend

First up, we have the debut single by a new rock band out of Milano, Italy - formed by members of that city's hardcore scene.  An impressive debut. 

47. "Reach out your hand - Radio Edit" by Gus Force

Next up, a new single from Sweden about the state of the world and how even though we have to be physically apart - we still need one another.

48. "In Tune" by Meilir

Next - we have the title track from the debut album by this experimental singer-songwriter from Wales. We have featured a lot of interesting music from Wales lately. 

49. "Enough Fears" by Scenius

Scenius returns to the Playlist - with the title track from their debut album. Scenius is the band featuring UK producer Steve Whitfield and French singer Fab Nau. Great stuff.  

50. "Your Decision" by IN Peril

Next up, we have the second single by this hard rock band from Northampton. 

51. "Live As Myself" by Ludovico Technique

Next up, we have the latest single from New York based Industrial goth metal band Ludovico Technique. Great to have some industrial music in the playlist. 

52. "Alessa" by Rainfredrick, Monalisa Stephen

Next up, we have a new song from this rapper, singer/songwriter and entrepreneur who was born in Nigeria and who is currently based in Mexico.  This song features a Monalisa Stephen who is a singer based in Nigeria. This track is in Spanglish - a dialect that combines Spanish and English. 

53. "Flowers" by Dankrupt

Next up - an alternative Reggae song from this band - who I believe are based in Los Angeles. 

54. "Risk It All - Hillsdom Remix" by Belau

Next up, a brand new remix single from this Hungarian electronica band who have been featured on BBC and in Rolling Stone. 

55. "So Close" by Thrillsville 

We previously featured L.A. darkwave artist Thrillsville earlier this year with his pandemic inspired single "Lockdown". He is back with a new EP called Say Goodbye to the Light. A massive sound to close out this massive playlist.  

See you tomorrow with a brand new Playlist!

 

    Featured Friday Playlist

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

Trending Thursday Morning Shuffle - Colorful Recipes Mix

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Well, I'm back after being a little under the weather yesterday.

Happy Birthday to the 2014 E2TG Artist of the Year, and the most tagged artist in E2TG history - Darrin Bradbury!

Only 7 more shuffles and 7 more days of the 2017 Earies.  After next Friday, I will be out for the rest of the year, but you can expect the Golden Earie Awards to drop during the week between Christmas and New Year's Day.

Meanwhile, we have another batch of Earie awards that are burning a hole in my pocket (small award or big pocket?).   As always, no nominees - my categories are arbitrary and sometimes silly but the awards are heartfelt.

Featured Friday Morning Shuffle - Leave it on the Shelf Mix

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Tentatively emerging from a blue funk I've been in, and a wonderful night of live music definitely helped out with that.

It started at The 5 Spot with Philly band Lady HD.  I really loved their sound. They said they were on their first tour and apparently the bass player was a fill-in from Nashville, but they sounded really tight.

Next up was Sean Quinn and the Tremblers. This version of the Tremblers featured Robbie Crowell on bass. Quinn is one of my absolute favorites.  His original songs reach a kind of pure power pop heaven for me.  He covered Chris Isaak's "Baby Did a Bad Bad Thing" which I have heard him do before but last night the song just seemed to pop.

Kristen Englenz was up next with Sean Quinn sitting in.  This was my first time seeing her perform since week 2 of my residency and the first time with a full band. She sounded great. I only wish I could have stayed longer, but I had to hot-foot it over to the Basement East.

It was a night of the songs of John Prine -sponsored by Prine's label Oh Boy Records. It was a benefit for Jessi Zazu (Those Darlins) who is fighting cancer. The show was a sell out. The lineup included Jason Isbell, Amanda Shires, Ruby Amanfu, Lilly Hiatt, Elizabeth Cook, Cory Branan, Colter Wall, Caitlin Rose, The Whiskey Gentry, John Prine's son Tommy, Andrew Leahey, plus two E2TG Artists of the Year - Jon Latham and Darrin Bradbury (and more).  A great band backed several of the performances - led by drummer Jerry Pentecost and featuring Adam Kurtz of Buck N Stuff fame who played pedal steel, mandolin, and bongos.

