Tag Archives: favorite songs

Twenty Years On: Songs from the Belfry 2003, Part V

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I seem to remember that the New England summer of 2003 was extremely warm and humid, which meant that I’d have the garage door open at night when I worked down in the Belfry. This was well before my parents’ house started seeing more surprising wildlife cutting through the yard, by the way, so there was little expectation of a wildcat or a bear walking its way in to see what was going on.

This was also the time of several weekend road trips! I was still heading into Boston every now and again, spending the day hitting my old book and record store haunts, spending some time in Back Bay and on the Common, then taking the Red Line up to Harvard Square where I’d hang out for a good few hours before heading home again. More locally I was still hitting Toadstool Books up in Keene, and the Newbury Comics/Barnes & Noble run in Leominster. (Sometimes both on the same day!)

Speaking of books, it was around this time that I really started reading more voraciously. Before then, I’d pick up the occasional book I was interested in but stuck with comics for the most part, but I’d finally decided that if I was going to be a writer, maybe I should, y’know, do my homework. I soon had a mountain of books next to my bed with both SF/Fantasy and litfic, ready to be opened.

A lot of money spent on shopping and gas, but it was definitely a fun time!

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Stereophonics, You Gotta Go There to Come Back, released 2 June 2003. I’d been a fan of this band since the HMV days, and still am to this day. This album feels more organic than some of their previous records with some genuinely heartfelt tunes like “Maybe Tomorrow”.

Rob Dougan, Furious Angels, released 3 June 2003. The man who brought us the classic Matrix moment with “Clubbed to Death” released exactly one album, and this was it. Half instrumental and half growly vocals, it doesn’t quite measure up to his signature song (which is included here) but it did work perfectly as writing session soundtrack material. He’s done a lot of production and scoring work, however.

Dave Gahan, Paper Monsters, released 3 June 2003. The other lead singer of Depeche Mode finally released his first solo record this year, and you can kind of tell that his songs are chillier and more visceral than Martin Gore’s whose songs tend to have more heart to them. Still, this one’s an interesting record that proved he could go it alone.

Love and Rockets, Sorted! The Best of Love and Rockets, released 3 June 2003. One of my favorite bands of the late 80s finally dropped a greatest hits to tie in with their expanded rereleases of the last couple of years. It’s a simple selection with not that many deep cuts, but it does prove just how great they were!

Soundtrack, The Animatrix – The Album, released 3 June 2003. The two-fer of Matrix movies was supplemented by a third project, an anthology of American-Japanese animation containing in-canon back stories and side stories, many that actually tied in directly with the three movies, and released as a box set with a dvd and a soundtrack.

Radiohead, Hail to the Thief, released 9 June 2003. After their one-two weirdness of Kid A and Amnesiac, the band didn’t quite return to their previous sound but instead chose to find a middle ground between the two styles. This one’s probably my favorite of their later period and there are a lot of deep cuts on this album that I love.

Duran Duran, The Singles 81-85, released 10 June 2003. Finding singles from this band was always an adventure, considering their first few years were filled with alternate versions, dance remixes and odd b-sides, sometimes only available on import. This box set compiles every one of them up to “A View to a Kill”, and it’s a great mix.

Fountains of Wayne, Welcome Interstate Managers, released 10 June 2003. The third record from this band finally saw them get major airplay thanks to the “Stacy’s Mom” single, but the rest of this record is just as fun and quirky, including the fabulous album cut “All Kinds of Time” which is the best song about football I’ve ever heard.

Ambulance LTD, Ambulance LTD EP, released 17 June 2003. This band from NYC only stuck around for a couple of years before vanishing, but what they put out was a couple of records full of wonderfully understated indie rock. They’re definitely one of those ‘oh, that band! I remember them!’ groups, but they’re well worth checking out.

Michelle Branch, Hotel Paper, released 24 June 2003. I didn’t actually own this album, but I did own its lead single “Are You Happy Now” which I thought was an excellent eff-you pop song that wasn’t sung by Alanis Morissette. Definitely a change from her previous poppier singles.

