I recently discovered a new artist. Just in the past few days. It's someone that I am absolutely loving. At the same time, I have to say that y'all have let me down. I don't think anyone on the WGOM has ever suggested I listen to Sturgill Simpson. The good news is that, despite the WGOM's silence, somehow he still creeped up to the top of my "To Listen List".
I'd heard some of his music here or there (well, I'm almost positive that it was never here) over the past few years, and I've always liked it, but never sat down and really gave it a listen until a few nights ago. Oh, I had long been meaning to, it just hadn't happened. Other things always took the place, and sometimes trying out new music just isn't what a person is in the mood for. So it sat for far too long. Maybe if someone here had recommended Simpson at any point I would have listened sooner...
Anyway, it turns out he's pretty good. Fantastic voice, excellent guitar work, creative (and somewhat seditious) lyrics... the whole works. You should check him out too.
And, in light of my recent discovery, I'm wondering what is at the top of your To Listen List? It seems like whenever there's something you know you should try, that doing so seems to pay off. At least that's been my experience. So what have you not gotten around to checking out that you've been meaning to for ages? What did you wait too long to try? And what should go to the top of my list, now that I've finally picked up Sturgill? (And, by the way, Sturgill should go to the top of your lists too... Maybe then we could all talk about him sometime?).
Good stuff Philo. You didn't mention which album you were listening to. It is interesting in that I "re-discovered" A Sailor's Guide about a month ago. I had listened a few times when it came out and before the concert but then put it down. After the SNL gig a month or so back I've been listening to it a lot. Oh and First Avenue tried to get SS to play at Surly this summer but couldn't make it work, that would've been great.
Oh and to answer your question, I've been listening to a bunch of 70's Van Morrison. That's great stuff too.
1. With God On Our Side -- Bob Dylan -- The Times They Are A-Changin'
2. Sugar Magnolia -- Grateful Dead -- American Beauty
3. The Tracer -- Rank Strangers -- Mystery Spot
4. As Far As I Know -- Paul Westerberg -- Folker
5. Don't Look Back -- Teenage Fanclub -- Grand Prix
6. Whispering Pines (Alternate Take) -- The Band -- The Band
7. The Villain -- Old 97's -- Alive and Wired
8. Birdland -- Patti Smith -- Horses
9. Teenage FBI -- Guided By Voices -- Human Amusements At Hourly Rates
10. Folsom Prison Blues --Johnny Cash -- At Folsom Prison
B1. Isn't It A Pity (Version Two) -- George Harrison -- All Things Must Pass
B2. Poor Little Lamb -- Tom Waits -- Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards
Notes:
8. I saw Patti Smith at The Northrop on Wednesday. It was amazing. She played all of Horses and then another 45 minutes or so of her "hits." I was in awe. When she spit out G...L...O...R...I...A.. during he first song, I was in my happy place. First time at Northrop to watch a performance since the renovation and it was glorious. I had 3rd row seats. Fave show in a long time.
Not albums, just jumping around between songs on Youtube. Selections from all three albums have gotten a good amount of play. Favorites that I've heard so far:
From Hightop Mountain - "Some Days", "Life Ain't Fair And The World Is Mean"*
From Metamodern - "Turtles", "Long White Line"
From Sailor's Guide - "In Bloom", "Call to Arms"
*"Well the most outlaw thing that I've ever done was give a good woman a ring" - Hot damn.
