New songs for July 6th, 2022

 here they are:


"Cracker Island" by Gorillaz (featuring Thundercat): Thus far, no Gorillaz song has reached near the levels of popularity and catchiness that "Feel Good, Inc." and "Clint Eastwood" have, but no song that these fictional, non-human primates have recorded has been lackluster, and "Cracker Island" is no exception to the rule! Contemporary R & B musician, Thundercat, guests on Gorillaz' latest song, "Cracker Island," a song whose apocalyptic lyrics slip under the radar thanks to its super-catchy sound. How a "band" of musicians who are figments of Damon Albarn's imagination have managed to outlast many three-dimensional, human-led bands is truly a wonder to behold, but if you consider that just about every hit they've had has managed to get into the heads of many creatures who aren't "Gorillaz," it should make sense. 

"Miles and Miles" by The Heavy Heavy: Hey hey! Is there an echo, is there an echo, in here, in here?! Both the song title AND the band who does it contain repetition! "Miles and Miles" is the debut song of the American-sounding British duo, The Heavy Heavy, and its country-rock sound is fitting to its theme of being on the road. The song's simultaneously mellow yet energetic sound combined with its road-centered lyrics make this one a great summer treat!

New songs for November 4th, 2020

 here they are:


"One More Second" by Matt Berninger: Matt Berninger and his band, The National, could probably be described as "bitter", among other adjectives, in terms of both their music and their lyrics. Having recently struck out on his own, Matt has gone from bitter to bittersweet with "One More Second." There is a good reason that this song sounds sweeter than most of the tunes that Matt has done with The National. He wanted to write a song that was on par with songs like Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" that elicited similar emotions from listeners. While the song will likely never achieve the level of fame and love that that one did, the effort Matt put into "One More Second" really shows, and you can tell he put more heart into this song than he has into anything he did previously!

"The Adults Are Talking" by The Strokes: What a year it has been for The Strokes!! 20 years after their debut, during which their hit song, "Last Nite", raced up the alt-rock charts, their song "Bad Decisions" not only raced up both the alt-rock charts and the adult alt charts, but it is also likely to be my number one song of the year! (Which is scarily apt, considering how many bad decisions we've all made this year so far!) To top it all off, they were also the most recent musical guests on SNL! Their followup song, "The Adults Are Talking", doesn't seem near as catchy as "Bad Decisions", but it still memorable in its own way. "The Adults Are Talking" has a mellower sound and beat, but Julian Casablancas' guitar work still shines through in a more subtle manner here. Lyrically, "The Adults Are Talking" continues in the pattern of "Bad Decisions" of being about a bad decision, specifically one person cheating on another. The song is executed in such an insouciant manner, however, that you'd never be able to tell unless you listened carefully enough!

"The Valley of the Pagans" by Gorillaz (featuring Beck): Gorillaz latest album, "Song Machine", is to them what "Supernatural" was to Santana: an all-star album! Musicians ranging from cult faves like St. Vincent and Joan As Policewoman to major stars like Elton John to alt-rock legends like The Cure and Beck can all be found on this album! Not bad for a band that's comprised of fictional cartoon characters! "The Valley of the Pagans" is stellar track for both Beck and Gorillaz! It's an uber-catchy song whose lyrics are reminiscent of the "word salad" lyrics that Beck had on his breakthrough hit, "Loser." The chorus of "The Valley of the Pagans" mentions the phrase "it feels so good" four times. You don't need to think too hard to understand why. This song is one that makes you feel good, that's why! 

New songs for the 4th of July 2018!!

It's a Wednesday AND the 4th?! Let the celebration begin!!


"Apollo" by St. Paul and The Broken Bones: There seems to be a trend this year for contemporary musicians who emulated '60s R & B previously to go one decade forward for their next release. Leon Bridges has already done it this year, and now it's St. Paul and The Broken Bones' turn. It's a bit disappointing to hear the Alabama sextet go from an Otis Redding styled sound to a more disco influenced one, but "Apollo" is not a bad song. For one thing, it still contains the horns that SPATBB's other songs are known for having. However, the resulting song still sounds like what it'd be like if Wilson Pickett tried covering "Rock With You" by Michael Jackson. Something here just doesn't add up. At least it has a groovy rhythm, though.


"Humility" by Gorillaz: The Gorillaz and The Monkees have a few things in common. Aside from the obvious fact that both groups are named after primates (and how they're also perpussly myspelld rokgrüps), they're also both bands who...well...aren't really bands! The Monkees were originally marketed as a "TV band", and Gorillaz are a cartoon band. Yes, a cartoon band, similar in concept to The Archies and The Chipmunks, but far more edgy and modern than either one. Among their best known songs is the aptly named "Feel Good Inc.", the feel-good techno-pop summer jam of 2005. "Humility" is another feel-good summer jam for the band (or faux-band, rather), although it has a slower, more chilled out sound than "Feel Good Inc." The lyrics of "Humility", centering largely around isolation, are also darker in tone than "Feel Good Inc." They both SOUND like feel-good songs, though!