Liz Phair, Liz Phair, released 24 June 2003. You either loved or hated her, and I think I started with indifference (her 90s single “Supernova” got way overplayed on WFNX), but over the years I’d grown to enjoy her work.

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Coming up next: summer songs and mixtapes

Mixtape: Untitled VIII

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This one’s a long one…a three-taper made in late Spring 1998 in the middle of my stint at HMV Records. This was kind of a transitional time for me — purging old personal drama, starting a brand new science fiction novel and writing more songs and poems, working down in the Belfry at night, going on long road trips, learning how to get rid of all that negativity from the first half of the decade. I stopped hiding and started living again, especially now that I could once again afford to do so.

This mixtape got a lot of play in my first car — a 1992 Chevy Cavalier I’d named the Mach V, in which I’d recently had a tape deck installed — and contains a mix from two sources: the current playlist of WFNX which I’d listened to constantly to and from work, and the extreme expansion of promotional copies of cds that I’d begun to acquire at work. Some songs are alt-rock radio standards today (Flagpole Sitta, The Way) while others are loved deep cuts (Playboys, Fall On Tears), Belfry regulars (God Lives Underwater, Superdrag) and soundtrack songs (mostly from Great Expectations, which I listened to on the regular).

Out of most of the multi-tape mixes, I think this one holds up as one of the best. It’s consistent with only one or two filler tracks, and it contains quite a few of my favorite late 90s tracks.

[Only one track missing and not available on Spotify: Foo Fighters’ cover of Gerry Rafferty’s “Baker Street”, placed between Goldfinger’s “This Lonely Place” and Tonic’s “If You Could Only See”.]

Walk in Silence XXVII

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Dang, how are we on volume 27 already? Or more to the point, how are we not at a higher volume, considering I started the series in 1988? Heh.

Either way, I’m happy to return to making mixtapes more consistently again. I’ve made it a point to give my listening habits a bit more breathing room — and paying attention once more to when a song or album catches my attention, and letting my brain latch onto it instead of just flitting onto the next shiny. I know it’s helping that I made that choice on purpose to tie in with my MU4 novel project, but the real point was to reconnect with why I love to listen to music so much. I’d lost track of that for a while.

[Note: One song is missing from this Spotify version of the mix, “Splinter” by Chatham Rise, which sits between Miss Grit and Beck as track 9.]

What I’m Listening to Lately

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Yes, believe it or not, I am not just listening to Belfry-era albums while writing! In fact, I’ve got a lot of relatively new tunes playing as well! Here’s a smattering of what’s on rotation here in Spare Oom…

The Tubs, Dead Meat, released 27 January. This is totally something I’d have listened to back in the late 80s-early 90s. It’s got that post-punk jangliness I loved at the time (The Church, IRS-era REM, and so on), plus its lyrics are very of that time (and very much similar to those of my band The Flying Bohemians). Thanks to KEXP — again — for introducing me to this great London band!

Belle & Sebastian, Late Developers, released 13 January. It’s essentially leftovers from the band’s 2022 album A Bit of Previous but they stand extremely well on their own. It’s a super fun listen and kind of sounds like a successful mix of their folkier early sound and their poppier later years.

Everything But the Girl, “Nothing Left to Lose” single, released 13 January. Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt are back as EBTG after far too many years and they haven’t missed a beat. This is a stellar song and I’m eagerly awaiting their new album Fuse, which should drop mid-April.

New Order, Low-Life (Definitive), released 27 January. For some reason I always skipped over this album when I listened to this band back in the day, preferring Brotherhood instead, but giving this one a new listen recently has made me realize just how flipping great it is! However, as I’d mentioned to a friend earlier, it occurred to me that this is a stellar album marred by songs being in the wrong key; not that Bernard Sumner is out of tune (he tends to waver sometimes, which I’m used to), but that these songs are so out of his range, as he really strains on some tunes like “Sunrise”. Still, great album!

파란노을 (Parannoul), After the Magic, released 28 January. Noisy shoegaze from South Korea? Of course I’ll give it a listen! You guessed it — another band introduced to me by KEXP. They’re definitely reminiscent of Ride, with songs that sound like light bursts and unassuming vocals that insert themselves perfectly into the melodies.