I know I am biased but in my opinion (besides Jessi and John Prine's songs), the star of the show was Darrin Bradbury.  I say that because he performed solo and later with the band, he joined Elizabeth Cook for a fine rendition of "In Spite of Ourselves", and he ended up singing the last verse of the last song, "Paradise".

Overall, the music and the show was just about perfect and hopefully raised a lot of money for a great cause.  If you couldn't make it last night but want to help out Jessi, you may do so by visiting her You Caring site.



Whew!  And it is now Friday and the heat has at least temporarily broken... and we have a fine playlist of Featured Friday songs...  Now!

Featured Friday Morning Shuffle - Apathy and Sentiment Mix

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Whew! I am kind of exhausted, and I am behind on about everything, but I am mostly having the time of my life.  So, excited for the May Residency at The 5 Spot which kicks off Wednesday May 3 with The Mark Robinson Band!  This is going to be a great month of music, and I know I will have a blast, and I think you will too.  If you are reading this, and you are in or will be in Nashville on any given Wednesday in May, I hope you will come on out and say hey.

It's our final shuffle of April - where did the time go!

It's Feature Friday time....

Trending Tuesday Morning Shuffle - Mumblin' Mix

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Running very late.... busy, busy, busy... This will be brief, but here are some cool tunes for the day!  Hopefully, I'll have a bit more time for commentary tomorrow.

Music City Monday Morning Shuffle - Take One Down Mix

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Daily (not) political post:  It occurred to me reading a couple of recent news articles that the current administration is the most transparently unethical administration in this nation's history.  Transparent is usually seen as a good thing, but the way the current administration is openly flaunting their ethical breaches is astounding. Where are those in power who are willing to speak up? It's not like there even needs to be much of an investigation.  They are not even trying to hide it....
Busy weekend... saw some great shows, missed some great shows, worked hard, rested, hung out with friends, did a live radio show with guest DJ Mark Robinson, announced the first week of the E2TG May Residency with same Mark Robinson and his fabulous band, and did some other things.

The rest of the line-up will be announced soon.  

Saturday night was the David Olney CD release show and pop-up art event at The 5 Spot with Brock Zeman and Blair Hogan.  Great music and a great time..


It's Monday, when we shuffle up tunes from our Music City Monday playlist.... let's go...

Trending Tuesday Morning Shuffle - Kryptonite Mix

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Pressed for time....


Here is the Trending Tuesday shuffle.

Music City Monday Morning Shuffle - Don't Go Downtown Mix

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Honestly, right now, I don't even know where to focus my outrage and frustration and utter disbelief that our nation has reached the point it has...  #Resist #Persist  - Take a breath when necessary. Refocus. Keep going. Still waiting for the GOP leadership to step up... waiting... waiting...

So... I am back after a extra long weekend. Took Friday off to run errands and rest up. Other than Double Shot on Saturday, I most hung after after Friday night.  Plans for E2TG's 6th Anniversary month at The 5 Spot are coming together. More details very soon.

On to the shuffle for a Monday morning.  As we always do, we focus on tracks with a Music City connection.  Let's go!

Topical Thursday Morning Shuffle - Tell Me Lies Mix

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So.... the chief lawyer for the country is not only a racist, ableist, transphobe, and homophobe, but he is also apparently a liar/perjurer and possibly a traitor.  Nope, nothing to see here...

and then there is this... (with a straight face)

1. The failure of the Yemen raid is Obama's fault.
2. The failure of the Yemen raid is the military's fault.
3  The success of the Yemen raid is Trump's accomplishment.

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I had a rare opportunity to see six different Earie award winners perform last night - beginning at The 5 Spot with D.L. Duncan - beginning his month-long residency.  He was joined by the incredible blues keyboard player, Al Hill.

Next, I headed to The Country for the inaugural Writer Crush Wednesday which featured rounds from Tom Schreck and Connor Rand, Andrew Adkins and Joe Nolan, and Lindsay Ellyn (who created the event) and Taylor Alexander.  Really fun night.

Tonight, I am hyped to see John Doe at The Basement with Jon Latham opening.


I am changing my title of Thursday's posts to Topical Thursday.  Just because.  My topic (or theme if you will) continues into this new month, and I added a bunch of songs to the mix.

