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

Happy Friday everyone! Time to check in on the new releases of the week and see what's what. This week was a huge week for releases, so let's just run down the list of the biggies: the hip-hop/rap scene had a couple of big releases this week with Lupe Fiasco's Tetsuo & Youth and Joey Bada$$, B4.DA.$$; Marilyn Manson is back with  The Pale Emperor; reunited indie rockers Sleater-Kinney released No Cities To Love; two other indie rockers also on the docket this week - Belle & Sebastian's Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance and The Decemberists' What A Terrible World What A Beautiful World; and finally today EDM favorite Aphex Twin released Computer Controlled Acoustic Instruments Pt. 2. Oh yeah, and emo Fall Out Boy released American Beauty/American Psycho as well.

Phew. That was a mouthful. And now for the rest of the tunes - it's The List!

Welp, I'm a little underlistened because I was really diving into a few albums for a podcast I'm doing with my friend Josh called Half Pints Whole Notes. We review a beer and some music every other week and in it, I'll be giving a bit more of my opinions on some of the bigger releases in a week. Which I usually just gloss over here because this is more about the underdog than the superdog. Here is the link if you want to check it out, or you can search for it on iTunes as well.

Yeah, so not really prepared with too many underdogs this week, especially now that music releases are back in full swing but...

A few that I'm digging right now

BC Campground, How To Die In The North - Maybe it's the bleak midwinter that has me thinking of them, but MGMT came to mind while listening to this one with a hint of Queen.

Etienne de Crécy, Super Discount 3 - dancey electronica poppiness. Get your Friday going.

Darlings, Feel Better - it's on my To-Listen list but my 3 song skim was pretty good for some hanging out rock.

Erase Errata, Lost Weekend - My first skim of this one made me think that if you liked the Viet Cong release this week, maybe you might enjoy this one as well. (can't wait for my podcast cohort to rebuke me on this)

Jim Ed Brown, In Style Again - some old style country for the weekend breakfast times of course!

Raymond Fairchild, King of the Smoky Mountain Banjo Players - Banjo music. Banjos. What more do you need to know?

Hanni El Khatib, Moonlight - it's got a lot going on in the music and seems like it could be a good one.

Light background music for a romantic dinner?

Matt Belsante, When You're Smiling

David Osborne, On the Wings of Love

Well there you go. Somethings to listen to -  musicwise and podcastwise even! Definitely going to be implementing my new notetaking ideas to keep track of albums I like because I think there will be quite a few after this week and it's so hard to remember all the way back to January by the end of the year. My New Year's Resolution I guess is to be better prepared for my best of list because I want to make a "maybe not epicly the best thing ever but you should give it a swirl" list. Anyway, enough of that. It's the 3rd week of January, we're supposed to be past best of lists and hitting up all the new stuff, right? And I've got Hanni El Khatib on as I finish this up, and it's good. Give it a swirl, because I guess that's the phrase for this week. And on that note - Happy Listening!

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

I'm back! Happy New Year to all. I hope it finds everyone starting off on a fresh foot and full of energy. Sorry for the extended vacation of the Friday Refrain - fortunately not much happens in the world of music releases between Christmas and the first week of January. I was all set for last week but never hit the publish button, but the list was pretty svelte around 30 some releases or so. But this week, we're back up there with almost 60.

Fwah! The List. (Fwah - like I just flung The List through the air like a frisbee)

So the big stuff of the week? Papa Roach released another single off their upcoming release, "Never Have To Say Goodbye." Panda Bear released Panda Bear Meets The Grim Reaper. If you can't get enough of that fun poppy retro style of Meghan Trainor, never fear she released Title this week - a full length album. Mark Ronson is out with Uptown Special. And the official U.S. release of The Ting Ting's Super Critical was this week as well.

Other things I enjoyed this week:

Ella Henderson, Chapter One - Good pop with a bit of the sound of Adele in her voice.

Guster, Evermotion - This band has certainly evolved over the years, and they continue that with this album. Easily fitting  in with other indie bands of today, this album was a pleasant surprise. Note: I fell in love with this band when they opened for Barenaked Ladies way back when. I have a Culver's bib signed by them somewhere.

Animal Daydream, Easy Pleasures - It's got that sunny California retro sound that can be refreshing during the cold days of January

Moon King, "Roswell" - This single is pretty fun with reminders of the good 80s pop I like in the background.

Well a short but sweet Friday Refrain. Next week the releases start picking up again with Sleater Kinney and The Decemberists releasing their anticipated albums. As for me, well, more time for listening to be done now that I've finished watching every season of Chuck. Happy Listening!

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

Happy Friday everyone! The last weekend before Christmas - often a time of scrambling. Time to wrap up the presents, do some last minute shopping and squeeze in a few more holiday parties. Or maybe you don't do all that, well, don't worry a bit for each of you. Let's start off with what's happening in music this week and then I'll indulge in a little Christmas list after that.