Dave Rowntree, Radio Songs, released 20 January. The debut from Blur’s drummer is intriguing in that it’s quite moody and mellow but also reveals who might have been behind some of Blur’s more quieter and more introspective songs as well.

Everything Is Fine: The Singles 2022

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For your listening enjoyment, here’s my year-end mixtape! As expected, this one’s a bit all over the place and I’m sure I’m missing a few songs I should have put in there, but I think it still came out pretty well.

To be honest, it kind of mirrors my current status in life: all sorts of nonsense going on in the world, most of which is out of my control, but on the other hand I think I’ve managed to control what I can in my life, and that’s what really matters.

The title comes from the Cheekface song “We Need a Bigger Dumpster” which may not have been my top song of the year (that’s Hot Chip’s “Down”, firmly sitting as Track 5 as always), but it fits perfectly considering.

Hope you enjoy!

I’ll admit I didn’t have the time or the inclination to go into super detail with the end-of-year lists this year, so I will at least provide you with my top favorite albums. You can safely assume that nearly all of my favorite songs of 2022 made it to the above playlist, with a few exceptions!

TOP ALBUMS (listed chronologically with top favorite in bold)

Yard Act, The Overload
The Beatles, Get Back: The Rooftop Performance
The Reds, Pinks & Purples: Summer at Land’s End
Spoon, Lucifer on the Sofa
White Lies, As I Try Not to Fall Apart
Beach House, Once Twice Melody
Nilüfer Yanya, PAINLESS
Bob Moses, The Silence in Between
PLOSIVS, PLOSIVS
Wet Leg, Wet Leg
Hatchie, Giving the World Away
Warpaint, Radiate Like This
Dubstar, Two
Porcupine Tree, CLOSURE / CONTINUATION
Röyksopp, Profound Mysteries I, II and III
The Beths, Expert in a Dying Field
Alvvays, Blue Rev
PVA, BLUSH
The Beatles, Revolver Super Deluxe Edition
The Cure, Wish 30th Anniversary Edition

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See you in 2023!

Ends in Two: Favorite songs and albums of 2022 (Part XII)

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December’s releases were mostly rereleases with a few new albums sprinkled here and there, but those reissues weren’t merely cash-grabs but collections worth picking up and checking out. There were a lot of them this year, weren’t there…? Anyway, this one’s going to be a bit short as well because of that.

Voice of the Beehive, Let It Bee (Remastered & Expanded), released 2 December. One of my favorite albums of 1988, it finally sees a major reissue with several b-sides, single versions and live tracks added. It’s a super fun album full of sassy pop gems. [Music trivia: yes, that’s Woody from Madness on drums! Bedders was also part of the band at one point too!]

Robbie Williams, Life Thru a Lens (25th Anniversary), released 2 December. US listeners might know half these songs better as part of his American compilation The Ego Has Landed, but this is the original UK source album. This was his first peak period with hit singles such as the ubiquitous “Angels”. This too has been reissued with numerous b-sides and live tracks.

Hot Hot Heat, Make Up the Breakdown (Deluxe Remastered), released 2 December. Another reissue of a 2002 album that got heavy play in the Belfry during my writing sessions. “Bandages” was one of my favorites of the year as well, and still pops into my head now and again.

The Reds, Pinks & Purples, Mountain Lake Park, released 2 December. Glenn Donaldson’s output this year has been quite extensive, and with this one — named after a small park here in the Richmond that I’ve walked through many times! — is full of lovely instrumentals recorded around the same time as this year’s Summer at Land’s End (and originally released as a vinyl-only bonus record with that one). And he also dropped a new EP on the 23rd, Dust in the Path of Love.

Paul McCartney, The 7″ Singles box set, released 2 December. A full 159 tracks spanning his entire solo career and containing several rarities such as non-album sides, single edits and international versions. This one’s less about the remixes and all about the original songs.

