We are moving right along with our recap of this week's Playlist. Today, we have songs 14-18...
14. "Keep On Pushing" by The Calvary Nightingales
First up, we have a single off of the newly released collection of sacred soul music - The Last Shall Be First: The JCR Record Story. The album is out on Bruce Watson's Bible and Tire Records. The songs on this album had never been released on CD, digital, or outside of Memphis.
15. "Start Breathing In" by Dan Friese
We previously featured the single "Streetlight" by this Portland, Oregon based singer-songwriter. Now, his album Jane Songs is out, and we have the lead track from that album. Great sounding music.
16. "Across the Drama Pond" by Anton Barbeau
We also previously featured "Manbird" - the title track from the new double album by singer-songwriter Anton Barbeau - who is from Sacramento and currently residing in Berlin. The double album is out now, and so we have another track from that album. Wonderful psychedelic pop songs.
17. "One Line at a Time" by D.L. Marble
Next up, we have the title track from the new album by Arizona based songwriter D.L. Marble. The album was produced by Eric "Roscoe" Ambel. The album has been delayed several times due to the pandemic, but it is out and it is wonderful. Check it out.
18. "Prn" by The Persian Leaps
And we close out this segment of music with a track from Smiling Lessons - the new album by this Minneapolis based indie rock/power pop band. This one hints at some of my favorite music of my younger years, but it is highly original. A great ending as we move on in our Playlist.
Humor in dark times. Tricky business. Topical humor to make a point is a time-honored tradition - irony, sarcasm, black humor - but these days in the instant gratification world - the subtlety can often be missed or misinterpreted. Humor can be seen as inappropriate. Many of us use humor as a defense mechanism. Like I said, tricky business.
But what of those who get caught admitting something or saying something offensive or stupid and then say, "I was kidding" or "It was sarcasm" when all evidence indicates they were not kidding and they were not being sarcastic. So, it becomes even trickier.
And what of escapist humor to take a break from fighting systemic racism or holding police accountable for their actions or trying to resist a would-be dictator. Will some, she this humor as poorly timed or accuse you of not taking things seriously enough? Maybe. Should you alter your behavior? Maybe or maybe not.
I think it is worth thinking through every tweet, every Facebook post, every comment and considering the possible implications and interpretations. Ask yourself, who is your intended audience and your potential audience and do either of those groups need to hear what you have to say. Do they need to hear it in this way, in this format, in this context. What is it you are trying to say and do your words adequately convey your message This is messy and complicated, and you may feel as if your free speech has been curtailed. Has it been? Is self-reflection and self censorship a bad thing? We hear censorship, and it sounds and is bad. Is self-censorship even a thing? Censorship denotes government suppressing free speech - surely, considering and weighing ones owns words is not that.
More later....
Now to Part 3 of our Featured Friday Playlist Recap - songs 14-19 (tomorrow 20-25)
14. "When You Don't Fight" by Darlin' Brando
First up, we have the lead track from Also, Too... the new album from Darlin' Brando. Darlin' Brando is singer-songwriter Brandon Goldstein. He was born and raised in Virginia - spent time in Los Angeles, Brooklyn, and Nashville. In Nashville, he recorded 8 of the songs on this album at The Bomb Shelter with a band he played at places with the American Legion. Our friend Adam Kurtz (heard earlier in the playlist) plays pedal steel on the album. A.J. Croce sings on one track. This track is a duet with Darlin' Brando's new wife, playwright Edith Freni.
15. "The Quiet Earth" by The Academy of Sun
The Academy of Sun is a psychedelic post-punk outfit from Brighton that formed nine years ago. This is the title track of their new album.
16. "The Clearing" by Pharamcose
Pharmacose is an alternative rock band from Jacksonville, Florida. This is the new single off their new EP Prescription Fiction Vol. 1.
17. "Codeine Veins" by Ja-Mali
Ja-Mali is a young hip-hop artist. This is his third overall release. Dig it.
18. "100 Times" by Dives
Dives are a trio from Vienna Austria that play surf-garage pop. They met at a Girls Rock Camp. This is their new single, and it is pretty cool.
19. "Release Me - Easteria Remix" by Monsieur Minimal
Next up, we have a disco dance remix of the March 2020 single by Greek alternative artist Monsieur Minimal. A cool way to end this segment of the playlist.
Featured Friday Playlist
Tuesday Morning Shuffle
"Only a Game" by Patricio Johnson (from You Gotta Be Quick Around Here)
Our first listen to this 2019 album from this Nashville based singer-songwriter. Cool stuff.
