James Baldwin and Marlon Brando at the March on Washington, August 28, 1963.
Stevie Wonder "Can We Fix Our Nations Broken Heart" (2024)
Cool New Singles
(With Links to YouTube Videos)
Fontaines D.C. "Let's Get Lost". (Chet Baker cover)
Carla Olson & Tall Poppy Syndrome. "Is It True" (Brenda Lee cover)
Kim Deal. "Crystal Breath"
Mark Lanegan & Beck. "Union Tombstone". Previously unreleased instant classic. RIP Mark.
Amyl & The Sniffers. "Chewing Gum".
Bright Eyes (feat Conor Oberst). "Bells And Whistles" & "Rainbow Overpass"
Elvin Bishop & Los Lobos. "What The Hell Is Going On" (anti-Trump song)
The Hard Quartet (feat Stephen Malkmus). "Earth Hater" & "Rio's Song"
Elvin Bishop & Los Lobos. "What The Hell Is Going On" (anti-Trump song)
The Hard Quartet (feat Stephen Malkmus). "Earth Hater" & "Rio's Song"
MJ Lenderman. "Joker Lips" & "Wristwatch"
The Pixies. "Oyster Beds"
Christopher Owens. "I Think About Heaven" & "No Good" (live) & "No Good" (album)
Adrianne Lenker. "Once A Bunch"
Orville Peck. "Death Valley High" (feat Beck)
Adrianne Lenker. "Once A Bunch"
Orville Peck. "Death Valley High" (feat Beck)
Elias Ronnenfelt. "No One Else" & "Like Lovers Do". Iceage frontman goes solo.... and you're telling me the singer from that trendy Danish metal band is going solo and Americana or something like that??? Reminds me of Conor Oberst's Mystic Valley Band (who I loved). We saw Iceage was going in this direction (softer acoustic music), as in this Bob Dylan cover, "I'll Keep It with Mine", but it's a little surprising to see Elias go all the way on his solo record...
Cool New Albums
Fontaines D.C. Romance. Ireland's best band's fourth album takes them to another level. This could very well be The Best Rock Album Of 2024. It's gonna be huge. Enormous. Going To Be Big.
MJ Lenderman. Manning Fireworks. Anticipation couldn't be higher for this album from this rising Americana star, who has a solo career, plays guitar for Wednesdaywith his partner Karly Hartzman, and recently was a prominent guest artist on the new Waxahatchee album Tigers Blood. And in his spare time... This guy is going to be a huge star after this. Another candidate for The Best Rock Album Of 2024.
David Gilmour. Luck And Strange. Pink Floyd's guitarist/singer has a new album out.
Toro Y Moi. Hole Erth. Always creative and engaging.
Jeff Tweedy. Starship Casual: Orbit Two. Wilco frontman steps out to do some solo acoustic demos, covers, etc. Great for fans and pretty good for not-yet-fans too. Nice cover of Paul Simon's "America".
Steve Wynn. Make It Right. Veteran rocker returns with some solid new songs.
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings. Woodland. Modern Alternative Country Americana roots twang at its best.
Susanna. Meditations On Love. Powerful.
Justin Townes Earle. ALL IN: Unreleased & Rarities (The New West Years). Very cool. Tragic.
X. Smoke & Fiction. I'm still mad at Exene and Billy Zoom for being into right-wing bs and conspiracy theories but this does sound a lot the old X, who I loved, and I'm enjoying listening to this.I credit John Doe with keeping this going with dignity and style (and energy!).
Jack White. No Name. Very good.
Maya de Vitry. The Only Moment.
Meshell Ndegeocello. No More Water: The Gospel Of James Baldwin. Interesting. Different. Nice tribute to queer Black writer James Baldwin, as we note the anniversary of the March on Washington.
Chuck Johnson. Sun Glories. Experimental music featuring pedal steel guitar. Cool.
The Cactus Blossoms. Every Time I Think About You. Nice Americana.
Casey Neill & The Norway Rats. Time Zero Land. Good and Folky.
Orville Peck. Stampede. That gay cowboy with the sweet-ass voice...
Ray LaMontagne. Long Way Home. Pretty good. Nice songs. Some of them sound like classics we've already known forever.
Spirit Of The Beehive. You'll Have To Lose Something. Good songs.
Menomena. Mines. Very cool. Unique.
Rome. World In Flames. I liked his Ukraine album last year and this is also worth listening to.
Mdou Moctar: The Agadez Folders: Live at Sultan’s Palace (2024) (47 minutes)(Tuareg, Niger, The Sahel)
Best Archival
The Faces. Faces At The BBC - Complete BBC Concert & Session Recordings 1970-1973.[Rhino]. Boxset comprised of 8 CDs and one Blu-ray Disc of the legendary Faces feat Rod Stewart, Ron Wood, Ronnie Laine, Kenney Jones, and Ian McLagan. Perhaps the most under-appreciated of the truly great rock bands.
