Oh my - I'm doing my second U2 song (I initially typed 'dong') of this year. One last February from one of their two (or three?) EPs they put out.
"The Greatest Show on Earth" is from their upcoming full length album Carnaval De Luz to be released next month.
I've said it before - used to be a huge fan of U2 until they truly broke big. Their first four albums are almost perfect, which is a rarity. Then it just kind of fell apart. At least for me.
That said, with each album since, there is usually a good song - maybe two - on those other disks. Nothing enough for me to plunk down money, but at least to the point I won't change the radio dial.
"the Greatest Show on Earth" kind of builds. The music itself has some representation of earlier U2. Mostly the guitars - but the bass and drums are good.
I can do without the band's (Bono's?) use of catholicism, bot in visuals and in some of the lyrics. That said, I dig the lines: "If this is love and love is all we’ve got / You can show me what it is / I can show you what it’s not"
Blondie has a new disk, High Noon, coming out in early 2027.
In theory, it will (or should?) be their last release, as Chris Stein is no longer touring with the band due to health reasons and Clem Burke died two years ago. This leaves Debbie Harry as the only original member of the band......and who is 81 (!!!!).
After their first 6-7 albums (though some would say 5, Blondie's output became........spotty. And I might be dressing that up, as I was such a huge fan of the band.
Through my friend Jon, I'd be kept apprised of the possibility of a new disk, but with Burke's death, everything was questionable.
As it turns out, Burke had recorded all his parts before his death. I mean, it's hard to do it post-mortem. Though with AI, who the fuck knows.
It sounds like High Noon has been completed for a while, so it sounds like logistics was behind the album's delay.
The other day, I told Jon about the release of the album, but he seemed to already know about it. And I got his review of their new song "Spectral Eyes" from him as well: "the first single is terrible".
Well......crap................yet not unexpected. I'm going by their last few disks, though their last, Pollinator, was stronger than the 2-3 before it.
Still, I got home and logged onto YouTube to listen to "Spectral Eyes".
I don't know I'd go as far as to say "terrible", but it's also not their strongest work. It's not even their writing. Johnny Marr (the Smiths, Electronic, Modest Mouse) wrote the track. Generally, I like Marr. I thought perhaps it would be a good combo with Harry and what was left of the band.
Immediately, I thought it could be a forgotten track off of the band's 1999 album, No Exit.
Burke was a great drummer, not that you'd know it here. The mix has them so far in the background it could be anyone.
I think I get why. I love Harry, but her voice sounds like it's sung through a megaphone and muted at the same time. I don't even think it's autotuned as much as it is just very nasal sounding. For Burke to truly drum, he'd drown her out. I can't say I can pick out the lyrics all that well.
Marr does an ok job writing the song and playing the lead guitar.
At this stage in their career and life, I'm not expecting peak performance, but it'd be nicer if they were better.
NOTE: Listen to the song. Do NOT watch the video.........especially if you have Epilepsy. It's a 'visualizer' video and not like an art one. Strobe lights or not, there is no reason to view the visual portion. It's annoying AF.
Mainly because I'm enjoying "I Can Take the Sun Out of the Sky" by Bridgitte Calls Me Baby.
I saw a news clip headline that said, the band doesn't mind if you think they sound like the Smiths.
.....except, I don't know that they do. I haven't really delved into their other material yet, so perhaps other selections sound more Marr / Morrissey. While this track has an 80's like vibe to it, overall, this selection more like the Strokes. Personally, I think the Strokes sound too similar in what they do and they don't draw me in - "I Can Take the Sun...." did.
It won't wind up on any of my top 10 lists of anything, but I don't turn it off in the car, and that says a lot.
For the most part, I can take or leave Taylor Swift as a recording artist.
I think as a human, she's a decent sort. I think as a business woman she is smart and savvy. I think as an artist too many things sound too much alike from her other works.
There are exceptions and I have about 4-5 songs that fit into that category.
"Cleveland" is not one of those.
Swift released a "new" album a week or so ago. It's actually her last album with 4-5 new songs added onto the original material. I think. Maybe that original material has been reworked, but I don't really know.
One of her new songs gives a nod to where we live.
Swift's now husband, Travis Kelce is from Cleveland - and most specifically Cleveland Hts., hence the nod to Cleveburgh.
My friend Jon chided me the other day saying I must have the song on continual repeat.
I do not.
A week or so before the release, my brother-in-law sent a test saying he heard about this song and I think he was excited. Not so much by Swift, but by the would be exposure to the town.
While I haven't spoken to him, I'm assuming he's heard the song and any excitement that might have been there has been quelled.
I have heard the song once, while playing the video. Both are disappointments.
It would have been fun to have a great song / anthem with "Cleveland" as the title. What you got as something that milquetoast would call milquetoast. You kind of hope she'd have a better chorus to go with the blah verses, but it barely picks up steam.
