2025 was another good year in the world of music. My official spreadsheet lists these 18 new releases that I particularly enjoyed this year. 

The Near Jazz Experience

Tritone

Jazz has been a gold mine of new music the last couple of years, and The Near Jazz Experience gives us a glimpse of that sound. Hailing from London, the instrumental trio is Mark Bedford, Simon Charterton, and Terry Edwards. Formed in 2018, they create improvisational, hypnotic, and funk-driven music with electronic elements, often described as a mix of jazz-fusion and ’60s film soundtracks. The band features a “heavy” rhythm section (Bedford/Charterton) with Terry Edwards playing multiple instruments, including alto/tenor saxophones simultaneously. https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_n2TdDzbi9Z_XFQ1fs283HFJQcRiGLVGuw

Duncan Lloyd

Unwound

I don’t know much about Duncan Lloyd, but I do like this album. I guess I would call it atmospheric indie rock, whatever the hell that means. It is good music and will need more listens to soak it all in.

John C. Reilly & Mister Romantic

What’s Not To Love

When I saw the cover of this album, I knew that I had to listen to it. John C. Reilly has a face that, once you see it, you’ll never forget. He has been a very busy actor, starring in dozens of movies and series. You can check out his résumé on Wikipedia. This is his first solo album, though he has a strong CV in both music and acting. This is not your typical rock/pop recording. I don’t know what genre it would land in, so listen to it and let me know what label you would slap on it. This is definitely on my like list for 2025.

Matthew Nowhere

Crystal Heights

Matthew Nowhere is another artist who came onto my radar in 2025. I copied this from Bandcamp: Matthew Nowhere is a vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and producer. 
Blending vintage-inspired sounds from the best eras of music, he shares deeply authentic and soulful music that speaks to the power of love to overcome all obstacles. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, he now lives in Nevada County, California. I don’t know why, but I seem to be a magnet for music that touches on some aspects of space and its environs.

Bible Club

Umbra

The Bible Club makes atmospheric, dreamy music that touches on numerous genres. I was drawn in by their fresh sound and thought-provoking lyrics. It’s been so long between the time that I first heard them and this refresher that I feel like I’m discovering them all over again. Bible Club is a Bristol-based band creating an authentic fusion of post-rock, post-punk, and shoegaze. 
After the success of their first EP, ‘AD’, Bible Club have gone on to work with producer Dom Mitchison on their latest EP, ‘Umbra’. Yet another album, with more songs about space.

From the press release, I copied and pasted this because it said everything I wanted to say, so why reinvent the wheel?

Umbra emerges as the band’s most conceptually innovative and ambitious record to date, vaulting listeners into a bleak and hypnotic landscape corrupted by the symptoms of late-stage capitalism. The band describes it as exploring the“darkest shadow of our times – the umbra – a shadow cast by a force that overpowers.” The EP’s five tracks deliver an unflinching takedown of consumerist society, with lyrics exploring themes of delusion, isolation, misguided optimism, and indulgence.

“Umbra captures the stark awareness of a world stuck in disarray,” the band explains. Their seamless fusion of post-punk, post-rock, shoegaze, and politically charged spoken word is propelled by guitars that seamlessly shift between stark, asymmetrical patterns and unified, powerful waves. This foundation is energised by jumpy, technically impressive drumming that maintains a kraut-inspired motorik rhythm throughout.

A standout amongst the collection is the EP’s focus track ‘Plastic Apples’, boosted by overdriven guitar and characterised by sonic chaos that mirrors the song’s exploration of the “far gone world of post-consumerism.” The track sees Bible Club at their loudest and most unleashed, with a first half reminiscent of Sonic Youth’s 1990s era and a thought-provoking second half that underscores their unapologetic critique of a late-stage capitalist dystopia.

Producer Dom Mitchison drove the band to achieve their vision for this project, which represents a creative leap of faith and significant evolution since their debut EP, AD, released in 2024. “We wanted to focus on our songwriting and explore where we could take our next project, with a developed sound and a core concept,” they add, “Working with Dom Mitchison was a massive inspiration, helping us to achieve what we envisioned. It felt like a studio experience that we’ve truly grown from.”

Formed in 2021, Bible Club has proven itself as a refreshing voice in Bristol’s growing music scene. Drawing influence from pioneering acts like CAN, Electrelane, and Spacemen 3, the band creates an authentic fusion of styles, constantly inspired by peers, pioneers, and deep cuts. Their captivating live performances take audiences through contemplative soundscapes to visceral chaos, earning them a strong following along the south coast.

A big thank you to Charlotte Lewis | Bark. PR | Press Assistant 

https://www.barkpr.co.uk

Isolated Youth

miserere mei

Nothing atmospheric here, folks. Isolated Youth charge headlong into our lives. Rock? Yes, definitely. Post-punk? Check. Goth? OK! I was in Sweden in October, and in the excitement of finally being there, I forgot to buy this album. Their press release touts them as hailing from the remote coastal town of Norrtälje. I looked it up on a map. It seems we have different definitions of “remote. My grandparents came from Korpilompolo. That is remote. I have a cousin who lives in Gällivare. That is remote. As remote as Norrtälje may seem to some, their music is not remote. It’s in your face. It is forceful. It marches forward to break out of the bleak Swedish winter. It cries out to be heard and to give a voice to the voiceless. “Miserere me“i was recorded next door to a graveyard. I love this band. I hope Santa gives me a vinyl copy of this album; that would be sweet.

Black Rose Burning

Fear Machine

We’ve got some momentum going now, let’s keep the energy high and blast out of 2025. Black Rose Burning is just the ticket to make that happen. High-energy postpunk and more, Blackrose was created by instrumentalist, producer, and engineer George Grant in 2018. I listen to this, and I hear overtones of prog rock in the layers of sound that Grant has built from the ground up, in the space stories his songs are about, and in the way he keeps my interstellar theme going.

Max Rael

The Enemy Is Us

Max Rael takes us on a trip with electronica as the mixtape. Max lays down layers of sound, which he speaks over with lyrics that chronicle a world full of corruption, greed, and brutality. His debut solo album, ‘The Enemy Is Us‘, was released via London imprint Liquid Len Media. Offering up a dark bouquet of minimalist synth, darkwave, and spoken-word electronic pop, this album introduces Rael’s compelling ‘futuretroist’ sound: an alternative sonic universe built on a unique sound design that feels at once familiar and alien. Not for everyone, but if you give this album time to build a head of steam, you will be rewarded with something new and perhaps a challenge to us in our staid existence.

The Jack Rubies

Visions In The Bowling Alley

I am a sucker for the violin. Double that for electric violin. Triple if it is a rock song. The Jack Rubies delivered that on this album. There are a couple of killer tracks in this offering of great music. I am hard-pressed to pick just one track, but “My Perception,” “Phantom,” and “Are We Being Recorded” stand out and have been released as singles. I see “Are We Being Recorded” as a counteroffer to “Everything Is Recorded” by Richard Russell. Both tracks are worth spending some time listening to. I don’t have a genre to neatly slot The Jack Rubies into. The PR calls them post-punk, a throwback to their early sound in the late 1980s. They offer catchy hooks, intelligent lyrics, and that is a winner in my blogging world.

Thanks to Christina Bulbenko and Rex Broome at Big Stir Records for this suggestion.

Louie Blue

Blood and Bones

From my original post in September of 2025: Blasting out of Finland, Louie Blue grabbed my attention, thanks to Charlotte Lewis of Bark. PR. The album is entirely composed, written, arranged, produced, and mixed by Louie himself, with mastering handled by Aleksis Raivio. In working on Blood & Bones, Louie built his own recording studio and acquired an impressive array of instruments, including a new bass guitar, drums, and a synth. Louie Blue tells us, “I leaned into analog textures and a raw, organic production style. Everything was recorded on tape using live instruments and vintage techniques. I wanted the sound to be warm and imperfect—an antidote to today’s hyper-polished pop.” Louie’s own creative direction accomplishes a retro vibe and unique sound.

Lyrically, Blood & Bones explores spiritual introspection—discerning what he needs in life versus what he doesn’t. “Blood & Bones is a personal exploration of identity, growth, and artistic truth. At its core lies my desire to understand who I am—and who I’m becoming,” says Louie. “The songwriting reflects a journey of emotional maturity: accepting hard truths, embracing myself in the present, and consciously stepping away from external pressures to fit in or follow trends.” The album chronicles his attempt to tame “this sort of learned hunger for irrelevant things by enjoying and romanticising life as it comes, without wanting more,” while simultaneously surrendering to “love, lust and the magic of brief romances that almost feel like fairytales.”

End of quote, and all of that is still relevant today.

Ólafur Arnalds, Talos

A Dawning

I have enjoyed Arnalds’ music for quite some time now, but I was unaware of Talos until I scored this slab of vinyl from a shop in Reykjavík.  A Dawning, the deeply moving collaborative album from Icelandic composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Ólafur Arnalds and the late Irish singer-songwriter Talos (Eoin French). Blending the two artists’ unique musical voices, it moves between moments of raw emotion and luminous hope, inviting listeners on a powerful sonic journey. With its eight evocative tracks, A Dawning stands as both a celebration of artistic partnership and a heartfelt tribute to Talos’s enduring legacy. All artwork was created by Talos himself, offering a personal window into his creative vision. This is music to keep us afloat in dark waters, guiding us towards a glimmer of light on the horizon.

The Prayer Chain

Communion

This is a remastered version of the original album, released on August 31, 1994. I have been a fan of The Prayer Chain since their 1995 release, Shawl. I also have them on at least one compilation. The band has been called “the epitome of the Christian underground”. The Prayer Chain was known for producing moody, angst-ridden music, which, in turn, resulted from creative differences within the band and with their record label. This is a good remix.

Jessie Kilguss

They Have A Howard Johnson’s There

From my blog, November 2025: I have listened to this album about a dozen times this week, and I am still wordless, still listening. I can heap accolades upon it because I honestly, thoroughly, and thoughtfully enjoy this recording. Jessie has a voice that is expressive and passionate, rising above the music and then returning to earth to start again.

