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

Somedays you just got to go with what you've got, so that's what I've got to do.

Bazang - the List! (a little light but like I said, go with what I've got.)

Ryan Adams just keeps rolling out the 7"s and is back this week with Burn in the Night which I enjoyed. Good job, Ryan Adams! If you listen to the podcast I co-host, you know my cohort loves Petite Noir who just announced a full album this fall and dropped this single, "Down." Just in time for my JD McPherson album to wear out, Leon Bridges brings the old sound with Coming Home. Desaparecidos (A Conor Oberst band) is back with Payola. And check out up-and-comer Bully with Feels Like which is very 90s grunge but fronted by a female. I'm hopefully looking forward to seeing what Josh thinks of it on Half Pints next week. And the craziest thing is out this week, The National did a performance art piece at MOMA in 2013 where they played their song "Sorrow" over and over again for 6 hours and now are releasing the entire thing in a boxed set titled, A Lot of Sorrow. Crazy.

AAAAOOOOOOOOoo, and some other animals

Wolf Alice, My Love is Cool

Thundercat, The Beyond/Where The Giants Roam EP

Crywolf, Dysphoria

Au Revoir Simone, Red Rabbit

Other Things I'm Digging

Kacey Musgraves, Pagaent Material - I dont' know why but this country songstress' track "Dime Store Cowgirl" just charms me.

Parlour Tricks, Broken Hearts/Bones - Just some fun alt/indie rock

Zomes, Near Unison - songs built on a droning background, repetition, reminds me of an alternate universe's microphones?

T. Hardy Morrison, Hardy & the Hardknocks, Drownin On A Mountaintop - I didn't think this would be something I'd like but it's some good country/southern rock

Psychic Baos, Society's Lion on Peace of Mind/Can't Keep Us Down- Psychedelic rock out of southern Indiana that sounds like Cambodian Psychedelic Rock. My husband looked up the label and says it looks pretty much awesome sauce. So yeah, dig into that while jamming out to Psychic Baos.

The Royal Jesters, English Oldies - I don't usually talk about reissues too much on here because holy cow that would be a lot of list then, but this is great. Two dudes who formed in San Antonio back in the day, made their own label, rented out a place to play... Just brushed the surface on the history of these guys and going to go back for more later on.

Motopony, Welcome You - my kind of throw back vintage music. Putting it on  a list with Clear Plastic Masks

Jorge Marazu, Escandinavia  - Okay, I'm already not good at discerning what someone's singing about in the language I'm fluent in, so I don't know what this guy is saying - yet- but I like the music.

So there you go, there's a bit of diversity to the list this week. enjoy. Do you ever have something that you remember fondly and then when you revisit it, it's not so great, but even after that happening you still remember it fondly and go back, only to remember that it's not so great, and still the cycle repeats? Yeah, that's me and Spaghetti-O's. right now, in my nose I can smell Spaghetti-O's for some reason and it makes me want it but then I know I'd get it and be disappointed but I can't stop thinking, "Man I could really go for some Spaghetti-O's right now." Argh. Probably just end up making my own homemade version now... Anyway, Happy Listening!

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

(originally I was going to use a picture of my yard because it's insane. Instead, I'm showing evidence of why I believe my son is actually a hybrid dinosaur cooked up by Ingen) My yard is a jungle. Look at that grass. Also, while mowing, a small rodent of some type came leaping out of the grass in front of me and bounded away. The grass is so long that it was gone upon landing. I'm so glad it got out of the way. Poor little guy. And last Sunday, there was a raccoon in our yard marking the dead tree branch laying in the pile spot. So yeah, it's time to do something about this. Sorry about last week - I was off watching dinosaurs duke it out on the big screen. I had a place holder post in mind but it didn't happen. I'll get better at that. Someday. It's on my improvement list.

It's a long list.

But not THIS LIST. And last week's list. Bam. Double bam. Take it.

So Muse came out with an album last week, Drones, continuing their blend of their early music with the music of U2. Mika has an album out this week, No Place In Heaven! Haven't listened to it but I'm excited by that. Mates of State released an EP this week as well titled You're Going To Make It. James Taylor is back with Before This World. Hilary Duff is keeping the pop popping with Breathe In. Breathe Out. Adam Lambert from one of those singing shows, right? is here with The Original High. And Yonder Mountain String Band serenade us with their new album, Black Sheep.

*catches breath*

Baby is crying. And so I suppose that has to be it today. This kid is pulling up on things and it's made it not conducive to typing on computer while sitting at coffee table anymore. Gotta go teach him how to mow. Also, I'm pretty sure he is part new hybrid dinosaur from Jurassic World. The similarities are uncanny. If you're out enjoying the summer air and music this weekend, remember to hydrate, wear sunscreen and Happy Listening!

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

Ah yes, Friday. Once again. Check out Half Pints Whole Notes this week for a very country version and then some standard girl rock recommendations from my co-host Josh and I. But what else is there in this land of music? Well, let me tell you...

Enter the wonderful world of The List. A list of releases I have culminated from here and there where genres are defined by me, and as you can see, I didn't get a lot listened to this week, but ah well.

