The Friday Refrain: Your Weekly New Music Digest

Hi ho hi ho I'm here to tell you what's new. Pretty busy last week - piano workshop for my younger students, pint notes week, and I guess that was it but it felt like a lot. Anyway. Here we are now and I have a puzzle that I want to finish so let's do this thing.

Last week was a pretty amazing Friday release day - RuPaul, The Jesus & Mary Chain, Raekwon, Mount Eerie, Craig Finn, Jethro Tull, Tuxedo, and Passion Pit sent you a free copy of their album if you retweeted the science post they had up. But that was then and this is now, so let's hit up today. Mr. Bob Dylansir released Triplicate today which is an album of folk/americana songs I believe. Get your country fix with Trace Adkins and Something's Going On. For a heavier groove, Mastodon is here with Emperor of the Sand. Dave Davies teams up with son Russ Davies to produce Open Road. Speaking of teaming up G-Eazy & DJ Carnage put Step Brothers together. Jackie Evancho returns with Two Hearts. George Winston released Spring Carousel. Nelly Furtado is back with The Ride. And rounding out our list today, Aimee Mann has another solid album with Mental Illness. Oh wait, British Sea Power and Let the Dancers Inherit the Party. Okay now I'm done.

Oh but I'm not done with the List(s)! Here's the releases I compiled for two weeks ago and Friday last.

And finally time to concoct a few lists based purely on a random commonality

Space. The Final Frontier

David Douglas, Spectators of the Universe - some trippy electronica

Los Planetas, Zona Temporalmenta Autónoma - this is some good trippy rock

Kingston All-Stars, Presenting Kingston All-Stars - some great reggae

Tonstartssbandht, Sorcerer - 3 songs and the album is 34 minutes, so it's a bit jammy but "Sorcerer" is an amazing journey with beautiful tinges of The Who.

Sera Cahoone, From Where I Started - I love this album, and not just because this is what I happend to have on the first night I started my secret project, but it's just a good singer-songwriter album.

The Moonlandingz, Interplanetary Class Classics - this pretty much sounds as I figured it would.

The Bug Vs. Earth, Concrete Desert - some more electronica

Seasurfer, Under the Milkyway... who cares - this is laid back ethereal rock

Okay, so that's just in the last couple weeks, if I included the entire month, this list would get ridiculous. Anyway, my day ended up being spent in the sun so that's that. I'll work on a Spotify list this weekend and post it later. Really, I'd just put on Red Baraat if I were you and get my weekend on track. Happy Listening!

The Friday Refrain: Your Weekly New Music Digest

Sometimes one might write something and then one might not post it. Sometimes that might be the case for last Friday. Perhaps. So let's start with the news I wrote last week:

Last Friday in musicdom Bush is back with Black and White Rainbows. A Thee Oh Sees' dude has a side project titled Damaged Bug and released Bunker Funk. Hurray for the Riff Raff is out with The Navigator. One of my favorite singing voices personally, Valerie June released the Order of Time. Celebrating 50 years of life the guy behind Magnetic Fields wrote a song for each of his years on 50 Song Memoir. Singer-Songwriter and amazing guitarist Laura Marling presents Semper Femina. Indie Rockers The Shins return with Heartworms. Oh, that doesn't sound good. How about: Indie Rockers The Shins have a new album named Heartworms. (though still gross) And indie duo Tennis are back with Yours Conditionally. Ah, and one singer-songwriter to round it out David Bazan, who released a Christmas album and bonus ep this past season, released Care.

So that was then and this is now. Chilly Gonzales & Jarvis Cocker team up to release Room 29. For some reason Conor Oberst decided to flesh out his amazing and one of his best albums ever from last year plus add other instruments to create Salutations. Two blast from the pasts Depeche Mode release Spirit and Rick Ross is back with Rather You Than Me. One of my all time favorite bands, Spoon, with that complicated rhythm and catchy tunes are back with Hot Thoughts. Pitbull released Climate Change. ANOHNI also returns with Paradise. Ty Segall released a single which I note because it is on Spotify. Paul Schaffer adn the World's Most Dangerous Band created Paul Schaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Band. And I think that's it. There you go.

And Clyde says this is what I listened to from 3/3 and The List from 3/10.

This is the part where I make odd lists while drinking coffee and eating chocolate, but Clyde my cat has curled up on my lap.

