Radio Free California Episode 2201. Also, Goodbye to 2021. A terrible year for everyone, but a pretty good one for me.

And here it is, my first playlist for 2022. Mostly new releases, but I had to throw in a couple of songs by The Mute Goods, who I only discovered a couple of days ago and wish I had discovered sooner. It features Nick Beggs, who was the bassist for Kajagoogoo and plays one hell of a mean bass and Chapman Stick. New music from Hill Hunter, Ainsley Costello, Monalist Twins, Diet Cig, Johnny Marr and much more. Enjoy!

This week's artists, by twitter handle unless otherwise marked:

@iamhillhunter
Mister Green (https://open.spotify.com/artist/2aNES9DaZYm5tJZVxuxttg) with @tmorello
@ainsleymusic07
@scarypockets featuring loejeone (Facebook)
cranelikethebirdmusic (Instagram) with @rufuswainwright
@nmallstars with @LamarWilliamsJr and Sharisse Norman
@themutegods (featuring Alex Lifeson of @rushtheband)
@dietcig
@Johnny_Marr
@BestCoast
@TWEN_band
@fontainesdublin
@corywong (although if you watch the video, it's basically @vulfpeck)

Looking forward to great music in 2022!

Looking back at 2021

 January 2021:

The Republican Party, under the leadership of the former motherfucker, attempted to overthrow the democratically elected government of the United Stated. Traitors, each and every single one of them, and they haven't been punished. That's pretty much the end, isn't it? It's been coming for a while, but this was the first real overt attempt.

I'm not sure this country recovers.

But 15 days later I released my first single of 2021:

The full story of that single can be found here. 

Also, this was a Big Fucking Deal.

February 2021:

There was a Super Bowl, and the NFL was more hardassed about COVID-19 than the CDC. This is no longer true but the disease is spreading at a more rapid rate NOW then it was then. The fucking priorities of this country.

I also released a single of a long archived track, and had a video commissioned that far exceeded my expectations:

At this point I planned out a schedule of releases of previously unreleased material (I had plenty) plus a couple of new tracks.

Also, Fuck Tom Brady, Megachurches and their COVID-19 spreading filth. And alas, we also said goodbye to Daft Punk.

March 2021:

I created my first crack at How to Watch Star Wars, which I have updated a couple of times since. 

I released another single:

I got vaccinated. You should too. The idea that people would side with the disease that's going to kill more than a million Americans is just fucking insane. 

I released a second single, an instrumental new-age classical thing that was once part of a pop-up art installation.

And at the end of the month I released a third single. There are two videos. You're welcome to go find the other one.

April 2021:

Then something unexpected happened.....

I hadn't planned on releasing this next song until May, but a radio station played the song and all of a sudden I was getting requests left and right. I had a video done up and once again the talented people on fivver came through and delivered a fantastic one. I had the release date pushed up to the 2nd of April and suddenly I had thousands of listeners. I got radio play, video play, followers on twitter, notices on multiple social media platforms - most of which I don't even participate in.

It was suddenly, and unexpectedly, the greatest success I had in music in over a decade and it screwed up my release schedule something awful.

No complaints though. The success of He Takes A Knee would eventually lead to this:

I'll be honest, I didn't pay much attention to the rest of the world. I simply didn't have time. I also had another single already planned for April, which allowed me to tell my Kevin Gilbert story.

And by this point I was getting pretty sick of all of these goddamned motherfuckers who seem to insist that we don't get over COVID, and released this:

And at the end of the month I finally released the single I had originally planned for the first week of April before He Takes a Knee exploded:

May 2021:

The #Fraudit began in Arizona. By the time it was over millions of dollars had been spent to determine that Joe Biden still won the state. But not before millions of people were convinced by a bunch of fucking liars that elections can't be trusted. 

Elections can be trusted. They're just fucking lying. They put a knife into the back of our country and started twisting it.

We also learned that MTG has such a hard-on for AOC.

I released a Piano Sonata mid-month, which led to a whole series of videos I commissioned by accident in the most dufus-like comedy of errors ever. This is one of the ones that came out right:

But 1, 2, 3, 4 of them came out differently than I had expected. I still like them though.

