New music from U2, Mutemath, Sugar, Howling Bells, Golgo Bordello, Highdrive, Shale, Roberto Quiroga mc, Scary Pockets, an unexpected remake from Beck and much more. Enjoy!
Sorry that I forgot to post this. I've had quite the week in my personal life. So as the meme goes, "This is Fine".
Yes, there are a surprising number of songs in French this week. I was turned onto a playlist called "Montreal Chill" and there's tons of good stuff on it. Also new jazz stylings from Flea, Momoko Gill, and music from Melissa Etheridge, Annahstasia, PONY, Broke Royals, Alien Boy and much more. Enjoy!
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Yes, the "Montreal Chill" playlist led me to a
number of interesting bands. I am always open to finding new music. There is a
track in Norwegian toward the end of this week's selections.
I am so looking forward to Flea's solo album. Each track out
so far has surpassed the previous, and his version of Frank Ocean's
"Thinkin Bout You" is in my opinion better than
the original.
I had never heard of jazz multi-instrumentalist Momoko Gill
before this past week, and what a week of exploring I have done. If you want
some great grooves and some social justice, I recommend her highly.
Alien Boy was another new find for me. Some jangly pop that
comes out like some of the lesser-known bands from the 1980's like Material
Issue.
Although I only added one song from her album, I must
recommend to you "To Whom It May Concern" by Jill Scott. It's nice to
hear some real old school R&B, which appears to be making a comeback. See
also the album "Expansions" from Tall Black Guy and Zo! and the
forthcoming live album from Annahstasia.
Two female icons of the business, each quite different from
the other, dropped new music this past week, which is how we wind up with
Melissa Etheridge and Kim Gordon on the same playlist.
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Not much to say today, save that the Epstein files are so
much worse than anything we've yet heard. It's been a long weekend and I'd
rather spend it with my wife than culling political stories.
But I'm looking forward to my subpoena as I am very much
ANTI-ICE on social media. Come and get me ya fucks.
But until then, because I love you, here's the video that
was commissioned for the amazing track Flea gives us this week:
New music this week from Bellvie, Cory Wong, The Linda Lindas, Incredible new discovery The Molotovs, Big Big Train finally releases their concept album "Woodcut", Lande Hekt, Steph Strings, Ratboy, an epic from Crown Lands, IST IST, I'm With Her, Stanley Simmons and much more. Enjoy!
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Let's start with this: Stanley Simmons? The children of Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons of KISS having their own band is one thing, but where the hell did those amazing vocal harmonies come from? Do not go in expecting it to sound anything like their fathers - they blaze their own path and if this first single is any indication we should expect some pretty amazing stuff to come.
I only discovered Bellvie this past week and I must share them with you. So far they've only released a few singles but they're all in the same vein as this week's opener and I think you'll like them.
I have to give a shoutout to You Tube "Behsist" Danny Sapko for turning me on to The Molotovs, who dropped a new album this past week and I added 4 songs to the playlist. It's as if The Wonder Stuff and The Jam had a baby, and left it to be raised by The Ramones. I could have added every song from the album "Wasted on Youth" is one of the most consistent and rocking debut albums from that scene to come along in decades.
As they've hinted for months, Big Big Train's new album "Woodcut" is a concept album, and as such it's hard to pick out single songs to play because they go back and reference themselves again and again throughout the album. But if you're into a good story concept and a fan of progressive rock, Big Big Train is one of the best in the business.
Steph Strings is a singer/songwriter from Melbourne who is a mix of blues, progressive, Celtic and folky fingerstyle guitar playing whose latest "Feel Alive" is a step up for her. If this is your bag you should check her music out.
Of course I added the Linda Lindas cover of "California Sun". They're a Southern California band and they've grown so much in the past few years since we first added "Racist, Sexist Boy" to the playlist FIVE YEARS AGO!!!!!
I keep hoping for a new album from Crown Lands, and they have once again defied expectations by releasing an 18 minute "single" called Apocalypse. Like everything else they've done, it's as if Rush had come back, but with a nod to their Native roots and were only two people. The fact that they can play what they do live with no additional musicians or pre-recorded material is downright astonishing.
