Beings

Beings is the new New York collective of Steve Gunn, Jim White, Zoh Amba, and Shazad Ismaily.  The quartet make a very cool, avant garde blend of jazz, folk, psych, no-wave, and pop.  Dig on "Flowers that Talk" below and pre-order the upcoming "There Is a Garden" LP here from No Quarter.

Daily Jam - You Don't Have to Say You Love Me

Admittedly, karaoke is kind of lame. But also, it can be crazy fun if you’re in the right frame of mind.

The apex of my karaoke participation came a few years ago, long before we all started popping out babies and mowing our lawns on Sunday mornings. On weekend trips to Houston to visit a group of guys and girls I’ve known too long to even remember, for a stretch, we somehow managed to find ourselves frequenters of a local karaoke dive every time I came into town. And it was awesome…cheap, bad drinks and cigarettes and taking turns humiliating ourselves in front of a room of random strangers we didn’t know. And there was much aplomb and applause in this house of lost weekends, blurred vision, slurred speech, and mighty, thunderous tributes to the arts.

Yeah, we probably sucked, but we swung through all the hits.

Of all my turns at the mic, taking on songs by Bowie or The Carpenters or Erasure or whatnot, there are two tracks I regret never getting around to singing. One of those is Dusty Springfield’s “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me.”

Originally penned by Italian songwriter and composer Pino Donaggio with lyrics by Vito Pallavicini in 1965, the track eventually made its way to English singer Dusty Springfield, herself a huge fan of the original Italian iteration. Released a year later, her English version, much more of a reinterpretation than a translation, still soars as one of the greatest odes to unrequited love that I’ve ever heard. It’s the sonic equivalent of tearing your heart out and holding it up for the whole world to see. It moves me literally every time I hear it.

So, naturally I want to butcher it in a dirty room in front of a bunch of drunk weirdos.

No word or hints as to when my next karaoke excursion will be, but after a few cocktails, I think I’ll be ready to perform.

And for the record, the other song is “Just a Gigolo” by David Lee Roth.

Geneva Jacuzzi

Here's some new dancy synth pop from LA's Geneva Jacuzzi.  Check out "Dry" below and download it here from Dais Records.

Daily Jam - Cum on Feel the Noize

Sometimes I just like a dumb song.

My feelings for LA heavy metal band Quiet Riot’s 1983 cover of UK glam band Slade’s “Cum on Feel the Noize” have pretty much remained consistent since I first heard the song when I was 4 or 5 years old...and that’s that it rules. The song was featured prominently on an 80’s pop rock compilation cassette I got when I was a kid (possibly the first cassette I ever bought if memory serves), and was the closing track on side A. I played that tape to death, jamming it in my Walkman repeatedly on summer vacation road trips through the south with my family, over and over again from start to finish. My affinity for Duran Duran was born with it, as was probably my penchant for digging on synthesizers. That cassette served as my gateway to a large swath of popular music at the time, much of which would fall out of favor over the succeeding years while all the while I still sang along.

I can’t not sing along to “Cum on Feel the Noize.”

And neither should you. Come on! You know the words!

The Rayvelles

Let's groove a little on this fine Sunday with the library funk sounds of UK duo The Rayvelles.  Dig on the cool as a cucumber "Return of the Soul Sabre" below and get the band's new self-titled album here from Funk Night Records.

Daily Jam - Drunk Girls

LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy is my go to example and inspiration for when I start to feel like I’m too old to attempt or accomplish something, audio encouragement for my artistic endeavors. The man was already 35 when the first LCD Soundsystem LP was released, and he was well aware of those years he had on many of his peers and contemporaries. He embraced it and continues to. In a lot of ways, his work has served as a kind of conduit for me to project my encroaching (and now current) middle age insecurities into, Murphy providing a gleaming example of aging, if not gracefully, then at least with a modicum of cool resignation to the fact and with middle fingers still somewhat in the air. As the artist is now over 50, and I brace myself for my upcoming adventures in the land of upper 40 year-olds, I wait with excited anticipation for his band’s return to the fold later this year (2017's American Dream). And based on the first two singles, “American Dream” in particular, it appears that he’ll be providing even more motivation for me.