The song “St. Teresa in Ecstasy” reminds me of Leonard Cohen. It builds, releases, and builds again. I feel drawn to the ecstasy and epiphany that she emotes in her singing. Powerful. Mesmerizing. A song to get lost in and drift away. A song within an album that I keep hitting repeat after every listen.

Update! My beautiful wife, Valerie, sat and listened to the whole album with the lyrics and liked it. She doesn’t listen to much music, but she listened to this album start to finish, with one pit stop. After listening to St. Teresa in Ecstasy, we listened to Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen, with him singing to a live audience. To my ears, there is certainly some connection between those songs. Is it spiritual? It could be. Is it lyrical? I think so. Is it musical? I hear the lift and the music as it builds tension, then releases it, only to start again in both songs. Are they the same? No, they are two distinct songs, but something is going on that causes me to draw a connection between St. Teresa in Ecstasy and Hallelujah.

Back on solid ground, I listen to the rest of the album, which is all good music, and then hit repeat.

A shoutout to Shauna McLarnon at Shameless Promotion PR

The Gold Needles

Mood Elevator

From my blog, November 2025: How do you take your classic rock? Via a gold needle perchance? Not I! I take mine to the top on a mood elevator. Mood Elevator by The Gold Needles is straight-up classic rock and roll. Nothing fancy, but clean and well presented. Not sounding like any blast from the past through my old ears, The Gold Needles have developed something new out of something old. Classic rock with a new vibe. Well-written song lyrics complement the musicians’ infectious grooves.

So, I had a good night’s sleep, listened to this album again as I read the mail, and enjoyed my first cup of joe. I like it more today than yesterday. They took my brain for a ride through music that sounded like the best of the seventies, but with a new twist. And then they broke out of that cloud and into another with overtones of modern alt-rock. I’m just enjoying every element of this album. They may be contenders for my album of the year. Thanks to Christina Bulbenko and Rex Broome at Big Stir Records for this suggestion, pure gold, my friends.

AudioGust

Falling From Down

From my blog, November 2025: AudioGust is another band that fits into the all-encompassing “classic rock” genre.Falling From Down is not earth-shattering; it is just good old down-to-earth rock and roll played and sung by competent practitioners of that art. These folks kept me listening to find out what the next song would sound like. AudioGust are musical chameleons, changing the colours with every song. Variety is the spice of life, and Falling From Down is a spice rack of good music.

Thanks to Shauna McLarnon from Shameless Promotion PR for this one.

2025 gave us some really solid new material, as each of the above albums illustrates. It was also a year of moving through my albums from the letter “L” to the letter “S”. I am still moving through “S”; it has a big population. There are too many highlights to list here; suffice to say, it was fun to hear the variety.

The boring part, statistics.

600+ listens of full albums

Unknown singles and partial albums

Oldest album, Jimmie Rogers from 1956

The year with the most albums: 1972, which makes sense because I was a teenager who was discovering the world of rock and roll. The 60s and 70s were the most listened to decades. 2025 had only 30, which makes sense because my focus was on vinyl, mostly older material.

Genres

Rock 274

Prog 43

Pop 163

Folk 57

World 21

Country 97

Jazz 33

Psychedelic 42

All of these are generalities because it would be too anal to list all of the subgroups of the different genres. 

I listened to Dark Side of the Moon 6 times, making it the favourite for the year. Pink Floyd was the most popular group, which comes as no surprise. In second place was The Jack Rubies, a new album and a new group to me.

439 slabs of vinyl

78 CDs

169 streamed/online

Tomorrow is a new day and a new year, and I am sure it will be full of good music. Thanks to everyone who brought new music to my attention. Thank you to all the artists who created music, both old and new. Thank you to anyone who actually reads these blogs. Thank you to my wife, Valerie, for giving me the time and space to make this blog happen.

The music this week featured a bunch of guys named Smith, the intersection of faith with music, and my adventures in buying and selling used records.

First up, the Smiths, not the band, I listened to Strange Ways Here We Come last week. This week I listened to Arthur, Carl, Hank, and Stuff, a quartet of Smiths. All four of these records came from boxes of assorted records I bought last winter and only just now got around to listening to. The first three also share the genre they play and sing in: Country Music. Stuff played jazz. The C&W albums were released in 1963, 1969, and 1970, respectively, and they showcase the golden era of traditional country and western music. Stretching from the 1940s into the 1970s. Stuff Smith was active from the 1930s until his death in 1967.

Arthur Smith was a huge success in the 1940s and ’50s, topping charts and pioneering country music broadcasting. The album Arthur (Guitar) Smith and Voices includes tracks showcasing his famous guitar style, alongside vocal numbers, reflecting his work with groups such as his brothers, Sonny and Ralph, in the Crackerjacks. He also wrote the tune that became “Dueling Banjos,” from the 1972 movie Deliverance. The lead track from this album is his signature tune, one of his early hits, the instrumental “Guitar Boogie“, which he wrote and recorded in 1945. It sold over three million copies and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. The song earned him the moniker Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith. It was recorded by numerous other musicians, including Tommy Emmanuel, and became known worldwide. Renamed “Guitar Boogie Shuffle”, it became a rock and roll hit by Frank Virtue and the Virtues. Virtue served in the Navy with Smith and counted him as a major influence. Other musicians who have been influenced by Smith include Nashville studio ace Hank “Sugarfoot” Garland, Roy Clark, and Glen Campbell.

Carl Milton Smith (March 15, 1927 – January 16, 2010) was an American country singer. Known as “Mister Country“, he was one of the genre’s most successful male artists during the 1950s, scoring 30 top-10 hits on the Billboard charts (21 of which were consecutive). Smith’s success continued well into the 1970s, when he had a charting single every year but one. In 1952, Smith married June Carter, with whom he had a daughter, Carlene; the couple divorced in 1956. His eldest daughter, Carlene, was the stepdaughter of fellow country singer Johnny Cash, who later married his ex-wife, June Carter. He later married Goldie Hill, and they had three children together. This sounds more like a soap opera sketch than a musical tribute. In 2003, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. According to the Hollywood Walk of Fame website, he was a “drinking companion” to Johnny Cash, his daughter’s stepfather.

Hank Smith, CM (September 15, 1934 – October 19, 2002) was a Canadian country music singer. He was born in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, and moved to Canada in 1957. He founded the band Wild Rose Country in 1963 and recorded ten albums. Twelve of Smith’s singles made the RPM Country Tracks charts, including five that went to Number One. Hank Smith was the founding president of the Academy of Country Music Entertainment in 1976, now the Canadian Country Music Association. Smith was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1994.

The music on all three of the above albums made for a very enjoyable day. I was raised on Country and Western music and still listen to plenty of it. As well-known as these gentlemen are, they hadn’t shown up on my radar until this past week. I know them now and will most likely listen to these three albums again.

Stuff Smith lists Stéphane Grappelli as a featured artist on his self-titled album. These are two of the heavy hitters in jazz, swing, and big band violin playing. This is an interesting release because of the different versions available. I have a release from 1969 that lists Stéphane Grappelli as a featured artist in small type below Stuff Smith’s name on the front cover. This album was also released as Stuff and Steff with Stephane Grappelli, with Mr. Grappelli getting equal cover space. There are also about a dozen variants, which makes me glad that I am not a completist; I am happy with the two that I have. I am a fan of jazz violin, and this is a good album to showcase it.

Arthur (Guitar) Smith	Arthur (Guitar) Smith And Voices
Carl Smith	Carl Smith’s Country Music Hall
Hank Smith	The New Country Sounds Of Hank Smith
Stuff Smith	Stuff Smith
Sniff ‘n’ the Tears	Fickle Heart
The Little Willies	The Little Willies
Jim Weatherly	Pictures & Rhymes
Pat Benatar	Greatest Hits
King Crimson	In The Wake Of Poseidon

Sniff ‘n’ The Tears. One song, Drivers Seat.

The Little Willies. I had to hear what kind of music a band played that was audacious enough to name themselves The Little Willies sounded like. They sound good.

Wikipedia:

The Little Willies is an American alternative country supergroup formed in 2003. It features Norah Jones on piano, keyboards, and vocals; Richard Julian on guitar, keyboards, and vocals; Jim Campilongo on guitar; Lee Alexanderon bass; and Dan Rieser on drums.

The group formed around a love of country classics. Between members’ regular gigs, they first played at The Living Room in New York City. The show led to a series of events, including a benefit concert for public radio station WFUV. The “loose-knit collective” found itself with a growing following. The Little Willies’ self-titled debut album has added to their popularity.

Their first album features covers of tracks by Fred Rose (“Roly Poly”), Hank Williams (“I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive”), Willie Nelson (“Gotta Get Drunk” and “Nightlife”), Townes Van Zandt (“No Place to Fall”) and Kris Kristofferson (“Best of All Possible Worlds”). Fusing cover material with a few of their original compositions, the band delivers what a review by John Metzger describes as “an affable set that occasionally strikes pure gold.”

Their second album was released in January 2012 and features covers from a variety of down-home legends, including Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, and many more.

My takeaway? I liked it enough to leave it in the car for a week and several trips around the block.

Mostly Wikipedia:

Jim Weatherly wrote songs for almost 50 years. His best-known song is “Midnight Train to Georgia“, recorded by Gladys Knight & the Pips. It peaked at number 1 on the pop and R&B charts and went on to win a Grammy Award. The song was subsequently inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999, and was chosen by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Recording Industry Association of America as No. 29 of the 365 Songs of the Century. Ray Price has recorded 38 of Weatherly’s songs. Both Gladys Knight & the Pips (in 1972) and Bob Luman (in 1973) had top-five records with “Neither One of Us“. Other artists who have recorded Weatherly’s songs include: Glen Campbell, Kenny Rogers, Asha Puthli, Neil Diamond, Kenny Chesney, and Garth Brooks. Weatherly was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2006. Five years later, he was inducted into the Mississippi Musicians Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2014. He was also conferred the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Music by the government of Mississippi that same year.

Plus the fact that I like his name.

Pat Benatar, Greatest Hits. Some radio-friendly songs, not bad, but not my jam.

King Crimson, In The Wake Of Poseidon.