I'm guessing Travis heard it and probably didn't want to overstep and end the honeymoon period too soon and told her "it's..............great.....hon", with his fingers crossed behind his back.
Say what you want about the 216, we have some beautiful places here. Great parks, great scenery, great 'hoods. You'd never know it from this hastily shot piss poor video.
Swift isn't going to make it up and record a "Cleveland II", so we are stuck with this piece of crap.
As we are away for the week, I drafted posts over the summer to let me off the hook during this time in Europe.
As we are starting in Berlin, it is just as well as give a nod to it with the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's song also named "Berlin".
My thought was to do Leonard Cohen's "First We Take Manhattan", but I did Jennifer Warens' cover of it 12 years ago. And to be honest, she does it better than Cohen himself.
But the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club doesn't get any recognition, and they should. "Berlin" is a perfect meeting of rock and pop. ...more on the rock side, but it's a very accessible song.
If I'm being honest, I'm doing today's selection "can't wait" by ANDY (yes, upper and lower case mean nothing anymore) for the video, not the song.
I was hoping it would be for the song and what was supposed to be a eye raising and potentially controversial video.
I'm not sure it's either.
It's Heated Rugby.
The same stealthy moves that imply things more than shows anything.
The locker room scene makes little sense. People dressing to play, undressing to shower, lifting or biking in the middle of the room? The guy taking a selfie of himself is the most realistic thing about that first part.
As for the Heated Rivalry parts, you know, lots of good lighting where you almost see something but really do not.
All could be forgiven, and could have worked well, if the song wasn't so lightweight and forgettable.
I guess that's why ANDY (whomever he may be) needed a good video.
The War on Drugs has a new song out, which precedes a new album in the near future. And it's about time.
"Who's That" (there was no question mark in the title), came out this past Wednesday.
Big fan of the group and I haven't played the song a lot. It doesn't stray far from their style.
I say "their", but Adam Granduciel is the face, voice and writer of the group. Technically there are others, though this video won't prove that.
They are indie rock for sure, usually with some interesting guitar work behind it all.
Granduciel has a bit of a Dylan thing going on vocally - Bob, not Thomas. Even for him, "Who's That" the vocals are a bit muddied. I wish the mix were better.
Granted it is new to me, so we will see how it grows on me.
New music is too unreliable due to release dates and me actually stumbling across them. What little time I was spending in my car and listening to XM has been reduced to 0.
So we are still on iTunes Roulette.
10th song that pops up is what you get. And this time it's the Watkins Family Hour and their take on Warren Zevon's "Accidentally Like a Martyr".
Zevon wrote great music. Linda Ronstadt has said it is one of her biggest regrets not recording the song when given the chance, but I swear I heard a version by her well before hearing Zevon sing it on his 1978 disc, Excitable Boy.
Either way, the Watkins Family Hour has a nice take on the tune with its stripped down style - Americana or Bluegrass.......whatever you want to call it.
710 finally got me out in a car the other day. It was such a mood changer. Going from hospital to home was a lifesaver, but this was another level up.
I can't drive yet, so I was the passenger. Window down. Taking in the air. The blue sky and the clear lake. The direct sun.
I set the scene, because a song came on the radio I had never heard. If Al Gore's Intertubes are to be believed, "Blood Spilled" by Blonde Redhead came out just a few week past.
Admittedly, I know nothing of the band. Never heard of them so far as I can tell, though it looks like they've been around for two + decades. A trio, it seems consisting of twin brothers and a female vocalist.
I have played the song a few times since that car ride. And it's ok. But something struck me on that journey. Maybe it was just another one of the senses falling into place.
"Blood Spilled" is a bit trance inducing. Cocteau Twins-like, but not exactly. Homage, perhaps? It entranced me for that car ride.
The song might never be able to recapture that moment for me, but it just associates with a good memory in a week full of crappy ones.
I haven't heard a song in days and days and days. Any kind of media has just been not in my existence - by choice - since last Saturday. Minimal screen time. Laptop only opened to write this blog. Zero tv. Zero books. Zero music.
So you get the 10th song deal.
And you get an incredibly awesome song at that. "For Emily, Whenever I Might Find Her" by Simon and Garfunkel. The live version. Which oddly is the only one I knew. I had to look it up but there is a studio version that was released in 1966. The live version is 1969.
Art Garfunklel was just a massive vocal talent - albeit a specific one - and while in the Rock n Roll Hall O'Fame, is just an asterisk too much to Paul Simon.
No one is denying Simon's songwriting abilities, but the two stand out cuts from the band - this and "Bridge Over Troubled Water" - has Simon saying he should have been sining lead. He's kind of a dick. Neither of those songs would have been better and just give Art credit due.
An expertly written and performed song - one that shows there could never be studio trickery in their work.