But before all that, way back in 2010 when we all thought This Is Happening was to be his swan song, Murphy and Co. laid down an all-out party jam that belied his age, the fun, bouncing, hyperactive and indispensable “Drunk Girls.” Wound tight and released, the song combs post punk, new wave, and disco pop for a toe tapping, head bobbing aesthetic, silliness abounding and with a quick, jumpy brevity you don’t normally get from your regular LCD Soundsystem output. The band’s influences are well represented here, as they usually are, with nods to David Bowie being some of the most evident. Bowie worship can be found all through Murphy’s back catalog, and really nowhere more so than on this Lodger-esque stomper.

So, drop the needle, press play, and sing along.

Luster

Here's a little shoegaze from LA band Luster that came out earlier this year.  Get lost in the noise of "Missing You" below and get the 7" single here from Funeral Party.

Daily Jam - I Stay Away

This column was originally published in 2017.

I’ve been immersing myself in a lot of the music I grew up with the last couple of weeks. I suppose that the death of yet another one of my generation’s idols and icons has me feeling reflective. It has me feeling…nostalgic is not the word…wistful maybe, like this kind of yearning for how music made me feel when I was a teenager, the wholeness and everything of it all, the importance and the grandeur. There was this youthful excitement and immediacy to all the wonderful music I was discovering in the early '90s, from grunge to alt-rock to Britpop to industrial, punk, and metal, a cavalcade of sounds that influenced me, opened me up, defined me, and kept me warm. Kept me sane. Made me real. I would lose myself in it all. I’ve been chasing that high ever since, and despite all the new stuff I’ve found and obsessed over through the years, it’s just never been the same, like a steady supply of methadone when what I’m really craving is pure heroin.

Maybe I shouldn’t make a heroin analogy in an article referencing Alice In Chains.

As it turns out, all of that old music is still important to me…even when time has put a lot of distance between us. Chris Cornell’s suicide hit me harder than I would have expected, took me aback, and flooded my heart and soul with sadness and quiet resignation. As my friend and fellow blogger Shawn wrote at the time, it wasn’t necessarily world shattering, like when losing a Bowie or a Prince, but it has had a way of making me contemplate my own mortality. These deaths usually do.

When Layne Staley died in 2002, I remember exactly what I was doing when I heard the news. I had just loaded my car with guitars and amp, and was pulling out of my apartment’s parking lot on my way to band practice when word of the Alice In Chains singer’s overdose came over the radio waves. I had to stop my car right there and take it all in for a moment. I had to process it. Of course he died. Of course it was an overdose. And it only seemed fitting that it had taken a week or more before his body was discovered. It’s like it was always supposed to end that way. But that didn’t make it hurt any less. Another icon gone. Another inspiration turned to dust. So, I pulled my car back into the parking lot and went inside to grab some Alice In Chains to listen to. Once on my way, Dirt just felt like it would be too much, its themes and stories of addiction an all too dire eulogy to symbolically say farewell with. Jar of Flies felt better. It’s a dark and morose piece of work for sure, but it didn’t feel so steeped in an addict’s pain and struggle, a weird and growling glorification of chemical dependency. It’s more somber. Less amusing. And despite its acoustic nature, it feels so much heavier.

“I Stay Away” is the Alice In Chains song I always go back to, either in memoriam and solemnity, or wistful repose. It’s what I wanted to hear after Staley died and what gets me closest to re-feeling that teenage glow, a strange and melancholy melody that breaks apart as ominous undertones rise to the surface. It was kind of haunting back then, and is certainly more so now. Staley and Jerry Cantrell’s harmonies sound eerie and otherworldly atop soothing acoustic guitars and menacing electric ones, strings and synthesizers bubbling beneath, creating a kind of soundtrack for passing through to the other side along a dark and mysterious body of water. It’s spooky and beautiful and wonderful, and at 15 years old, it spoke to me in a way I don’t think I truly understood.

And maybe I still don’t.

But I’m listening to it now, and it’s still making me feel and still making me long for something ultimately unattainable. It’s also making me think that perhaps my generation’s rock stars and aging artists are getting their reunion tours out of the way now, as there’ll be no one left when we’re in our old age. Perish the thought.

“Tears that soak a callous heart.”

Minuit Machine

French darkwave synth pop band Minuit Machine contributed a new song to the "RainboWarriors Vol 1" compilation from WARRIORECORDS.  The comp is full of likeminded synth and electronic artists and veers towards the queer and inclusive.  Check out "Love Bomber" below and get the comp LP here.