a. Northern Hawk Owl “Alarm Squeals” (Voices of NA Owls)
1. Modest Mussorgsky* “VIII. Limoges, Le Marché” Pictures at an Exhibition
2. Meat Puppets “Lost” Meat Puppets II
b. Red-throated Loon “Wail Calls” (Cornell Master Set)
3. The Field “Soft Streams” The Follower
c. Horned Lark “Song” (Cornell Essential Set)
d. Northern Shrike “Adult Calls” (Cornell Master Set)
4. Twilight Circus Sound System “Rock Salt” Horsie*
5. Roman Flügel “Your War Is Over” Happiness Is Happening
6. Ken Nordine “Ecru” Colors
7. Johnny Cash “Why Me Lord?” American Recordings
8. Roman Flügel “The Mighty Sons” All the Right Noises
e. Hoary Redpoll “Rattle Calls” (Cornell Essential Set)
9. Arvo Pärt “Magnificat (AMR Mix 11)”* Magnificat Mixes
T. Kornél Kovács “”
E. Beyoncé “Get Me Bodied (Extended Mix)” B'Day
*Notes:
1. Performed by the Kraków Radio Symphony, directed by Karl Anton Rickenbacher. This performance is of the Sergei Gorchakov orchestration.
Looking for the spelling of "Gorchakov", I found this horrible-amusing thing:
It's like what if Girl Talk was 98% ironic.
4. Take your pick of Twilight Circus albums, but this is the first one I heard so it's my favorite. The best Dutch Dub you're going to find.
Probably more than a decade ago, Twilight Circus played the 7th Street, opening for Mad Professor, and I didn't notice it until the day after. I'm still bummed. Probably the best 2nd Generation and 3rd Generation dub artists out there.
9. Much more stripped than the one I've got streaming.
So, I went down the rabbit hole on that video.
The dude has three albums of that, though the second was more based around Third Eye Blind's "Semi-charmed Life".
Girl Talk released his albums on Illegal Art. I bought the first Illegal Art album (Deconstructing Beck) and this is much more in that vein than GT.
Juxtaposition to be annoying and jarring (not fun and interesting like GT). At times I've wondered if I've opened another window with auto-play music.
Beatles "Let It Be" vs Black Eyed Peas "Imma Be"
Foo Fighters "Best of You" vs Rockapella's "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego" vs the Folgers jingle vs Tina Turner "The Best"
"Sexual Healing" vs Elton John's "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" with Lion King clips and Nathan Lane's movie version of the song
Wikipedia points me to an AV Club review that aptly calls it "laugh out loud horrifying". That's why AV Club reviewers make the big bucks and I'm still here writing for free.
I think I'm going to go through the whole thing like I did those Twilight Movies: just to see how it ends and then never return to it.
Ha Ha Tonka's new album is out and I'm listening to this crap.
B52's "Love Shack" vs Psycho score (plus a Budweiser frog?)
The work he did with Alanis Morissettte*'s "You Oughta Know" below is stellar:
*Aside: When I first saw that video on MTV (before I heard it, just saw the title in the corner), I joked to a friend "Morrissey's Daughter" based just on that last name.
He went "yeah?". That's why I'm glad there's an internet.
I just realized the pairing of the "Full House" theme and Alanis is a reference to her romance Dave Coulier that inspired the song.
And I'm no longer as interested in it. I still like the torturing Cicierega does to the vox.
Oh the humanity! I've got Smash Mouth "All Star" stuck in my head!
01. Candlemass - "Ancient Dreams", Ancient Dreams
02. Blind Guardian - "Ashes to Ashes", Somewhere Far Beyond
03. Savatage - "Prelude to Madness", Hall of the Mountain King
04. Eluveltie - "Setlon", Everything Remains as it Never Was
05. Dimmu Borgir - "Hybrid Stigmata - The Apostasy", Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia
06. Behemoth - "Christgrinding Avenue", The Apostasy
07. Mael Mordha - "The Sacking of Vedrafjord", Damned when Dead
08. Grave Digger - "Tribute to Death", The History - Part 1
09. Blind Guardian - "The Eldar", Nightfall in Middle Earth
10. Korpiklaani - "Journey Man", Voice of Wilderness
My list turned out to be pretty weird and all over the place today. Just for fun, I thought I'd see how hard it is to make a YouTube playlist. Turns out it's not that hard:
2017/03/10 - FMD
“Ease Down The Road” – Bonnie “Prince” Billy – Ease Down The Road
“Wild And Crazy” – Dr. Octogon – Dr. Octagonecologyst
“Would You Do It For Me” – Tee Fletcher – Eccentric Soul: The Tragar & Note Labels
“Jane Cum” – Japanese Breakfast – American Sound
“Tick” – Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fevel To Tell
“Heart Sweats” – Japandroids – Post-Nothing
“Nakamarra (feat. Q-Tip) – Hiatus Kaiyote – Tawk Tomahawk
“Love Having You Around” – Stevie Wonder – Music Of My Mind
“Sammakkomiehen Päivä” – Kairon; IRSE! – The Defect In That One Is Bleach / We're Hunting Wolverines
“Have You Seen My Son?” – Benjamin Booker – Benjamin Booker
Don't think I'll do this every week, but maybe now and then.
