Monday 27 July 2020

Week In Music July 20-26th 2020

Busier week for listening this week. Starting off with hearing Nina Simone's wonderful 'Emergency Ward' album after seeing Alex from Fightmilk mention it on FB. Amazing cover of George Harrison's 'My Sweet Lord'. Wonderfully rev'd up and powerful




I heard New Order's 'Regret' on my weekly trip to the supermarket, what an excellent song.



I used to have a bootleg cassette of an Afghan Whigs show in Belgium from 1993 where they covered this pretty much right after it came out, was great. Would love to hear that again.


Then Orlando's 'Just For A Second' has been stuck in my head most of the week. A wonderful pop tune.





Once again got Melody Club's 'My Soft Return' stuck in my head too and gave the full 'Music Machine' album a spin. Some very good stuff on there. Great synthpop





And someone on my IG posted Nino Ferrer's 'Le Sud', a French classic which I'm glad I now know




And of course the Taylor Swift album came out Friday. mirrorball being my favourite. Quite dig the pop of betty too



Sunday 19 July 2020

Week In Music July 13-19th

Been a busy week, haven't had much time for new music. I've been mainly still digging into Hedvig Mollestad's catalogue. Excellent stuff. Killer rock grooves with an improvisational jazz feel. Reminiscent of 70's John McLaughlin. I had the pleasure of interviewing her for this week's Etcetera ETC With Young Southpaw episode.

Digging the new Go! Team song





And I heard this for the first time. Billy Corgan's early side project, Starchildren. Their one original song that was released. Love the guitar sound


Monday 13 July 2020

Week In Music July 6 - 12th

Morricone. What can I say? A tremendous loss.

Wrote the most beautiful song I know, one of my favourites of all-time. Mina's 'Se Telefonando'. And he wrote it for a television show! So great he could just rattle stuff off like this for whatever. I love how the tune has no real tonal center, and of course the emotion behind it - what words cannot express - is why there is music in the first place.





And another gorgeous slice of pop is his 'Deep Down' from the Danger: Diabolik soundtrack. Sung by Christy, who I wish did more.




I discovered both of these one rainy night in 2005 when, having recently returned to my hometown in the States from my beloved London, I put on the Canto Morricone Vol. 1 - The 60's compilation that had just arrived in the post. I was driving back from picking up some takeout for my family from one of our favourite Italian restaurants when Mina came on track 3 and I was completely floored. I can still remember where I was as I realized just how amazing what was coming through my speakers was. The stoplight turning green, the hill to the golf course on my right, the factory to my left, the rain lightly drumming down on the windscreen.

My big discovery this week is Hedvig Mollestad. Liam from the Pynchon In Public podcast sent me that link and I started listening. And just kept going. Had her on for hours that first day. And have started buying the albums. One at a time in order to savour. She's a phenomenal guitarist and her work combines jazz, rock, and groove in a rather excellent way. I've been digging these:





Loved the Eurovision movie and have been getting 'Jaja Ding Dong' stuck in my head a lot. I feel a certain affinity for the man who kept calling out for it.





Relistening to The In-Kraut Vol. 1 compilation, which has Marianne Mendt's fantastic 'Wie A Glock'n', I was also way into 'Molotow Cocktail Party'. This tune is wild. And packs the phrase 'cocktail party' in to the limits of how many times you can say it in a two-and-a-half minute pop song.




Had a great conversation with David Ryder Prangley about his new solo album for my Etcetera ETC With Young Southpaw podcast. We talked a lot about KISS and Van Halen of course, which had me revisit Paul's 1978 solo album. Some really good songs on there! Hadn't heard it in decades. Love the glam pop/rock of 'It's Alright' and 'Wouldn't You Like To Know Me'. Reminds me of the early glammy Mötley Crüe stuff that I wish they'd done more of.



Monday 6 July 2020

Week In Music June 29 - July 5 2020

It's been a busy week, I've been working hard BaZi consulting. There was time however to hear some new and be captivated by some old sounds.

First up was the new Even As We Speak single, 'Unknown'. Mary's voice is lovely on this and it's such a dreamy pop song, redolent of summer evenings.



Next I finally had the chance to listen to the full album of Joanne Gabriel's Floating In Light. Wonderful soundscapes. I came across her music via one of Graham Duff's Mixtape shows.





I interviewed The Speedways for the Etcetera ETC With Young Southpaw podcast. Great tunes on the new record. Lead-off track, 'This Ain't A Radio Sound', is probably my favourite. Though 'Daydreaming' was stuck in my head for days after our chat.








Someone posted this short 1970 documentary about Alice Coltrane. She was such a gigantic, powerful soul.





Which put this in my head. One of the most beautiful pieces of music I know. Exquisite.





My two favourite discoveries of this year, which have buoyed up my spirit immeasurably during lockdown, have been Letterkenny and Judee Sill. On revisiting, I discovered the two came together when the show used this cover of 'Jesus Was A Cross Maker' by Frida Hyvönen




And as I was talking to Mauro & Matt of The Speedways about Hanoi Rocks, a band we all deeply love, I've been listening to them a lot too. They told me they'd cover '11th Street Kidz' and 'Until I Get You' on acoustic guitars in their hotel room after gigs. I have loved '11th Street Kidz' since I first heard it Christmas Day 1989 when I got all four reissue albums under the tree. Such a killer tune. So catchy with the right combination of joy and sadness, evoking youthful dreams and expectations and how they had such meaning despite only being fleeting.

This is the 'All Those Wasted Years' version despite it showing the 'Two Steps From The Move' album cover





And 'Don't You Ever Leave Me' is the greatest rock ballad still lingering in obscurity