The Friday Refrain: A bit of what's new in music...

Friday Friday Friday Friday! Hey everyone out there in numbers and bits of information land - how are you doing this fine day? Well, I took a nap. I had some pudding. And now as I finish my coffee and listen to some more of last week's releases, I feel like it's a good time to talk music. It's a Half Pints Whole Notes week, so check out the podcast if you want to hear myself and my friend Josh Wodarz discuss some recent releases in a bit more depth than I get into on the refrain.

Well we're in the cultural fall now with school in full swing and Labor Day having come and gone which means one thing - A mess of releases every week now until Thanksgivingish. And I'm just not going to get through as much as I have before (small thing at my knee would like me to look at the monkey paperclip now), but I'll try. Let's hit the stuff of today first off - and get ready to knock your socks off. Rounding out our weeks, almost a month?, of huge metal releases Slayer is here with Repentless. Alice Cooper has formed a who's who band of Johnny Depp and Joe Perry plus unbelievable guests such as Sir Paul himself. Oh, the band and album are called Hollywood Vampires. Ben Folds is back with another album, this time collaborating with the ensemble yMusic on So There. Craig Finn of The Hold Steady is releasing his second solo album titled, Faith in the Future. The Libertines have Anthems for Doomed Youth and Low is back with Ones And Sixes. Let's round out the Alt/Indie/Whatever we call it these days category with Gary Clark Jr.  and The Story of Sonny Boy Slim. Veteran rockers, can I call them that?, Duran Duran is here again with Paper Gods. And just to confirm that everyone is releasing an album this year, maybe even just today, Jewel released Picking Up The Pieces. And that is just scratching the surface - there are also releases from Beirut, Stereophonics, The Scorpions, and more.

So how could you want anything more? well, check out what you might have missed last week with last week's List.

I'm Going to Bring the Rock

 The Hemingers, What's A Heminger? - Fast punk like feel to it. Hits you hard and fast. Right in the gut.

Pagiins, Opium Den Pool Party - I can't believe the good amount of rock from last week. I saw some article recently on how there's no rock anymore just americana/folk rock and that is so untrue. This list proves it.

The Ghost Ease, RAW - It is something else. Honestly, I'm just throwing on a random track of my list and hitting gold today. It's almost like Blonde Redhead got super angry

Marrow, The Gold Standard - We talk about it on the podcast, but I want to mention it again because it's worth it. It varies in its flavor of rock but it's got some straightforward rock to it aswell.

The opposite of bringing the rock?

Max Richter, From Sleep - Yeah it's for sleeping I think? Or depicts sleeping? Anyway it's chill.

Jean-Louis Beaumadier, Postcards - It's a piccolo album and at first I thought it would be funny to send it to my co-host as a joke but we both listened to it and it's good.

Mueller_Roedelius, Imagori - It's something and it's good. I think. My mind is getting foggy with the weight of the week and lack of sleep wearing on it so...

Time to call it. Plus I'm listening to really chill out and relax music so that isn't helping my brain alertness. Also, there is an orb weaver spider with a web by our front door outside and it looks like a Halloween decoration but it's not. And it caught a dragonfly in the web! It's doing the things a spider will do once its caught a dragonfly now, and that is pretty exciting. So there's that to watch tonight. Anyway, supper time (I started this with morning cake, how is it suddenly suppertime? yeesh) so happy listening everyone!

The Friday Refrain: A bit of what's new in music...

And we are back! Hello and welcome to another Friday Refrain. I've got fabric on the brain and.... my keyboard is kinda gross. Hang on. All right much better. Cleaned that thing off. So it's hot. Which is nice because it will be cold soon. Also, shh... Don't tell anyone but the leaves started turning last Monday. And I walked through fallen leaves on the sidewalk the other day. I love autumn. I loved pumpkin before everything went crazy because well, grew up at many Midwestern church potlucks and a lot of those recipes now considered overdone on the blogs are straight out of a church cookbook. Anyway, I digress.