At the end of the month I re-released an old single of mine, recorded when I was still Jim Christopher, and put out a fun little lyric video that I enjoy.

June 2021:

I had to be hospitalized for an infection - NOT COVID. The experience was harrowing, especially the part about having to wait for someone to die before I could get a bed.

A DJ from Manchester England took my song "He Takes a Knee" and built an entire radio show around it's themes after a Football player for Manchester United took a knee publicly before a game. I discovered the Dance/Music troop "World Order" from Japan and became hooked on their goofy and fun videos.

And I took an old song of mine and remixed it because the political sentiment hasn't changed after all these years. I had a video made:

July 2021:

The state of Texas began it's ever rapidly increasing revocation of the civil rights of its citizens by telling the people who write textbooks that they can't call the KKK "bad". Fuck Texas.

I released two EPs in July. The first was a bunch of demos and an old track of mine that I was finally able to release unedited after a lengthy embargo from Bob Dylan was finally lifted.

The 2nd EP was a small batch of covers, which I had initially recorded for my 2004 album "The Long Goodbye" but cut when digital distribution became the man way people got their music, because the rights for such things were pretty complicated in those days. It's pretty simple now. My remake of Andrew Gold's "Lonely Boy" got a bit of traction, and that was gratifying.

August 2021:

I spent a lot of August railing against the attempted recall of Governor Gavin Newsom of California. I also came to realize that I have PTSD from my hospital stay. But mostly this was a happy month for me as I was nominated for 4 awards from the Independent Music Awards - my first nominations in 12 years. I didn't release any new material but I did a lot of promotions and found myself collaborating with a couple of artists I had met during the year.

More on that in September.

September 2021:

When I was young I had had a goal of visiting all 50 states at some point. I no longer want to do that. We kept our Governor, by almost exactly the same margin as we elected him by. 

I won one of those 4 awards:

The song also hit #1 on the Independent Music Chart - my second #1 single of my career.

Two songs I sang on, just backing vocals, were released. This one is now nominated for a grammy:

And on this one I only sang 4 notes but it was a lot of fun to do:

And to celebrate my win I released the one cover I had held back, because it's in Japanese and becaue it was the theme of an anime the rights are more complicated. But I felt emboldened, and it's gained me a small following from that country. There are two versions of this video:

October 2021:

Colin Powell died and I shared the story of how I nearly came to work for him.Boy would my life had been different.

I spent October working on collaborations with other artists that you haven't seen yet. And you may never see them - I have no idea. That's part of the whole "studio musician" gig and job description. You do the work but it's the main artist who decides what to do with it. I also booked a couple of future collaborations for 2022 and I have one more that I'm still working on.

I'm not going to name the artists in question. They're friends and if you follow me on twitter the odds are you follow them too. While I love what I did for them, I'm not going to out them to try and get my stuff released. That's kind of a bitchy thing to do, don't you think? Do I want them out there? Sure. But it's not my call and it shouldn't be my call. I've done this for a very long time now, and there's work I've done going back to the 1980's that you don't know I did.

That's the gig.

November 2021:

We finally got infrastructure week. We didn't get enough of it because of a West Virginia coal Baron, but we still got a lot. We got ravaged by the Delta Varians, and Omicron was just about to start. A lot of anti-vaxxers died, but there are still a lot of them out there.

I also released my final single for the year, a remix of an older track that I had always wanted to be a single and it never quite happened. It performed as well as I could have hoped - my 2nd most successful single of the year. I also got a great video for it.

December 2021:

We finally started getting some clarity as to how January 6th, 2021 happened, and I put out there my own opinion that the Republicans wanted a fight but didn't know how to react when it turned out that the group they wanted to have a fight with turned out to not even exist.

I updated my "I hate Christmas Music" playlist.

And after seeing a post joking about it, I remember that I had tried to record a series of "silent" tracks back in the 1990's. I released it on a lark and while it's certainly never going to tear up the charts it's had a few listeners - mostly people curious to see if there's something hidden in the 66 minutes I recorded.

There's not.