You may have seen I'm With Her perform their version of Paul Simon's "Obvious Child" on Colbert's show (or elsewhere) and the arrangement is fantastic and unique and I am grateful that they released it as a single. I have of course added it to the playlist.
Cory Wong's new album is finally out and there are some barn burners in there beyond the singles previously released. Still, nothing beats "Lisa Never Wanted To Be Famous", which is included in this collection and which I added to the playlist last week.
Lande Hekt is another up and coming artist that I had a hard time only picking 2 songs from to add to the list. Her vocal stylings come from the likes of Lush or The Sundays (a favorite of mine from back in the day) but her songwriting has veered a bit into jangle pop and she sounds more confident than she did on her debut a couple of years back.
Finally, Joe Jackson and Bruce Hornsby drop new singles the same week that sounds like the same stylings as they had in their peak days? I am there for that!
Finally, there is an Irving Berlin song on this week's list. "When that Man is Dead and Gone" was written as a commentary on Adolf Hitler, and no we can use it for the man who kept a copy of one of his books on his nightstand. I present to you the new version from Lizzy and the Triggermen.
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JD Vance got booed at the Olympics. At impressive decibels too. There ain't no sugarcoating of it, he is not well-liked anywhere. And quite frankly the eye-liner wears off onto the rest of us.
In all honesty, I'm actually willing to believe that the DOJ memo that addresses Epstein's death by suicide that is dated the day before he died as a simple clerical error. We've all done it, put the wrong date down on something and sent it out before fixing it. But the DOJ does need to explain it, without burying it in the same lies they've been burying everything else they say about the contents of the release.
Frankly, I'm more concerned about all the Tech Bros - and I do mean all - having dinner with Epstein after he was released from prison the first time he was convicted of soliciting child rape. Something that to a person they've all denied.
For the record, I'm not in The Epstein Files. I never even heard of the guy until the mid-2010's. The nice thing about being on the West Coast and nowhere close to rich.
On the flip side though, four of the 5 people in the video I've attached at the bottom of this week's post are. Only Amber Ruffin is left out.
Uncle Sec-Def Hogsbreath says that Hunter Hess should be thrown off the Olympic team. So have others, including the leader of the Crome Administration. Hess' actual words? “It brings up mixed emotions to represent the U.S. right now. there’s obviously a lot going on that I’m not the biggest fan of and I think a lot of people aren’t. Just because I’m wearing the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the US.”
That's about as American as it gets, I think.
So In understand there was a big sportsball game yesterday, between two teams I care nothing about. Still, an excuse to make Monkey Bread and Pigs In Blankets will be taken. Who won?
Speaking of that Sunday, the place I do my grocery shopping has a Home Depot next door. I was really concerned that ICE would be parked out there while I was picking up last minute ingredients as they did threaten to be here specifically on this day. Instead there were a number of police "shops" parked at various points instead. I guess ICE chickened out.
Democracy might die in darkness, but the Washington Post dies up Jeff Bezo's ass.
Anyone else still having trouble calling the former MSNBC by it's new moniker? Anyone else remember the days when the "MS" part of that name stood for "Microsoft"? Not only is "ms.now" more than a little bit clunky, it's also kind of tied to for former head of one of the early Tech Bro companies that is also ensnared in the Epstein files. They need a new name.
By the way, there is only one Trans person in the Epstein files - a woman who was mocked by a lot of people who should now be aware that Epstein paid her a healthy settlement. Justice? No. Vindication? Fuck yes.
Did I watch the game? No. I did turn in to see Coco Jones sing "Life Every Voice". Like many a singer who came through the Disney Factory, she can really sing. Green Day was kinda tame, and kinda sped-up. For the record, the lyric that NBC censored on Green Day was "Mindfuck" and not "MAGA". "Mindfuck" is the original lyric. They don't say "MAGA" every time they perform the song.
I paid zero attention to the national anthem. It is a terrible piece of music. That's a musical judgment and not a statement on the content, although they do always cut out the part about slaves, don't they. From a musician's point of view, it's just a terrible song.
