The Mekons

NEXT TO MY TURNTABLE I have an old 80GB iPod hooked up directly to powered speakers in my office — thousands and thousands of songs ready for quick shuffling. This morning MEMPHIS EGYPT came on and it just set the momentum for a happy, happy day of prepping for tomorrow’s film shoot. These guitars just rip and I loved jumping into this one.

The Flaming Lips

We were out in the park shooting footage for our film in shorts last night at 11:30 PM. The warm evenings are here and it felt so good not to have my jacket along. It got me thinking about this great song from YOSHIMI which celebrates the beauty of summer, even with significant internal sadness. One thing I love about Wayne Coyne and the band is that they reach high for beauty, love and life — but their music is still grounded in reality. It’s often fun and weird, but it’s mostly about being human and getting through. ❤️

Cass McCombs

This song’s only a few weeks old and it’s been haunting me. Such an underrated singer/songwriter who always surprises me. This is an early single from an album called HEARTMIND which will come out August 19th. I love the feeling this song evokes. How his discharge date is etched in his soul. How Cass compares enlistment age to those of a few famous authors. So rich. Even the idea of feeling unproud is so heavy, so sad. I wonder how many veterans feel this way?

You built your house alone. 💔

Thom Yorke

It is the 3 year anniversary of ANIMA — perhaps the best pre-pandemic record and film eerily telegraphing the absurdity of what was coming down the pike. So many of us are still making our way through this bizarre time, searching for purpose, for meaningful experiences, for love — but the ground is unstable and the path is changing. And some things are growing darker. Still, we keep going, even as we so often find ourselves right back where we started and the cycle starts all over again. DAWN CHORUS is one of Yorke’s most gorgeous songs.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

From their first album in 9 years…what a single and what a terrific collab w/ Perfume Genius. Hearing this on JPR radio the other day while I was driving was an anachronistic experience. I rarely hear new music like this these days and it was wonderful! The “never had no chance” kills me for some reason. Can’t wait for this record. Out in September with only 8 tracks.  👀

NINE INCH NAILS

From Twin Peaks the Return’s S3 EP08 which premiered 5 years ago today! Without spoilers, this episode is a hallucinatory deep dive into the origin of evil and BOB — how he came to be. How the seeds of corruption might be planted, take root and begin growing. This NIN song will always be connected to the surreal EP08 because they perform it live at the ROADHOUSE and because Reznor wrote this stunning song for it.

Jon Brion

An astonishing piece of work. The piano, the arrangement and mix just sweeps me up in the air. It’s an emotional tune, with highs and lows. And it has a whimsical quality at times. But most of all, it captures the strange, beautiful, devastating plight of Joel and Clementine. 💔

The Waterboys

Tune might be my all-time favorite opening track to any album. 👀 The title track to the startling, brilliant FISHERMAN’S BLUES from ‘88. It just rips and moves me. And MIKE SCOTT as a front man is special. What…a…band. 🥰

World Party

This beauty has such a wonderful guitar riff and lyric. Without being too sugary sweet, it’s a song that just calls out the mystery and joy of being alive in the present with profound, delirious clarity. 😊

The Flaming Lips

My heart is full and I realize it right now in this moment. And so it made me think of this one, which might very well be a top ten song of all time. I can’t think of a more adventurous, creative band to be honest — Wayne Coyne and company are true artists who have been at it a long time! Still on the cutting edge in 2022, but this still might be the song they’re remembered for.

Roger Waters

This pandemic has really played with my sense of time — like it managed to push three years into one. Still, this might be my favorite album title of the new millennium, IS THIS THE LIFE WE REALLY WANT? It’s a great question and one Roger isn’t afraid to ask or contemplate. This terrific song rails on the evil in the world and how it is putting everything we hold dear at risk. And hopefully in the end we’re still clinging to love, even if we lose everything.

Roger Waters

Heard this 1987 song from the pool in Palm Springs today...this one makes me think of our culture evolving and changing and? Getting better. So often it can feel like things are getting worse.I was fortunate to see this concert as a young kid and Roger had a big impact on me. His empathy and insight was always way ahead of it’s time. And I think it still is. But this little melody and these lyrics and Roger’s voice — with that closing choir? It’s an incredible, underrated piece of work.

Adrian Borland

When I think of Adrian, I often think of this song and it gives me a glimpse into one of his darker days. I love his guitars here too — how they grind and carry us through this dark day with an ironic sense of toughness and swagger. Another dark day, but it will end. This one is from a record called CINEMATIC — yet another minor masterpiece from this great artist.

Adrian Borland

God I love how Adrian named this album 5 AM and ended this terrific record with a song called BEFORE THE DAY BEGINS. Because those demons come for us at night. In our sleeplessness. Especially as we get older, because we don’t sleep as well. All those fears. All those feelings of doubt.

White Rose Transmission

God, I love this thumbnail photo…it just makes me happy.

This great song is from Adrian’s side project WHITE ROSE TRANSMISSION, a two album collaboration with the brilliant Carlo Van Putten. Carlo wrote the words and Adrian wrote this gorgeous music. I don’t have a translation of the lyrics, but what a gorgeous, uplifting song with an ironic title that translates: ALONE.