This is the second release from one of my all-time favourite bands, King Crimson. Having discovered In The Court of The Crimson King in 1969, I was happy when they released In The Wake Of Poseidon. It follows the arc of their first album without sounding like a clone. The band had a revolving door during the recording of the album, and no musicians to form a touring band. Fripp keeps the personnel of King Crimson on a Rolodex; you never know who will turn up to play. I was privileged to see King Crimson live in 2015 in Calgary and in 2019 at The Royal Albert Hall in London. In The Wake Of Poseidon is not on my short list of King Crimson’s best albums, but in the top ten. The discography of King Crimson consists of 13 studio albums, 23 live albums, 23 compilation albums, 6 extended plays, 10 singles, 9 video albums, 2 music videos, and 9 album/era-specific box sets. I would have to sell my car and take out a double mortgage on the house to have a complete set of King Crimson material. That’s not going to happen. I am content with what I have.

Kevin from On Repeat Records did post on faith and music that got me thinking, which can be a dangerous thing. My faith, or lack thereof, has deeply influenced my music listening habits. My Mom was a Christian who dragged me to church every so often. I only went because children were taught to obey their parents. My faith was nominal at best. Entering my teens, I was following in my Dad’s footsteps, lacking religious conviction, but with a love of music, something my Mom lacked. I spent the years between my 16th birthday and my 35th in a state of unhealthy life choices, but lots of good music. In 1989, I became a Christian myself and sold off a huge chunk of my record, CD and cassette collection in the mistaken belief that God had some favourite music and I had to listen to the same thing all the other good little Christians were listening to. I regret to this day that I sold all that good music. I have since bought back as many of those albums as I could remember and expanded on the number considerably. So, this past week, I came up with the brilliant scheme to sell off a huge chunk of my record, CD, and cassette collection. I was optimistic that I could trust Discogs‘ value estimations and would soon be rolling in the dough. I then pulled out any records or CDs I wanted to save, let my son pick out some he wanted, and contacted a local record store about selling the music as a lot so I wouldn’t have to sell them one at a time online. And that is when the reality of the value of what was left of my collection settled into the cracks of my brain. I was not going to get rich selling off the music, and I would get more pleasure keeping them and listening to them again. It was when I put the music all back into the alphabet that I realized how much faith had shaped my music over the past 30 or so years. I had amassed over 300 Christian CDs, and probably a similar number of records and cassettes. I didn’t bother to count them all. This is when I read Kevin’s blog at thekevinalexander@substack.com and thought about how music has shaped my listening habits over the years. I have come to believe that faith is not an unwavering line that keeps rising as our faith grows. I feel that faith is more like a sine wave; it moves up and down as our lives and experiences shape our lives and our listening habits. I no longer consider myself a Christian; that’s a much deeper story, and my music listening habits have changed yet again. I listen to a broad palette of music and no longer categorize music as one genre or another. To paraphrase the words of my co-worker, Ernie, “All music is good music, but some is better than others.” Faith and music have intertwined in my life in both small and big ways, but always present, moving and active.

Black Grape It’s Great When You’re Straight…Yeah

Johnny Blue Skies Passage Du Desir

Sly and the Family Stone Anthology

The Smiths Strangeways Here We Come

Talking Heads Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live

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Black Grape It’s Great When You’re Straight…Yeah

I don’t remember how I was introduced to the music of Black Grape. It wasn’t something I went looking for, so I suspect one or more of the CDs I have were acquired in an assorted box that I bought sometime over the years. I either had three CDs in the box, or I bought two after hearing one. Either way, I have three Black Grape albums. I don’t have a favourite; they all have their moments of ecstasy. I must have been on a funk wave; Black Grape contains elements of funk, and Sly and the Family Stone are as funky as funky gets. Black Grape wanders all over the genre map, sometimes funk, sometimes rock, & sometimes WTF is that!

They are very good at setting up a groove and then riding that for four or five minutes. There are religious overtones wandering through their music, but it is hard to nail anything to a cross and call it spiritual music. It is more of a commentary and a side note to a bigger picture. 

Wikipedia: 

The songs “Reverend Black Grape” and “In the Name of the Father” are good examples of this kind of lyric. Ryder attributed the various religious imagery across the album to Samuel L. Jackson’s character, Jules, in the 1994 film Pulp Fiction, in the way Jules would recite Bible passages, as well as to his own Irish Catholic upbringing.

I label Black Grape as a very listenable band, and It’s Great When You’re Straight…Yeah, a great album. I have three of their four studio albums and will keep an eye out for the fourth. Meanwhile, I am listening to them as I write this; the other two albums are in the car waiting for my next drive.

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Johnny Blue Skies Passage Du Desir

I have listened to Passage Du Desir only once, so I will revisit it sometime in the future (who knows when) and see how it grows on me. 

Sturgill Simpson debuted the alter ego Johnny Blue Skies for his eighth album, Passage du Desir. Simpson is an eclectic character, and all of his albums are unique, showcasing his varied musical styles and lyrical depth.

Writing for Glide Magazine, Shawn Donohue stated that this release includes all of “Simpson’s core”, with “the mixing of outlaw-based country with classic Nashville pop and slightly psychedelic flourishes”, with powerful production. I lean towards Passage du Desir, straddling the gap between Outlaw Country and Nashville country. This album gives us the rawness and openness of Outlaw Country, along with some of the strings and such from the Nashville Sound. There is something for every fan of North American country and western music. There are hurtin’ love songs, songs about the desire to be loved, and songs full of wonder and amazement at the glory of being alive and the sadness of being alive. This album is full of great songs, opening with Swamp of Sadness. I think the title tells us a lot about the content.

“I row against the undertow, drifting, my anchor away

A drunken sailor lost and lonely in a sad and magic swamp.”

Moving through “Jupiter’s Faerie,” which is my favourite track on an album full of great music and more intriguing, captivating lyrics than most top-ten artists could only dream of. I have been listening to Passage du Desir as I write this, and it is better the second time around. I look forward to the third and fourth listens.

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Record Store Day 2025

Record Store Day at Record Collectors Paradise was busy. I got there at 10:45, and there were about 20 people in front of me. The guy at the front of the line had been waiting since 6:00. By the time I got into the store, the only record left from my want list was a copy of Talking Heads Demos and Live, which was the top item on my shopping list anyway. They are pricey, $60 per album. I am leaning towards calling Record Store Day a money grab.

I have to revise my completist list. I have all of the Talking Heads studio albums and the live album, Stop Making Sense. I also have all the Pink Floyd albums except Endless River, which I do not like in the least. I also have all the albums by Humphrey and the Dumptrucks. There is probably more, but I just don’t track that demographic. I will have to give that some consideration, with it perhaps being included on the 2026 list.

Back to the Talking Heads, the Demos and Live album gives us a view of what they sounded like at the beginning of their career. There is a rawness to the sound which fits with their early CBGB days as a punk/new wave band. They only had the three original members, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz and David Byrne. I was enamoured with the bass lines of Tina Weymouth. She had only been playing the bass guitar for a short time, but I can hear the potential in her playing, and it has only gotten better and better over the years. I was also intrigued by the lead guitar licks that David Byrne was laying down. For some reason, I don’t picture him as a lead guitar player. I label him as a rhythm guitar player with some picking here and there. He is, in fact, a good guitar player who carries his own weight in the band. I think my misconception stems from the Stop Making Sense tour, where he mainly played rhythm guitar, with another guitarist handling many of the lead parts. Anyhow, David Byrne was developing as a musician through these early demos, and it is interesting to hear how the band changed over the years. I saw David Byrne on tour for his American Utopia album, and several songs from the Talking Heads canon were played in that production. It was an amazing show, but I can’t remember what instrument Byrne played, probably a guitar. I should watch that show again.

I listened to the first side of Talking Heads Demos and Live with my son Joel, who is sharp when it comes to music, and he agreed with me that it is an interesting album, but not one that will be played again for a long time. It is a glimpse of where the band were coming from, and the rough, raw demos held a certain charm, but not at the level of the albums that those songs eventually landed on.

The Smiths Strange Ways Here We Come

I bought this album when it was still hot off the press. It is an interesting album, the fourth and last album by the Smiths, and I enjoyed listening to it again. I did a studious, focused listen and liked what I heard. The way the sound comes from one speaker and then moves to the middle to meet something from the other direction. Good work in the lab by a bunch of very talented men. In Wikipedia, Morrissey, the lead vocalist, is “characterized by his baritone voice and distinctive lyrics with  anti-establishment stances and recurring themes of emotional isolation, sexual longing, self-deprecation, and dark humour.” I agree with all of that. He certainly has a distinct narrative singing style. The lyrics are often spurious and relate to Morrissey’s fascination with unrequited love. It has been reported that Strange Ways Here We Come is the favourite album of both Morrissey, the singer and lyricist, and the musician Johnny Marr.

I found myself relating to quite a bit of the lyrics, slices of real life. I also found myself immersed in the music. Strange Ways Here We Come is a win-win: great lyrics and equally great music. I give a 9 out of 10.

Sly and the Family Stone Anthology

What we have here is a collection of some of the best funk ever recorded, as well as some great music touching other genres.

Wikipedia agrees with me:

“Sly and the Family Stone was an American band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1966 and active until 1983. Their work, which blended elements of funk, soul, psychedelic rock, gospel, and R&B, became a pivotal influence on subsequent American popular music. Their core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Sly Stone, and included Stone’s siblings Freddie Stone (guitar, vocals) and Rose Stone (keyboard, vocals) alongside Cynthia Robinson (trumpet, vocals), Greg Errico (drums), Jerry Martini (saxophone), and Larry Graham (bass, vocals). The band was the first major American rock group to have a racially integrated, mixed-gender lineup.”

I had to listen to this album twice, as I did with all of the albums this week. There are so many nuances at play that it’s easy to miss a great snippet of music or lyrical content. Great popular music is not confined to one genre, or even two. Sly and the Family Stone are great examples of this. They are moving in the realms of funk, of course, with soul, rock, and psychedelic mixed in. The real magic is that they are original and very good at making music.

