Cool New Music June 2022 Playlist

 

Cool New Music June 2022 Playlist

BEST ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Tie - John Doe and Dave Stewart

John Doe. Fables In A Foreign Land.

Dave Stewart. Ebony McQueen.

Victims of Gun Violence in Uvalde, Texas

"Kids Who Die” by Langston Hughes (1938)

ALBUMS

Grant-Lee Phillips. All That You Can Dream.

Wilco. Cruel Country.

Andrew Bird. Inside Problems.

Angel Olsen. Big Time.

Charlie Musselwhite. Mississippi Son.

Bryan Ferry. Love Letters (EP).

Kelley Stoltz. The Stylist.

Joyce Manor. 40 oz. to Fresno.

Vieux Farka Touré. Les Racines.

Elvis Costello. The Resurrection of Rust. 

We were horrified by the slaughter of small children in Uvalde, Texas this week, then found out Don McLean was performing this weekend at an NRA concert in Texas! I loved Don McLean when I was ten and was profoundly saddened to hear this. Many fans let Don know they weren't happy about the concert, especially the timing, and we were very relieved when it was announced that Don had dropped out of the concert! (The concert itself was ultimately cancelled due to the outcry.)

SINGLES

Valerie June. "Fade Into You" (Mazzy Star cover).

Lou Barlow. "Only Fading" / "Sacrifice".

Waxahatchee & Wynonna Judd. "Other Side".

Lord Huron. "Your Other Life"/"Ton Autre Vie"

Titus Andronicus. "We're Coming Back".

Been doing a deep dive into the blues-rock of The Jeff Beck Group (circa 1967 feat Rod Stewart, Aynsley Dunbar and Ron Wood). I'd rather listen to this than many of today's tunes. Lots of interactions with these players and people like Ronnie Lane, Nicky Hopkins, Ian McLagan, and various members of The Small Faces, The Faces, The Who, The Stones, and Led Zeppelin.

ARCHIVAL

The Clash. The People's Hall. Just found out Combat Rock was supposed to be a double album and this is the other disc! Amazing! Frankly, there were reasons these songs weren't chosen to be on the single disc version of Combat Rock. None of these songs are any kind of Rosetta Stone key to deciphering the band or lost masterpieces, but still pretty cool to hear "new" Clash in 2022!

John Coltrane. My Favorite Things.

Norma Tanega. I'm the Sky: Studio and Demo Recordings, 1964–1971

Warren Zevon. Preludes.

Gene Clark. Solo Flight (Live In Westboro, 10/16/1988). The Byrds co-founder solo.

Mavis Staples. Carry Me Home. (feat Levon Helm)

Palace Music. Time From Work To Go (1992-1998). (feat. Bonnie "Prince" Billy)

Kris Kristofferson. Sausalito 1973 Set Two - Live American Radio Broadcast.

Cool New Music May/June 2022 Spring Into Summer

Cool New Music May/June 2022 Spring Into Summer

ALBUMS

Kendrick Lamar. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.

Richard Thompson. Music from Grizzly Man (2005 Werner Herzog film).

Kevin Morby. This Is A Photograph.

Dan Melchior. CB ODYSSEY.

The Black Keys. Dropout Boogie.

Black Star. No Fear Of Time.

MJ Lenderman. Boat Songs.

ARCHIVAL

Ray Charles. Live In Stockholm 1972.

Bob Dylan. Apple Music Essentials.

Steely Dan. Live, University of California, Irvine, CA., March 10, 1974.

SINGLES

MJ Lenderman. "Perfect" (Smashing Pumpkins cover).

Black Midi. "Welcome To Hell".

                                           Parquet Courts live on KEXP, May 2022

                                         Parquet Courts on Jimmy Kimmel, May 2022

                                          Parquet Courts on "Ellen", January 2022.