The year ended with a final fuck you to the American Psyche, with the death of Betty White. We've lot a lot of great talent this year, from the drummer for The Moody Blues to the greatest jazz arranger I've ever personally worked with to the original vocalist and violinist for Kansas and so many more, but fuck you 2021.

January 2022:

That single I released in November got picked up by the same radio network that made "He Takes a Knee" such a big hit. I wouldn't have even mentioned it but they premiered it on New Year's day, which was still December 31st where I live.

I discovered a TON of great new music in 2021, great new artists, and have even made friends with a few. Lots of people follow me as the musician, but if you also follow me as the playlist creator, you can get access to the same stuff I've been grooving to for the past couple of years, and discover a TON of artists you never knew.

Great music is out there and it isn't all that hard to find, but you have to TRY to find it. Radio isn't going to bring it to you. But I do.

Let's see if we can't make 2022 the year we finally get past all the bullshit we've just been through.

Oh, and if you're not yet vaccinated, fucking get vaccinated.

Radio Free California Episode 2152, plus a few cheap shots.

 

For the last RFC for 2021 we have little from signed artists aside from Midnight Oil and a few more, so I'm giving you lots of indie music this week, including Ms. Kash, Evan Roth, Mike Santos, Chasing Paragon, and finishing out the year with a dance party. Enjoy!

Here is this week's list of artists, identified by twitter handle unless otherwise marked:

@therealgreydaze
@sleafordmods
@midnightoilband
@alyandaj with @thisisovercoats
@PeterHollens and @TimFoustMusic
@PearlJam
baiije (Instagram)
@charli_xcx
@_louisprince
@MsKashMusic
@JuliaJacklin and rvg____ (Instagram)
@bridgetkmusic
@corywong
@Chasing_Paragon
Grace Marie (No socials)
ntmdbydsgn (Instagram)
newmillionofficial (facebook)
mikesantos.s (Instagram)
Crasher with Saskatoon's very own Jared Buller-Komos (no socials I could find)
N A V A (No socials) with @helinjera
@evansroth
@Book0fficial
And we finish out the year with a grand funk dance party by @scarypockets with the legendary @Lyle_Workman

See you next year!

And oh yes, let's have a few cheap shots. I'm drinking Irish Cream.

This is not how you join the Blue Man Group.

This was an incredible man. Rest in Peace.

American Christians, everybody.

And again. Somebody need's to cut down on junior's coke.

Modern day Donner Pass.

Let's go Stephen. Fucking racist.

Here, have a Crookie.

A honeypot? Maybe?

And because I love you, have a 1am Funk Dance Party!

Radio Free Xmas, 2021 Edition - plus cheap shots and a treasure of Africa

 

I make no secret of the fact that I'm no real fan of Xmas music. Not that it's bad (though some of it is) but when you're not a christian it can feel like you're being carpet-bombed. So years ago I put together a list of songs I can tolerate. Some are blasphemous, some are traditional, some are funny, some are sweet. I turned it into a Spotify Playlist last year and I've updated it a bit this year. So here is Radio Free Xmas. 

Enjoy.

Cheap Shots (Egg Nog if you must. I'll be drinking Irish Cream, cold and neat):

No, you can't you fucking c@nt.

You know, when people say moronic shit like what Manchin is thinking I always wonder if they have any real concept what drugs cost. They're expensive, you stupid motherfuckers. They certainly cost more than any government program has ever given anyone.

Can someone please go and arrest today's modern Jim Jones? 

What amazes most (and makes me laugh, I must admit) is that she says "I am forever amused by people who think it's respectful to talk about right wingers like they're barely sentient imbeciles" and then follows it up with exactly why they ARE barely sentient imbeciles.

Looks like Pop-Tarts are back on the menu boys.

Someday, someone should punch this motherfucker in the throat.

Article 4, Section 4. Hmm.

Thank you for your service, Officer.

What's the Soviet... I mean Russian word for "nostalgia"?

I think there might need to be a rap song about following rabbits down holes.

Weren't you quitting?

The son of the guy god sent, everybody.

Chile's new President (Taylor's version).

Coming soon, the Ocean.

I generally stay away from reddit because holy fuck some of these people are damaged but this is required reading.

