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2021 Jul-Sept: I wonder where you might have gone to

Better late than never.

Lots of new songs came out the past few months. It’s starting to sound like a good year of solid releases.

Some highlights:

Big surprise from Kevin Whelan of The Wrens to release some “Wrens-ish” material under Aeon Station.
Guided by Voices continues to release new material that always has a few rocking tracks.
JPEGMAFIA teasing out something new to come.
Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast had a busy year. I just finished her book just as she released the music for the game “Sable.”
Some new live John Coltrane got unearthed.
An incredible Portishead cover by Haley Williams.
Iron Maiden releases a pretty solid album.
Nation of Language keep releasing solid singles before the official album release.

Here’s a [long] playlist of all the new tunes.

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Aeon Station – Queens

This release by Kevin Whelan from The Wrens comes with surprise and anticipation but also some baggage attached. A dispute about money and the never released saga of The Meadlowlands pushed Kevin to release these 5 songs intended for that mirage of an album. Regardless on how this materialized, I’m taking anything I can at this point as I’m tired of posting every few years a hope for an album. The 1st Single Queens is out. I’m already pretty excited for the rest of the release in Dec.

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R.I.P. Richard H. Kirk

Richard H. Kirk, co-founder of the pioneering UK industrial group Cabaret Voltaire died at the age of 65. I recently had to throw away a lot of my old mixed cassette tapes due to flooding from Storm Ida. Seeing the breadth of songs sprinkled in the hand written song titles were proof of the diversity and influence they had on me. Cabaret Voltaire easily fit within the experimental and disruptive electronic noise scene. They were also a gateway into Industrial music.  Richard still continued to make powerful music that hit my top 100 last year. I’ll be taking some time jumping back into their vast discography to rekindle those feelings I had the first time I experienced this band.

 

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2021 Apr-Jun: “Only good for one ride on the carousel.”

Lock down is slowly lifting and venues are slowly letting the show go on.
And new singles keep pouring in.

Girl in Red puts out another great one, too bad the rest of the album can’t follow through.
Sufjan Stevens continues to play with the electronic knobs on his generic ambient works.
Loving the new Gojira.
Kings of Convenience is back. Sounds the same which is just fine cuz their sound is uniquely theirs.
Ida Maria also returns. I was actually thinking about what happened to her as she disappeared just as she was getting big in the states. Last time I saw her was at a chaotic show at Maxwell’s in 2009 that ended in way too many beers with her. New material continues her madness.
Cornelius dropped a silly new single.
Really enjoying all the new Lana Del Rey.
Michelle Zauner is back with a new album and a new book.
Samia releasing a bunch on collabs and a strong new single. She was my pick for best debut album last year and her new stuff is exactly what I was hoping for.
St. Vincent has a new one. It’s a hot mess but an enjoyable one.
And more Black Midi.

Here’s a playlist of my favorite new songs from the past 3 months.

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Lycia – Ionia

30 years ago I was introduced to the cascading guitars and whispering vocals of Lycia. I was floored by what was recorded on a 4 track cassette in June 1991, as I was dabbling with a similar music setup. Ionia was a post-punk musician’s attempt to create an ambient record and became a landmark recording for independent musicians and the underground music scene. Needless to say I was so excited to see it finally being issued on a beautiful double vinyl. A pivotal album for the darkwave and goth scene.