"Five Long Years" by Joe Beard (from Wayback Machine)
From Mark Hummel's album, Wayback Machine - the last two tracks features blues legend Joe Beard.
"Step Back (Take a Look Around)" by Skaciety featuring Laila K (from single)
A 2015 track. Skaciety would later become The Long Game - thus the video from The Long Game.
"Imago" by Tomorrow's Eve (from Mirror of Creation III - Project Ikaros)
An album we featured in 2018 - from German progressive metal band Tomorrow's Eve.
"Hero" by Angela Easterling (from single)
Next up, we have a single released in May dedicated to the individuals on the front line fighting against the virus that has devastated so many lives. Angela Easterling is joined by her common law husband and regular collaborator Brandon Turner here. We featured Easterling's Common Law Wife several years back.
"Dig a Hole" by Triggers & Slips (from The Stranger)
And we close with a track from a featured album from 2019 - from Salt Lake City's Triggers and Slips led by Morgan Snow. The band was scheduled to play this year's Magnolia Roads American Roots Hoedown V in April - and Snow played the virtual festival.
VIDEO PLAYLIST
NEW AND RECENT RELEASES
This Week
6/?? - Learn to Fly - "Broken Nation" (single)
6/20 - David Starling - "Cowards" (single)
6/22 - Highway Women - "Shake the Dust" (single)
6/22 - Remington Super 60 - "Still Near" (single)
6/26 - The Special Pillow - World's Finest (EP)
6/26 - Dedicated Men of Zion - Can't Turn Me Around (LP)
6/26 - Serratone - "Groovy Lucy" (single)
6/26 - 8 Floors Up - "Roman Bones Make Good Glue" (single)
6/26 - The Speed of Sound - "Glide on By" (single)
6/26 - Fellow Hollow - "Where can I buy fresh berries at night?" (single)
6/26 - Scenius - "Darkest Lines" (single)
6/26 - Melissa D. - Little Girl (EP)
6/26 -TJ George - Fragmented Soul Vol 2 (EP)
6/26 - Dead Method - "Babylon" (single)
6/29 - Sofia Talvik - Paws of a Bear - Unplugged (LP)
6/?? - Mighty Brother - The Rabbit. The Owl (Double LP)
Last Week
6/15 - The Bustermoon - Mareena Roots (LP)
6/16 - Carlos Severe Marcelin - Impressionist (LP)
6/17 - DIVES - "100 Times" (single)
6/18 - Monsieur Minimal - "Release Me (Easteria Remix)" (single)
6/19 - Darlin' Brando - Also Too... (LP)
6/19 - Dolour - The Royal We (LP)
6/19 - The Microdance - Our Love Noire (LP)
6/19 - Mendoza Line - We're All In This Alone (reissue) (LP)
6/19 - Jenny Reynolds - Any Kind of Angel (LP)
6/19 - DeLeo - Mythomania (EP)
6/19 - Buildings and Food - "Streetlights" (single)
6/19 - Maria Matiss - "More Than Heaven" (single)
6/19 - Leon Majcen - Back 'Til I'm Gone (LP)
6/19 - Raveis Kole - “Help One Another (We All Can)” (single)
6/19 - Kids Love Surf - "Oyo" (single)
6/19 - Sylvettte - "Kelpius" (single)
6/19 - Patrick Ames - "Reawakened" (single)
6/19 - The Asteroid No. 4 - "The After Glow" (single)
6/19 - The Academy of Sun - The Quiet Earth (LP)
6/19 - Brett Ryan Stewart - "It's Alright to Grow Old" (single)
6/19 - Lady Couch - "Foolish and Blue" (single)
Next Week:
7/03 - Nicole Boggs and the Reel - None of Your Business (EP)
7/24 - Even As We Speak - Adelphi (LP) 7/24 - The Wild Blue - Anonymous Future (EP)
7/24 - The Danberrys - Shine (LP)
7/24 - Ted Russell Kamp - Down in the Den (LP)
7/31 - The Jason Daniels Band - Downloads from the Universe (LP)
7/31 - Shishi - Mafitishei (LP)
7/31 - Vee VV - "Ugly Freedom (Toka Remix)" (single)
8/07 - The Furious Seasons - La Fonda (LP)
8/07 - Jason Molina - Eight Gates (LP)
8/07 - Steven Bruce - Same Time, Same Place, Same Station (LP)
8/21 - Eric Bolander - "Window" (single)
8/21 - Liar,Flower - Geiger Counter (LP)
8/28 - The Northern Belle - We Wither, We Bloom (LP)
8/28 - Special Moves - Little Help (LP)
8/28 - Debbie Lagrange - "La chanson des moustiques" (single)
8/31 - Andre Salvador & the Von Kings - Last Night From Glasgow (LP)
9/04 - India Ramey - Shallow Graves (LP)
9/25 - Buildings and Food - Up Down Strange Charm (LP)
10/16 - Malin Pettersen - Wildhorse (LP)
Recent:
5/15 - Special Consensus - Chicago Barn Dance (LP)
5/15 - Zach Aaron - Fill Dirt Wanted (LP)
5/15 - Secret Emchy Society - The Chaser (LP) 5/15 The Room in the Wood - We're the Martians, Now (LP) 5/15 - Wicked Messenger - "Golden Eyes" (single) 5/15 - Lazerine - "There's Nothing in It" (single) 5/15 - Klashing Black - Thoughts on the Matter (EP)
5/15 - Aimee Steven - "Darling" (single)
5/15 - Wolfhounds - "Can't See the Light" (single)
*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.