And because I love you, here is African treasure Brenda Mtambo:

Radio Free California Episode 2151

 

The week before Christmas tends to be weak for new music so this is a shorter playlist, but we still got some amazing music for you, from the amazing MZee, Barenaked Ladies, House of Seb, Pomplamoosae, Cory Wong (with the rest of Vulfpeck), Chris Webby with DMX, Scary Pockets and much more. Enjoy

Here's this week's artists, by twitter handle unless otherwise noted:

@IamMzilikazi with @BrendaMtambo
@PrettyLitch and @Soumyajit42
@corywong
@scarypockets with Therese Curatolo and @Swattykins
Darkcave (I give up trying to find him on social media)
@HouseOfSeb
@pomplamoose featuring @lawrencetheband
@barenakedladies
@ChrisWebby with the late @DMX (in what is supposedly his last recording)
@napstabeth
@MadsKymre
@LazarDavis
@JamieDupuis

Like I said, a shorter release week.

I'll publish Radio Free Xmas in a couple of days.

Cheap Shots (Monday is Rum Day):

Isn't she kinda dead already?

You're a mean one, Mr. Manch.

Um, Mr. (cough cough) scratch golfer? That's not how this all works.

A Rhodes Scholar can be a fucking moron.

I'm not eating Pop-Tarts these days.

One-eyed, one-horned flying purple racist bitch.

Went off message a little bit there didn't ya Butch?

It's about what they do, not what they say. Get fucking vaccinated.

Preserving his precious bodily fluids.

Will he cry or drink beer?

And because I love you, can you believe tis was only a few months ago?

Some thoughts about January 6th, 2021 - or, how do you break up a fight when only one side shows up?

The greatest single flaw that the Republican't Party has is that they believe their lies. They have lied about their opposition so much that they can't believe that what they're saying isn't true. They can't believe that people who oppose their philosophies don't do the same terrible things that they do. Both sides do it, right?

That has never been true. Both sides don't do it. But I want to talk about a specific example today; January 6th, 2021.

As we all know now, January 6th was a terrible day for the United States. There was a riot. The Capitol was invaded. The lives of our representative government were put in terrible danger. Several people died. Over a hundred police were injured. The existing administration bungled the response. Hell, it appears that the response was geared to something they weren't expecting!

Memos were drafted telling the Capital Police and the National Guard to support Trump Supporters. People were put into positions to make certain that things would go their way, and now thanks to the Select Committee investigating those terrible events I think I have an understanding of what was supposed to happen, versus what actually happened.

I think that the Republican side of the equation tried to start a fight. I think they wanted there to be violence in the streets between the Magahats and Antifa. They spent weeks putting it all together, riled up the crowd and sent them on their march towards what they believed would be protesters from Antifa assembled to support the count of the election and certification of Biden's win. If a riot broke out and blood was shed then The existing administration could invoke emergency powers and ultimately stop the count of electors.

And it would have worked if Antifa had shown up. They got the Magacrowd all riled up for a fight and then there was no one to fight with. Everything unfolds from there - pent up rage and mob mentality needs an outlet, and so they invaded the Capitol.

And this brings me back to my original point. Republicans have been saying for years now that Antifa is an organization designed to fight everything they believe in. This simply isn't true. Antifa is a philosophy, not an organization. Unlike the Proud Boys and the rest, Antifa isn't a group you join. You are either Antifa or you aren't.

You are either against fascism or not. It's a philosophy, not a club.

But they've been telling themselves for years that Antifa's an organization. A group to fight against. And so they expected to pit one group against another and only one showed up. The one they had got all riled up in the first place.

No wonder there was violence.

The response was designed to break up a fight. To break up a riot between protesters and counter-protesters. They had all of the responses geared up for it. Who to support, how to react, how the news would break. And when that didn't happen this rudderless and leaderless administration that was still in power had no idea how to react. So they chose not to. Tragedy ensued.

You can even see it in some of the Fox news reports when they claim that Antifa was there. Again, Antifa is a philosophy, not a club you join.

In a small way, I kind of feel sorry for the Insurrectionists on the ground. They were manipulated into it. But only in a small way. They must be held responsible for their actions.

But the people who put this all together? Riled up the crowd? Prepared for a different riot than the one they got?

