New Music Friday - the Apathy Edition


 

                Hey there Cats and Kittens, welcome back to (the long overdue) New Music Friday - or, as I’m calling it this week, Sad Music Friday.  Today’s word is longevity, can you say that? In searching through the dozen new releases of auto-tune/emo (C)rap and for some reason, bluegrass (???), that I’ve never heard of, I have to wonder which of these will be deleted/replaced with next week’s Spotify song of the day.  I know I’m showing my age when I say this all sounds the same AND as always, I don’t buy that any of this is what the NPR hosts are really listening to, nor are the people buying iann dior listening to NPR.  Do we really need to analyze “how effortlessly he shifts between genres” when next week’s flavor will autotune another playlist?  Only two names standout on every new music list this week - Aoife O’Donovan and Janis Ian.  O’Donovan’s third solo release, Age of Apathy (Yep Rock Records) is nice, but nothing really stands out, lost in the mix of other female singer/songwriters doing the same thing. Nice songs - the tracks “Phoenix” and “Prodigal Daughter” (a duet with Allison Russell) stand out.  Give it a listen, we’ll have to wait and see where this might catch on in today’s world. Meanwhile, Janis Ian returns with her first new album in 15 years, The Light at the End of the Line (Rude Girls Records) - a clarity of voice and lyrics that has been missing in the singer/songwriter genre.  Take note, this is how it’s done, Janis is here to instruct. This is longevity.  Whether her songs of where we’ve been and where we’re going find a place, again that’s up in the air, but you should hear this one too,

                In keeping with the theme of longevity - other Longevites have extended their career with new releases of late.  Elvis Costello is touting a return to his angry punk roots - with the Imposters (as opposed to the Attractions), The Boy Named If (Capitol/EMI). The same good songwriting, as always, but the voice is no longer angry - “The Death of Magical Thinking” is the only track that come close to the Elvis of old.  For my book, it’s the all-Spanish re-imagining of This Year’s Model, 2021’s Spanish Model (UMe) with its infused border-punk vibe that comes closest to making me forget stodgy old Elvis. John “Eyepatch” Mellencamp returns with Strictly A One-Eyed Jack (Republic). Musically perfect - his most accessible I n years, but the years of cigarette smoke have taken its toll on Mellencamp’s voice and songs like “Gone Too Soon” paints the picture of an old bitter Mellencamp sitting in a smoke-filled bar in Bloomington.  The two duets with Springsteen feel out of place, although maybe not. This one may appeal to his fans but will be hard pressed to find new ears.  There’s new music from Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Gov’t Mule, and Aimee Mann, as well as a batch of covers from singer/songwriter Cat Power. All welcome news for fans, as you know what to expect, but I doubt anything this week will be topping the Spotify charts.  I’ll just leave the recent Colin James (Open Road), Lindsey Buckingham, Colin Linden (bLOW), my latest fav - Austin duo Deer Fellow - and the reissue of The Band’s Cahoots on repeat for the rest of the week.  Trust me, I know better than anyone else, I’m old!  One last note - just finished Rickie Lee Jones’ book Last Chance Texaco - brilliant, made me want to live in a cave and write songs. . .oh, wait, I do that.

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tell Me About the Dragons, George.

Image
  (Cue: The theme from Patton)      A nd if I were more ambitious, I would step before a video camera, walking up in front of a giant American flag and speak this aloud:       “When John Steinbeck began his retelling of Sir Thomas Mallory’s Le Mort d’Arthur in 1956, he failed to include the legend of his own creation, that of of St. Lenny and the literary allegory of substituting a rabbit for the mythical dragon. Even upon it’s posthumous 1976 publication, The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights , Steinbeck’s “unfinished” manuscript failed to acknowledge St. George and St. Lenny at all - hence, the “unfinished” I suppose.   Regardless, we still celebrate St. George today - all things George, in fact.   The Sainted "George" - George of Lydda was a Roman soldier - and not a Knight - but he’s rumored to have killed a dragon, which is much cooler than refusing to denounce one’s Christianity (for which he was killed and later ...
Read more

The YES Initiative!!!

Image
These days we find ourselves surrounded by more and more negativity. If there was only a word to help us feel better...oh, wait, there is. The word is "YES." We face the word "NO" too many times through out the day, try using yes instead. Doors open, smiles appear, opportunities galore appear to you. We need to bring the word back into our social vernacular, but where do you start? Well, I don't know if this will work or not, but is worth a try. Please print this flyer, quickly clip open the dashed lines and post it somewhere where will see it, or copy them to friends to post. I'd like to see how far this can spread. Please mark in the comment section that you have done so, so as to keep track. Let's put this word out there and see if we can make one person's day better. What do you say? Yes!
Read more

"Sit Elsewhere, Before You Break Something! said the Ellison-man."

Image
Appreciation by James Patrick Lockett Melancholy ain’t just Lassie guarding some cantaloupes. Nor is it the word that properly describes how I feel today.  There are forty-eight synonyms in the Thesaurus for ‘sad’ and not one of them adequately convey how I feel.  Just one of the many things I already miss about Harlan Ellison – I’m sure he would look at me and throw out ‘lugubrious’ or ‘woebegone’ or just a simple, ‘low.’ I’d started writing half a dozen times, different things the passed couple of days, and all the words always seemed to just mock my feelings.  Maybe it’s not time yet.  So, I sat eating (Hydrox) cookies and re-re-re-reading Ellison short stories – feeling sorry for our loss and mad that death slipped in like a thief in the night and took Harlan in his sleep.  Normally, that’s the way we all want to go, but there’s something lily-livered about not having the guts/spine/pluck (take your pick) to risk encountering Harlan’s wrath.  ...
Read more