youtu.be/Kdp8rLOQ3EU
5. Our Girl – "Something About Me Being a Woman". London trio Our Girl with a quiet, then louder, indie-rock tale calling out misogyny. "Guess it was just bad timing." Yeah, it wasn't just bad timing, you bastard.

youtu.be/wGn8tsWt1A0
4. Primal Scream – "Circus of Life". Glasgow's Primal Scream are back with their first album in eight years, an intoxicating brew of groovy funk, baggy beats, art-rock collage, gospel backing, Stonesy swagger, etc., etc.

youtu.be/MLtfuFAkuzU
3. David Gilmour and the Roots – "Dark and Velvet Nights". The iconic voice and instantly recognizable guitar tone of Pink Floyd return for a victory lap in classic fashion, drawing us into their mysteries.

youtu.be/VRpkKLCWMvE
2. Mulatu Astatke and Hoodna Orchestra – "Tension". Thank the heavens for talented, willing collaborators like Tel Aviv's Hoodna keeping the godfather of Ethiopian jazz making music while we still have him. Astatke is still as vital musically as he was fifty years ago.

My Top 5 Songs of the Week (2024 Week 45):
youtu.be/1npjctLPZSU
1. Trust Fund – "Curtis". Sheffield's Trust Fund return with a quiet track that puts me in mind of Nick Drake: a tasteful arrangement centered around a fingerpicked guitar and a certain wistfulness.

youtu.be/msqM3QGU92A
5. Mogwai – "Lion Rumpus". A typically raucous and epic postrock workout from Glasgow veterans Mogwai.

youtu.be/mraMN1lILXY
4. Richard Dawson – "Polytunnel". Low-fi folk from English singer-songwriter about working in the garden. Deceptively simple, the tune meanders through several different sections and Dawson's entire vocal range. Fearless.

youtu.be/1_qdbyaRmuk
3. Mary Timony – "Curious Tides". Really two songs: an acoustic raga gives way after two minutes to a Heliumesque alternative rock raveup.

youtu.be/awGoM8hU8oE
2. Chastity Belt – "That Guy". Walla Walla's Chastity Belt carry on the tradition of rockin' all-woman jangle pop groups extending back to Salem 66 and Scrawl (to name two of my personal faves).

My Top 5 Songs of the Week (2024 Week 44):
youtu.be/_PK1OcXp1t8
1. LCD Soundsystem – "X-Ray Eyes". I came late to the LCD Soundsystem party, but if this headbobbing earworm is any indication, it's a party that's still in full swing.

My Top 2 Songs of the Week (2024 Week 43):
youtu.be/yGOFNDcRb0g
1. Lots of Hands – "Game of Zeroes". Mixing keyboard washes like the ones The Cure perfected on "Close to Me" (you can hear them better in the horn-free mix) with the ramshackle drums and guitar of indie rock, Newcastle-upon-Tyne's Lots of Hands comes up with a charmer here.

My Top 2 Songs of the Week (2024 Week 43):
youtu.be/yGOFNDcRb0g
1. Lots of Hands – "Game of Zeroes". Mixing keyboard washes like the ones The Cure perfected on "Close to Me" (you can hear them better in the horn-free mix) with the ramshackle drums and guitar of indie rock, Newcastle-upon-Tyne's Lots of Hands comes up with a charmer here.

youtu.be/X1sBgt3t_9w
2. Ducks Ltd. – "Grim Symmetry". The lead guitarist is Australian, the other guy was born in the UK, raised in the US, and they're now based in Canada. So why is their music the perfect expression of New Zealand-style jangle pop? You know what, never mind why. Just shoot this directly into my veins, please.

My Top 2 Songs of the Week (2024 Week 42):
youtu.be/U6sXqOvu7pc
1. Greg Mendez – "Alone". Lo-fi indie folk from Philly, reminiscent of early Elliott Smith or Jeff Mangum. "I'm a lonely winter away from punishment".

You can read an earlier version of the poem in the Spring 2024 issue of BlazeVOX Journal here: blazevox.org/s/Spring-24-Steve (the last poem "When I hear It Don't Come Easy's..." was later incorporated into "Questions 70 & Up") 2/2

youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDJ
Here's a playlist of all the songs referenced in my poem "Questions 70 & Up" from "Dreaming to a Click", my music-themed collaboration with Chris Stroffolino. 1/2

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Steve Carll

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