Leftfield, This Is What We Do, released 2 December. This group sneaks out an album at the end of the year of laid back electropop I love the best: the kind that gets me moving but I can also listen to while chilling out.

The Clockworks, “Blood On the Mind” single 9 December. Yet another single by this great band, this one sounds a bit like early Smiths with its bouncy Johnny Marr-like jangle, but it sounds just as tough as any of their previous singles. I see nothing but success for these lads!

Roger Waters, The Lockdown Sessions, released 9 December. The eternally grumpy Waters released an EP of reworks of his classic songs from both Pink Floyd and solo albums, including an extremely moody reworking of “Comfortably Numb” that gives the original a run for its money.

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…and that’s it for the year! Come back tomorrow for my year-end mixtape and best-of lists!

Ends in Two: Favorite songs and albums of 2022 (Part XI)

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In true Q4 fashion, November contained some new releases but far more box sets and rereleases: Ride’s 4 EPs, Spice Girls’ Spiceworld, Michael Jackson’s Thriller, The Fall’s 1970s, David Bowie’s Divine Symmetry, Erasure’s Erasure, Sparks’ No 1 in Heaven, and the Flaming Lips’ Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots just to name a few. I’ve only mentioned a few here that were of deep personal interest.

SAULT, 11, AIIR, Earth, Today & Tomorrow, and Untitled (God), released 1 November. The mercurial British collective surprises everyone with not just one but five new albums, full of spiritualism, faith and positivity.

Phoenix, Alpha Zulu, released 4 November. I didn’t even know they were coming out with a new record until I heard “Tonight” popping up on satellite radio during our last vacation! I haven’t quite had the time to listen to this too much, but what I have heard I really like.

Seal, Seal [Deluxe Edition], released 4 November. I’ve mentioned this before that this feels more like a Trevor Horn-featuring-Seal album (I prefer his second album to this one), but “Crazy” remains one of my all-time favorite 90s songs. The remaster gives this record a much-needed warmth that was lacking in the original mix.

Fitz & the Tantrums, Let Yourself Free, released 11 November. Another band best heard (and seen) live, they’ve weathered the pandemic and are back with a new and fun album that gets you moving. We’ll be seeing them early next year!

Various Artists, Life Moves Pretty Fast: The John Hughes Mixtapes box set, released 11 November. The most enduring part of nearly every movie Hughes made in the 80s was the eclectic soundtrack. Why lean on big names and commercial sheen when you can introduce your audience to New Order, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Yello, Love and Rockets, Simple Minds, Oingo Boingo and more? His soundtracks were a big part of my youth and introduced me to many ‘college rock’ bands I may not have ever discovered elsewhere. This one’s a surprisingly detailed mix of 74 tracks from eleven different films and worth searching out.

Royksopp, Profound Mysteries III, released 18 November. The electronic band completes the trilogy of introspective thoughts about the unknown. It’s quite the achievement as the albums sound great on their own but also work seamlessly as an extended whole. One of my favorite projects of the year.

bis, Systems Music for Home Defence, released 18 November. This Glaswegian band is still going strong with its unique brand of bubblegummy technopop full of fun and humor.

Soundtrack, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, released 25 November. While most of this record is incidental music by John Murphy, it’s the two Old 97’s tracks that make this one such a treat, full of the same silly humor as the Christmas special.

The Cure, Wish [30th Anniversary Edition], released 25 November. released nearly four years after their previous deluxe edition rerelease (2018’s Mixed Up), my favorite 90s Cure album gets not only an extended review but a fantastic remaster that gives it so much more depth and warmth.

Metallica, “Lux Aeterna” single, released 28 November. The band’s first studio release since 2016’s Hardwired…to Self-Destruct album sees them older and more contemplative but still in full-throttle. Written and recorded during the pandemic along with their upcoming album 72 Seasons, the new track feels like a new direction for them.

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Coming tomorrow: December brings the last few weeks of new music for 2022.

