SONGS OF THE MOMENT: Billy Bragg’s tribute to the Minneapolis protests “City of Heroes” and Bruce Springsteen’s new anti-ICE anthem “Streets of Minneapolis”

… and while we’re at it, Bruce Springsteen’s “Promised Land” live in Red Bank, NJ, January 17, 2026. Dedicated to pro-immigrant, anti-racist protester Renee Good, killed by ICE in Minnesota. Herein, Bruce quotes Minneapolis Mayor Frey declaring ICE should get the F out of Minneapolis…

…. and on January 30, 2028, Tom Morello & Bruce Springsteen sang “The Ghost Of Tom Joad”, Springsteen’s song that recalls John Steinbeck and Henry Fonda and the dream of an America past, the dream of an America in the future tense expressed as “what could be” and “what will be”…

They sang it in Minneapolis, where Renee Good and Alex Pretti died, where George Floyd died, where Black Lives Mattered, where the crowd chanted “ICE OUT NOW!!!”, where the people stood up for their community against fascism and state violence. They sang it at First Avenue, where Prince sang. And then they went out into the street and chanted and sang some more…

“ICE OUT NOW!!!”

Neil Young sings about “Big Crime in D.C. at The White House”

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Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz), Grian Chatten (Fontaines D.C.) & Kae Tempest: “Flags” from HELP(2), a benefit album for War Child UK, out March 6.

Pre-order here: https://warchildrecs.ffm.to/help2

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ThisSmallPlanet.com Cool New Music Playlist January & February 2026

Updated February 12, 2026

Donate/Subscribe to ThisSmallPlanet at Venmo @thissmallplanet

($20 annually/suggested).

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Dropkick Murphys re-purposed their song “Citizen C.I.A.” into a new anti-ICE diatribe “Citizen I.C.E.”

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Green Day played the Super Bowl, but the NFL doesn’t want me to embed the video here. You’ll have to go to YouTubeto check it out…

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Cool New Singles

(with links to YouTube)

Andrew Bird. “Need Someone”. Music from The Pitt.

Anna Calvi. “God’s Lonely Man” (feat Iggy Pop).

Arctic Monkeys. “Opening Night”. First new song since 2022. From the Help(2) benefit album. Pre-Order Here.

Billy Bragg. “City Of Heroes”. Tribute to Minneapolis anti-ICE protests.

Bonnie “Prince” Billy“. “They Keep Trying To Find You“ & “Hey Little”.

Bruce Springsteen. “Streets of Minneapolis”. Anti-ICE song.

Buck Meek. “Gasoline“ & “Ring Of Fire”.

Cate Le Bon. “Always The Same” (feat St. Vincent)

The Claypool Lennon Delirium - “WAP (What a Predicament)”. Les Claypool is friends with Sean Lennon.

Courtney Barnett. “Site Unseen” (feat Waxahatchee).

Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz), Grian Chatten (Fontaines D.C.) & Kae Tempest: “Flags”.

Fai Laci. "Have You Nothing Left To Say".

Father John Misty. “The Old Law“.

Flea. “Traffic Lights” (feat Thom Yorke) & “Thinking Bout You”. Solo jazz album from the renowned bassist from The Red Hot Chili Peppers, here on trumpet, bass, and vocals.

Gogol Bordello. “Hater Liquidator“ & “Ignition“ & “We Mean It, Man!”.

Good Day Father. “Sonic Amadea” feat Brian Futter (Catherine Wheel) and Tanya Donelly (Belly).

Gorillaz.”The Hardest Thing/Orange County” (feat Tony Allen & Anoushka Shankar)

Hiss Golden Messenger. “In The Middle Of It”.

José González. “Against the Dying of the Light“.

Kevin Morby. “Javelin”.

Kim Gordon. “Dirty Tech”.

Kneecap. “Liars Tale”.

Neba Solo & Benego Diakité. “Seko” (Live)

Neil Young. “Big Crime”.

Snail Mail. “Dead End”.

Sprints. “Deceptacon” (Le Tigre cover, singer Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill, was involved in copyright case over “Who put the bomp” sample in this song). Sprints is a cool Irish punk punk with a powerful female lead singer.

Sugar. “Long Live Love”. Bob Mould (Husker Du) & Friends revive their 1990s vehicle and take us for a cool ride on a hot day. They released “House Of Dead Memories” in October 2025, their first new song in 30 years. Good excuse to check out Sugar’s 1990s releases again: Copper Blue (1992), Beaster (EP - 1993), and File Under: Easy Listening(1994), and while you’re at it, some Bob Mould solo work and, of course, Husker Du, starting with their singles “Makes No Sense At All” & “Eight Miles High” (Byrds cover).

Tinariwen. “Sagherat Assani” (feat Sulafa Elyas) & “Imidiwan Takyadam” (feat. José González)

Ultrabomb. “Checked Out” . Minneapolis punk supergroup Ultrabomb is: Greg Norton (Husker Du), Derek O'Brien (Social Distortion & Agent Orange), and Ryan Smith (Soul Asylum).

Weyes Blood. “A Certain Kind”/Everybody’s Talkin’”. Covers of songs by Soft Machineand Fred Neil (popularized by Harry Nilsson as the theme of Midnight Cowboy).