"Miracle Man" by M. Ward: M. Ward's musical style has always felt a little out of step with current trends, but that's part of his charm. His latest song, "Miracle Man", sounds a bit like Roy Orbison's "(Oh) Pretty Woman", especially in the beginning. Another thing "Miracle Man" shares in common with Ward's other material is its short length, barely measuring up to a mere 3 minutes. The song itself isn't exactly a miracle, but the way it was released kinda was. It arrived quietly, without any real hype surrounding it. How perfect, then, that we're hearing this one for the first time on the 4th of July, so it can start off life with a bang!


"1950" by King Princess: Both the title of the song and the name of the performer here are somewhat enigmatic. I mean, what's a "king princess"?! Is it a king or is it a princess...and does that mean there's a Queen Prince as well?! The title of the song also seems somewhat arbitrary. 1950 wasn't really known for being a particularly memorable year, after all. Turns out, there's an explanation for both, and they're both discussed in the song! The moniker "King Princess" comes from how the performer is a lesbian, and therefore a "princess" by gender, yet a "king" in terms of what people expect her behavior to be like. As for the year that gives the song its title?! Well, it actually represents the decade of the 1950's, when LGBTQ people were far more oppressed than they are today. The song is a protest against people who are not open minded about those whose sexual orientations aren't "traditional". So has society now gone back to "playing 1950", as King Princess says in her song?! Yes and no, to be honest. However, the point of the song is to challenge societal norms more than it is about asking whether we have truly made progress in our points of view about sexuality.

There will be no blog this time...

....APRIL FOOLS!! Yeah, I had to throw one in there a day late! Anyway, here is today's blog:


"Dark Sunglasses" by Chrissie Hynde: Just from the title of this song, I guessed that this song would be one of the "tougher" sounding songs of the Pretenders frontwoman's catalog. Boy, was I right! Not necessarily hard rock here, but certainly rock!! Opening with a cowbell driven percussion section, "Dark Sunglasses" is full of both attitude and mystique. This is my first taste of Chrissie minus The Pretenders, yet it still sounds like The Pretenders! It doesn't quite sound like a solo effort with its full band instrumentation keeping it together. However, it's still great to know that even into her 60's, Chrissie can still rock it, and sound as young as ever!!


"Fall In Love" by Phantogram: One woman, one man, yet tons of sound!! This is a good way to describe the New York duo known as Phantogram, whose debut song, "Fall In Love", takes electronica to new, more orchestrated heights! In fact, "Fall In Love" doesn't even open with electronic instruments, but instead with a string section. The synthesizer in the song comes in at about 30 seconds into the song. Sarah Barthels' soothing vocals contrast with the scathing lyrics of the song (i.e. "I was the reason you feel sick inside", "The lines on my face that ate away my smile", etc.) In spite of all this, "Fall In Love" still lives up to its title, and makes you want to do exactly as it says, with its sultry, seductive sound!


"Lanterns" by Birds of Tokyo: For any anime/Japanese culture fans who may be reading this, I hate to burst your bubble, but no, Birds of Tokyo aren't actually from Tokyo. They are an Australian band who named themselves after a newspaper headline that talked about the increasing endangering of birds in Tokyo. Their song "Lanterns" is a rather dreamy, wistful sounding one, set to sparkly synthesizers, tranquil vocals, and poetic sounding lyrics like, "On we march to the midnight sun, we will light our way with our lanterns on". Midnight is definitely a good time to be listening to "Lanterns", but preferably when envisioned as a still, starlit midnight, as opposed to one bustling with nightlife.


"Mr. Tembo" by Damon Albarn: Damon is one hard working British musician! He started out in the Brit-pop group, Blur (whose biggest hit, the "woo-hoo" dominated "Song 2", didn't sound a THING like most of their songs), and then went onto unlikely success as a band of wild, hip-hop/techno loving cartoon primates in The Gorillaz. A lot of his material can be described as "quirky, but edgy". His latest song, "Mr. Tembo", is certainly quirky (just look at the title of the song!) Edgy?! Not really. In fact, I'd even venture to say that it sounds like a Latin tinged version of a Raffi song! It's certainly repetitive and (insanely) catchy enough to be compared to Raffi! The subject of the song is in the chorus, about "Mr. Tembo, and what he's going to do". So who IS "Mr. Tembo"?! I haven't the slightest idea! Sure is a fun song, though!


"Take Me to Church" by Hozier: The funny thing about most successful Irish musicians is that you can't really tell they're Irish at first when you hear them sing!! Just ask Bono, or Van Morrison, both of whom have that soulful sound that fellow Irishman Hozier has now adopted with his debut song, "Take Me to Church". The "church" in the title of the song is not your grandma's church, though, make no mistake! "Take Me to Church" is not meant to sound like uplifting gospel music, but rather like a slow, aching dirge, exposing the dark side of religion and spirituality. The chorus opens with the title of the song, followed by lyrics like, "I'll worship like a dog in the shrine of your life", and "I'll tell you my sins while you sharpen your knife". Chilling words, but sometimes it can be just as enlightening to explore the dark side of life as it is to explore the light side!