Friday Horror Trailer - Breeders

Daily Jam - September

Try as I might, I just can’t seem to get anyone to jump on the Cranes bandwagon with me. And that’s a damn shame, because the British shoegaze band churned out a whole mess of stellar pop during their early/mid '90s heyday. Most complaints are generally lodged against the vocal stylings of Alison Shaw, a kind of childlike, high-pitched coo. I’ll admit, it’s a lot to take in at first. But repeated listening yields great reward. She sounds like no one else. Her voice fascinates me.

Just listen to “September” from 1994’s Shining Road EP. It plays like some Gothic version of dreampop. A gentle, sad, and wistful guitar melody sweeps by like a chilling breeze accompanied by Shaw’s otherworldly voice, the last vestiges of a solemn child’s ghost weeping hymns from some ethereal place. It’s haunting, and it’s mournful, and in the pit of some self-inflicted despair, it might just be everything.

Okay, maybe that’s a little heavy handed, but “September” is an absolutely beautiful song, and it definitely makes Cranes worthy of another shot, after dropping any preconceived notions of what a singing voice is supposed to sound like.

Get on the bandwagon with me. Do it.

Listen below, our Daily Jam.

Overmono & The Streets

I haven't thought about British rapper The Streets in a long time.  He's still out there rapping, i just haven't been paying attention.  At any rate, UK electronic duo Overmono have seen fit to remix a track off The Streets 2002 debut "Original Pirate Material" with their awesome mix of "Turn the Page."  I imagine this one goes nuts in the clubs.  Give it a listen below and pre-order the 12" single here from XL Recordings.

Amery

Moving on a synth pop groove this morning, this time around with some dreamy and warbled pop from Montreal's Amery.  New album "Continue As Amery" is out in May.  Take a listen first single "Mountain FM" below and pre-order the LP here from Night School.

Male Tears

California duo Male Tears make fun and dancey synth pop that harkens back to the glory days of the '80s.  New album "Paradisco" is out this summer.  Pre-order it here from the band and listen to "Sex on Drugs" below.

Bill Baird

Texas artist and former Sound Team member Bill Baird dropped two new albums on us this month, the instrumental and ambient-tinged "Soundtrack" and the synth psych pop sounds of "Astral Suitcase."  Both are definitely worth your time, but for the moment, listen to the dreamy, spacey "Couch Olympics" below and get both LP's here from the artist.

Previous Industries

Previous Industries is the Chicago born, LA based trio of Open Mike Eagle, Video Dave, and STILL RIFT, three rappers combining their talents to make something truly weird with the aid of a slew of different producers including Kenny Segal among others.  Debut album "Service Merchandise" plays like a fractured eulogy to derelict, abandoned malls and the decline of the west.  Dig on "Pliers" below and pre-order the LP here from Merge Records.

Daily Jam - Tommib

This column was originally published in 2017.

I guess it was always the more cinematic stuff that moved me. Traversing through the head rattling, bone shaking neon wasteland that is the popular modern electronic music scene, anonymity via ridiculous headwear running concurrently with a hyper-presence in social media spaces, I find myself lost and confused among the dayglo revelers and teenage promoters for hire. Was it always like this? Huddled masses yearning for the bass to drop? Bleached kids high on synthetic, designer drugs strewn across fields and parking lots across the world, drowning in their own vomit? EDM, of mice and marshmallows and robots, shaking all their bits for mainstream dollars and notoriety?

It’s not my scene man. But I love electronic music. And I love dance music. I just hate the generic end game we’ve stumbled upon, favoring the darker, more secluded bastions of underground electronic composition. I dig on the outliers. I nod to the past. And there’s that soft, sweet spot for IDM, as pretentious a descriptor as there ever was, that I come of age listening to.

Intelligent. Dance. Music.

Even when I was 18, I knew the term was insufferable, and now, two decades later, its eye rolling ambivalence is enough to cause brain spasms, a twitchy kind of nostalgia for how fucking lame we all used to be…still are. But it was still kind of apt. The music wasn’t populist ass shaking groove or dumb party music. There was a lot of math involved. And strange, discordant rhythms, faraway and exotic sounds generated by wires and mainframes looped and spliced to hallucinogenic, disorienting wonder. Aphex Twin and Oval and Boards of Canada and Autechre and so many others making sound that you could sometimes dance to, but more often just get lost in. I dug on those beats in the murk, but it was then gentler, more melodic entries or the dramatic, ominous sways of mood that stuck with me.

(Continues to stick with me.)

