New Peter Gabriel

Peter Gabriel - i/o.

It's on order but won't arrive for a few more days. I'm considering taking the day off from work.

I used to get so excited and anticipatory for new releases and it's nice to feel that old excitement again. I've been looking forward to a new Peter Gabriel record for years.  

There's a dark-side and a bright-side mix. I don't really know if I'll be able to tell the difference. He's been releasing one song at a time for the past year on the occasion of full moons. I've listened to four or five of these tracks but not more than once. I want to experience the record like the old days when a new record would be previously unheard on release day. 

I want to hear one song at a time as if it's the first time. In some cases it will be. I haven't heard any of the recent releases yet and don't recall the tracks heard months ago. 

I wouldn't have ordered it online if I could feel any amount of assurance that I could find a physical copy locally. But that assurance doesn't exist, so I'll be watching for the delivery truck coming around the corner. I might need to monitor my blood pressure hourly.

While I'm waiting for the Peter Gabriel to be delivered .... This arrived today and was heard late evening. 'Floa' by Mammal Hands. From 2016 on Gondwana Records. 

I'm attempting to become a completist .... of the band and possibly the record label. 

The New OK

From 2020 and on compact disc. 'The New OK' by Drive-By Truckers.'

Written (I assume) and recorded just as the covid pandemic and riots were initially spreading and clamping down across the country. Sometimes, upon reflection, those days and memories feel like decades ago.

I've been a fan for years. First heard their sound when Jason Isbell was still in the band. Later I became hooked to their song, 'Zip City.' ..... Rock, Americana, Southern Rock, whatever you want to call their music.

Highlights on this recording are, 'Sarah's Flame' and 'Watching the Orange Clouds.'

There's a line in Watching the Orange Clouds .... "Across the Burnside Bridge there's heads getting bashed and teargas. Boys too stupid to really be proud." .... About the 2020 riots in Portland, Oregon, I assume. Patterson Hood from the band, moved to Portland years ago. I've driven across the Burnside Bridge dozens of times in my lifetime. I can visualize clearly, what and where he was singing of and trying to express here.

The Schramms

The Schramms - 'Rock, Paper, Scissors, Dynamite'

A 1992 recording on compact disc and on the Okra Records label.

Americana. Ringing guitars. Rock with little hints of alternative-country. Or perhaps obvious hints. 

From All Music Guide:                                              "Melding pop, folk-rock, and alt-country sounds with quirky wit and a keen intelligence, the Schramms were the brainchild of guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Dave Schramm, who debuted the group in 1987. The band's sound is built around Schramm's guitar work, at once tuneful and wiry, but he and his collaborators create a sound that's edgy but welcoming, with a warmth in the performances that rivals the subtle intelligence of Schramm's lyrics. "

Soul Mining

'Soul Mining' from The The. From 1984. A recent vinyl find for me. A grail!!! I literally was flipping through a bin of new arrivals in an antique store that I frequent. AND THERE IT WAS!!! I almost fell over.

What a great, original name for a band .... The The.

That early to mid 80's, synthesizer driven sound that was trending for a few years. Feels a little like the progressive side for that genre. The songs are a little more quirky, which is part of its fascination.

'This Is the Day' and 'Uncertain Smile' are the highlights. 

The Danger of Alina Simone

Alina Simone - 'Make Your Own Danger'

Found a new method to discover new music!! .... The need for an updated prescription of one's vision. I saw an album cover that looked interesting. I thought it said Alina Simone, which I entered in a online search.. I listened to a few short samples and ordered two albums. The first to arrive at my front door was the record that I originally spotted ..... It was Nina Simone!! I've heard of Nina Simone but don't know her music. It was followed two or three days later by the Alina Simone record. 

Never mind that the two album covers appeared to be from greatly different time periods, 1959 and 2011, and are of vastly different styles. I was under the impression that I was acquiring two Alina Simones and instead received Nina and Alina!! Glad it all worked out!! Sometimes there's benefits and rewards in poor vision.

Make Your Own Danger Review

Scene Creamers

A totally blind buy!! Attracted by the cover art. 

The Scene Creamers - 'I Suck On That Emotion' From 2003 and on vinyl. A definite upgrade to the collection.

There's a sticky pad note attached that informs: "Members of The Make Up" Well I don't know The Make Up either. 

While listening, The Rolling Stones and The Stooges came to mind. Hints of Psychedelia and Post-Punk. 

I'm becoming quite accomplished in the art of blind buying. My working theory is, Go with the cover art if the price is right. It's a gamble but after fifty years of record buying, the instincts are usually correct. This was one of three blind buys from a Saturday afternoon bin digging session. My idea of fun.