Lock Them Up. Throw away the key.

And because I love you, have a slice from Wong's Cafe:

Radio Free California Episode 2150 and a few cheap shots

 

New music this week from Alicia Keys (!!!), Baije, Volker Milch, The Long Blondes, Lady Pills, and of course Cory Wong has to sneak in one more album for the year. Enjoy!

Here are this week's artists, by twitter handle unless otherwise marked:

@ladypillsmusic
@aliciakeys
floodmusic2112 (Instagram)
@scarypockets featuring @astynturr
@UlkarAhmadNasir
baiije (Instagram)
@volkermilch
@MadsKymre
@pomplamoose
@massagetheband
@Khruangbin with @leonbridges
@samfendermusic with @HolHumberstone
Flerr Wentyy, featuring eno (Instagram), @whoinvitedgrady, and majanoffiziell (Facebook/Meta)
@corywong
@BandofNOTHING
@NeilYoungNYA and Crazy Horse
@GreenDay
@paulwellerHQ
@KateJacksonLBs
@BiffyClyro
@AeonStation
@teendaze with @Cecilebelieve
Horse Show (no socials I could find - distributed by @PNKSLM)

Cheap shots (remember, Monday is Rum day!):

Kellyanne Conway wouldn't know the truth if it fucked her up the ass.

Dolly is a hero.

Um... "enlies"?

I wonder if he'll call it Mein Kampf?

Contemptible.

Given how much of a fucking terf that Rowling has turned out to be I have mixed feelings about this, but I can with no shame that there's not enough Mads Mikkelson in the preview.

Did you need a sexy picture of Elliot Gould and Grover. You did. You really did.

I don't know that Jeff Bezos got people killed while he flew his penis into space, but it's worth an investigation.

He got COVID-19, then he vanished.

TR8R!

And because I love you, here is the Lady Pills video that I ran across by accident that put her at the top of today's playlist:

Radio Free California Episode 2149

 

I took a week off because Thanksgiving week tends to be weak for new releases, so I'm making it up to you with a long playlist! Featuring Susanna Hoffs, Oghamyst, Bowie, Le 1991, Two Horn Unicorn, The Linda LIndas, The Regrettes, Proyecto Auricular and so much more. Enjoy!

This (2) week's artists, twitter handles given unless otherwise marked:

@SusannaHoffs
@Gizmodrome
@scarypockets with @itsleonemusic
@Soumyajit42 with Hano
to97music (Instagram) featuring Steve Doctor (no socials) and @dashlrow (!!!!!)
Smith/Kotzen
@Le19911
Two Horn Unicorn
@joycejonathan with @jason_mraz
@vinylwilliams
@TABIZARRO
@storiesacoustic featuring Sarah Dugas
@pomplamoose
David Bowie
@richarddawson12 and Circle
@TheKVB
@juliedoiron
@Fine_Place_
@ProAuricular
@scarypockets, this time with @CaseyBassy
@CrownLandsMusic
@tmorello with @BenHarper
@thelindalindas
@regrettesband
lukacaraway (Instagram)
@BulletzAudio
@thelillywave
@pomplamoose, this time featuring @jacarandaband and @elianabassist
@massagetheband
@samfendermusic
@tearsforfears
@p_menis
@arca1000000
@geese_band
@VOLBEAT
@beautypill

And because I love you, witness the ENTIRE recording session of Cory Wong and the Wongnotes at Paisley Park:

Radio Free California Episode 2148 and thoughts about cars, social media and mental illness

 

New music this week from The Darkness, Sting, Moule, Scary Pockets with Cody Fry, Young Knives, Adele, Deap Valley, Ovlov, and much more. Enjoy!