The Body

Billy Valentine, Brit eyed Soul

When Nalda Became Punk, Those Words Broke Our hearts

Ha Ha Tonka, Heart-shaped Mountain

Army of Bones, Army of Bones

The Shins, Heartworms

Kneebody, Anti-Hero

Backwards Dancer, Backwards Dancer

Heart Attack Man, The Manson Family

Wolfheart, Tyhjyys

By the way, in the course of all that, the cat jumped down and I have coffee and cake.

All right, I know you are all antsy to get back to your corned beef so I'll just throw a bunch of the stuff I like onto a Spotify list and leave that at the bottom here.

The Friday Refrain: Your Weekly New Music Digest

Welcome all to the Friday refrain - where I delve into today's new music, share my list of last week's releases and then share some odd groupings of music. All while I drink my coffee and take respite from the day. Hoo boy, I am tired this week. How about you? Been a little insomniac, not much - just restless and only one wakeful night. The brain has been overworking and I have a lot of inspiration, just need the diligence to make it all happen. I think I have some fun up my sleeve though. Anyway, what about that music then?

We have singles from Coldplay, Lorde, Wavves (yes!) and Sylvan Esso (double yes!). Then popular singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran brings us Divide. Staying to that side of the pond, Psych-rockers Temples bring us Volcano. As for more of the indie/alt rock scene: Minus the Bear released Voids; Sleaford Mods return with English Tapas; and The Besnard Lakes bring The Besnard Lakes Are THe Divine Wind. Singer-Songwriter Sondre Lerche released Pleasure. Lastly, the amazing and talented Bela Fleck released Juno Concerto today, a banjo concerto which is going to thrill the little one when he wakes up. ("Dueling Banjos" is played multiple times a day, as well as "Oh Susanna")

Holy fish fillets it's The List - what I culled from the world of last week's releases!

And finally, a list. From my cat, Clyde. A little background: He isn't our pet, he really isn't cat, he is our roommate. He inhabits the basement where I rent the Seedy Basement Bar from him. He will let us know when it's time to go, and he will let us know when it is time to eat (now, always). He's not very polite and he's pretty independent. He is a great photographer and a retired parkour pro (3 feet off the floor was his best wall run). We briefly had a twitter account for him. And someday we will rent a space at a street fair to sell and display his photography. Anyway, here's what he picked this week. I'm sorry for anything offensive. Clyde, you got this from here?

Have I got this from here? What the meow is that about? Of course. Don't impune my abilities. I am Clyde. I better get mad treats from this. First off, we have Thundercat, Steel Panther, and Speak/Dream Panther because obviously, we're all cat superiors. However this all started when i heard the song, "Likwyd Kitty" by DRYNX wafting down the hallway while I was napping. The sunbeam had disappeared so I decided, why not get up? Besides I need a little nip. So's I walk down the hallway and meow my way into this thing. Sometimes the name of a band just speaks to you like The Pigeon Detectives (no detective work here, I ate the pigeons), No Thank You (exactly), Sevendeaths (I've used a lot of my cat lives, there was the almost fatal Bookopotmaus sign squishing, the New Year's Day Dog Debacle, that time I ate tiger lilies, probably lucky I haven't died from something else I ate like bikini strings or whole dwarf mice), and Kingdom (yes. I have one. The whole world). Then there are those albums that speak to you: Millionaire Nightmares by Tracy T, every night man, always worried about my millions. Every night. I Will Kill Again by Meursalt, again every night man, every night I will kill those mice. Or chipmunks, whatever wanders in really. The rest of the playlist is really just songs that spoke to me or maybe their titles really get me.

I made the list kinda like a day in the life. A little bit of my attitude to start, and then starting my night. Subordinate Claudes is what I call anyone named Clyde that's not me. I like "Run Wild Horses" because it's like, yeah, be free horses. Run. Run like horses. Then a couple songs I just liked. Then I thought about dinner. So the crab juice song, dessert, whiskey, wine, Pretty soon you gotta walk away before they kick you out and then it's time for the night. When I get hungry at 3 AM, wake up that dude who lives upstairs, and then the waiting.. Hours and hours until it's finally morning and he feeds me. Sleeping. The inevitability of life, except no, my friend signals me right before the grim reaper shows up and I just amble into the sunset.

But really, nothing will ever dethrone Run The Jewel's Meow the Jewels.