Wikipedia:

“Formed in 1966, the group synthesized a variety of musical genres to pioneer the emerging “psychedelic soul” sound. They released a series of Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits such as “Dance to the Music” (1968), “Everyday People” (1968), “Hot Fun in the Summertime” (1969), and “Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)” (1969), as well as critically acclaimed albums such as Stand! (1969), which combined pop sensibility with social commentary. In the 1970s, Sly was transitioning into a darker and less commercial funk sound on releases such as There’s a Riot Goin’ On (1971) and Fresh(1973), proving as influential as their early work.”

Only five albums hit the platter this week, partially due to relistening to all of the albums and partially due to listening to bits and pieces of other music here and there, YouTube, Soundgarden, Spotify and such. I can predict some of the music I will be exploring this week. There will be four or five Smiths playing an assortment of music, but mostly C/W. The Smiths, Strange Ways Here We Come was the start of the “Smith” wave. Beyond that, there will be more Italian music from a band new to me, Messiness, thanks as always to Shameless Promotion PR. I wish I had bought this album when I was in Italy. More crying over spilt milk from Norman. Have fun and listen to music.

I have been neglecting the PR suggestions in favour of the vinyl, so I am listening to more fresh streams this week. So here we are, mini reviews comin’ atchya.

Jessie Kilguss    They Have A Howard Johnson’s There

The Gold Needles Mood Elevator

AudioGust Falling From Down

New Romantics No Life

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Jessie Kilguss    They Have A Howard Johnson’s There

I have listened to this album about a dozen times this week, and I am still wordless, still listening. I can heap accolades upon it because I honestly, thoroughly, and thoughtfully enjoy this recording. Jessie has a voice that is expressive and passionate, rising above the music and then returning to earth to start again.

The song “St. Teresa in Ecstasy” reminds me of Leonard Cohen. It builds, releases and builds again. I feel drawn to the ecstasy and epiphany that she emotes in her singing. Powerful. Mesmerizing. A song to get lost in and drift away. A song within an album that I keep hitting repeat after every listen.

Update! My beautiful wife, Valerie, sat and listened to the whole album with the lyrics and liked it. She doesn’t listen to much music, but she listened to this album start to finish, with one pit stop. After listening to St. Teresa in Ecstasy, we listened to Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen, with him singing to a live audience. To my ears, there is certainly some connection between those songs. Is it spiritual? It could be. Is it lyrical? I think so. Is it musical? I hear the lift and lilt of the music build tension, then release it only to start again in both songs. Are they the same? No, they are two distinct songs, but something is going on that causes me to draw a connection between St. Teresa in Ecstasy and Hallelujah.

Back on solid ground, I listen to the rest of the album, which is all good music, and then hit repeat.

A shoutout to Shauna McLarnon at Shameless Promotion PR for suggesting this marvellous beauty of an album.

Album order  https://jessiekilguss.bandcamp.com/album/they-have-a-howard-johnsons-there 

Spotify  https://open.spotify.com/album/1MgqHZDZcRMy9T6gqwb9Zj

Apple Music  https://music.apple.com/us/album/they-have-a-howard-johnsons-there-ep/1836456155

‘St. Teresa In Ecstasy’ video  https://youtu.be/mpRO9ZulSLA  

Bandcamp  https://jessiekilguss.bandcamp.com/track/st-teresa-in-ecstasy

‘Howard Johnson’s’ video  https://youtu.be/fLhLHwikI6o

Bandcamp  https://jessiekilguss.bandcamp.com/track/howard-johnsons

 Shameless Promotion PR at contact@shamelesspromotionpr.com 

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The Gold Needles  Mood Elevator

How do you take your classic rock? Via a gold needle perchance? Not I! I take mine to the top on a mood elevator. Mood Elevator by The Gold Needles is straight-up classic rock and roll. Nothing fancy, but clean and well presented. Not sounding like any blast from the past through my old ears, The Gold Needles have developed something new out of something old. Classic rock with a new vibe. Well-written song lyrics complement the musicians’ infectious grooves.

So, I had a good night’s sleep, listened to this album again as I read the mail, and enjoyed my first cup of joe. I like it more today than yesterday. They took my brain for a ride through music that sounded like the best of the seventies, but with a new twist. And then they broke out of that cloud and into another with overtones of modern alt-rock. I’m just enjoying every element of this album. They may be contenders for my album of the year. Thanks to Christina Bulbenko and Rex Broome for this suggestion, pure gold, my friends.

BIG STIR RECORDS

Burbank, CA / Distributed Worldwide

Copyright © 2025 Big Stir Records

All Rights Reserved.

Design © Big Stir Records

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AudioGust  Falling From Down

AudioGust are another band that fits into the all-encompassing “classic rock” genre. Falling From Down is not earth-shattering, just good old down-to-earth rock and roll played and sung by competent practitioners of that art. These folks kept me listening to find out what the next song would sound like. AudioGust are musical chameleons, changing the colours with every song. Variety is the spice of life, and Falling From Down is a spice rack of music.

Thanks to Shauna McLarnon from Shameless Promotions for this one.

‘Falling From Down’ album  https://hypeddit.com/audiogust/fallingfromdown

Bandcamp  https://audiogust.bandcamp.com/album/falling-from-down

Apple Music  https://music.apple.com/us/album/falling-from-down/1837733348 

Spotify  https://open.spotify.com/artist/1cTzxtddwnFvsnk9n7QkWK

‘I Didn’t Hear What You Said’ video  https://youtu.be/X5wE0I0Zp4M

‘Easier’ single  https://hypeddit.com/audiogust/easier 

YouTube  https://youtu.be/Ma4ZfVo_Ix4

‘Isotope’ single  https://hypeddit.com/audiogust/isotope

YouTube  https://youtu.be/Fkzr1bWv9IY

Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR

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New Romantics No Life

So, I spent the time it takes to drink a medium-sized Tim Horton’s coffee reading the Wikipedia article about the New Romantic movement. Originally, strictly a fashion movement that many top-tier bands distanced themselves from. Over time, the fashion and the music of Romanticism have melded, and apart from some purists, together. ABC, Depeche Mode, the Human League, Soft Cell, Simple Minds, Talk Talk, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, and Gary Numan have all, at one time or another, been described as part of the New Romantic movement. A number of these bands were using synthesizers as part of their music and helped to develop synth-pop in the early 1980s, which, combined with the distinctive New Romantic visuals, helped them first to national success in the UK, and then, via MTV, play a significant part in the Second British Invasion of the US charts.

Adam Ant always denied being a New Romantic. The electronic duo Soft Cell also denied any connection to the New Romantic scene.

Wikipedia: “OMD frontman Andy McCluskey ridiculed the movement in a 2010 interview, saying, ‘Completely separate from electronic music or the future, there was all the fucking Southern New Romantic bollocks. I mean, if we were ever called New Romantics there’d be a fight… ‘Am I wearing a kilt? Am I wearing enough eyeliner? Is my shirt frilly enough?’ Oh, fuck off!” OMD have nevertheless been categorized as New Romantics; a designation that keyboardist Paul Humphreys likens to “calling a Scotsman ‘English’.”

I hear the New Romantics as influenced by the synth bands of the New Romantic era; however, they are not adorned in that era’s garb. What I hear is important to me, what I see, not so much.

What I hear is a synth/pop band that is very good at making music. Forget the genre nonsense and listen. Focus on the music. Isolate yourself from the world’s hustle and bustle. What are the lyrics telling you?

I get lost in No Life, and have to reboot after every song. I am on the track “Games” at the moment, and the bass carries me away. Both synth and drum tracking bass. Lost, reboot.

No Life is a good album that should resonate with the vintage synth-heads out in musicland, as well as the new generation of music lovers—dance, pop-synth, electronica, shoegazers and who knows what else. No Life is a no-brainer; listen to it instead of reading this drivel.

There we have it, four albums by four bands. Four unique music recipes. Four albums for you to listen to this week, I hope at least one of them tickles your ears, or even all four of them, as much as they brought pleasure to me. Good music. Good life.

Bandcamp: https://gezelligrecords.bandcamp.com/album/no-life-2

Gezellig site: https://gezelligrecords.com/products/gzr-036-new-romantics-no-life-pink-vinyl-pre-order

Happy listening, and hang on to see what next week delivers.

Let’s start this blog with some bald-faced bragging. I am a big fan of Sturgill Simpson. I got to see him live a few years back. It was a good show, a solid flow through the songs, and a top-notch backing band. The only downer was the location, it was in the darkest bar in town, I’m talking about the colour or lack of colour, it was black on black. We managed to get to the rail, sort of. Joel was able to squeeze in with plenty of complaints from a drunk bitch who put the count in country. Remove the o from ‘count’ and you get the gist of what was said. I pushed up behind her and didn’t give her much space. The show was good, I got a poster, and I have all of his albums, except for the last one, which is being shipped soon.

Metamodern Sounds in Country Music

I listened to this album twice yesterday and once more today, and I still don’t know what to say about it. It’s not that there is a lack of things to write about; this album is packed with moments that spark the little electrical current running from my ear to all the little parts of my brain that turn those signals into music, memory, and emotion.

The album starts with “Turtles All The Way Down,” a concept borrowed from Indian gurus who teach that there is no top or bottom; it is turtles all the way down. References are made to encounters with Jesus, the Devil, and Buddha, to the songwriter’s mortality, and to the life-saving effect of love. All of this is within the loose application of a country and western tune. Very loosely, and that is the glory of this album, it does not stick to one plot line or melody line. The songs on this album range from the purest form of traditional country to those that would be right at home on a progressive rock album. If variety is the spice of life, then Metamodern Sounds in Country Music is a spice rack. 

Sturgill’s first album was “High Top Mountain“, a straight-shooting collection of songs right out of the same songbook as Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, Hank Williams, Lefty Frizzell, and Merle Travis. It is in the spirit of the Outlaw Country ideals, raw and with real musicians, no orchestras or backing choirs. I listened to it once before I spun Metamodern Sounds in Country Music.