Squarepusher’s 2001 album Go Plastic is full of all the hallmarks and tropes that defined the IDM scene of the late '90s/early '00s, but it also contains the wonderful “Tommib,” a short piece of beautiful synthesizer that excels because of its brevity. Just over a minute long, the song’s effect works according to your mood, a gorgeous and hopeful new dawn, the soundtrack to opening your eyes as the sun peeks through your window in the morning, or a crestfallen and dreamy wistful haze as you watch your love turn and walk away from you forever. And then it ends before you’re even aware of what’s transpired or how full of life every single moment is.

And so, IDM or EDM or whatever, to me “Tommib” and the beautiful pieces of electronic music that came before, or continue to stream after, don’t really need to be weighed down by written descriptors (even if they do make it a million times easier for writers like me to describe them) or qualifiers. At the end of the day, so much of this music has more in common with traditional classical composition anyway…just for computers instead of brass and wind.

I do love the cinematic.

Anthony Green

Philadelphia artist Anthony Green makes a kind of bedroom grunge, sweet lo-fi fuzz for the masses.  New album "Doom. Spun." is out this summer from Born Losers Records.  Pre-order it here and listen to an ode to Megadeth, "Megadeath," below.

Lord Buffalo

That mix of hard rock, metal, folk, and Americana just seems to hit all the right spots for me most days, and Austin band Lord Buffalo have it in spades on upcoming new album "Holus Bolus."  Check out the title track below and pre-order the record here from Blues Funeral Recordings.

Chatterton

Here's some gentle, lo-fi-tinged indie rock from California duo Chatterton.  Get the new "Fields of This" LP here from the band and listen to "Pretty Things" below.

Fontaines D.C.

I didn't pay much attention to Irish band Fontaines D.C. a couple years ago when their "Skinty Fia" album came out.  For whatever reason it just didn't grab me, but i have to admit the band has me hook, line and sinker with new single "Starburster" from the upcoming "Romance" LP.  It feels like there's a little bit of Britpop bubbling up in the band's post-punk alt-rock sound, and i am here for it.  Check the track out below and pre-order the album here from XL Recordings.

Have A Nice Life Covers Low

The Flenser just dropped another track from their upcoming Low tribute album "Your Voice Is Not Enough."  I seriously cannot wait for this thing to come out.  Anyway, in the meantime, listen to Have A Nice Life's take on "When I Go Deaf" below and download it here.

BIG|BRAVE

Montreal noisemakers BIG|BRAVE are back with a new sonic stew of metal, drone, Americana, folk, and more.  Grab the new "A Chaos of Flowers" LP here from Thrill Jockey and listen the practically oozing album opener "I Felt a Funeral" below.

Thom Yorke

Radiohead's Thom Yorke is back at the film score game (guess he caught the bug from bandmate Jonny Greenwood), this time around with soundtrack to Italian filmmaker Daniele Luchetti's upcoming "Confidenza."  Assisted The Smile bandmate Tom Skinner and jazz musician Robert Stillman, the first taste of the score is an ominous, jazzy affair, but still something that sticks to the ribs.  Check out "Prize Giving" below and pre-order the LP here from XL Recordings.

Daily Jam - Leave Me Alone

Have you ever had one of those albums that you are the utmost champion of? A record that you try to push on your friends and family as something, if not essential, then at the very least something wonderful to listen to and while away an hour or so? A record that for whatever reason (generally a lack of promotion) doesn’t seem to receive the attention or the acclaim that you know it is worthy of?

I do. And, with the exception of a couple of old friends who drank the sonic Kool-Aid I provided them, Spy’s 1999 album, Music to Mauzner By, seems to belong only to me.

I stumbled across the album quite by accident back when I was in college and volunteering as a deejay for the campus radio station. One morning, I randomly grabbed a small stack of promo CD’s to review for the station, took them back to my apartment, and began listening and writing out my thoughts. Music to Mauzner By floored me. An eclectic mix of different styles, hitting on alt-rock, funk, soul, hip-hop, flamenco, and classical among others, Spy’s album felt like a project taking its cues from Beck’s Odelay or Midnight Vultures and Paul’s Boutique by the Beastie Boys, but with less fusion or cohesion. Rather than throwing everything into a stew to see how it sounds, each track bounces around from genre to genre and back again, a highlight of which for me is the wonderful, hip-hop flavored “Leave Me Alone.”

