Sam Phillips and Jason Isbell

A favorite record from 1994. The album, "Martinis & Bikinis." There's an obvious Beatles, Strawberry Fields vibe throughout.

I first heard Sam Phillips when she went by the name, Leslie Phillips and through her 1987 song, "God Is Watching You."  ..... Which for some reason I associate with Peter Himmelman's album, "This Father's Day." I assume because I have memories of picking up both on the same day on cassette on a Saturday evening, 11:00pm pilgrimage to Tower Records in Beaverton. It's just my opinion but record stores should be open all nights of the year until midnight.

If I were to compile a Desert Island Disc list for the decade of the 1990's, "Martinis & Bikinis" would be high on that list. It's a listen from start to finish recording. No weak filler tunes.

Jason Isbell's, "Sirens of the Ditch." A 2018 reissue of his first album recorded in 2007 after leaving the band, Drive By Truckers.

I had his more recent albums in my collection but somehow had never heard this one until reading about it being reissued. For some reason I wasn't expecting much .... I mean, (said with tongue-in-cheek): How could I? I had never heard of it. That automatically makes it a inferior recording right? I discovered otherwise.

I need to be slapped for jumping to conclusions and forming uninformed opinions. Sorry Mr. Isbell!!

My opinion now? The songs, "Brand New Kind of Actress" and "The Magician" .... Absolute CLASSICS!!! They stay in residence bouncing around in my head.

And the deluxe edition of this re-issue has four previously unreleased bonus tracks!!! Though I don't understand how "Racetrack Romeo" ever became an unreleased track. It's also a gem!!

Another List

I love making lists. Any kind of list. But music is a particular favorite. The middle of the night feels like the perfect time to listen to music. When everything else around you has quieted down.

What am I listening to today? Same as I've been listening to all week. Late night radio.

• The Essex Green - Don't Leave It In Our Hands *****
• Fountains of Wayne - Valley Winter Song
• Wooden Shjips - Staring at the Sun
• Anna Burch - Asking 4 a Friend
• The National - Conversation 16
• The Morning Benders - All Day Day Light
• Sam Evian - IDGAF
• Joseph - Canyon …. "Joseph" is either a female or a band with a female lead vocalist.
• The Decemberists - Cutting Stone
• R.E.M. - Turn You Inside Out …. One that needs to be played loudly. One of my choices for desert island songs.
• Anna Burch - Quit the Curse
• Wild Ones - You're a Winner
• Nick Jaina - Walking Into a Burning House

More Sounds

How many different groups are out there recording and releasing music? Seems like an endless supply of new bands to listen to. Though there are several on this list who are not fresh sounds to my ears.

• The Young Veins - Change
• Parquet Courts - Mardi Gras Beads
• The Decembrists - Starwatcher
• Florence & The Machine - What Kind of Man …. There's a note or two or a tone buried deep in this song and in the singer's voice that sounds like something once heard in a mid to late 1970's Fleetwood Mac recording. I was listening though not very intently when it suddenly struck me.
• Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band - Big Black Nothing
• Nirvana - About a Girl …. Never did get into the whole Nirvana thing. Though I did become a fan of Pearl Jam.
• St. Vincent - Hang On Me …. Conjuring up memories from youth while attending eight years of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic school.
• Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon …. You hear stuff! Or sometimes it just strikes you! Maybe I'm hearing things but there's something in the vocals that reminds of Bono from U2.
• Frightened Rabbit - Scottish Winds
• Broken Bells - Vaporize
• Garbage - Milk …. A songs going along and after a minute you feel like you can predict where it will go next and then some odd, unpredictable chord change happens that doesn't sound so pleasant to your ears, or like it belongs. But it must have sounded necessary to the songwriter who apparently didn't want to sound predictable.
• J. Mascis - See You at the Movies *****
• Saintseneca - Ladder to the Sun *****
• Wilco - Via Chicago
• The Weakerthans - Aside …. All these tunes helping me get through another long night at work.

OK a couple more. No such thing as too much music.

• The Walkmen - Louisiana
• Rostam - In a River

New Night, More OPB

• The Joggers - Wicked Light Sleeper
• Dum Dum Girls - Bedroom Eyes
• Goat Girl - The Man

Lots of interesting names for groups and song titles these days.

• The Black Keys - Fever …. Not the Bruce Springsteen 1970's outbreak of Fever.
• The We Shared Milk - Could This Be Real …. Imagine if I had every vinyl album containing all the songs that I've heard the past few nights from OPB Music. That would be the beginnings of one far out record collection.
• Frightened Rabbit - Good Arms vs. Bad Arms
• Yo La Tengo - For You Too …. Two nights in a row for this one. Reminding of the weekly top-40 hits on AM radio from days long ago where the popular songs were played almost hourly it seemed.
• Marika Hackman - Time's Been Reckless
• Sun Kil Moon - Carry Me Ohio …. A long time favorite. I enjoy listening to Mark Kozelek's voice.
• Josh Ritter - Girl In The War

Radio Thoughts

I appreciate this OPB music nightly stream. New sounds for my ears.