Indie rocking folksy songwriting Dawes has returned again with long narrative songs (just guessing here) on All Your Favorite Bands. Speaking of narrative songwriting, Sun Kil Moon released Universal Themes. Power singer Florence + the Machine is out with How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful. And Jamie xx of - how I didn't put this together before - The XX released In Colour. Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard teamed up once again to delight us with Django & Jimmie. Pop-Rockers Barenaked Ladies are here with Silverball. And Indigo Girls are here again wtih One Lost Day. Oh and I always forget that I like them, Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin is rocking a 90s jukebox with The High Country. Also, the final Frank Zappa album is out this week, Dance Me This, recorded before he died if I remember the article I read last night correctly.

Also this week...

We have a plethora of EPs out this week. Including Erick Macek, Erick Macek EP and Isaac Adni, This Is An EP ep.

If you're looking for a good way to wind down from the day, check out Gacha, Send Two Sunsets. It's chill and lets your mind unravel.

Hilary Grist released an album/children's book this week titled Tomorrow Is A Chance To Start Over and I'm going to be looking to add this to the library. It was a restless evening in the house last night so I ended up listening to it with my son at 3:00 in the morning and it was really nice. From what I remember because no matter how awake I am, I'm not going to remember everything at 3 o'clock in the morning.

If you're a fan of early Ray LaMongtagne, perhaps you should check out Kail Baxley, A Light That Never Dies.

And this album looks apt for my day, Porcelain Raft, Half Awake EP. (I told you there are a ton of EPs this week)

Also, some sunny CAish rock from Eternal Summers, Gold and Stone.

Kinski, 7 (or 8) is kinda Mudhoney/Nirvana early 90s

Francesca Belmonte's Anima makes me think of a 1980s dark alley scene with the fog machines rolling

I know I will be disappointed when I listen to Nozinja, Nozinja Lodge and it's not ninja music, so maybe I just won't listen to it and make up my own idea of it. Or maybe I will to be fair.

And I don't know, maybe that's good for this week. For some reason this is stuck in italics. Let's roll with it. The boy is running out of toys, I don't have long. You know what next weekend is? BONNAROOOOOOOOOOOO!!! And while I won't be making it back to the farm (AGAIN) this year, I will be there in mind and will be sending positivity to everyone rocking it out over there. Next year. We're buying our tickets as soon as they're on sale. We're going to make it work. in the meantime, make it a good one this year Bonnaroo. And go play in the fountain for me. Happy Listening!

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

Howdy everybody! It's Friday once againa and you know what that means - time to lasso up the new music and corral it back on the ranch of easy listening.

Huh.

Yeah, that's what I just typed out my fingers. So I'm keeping it but I'm counting that as one of my weirder introductions. By the way, nothing's more disappointing than sitting down for your coffee break and biting into an inferior baked good. I kept taking bites because I thought it had to get better, it never did. So here I sit with my coffee getting cold and disappointment staring at me. Ah well.

What's big this week? Well... Let me see here... The Oak Ridge Boys released Rock of Ages: Hymns & Gospel Favorites. Prolific Robert Pollard of Guided By Voices released Faulty Superheroes. He's like the James Patterson of music, or maybe a modern day J.S. Bach in his output. Rapper A$AP Rocky is back with A.L.L.A. And then we've got a bunch of other stuff.

 There are a ton of singles out this week in anticipation of upcoming releases but overall it's a pretty light week. This List is light as a feather, stiff as a... spreadsheet? 

Other things of this week

Alesso, Forever - some EDM for your weekend pleasures.

Icona Pop, "Emergency" - I'm a sucker for her.

Os Noctambulos, Outsider - Turned it on thinking it would be some sort of dark metal due to the band name but no it's psychedelic. I liked it.

Icky Blossoms, Mask - Good rock

Shana Cleveland & the Sandcastles, Oh Man, Cover the Ground - Like a Cat Power and Jack White love child

Shopping, Consumer Complaints - they really like Sleater Kinney.

Kenny Barron, Interplay - I liked what I sampled of this album of jazz. Good cocktail music. And old-fashioned movie dancing about love.

Eilen Jewell, Sundown over Ghost Town - pretty good.

Joseph Fonseca; Eso, Eso, Eso - and we'll end this round up with some Latin music.

All right my sister has taken the boy so I can get some housework done and so I need to vamoose. I'm going to try to set a record for how much I can clean in less than two hours. Plus, my ears always get all wonky at the beginning of June and can make listening to music kinda disorienting. So time for some silence. Which is the opposite of how I normally clean. We'll see how this goes. Onward I go, toward a cleaner home, better pastries and a lovely weekend. Happy Listening!

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

I had it all put together last week and ready to go. All I had to do was get on my computer and publish... But travelling 1000 miles in 1 1/2 days with a baby makes time precious. Not because ooo it's a baby's first trip but ooo... how are we going to get there on time? So I chose showering and breakfast over posting. Them's the dice.

And then it was catch up all week. So insert witty things here. Here is the list. It's sunny out and in these parts it's the only one for the weekend (according to the weather guys at least. Not in my mind). So I need to get out there. I need to feel that warmth and play in the yard. I already resisted a trip to the zoo to get this much done.

So here's what you do. When you're ready, when you're weekend's about to begin - just before it does - go over to your listening preference and put on the new album by Wume. It's got that feeling like something's going to start. It'll get you going and then take it from there, let the album fade into your life and go enjoy. Have a great weekend, stay hydrated, wear sunscreen and Happy Listening!