Also for the record, although I don't speak any Spanish, I'm pretty sure that there was a pointed attack at how slow the power has been restored in Puerto Rico during the Bad Bunny set.
With a little luck by the time you read this the Monks who have been walking across the country for the past few months will have finished their walk, arriving in Washington D.C. having started in Texas.
You need something to compare the fact that the head of the Crime Administration is mentioned in the Epstein files over 38,000 times? In the entire saga Harry Potter's name, in any form, shows up 1,094 times.
Apparently Meta/Facebook sells dorky sports sunglasses like Google Glass now? Claude is trying to replace ChatGPT? And TurboTax is telling me that my dog is going to die? I don't have a dog!
I am so into the fact that at the Super Bowl the following lyrics were sung, just in Spanish:
My dick is on the run and I want that you hide it for me Grab it like a bong She popped a molly 'cause it gets her horny She fucks in the Audis, not in the Hondas, ey (Tra) If I fuck you don't call me (Tra) Cause this is not so that you love me, ey (Tra) If your boyfriend doesn't suck your ass For that don't blow him
Or so I have been told. Again, I don't speak any Spanish. For all I know he just sang "Sir, this is a Wendy's " for 15 minutes. I did like the "all Americas" bit he did though.
By the way, Bad Bunny, Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin - all of whom performed in the show - are not in the Epstein Files.
And of course Ms. Maxwell took the 5th before Congress. Did anyone really expect otherwise? Or her follow-up condition that she would spill all only if her sentance was commuted?
The ad run by survivors of the whole Epstein empire was not psyops, you fucking morons.
And because I love you, Have I Got News For You US Version has gotten even better:
New music from Bruce Springsteen, Billy Bragg, Peter Gabriel, Cory Wong and Theo Katzman, CLEWS, Whitelands, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Kula Shaker, The Korgis, James McCartney and so much more. Enjoy!
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At the bottom of this post I'm going to put two videos, both of them behind the scenes looks at the Peter Gabriel track and the Cory Wong/Theo Katzman track. I find the stories of how these songs came together fascinating.
Gotta give it to both Bruce and Billy for potting out protest songs about the Nazi attempted takeover of Minneapolis by our own government on the SAME DAY. The fact that they're both great songs is just a bonus.
I need to introduce you to a London band called Whitelands. They're called shoegaze in their homeland but to me they sound closer to jangle pop like Lush was like in the 1990's. They just released their fourth album "Sunlight Echoes" and it's their best work yet and very much worth your time. I've added three songs from this album to the playlist this week and it hard to stick with just three.
I have been a fan of Toad the Wet Sprocket going all the way back to the days when they were a local band in Santa Barbara selling tapes at their shows. There was no chance I'd pass on their new acoustic album, and it's as solid as anything they ever do. Included in this collection is a new version of "Little Heaven", which comes from the soundtrack to the movie for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as well as many songs you might already know. It's worth it.
If you want some quality blues, you need to take a look at the new album by Eric Bibb called "One Mississippi". It's a solid effort reminiscent of the greats and the song I've added to the playlist this week is the least blues-sounding track on it. I have added other tracks from when he was just releasing singles leading up to the new release.
And I have to introduce you to yet another band from Australia made up of sisters called CLEWS (remember the "S" at the end - trust me). Originally from Mollymook and now based in Sydney, Lily and Grace Richardson have very strong harmonies, great songwriting and remind me of how good a ballad can be when put together properly. Their album "What's Not To Love" may be their strongest yet and it's about time they broke out of Australia and into the rest of the world.
There is a 2024 release in this week's playlist. The band is called Violet Outburst and so far this is their only wide-scale release. I'm pretty sure you haven't heard of them - hell, I hadn't until last week. They kind of remind myself of an acoustic-leaning version of the Alarm. It's good stuff.
One final album I want to give a shoutout to is the new album from DZ Deathrays called "Easing Out of Control". This is a straight-ahead rock and roll album and I've been adding singles going back into last year. Now that the full album is out I recommend you give it a listen.
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If you teargas kids you're not the good guy. But Pizza Luce of Minneapolis appears to be among the good guys.