And I was blown away. Sturgill Simpson’s second album is not like his first, but it builds on that album and uses it as a framework for Metamodern Sounds in Country Music. I think this is still country music. Is it Country and Western Music? I think so. Americana? Yes, confidently. Wikipedia labels it Outlaw country, progressive country and honky-tonk. Discogs calls it Rock, Folk, World, & Country. It gets tagged ‘Country’ three times between those two sources, so I guess it is ‘Country’ after all.

Country and so much more. This album has enough country to satisfy the C/W purists, including me. And it has enough synths to be a stepping stone to something new and exciting: Metamodern Sounds in Country Music.

This album blew me away the first time I listened to it, shortly after its release. When it came time to hear again in my journey from A to Z, I listened to it three times, and I still don’t know what to write about it. It has to be heard to understand my anguish.

At the end of the day, I am impressed by Sturgill’s nerve to make an album this bold, and I am glad he did.

Next up is Sturgill Simpson’s  Best Country Album at the 59th Grammy Awards, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth. Not every artist or band can pull off releasing two albums as influential and as nuanced as Sturgill Simpson has done with Metamodern Sounds in Country Music and A Sailor’s Guide to Earth. Like Metamodern, I had to spin A Sailor’s Guide to Earth three times, and then added a fourth as I listened together with my beautiful wife, Valerie. She doesn’t listen to much music, but I wanted her opinion. She liked it and for good reasons, like the stories within the songs within the overarching drama of A Sailor’s Guide to Earth. We both smiled at his passion for his family and at the good advice he gives his son. A Sailor’s Guide to Earth is another monumental album; you really ought to be listening to it instead of watching the telly. I will add that the covers for Metamodern Sounds in Country Music and A Sailor’s Guide to Earth are lovely, with meticulous artwork on the fold-out cover of the latter. You will not get the impact of the album on a CD or by streaming the album. It is no surprise that he won a Grammy for this album; it is fantastic. It is a flip of the coin to decide whether Metamodern Sounds in Country Music or A Sailor’s Guide to Earth. I like Metamodern Sounds in Country Music for no particular reason. I like it.

SOUND & FURY

Sound & Fury (stylized in all caps) is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson, released through Elektra Records on September 27, 2019. An original Netflix dystopian anime film accompanies its release, Sturgill Simpson Presents SOUND & FURY, written and produced by Simpson and Japanese director Junpei Mizusaki of the animation studio Kamikaze Douga. The album marks a significant departure from Simpson’s country roots, embracing hard rock, psychedelic, blues, and funk.

SOUND & FURY is the fourth studio album by Sturgill Simpson, and is a soundtrack to the Netflix anime film of the same name.

Simpson had this to say about the genesis of the album:

“It’s definitely my most psychedelic. And also my heaviest. I had this idea that it’d be really cool to animate some of these songs, and we ended up with a futuristic, dystopian, post-apocalyptic, samurai film.”

“Sound and fury” could be a reference to the famous soliloquy at the end of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, where he says “[Life] is a tale/ Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury/ Signifying nothing.”

Wikipedia says this about SOUND & FURY.

“The album also has a background theme of a silent character listening to radio stations while driving an old muscle car. The album begins during “Ronin” with someone walking up to a car, starting it, and then cycling through an old analogue RF radio tuner, skipping past talk radio channels, before settling on a station with music. This theme continues throughout the entire album, as every track ends with the sounds of static or frequency whistling which typically occurs on old radios while changing stations. This implies that the track changes are actually this unspoken character changing the radio station in their car.  “Fastest Horse in Town” bookends the album after the song ends, cycling through random talk radio stations until the radio is turned off completely.”

And now, for something completely different, we move from SOUND & FURY. The most psychedelic and heaviest album in Sturgill Simpson‘s catalogue, to date, and jump to solid Bluegrass. Sturgill has hinted at his passion for Bluegrass and has injected snippets of it in his previous albums. Cuttin’ Grass, Vol. 1: The Butcher Shoppe Sessions is a double album that I had to listen to again because I didn’t want it to end.

Wikipedia again:

“Recorded at the Butcher Shoppe recording studio, the album includes various bluegrass musicians such as guitarists Tim O’Brien and Mark Howard, banjoist Scott Vestal, fiddler Stuart Duncan, and mandolinist/backing vocalist Sierra Hull. The album consists of bluegrass re-recordings of songs from Simpson’s catalogue, including not only those from his solo albums but also those from the band Sunday Valley, of which he was a member before beginning his solo career.”

If you like Bluegrass, you will love this album. If you aren’t a fan yet, Cuttin’ Grass, Vol. 1: The Butcher Shoppe Sessions could make you a fan. It is interesting to hear the songs in either his C/W persona or as a rock star. I didn’t listen to them side by side; however, having listened to them in only a couple of days, my memory of them was still fresh. Listening to them numerous times in these sessions and employing focused listening with lyrics in hand, I did a fair assessment.

Simpson wasn’t satisfied with the double album; he went up and did another one, Cuttin’ Grass, Vol. 2: The Cowboy Arms Sessions. As with the preceding volume, the album features various bluegrass musicians, including guitarists Tim O’Brien and Mark Howard, banjoist Scott Vestal, fiddler Stuart Duncan, and mandolinist/backing vocalist Sierra Hull. The album consists mainly of bluegrass re-recordings of previously released songs in Simpson’s catalogue. Two previously unheard compositions, “Tennessee” and “Hobo Cartoon,” are included; Merle Haggard co-writes the latter.

The Ballad of Dood and Juanita is the seventh studio album by American country music singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson, released on August 20, 2021. Simpson describes the album as “traditional country, bluegrass and mountain music, including gospel and a cappella.” Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs by Marty Robbins is another album that explores a theme. Simpson wrote and recorded the album in a week with a backing band called the Hillbilly Avengers. Willie Nelson did the concept album “Red Headed Stranger.’ He guests on the song “Juanita.”

The Ballad of Dood and Juanita is a concept album set in eastern Kentucky during the American Civil War. Described by Simpson as “a simple tale of either redemption or revenge”, the album’s narrative revolves around the titular couple: the sharpshooting Dood and his beloved Juanita. When Juanita is kidnapped by an outlaw named Dood, Dood sets out with his mule Shamrock and his dog Sam to rescue her.

I have enjoyed the concept that tells a story. Sturgill has given us The Ballad of Dood and Juanita. The tale of Dude and Juanita follows the script of fighting for love. Seamus lures Dood close to kill him, thinking Dood is out of range, but Dood kills Seamus with a single, long-range shot from his Martin Meylin rifle. Thus ends The Ballad of Dood and Juanita, the last of my stack of Sturgill Simpson records. It’s been a good ride with plenty of twists and turns. Just when you think you have Sturgill sorted out, he makes another turn in the road, and that is one of the reasons I like Sturgill Simpson: you never know what you are getting. So far, I haven’t been disappointed. While each album tells its own story, there is still a thread that gives me a sense of continuity, even when he jumped from the love songs on A Sailor’s Guide to Earth to the rage of Sound And Fury. Tell me what kind of music you listen to, and I can recommend a Sturgill Simpson album.

It’s late, so I am stopping here. I hope you have listened to some good music this week. I am looking forward to next week when I will be listening to a grab bag of music. We will travel from Frank Sinatra to The Smiths. Happy Listening to everyone.

Paul Simon	Paul Simon
Paul Simon	Still Crazy After All These Years
Paul Simon	One Trick Pony
The Who	Who’s Next
Black Grape	Pop Voodoo
Paul Simon	Greatest Hits, Etc.
Paul Simon	Graceland

Having enjoyed the Simon & Garfunkel catalogue, I was looking forward to listening to Paul Simon’s solo career. I do not have his first album, but I do have his self-titled sophomore release. It had a few moments, but nothing to write home about. Paul Simon’s third album, There Goes Rhymin’ Simon, is another gap in my collection. It’s a shame because it has the song “Kodachrome” on it, which is a favourite of mine for sentimental reasons.

Next up is Still Crazy After All These Years, which, apart from a catchy title, offered me only a half portion. I liked the first side with a few great tracks. I am fond of “My Little Town“, probably a throwback to my youth in little towns. The other track I like is “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover.” I cannot testify to the effectiveness of any of the ways Simon lists in the song. A fun and catchy little tune that is a period mark on the album for me. After this song, nothing on the remainder of the album moved me; overproduced, sugary pop throwaways were all that remained.

One Trick Pony is an album released in tandem with a movie of the same name. Despite their similarities, the album and film are musically distinct: each features different versions of the same songs, as well as certain songs that appear exclusively on either the film or the album. I have not watched the movie. I have listened to the album and I find it wanting. Wanting better songwriting, among other things. The band Paul Simon used on the album and the movie is top shelf, but they couldn’t even drag the album out of the bin of dismal outcomes. This is two duds in a row for me. I hope the tide turns before I turn my back on Paul Simon’s solo career.

I don’t have Simon’s next album, Hearts and Bones, and a quick perusal of the songs didn’t stir any long-dormant memories of the record. Three years later, Paul released what I consider the crowning glory of his solo career, with a tip of the crown to his career as a whole. The album that I heap such rich accolades upon is Graceland. I can remember when this came out and the debate over whether Paul Simon had collaborated with the African community or stolen their music.

Wikipedia:

Organizations such as Artists United Against Apartheid criticized Simon for breaking the cultural boycott on South Africa imposed for its policy of apartheid, while others accused him of appropriating the music of another culture. Simon responded that Graceland was a political statement that showcased collaboration between black and white people and raised international awareness of apartheid. Some praised him for helping popularize African music in the West. 

Graceland became Simon’s most successful album and his highest-charting album in over a decade, with estimated sales of more than 16 million copies worldwide. It won the 1987 Grammy for Album of the Year and is frequently cited as one of the best albums in history. In 2006, it was added to the US National Recording Registry as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically important”.

Paul Simon reached his zenith on Graceland and never came close to that level of sales or creativity again. After listening to the Paul Simon records in my collection, I concluded that my two favourite Paul Simon records are Graceland and Greatest Hits, Etc. I listened to Paul Simon (ST), Still Crazy After All These Years, and One Trick Pony in order, and gave some thought to them as I listened. Those thoughts are in the first three paragraphs above.