A mellow beat laid beneath a simple bassline and synth riff, J. Ralph’s speak-singing cooing and lamenting in my ear, “Leave Me Alone,” while certainly a product of its time, still sounds as infectious to me now as it did 18 years ago, when it caused my college roommate to spontaneously strut.

And we should all strut sometimes.

Note: while Spy was a one and done music project, apparently the artist J. Ralph has continued to make music, most notably as an Oscar nominated film score and soundtrack artist, penning the music to such documentaries as The Cove, Man On Wire, and Racing Extinction. I love learning new things when I write.

Listen below, our Daily Jam.

Zeal & Ardor

Here's a new track from Zeal & Ardor, and a rather subdued affair at that considering what rip roaring screamer 2022's self-titled effort was.  Check out "To My Ilk" below and download it here.

Fat Dog

London's Fat Dog was far and away my favorite group i saw during SXSW last month, and the band just announced their debut album "WOOF." coming our way in September on Domino.  Pre-order it here and listen to the weird and frenetic "Running" below.

Daily Jam - Bust a Move

Somewhere in the inner recesses of my brain, there still exists a 10-year old version of myself, running freely among all the neurons and synapses, reading and drawing comics, playing Nintendo games, studying about sharks, and probably wondering why I haven’t gotten a group of kids together to play a mean game of wall-ball. He’s always there, even when I pay him no attention, palling around with the surlier teenage version of me and waiting to react at the slightest notion of nostalgia.

And he’s usually jamming to Young MC’s “Bust A Move.”

Released at the beginning of the summer in 1989, the young rapper Marvin Young had already made a name for himself, penning hits for Tone Lōc earlier that same year, but “Bust A Move” positioned the artist as the break-out performer of the year and built hype for his debut LP, Stone Cold Rhymin’, to be released that September. And it was everywhere, almost inescapable, even for 10-year old me. MTV, radio stations, and every birthday party, roller rink, or swimming pool I attended that summer (and for some time after) had it on full blast, heads bobbing, bodies moving, and preadolescent eyes wandering.

And it was awesome.

And there was nothing in it that my parents might find objectionable, and thus did not need to be hidden away with my dubbed N.W.A. and Eazy-E cassettes.

And Flea plays bass on the thing, and appears in the video wearing his stuffed animal pants.

And the follow up, “Principal’s Office,” was just as fun…though not as memorable.

And when I was a senior in high school, a friend and I petitioned to have it named as our class song (it was not chosen).

And did I mention it was awesome? It still is. Sometimes 10-year old me knows what’s up. I should listen to him more often. Anybody down for some wall-ball?

Nightcrawler

Here's some cold and propulsive darkwave from Spanish artist Nightcrawler featuring an assist from Washington DC's S Y Z Y G Y X.  Check out "Destroy Me" below and download it here.

Daily Jam - Apache

It’s one of those things that sounds like a total joke at first. Or, maybe it was honestly done, a silly, yet earnest and sincere piece or art that just seems ridiculous in hindsight, now that years have lapsed by and hearts and souls have grown jaded. Oh, maybe it falls into some kind of pit of irony, sustenance for the hordes of snark-fueled cretins.

No. Fuck that. Maybe it’s just awesome and fun, and no amount of silliness or irony or snark can ever take that away. A staple at weddings, anniversary parties, and bar mitzvahs alike; a funky, groove-laden, dance-until-dawn jam for the ages, sampled by umpteen artists and deejays over the last five decades…ladies and gentlemen, I give you “Apache” by The Incredible Bongo Band.

Birthed as a studio project of Michael Viner in 1972, The Incredible Bongo Band featured an array of musicians and studio players crafting bongo-centric covers of a number of popular songs, culminating in the 1973 release of Bongo Rock, a novelty record of sorts that could have slipped away into obscurity if not for the sampling salvation provided by a slew of original rap and hip-hop progenitors keeping it alive in our hearts and asses in their slick break beats.

Need a little fuel for your dance party? Cue up “Apache.” Need to get your body moving? Cue up “Apache.” Looking to put a little smile on your face? Cue up “Apache.” It’s a surefire, certified cure for the blues. Look it up.

Now dig on that beat.

Oliver Decrow

On this Sunday morning, let's all dig on some gloomy vibes from German artist Oliver Decrow and the darkwave sounds of new album "I'm Too Young to Die."  Check out the title track below and pre-order the LP here from Cold Transmission Music.