I particularly liked Dr. Octogon on that list.
How is that debut album by Kairon; IRSE!?
I went through it a few times a couple years back, but haven't really revisited it since. I remember shades of GY!BE.
1. “Fool Forever” Thao & the Get Down Stay Down A Man Alive
2. “Kamera” Wilco Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
3. “Go Home” Julien Baker Sprained Ankle*
4. “Cold, Kind, and Lemon Eyes” Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s Animal!
5. “’81” Joanna Newsom Have One on Me
6. “Streets of Laredo” Johnny Cash American IV: The Man Comes Around
7. “Quiet as a Mouse” Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s The Dust of Retreat
8. “Bloodbuzz Ohio (Live at Current)” The National High Violet
9. “Size Too Small (Live in Brussells)” Sufjan Stevens Illinois
T. “Walkin’ After Midnight” Patsy Cline The Ultimate Collection
*Wow, this was #3 on my list last week as well. I have limited space for music, so I know that’s a factor, but it’s still unexpected.
Pandora has changed. I think to be more mobile friendly. Their new website bites on a regular computer.
1. “Iris” – The Goo Goo Dolls
2. “Champagne Supernova” – Oasis
3. “Help Me Rhonda” – The Beach Boys
4. “Suspicious Minds” – Elvis Presley
5. “Ophelia” – The Lumineers
6. “Leave the Light On” – Broken Anchor
7. “In The Waiting Line” – Zero 7
8. “Porcelain” – Moby
9. “Tired Of Being Alone” – Al Green
10. “Breathe” – Telepopmusik
B: “Just Breathe” – Pearl Jam
I feel like Pandora’s randomizer likes to group similar songs, play a few together, then jump to a different grouping, instead of actually mixing up the songs. This list seems to bear that out to me. Especially those last two.
Pandora works fine for me on my PC. I don't see that it's changed at all in the last several months.
If you don't like Pandora's randomizer, you need to be more proactive in your thumbs up/down ratings and add more seeds to your playlist.
I'm very active on the thumbs up and down. The randomizer issue comes in when I mix my stations. It'll play 2 or 3 (or more) songs from the same station in a row, then a different station and do the same thing, over and over. For individual stations, I get good variety.
Apparently the new website started rolling out in November, and they just got around to switching me over to it. There are still basic features - like "add variety to a station" that aren't functional. That's irritating. I've also found it to be slower. That could be a function of the upgrade being too much for our non-broadband internet though, and for most that's not an issue? Hopefully it all gets sorted before too long.
I just heard of this - something I have to make plans to listen to.
The Bug (of London Zoo fame) vs. Earth (of Dylan Carson and lots of wah-wah pedal fame)
that's The Bug (of Techno Animal fame) and Dylan Carlson (of the Miscontinuum scenes fame)
It sounds fantastic however it's billed.
Listening to Sturgill today, Aquinas says "is that the guy who sings 'Ain't No Road' on Follow That Bird?" (Waylon Jennings, for those not in the know.).
Not too shabby.
Hey Philo, if you want to be late to another bandwagon, you could check out Angel Olsen.