                                          Parquet Courts, "Stoned And Starving" (live, Portland, 2013)

                                          Parquet Courts, "Stoned And Starving" (live, Portland, 2016)

Parquet Courts: "Walking At A Downtown Pace" live on Jimmy Kimmel

 

Cool New Music: Spring 2022 Playlist

 

ALBUMS

Toro Y Moi. Mahal. ALBUM OF THE WEEK!

Willie Nelson. A Beautiful Time. Surprisingly strong effort from the iconic vet.

Trombone Shorty. Lifted.

Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever. Endless Rooms.

Rowan. Does It Make You Happy.

MJ Lenderman. Boat Songs.

Black Star. No Fear Of Time. Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) and Talib Kweli are back! Available here.

!!! Let it Be Blue.

Rammstein. Zeit.

Jens Lekman. The Cherry Trees Are Still In Blossom

Ralf Illenberger. Red Rock Journeys

The Feeling. Loss. Hope. Love.

Will Samson. Active Imagination.

ARCHIVAL

Neil Young. Eldorado (EP)

Rory Gallagher. Live in San Diego '74.

David Bowie. Brilliant Adventure (EP). Includes cool, early version of "I'm Afraid of Americans".

SINGLES

Black Midi. "Welcome To Hell"

Wilbert Harrison. "Let's Stick Together"/"Let's Work Together". Popularized by artists like Canned Heat and Bryan Ferry, this is a great song, or two great songs, actually.

Pete Townshend. "Rough Boys".

You may also be interested in:

"Kimba's Gone": Cool New Songs Sung by Women: Sisters Singing On The Wind Spring 2022

"Kimba's Gone": Cool New Songs Sung by Women: Sisters Singing On The Wind Spring 2022

 

A favorite saying of mine used to be: "Only the good die young... leaving us rotten ones here behind...", and it was never truer than now. Kimberly, Kimba the Lion, is gone. Berkeley justice warrior, educator, mother... The world is a little worse now. But it was a little better when she was here...

There is a bunch of cool music from women that just came out (or was just re-released). So here's a playlist, with Kimberly and the other mighty Berkeley freedom sisters in mind...

ALBUMS

Yungchen Lhamo. Awakening. Beautiful music from a beautiful Tibetan singer.

Carole King. Home Again. Live hits from the master.

50 Foot Wave. Black Pearl. I'm still amazed this album from Kristin Hersh and friends rocks so much. But it does.

Neko Case. Wild Creatures.

Margo Price. That's How Rumors Get Started (Deluxe).

Miranda Lambert. Palomino.

Tomberlin. i don’t know who needs to hear this...

Faye Webster. Car Therapy Sessions (EP).

Oumou Sangare. Timbuktu. Great singer from Mali.

Sharon Van Etten. We've Been Going About This All Wrong. 

Anna Calvi. Tommy (EP). Music from Peaky Blinders.

ARCHIVAL

Karen Dalton. Shuckin' Sugar. Recorded  live in 1963 with husband Richard Tucker, the tapes were recently rediscovered and released. 

Sandy Denny. Early Home Recordings.

Fleetwood Mac. USA 1976 - 93 Part One - Live American Radio Broadcast (Live). Check out "Rhiannon" and "Over My Head" from Midnight Special 1976 and "Gold Dust Woman" from a live TV broadcast 1978.

SINGLES

Carla Olson. "I Can See For Miles" (The Who cover). Great version! Check it out on Bandcamp.

Lucy Dacus. "Home Again"/"It's Too Late". Bonus single for the Carole King live collection Home Again (see above).

Angel Olsen. "Big Time".

Phoebe Bridgers. "Sidelines".

Joan Shelley. “Amberlit Morning” (feat. Bill Callahan)

SPECIAL MENTION

Patti Smith is doing a newsletter/podcast on Substack that is worth checking out. Posts come in text, audio, or video form and often feature Patti reading a poem, reminiscing, or talking about her life and other writers... There is a free version and a subscriber version.