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Courtney Barnett live at Triple J’s 50th Tour

National treasure Mavis Staples sings Kevin Morby’s “Beautiful Strangers” with Kevin and Nathaniel Rateliff

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Cool New Albums

Alex Orange Drink. Even Cowboys Get The Cancer. Conor’s pal. He’s amazing.

Buzzcocks. Attitude Adjustment. Helmed by guitarist Steve Diggle in the wake of the passing of Pete Shelley, carrying the torch forward.

Dry Cleaning. Secret Love. Pretty good. It’s not all bored-sounding poetry reading.

Fuzz. Fuzz’s Fourth Dream. Ty Segall & Friends at their rockiest. A collection of singles, covers, demos and rarities.

It It Anita. Hi Hi Ha Ha.

Jill Sobule. F*ck 7th Grade: Original Cast Recording. Her last work before the tragic fire.

Joyce Manor. I Used to Go to This Bar.

La Luz. Extra! Extra!

The Molotovs. Wasted On Youth.

Nusantara Beat. Nusantara Beat. Indonesian psychedelia. Cool.

Ouzo Bazooka. Kapaim. Israeli psychedelia. Different.

Thee Headcoats. The Sherlock Holmes Rhythm ’n’ Beat Vernacular.Good rocking album.

Together Pangea. Eat Myself.

Ty Segall & The Muggers. “Live” “At” “The” “BBC”. Five songs, recorded in 2016, including a blistering deconstructing cover of The Doors classic “L.A. Woman”

Viagra Boys. Viagr Aboys. Sounds like a joke band but they’re mostly serious. Mostly.

Vienna Vienna. Entertain Me (EP). Queer pop ar its best.

Witch. Fool’s Ride. Zambia’s finest psychedelic rock band returns.

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Model/Actriz live on KEXP

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Cool Archival (Re-Issues & Randoms)

Donovan. What’s A Girl. Collection of previously-recorded songs, mostly available on bootlegs until now.

Judee Sill. Songs of Rapture and Redemption: Rarities & Live. Worth knowing. Great voice, Oh, What could have been…

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MJ Lenderman, with J Mascis, “Lotta Love” (Neil Young cover), 1/16/26, at Wilco’s Sky Blue Festival, Riviera Maya, Mexico.

Wilco & J Mascis, “Cortez The Killer” (Neil Young cover) 1/18/26, at Wilco’s Sky Blue Festival, Riviera Maya, Mexico.

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Highly Anticipated Cool New Releases

Gogol Bordello. We Mean It, Man! [Gogol Recordings LLC]. February 13, 2026.

Neba Solo & Benego Diakité. A Djinn and a Hunter Went Walking. [Etoile Audio / Nonesuch Records]. February 13, 2026. A modern take on traditional music from Mali.

Gorillaz. The Mountain. February 27, 2026.

Buck Meek. The Mirror. [4AD]. February 27, 2026.

Iron & Wine. Here’s Teeth. [Sub Pop]. February 27, 2026.

Geese. Live at Third Man Records [Third Man]. February 27, 2026.

Bonnie “Prince” Billy. We Are Together Again [Domino/No Quarter]. March 6, 2026.

Tinariwen. Hoggar. [Wedge]. March 13, 2026.

Kim Gordon. Play Me [Matador]. March 13, 2026.

PUP. Megacity Madness (The Official Live Recordings) [Little Dipper/Rise]. March 13, 2026.

Anna Calvi. Is This All There Is? (EP) [Domino]. March 20, 2026.

Courtney Barnett. Creature Of Habit. [Mom+Pop Music]. March 27, 2026. All Hail The Rock Queen! A Return To Form… (Thankfully).

José González. Against the Dying of the Light. [Mute]. March 27, 2026.

Snail Mail. Ricochet [Matador]. March 27, 2026.

Flea. Honora [Nonesuch]. March 27, 2026.

King Tuff. Moo [MUP Records/Thirty Tigers]. March 27, 2026.

Kneecap. Fenian. [Heavenly Recordings]. April 24, 2026.

Hiss Golden Messenger. I’m People. [Chrysalis]. May 1, 2026.

Kevin Morby. Little Wide Open. [Dead Oceans]. May 15, 2026.

Lana Del Rey. Stove. (Previously rumored titles: Classic, The Right Person Will Stay, and Lasso) [Interscope]. Her country album? That’s what they say... Release Date: Delayed; To Be Announced.

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Musical Notes

Wanted to call your attention to a very special release coming up. It’s a benefit for War Child UK and we hope you will support it.

Various Artists. HELP(2) [War Child Records]. March 6, 2026. A benefit for War Child UK feat Anna Calvi, Arctic Monkeys, Arlo Parks, Bat For Lashes, Beck, Beth Gibbons, Big Thief, Black Country, New Road, Cameron Winter, Damon Albarn, Depeche Mode, Ezra Collective, Foals, Fontaines D.C., Graham Coxon (Pulp), Grian Chatten (Fontaines D.C.), King Krule, Olivia Rodrigo, Pulp, Wet Leg and more.

Pre-order here.

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Pink Floyd’s clueless Roger Waters makes excuses for dictator Putin’s crimes in Ukraine in conversation with Piers Morgan. As they say, “All in all, it’s just another brick in the wall…” Fox News: Piers Morgan & Roger Waters (66 minutes).

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