Well, more to come about my ominous post yesterday.
Whle you wait I figure I'd do a tie-in to the would be post......or series of posts.
The song is "Bones" from the Killers It resides on their second and arguably best / most consistent disk, Sam's Town.
The song is fine, but does't rank as one of their bests. Most notably, the video was directed by Tim Burton - he of Batman, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure and so many other.
Well back to new music. This time by Eliad Cohen, arguably one the hottest gay Jews.
I didn't know he sang. I thought he just traipsed across the internet never making enough to cover the cost of a shirt.
I'm not complaining.
There have been more than a few gay adult "actors" who think they can sing. This wouldn't be new - not to say that Cohen does porn. ......at least that I've ever seen.
I think he's just a big tease. But a handsome one.
The song, "What If" isn't bad.
It's not quite radio ready, but it's not overly produced Miami gay dance club oriented either - which is kind of refreshing. It's well made, but not overly memorable either.
Does it surprise me that the video has 0% body fat for anyone and every one who appears? No.
Regular people need not apply.
I feel unworthy watching it. I hate that about gay culture. Eons ago Morty and I were in LA annoying our friend, Jon. I left there and then Palm Springs feeling so incredibly despondent like I was the ugliest person in Southern California.
The superficiality was so up front it was D-pressing. Seriously - for weeks afterwards I was out of sorts.
A less than four minute video easily had those feeling resurface. I kind of thought I'm above that now. At 29 maybe not. At 63-ish it seems I'm not fully - and that's disappointing.
Cohen provides a song and video that do what every HIV ad and Gay Cruise ad does: eschews anyone not young, beautiful and gym sculpted.
The former ads make me laugh: yes, that handsome dude is the picture of HIV. Don't YOU want to get it and take our pills and look like this? The latter? They seem to be cutting their own profit margins on actively schilling against having average gay dudes wanting to take their cruises.
I'm assuming this is how women feel with make-up and lingerie ads.
While Cohen is handsome, let's face it - the cat might be the best thing about the video.
The 10th song via shuffle provides the song for today - and today it is Rhett Miller and "As Close as I Came to Being Right".
While Miller does make solo disks, he is a founding member of the alternative country band the Old 97's.
He seems wise, with it and hip enough to know what is what. And he has a way with a song.
While I have a handful of Old 97's songs, I didn't really know Miller's solo work. I found it via Rosanne Cash's co-writing and duetting on Miller's 2012 song, "As Close as I Came to Being Right".
I believe Miller also has a podcast, but honestly, anymore who doesn't?
Miller and Cash totally compliment each other here. It's a good collaboration and it's a shame that in 14 years this song on YouTube has only been seen 3,500 times.
This could have easily played on some country stations - but it's hard to break through that big-boy. network of whatever shit that most of country is now-a-days. Americana should have picked it up more, but that is a microcosm of country and folk.
It's what I do when I don't have a song queued up for a My Music Monday post. Nothing new has stood out for me just yet - good or bad.
There has been a handful of mediocre songs but what fun are those?
So - as you may or may not know - I shuffle to song #10 in my iTunes liberry and choose that one, as long as I have not used it before. If I have, I go to #11. Just like Spinal Tap.
But I was able to stop on 10 today.
What you get is a song from the Chicks last album Gaslighter.
It is hard to believe that it's been six years since the Chicks has put out new music. I mean, before Gaslighter it had been 14 years. However, the height of Covid seems less than six years - same with the album.
Anyway, they're touring this summer, so maybe that is a harbinger for new music. Or it's a cash grab. They deserve it.
This week the song is a ballad, "Everybody Loves You". It is well put together and well executed. And it is about post-divorce with Natalie Maines' ex-husband. It sounds pretty, but if you listen, it's fairly brutal...if you were him. ....and he was on the show Heroes so......he knows from being bad.
There is a new song. and album out by the band Goose.
Now, don't confuse them with them with the band Geese. Their last album was released about 10 months ago.
If there is a band named "Gander", I honestly have no idea - but you just know there is one out there.
I know of Goose, but I'm not very familiar with their oeuvre. But XM is all about their new song "Good2B". ....and no, it's not a Prince song, just a Prince like spelling. I can kind of see why.
"Good2B" has a lot of influences and it is killing me I can't think of a main one. It's like right on the tip of my musical knowledge base.
A lot of the music has heavy Steely Dan vibes. Some of the vocals remind me of the band Guster. But it's when the lead singer sings "Will you stay with me..........will you stayyyyyyyyy with me?" that evokes another song and another band that seems so familiar but I'm a bit frustrated in not figuring out who that might be.
I'm happy to hear thoughts. Morty can probs identify it in a heartbeat (it's a love beat). But you all might have good ideas as well.