One thing that is clear from last Friday's infodump of Epstein Files: Mr. Epstein helped fund 4chan and /pol, which is where both the Tea Party and MAGA and QAnon were born, and that all of those people were heavily involved in his child trafficking operation. It's also spelled our pretty clearly that the head of the Crime Administration finger-fucked children.
Sickening beyond belief. Guess what suckers? There was/is a wide-spread child trafficking/child porn ring, and they're made up of the very people who told you other people were doing it.
Even I didn't think it was as bad as it turns out it was.
Dear Tea Party/QAnon/MAGA: You are complicit. They made you their followers. They are your abusers. They still are. They're going to hell, and they're taking you with them.
There are two reasons they blamed everyone else. One is that it worked. The other is that they are so depraved and sick that they simply can't believe that everyone doesn't act the same way they do.
Kick them in the groin. Repeatedly. Until they stop.
On a side note, Canada wouldn't let Epstein move there. Looks like the same thing might happen to Musk as well.
If the leader of The Crime Administration covers the Kennedy Center in gold bullshit we're going to need to remodel after his remodel. The man has no taste.
The special election in Texas, with a newly-designed and gerrymandered district, swung 23 points to the left, electing the Democrat. More of this, please. Also, didn't the man in the crime castle enthusiastically endorse the Republican one day before pushing him into his personal memory hole?
I usually don't watch the Grammys at they tend to be about record sales and not actual quality of work, although they have surprised me a few times (hello Jon Batiste!) but I have to give a hearty congratulations to Lola Young. I told you all 3 years ago she was going to be big and it's nice to be right about this sort of thing for once. But it looks like Trevor Noah is gonna get sued for a not-so-hot Epstein joke.
Measles appears to have migrated south into Texas. Vaccinate your kids, dumbasses!
In case you missed it, Former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino has returned to podcasting/streaming, where he can be ignored by a much larger audience. He did however manage to get the head of the Crime Administration on the phone, who has now publicly declared that all elections should be nationalized. Maybe there are parts of the Constitution that he hasn't tried to wipe his ass with, but at this point I don't know what they are.
Is it just me, or do others think "Julia Louis Dreyfuss" for a few seconds when Tulsi Gabbard shows up on our screens? I didn't even watch the show and I miss Veep.
A shocking number of NFL players seem unaware that Bad Bunny is an American, based on reporting from The New York Times. Apparently the NYT is also unaware of this, based on the same reporting.
According to a Reddit thread (I'll take your word for it - I have no intention of utilizing that site) many of the newer ICE employees are upset because they haven't been paid and haven't received health insurance. No wonder they're so grouchy. Maybe they should put that signing bonus towards their health insurance - oh wait, did that come out of their base pay? The Crime Administration has a habit of doing that already.
Senior Citizens in Boca Raton, Florida, are offering to hide the Haitians who are their health care givers ala Anne Frank. Many of them are Holocaust survivors and understand the stakes. Pity that there are 350,000 Haitians who have lost their protected status.
I could have done without knowing what the Alfalfa Club Dinner is.
And to the cowardly fucks who sent a bomb threat to the grade school Liam Conejo Ramos attends: Good guys don't send bomb threats to schools.
Speaking of Liam Ramos, have you read the judge's order to release him? It contains phrases such as "Apparent also is the government's ignorance of an American historical document called the
Declaration of Independence" and "Civics lesson to the government" and "With a judicial finger in the constitutional dike" and "Jesus Wept".
Ammon Bundy, who led TWO different armed standoffs with the US Government during the Obama Years, has come out against the tactics of ICE.
Director Brett Ratner's "Melania" is now officially the worst movie ever made. Whatever happened to Ratner to put him all the way out here we probably will never know - He did a bunch of music videos, the remake of Red Dragon, a couple of lesser "X-Men" movies and the Rush Hour series but now he's just another name in the Epstein Files. Maybe someone will make a documentary about it.
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And because I love you here are two videos, both behind the scenes. First, Cory Wong and Theo Katzman (btw, Cory is from Minneapolis):