20 Miles

'I'm a Lucky Guy' by 20 Miles.

If it's on Fat Possum Records, you can pretty much assume it will be good!!!

Judah Bauer from Jon Spencer Blues Explosion on guitar with his brother on drums. Minimalist Rock tunes. I was surprised to notice that it's from 1998. I thought it was much more recent.

Synchronicity

From 1983 as I recall. 'Synchronicity' by The Police. Difficult to believe that it's now almost forty years later. The rare three member band.

I've always wished that I was one of the voices in the background on 'King of Pain' singing ...... "That's my soul up there."

I was never much a fan of The Police until this record came along. And then they broke up shortly later.

Their sound mixed pieces of Rock, New Wave and Reggae and also originally Punk.

I recall a college girl that I worked with for a short time and who I was attempting to impress by mentioning that I was a fan of the band, informing me that she hated their song from a previous record, 'Roxanne.'

New Pearl Jam

'Gigaton' by Pearl Jam.

New Pearl Jam just released a week ago. (it's about time!!) The compact disc arrived in the mail this weekend and this is my initial listen. (We have time for such things these days.) I want another listen or two before giving an opinion on it besides that I love it. of course Eddie Vedder has one of the great voices of alltime so that will likely prejudice any thoughts that I have.

Several Shades of Why

An evening of vinyl records. 'Several Shades of Why' by J Mascis. I don't know much about his band, Dinosaur Jr other than seeing the word 'punk' used to describe them. This is much more of a Singer/Songwriter effort with acoustic guitar dominating. Beautiful melodies make up this record.

Great cover artwork also!! It certainly calls out to you to investigate what sounds await inside.

Saturday Evening Radio Playlist

Saturday evening. Too wet and chilly to be running about outside. So a little Oregon Public Broadcasting music stream is in order. Always with some new and different sounds mixed with a few classics for these aging ears.

• Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside - God's Away On Business
• The Devil Makes Three - All Hail
• Daniel Norgren - Dandelion Time
• STRFKR - Open Your Eyes
• Dan Dan - Circuit
• David Bowie - The Stars (Are Out Tonight) *****
• Andy Shauf - Things I Do
• Jeff Tweedy - Family Ghost
• The Prids - Summer Cult *****
• Alvvays - In Undertow
• Lala Lala and WHY? - Siren 042
• Saintseneca - The Awefull Yawn
• Toro Y Moi - Girl Like You
• Tommy Alexander - Time and Time Again
• She-Devils - Hey Boy

I keep saying to myself: "Time to end this and move on to whatever's next in my evening …. But maybe just one more song." Because the alternative tonight was watching my list of Twitter followers go up and down.

• Bon Iver - Naeem
• Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Heavy Metal
• Dana Buoy - Bloom
• Corridor - Junior *****
• La Luz - Cicada

The Bigger The Ocean .....

From 1979. On vinyl. Rock on the Virgin Record Label. Don't recall how I discovered this band. It's been so long since my last listen that it's like hearing the record for the first time.

1979 .... A time of discovery. Branching out into New Wave and edgier Rock sounds. Joe Jackson and The Boomtown Rats. Dire Straits just starting out. I hadn't lost interest in Jackson Browne, Cat Stevens and Neil Young but I was suddenly searching in different directions. I can likely blame that on college.

The record sounds very much dated now but is still of great historical value. It assists in recalling those long ago days of youth. You can browse through the bins of countless used record stores and see a lot of the same records from the 1970's and 80's but you're not likely to come across Big Oceans by Interview.

Stuff Like That There

A new Yo La Tengo album. Always welcome sounds. Some cover versions, re-workings of past songs and a few new tunes.

Yo La Tengo can sound alternatingly hip, cool and modern Indie Rock and also as if they are from the 1960's. Or all-of-the-above at the same time.

They can take well known songs and if you failed to recognize the lyrics, you would never know that it was a cover version.

Formerly a trio, they've added a fourth member on this recording ..... an additional guitarist.

NPR Album Review

Massachusetts Daily Collegian Review

Goodbye 2014

Ringing out the year about to expire, with a little Mule Variations by Tom Waits.

My introduction to Tom Waits may have been in 1977. My college roommate would play his Nighthawks At The Diner album. (Whenever he wasn't playing Todd Rundgren records). We had favorite lines of lyrics and spoken words from the record that we would go around quoting in our daily conversations whenever appropriate. We most likely stretched the meaning of "appropriate" a tiny bit back then.

Here I am now, almost forty years later, still enjoying his music.