I then drove around town on some errands and popped Black Grape and The Who into the car. I listened to both of them twice while I cruised about, and they were both good. Who’s Next is a throwback to days long gone, and while I still enjoyed it, it didn’t have the magic that it possessed in 1971. While I ruminated and listened, I realized that this could have been a best-of album; it is loaded with great songs. Starting with Baba O’Riley which is often lauded as one of the best rock songs of all time. I wouldn’t go that far, but it is a damn good song. The remaining songs are top-ten hits on their own, and, taken as a whole, the album becomes an entity rather than a collection of good songs. That makes sense because the songs Pete Townsend wrote —except for My Wife, which was written by John Entwistle —were intended to be part of a concept album called Lifehouse. That project never made it beyond the eight songs on Who’s Next, which gives it the cohesiveness of a proper concept album. Apart from the music, the album cover is humorous.

Black Grape is an interesting group. They released only four albums, Pop Voodoo being the third. They combine elements of funk and electronica that become something unique: Black Grape. I have popped their other CDs into the car and prepped for my next drive so I can hear their catalogue as a whole. Pop Voodoo can stand on its own, as can all of their releases, but I like to hear how a band morphs over the years. The band uses their music as a platform to expound their political and, to a lesser extent, religious ideologies. While reviews were generally middle-of-the-road, with an aggregate score of 3.5, I would give it a solid 4.

Saturday night was special. Bruce Romaniuk, the owner of Record Collectors Paradise, threw a party to celebrate the store’s 10th year in business. It was good to mingle with some staff I hadn’t seen for quite a while and to see the new warehouse. One of the staff members, Andrew, put together a very well done history of the store. They must be the largest record store in Canada. I’ve seen quite a few stores over the years, and nothing comes close to RCP.

Record Collectors Paradise

Bobby Short	Nobody Else But Me
Bobby Short	The Very Best of Bobby Short
Carly Simon	No Secrets
Carly Simon	The Best Of Carly Simon
Simon & Garfunkel	Sounds of Silence
Simon & Garfunkel	Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
Simon & Garfunkel	Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Simon & Garfunkel	The Concert In Central Park
Pink Floyd	Dark Side of the Moon

I was unfamiliar with Bobby Short‘s music, so jumping into it via these two albums was an interesting experience. Bobby Short was touted as a cabaret singer and pianist who performed popular songs from the first half of the 20th century and musical numbers. He had a long and well-liked career and sang until shortly before his death in 2005. I gave these a good, attentive listen and came away with an appreciation for a new musical landscape: the world of swing, musicals, and vocal jazz. Despite not knowing anything about Bobby Short’s music, I was rather pleased with what I heard. Once again, this supports my theory that all music is good music; there are just some that I like better than others.

Carly Simon was an artist I only really knew through her hit song, “You’re So Vain.” The big takeaway that I have from listening to these two records is that she was a very emotionally out-there artist. She wasn’t afraid to talk about her pain, relationships, relationships that caused pain, and intimate moments from her life. She has a good voice with a unique flavour; I can’t think of anyone else with a voice like hers. I loved her rendition of “Night Owl”, a song by James Taylor, which I have on his album, James Taylor And The Original Flying Machine. An often overlooked album that I have enjoyed listening to for decades now. The rest of the songs on these two albums are generally good, and the lyrics are as insightful as they are emotional.

Simon & Garfunkel have a very respectable catalog and were among the top-charting acts of the 1960s. They had three U.S. number-one songs and two Grammy Awards for Record of the Year. Their biggest hits were”The Sound of Silence,” “Mrs. Robinson,” and “Bridge over Troubled Water.” Standout tracks for me from the album Sounds of Silence are “Richard Cory,” “I Am A Rock,” and the title song, “Sounds of Silence.”

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, And Thyme. Simon and Art changed their sound to a more polished, studio-album style, away from the folksy, minimalist sound of their previous albums. Standout tracks for me were A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara’d Into Submission) and 7 O’Clock News / Silent Night (1966). The 7 O’Clock News gave Paul Simon a voice for his anti-war sentiment, and the Larry Norman song Six O’Clock News (1972) immediately sprang up in my gray matter.

I have a gap in my album collection and skimmed the soundtrack for the movie “The Graduate” and their fourth studio album, “Bookends.” A couple of tunes that I miss not having from the “Bookends” album are “Mrs. Robinson”, “A Hazy Shade of Winter”, and “At The Zoo.”

Next up on the stereo is “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” I am not a fan of the lush string section on this song; I prefer other versions, such as the one from The Concert In Central Park. Art Garfunkel has a good voice as he sings lead on the song, which he didn’t do often. Johnny Cash also does a good cover, and if you go on YouTube, there are more versions than you can shake a stick at. After this album, Simon & Garfunkel went their separate ways, other than live performances and Best of Albums. In some ways, it’s a shame that they split up since I feel they were reaching their peak on the Bridge Over Troubled Water album. I looked at the album’s song list and realized I would have to name all of them if I were to pick standout tracks. This album is loaded with good songs.

Wikipedia: Bridge Over Troubled Water

“Billboard called it a “beautiful, almost religious-oriented ballad” whose “performance and arrangement are perfect.” Cash Box said that “set in parable, this love ballad carries a two-level interpretation” and praised “Garfunkel’s magnificent vocal performance and the material.” Record World predicted that the song would “equal [the duo’s] ‘Boxer’ success.”

The song has also been lauded as one of the greatest by Simon & Garfunkel. In 2017, The Guardian called the song one of the best by the duo, describing it as “heart-stirring”. The Independent similarly lauded the song in 2020, calling it “a transcendent experience” and ranking it as the best song by the group.”

I think it is a good song, but it falls short in my estimation of “the best songs by the group.” Music is so subjective, and what is “best” for me may not make your best-of list. Great album, though, and the song still fits in with the other tracks.

1973, what a year! I graduated from high school and started my first full-time job two days after the last day of school. I bought my first car, a 1967 Rambler station wagon, from my Mom. I bought my first stereo and played Dark Side of the Moon (DSotM) by Pink Floyd on it.

What a year indeed. Good memories float by as I listen to the 50th-anniversary remastered version of DSotM on a new turntable (audio-technica) that I bought recently, along with a new set of speakers (Romanca). The sound is good, and for some reason, I can listen to this album over and over without getting tired of it. I turned up the volume and basked in the music. This is a good remix that seems to better project various parts as the music floods the room. The drums seem crisper and clearer. The bass moves in and out, as does the electric guitar. An homage to the three surviving band members, perhaps. The keyboard parts are in the mix and remain something akin to the glue that ties all the parts together. I think Richard Wright is often forgotten, and his contribution undervalued. There is a very good use of stereo with good cross-fading and center imagery. This gets a solid 10/10.

Simon & Garfunkel, The Concert In Central Park. I can remember when this album came out and I gushed over it to my friends. I was head over heels for this record and must have played it a dozen times the first week I had it. That’s probably an exaggeration, maybe 3 or 4 times. Over the years, this album has remained one of the albums I hold in high esteem. When lists of favourite live albums show up, I put The Concert In Central Park on my list, along with a few others. I will have to make a list of my concert albums, which would be a good task for this blog. Coming soon to an electronic device near you.

Ok, so last night I was bored and skimmed through Discogs trying to find all my live albums, CDs, or Vinyl. It came to over 70 albums in total, possibly more, since I no doubt missed one or two. This will have to wait till I have more time on my hands.

There we go, then— another week blogged, and a good week it was, with lots of old friends in those albums.

Next week will be dominated by Paul Simon; until then, happy listening.

It has been an eclectic bit of listening this past week. Everything from modern psych/rock to modern classical. Autumn is stretching out and getting cooler. This time of year also means I get back into scale model building. I am working on a Massey Ferguson 2680 tractor at the moment. The biggest challenge for me is not trying to make every little detail appear in the model. For example, much of the engine is hidden, so I really don’t have to replicate every tube and wire under the hood since no one will see it.

While I am puttering about with the model, I like to put on a record to while away the time. This week, Erik Satie’s music fulfilled that task very well, along with a few others. So, without further ado, let’s get into the music.

Santa Esmeralda	Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood
Santa Esmeralda	House of the Rising Sun
Sea Cruise	Sea Cruise
Dan Seals	San Antone
Neil Sedaka	Neil Sedaka’s Greatest Hits
Erik Satie, Aldo Ciccolini	Piano Music Of Erik Satie, Vol. 2
Area	Maledetti (Maudits)
77’s	Ping Pong Over The Abyss
77’s	All Fall Down
77’s	The 77s
Del Shannon	Golden Hits/The Best Of Del Shannon
Long John Baldry	It Still Ain’t Easy
Erik Satie, Aldo Ciccolini	Piano Music Of Erik Satie, Vol. 3
The Prayer Chain	Communion

Santa Esmeralda were a staple of my DJing days. They were good at putting some energy into the room, and people didn’t really care if it was brilliantly crafted records or not. A kissing cousin to “Please Don’t Let Me Be Understand” was “Rasputin” by Boney M. Santa Esmeralda hasn’t aged well, according to my ears. It is still high-energy music and could probably still inject life into a sluggish dance floor. It just didn’t inject anything into my music room.

Speaking of dance floors. Sea Cruise released an album of Beach Boys cover songs called “Sea Cruise,” which featured a 12-minute Beach Boys medley. It was distributed in 27 countries and was very successful. They may not have generated much enthusiasm at the Grammys, but this is still a fun beach party album. Crafted by the pairing of Jay Boivin and Germain Gauthier, who also did the soundtrack for the movie “Pick-up Summer”. I enjoyed listening to Sea Cruise and will have to keep it in mind for possible use at future dance parties, beach or no beach.

Next up is Dan Seals. What I knew about Dan Seals could be summed up as nada. Wikipedia to the rescue: “Danny Wayland Seals was born in McCamey, Texas. Dan’s childhood nickname, “England Dan,” was given to him by his older brother, Jim Seals (later of Seals and Crofts). It was also Jim’s idea to incorporate the name “England Dan” into England Dan & John Ford Coley. The nickname was a reference to the fact that, as a youngster, Dan had fixated on the Beatles and briefly affected an English accent.”

