My Top 4 Songs of the Week (2024 Week 16):
https://youtu.be/peA5zf3dBVA
1. Yannis and the Yaw featuring Tony Allen – "Walk Through Fire". Foals singer meets Afrobeat legend in one of drummer Allen's last projects before his 2020 passing, and everyone rises to the occasion. Electrifying. #music

My best of 2024 (so far) playlist is updated regularly and can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDJeO4dNUaIn2mN9hFpBK1szGAA07d8pq&si=ZVqklnxTIwkgAQKq
#music

https://youtu.be/c1fc214w31Q
5. Gimmy – "Bathrooms". Aussie new wave art-punk with faux-European accented vocals taking on taboos like "would you touch my baguette?" #music

https://youtu.be/ElkfRLDSUeA
4. MRCY – "R.L.M." A shot of '70s-style soul updated with a trip-hop beat and some subtle digital effects. "Sunshine spills out the stereo". #music

https://youtu.be/IRLGFWjI1zE
3. Mark Knopfler – "Two Pairs of Hands". If you're around my age, you can't hear that gravelly voice and iconic guitar tone and not think "Dire Straits", even though that band hasn't existed for about 30 years. A perfectly crafted song that—dare I say it?—kinda choogles. #music

https://youtu.be/yRr3nHi4Xfc
2. Paul Cauthen – "Hot Damn". A greasy groove that had me checking the credits for Black Keys involvement (couldn't find any). Ridiculous lyrics, sung with just the right amount of tongue in cheek. I especially like that he couldn't decide whether he's a Cadillac guy or a Trans Am guy, so he just drives both. #music

My Top 5 Songs of the Week (2024 Week 15):
https://youtu.be/MrT3Wx4YnRA
1. Wunderhorse – "Midas". A two minute twenty second, four-chord blast of Brit indie rock that reminded me of Elvis Costello's "On The Beat" with lyrics I think he got by taking a time machine to 1965 and stealing directly from Bob Dylan's typewriter. #music

My best of 2024 (so far) playlist is updated regularly and can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDJeO4dNUaIn2mN9hFpBK1szGAA07d8pq&si=ZVqklnxTIwkgAQKq
#music

https://youtu.be/-MwuoSdILM8
5. Project Gemini – "After The Dawn". A funky bassline grounds this London project's groove while the guitars, keyboard, and West Asian vocal melodies send it careening off into psychedelic spacetime. #music

https://youtu.be/8ALpoMsaoTg
4. Conan Gray – "Bourgeoisieses". Meant as a tongue-in-cheek pisstake on the rich (which should really be referred to as the aristocracy rather than the bourgeoisie, which refers to the middle class, but whatever) with a fun synthpop dancefloor vibe. #music

https://youtu.be/QglDc7tJsCE
3. Ride – "Portland Rocks". Another clinic in creating blissed-out, cough-syrup tempo guitar soundscapes from shoegaze gurus Ride. #music

https://youtu.be/NRb1bvdP7XU
2. Lunchbox – "I'm Yours, You're Mine". Oakland band serves up a sweet slice of late-'60s/early-'70s AM pop with a surprisingly driving beat, a fuzz bass break in the middle, and a trumpet pitched somewhere between "So You Wanna Be A Rock 'n' Roll Star" and "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" #music

My Top 5 Songs of the Week (2024 Week 14):
https://youtu.be/U2xh4-Swzp8
1. The Black Keys – "On The Game". The Keys hit the sweet spot for the third time with another track from their latest LP Ohio Players. Guest Noel Gallagher helps turn the track into a late-'60s Beatles-into-early-'70s ex-Beatles-flavored anthem. #music

My best of 2024 (so far) playlist is updated regularly and can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDJeO4dNUaIn2mN9hFpBK1szGAA07d8pq&si=ZVqklnxTIwkgAQKq
#music

https://youtu.be/_QyvC3MkrAg
5. Holiday Ghosts – "Energy". Falmouth, UK band with a song one could easily mistake for a lost '80s college rock track by The Feelies or Pylon, right down to being inspired by an obscure early Devo track. #music

https://youtu.be/RUxTydBtuSc
4. DIIV – "Everyone Out". Druggy, languorous and hazy slowcore from Brooklyn quartet DIIV, reminiscent of Low and Spiritualized. #music

https://youtu.be/if2juwy6T70
3. Blondshell featuring Bully – "Docket". Two of indie music's leading young lights pair their amazing voices on this intense self-examination set to a hooky, grunge-tinged '90s rock sound. #music

https://youtu.be/6X5U6Pp7u2w
2. Persimmon – "True Crime". New Zealand indie pop band Persimmon mine Go-Betweens-like vocals but lean more heavily on jangle-pop guitars on this timely track about the podcast genre everyone's obsessed with these days. #music

My Top 5 Songs of the Week (2024 Week 13):
https://youtu.be/V5AkcxtHnwU
1. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings – "Don't Wanna Lose You". Tragically, we did lose Sharon Jones to cancer in 2016, but now Daptone Records has unearthed this stunning outtake from her final album. Less about mimicking the sound of classic soul than giving it new life in the moment. #music

My best of 2024 (so far) playlist is updated regularly and can be found here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDJeO4dNUaIn2mN9hFpBK1szGAA07d8pq&si=ZVqklnxTIwkgAQKq
#music