This week's artists, by twitter handle unless otherwise marked:

@iamhazelenglish
andrewhagarofficial (Instagram - that's right, Sammy's kid isn't on twitter)
@MOULEOFFICIAL
@scarypockets with @codyfry
@tmorello with @BarnsCourtney
wonderingwithmusic (Instagram)
@BonnieLegion with @THEREALMETRO1
Darkcave (No socials. Follow on Spotify - he's been putting out an album a week)
@ainsleymusic07
@Crimsonicband
@youngknives with @wpgonzalez
David Bowie
@bridgetkmusic
@OfficialSting
@Adele
@Convergecult with @CCHELSEAWWOLFE
@ladyhawkeforyou with @broodsmusic
@thedarkness
@hashtagovlov
@STSOfficial_1
@DeapVally
David Christian & The Pinecone Orchestra (no socials I could find - distributed by @tapete
@SoundSwansea
@naytronix

When I was 19 years old I was a sophomore at UCLA. When I was a freshman I lived on campus but I now had my own apartment a few miles away. I couldn't afford living in Westwood, the small part of Los Angeles that is the "college town" for UCLA. That said, Westwood is where we all hung out. There were clubs and movie theaters and shopping and on a weeknight it would be bustling. On a weekend they'd shut down some of the streets and only allow people on foot.

That summer, on a night I was in Westwood, a man drove his car on the sidewalk. He killed 1 and hurt another 54. He would eventually be sentenced to 106 years in prison. He was thought to be mentally ill and he was thought to hate the police. There was no political agenda or anything, he just did it. 

I didn't see it happen. I went home about an hour earlier.

What happened in Waukesha, WI this past weekend, immediately following the unjust acquittal of a teenager who had killed two and injured another, is easy to look at through a political lens. That's a mistake, but people tend to gravitate to easy. The two events do not appear to be related, but boy howdy did social media erupt about it over the weekend. I saw the suspect called "BLM Terrorist" on the kinder posts. Twitter, to my knowledge, never policed or took down any of the racist hate speech that was posted, all over the race of the suspect.

In reality is appears that the suspect has anger issues and went off the rails over a personal matter. That no excuse, but it is an explanation.

I suspect that in today's America a dangerously large number of us are mentally unstable. Over 30% of the country believes that the one thing PROVEN to be able to save their lives and end the Pandemic is actually a conspiracy to do... something.

To quote a line from a movie I saw about Jesse Owens, It's no real secret that my country is losing its mind.

I don't have a suggestion to make here. I don't know the whole story - not for what happened this weekend and not for what I missed seeing by an hour back in 1985. I'm not qualified.

But I'm sure glad than when the case from my college days that Social Media didn't yet exist.

Cheap Shots (remember, it's Monday so it's Rum Day!)

Well, bye.

Oh by the way, the pandemic is nowhere close to over.

Actually, we are better off now.

And because I love you, I introduce you to The Tim Traveler:

Radio Free California Episode 2147 plus cheap shots and insults

 

Quite the list this week, including new music from The Engagement, Sabrassi, Jethro Tull (!!!), Le 1991, Pomplamoose with Grace Kelly, NRBQ, Silk Sonic, Rod Stewart, They Might Be Giants, Gov't Mule, Walk the Moon, 10 minutes of Taylor Swift scorned (let that be a lesson to you) and much more. Enjoy!

Here are this week's artists, identified by twitter handle unless otherwise noted:

@engagementmusic
@sebrassi
@jethrotull
@Avi_Kaplan
@p_menis
@Le19911
@trixiemattel
Mr. H Beats with @mybandowen
@ombiigizi
@pomplamoose with @gracekellymusic
@codyfry
@idlesband
@courtneymelba
@silksonic
@rodstewart
@tmbg
@Damonalbarn
@makthaverskan69
@govtmuleband
@TheDodos
@hackedpicciotto
irreversibleentanglements (Instagram) - features @moormother, @lukeostewart (I hope I got that one right), @keirneuringer, @AquilesPTY and Tcheser Holmes. Check out @intlanthem for more.
@WALKTHEMOONband
@NRBQHeadquarter
@Pipblom
@taylorswift13

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Cheap Shots:

Bleed the motherfucker dry.

Hate Town, USA.

Yeah, I know he's going to be out on bail by the time you read this but for the love of our nation, throw away the fucking key. At least he should be remanded after his comments once out (without bail I might add).

Back to Beto.

Now hear me out, but, but, the judge in the Kyle Rittenhouse case just might be, and hear me out, a fucking sociopath.

Quite Restful. Monster boss tweet.

Hey, is this called "I've Got A Feeling"?