Dan didn’t cover Beatles songs or even attempt to emulate them with his music. After his partnership with John Ford Coley ended, he moved to Nashville and reinvented himself as a country musician. He was very successful, starting with the country-oriented music on the album Rebel Heart. My favourite song by Dan Seals is on the Rebel Heart album, “God Must Be a Cowboy.” His second album is the one on the turntable, San Antone. I really liked listening to San Antone; it had a good overall Country and Western feel. A bit softer, showing its roots in the 1980s “Nashville Sound,” but still a good album.

Neil Sedaka’s Greatest Hits. What can I say about Neil Sedaka? Neil has had a long and storied career in music. He started with a couple of 1960s standard hits, including “Calendar Girl“, “Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen,” and “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do.” His popularity ebbed and flowed over the mid-1960s to the present day. He has had as much success writing songs for other people as he has had recording songs for himself. Neil Sedaka’s Greatest Hits is a 1977 compilation album consisting of his most popular songs from his trilogy of Rocket albums from 1974 to 1976. The Rocket Record Company is a record label founded by Elton John, along with Bernie Taupin, Gus Dudgeon, Steve Brown, and others, in 1973. The company was named after John’s hit song “Rocket Man“. There are a couple of top-ten well-known standards, such as “Love Will Keep Us Together” and “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do,” which is the second recording of this song. Sedaka had a hit with this song twice, in 1962 and 1975, in two significantly different arrangements.  Between 1970 and 1975, it was a top-40 hit three times for three artists: Lenny Welch, The Partridge Family, and Sedaka‘s second version. The song was also adapted into multiple languages, most notably in Italian and French. Not too shabby of a career, eh!

Speaking of Italy, I was recently in Italy and went into a record shop, where I asked the teller to recommend a good Italian prog band. He flicked on a light in a back room, showed me a bin of records, and flipped through, showing me a couple of examples. I picked the one with what I thought was the best cover art, Maledetti (Maudits) by the band AreA. I had no prior knowledge of Italian music beyond the one and only band from Italy in my collection, Premiata Forneria Marconi. When I finally arrived home, I eagerly unpacked the trip albums and put the AreA album on first. I found out I got exactly what I asked for: Italian prog. Maledetti has some good prog music, but it also has some really weird shit. On Discogs, they are listed as “an Italian progressive rock, jazz fusion, electronic, and experimental group.” Yup, they are definitely experimental. I think I have met my quota of Italian prog bands; it’s time to move on to something else. 

The 77s, 77’s, 77s, 77s Unplugged, Seventy Sevens, The 77’s, The Seventy Sevens, The Seventy-Sevens

Discogs shows I have 15 albums by The 77s, one of my favourite bands. I feel very fortunate to have seen them perform live; it was exhilarating. Of those 15 listings, only three are for vinyl, which I am going to chat about eventually. Six are for cassette tapes and six are on CD. 3+6+6=15. The first CD I have by the 77s is “The Seventy Sevens,” from 1992; prior to that, I had them on vinyl or tape. I have “All Fall Down” and “The 77’s” on both vinyl and tape. I have Tom Tom Blues on cassette and CD. After 1995, they are all on CD. Plus, there are more released by them that I don’t have and would like on any format available.

Ping Pong over the Abyss is the debut album by the 77s, released in 1982 on the Exit Records label. The front man for the 77s was Michael Roe, who seems to be a man of unlimited energy. He not only takes on lead guitar/lead vocals and lyricist for the 77s, but has also recorded as a member of the superband Lost Dogs, produced albums for several other artists, and released solo albums and collaborations with other artists, such as Mark Harmon.

The title of Ping Pong Over The Abyss comes from Allen Ginsberg‘s poem “Howl“, section 3: “I’m with you in Rockland / where you scream in a straight jacket that you’re losing the game of the actual ping pong of the abyss.” This title gives one clue as to why I like the 77s. They do not limit themselves to songs about falling in love, being in love, or falling out of love. It is true that they do write about love, but they do not paint themselves into a box of nothing but love songs.

The 77s incorporate Biblical themes into many of their songs, such as in “Pearls Before Swine,” a retelling of the story of Esau, who sold his birthright to his younger brother for a bowl of stew. “Pearls Before Swine” ends with the refrain “Veil of ashes.” I knew that “Veil of Ashes” was the name of another band that I enjoy listening to, but I did not know what those words referred to. Thanks to Google, I now know that it can refer to several things that could be interchanged in both the band’s name and the song by the 77s. 

It can refer to concealing a dark or shameful truth.

It can refer to the contrast between beauty and decay: “Veil of ashes” can be used as a spiritual metaphor, drawing on the biblical image of receiving a “crown of beauty instead of ashes”.

Veil of ashes can also refer to a piece of fabric used to hold the cremated remains of a loved one, symbolizing remembrance and mourning.

I enjoy most of the material recorded by the 77s. Ping Pong Over The Abyss, All Fall Down, and The 77s are the band’s first three albums and the only three that I have on vinyl, sigh. In the 1980s, the powers that be switched our listening from vinyl to CD. At the time, I was OK with that and thought CDs were amazing. As time went on, I became less satisfied with CDs and started buying vinyl again. Anyhow, the first three albums from the 77s were pre-CD and are on vinyl and cassette. After 1987, their music came out on CD or cassette. After 1995, the 77s are available only on CD. They may have digital copies, but I never went looking for them. I like physical media.

The 77s’ material improved over time as their careers in music evolved. The lyrics became more profound, the music got tighter, and the music changed as they changed. These are not the three best albums in my collection and they are not what I would consider the three best albums by the 77s, but they are three good albums worth the listen to establish the evolution of the band from their youth, on Ping Pong, to their last album, Holy Ghost Building, which I have on CD and will eventually get heard when I start going through those recordings alphebetically.
Bottom line, I still enjoy listening to the 77s.

Golden Hits/The Best Of Del Shannon

This record gave me a serious earworm that was difficult to remove. The song that exerted that effect on me was “Hats Off To Larry.” This is not a song I would list in my top 100, if I had such a list. Earworms are a mystery by and large. Wikipedia tells us that “Researcher Vicky Williamson at Goldsmiths, University of London, found in an uncontrolled study that earworms correlated with music exposure, but could also be triggered by experiences that trigger the memory of a song (involuntary memory) such as seeing a word that reminds one of the song, hearing a few notes from the song, or feeling an emotion one associates with the song.” I don’t have a particular feeling or emotion tied to this song that I can remember. It eventually faded, but I was curious to see if writing about the song would retrigger a fresh earworm. It didn’t.

It Still Ain’t Easy. Long John Baldry is a staple of Canadian music, even though he is a transplanted Brit. I saw Long John in a bar in Red Deer sometime in the mid to late 1980s. I was thoroughly lubricated by the time he took the stage, and all I can remember is Ed taking down an album cover for promo and giving it to me, signed by Long John Baldry. Unfortunately, I no longer own that or remember anything else about the show. This album is a response to his most popular album, It Ain’t Easy. It Ain’t Easy is a good album, and It Still Ain’t Easy is still a good listen.

Communion by The Prayer Chain popped into my mailbox via Bandcamp. I occasionally get pokes from there, and some of it is really quite good. This album falls into that category. I have another album by The Prayer Chain. It is Shawl, on CD, and I haven’t listened to it for ages. I may get around to that, sooner or later, and it will most likely be the latter. Communion is a good album, and I wish The Prayer Chain, or their record company, would release it on hard copy. I may be slow to get around to listening to bands on vinyl, cassette, or CD, but I seldom revisit artists who are only available in digital format. I am relistening to Communion as I write this, and I am enjoying it even more than on the first listen.

Piano Music Of Erik Satie, Vol. 1-3 Aldo Ciccolini 

I spread my listening of Erik Satie over several weeks because I know I wouldn’t be able to ingest large quantities in one go. Even doing that got to be a bit much, and I only sampled Vols. 4-6, as well as several standalone vinyl albums that I have. He was a very talented composer of modern classical music, and Aldo Ciccolini is well-suited to interpret his compositions. I will most likely return to Erik Satie’s music and listen to just one album in a studious, focused manner. Just one.

I received a lot of good music in my inbox this week, including Prayer Chain’s Communion. I will give a short shout-out for a couple of standouts that I listened to this week. I don’t have the time to do full reviews of albums due to the sheer quantity of music that I listen to. I am well past 500 albums that I have listened to this year. Those are albums that I have listened to start to finish. So much music, so littly time.

Charlie Nieland released the album Stories From The Borderlines from Shameless Promotions.

‘Stories From The Borderlines’ album http://charlienieland.bandcamp.com/album/stories-from-the-borderlines
Spotify  https://open.spotify.com/artist/70I9duCgmppXweNM7yjPxs
‘Shame’  https://youtu.be/B8n-I9cYBL4
‘Win (feat. spiritchild)’ video  https://youtu.be/r_xKYos2PpU
‘Redshift’ video  https://youtu.be/1ayazviYLBQ
‘Drown’ video  https://youtu.be/7Hz_4261XeI
‘The Ocean Understands’ EP  https://charlienieland.bandcamp.com/album/the-ocean-understands
Spotify  https://open.spotify.com/artist/70I9duCgmppXweNM7yjPxs
Tickets for album release show  www.ticketweb.com/event/jessie-kilguss-record-release-berlin-tickets/14524903

On the same ticket, I enjoyed the fresh sounds from Jessie Kilguss  on her new album, St. Teresa in Ecstasy.

‘St. Teresa In Ecstasy’ video  https://youtu.be/mpRO9ZulSLA  
Bandcamp  https://jessiekilguss.bandcamp.com/track/st-teresa-in-ecstasy
Spotify  https://open.spotify.com/track/5qR8EOSdZEbFq15WndCW3N
‘Howard Johnson’s’ video  https://youtu.be/fLhLHwikI6o
Bandcamp  https://jessiekilguss.bandcamp.com/track/howard-johnsons
Spotify  https://open.spotify.com/track/5hlL2OILwmR1jGEWf1nBwY
Apple Music  https://music.apple.com/us/artist/jessie-kilguss/264985060
Album order  https://jessiekilguss.bandcamp.com/album/they-have-a-howard-johnsons-there

I wish again that I had hard copies of these fine albums.