So I'm going to catch us all up. Last week was pretty good: taking a break from Steve Martin, Steep Canyon Riders have out RADIO; alt rockers Yo La Tengo came out with Stuff Like That There; Beach House released Depression Cherry; Atlas Genius finally is out with Inanimate Objects; and Motorhead is back with Bad Magic. Now this week we've got Iron Maiden and The Book Of Souls. And Prince is releasing HITnRUN on Monday.Really, is that this week? Huh. Well I'll dig into that some more later and let you know next Friday what I've come up with. Though there will also be the podcast then too... So that's exciting. I think next week is a big week. People just kinda don't want to bother with Labor Day weekend I think. It's the weekend to listen to all your favorite summer songs and wrap it up. Oh my goodness I am not ready to say goodbye to summer. It was fast this year. So fast. And busy. Anyway....

Drifiting on the summer wind, a list unfurls

Speaking of Labor Day, let's look at somethings that came last week that begin with the letter "L"

Lance Canales, THe Blessing and the Curse - this is some good blues, try it out.

Laura Stevenson, Torch Song - A rocking single from her upcoming album

LE1F, "Koi" & Lil Tai Z, "VRC" - Explicit lyrics but perhaps two good tracks to start off your weekend. If you take heed of the lyric warning I just gave you and don't care.

Lean Low, High At The Fairground - the title is apropos for this last weekend in Minnesota, but it's just electronica and kinda atmospheric

Lola Brave, "The Brave" - another single by a male singer-songwriter

Luca Hanni, "Wonderful" - Pop single about a beautiful girl

Lucy Was A Decoy, Adolescence - A bit of rock

LUWUM, Places Worn - This is odd and intriguing playground of rock stuff. He has a faint voice but something about the instrumentation is neat.

And with that I disappear into the haze of ending summer days just as mysteriously and unexpectedly as I appeared. Use sunscreen, stay hydrated and Happy Listening!

The Friday Refrain: A bit of what's new in music...

Oh man this week is a good week for my husband and I to not listen to new music together. Rob Thomas, you know that guy who fronted Matchbox 20? (he probably is done being referred to as that but hey), has released The Great Unknown. BON JOVI? ! ? ! is here with Burning Bridges, and yes that is exactly what I'm listening to. Except mainly I'm a fan of Bon Jovi on Ally McBeal than anything else... Rapper Method Man released The Meth Lab and pop star Carly Rae Jepsen is here to save the day with E-MO-TION. What else? lemme see... Oh my goodness, Disturbed? Really? Okay, yeah, Disturbed is out with Immortalized. Scot rockers The Fratellis release Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied and I will admit that I confused them with The Frames initially. But I confuse The Pretenders and The Proclaimers, it's just how my mind is. So yeah, after a lackluster couple of weeks, shabang there you go. Names you might recognize or have heard of before. You may now feel safe in your cocoon of familiarity again. It's a good place to go to every now and then.

Well, for what it is, here is last week's list. I will be honest, I might have been on the ball and then fallen off it. So the latter half of the alphabet is not so fleshed out this week...

Do you need a new...

80s pop song? Check out Heatwave, Wild Ones

Something jazzy, a little B3 Organ?  then give Walter Sopicki, B3x3 a whirl

"Take That" Manotti da Vinci - My husband will think I picked it based on title alone. And that's not true. But I do say "Take that" a lot. And I'm not discerning. I've been known to say it to a 9 year old and laugh maniacally. 9 year olds try to act so grown up anymore, I'm pretty sure they just think I'm immature. Take that.

American, folk country rock album?  Then you can try The Waifs, Beautiful You

something like Bully?  then Palehound, Dry Food is your groove

Also "Dairy Queen" from PWR BTTM is a good way to startyour weekend.

Well, there it be. Happy Listening!

The Friday Refrain: A bit of what's new in music...

Hey there, it's a gorgeous day out there, if not a little humid and scorching sun, but it's okay because it's August and that only means one thing in this neck of the woods - bitter cold and darkness creeps ever so closer. So suck it up while you can because you'll need these thoughts for the long winter nights. Like Frederick by Leo Lionni. Oh I love that book, actually I just love Leo Lionni books. But enough with that, pshaw books, time for music!

Out today - Country artist Pat Green released Home. 90's rock band Pavement are releasing some stuff they haven't released before and the first installment is out today, The Secret History Vol 1. I'm guessing that will surprisingly end up in our record collection at the house. - Okay, pause on the news, I organized our vinyl collection last weekend and as I'm going through the records I found a couple I didn't "realize" we had when in fact my husband admits that he had purchased them and slipped them in without me knowing... "I needed another one to get free shipping" *eye roll* I love him, but seriously. Okay unpause - Grace Potter has ditched The Nocturnals and released Midnight. Which is ironic? And rapper 2 Chainz is out with Trapavelli Tre.