You're welcome. Now where's my treats?

Happy Listening everyone!

The Friday Refrain: Your Weekly New Music Digest

Good day to everyone! I hope you have injested as much coffee or other daytime beverage of your desire as you have needed. I am maintaining a very delicate balance of caffeination/over-caffeination as I woke up before I would have desired, but that is neither here nor there. There is a new Pint Notes episode coming your way this weekend, so stop by csicon.fm to check that out. And now for what's happening on the music scene today.

The Feelies are back again with In Between. Country band Little Big Town is back with The Breaker. If you liek At the Drive-in, The Melvins and Le Bucherettes then make sure to check out Crystal Fairy's eponymous album as it has a member from each of those bands. I kid you not, last week my son picked out Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's first album and we listened to it, thinking of how much I love that album and what is going on with it lately? Well today of all days Clap Your Hands Say Yeah releases The Tourist! Also on my list of what I will listen to first: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard are releasing five albums this year, the first of which is today titled Flying Microtonal Banana. Because why wouldn't it be? And I loved the last Old 97s albums so I'm excited to dive into Graveyard Whistling as well. (I mean the single with Brandi Carlile is pretty sweet) Speaking of alternative and indie: Los Campesinos! released Sick Scenes; Dirty Projectors release Dirty Projectors; and Hippo Campus are climbing up the scene with landmark. Guitarist John Mayer is slow releasing his new album and the second part is out today The Search for Everything Wave Two. Hip hop artist Future released HNDRXX. Rapper Oddisee released The Icebreaker.

Flurries! Time for last week's releases: It's The List.

And now for an odd list and then some things I've been listening to over the past few weeks.

Seeing Double From One Friday (2/10) to the Next (2/17)

2/10: Molly Nilsson layered production of her songs. 2/17: Molly Burch and her guitar driven songwriter sensebilities

2/10: Noveller with its ambient instrumental journey. 2/17: Novella and their low key but compelling psych rock

2/10 Crushed Stars and their low key charmers 2/17 Amy MacDonald releases Crushed Stars

 And now for the trifecta: On February 10th, Meatbodies release their vintage rock reminescent of The Who, Led Zeppelin and Wolfmother The next week, Rogue Wave release a cover album. Also - Meat Wave (mindblown) release their great rock album that is an accessible intensity like Queens of the Stone Age.

That was fun. So I'm just going to throw the rest of my liked albums from the last couple weeks up on the Spotify lists (click over below or follow me - bunkamade - on Spotify) and you can take a listen. I try to keep it clean, but I don't make promises. So have a listen, hope you find something you like and Happy Listening! (spotify lists coming after I get a chance at them)

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

Hey there ho there hi there hey there! Sorry for the blip last week - it was a busy weekend of seeing an author friend's book signing and an afternoon spent on a hill in Theodore Wirth Park tallying wins and losses for a Kubb Tournament. And pretty awesome too. Then this week - it's warm. Warm. Warm. We will be dusting off the running stroller in an hour or so and going for the year's first run. Also, I think I saw 3 large crane type birds landing on the Mississippi today. Which seems early, but they know better.

Let's just give a brief recap of last week: Country star Reba McEntire released Sing It Now; Sampha released Process; Elbow are back with Little Fictions; Leann Rimes released Remnants; Syd of The Internet had Fin; and Less Than Jake are back with Sound The Alarm. Last year Jesca Hoop released an album last with Iron & Wine's Sam Beam, this week she is back solo with Memories Are Now. Lupe Fiasco returns with Drogas Light. Tinariwen has Elwan and Thievery Corporation is out with The Temple of I & I. Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears (possibly the best & the's ever) released Backlash as well. That's a whole spectrum of music right there and that's pretty representative of how 2017's music scene has been so far. Which is pretty neat. Oh man, Michael Bolton not only has a Netflix Valentine's Day Special but he also released Songs of Cinema today.

And then there's the list of yore, and the list of yore yore (two weeks ago)

This is when I put together fun lists, however I fear the wee one will be emerging from his dark cavern of slumber soon and thus it won't happen, so I'm going to concentrate on getting my Spotify Playlists put together instead. And if this is still here when I post it, that means I was correct and I should say Happy Listening now! (suddenly I want Cheez-its. Seriously want Cheez-its. That is very odd.)Happy Listening!