Ends in Two: Favorite songs and albums of 2022 (Part IX)

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Pretty sure it was about this time that I realized that I had not made or completed any mixtapes this year! There’s just the one that I’d thrown together back in March but never sequenced. Shame on me, considering I had the time to do it, but never got around to it. Not going to kick myself about it, though…I’ll have time to start fresh again in the new year. In the meantime, this month definitely had a bumper crop of great new albums and singles that captured my attention!

Two Door Cinema Club, Keep On Smiling, released 2 September. The band has mellowed out a bit over the years, but they’re still consistent with their infectious pop that’s fun to listen and move to.

The HU, Rumble of Thunder, released 2 September. The Mongolian folk metal band returns with another badass record of songs of both battle and peace. We saw them at last year’s Outside Lands and they put on one hell of a great show!

Codeine, Dessau, released 6 September. I remember this band from my college days in Boston — a NYC slowcore band that frequently played in the area and even occasionally got play on WFNX — and this is what should have been their second album before it was shelved to make way for The White Birch instead.

Preoccupations, Arrangements, released 9 September. This noise-rock band consistently releases great post-punk albums full of thick tension and irritation. The new album is a shorter affair but is no less powerful with its walls of guitars and twitchy beats.

Quivers, “If Only” single, released 9 September. One of my favorite Aussie bands sneaks out a standalone single and it’s a lovely torch song. I’m of course looking forward to hearing more from this band!

Sudan Archives, Natural Born Prom Queen, released 9 September. Kind of weird, kind of funky and definitely an album that captures your attention and refuses to let go. I’ve been seeing this one show up on a lot of music journalists’ end-of-year list, and they’re not wrong.

Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, When the Lights Go, released 9 September. Known for his work as a producer and numerous guest spots on other electronic acts (such as BRONSON, where I’d first heard him), this is a great album for chilling out and relaxing.

The House of Love, A State of Grace, released 16 September. I’d always felt this band never got their proper due here in the States other than their occasional single like “I Don’t Know Why I Love You”. Great to see they’re still rocking out and still writing great tunes.

Death Cab for Cutie, Asphalt Meadows, released 16 September. Ben Gibbard seems to be returning back to what DCFC did best in the early 00s: brilliant melodies and heartfelt lyrics that never quite fit the pop mold yet still hit you square in the heart. Still, this one’s also a lot more noisy, kind of reminding me of Kintsugi‘s weirder moments.

The London Suede, Autofiction, released 16 September. So glad to see this band has returned after a number of years on hiatus, as they’ve always written such great heartfelt songs with just that slight hint of glam but without ever quite going full T Rex (I mean, aside from that first album way back in ’93…). The new record is a lovely listen.

The Beths, Expert in a Dying Field, released 16 September. One of my favorites from the last few years, they return with another banger of gorgeous guitar pop that just makes you want to bop around. Highly recommended!

Hooverphonic, “Mysterious” single, released 16 September. Oh hey, one of my favorite 90s bands sneaks out a single as well! Sweet! I’ve always loved their brand of symphonic music that would fit easily both on a dance floor and as a movie soundtrack.

The Clockworks, “Advertise Me” single, released 21 September. Damn, this band just keeps coming out with amazing music! A new song just a few months after their debut EP, it features them at their best: angry yet somehow heartfelt at the same time.

Editors, EBM, released 23 September. This band’s career has taken so many interesting turns: the bleakness of Joy Division, the tension of early Interpol, the grimness of goth, and now they’ve entered an entirely new and more electronic-based field with the addition of Blanck Mass as a full-time member. And they pull it off beautifully.

Asian Dub Foundation, RAFI (25th Anniversary Edition), released 23 September. Completely passed over in the late 90s, this group blended drum ‘n bass with reggae and made a number of brilliant records that hardly made a dent here in the States. “Naxalite” was one of my favorite tracks to listen to during the latter half of my HMV years.

Buzzcocks, Sonics in the Soul, released 23 September. Pete Shelley may have passed away a few years back, but he gave Steve Diggle the blessing to keep the band going, and their new record maintains their classic post-punk rage.

Pixies, Doggerel, released 30 September. Good to see this band is still going strong after reuniting some years back. This one definitely reminds me of Bossanova — not as noisy as their other classic albums and maybe a bit more radio friendly, but not without Frank Black bringing in his weird lyrics.