Daily Jam - Let the Distance Bring Us Together

Pretty much any time a super group or musical collaboration is announced, I get giddy with anticipation, wholly waiting for my socks to be rocked off, but realistically, about 99% of the time, the project’s sum does not equal its far superior parts. And that’s too bad, because that 1% that nails it is something truly akin to approaching audio nirvana. The 2002 release of Home: Volume IV, the fourth in a series of collaborative EP’s put out by Post-Parlo Records during the 00’s, pairs Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst with Spoon’s Britt Daniel, and while that record never reaches the sublime as a whole, the EP’s closer, the Daniel-penned “Let the Distance Bring Us Together,” gets really damn close.

Recorded when both artists were still somewhat unknowns, and sounding like something of a Spoon castoff, a B-side that just didn’t quite make the cut, “Let the Distance Bring Us Together” is a stripped down and lo-fi pop nugget that feels like an intimate home recording made in an apartment living room by a group of friends. It begs for you to nod your head, to tap your foot, to clap along.

And I do.  Listen below.

Myriam Gendron

Montreal singer/songwriter Myriam Gendron is set to release her new album "Mayday" next month.  Check out the absolutely haunting folk track "Terres Brulees," or "Scorched Lands" in English below and pre-order the record here from the artist in Canada or from one of her American distributors, Thrill Jockey and Feeding Tube Records respectively.

Orcas Cover The Church

It's been a decade since we last heard from Orcas, the duo of Rafael Anton Irisarri and Benoit Pioulard, but they're back with a new single, a cover of the The Church's classic "Under the Milky Way."  Somehow it's even dreamier than before.  Check it out below and download it here from Morr Music.

Daily Jam - Un Nouveau Soleil

Music is powerful. It soundtracks my life. I assume it often soundtracks yours as well. From every day background noise to gentle, sensory tacks for our fondest or darkest memories, the songs we listen to can paint pictures in our heads, a nostalgic scrapbook in the inner recesses of our brains. But every so often, I hear a song that creates just as vivid an image or sequence of events in my mind that also happens to be completely fabricated. These aren’t false memories or anything, but more like daydreams, some sad or happy, or like visual themes come to life via melody. I tend to get a picture in my head that then informs the way I hear the music, adding all kinds of layers to the artist’s original intentions or design that are really meaningful only to me.

And in a way it becomes my own.

Music sure is wonderful that way.

French Synth pop artist M83 has always made dramatic, cinematic music, even long before Anthony Gonzalez scored an actual film, as on 2013’s You and The Night. But it’s that film’s and soundtrack’s closing number, the beautiful and soaring “Un Nouveau Soleil,” that cements itself into my psyche with the inner visuals I’ve attributed to it. I see a gathering of old friends. I see a grand church or cathedral. I see a hazy light and somber faces as they lay one of their own to rest. I also see reconnections. I see reflections. I see tears and smiles and loving embraces. And then ascension.

If you are familiar with You and The Night at all, then you realize that my mental association is far, far off from what the film actually depicts. But these moving images come into play every time I listen to the song, and while it might make it difficult to hear it in any other context outside of the one I’ve created for it, it certainly makes the song deeply personal to me.

As it should be.

MVTANT

San Antonio darkwave industrial band MVTANT is back next month with new album "Electronic Body Horror."  Dig on the darkened vibes of "Vorphobes" below and pre-order the LP here from DREAM.

Sam Morton Remixed

Singer and actress Sam Morton already released one of my favorite songs of the year in February with the beautiful and melancholy "Cry Without End," and today, she dropped a remix.  Check out "Cry Without End (Equiknoxx Remix, part 1)" below and download it here from XL Recordings.

SUSS

New York ambient country trio SUSS have been making music together for a number of years now, and each new release just cements them as absolute masters of their craft.  Americana soundscapes for everyone!  Check out new song "Flight" below and pre-order the band's upcoming new album "Birds & Beasts" here from Northers Spy Records.

Winter

Here's a dreamy and aloof new track from LA artist Winter.  "Sallow" kind of sounds like audio gently falling to earth to like the snow.  Check it out below and download it here from the artist.

The Folk Implosion

I love that all these years later, albeit after a years long hiatus, The Folk Implosion is still kicking it in the year of our lord 2024.  New album "Walk Thru Me" is out in June on Joyful Noise Recordings.  Pre-order it here and listen to "Moonlit Kind" below.