• Laura Gibson - Empire Builder
• Menomema - BOTE ….. Portland band. Or did the DJ say Poland?

Sure do hear some of the different directions that music has been going that otherwise I'd be oblivious to. Most of what I know is from 1968-2000. I've been out of the loop on many of the newer sounds.

• Phantastic Ferniture - Gap Year
• Sugar - If I Can't Change Your Mind ….**** A jangly guitars pop song.

KINK-fm, the Portland station that I used to listen to has lost my interest in recent years. Too much hipster Portland crap. They overdo this "Keep Portland Weird" angle while the DJ's attempt to sound politically correct and 30-something cool. And they play way too much of the sugary or weepy contemporary adult genre that makes me want to scream, pull my remaining hair out and break things.

• Frank Turner - Get Better
• The Beths - Future Me Hates Me
• The Dodos - Forum

I can listen to the Jazz station but only in small doses …. unless it's a documentary program.

• The Buzzcocks - Something's Gone Wrong Again
• Mark Kozelek - Like Rats
• Gillian Welch - Revelator
• Babehoven - Out of This Country
• Caroline Rose - More of the Same

Occasionally I listen to the local AM station (KBZY) that I broke in listening to late at night mostly as a twelve year old, on a small transistor radio, while everyone else in the house was sleeping, over fifty years ago. They still play a lot of those same great songs but mix in the worst of the 70's.

• Typhoon - Artificial Light
• Yo La Tengo - For You Too

Saturday Night Playlist

Thinking I'm young again and staying up late listening to tunes. It's Saturday late night, Oregon Public Broadcasting's Music streaming online playlist. Gotta find new sounds somewhere.

• Shame - One Rizla *****
• Band of Horses - Laredo *****
• Courtney Barnett & Kurt Vile - Over Everything *****

This is going to get expensive if this pattern keeps up. Loved the first three songs and will have to seek out the downloads on iTunes.

• M. Ward - Miracle Man …. Guess I'm not up to speed on modern day musicians. I previously thought that M. Ward was a rapper.
• Dr. Dog - Heart It Races
• Shadowgraphs - Sun Is Rising …. There's something in the vocals that says 1980's New Wave, MTV generation, British Bands to me. Like Maybe Ah-Ha.
• Claire Morales - All That Wanting

If I didn't have neighbors and it wasn't past midnight, I'd have the volume turned up to rocking out, floor shaking levels. Damn my respect for others mindset.

• Autonomics - Bad Blood
• Hosannas - Be Careful
• Polica - Wedding

I'd be willing to bet the rent that I'm the only 62 year old (old) man in Oregon listening to this streaming radio programming right now. (I sure hope that no 62 year old men are trolling my journal tonight, seeing that offer.)

• Speedy Ortiz - Lean In When I Suffer
• Von Iver - Skinny Love …. YES!!! One that's already in my collection!!!
• Neko Case - Last Lion of Albion
• Laura Marling - Next Time
• Old Wave - Indigo

I keep thinking to myself, "OK That's it. Got to get some sleep …… well ok maybe one more." Because just like going through the bins in a record store, you never know if a gem is going to be uncovered next. I'd hate to shut this down for the night thinking that I might miss out on something that I'd really love. 

• Gaz Coombes - Detroit
• The Breeders - Nervous Mary
• The Fall - Mexico Wax Solvent

Ok one more …..

• CSS - Hits Me Like A Rock ****

Gonna Be A Darkness / True Blue

Jayhawks time!!! I've had this song bouncing around in my head for the past three or four days. And likely will tomorrow as well.

"There's gonna be a darkness, maybe colder than you guessed."

And before that there was this ….

Doesn't get much more beautiful than that!! Not a bad way to spend the evening …. listening to Jayhawks tunes.

Traveling Tune

So I'm driving up I-5 yesterday headed to Portland with the radio on the Jazz station and the volume at an acceptable level for hearing safety, then this little tune comes on and all hearing precautions suddenly go out the window. (Pun intended.) And I suddenly don't give a rats azzz if the whole world can hear me helping out with the background vocals.

This Weeks Playlist

• Richard Thompson - Don't Renege On Our Love
• John Lee Hooker - Canal Street Blues
• Neil Young - Southern Man
• Sarah Harmer - Basement Apt.
• Peter Gabriel - Burn You Up, Burn You Down
• Greg Greenway - Highway 4AM
• Mark Knopfler - Romeo and Juliet
• Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Even The Losers
• Richard Buckner - Ed's Song