Been a slow couple of weeks — in the music world, at least. Not a ton of releases or videos, though there have been a surge of tour dates and festival announcements, which is an INCREDIBLY welcome sight, as this marks the longest I’ve gone without going to a show since I started doing so way back in high school. (Which for those of you who know me I’m sure assume must be 10, maybe 15 years ago max due to my baby-faced good looks and playful demeanor, but is actually barking on 30 at this point.) As a result I’ve been spending most of my time plumbing the depths of my deranged musical memory over on the ‘Gram and thought it was time to do a little housekeeping, explaining the difference between the two locales. (Because I’m sure the 8 of you have been extremely confused, and for that I apologize.)
In essence, the intended divide between the two revolves around three things — length, frequency, and focus. The ‘Gram, with its character-limits and more perishable nature, is meant to be more quick-hit glimpses of the unhinged fever dream that is my brain. Thanks to this (and a dare from Fuddge) the goal is to post something there everyday — won’t always be much, but it’ll at least give you something to listen to on the reg. (Because I know you’re all starved for access to music and rely on my backwater blog/account for inspiration.
And while it will occasionally highlight some new bands that I’ve found through the app, either through follows or comments (#BoBs), it will primarily capture more random items than here — noteworthy birthdays to inspire the day’s listening, choice songs heard or remembered throughout the day (#fuddgepops, #freshbeets, etc), dusty offerings from old bands and memories that deserve another look (#songsfromtheshadows). In short, it will be shorter, faster, and odder than what you expect to find here — new offerings from old favorites, videos of note, and rambling diatribes about this, that, and the other thing (bands you should know, rankings of their albums (or the year’s), documentaries or concert DVDs to watch, what’s wrong with the world today, etc) on a more infrequent basis. (It’s just SO exhausting to power up the laptop…)
The ‘Gram is structured to be more eclectic and esoteric, this site more deep and deliberative. That said, there’s plenty of overlap between the two — both are built around discovery, whether of the old (‘the Gram) or the new (the blog) — so the goal is to ideally have folks spend time with both. In order to incentivize that a little more, I’ve created an ongoing playlist for the ‘Gram to mirror the one we have here (Sunshine Radio, always at your disposal on the Spots or in the upper right of this page.) Similar to the methodology employed here, it will capture every song that’s written about or posted on the account. If/when we reference bands here that were first mentioned on the ‘Gram, they’ll be added to Sunshine Radio — otherwise the two will remain distinct.
Doing so really emphasizes the aforementioned differences, while still giving you plenty of good stuff to listen to. (And those songs that show up on both serve as nice bridges between the two worlds when they come on.) I’ve been listening to both the past few weeks and the oddball curves that come up on the ‘Gram playlist are pretty entertaining — a good balance to the more steadfast tone of this site. See for yourself, though — there’s close to 20 hours and counting on the ‘Gram list now (a mere fraction of the nearly 80 hours on Sunshine Radio, but closing fast!) so should keep you busy for a while. So without any further ado, enjoy your Insta Gratification!
As mentioned back at the top (bet you wish there was a character limit here, too, eh?) there haven’t been a ton of new releases to grab onto lately, but managed to find a few worth noting so wanted to do so on our way out the door. First, Noel Gallagher released a greatest hits album for his High Flying Birds yesterday, and in addition to the slew of previously heard faves added two new recordings. They’re both pretty good, but my favorite is this one, “We’re on Our Way Now” — give it a listen here:
Next comes the latest from fave Jose Gonzalez, whose new album Local Valley will come out this September. It’s his first in nearly six years (2015’s so-so Vestiges & Claws), but we’ve already heard a couple singles from it. (Including “El Invento, which we wrote about back in February.) This one sounds much more like a return to his earliest albums — simple, yet urgent guitar and his delicate voice floating alongside. I’m hoping there’s more like this than the somewhat meandering, poetic stuff on his last album. Hopefully this one’s title is a harbinger that’s so — check out “Head On” here:
Up third comes the latest from Woods whose last album, Strange to Explain, landed at #13 on last year’s best of list. Apparently others agreed, as the band is releasing an expanded, deluxe edition of the album next month. It will sport several new tracks (and at least one alternate version of an existing track) so will definitely be worth a listen. In the meantime enjoy the first of those new songs, “Waiting Around for a New Me,” which is a perfect sonic complement to the tracks already on the album. Give it a listen here:
We’ll close with a surprise find from our friends up north and a performance at that country’s Grammys, the Juno Awards. Showcasing national superheros The Tragically Hip, who were being honored with a humanitarian award for their work on behalf of Canada’s indigenous populations, it also has the beloved Leslie Feist singing lead on one of their songs. It’s a pretty cool performance, with Feist’s voice fitting in nicely up front. (Frontman Gord Downie died of brain cancer in 2017.) Check it out here:
That’s it for now — until next time, amici…
–BS