Ho ho ho - it's the List!

Do you hear what I hear?... Not much? Yeah, me either. It's the end of the year, reviewers have already wrapped up their year end best of lists and tied a bow on it. Why bother releasing new albums? Well, because someone out there wants something new and there's always that chance you could hit it really big for last minute gift ideas. So who took the chance? Well, Nicki Minaj released The Pinkprint. While it starts out slow, it starts to pick up a bit later in the album. Charli XCX released Sucker and this might be a late entry but it is doing a pretty good job of tearing its way onto my favorite albums of 2014. I especially like the tracks, "Break the Rules" and "Famous." D'Angelo dropped off an early Christmas present for everyone with his first album in 14 years, Black Messiah. And that's really the news for this week. Not much, like I said.

Beyond the big three, the new single from Laura Marling's upcoming release is definitely worth a listen. I also dug the track "Spring" from The Heartbeat Band's Sailor Heart.

Now that this week is done, let's deck the halls with some Christmas music!

A list of some of the new holiday releases genrefied!

Well, I was going to include a list of my favorite Christmas albums, but I just realized that I need to go and identify what some of my favorites actually are first. That could take a bit. So perhaps I'll just sign off for this week and post a special follow-up if I get my ducks in a row on that one. So Happy Listening and to all a good night!

the Friday refrain: stomach bug edition

It's the season for Yuletide and carols, and sniffles and flulike symptoms. So today, in honor of the fact that I have been coasting in and out of achy awareness to lightweight slumber, illness is when binging tv or watching favorite moves is the only cure. and lots of run-on sentences. here are some of my favorite movie music moments.

Brachiosaurus landing on the ground , Jurassic Park - probably the greatest movie music moment ever in my book. Givesme chills every time. Also, I can not wait til June!M!! I am a bit of a fan.

l.A. story, the morning scene with the love interest playing the tuba and Steve Martin switches the shower into slo-mo or even the weird deer scene at that dinner partying enya

Toys, the part with the enya (again? huh.) song at the beginning. Goosebumps

Muppet Christmas Carol, the whole thing. This is my favorite holiday movie. I love all of it. I listen to the soundtrack t least once every couple of days in the month of December and am often singing it. The. Best.

So my brain is taxed and I just asked my husband for some more. I love it when our age difference shows: Purple rain, Wayne's world, spice world, simple men, and o brother where art thou..

Oh, Almost Famous, Elizabethtown, and last but not least, Rushmore. Excuse me, I'm going to go binge watch Wes Anderson now. Happy listening/watching!

Ps. Sorry for all the mistakes. I am not going to edit. Or use correct punctuation, the fact I was cognizant enough to pick up the iPad and write this at all is impressive. Still, apologies

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

Happy Friday everyone! Here we are in the close of the year once again. And happy 1 year Friday Refrain to all! I had thought about adding up everything I've listened to in the last year, but then I decided that would seem more frightening to me than fun so I'm just going to go with a lot. I've listened to a lot. Not sure if I'll actually make a comprehensive year end list, but I'm working on it as I can. I'm getting the hang of this front baby carrier thing so hopefully that will help me with being able to type with two hands and research and therefore listen. We'll see where it gets me.

Anyway, let's see what's in store for this week. Our big ticket items this week are from Wu Tang Clan and AC/DC with A Better Tomorrow and Rock or Bust, respectively. Mary J. Blige released The London Sessions this week, which is pretty strong on the front half. She & Him released Classics, an album of covers. Both Pixies and Yo La Tengo have anniversary reissues this week. Plus there's a retrospective from Wilie Nelson titled, December Day: Willie's Stash, Vol. 1.

Happy early St. Nicholas Day! The list is in your shoes.

If you're in the mood for...

something like a male-fronted Polica? Try Beacon, L1

a little country? Collin Raye, Everlasting

an acoustic cover of Animal Collective's "My Girls?" Check out Tall Tall Trees, The Seasonal

a rock track reminiscent of early Yeah Yeah Yeahs? "Sex Beat," The Coathangers

something Blondie sounding? Kate Pierson, "Mister Sister"

meditative instrumental piano music? Jordan De la Sierra, Gymnosphere: Song of the Rose

Well that's about what I've got this week. Just starting to get into the swing of it all again, so bear with me. Hopefully you've had a great week of Thanksgiving leftovers, are getting into the holiday spirit and gearing up for an awesome weekend. Speaking of holiday spirit, maybe next week I'll throw together a favorites list and include a list of the new holiday releases so far this year. So stay tuned for that, and if you're in the Twin Cities, make sure you check out Tuba Christmas this Sunday in St. Paul. It's my favorite holiday tradition. Happy Listening!