Moving on. We've reached the mid-point of the week. On Wednesday, we get wild at #E2TG - meaning we shuffle up all the songs I have collected over the years. It can be new songs and older songs, songs from albums we are now or have previously featured on E2TG, songs from my personal collection and odds and ends downloaded and saved over the years. Sometimes, songs come up and I have no idea when or how I added them. It makes for a fun - wild mix of music - so sit back and enjoy. (Note: a few songs were not available for the video playlist - so substitute songs by the same artists were added).
Here is an semi-official preview poster of the E2TG 8th Anniversary residency coming up in the Fall. I am excited about this line-up, and there is a slight chance I may have an additional announcement coming soon - or not. Who knows?
Meanwhile, we reached the mid-point of the week. Some time back, I came up with the name "Wild Wednesday" for this day when we don't shuffle from the "New Music/Trending Music" playlist but rather - we shuffle from all of the songs saved to my phone memory. The "Wild" refers to the fact that the songs in this shuffle can be anything (currently featured music, past featured music, all-time favorites, oddities that somehow got saved to my phone at some point in the past for reasons last to time, "classics" from the earliest days of E2TG and more (if that didn't over everything).
Well, I still have a couple more posts (one done and one not done) to go to finish off 2018, but it is 2019 and I am back to work. So... here is our first shuffle of 2019. It is Wednesday - so let's get wild! It's been a little while since we did a Wild Wednesday shuffle - which is where we shuffle all the songs in my phone.
I have a huge collection of music to add to the mix to begin 2019. This is music accumulated from late November until now that I didn't get a chance to upload in December. I'll hopefully be getting that done tonight.
All of this happened a long time ago when the world was a very different place. Of course, none of us knew that at the time. (From The Drift - A Novel by Joe Wolfe-Mazeres) Available at Amazon.com (Kindle edition also available)
I am continuing to work on my Spotify playlists for E2TG. So far, I have completed seven - January - July2018. These are meant to be a cross-section of music I featured during those months - not necessarily music released in those months. If you are interested, you can check out the playlists (links below) and follow my personal profile to find out when new playlists are created.
In the seven plus years that I have written E2TG, there have been more than a few days that I didn't really feel like writing. Days when the world and/or life was getting me down. The reason E2TG persists when other blogs go dark, is that I write anyway. The reason I write even when I don't really feel like it, is because of the music. I turn to music when I am down and out, and it always helps.
There is a lot in the world that has me down lately - both in the wide-world and closer to home. Bullies. That's what gets me down. I am sick and tired of bullies, and I am sick and tired of having a bully in the White House. I just a clip where an 18 year old woman asked a Republican candidate for Governor (don't remember what state - it doesn't matter) a legitimate question about climate change. He called her "young and naive" and refused to answer the question. Whatever else that man is, he is a bully. This week, I found out that the 17 year old son of a high school friend of mine - who had been bullied for years - died tragically in an incident either directly or indirectly caused by bullies.
Since I was younger, music has been an escape and a refuge for me. One of the reasons, I don't put down forms of music that aren't my thing - even if I may think they are lame - is that I know that any kind of music can be that refuge to someone who needs it. I just choose to write about the music I dig and the music that helps me get through the days when I don't want to write about music.
Here's today's shuffle. It's Wednesday and as we do on Wednesdays, we shuffle up all the songs saved to my phone - so we get some new tracks, some older tracks, and who knows what all. It's often a wild ride, so we call it Wild Wednesday.
