"So, let us not be blind to our differences - but let us also direct attention to our common interests and to the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal." JFK, June 10, 1963.
Waxahatchee. "Abandoned" (feat MJ Lenderman)(Lucinda Williams cover). Apple Music Nashville Sessions,
Conor Oberst & Craig Wedren."Justice To A Scream". The artists behind Bright Eyes & Shudder To Think unite for a cool new song from the soundtrack of a documentary about a trans artist called Alok.
PJ Harvey. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (Joy Division cover feat Tim Phillips)(Apple TV's "Big Sister" Season 2 soundtrack)
Bob Dylan. "Don't Fence Me In" (Cole Porter & Robert Fletcher cover) from the soundtrack for Reagan, a new film starring Dennis Quaid about the troubled former president.
Ben Kweller."Optimystic". New album in May feat Waxahatchee and MJ Lenderman.
Julien Baker &Torres. "Sugar In The Tank" on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Rev. Gary Davis: "Samson & Deliah", "Baby Let Me Follow You Down", "Cocaine"
Cool New Albums
St. Vincent. Todos Nacen Gritando. Spanish version of her 2024 release All Born Screaming. "A" for effort, "A" for execution.
The Cure.Songs Of A Lost World.
Tinariwen.Idrache (Traces Of The Past).
Talib Kweli & J. Rawls.The Confidence Of Knowing.
Kendrick Lamar.GNX.
Tyler, The Creator.Chromakopia.
Dwight Yoakam.Brighter Days.
Kim Deal. Nobody Loves You More.
Father John Misty.Mahashmashana.
The Coward Brothers (Elvis Costello & T Bone Burnett).The Coward Brothers. Elvis Costello & T Bone Burnett collection.
Joan Armatrading.How Did This Happen and What Does It Now Mean.
Seckou Keita. Homeland - Chapter 1. Master kora player Seckou Keitafrom Senegal offers an interesting album of spoken word pieces with kora backing, or perhaps the voices are backing the kora. Either way.
The Last Poets and Tony Allen feat Egypt 80.Africanism.
Cool Archival Releases
George Harrison. Living In The Material World (50th anniversary 2 CD). A joy to listen to.
Stevie Wonder.The Wonder Of Stevie (Audible). Always works.
The Beatles. Beatles '64. To accompany the new Martin Scorsese-produced documentary.
Buckingham Nicks.Buckingham Nicks (1973).Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, at the time a couple and partners in a duo, released this album which so impressed Mick Fleetwood that he invited them to join Fleetwood Mac and the rest is pop history. Hadn't really heard this album before, but inspired by Andrew Bird's 2024 re-interpretation of the album, I decided to give botha listen. Bird, along with his collaborator Madison Cunningham, brings new life to the old album, inspiring looking back while at the same time looking forward.
Jimmie Dale Gilmore & The Flatlanders.All American Music. A 1972 classic also featuring Joe Ely and Butch Hancock.
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.Four Way Harmonies. Early demos and outtakes.
Highly Anticipated New Releases
Bonnie "Prince" Billy.The Purple Bird. [Drag City]. January 31, 2025.
Ben Kweller.Cover the Mirrors. [The Noise Company]. May 30, 2025. Feat Waxahatchee, MJ Lenderman, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (AKA McLovin).
MUSICAL NOTES:
Our sky lost a bright light this year, Barbara Dane (1927 - 2024), who sang folk and jazz with Louis Armstrong, Bob Dylan, and The Chambers Brothers... Her presence was a blessing for many years... And her memory is already a blessing going forward...
Nice to see that Ireland honors her artists... Shane & Sinead...
These are official 2024 postage stamps from Ireland...
Earlier stamps honored Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy and guitar great Rory Gallagher...
Iron & Wine.Light Verse. Featuring folky Americanish goodness, like "All In Good Time", a duet with Fiona Apple.
Top Twenty Albums of 2024
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 Wednesday with his ex-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.
Bright Eyes.Five Dice, All Threes. New release from Conor Oberst & Friends sounds good, a return to form. Candidate for The Best Rock Album Of 2024.
The Hard Quartet.The Hard Quartet. Fantastic debut 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 three 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. Candidate for The Best Rock Album Of 2024.
The Pixies. The Night The Zombies Came. Return to form with a new bass player.
Elias Rønnenfelt. Heavy Glory. [Escho]. October 25, 2024. Iceage frontman's cool solo project.
Amyl And The Sniffers. Cartoon Darkness. [B2B/Virgin]. October 25, 2024. Amazing tough love from Australia. Be careful! She might bite your tongue while you're kissing!
Kneecap. Fine Art. Bilingual (Irish/English) rappers long awaited debut album. Their singles and forthcoming biopic have had a big impact already. This album should put them on everyone's map as well as their radar.
The Decemberists. As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again. Very strong double album of Americana gypsy country magic. Compare and contrast with The Felice Brothers.Valley Of Abandoned Songs. Very good.
Diiv.Frog in Boiling Water. .
Beth Gibbons. Lives Outgrown. Very ambitious debut solo album for the singer from Portishead. Swings for the fences. Successfully.
Shellac. To All Trains. Very strong album, featuring the late, great super-producer Steve Albinon guitar and vocals. We were looking forward to the band's first new release in ten years, and were shocked by Albini's sudden death
May 7, 2024, only a week before the album's scheduled release. We added this album to classics produced by Albini forThe Pixies, PJ Harvey, and Nirvana to create a Steve Albini Memorial Playlist.
St. Vincent.All Born Screaming. Sometimes she is a bit much, but I am grateful for her role in saving the guitar and rock n roll. (Check out the wild title song, feat Cate Le Bon...)
The Libertines. All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade.
Jack White.No Name. Surprise release, currently only available as a bootleg online, originally vinyl-only hand-given to customers at Third Man Records in Nashville. Many comparing it to The White Stripes and claiming a "return to form".
Blur.Live At Wembley Stadium. Recorded in London in July 2023. Serves as a live greatest hits collection, as well as providing lively versions of some of the better newer songs, such as 2023's "St. Charles Square".
David Rawlings & Gillian Welch. Woodland.
Liam Gallagher & John Squire. Liam Gallagher & John Squire
Hurray For The Riff Raff! The Past Is Still Alive.
Idles
Ty Segall
Jay Mascis
Ride
Yard Act
Blizen Trapper. 100s of 1000s, Millions of Billions.
Charles Moothart.Black Holes Don't Choke.Ty Segallcollaborator rocks out hard solo. Dark and Powerful. And then there's that Celtic/Medievalist/Renaissance title song...
Peter Garrett. The True North. You may remember him from his explosive 1987 hit with Midnight Oil, "Beds Are Burning". In Australia he's known as an environmental activist, an advocate for indigenous rights, and for serving in Parliament and as a government minister. He's back at age 70 with a great new solo album
