Billy Bragg

I’ve been feeling Billy Bragg, the legend today ever since yesterday’s tune. And this ‘83 performance just kills me — the guitar playing and just how he sings these declarations with such conviction, laying it out unapologetically. Another great Billy Bragg social activist song really. Don’t be a dick. Treat people with kindness whenever you can. Leave an extra pint.

Billy Bragg & Wilco

Continuing on these two threads of great collaborations and places to hide away…this unlikely trifecta of Billy Bragg, Wilco and the words Woody Guthrie wrote in ‘38 is magical. An all time favorite, especially on a Saturday. The struggle, the hope, the dream.

I’d like to dream my troubles all away on a bed of California Stars

Robert Forster

This beauty has me thinking of weekend hideaways to find peace — a song that somehow always feels fresh and new. I go into a different gear when I hear it — slowing down without losing momentum. There’s a long line of underrated songwriters out there, but Robert Forster deserves a place near the front. This record was released in 2008 after Grant McLennan tragically died of a heart attack at only 48. With the other half of the Go-Betweens gone, there’s a palpable sense of grief, gratitude and joy on THE EVANGELIST. Three rivers running parallel, and crossing over ten tracks. One of my favorites of 2008.

Sparklehorse, Danger Mouse (feat. David Lynch)

Still thinking of Mark Linkous this morning — and this beautiful Danger Mouse record he left us called DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL. This song in particular feels like one of those rare collaborations where each person is necessary and contributes substantially. David Lynch’s lyrics are transcendent and its one of few instances in music where I love Auto-Tune — making his strange vocals even more other-worldly and emotional. And while it definitely feels like Danger Mouse, you feel Mark’s DNA in the songwriting. In the pain and beauty and in that little broken, toy piano.

Sparklehorse

This morning I woke up thinking about Mark Linkous and this song, which I’ve always found so empowering and uplifting. I love the way his guitar sounds and the simple beauty of his whispered, genuine vocal.

Some days go speeding past
Sometimes this one seems like the last

Ben Frost

So love the piano, cello and french horn trio at the beginning of this masterful piece of music. But then they change and evolve and give in to these menacing growls and unsettling short breaths. Again, I chose this live version which is very much like the studio version. Fun and unsettling to watch and get lost in. Before he was a composer, Ben Frost just made albums like BY THE THROAT — soundtracks for movies that don’t exist and perhaps you don’t even need. The music is enough.

Zoo Kid

Playing Nilüfer Yanya yesterday got me thinking of UK prodigy Archy Marshall. Just a teen when he made this (!) I’m still blown away by his sublime vocals and this guitar riff. And the vulnerable, wandering low fi video shows so much maturity. I remember feeling a little betrayed when he switched to King Krule, but clearly the right move to put Zoo Kid to rest.

Nilüfer Yanya

Everything about her little electric guitar riff juxtaposed with her vocals is so right. No one sounds like her in the same way no one sounds like Robert Smith. Love the studio version so much, but this live version really jumps out today and showcases her talent. She’s a miracle and we’re lucky to have her new album PAINLESS which came out last week.

Morphine

These guitars and mandolins sound beautiful and crisp this rainy, Saturday morning — especially under Mark Sandman’s almost whispered baritone. Feeling respect and love for this narrator — who remains in the rearview of someone special. And the vision he has in his living room still feels haunting and cinematic to me.

Late last night I saw you in my living room
You seemed so close but yet so cool
For a long time I thought that you’d be coming back to me
Those kind of thoughts can be so cruel
So cruel
And I know you did it all in spite of me

The Cribs

Some authentic, passionate indie UK Rock n’ Roll to start Friday. Another track that will sound great forever — a shot in the arm for any playlist. That love story buried in that dusty box in your garage.

And in boxes and drawers, I’ll hide our memories / In case I need to live my life again

A special band who’s now making new music and touring. And they have none other than Dave Grohl to thank for not burning out or breaking up.

Sharon Van Etten

Another stunner from S3 of Twin Peaks the Return. I go back to this track often because I love how she sings her dream-like lyrics with such conviction.

I don’t wanna / Everyone else pales / Send in the owl / Tell me I’m not a child

I can see why Lynch asked Sharon play the Roadhouse. What a voice. The recording on her record ARE WE THERE is perfect — but this morning I couldn’t resist this live full band performance in Paris. ❤️

Black Country, New Road

Another new UK band to celebrate — this sprawling tune feels like a requiem for a good friend. It tiptoes in quietly for three minutes until we hear the undeniable vocals of Isaac Wood. I love how the drums and percussion eventually fight with the tempo and mix — as if expressing the absurdity of life and death.

Oh God of weather, Henry knows,
Snow Globes don’t shake on their own

Horsegirl

Every now and again, new music Friday gifts the world a song I’ll be playing the rest of my life. Horsegirl’s single dropped on 3/9/22 and I’ve since played it about 250 times. The bass, the drums, the whiny electric guitar and the two beautiful merging vocals have almost killed me. Something about the way this trio vibes together — not sure what it is, but it feels like perfect creative sync. The video has grain, color, and splitscreen (16mm?) with a final stage bow that has me grinning. And this press picture I’ve attached? These three have been best friends for awhile and know exactly what they’re doing.

Smog

Like the best short stories, this feels incomplete until you realize it’s like a kaleidoscope and you need to keep the rotating the chamber. Even though he’s likely up to nefarious things, I love this unreliable narrator who begins with no, no, no, no — probably saying it to himself or to this endless cycle he’s in. No matter how far wrong you’ve gone, you can always turn around Bill Callahan’s like the Jim Jarmusch of music — even with all the acclaim, he’s still underrated. This song was covered by the great Gil Scott-Heron.

Mark Kozelek & Jimmy LaValle

It’s one of my favorites — and it’s almost like a hymn this Sunday morning with these major chords on the organ. So many beautiful details as Kozelek remembers his Grandpa, his dad, his sister and her children. But at 5:28, the song seems to levitate into the present, with this vigorous gratitude and joy for life.

Death Cab for Cutie

Love that Benjamin Gibbard made up this useful word. He needed something to describe the incomprehensible emotional gap between lovers — when the physical distance is known. So much longing in this song, that gradually builds and soars. The transition between I need you so much closer and So, come on… at 6:30 is one of my favorite moments in music. One of my favorite concert closers. 😌

Arcade Fire

Few songs are simultaneously this triumphant, sad and meaningful. And you can’t call this a music video — it’s a hallucinatory short about grief and family that’s subtle and cinematic with outstanding performances. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Desire

It reminds you of what infatuation feels like. A gorgeous track made complete with these mind-blowing keyboards, silly teen girl talk and la-la-la-la-la’s. ITALIANS DO IT BETTER is a treasure-trove of these lovely, retro yamaha dx7 releases. To cap it off, Megan Louise, the singer of DESIRE is also the president of the label. ❤️

Underworld

A hazy, blissful daydream of a track that begins with a mantra — What don’t lift you, drags you down / Keep away from the darksides Just one of those songs (and duos) that keeps giving to me after all these years. Ever since their ‘89 single Underneath the Radar.

Harry James & Helen Forrest

Woke up thinking of the end of Broadway Danny Rose — Danny’s sweet, sad frozen turkey Thanksgiving with all his misfit acts — then catching up with Tina on the street after not forgiving her. I’m so glad Woody put so much of this era of amazing music in his films, or it may have passed me by. This feel-good stunner is from Hannah & Her Sisters and was #1 for 13 weeks in the middle of World War Two.