Enjoy your retirement, sir. No snark. I honestly mean it.

Fuck you too.

Don't take advice from someone obviously going to hell.

Infrastructure week. Really! Honest!

And because I love you, here is the video for the Irreversible Entanglements song on this week's stream:

Radio Free California, Episode 2146

 

We start this week with my new single, but quickly move on to new music from Swivels, Scary Pockets, Abba, Joan as Policewoman (with friends), Diana Ross (!), Aimee Mann, Foxx Bodies and so much more! Enjoy!

Here are this week's artists, by twitter handle unless otherwise marked:

@animeraider (me!)
@scarypockets with @theokatzman and @JESUNDEMUSIC
Smith/Kotzen
@vrda.music (Facebook)
@robertoquirogamc (Facebook)
@Swivelsbanda with Ari Venegas
@JOANPOLICEWOMAN and @t_allenafrobeat and @dave_okumu_
@charli_xcx with @QueensChristine and @carolineplz
@pomplamoose with @LorenBattley
@ABBA
@snailmail
@DianaRoss
@NRateliff
@aimeemann (twice! I'm a huge fan)
@ChimeSchool
@Curtis_Harding
@hanavuuu
amydouglassings (Instagram)
@PenelopeIsles
@terracemartin
@foxxbodies
@MartaDelGrandi

There's also a pretty damn good video for my own song, which you can see here:

Radio Free California Episode 2145, plus cheap shots and raining tacos

 

New music from all over the map this week, including Mad Sky, Touch (with their first release in 40 years), the supposedly retired David Lee Roth, Midnight Oil, The Reflectors, Deep Purple, Tori Amos, Luka Caraway, The War on Drugs and so much more. Enjoy!

This week's artists, twitter handles unless otherwise marked:

madskynorway (Facebook... er I mean Meta)

@bandmaid
Touch (come on, it's their first record in 40 years - they have no socials)
@STYXtheBand
@kylieminogue with @JessieWare
@thebandhala
@TReflectors
@thaogetstaydown
richard.charles.edwards (Instagram)
@midnightoilband
@Inventioning featuring Jean-Luc Ponty and @TheJonAnderson
@Kiffie8
deeppurple_official (Instagram)
@ringostarrmusic
@TheWarOnDrugs
@toriamos
@mastodonmusic
@remhq
@TheDoobieBros
@JBONAMASSA
@monlaferte
@piafrausband
@mjcofficial with @ClaudiaKaneUK
@TheonCross (as a side note, I should point out that almost everything you hear on this track is TUBA!!!!!)
@sam3vian
@corywong
@KonigsbergLily
@Lone with Morgane Diet (No socials I could find)
lukacaraway (Instagram)
@DavidLeeRoth

As a fun side note, as I was putting this together and working through all of the album tracks I came up with the idea of what would be the last 3 songs - Mastadon, Tori Amos, and The War On Drugs. I listen to everything before I put these lists together. That was where I planned to end it. And then I realized that Cory Wong had recorded a new version of "Meditation", which is one of my favorite songs of late. And then I discovered Diamond Dave's song by accident - I hadn't heard a word about it.

Just so you know, I think about these things.

Cheap shots:

Who gives two ratfucks?

No Mama Karen, it didn't happen.

"How do you do, fellow kids?"

DuckDiver19 is a dick.

I'd always assumed that men watch porn because the real thing isn't available to them. I don't watch porn.

The basic Laws of Human Stupidity, with helpful graphics.

I don't call them Anti-vaxxers anymore. I call them Disease-Riddled Filth.

You know, if you want to say "Fuck Joe Biden" then just fucking SAY "Fuck Joe Biden", I may support him, but you have the right. This horseshit just makes you sound like a bully.

Gotta love Justice Kagan, but very very very very weirdly, it might be Kavanaugh that sinks it.

They said it would be 10,000. It was 34. The rest is a bit alarming but it's still only 3%.

Three guesses on who this might wind up being. All three might be correct.

"We bassists have to stick together."

I honestly hope that all of your children are taught Critical Race Theory. That means that all of them - ALL OF THEM - are going for their Master's Degrees.

And because I love you, let it rain tacos!