Bjork, Fossora, released 30 September. It’s been a good five years since her last album, but she’s no less weirder, musically and visually. This is her take on the pandemic, full of songs about loss and desolation, but somehow it still comes across as beautiful.

Dropkick Murphys, This Machine Still Kills Fascists, released 30 September. If anyone could revitalize Woody Guthrie’s protest music and give it a much-needed shot in the arm, it’s these guys. Guthrie’s daughter Nora provided them with his lyrics and they put together a great album full of righteous piss and vinegar.

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Coming up tomorrow: tunes from October!

Ends in Two: Favorite songs and albums of 2022 (Part VIII)

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The end of summer is when the weather adversely turns for San Francisco, getting slightly warmer during the day and getting cooler in the evenings. My work schedule had me working some mornings and some evenings during the week…and I found myself not really bothered by that as I’d thought? Considering the closeness of the Day Job and the lack of mental and emotional burnout, I realized I could get away with adjusting by the week with whatever creative work I had on hand…whether it was journaling, writing, or just posting on one of my blogs, I didn’t feel any stress. And that, I think, was a very good sign.

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Ducks Ltd (feat. Jane Inc), “In Between Days” single, released 2 August. A sunny and straight-ahead cover of the classic Cure tune that tones down the original’s bounciness but maintains its summery sheen.

Cheekface, Too Much to Ask, released 2 August. “We Need a Bigger Dumpster” was definitely my Song of the Summer. I mean, as a Gen-Xer I can only laugh and carry on living despite the world going up in flames, right? The entire album is full of deadpan goofiness and it’s a super fun listen.

Art Moore, Art Moore, released 5 August. Moody dreampop mixed with a lonely alt-folk sound that comes across a little bit like Beach House mixed with Sharon Van Etten, but that’s not a bad thing. The whole album is a pleasant and relaxing listen.

Erasure, Day-Glo (Based On a True Story), released 12 August. The duo takes tracks from their 2020 album The Neon, reconstructs them, and creates an altogether new and surprisingly experimental record in the process. It just goes to show that Andy Bell and Vince Clarke are brilliant songwriters.

Sylvan Esso, No Rules Sandy, released 12 August. Their albums have always been full of quirky and catchy dancepop, and while this one is no different, it’s even more leftfield than usual. No rules indeed.

Kasabian, The Alchemist’s Euphoria, released 12 August. Their first album in five years (and the first after former singer Tom Meighan’s departure, with guitarist Serge Pizzorno taking his place) sees the band going in an altogether different direction, away from its fuzzy post-punk and further into danceable alt-rock. It’s definitely an unexpected direction for them, but they pull it off perfectly.

Collective Soul, Vibrating, released 12 August. This 90s band is still going strong years later, and the new record shows they can still write great rock-out tunes and lovely ballads.

Hot Chip, Freakout/Release, released 19 August. “Down” is firmly in my top five favorite songs of the year, and their new album is high up there as well. They’ve always been just that little bit weird and embracing their inherent nerdiness, but the difference this time out is that this new album goes well beyond that. It’s hard, twitchy, and even a bit dark.

Silversun Pickups, Physical Thrills, released 19 August. Many bands released what was their ‘pandemic’ record over the last year or so, and the theme for theirs is about the desolation of being apart and finding alternate ways to connect to our loved ones. It alternates between deeply sad moments and tense irritation and the end result is amazing.

Royksopp, Profound Mysteries II, released 19 August. The second of three albums from this great electronic band sees them looking back to the influences of their youth, giving the record a very 80s synthwave sound. All three albums are highly recommended.

Karate, Guns & Tanning, “Enchanter” single, released 23 August. This band is one of my favorite new finds of the year (and yes, it was found on KEXP), their sound borrowing heavily from the classic wall-of-sound shoegaze of the 90s and the moodier post-punk of the 80s while still sounding fresh. A band to watch for.