Disclaimers:  The topic is not revealed. The connection of the songs is tenuous and times and not explained.  It may not be the actual content of the song that fits it into the theme - it may just be a possible interpretation of the title.  And as always, the views expressed or implied do not necessarily reflect those of any of the artists.

Let's Go!

Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - Gratitude Mix

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Short and Sweet. In spite of Because of all of the difficulties of this year, I am more aware than ever of the reasons I have to be grateful.   In a randomly shuffled way - that will be my focus today....

WOW Wednesday Music Shuffle - No Excuse Mix

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I just recently found out that the five year old daughter of Joseph "Taco" Russell is fighting a courageous battle with childhood cancer.   #E2TG sends all kinds of love and good thoughts and prayers to the entire Taco Land family.  I sometimes think of the bands/artists, I've gotten to know as part of an extended Ear to the Ground Family, and Taco Land has been a big part of that for a good portion of our history.

Right now you can get an "Audrey Strong"  bracelet plus a free download of Heart of Texas by Taco Land for a $1 (or more) donation (proceeds go to St. Jude.)  Here is the link to bandcamp...

from Taco Land:

Support bracelet for Taco's 5yr old daughter whom is fighting childhood cancer. Bracelet is Gold. This color represents the fight against all Childhood Cancers. All monies will be donated to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. Bracelet comes with free download of song "Heart of Texas" which has Audrey opening the song by saying, "I love Daddy!"

Includes unlimited streaming of Heart of Texas via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Friday Morning Music Shuffle - Ex-Eye-Aye-I Mix

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Happy Friday the 13th to all you triskaidekaphiles out there.

Monday starts our march to 2014 by highlighting some of our favorite music of 2013. Culminating in the Third Annual Band of the Year unveiling ceremony blog post.  Who will join The Mobbs and Skeletons in the Piano in this super exclusive category?  You better tune in to find out.  It's all soooo exciting!

Anyway to close out a great year of Shuffles, we have another shuffle with some songs and stuff...

#E2TGWorthy... it started as a simple blog post, but everything got turned upside down. What happened next will change the way you look at simple blog posts for at least a couple of minutes...

Wednesday Morning Music Shuffle - Gratitude Redux Mix

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It's that time of the year to become reflective and to find things for and about which to be thankful and grateful.  Each year seems filled with so much good and bad things, and yet it all seems to go by so fast. So it is good to pause now and again.

As a blog, we here at E2TG (meaning me) continue to be amazed and grateful for all the great people who have read and been a part of this extended experiment. I'm always grateful for the now accepted ubiquity of the term curate (which it seemed to me used to be reserved for museums and such). Now, whenever I don't have much time to comment on the songs I present, and I begin to wonder exactly what it is useful that I am doing, I can just remind myself that I am curating this amazing collection of music, and that makes me feel very special indeed..... ;-)

Let's jump to our final shuffle of the week and our final shuffle of November 2013

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Return of the Living Dead Mix

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Well... after a week long bout with the flu, I can safely say that I am back from the grave and ready to party!



Hall of Fame update - 1. I at least have a template for the Hall of Fame page entries.  I was beginning to work more on the page when I fell ill.  - doesn't "fell ill" sound so sophisticated?  Let me tell you - the reality was pretty awful. 2. I came up with a list of notable omissions from my initial class of twenty - some of these were due to being first mentioned in the pre-blogger days, some due to alternate spellings affecting the tag count.  In any event, I will be adding those names soon.

p.s. I have a literal ton of songs waiting to be added to the active playlist.*

*confession: I have no clue how much a song weighs so I can't truly say that I literally have a ton of songs to add... but it's a bunch.

Let's ease back into things with a pretty nifty Monday Shuffle

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Grand Company Mix

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Introducing:  The E2TG Hall of Fame ----- Ta Da!

You may be asking, "WTF?" Basically, it comes down to this: My blogging consultant told me I need to start being more controversial to attract more readers to my site. Whenever, I see posts about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they always seem to attract highly opinionated comments. So, I thought if I came up with my own Hall of Fame, it might create controversy and angry comment wars which might "go viral" as the kids say.*

*All of the proceeding is true except for the following: I don't have a blogging consultant. I rarely read comment wars about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the only thing likely to "go viral" over here is an actual virus.