Today's selection, "These Arms" popped up this last Friday for me. It sounded like a good collaboration: Snow Patrol and Kylie Kylie Minogue.
I cannot say it was a pairing I would have thought of or saw coming, but now it's out there in the universe - and it is not bad.
So much of Kylie's stuff is a bit too breathy for me. I know she can sing, because now and then I hear it. She does well here.
The reality of this is, Minogue should probably have top billing here. Yeah, you hear Snow Patrol, and I'm guessing it is there song by way of writing, but she has the dominant vocal here. Dominant might be the incorrect word. Her vocal stands out more and Snow Patrol seem to be backing her.
Cake had a few "hits". You'd have to know where to look for those, but it wasn't anywhere Casey Kasem or Shadow Stevens might haunt.
The band hasn't been actively recording - or at least releasing - material since 2011. They keep implying they will be releasing material since 2024......but crickets.
I tend to go back to a few songs, but lately it's been "Short Skirt / Long Jacket" from 2001. ...if nothing else for the bass line. And maybe the trumpet. You just rarely hear that instrument in a rock song........unless you're Chicago.
The song borders rock and funk - and that works for me. I like the lyrics and the vocals.
As always, their lead vocalist is somewhat monotone but what they do, it works. They don't overreach and that suits them.
It's hard to believe the song is 25 years old.
The video - well.........it's not exactly hard to hear the song, but it is built around asking people what they think of the song. As you'll see, it's mixed - but at least they didn't sugar coat it.
There are a few things about the vid that just make me think: Ren Wang-Loi is one of the surveyed (though he says nothing), but where they cut him in and his facial reaction seems.........off. And then I don't know what the fuck song Tammy Thompson is dancing to, but it ain't this one.
And there are two "old guys" (probably younger than me now) who dislike it for "the noise". You have to believe they listened to rock and roll in the late 60s and they just kind of spurn it now.
There is an unofficial video of the song with just Diana Rigg as Emma Peel from the Avengers. That kind of works too.
The other day I was wondering: what ever became of the Shins?
The Shins were a 2000-ish band. So far only releasing five albums, the last being almost a decade ago.
The band is like a number out there: one in name only.
James Mercer is the only original member. He has had many many variations of the studio band(s) and then tours with different musicians. I liken this to The The or Panic! at the Disco......etc. It's basically just James Mercer and friends.
The Shins came into "prominence" with their 2004 song "New Slang" which was featured in the indie film Garden State.
They've had other good songs, but not a lot of cohesion which makes sense with the rotating number of band members.
Still, I appreciate them, and really like a handful of songs - including today's choice: "Simple Song" from 2014.
I don't quite know how to describe it. For me, there has always been this underlying '70's vibe that is mostly centered around the vocals - background and lead.
While there isn't quite an obvious chorus, but the one that quasi-exists I can only keep coming back to the band Sweet. The lead when Mercer sings about "go it alone" and then the "ahhh" backing vocals in other parts of the song.
I've racked my brain to think if it could be sounding like anything else, but it is not quite coming my way. I just dig the song. Always have.
I just found out that the Daniels did the video for the song. They won Oscars for Everything Everywhere All at Once.
As for where is the band? I can't seem to find out.
I'm going back to 2001-2002 for this one. The split year is because Sloan is a Canadian band and generally many Canadian bands have their music released there prior to anywhere else in the world. So for above the 49th parallel, the album Pretty Together was released in 2001. Elsewhere it was months later.
Sloan as been putting out music since 1992. I wish I could link one song of theirs that caught my ear. To be specific, the drum track. It was so unique, so good and it was 100% wasted on a very very very mediocre song.
The reason I can't link it is for the life of me I don't remember the song title - and no amount of scrolling on their wiki-page has helped me jar my memory.
It wasn't going to be that song anyways, only because how generic the rest of the song was. So I'm going with "the Other Man".
I think it's got a good hook and great flow. It is kind of great pop / rock. There is an official video, but it's kind of creepy and you'd never buy any member of the band being 'the other man'. If they were, the woman would have to have super low self-esteem. Or those guys would have to be packing......and it is doubtful.
Week 2 of June and I'm already breaking the MMM thread of no new music.
Death Cab for Cutie kind of ruined that, but I'm not 100% sure a song has hit me to the core - lyrically - on the first play as "Stone Over Water".
This is their second release from their just released album, I Build You a Tower. Their first song, "Riptide" was ok, but that was it.
The song was released six days ago.
The opening two lines of the song are just perfect. Ben Gibbard has a way with a phrase in many of his songs and this one does not disappoint.
"Stone Over Water" hits on the times of today - at least in my mind. " 'cause oh how this year's been a slog" .
As I journey with my mental health, it's easy for me to say "I've been seen" with this song. I'm sure it is not just me - not by a long shot. Yet it's not their blog, so............ me. me. me.