Talking Heads. Stop Making Sense. They've never sounded better.
Neil Young. Archives Vol. 3 Takes. Worth checking out if only for the Devo collaboration on "Hey, Hey, My, My (Into The Black).
Various Artists. The Concert for Bangladesh. Many are giving this a fresh listen as it is now available on streaming services for the first time. The historic concert (later an album and a film) took place at Madison Square Garden on August 1, 1971, with an afternoon show, followed by another in the evening. Featured artists included: George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Jesse Ed Davis, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Leon Russell, Badfinger, Billy Preston, Jim Keltner, and Ravi Shankar. It was the first of the big rock benefit shows for a cause.
"Early Roman Kings" Bob Dylan feat Elvin Bishop, live August 3, 2024, Mountain View, California.
Totally Random
Van Morrison. "Everybody's Talking" (live at The Lion's Share, San Anselmo, California, February 15, 1973). From 1964 - 1972, Van Morrison was on a roll, churning out classics. Since then, it's been hit or miss. I'll never quite forget the spectacle of seeing him at Glastonbury in 1982, putting on a listless, lackluster performance. He even made "Gloria" boring and he wrote it! Afterwards I saw him sitting in the back of a Mercedes being driven off the festival grounds, smirking smugly. I was struck by the old comments by manager Jerry Heller, who worked with several troublesome clients, including NWA and Easy E, who said Van was the biggest prick he ever worked with in show business. Then there's Van's COVID bullshit. I've really completely written him off at this point. I did enjoy seeing him do Astral Weeks in Berkeley in 2009, and I did like his skiffle album with Lonnie Donegan (1998's The Shuffle Sessions) but c'mon, COVID denial? And as a public figure that people listen to, all the worse to be advocating dangerous and unhealthy positions. Plus his attitude. Smugness and mediocrity make bad bedfellows and his releases since 1972 are extremely hit or miss. I am essentially boycotting Van at this point, although I might make an exception for his 1964 - 1972 period. And I guess I'd throw this song in there too, from a small club performance in Northern California in 1973. I've always loved this song. Love Fred Neil. Love Harry Nilsson. Love Midnight Cowboy. Don't love what Jon Voight and Van Morrison have become similar, as Ezra Pound said of Winston Churchill, to "a sputtering tank of nicotine and stake whiskey".
MLK, "I Have A Dream", March on Washington
Highly Anticipated New Releases
The Jesus Lizard. Rack [Ipecac]. September 13, 2024.
Jesse Malin. Silver Patron Saints: The Songs of Jesse Malin [Glassnote]. September 20, 2024.
Bright Eyes. Five Dice, All Threes. [Dead Oceans] September 20, 2024. New release from Conor Oberst & Friends sounds good, a return to form.
Mano Chao. Viva Tu. [Radio Bemba/Because]. September 20, 2024. Liked the title song, which was the first single, "Viva Tu".
Bob Dylan. The 1974 Live Recordings. [Columbia/Sony]. September 20, 2024. Massive 27-CD boxset documenting each iteration of the infamous 1974 national tour of Dylan and The Band. Classic.
The Hard Quartet. The Hard Quartet. [Matador]. October 4. New supergroup feat Stephen Malkmus. Anticipation could not he higher!
Geordie Greep. The New Sound. [Rough Trade]. October 4. Ex-Black Midi singer solo.
The Smile. Cutouts. [XL]. October 4, 2024. Radiohead side project feat Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood releases their second album of 2024, which are actually more songs from the sessions for the first album Wall of Eyes. I'm not much of a Radiohead fan, but I liked Wall of Eyes, so I'll give this a listen.
Christopher Owens. I Wanna Run Barefoot Through Your Hair. [True Panther]. October 18, 2024. Formerly the frontperson of Girls, Owens returns with a solo album. Sounds good.
Elias Rønnenfelt. Heavy Glory. [Escho]. October 25, 2024. Iceage frontman's cool solo project.
Amyl And The Sniffers. Cartoon Darkness. October 25, 2024. Amazing tough love from Australia. Be careful! She might bite your tongue while you're kissing!
Kim Deal. Nobody Love You More. [4AD]. November 22, 2024. Says here that this singer//songwriter/bass player, best known as one of the co-founders of that seminal band, The Pixies and, with her twin sister Kelley Deal, a member of the equally seminal band, The Breeders, is coming out with her DEBUT solo album this year... Intriguing...
Bob Dylan, "Only A Pawn In Their Game", March on Washington
Musical Notes
Very much looking forward to touring and new releases from the latest indie supergroup to grace our shores, The Hard Quartet, featuring Stephen Malkmus from Pavement, as well as Matt Sweeney, Emmett Kelly, and Jim White, who have played with musicians such as Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Ty Segall, and The Dirty Three. They've released two videos and announced three shows so far: October 10 in L.A. at The Belasco, October 17 at New York's Webster Hall, and October 22 in London at The Electric Ballroom.
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