Baby Rose & BADBADNOTGOOD

Last year, i caught Atlanta artist Baby Rose at SXSW, and she's got the kind of pipes that can silence a room.  And now, she's teamed up with the excellent Toronto jazz/soul fusion group BADBADNOTGOOD for new EP "Slow Burn."  The collaboration is a groovy, dusty, soulful affair, and i hope to get even more music from them in the future.  Check out "Weekness" below and get the record here from Secretly Canadian.

Friday Horror Trailer - Venom

Daily Jam - A Place We Like

This column was originally published in 2017, and it's kinda wild to re-read these things because of how much things have changed (both good and bad) in just seven years.

As the divide in this country broadens and expands by the minute, I try to take the slightest bit of solace in the fact that at least as far as pop music is concerned, the divisions that seemed so prevalent and moored into our general psyches when I was a teenager have blurred and begun to dissipate. The Millennial audience and younger, as maligned as they are by both the cranky old farts like myself (Gen-X) and the even crankier older farts ahead of me (Baby Boomers), tend to view music as music and pop as pop. Liking a Top 40 artist and some underground innovator in the same breath has become the norm. It’s all apples and apples now, artists drawing from any and every conceivable inspiration to create…pop music. Indie rock bands are just as likely to experiment with bubblegummy pop sounds as post punk bands are to dabble in hip-hop. It’s kind of amazing. Strange and interesting and amazing. And while it’s been a little difficult at times to realign myself into this way of thinking (I will never understand the allure of Drake), it’s been rewarding, and certainly freeing, a dropping of all pretenses and judgement that would have been unheard of for a music snob like me 15 or 20 years ago. It’s like I’m 8 years old again.

And I dig it.

Sweet and bouncy pop sounds that I may have turned my nose up at over a decade ago now work their way into my steady listening habits, probably none so much as the one-off 2010 collaboration between synthy rock acts Hooray for Earth and Twin Shadow, and their absolutely infectious “A Place We Like.” It’s not that I would necessarily have disliked the song when I was younger, but rather, I would have been far more secretive in my affinity for it. And that’s just ridiculous because from the opening electric piano riff, the instantly clap-inducing beat, and the soaring little bits of synthesizer, I fall hard for this song every single time I hear it. It’s 80’s-indebted, singsongy, and bobbing, something that my body, heart, and soul gravitate towards. I could listen to this song until the end of time.

I’m sure that someday you’ll catch me energetically singing it in my car.

Listen below, our Daily Jam.

Honey Radar

You got a minute to listen to a new song?  And i mean a literal minute.  Well, here's some new lo-fi fuzz from the now Philadelphia based Honey Radar.  Dig on the Guided By Voices vibe of "Combat Paper" below and pre-order the band's upcoming new album "Ribbon Factory" here.

Comfort Cure

Here's some icy dancefloor synth pop from Detroit artist Comfort Cure for the black nail polish set.  Dig on "I'm the Drug" below and get the single here from DKA Records.

Daily Jam - Obsession

I mentioned picking songs for a wedding reception a couple of days ago on this column, and I’m coming back to that concept again today. Before my wife and I were married, there was much discussion as to what song would play during our first dance, with both of us pitching ideas back and forth to see what might stick. Serious contenders included Stevie Wonder’s “I Believe (When I Fall in Love it Will Be Forever)” and Blur’s “To the End,” but ultimately we settled on a classic slow dance with The Flamingos’ “I Only Have Eyes For You.” I think we chose well.

But while we were suggesting and listening to different possibilities, we came across several songs, some having been used in weddings we had attended in the past, that came off sounding a tad…amiss. That is to say, sure The Sundays’ take on The Rolling Stones’ classic “Wild Horses” (the cover now a classic in its own right) is a wonderful and beautiful song, and sure it can evoke feelings of love and such, but at the end of the day, it’s just kind of…stalky. In fact, it’s kind of amazing how many audio laments of unrequited love can feel a little creepy in the right context. I’m pretty sure every song The Police ever recorded was about stalking someone to some extent.

Now none of these songs ever blatantly comes out and screams restraining order, as they’re generally cloaked in metaphor and imagery, so it’s pretty refreshing when one comes along that wears its stalker card right on its proverbial sleeve. And so we have synth pop band Animotion’s wonderfully hooky and endearing 1984 hit “Obsession.” The song, a cover originally penned and recorded by Holly Knight and Michael Des Barres a year earlier, is all propulsive beats, sweeping and jabbing synths, and lust, lust, lust. There are no hidden layers or allegories, our protagonists simply wanting to know what they have to do in order have sex with their obsession. And goddamn it’s fun and danceable.