Enough about new stuff, it's Last Week's List!

And this week it's another episode of Half Pints Whole Notes with my cohost Josh and me. We actually hit up a couple of the things from last week I really enjoyed, including Langhorne Slim & the Law, La Luz, and Golden Rules. So go check that out. I hope you enjoy it and if you like it, stop by csicon to find out how to support our awesome network of cohorts and discover other amazing podcasts ranging the gamut of topics from Sunday morning coffee to gaming.

Other things of note I found:

Toe, Hear You - Another instrumental band? Crazy. Don't know what woodwork these are coming out of...

Deaf Wish,Pain

HEALTH,  death magic

Jonathan Tyler, Holy Smokes,

Pridjevi, Pridjevi

Ultimate Painting, Green Lanes

Zachary Cale, Sundowner

Vaguess, Bodhi Collection

Moke Hill, Time Stops Moving

Built in Sun, Built in Sun

Hauschka, A NDO C Y

And that's it because well it's a zoo here. Time to flee. Happy listening!

The Friday Refrain: A bit of what's new in music...

So it ended up being a Saturday edition again... I started this yesterday for the record with an intro about how I'm not a TGIF person until this week. And it was true. Now it's Saturday though so that seems silly. Oh my goodness, the trash smells. I need to write this quick and take that out. Oh summer, you and your stinky garbage.

Today is a pretty big day. Dr. Dre is back with Compton: A Soundtrack. Let's not stop there, we've also got another big rapper from the 90s, Warren G and Regulate... G Funk Era Pt. II. Hopping over to the country side of things, Luke Bryan moseys on in with Kill the Lights. Jumping over the tracks to the indie rock/alt rock scene we've got Jack + Eliza, Gentle Warnings and The Mynabirds, Lovers Know. Stroll on down to the singer-songwriter side of things and Mac DeMarco is out there with Another One.

All right so that's today in a nutshell, what about last week? What might have slipped past? What gems can we unearth?

Doo wop bippidy bang The List!

And then some things about things on that list... thing.

Radar Cult, Memory Sweep - Kinda got that old Radiohead vibe to it at times. Good build to the songs. Feels like a journey

Musync, "Ghost" and "I Loved You More" - Ghost definitely has a First Aid Kit vibe to it.

Ripple Green, Timepiece - The singer reminds me of the vocal child of the lead singer from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Edward Sharpe & the Magnetics

Russkaja, Peace Love & Russian Roll  - Okay, so it's gypsy and inherently you think Gogol Bordello right, but then I kinda get this Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Mariachi El Bronx to it too. Maybe it's because it feels so live and raw. Which all three of those have as well.

Lindo Man, Carotene Dreams - Totally the thing I can listen to when I can't sleep and am hanging out in  my dining room.

Instrumental rock got your goat?

Then try out Grimace Foundation, The Measure in Mixture or Haiku Salut, Etch and Etch Deep.

Attack of the Singer-Songwriters, Part Deux

Lianne La Havas, Blood - This one is getting buzz. One of two singer-songwriters from the British peoples.

Benjamin Clementine, At Least For Now - The other British one

Roadside Graves, Gospel Radio - Just a single but it was kinda fun and maybe it's the fact that I've been listening to stuff in the wee morning hours.

John Galea, I Am A Survivor

Sianna Plavin, Go On Now - This is good headphones music. Kinda sparse and simple.

Attack of the Misters

Mr Criminal, Evoluton of A G - A rapping mister

Mr G, Sweatbox - an EDM mister

Mr Sun, The People Need Light - And then an americana type mister for ya.

Okay I have so much more because it turns out I like a lot of stuff at 3 am. But I'm tired. I need to sleep. And take out the trash. Pew. And trap the cat downstairs. He has two hours until he gets fed and he's already freaking out. This cat, you'd think he hadn't eaten 10 hours ago. He would eat until he died if we let him. Once I got guilt-tripped by the vet because of his weight. He's good now. Because we don't listen to his bellyaching anymore. Anyway, good night, good day, happy listening!