Blondie, Against the Odds: 1974-1982, released 26 August. I grew up with this band always playing somewhere on the radio, yet I never quite got around to listening to them any deeper than their well-known singles. They dropped an eight-disc box set this year featuring all of their classic 70s and early 80s albums including two discs of demos. I look forward to finally giving this one a thorough listen!

Duncan Sheik, Claptrap, released 26 August. I’ve been a fan since his 1996 debut, as he’s a fantastic and very underrated songwriter. He’s been busy with stage and musical work as of late, but it’s great to see him back with a new album after so long!

Altered Images, Mascara Streakz, released 26 August. Speaking of classic bands returning after far too long, this group was best known for their bubblegummy pop in the early 80s and their unexpected return was welcomed by may longtime fans.

UNKLE, Ronin II, released 31 August. James Lavelle returns for a second Ronin volume that’s not quite tied in with the original and not quite a remix album either. As with most UNKLE albums, it’s moody and adventurous, and well worth a listen.

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Coming tomorrow: September tunage!

Ends in Two: Favorite songs and albums of 2022 (Part V)

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By May I was back into the groove of full-time day job work again. Five days a week and hovering right around forty hours, it was definitely not as stressful as the Former Day Job, and I just had to get used to the more physical demands of standing for most of my shift. And getting home at a reasonable hour with time to spare was just what I needed. It wouldn’t be long before I started using some of my past experience to slide into a few extra responsibilities.

Musicwise, I’d started flagging a bit as I wasn’t always able to connect with my daily schedule of listening to KEXP, but I made up for it by keeping an eye on the weekly new releases and sampling new bands.

Belle and Sebastian, A Bit of Previous, released 6 May. I’ve witnessed this band’s evolution since the late 90s and they’ve gone from the bedroom-pop twee (they were the band first given that term, I believe) to quirky modern rock to windy Smiths-style British alternapop. Their latest finds them at home sounding confident and strong.

Warpaint, Radiate Like This, released 6 May. So happy that this band is back after such a long hiatus!! Their sound is still a bit weird and slightly spooky, but also just as infectious as it’s always been. Another band worth checking out their entire catalog.

Dubstar, Two, released 6 May. I’ve loved this band ever since the US version of Goodbye came out in 1997 (the one with their megahit “Stars”), and I’m quite happy that not only did they get back together in 2018, they’re still going strong! The new record is one of my favorites of the year, and I love that they included a cover of my all-time favorite REM song on it!

The Smile, A Light for Attracting Attention, released 13 May. Sounding a lot like the quieter moments of OK Computer and the less-manic moments of Amnesiac, Thom and Jonny’s full album finds them writing some of their best introspective and adventurous music.

Florence + the Machine, Dance Fever, released 13 May. I’m still not sure what to make of this album as it’s definitely more leftfield than her usual (and that’s saying a lot, considering) but it’s a curious and entertaining listen.

Various Artists, For the Birds: The Birdsong Project Vol I, released 20 May. The first of five multi-disc volumes for an extremely curious and expansive project from National Audubon Society featuring spoken-word poetry and music about our avian friends. Interspersed with writers are musicians such as Beck, Nick Cave, UNKLE, Karen O, Beach House, and more.

Liam Gallagher, C’MON YOU KNOW, released 27 May. The younger brother’s turn in the spotlight doesn’t quite have the bombast as his earlier solo works (most likely due to pandemic reasons keeping recording at a minimum) but it actually works in his favor here; you’re not focused on the grandiosity and instead on the guitar groove and the tight songwriting. Our Boy has come a long way since his former band’s days.

Wilco, Cruel Country, released 27 May. Long labeled as purveyors of alt-country — much to their chagrin — they turn the tables this time out and completely embrace it with nearly all live takes of full-on twang alternafolk, and the end result is an amazing collection of high lonesome melodies and lovely tunes.

jennylee, Heart Tax, released 27 May. Not only do we get a new Warpaint album this month, we get a solo album from its bassist! This one’s much darker and more sedate than her band’s release, meandering and moody and contemplative. An album to listen to late at night.

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Tomorrow we hit the halfway point of the year with tunes from June!