Maybe we should have played it at our wedding.

Listen below, our Daily Jam.

LOMA

And now for some soothing, dreamy, melancholy folk from Dripping Springs, Texas and LOMA.  The project of Emily Cross (Cross Record), Dan Duszynski, and Jonathan Meiburg (Shearwater), the trio craft wonderfully ambient-tinged folk rock that hits all those sweet spots right in the center of the heart.  Check out new tune "How It Starts" below and pre-order the upcoming "How Will I Live without a Body?" LP here from Sub Pop.

Daily Jam - Sing

In honor of the Blur at Coachella discourse currently going on over on social media, here's a column about a Blur song i wrote seven years ago.

I love, love, love a good soundtrack, though that means something completely different now than it did when I was a teenager. My typical soundtrack of choice now is a good film score, old or new, touching on a number of different genres from classical to synth to ambient to surf rock to psychedelia and so on. Classics from Morricone or Carpenter file right in with the more obscure bonkers stuff from old Italian composers, 80’s synth nerds, and younger upstarts alike. But this vinyl film score fetishism is still a relatively recent development on my part, an effect of the increasingly amazing output of record labels like Mondo, Death Waltz, Waxwork, and the like. As a dumb teenager, I was far more into soundtrack collections of pop songs featured in the films. Things like the goth-tinged alt-rock explosion of The Crow, the too-cool-for-school underground lo-fi jams from Kids, the polished and glittered glam and drama of Romeo and Juliet, or the schizophrenic sonic kaleidoscope of Natural Born Killers were all go-to albums for me, some working as vehicles for artists or labels, and others as pieces of collage art in their own rights. But the apex of this soundtrack love is the amazing and essential music from Trainspotting, a film and album that checked in at just the right time, capitalizing on the cultural zeitgeist that was Britpop and turning a young kid in the arid desert of west Texas into an avid fan.

Featuring an array of music from 90’s Britpop bands, electronic artists, and classics from Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, and more, I could easily listen to the record all day everyday. Honestly, I probably should just do that later tonight, but for now, let’s focus on a kind of obscure, but absolutely transcendent track from Britpop stalwarts Blur. Originally recorded for the band’s debut album Leisure, “Sing” somewhat surprisingly ended up missing the cut, though it has surfaced on later re-pressings and expanded anniversary editions of the record. Beautiful and dreamlike, the song nods along, a delirious mix of piano, rhythmic drums, reverb, and Damon Albarn’s floating vocals. It’s kind of shoegazey, kind of dream-poppy, and totally hypnotic. Cynically, of course a song like “Sing” is going to soundtrack a film about heroin abusers, but it’s just too lush and gorgeous to fall into that attitude. And it’s easily one of the top ten things the band ever produced. I just want to close my eyes and let my body float away.

Sing to me.

Cold Cave

LA darkwave duo Cold Cave just dropped new tune "Shadow Dance."  Shake your black hearts to it below and download it here from Heartworm Press.

Daily Jam - Rocks

Years ago when my wife and I were married, we met with the guy whom we had hired to be our wedding deejay to discuss the timing of some songs and dances, the songs to be used during the different ceremonial dances, the songs to avoid like the plague and to not play under any circumstances (“We Are Family”), and some songs that we absolutely wanted played. My list included “Apache” by The Incredible Bongo Band, “I Believe (When I Fall in Love It Will Be Forever)” by Stevie Wonder, and the indispensable “Rocks” by long-running UK band Primal Scream.

Although the record from whence “Rocks” is derived, the blued-infused, Stones-indebted 1994 album Give Out but Don’t Give Up, with its cropped William Eggleston photo album cover, is a mixed bag of homages and influences, that first single is a party starter for the ages. The beat and guitar riff are full of classic rock swagger, sex oozing from the microphone until the horn section flares up like something out of a Sly Stone daydream, commanding the hips to shake and the feet to move.

Who wouldn’t want this song played at their wedding reception?

Primal Scream are still kicking around, even releasing a couple of instant classic records since “Rocks” (read: 1997’s Vanishing Point and 2000’s EXTRMNTR), but I always come back to my personal introduction to the band. And these days my sons are dancing to it too.