Really, I got to thinking about the artists I consider E2TG featured artist. When I began writing E2TG way back in the spring of 2011, I began naming a Band of the Week just about every week.  I did this for a about year, before switching to a featured artist designation - wherein I would name ten or so "featured artists" every month and put them in "heavy rotation" for the remainder of that month.  That carried on for just over six months. Since, then I keep featuring new music, but I haven't really been very organized about recognizing those bands.  So... I decided to take stock - at this random point in E2TG history and go back and formally recognize all of the bands that I consider part of the E2TG family.  To do so, I decided to use the TAG "cloud" on the sidebar and begin with the most tagged bands and work my way down.  So, for the near future, I am going to name three, two or one band every day to join the E2TG HofF.  It's a purely honorary title - as currently it does not come with a cash prize nor is there an actual Hall.

I am going to create and maintain a Sidebar linked Page for the Hall of Fame artists - with videos, songs, links, an on-going web-store and more.  It's still under construction, so will update when I have a Page set up. 

So without much more ado, E2TG is pleased to announce our inaugural class of Hall of Fame inductees:

 

 

 

 



1. THE END MEN from Brooklyn, NY

2.TACO LAND - from San Antonio, TX

3. SKELETONS IN THE PIANO from Saratoga Springs, NY

Stay tuned!  More to come.

Shuffle is up next

Monday Morning Music Shuffle - Linger On Mix

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Lou Reed (1942-2013)

 

It is impossible for me to say with any degree of certainty that Ear 2 the Ground would not exist if it weren't for Lou Reed.  But, what I can say with absolute certainty is that it would not be the same. The simple but truthful reason is that music would not be the same.  Walk on, linger on...

 

 

 

Wednesday/Thursday Evening/Morning Music Shuffle - Luckiest Guy in the World Mix

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Railroad Bridge - Nashville

Good morning, I am back after a day off... my new earphones are still In-Transit, so today I presenting my mix of yesterday's drive home and today's drive in to work.  Jump through to the marvelous musical mixture...

Tuesday Morning Music Shuffle - Talking to Myself Mix

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In the predawn gloom of a warmish wintery morning.  Backed by choirs of angels or at least by the steady thum of the engine and the slightly muted songs on the radio... driving the newly familiar route passing the same buildings and noticing anything that looks out of place. Past the way too many car lots along my way, filled with cars that never sell and contemplating the meaning of all existence and trying to stay awake. A meaningless, yet invigorating conversation with one of the many interesting characters that fate has brought into my life. Today, the discussion was about letters we would banish, alternate spellings we would outlaw.  Keep it simple... I suppose. 

Then my shuffle begins with a song that holds memories - don't they all in one way or another?

Shuffle - after the JUMP!

Friday Morning Music Shuffle - Stinkin' Badges Mix

Ha! It's Friday. My first Friday at work in at least three weeks.  I decided to spin some tracks from my Ear to the Ground-related playlist which features Bands and Artists who have been featured here in some way (Bands of the Week, ETTG Recommends, etc.) I'm up to 83 songs on this list and hope to increase that number soon.

Band o' the Week alum Brother Howe are up first with the title track of the EP linked to below.  Heaven is My Retirement Plan.  The EP also features a cover version of the Weezer song Undone (The Sweater Song).

Next,  friends of the blog, Valerie Giroux and James LeMay (aka You & Me), get funky with Head Up High. Check out the song and download it for free at Bandcamp by using the widget below. Black Moon  is a Wilco cover by Joseph Mooradian who was featured on a Soundcloud sampler some months ago. I need to do another one of those.  He is a first year college student and the younger brother of 1/2 of Forest Mountain Hymnal (who have also been featured here.)  Here a widget thingy from the cloud....

Black Moon (Wilco Cover) by Joseph Mooradian

 

It's You & Me back again and showing off their bluesier side with Running Like Hell. Finally, this morning, it's BenSem aka Ben Semmens with a track from his album Western Lights which you can add to your collection by purchasing and dowloading at the pic-link below. The song is called Free. The album it comes from will set you back about 9 bucks (totally worth it!)

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