Paris Music Corp. Their new album, Ecotone, is good shoegazing music.

‘Ecotone’ album order  https://parismusiccorp.bandcamp.com/album/ecotone
Get the album  https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/parismusiccorp/ecotone
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/72BSXqG7XwfI7xwhgrloJ9
‘Rituals’ video  https://youtu.be/D49HMsxfmiY
‘No Soy A.I.’ feat. RayPerez video  https://youtu.be/Y60OiR7FM-E
Get the single  https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/parismusiccorp/no-soy-ai
Bandcamp  https://parismusiccorp.bandcamp.com/album/no-soy-a-i
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/track/7nRonrvRz4uhvSyLQlFxWo
‘Paris Music Corp.’ album (2022)  https://parismusiccorp.bandcamp.com/album/paris-music-corp
Spotify  https://open.spotify.com/album/0KvtZMdNXDrmI5kLLCPboK

Next up, we have The Quality of Mercury and their album, The Voyager.

‘The Voyager’ album order https://thequalityofmercury.bandcamp.com/album/the-voyager-2
Spotify  https://open.spotify.com/album/6u38jms5yCWLbiLmwkJrlf
Apple Music  https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-voyager/1833985005
‘Radiate’ on YouTube  https://youtu.be/5yNwWZxEXo4
‘Heaven’s Gate’ single  https://youtu.be/pusaFvxHyes
‘Ganymede’ single  https://youtu.be/pusaFvxHyes
‘Transmission’ album (2017)  https://thequalityofmercury.bandcamp.com/album/transmission

As always, happy listening. All music is good; I just like some better than others.

On the road again, bringing home thousands of records. Would you believe a hundred records? How about a couple of dozen? Well, Chief, would you believe a handful of fresh records?”

This will also serve as a brief summary of our trip to Europe. Let the journey begin.

Starting in Edmonton but not listening to anything on the plane, I watched Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which featured some good music. We stopped over in Montreal just long enough to run to our next flight. Montreal has a special place in my musical heart. In 1970/71 I flew in and out of Montreal several times, and I often had longer waits for the connecting flights, so I hopped into a cab to the nearest shopping mall. In that mall, there was a small record store, and the guy working there always had some goodies playing. It was through my visits to that store that two of my fondest music memories were formed. CSN&Y and their fantastic album Déjà vu, and In the Court of the Crimson King by King Crimson. I still keep these two albums close to my turntable. I have been blessed to have seen live performances by several of these musical geniuses. I saw Neil Young live so long ago that I can barely remember it, and I saw David Crosby recently. The Neil Young show was not that great; he was in a minimalist country music frame of mind that didn’t translate very well to me, way up in the cheap seats of the stadium. David Crosby, on the other hand, delivered a stellar performance that was mostly solo but featured his son on a few of the songs. We were only a few rows back in the Winspear, and that translated well for me. I have seen King Crimson live twice, once in Calgary and once in The Royal Albert Hall in London, England; they were both amazing concerts that I will cherish all the more because my son, Joel, accompanied me to both shows.

Back to the trip, Montreal to Paris was the next leg of our itinerary, and we were able to see the Northern Lights from the plane. We didn’t spend much time in Paris, but now I can say that I have been there, even though I was only in the airport. Nouvelle Vague is the only Parisian artist in my music collection, so the playlist for Paris consisted of just one album. Then, we caught the next flight to Florence, Italy. We only stayed in Florence long enough to find out that I am rusty at driving manual transmissions and that I shouldn’t go the wrong way down a one-way road. No record shopping in Florence or in the rustic villa that we spent 3 nights in for the wedding of a niece. I learned why so many good rally drivers are from Italy; the roads have to be driven to be appreciated.

The scenery is magical. The picture below is from the deck of our guest house, which is visible in the photo below. The cash crop in the area we visited was olives. The guest house is in the second photo.

The wedding was a good time. The food was OK, the weather was good, and the guests were good to converse with. I could never be a racist in our family. I am of Scottish and Finnish/Swedish descent. Valeria is from Jamaica, with English, Spanish, and African ancestry. Valerie’s brother, Wayne, is married to Oi-Wa, who is from Hong Kong. The wedding was for their daughter, who is now married to a German who lives in Switzerland. Her brother has moved to Poland to live with his significant other in her hometown. Whew! I have probably left some nationality out of this list. Please send me the information if you can add to this tree.

Charis and Toby, the bride and groom, are busting some moves.

Onward to Pisa, where we spent a couple of days doing the tourist stuff. Pisa is an experience like no other that I have experienced. Good food was abundant, and history was all around us. Not a good place for rollators or wheelchairs, as there are cobblestones everywhere.

The Leaning Tower began to lean during its construction in the 12th century. Construction on the cathedral began in 1064. That fact suggests that a significant city must have existed before construction began. Pisa has a history going back thousands of years. Excavations made in the 1980s and 1990s found numerous archaeological remains, including the fifth-century BC tomb of an Etruscan prince. The Leaning Tower is still leaning and is actually the bell tower for the cathedral, which I found more interesting than the bell tower itself.

I also found a couple of good record shops and scored some vinyl. I discovered the album Maledetti (Maudits) by the Italian progressive rock band Area in an interesting shop, La Galleria del Disco.

I asked the man at the till for his recommendations of Italian prog bands. He then turned on the lights in a back room where some hidden gems were kept. I found the Area in that area. AreA, are an Italian progressive group that formed in 1972 by singer Demetrio Stratos and drummer Giulio Capiozzo. They are considered one of the most respected, innovative and important bands of the blooming 1970s Italian progressive rock scene. The songs are in Italian, but language does not constrain the music. The band AreA is cited as playing Progressive Rock, Art Rock, Free Jazz, Jazz Rock, Experimental, and electronic music. They have all the bases covered. I enjoy pretty much all of those styles, which translates into me enjoying the album. I used Google Translate to follow the lyrics; however, I got so caught up in the music that I lost my place in the lyrics. It doesn’t matter what label you use; I enjoyed this album start to finish. No Finnish jokes here, please.

From Pisa, we flew to Stockholm, Sweden, which is located near Finland and close to my ancestral roots. Although my family are Swedish, I have more Finnish DNA than Swedish. My mom spoke only Finnish until she went to school and had to learn English.

Sweden has been on my bucket list for a long time. My grandparents sailed from Sweden 99 years ago, looking for a better life in Canada. I wasn’t able to see the town that they came from, but I can say that I have been to Sweden. While in Sweden, we did some sightseeing, starting with the Vasa Museum. That was a truly wonderful time; the museum was well thought out, and we all thoroughly enjoyed our visit. We also visited the Swedish Museum of Natural History, another excellent museum with something for everyone.

I also scored some nice vinyl in Sweden. I found Record Mania, which had something for everyone in the vinyl category. That is where I discovered the 21st Century Schizoid Man album, credited to Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, but it should also be credited to the band Free, as the B-side is entirely theirs. The vinyl is clean, but the music is really rough; it is a live album that sounds like it was recorded from the back of the room on a vintage Radio Shack cassette deck. A very limited, strange release from the USA in the early 1970s. Packaged in an LP-sized cardboard envelope with inserts Scotch-taped on either side and a loose sheet of reviews on the inside. The ELP show is from Spring 1971. An interesting album that will be filed away as a collectible, a unique oddity since only about 300 were made.

On a prog rock tilt, I also bought Vital from a band that I have enjoyed for a long, long time,  Van Der Graaf (Generator). This is a live album that covers a wide range of their prodigious catalogue. I didn’t get the feeling that this was a greatest hits concert tour. Their music is complex, compelling and captivating. Vital is a good overview of Van Der Graaf, encompassing both older and newer material, as well as some in-between material. I found it to be a very good listening experience. Not all live recordings are the same, as the quality of the recordings can vary. Some, like the 21st Century Schizoid Man album by Emerson, Lake and Palmer, are sketchy at best. Other live albums recorded from the soundboard can achieve a quality comparable to studio recordings. Some of my favourite albums are live, including Stop Making Sense by The Talking Heads. I won’t bore you with a long list of live albums; I’m just making the point that Vital by Van der Graaf is a high-quality live album. Not everyone will like the sounds that come from Van Der Graaf; it is a bit of an acquired taste. They did not experience significant commercial success in the UK or North America, but gained popularity in Italy during the 1970s. I should have bought it while in Italy! Such is the vagaries of bin diving.

Sweden had a wealth of good music, and I had to limit myself so I didn’t bring back a whole suitcase of records, which would have been expensive. We enjoyed our couple of days in Sweden, I would go back at the drop of a hat. Below is Stockholm. Next stop, Iceland.

The photo below is typical of Iceland. I couldn’t see anything but clouds from the airplane’s window.

Flying directly from Stockholm to our home would be a mind-numbingly long flight, so we broke it up with a stopover in Iceland. While in Iceland, we experienced fog, rain, and overcast clouds all day, with the exception of ice in our beverages. I am glad we can scratch Reykjavík off our bucket lists. I doubt I would return, except for a stopover on a long flight. They have an amazing church, a sight to behold. And Iceland has good music. Iceland has a vibrant arts scene that offers a wealth of excellent music. I only brought one record home from Iceland, but it has provided me with a great deal of joy. Come to think of it, I may return to Iceland; there are a few more records that I would like to purchase there.

The only one I purchased was “A Dawning” by Ólafur Arnalds, featuring Talos. “A Dawning” is the collaborative album by Icelandic musician Ólafur Arnalds and Irish musician Talos (Eoin French), released on July 11, 2025. It is a posthumous release for Talos, with Ólafur Arnalds completing the project following Talos’ death. The results are a powerful tribute that blends their artistic styles and explores themes of friendship, grief, and hope. 

“A Dawning” isn’t all about the music, which is good. Or the lyrics, they are profound. It is about the experience. This album isn’t one for background music while you do the chores. “A Dawning” is an album that deserves our attention. We listen for the space between words. We listen for the instruments. We listen for the emotion. We listen for the words between notes of music. We listen because an album this good deserves our attention.

So, there we have it. 12 days on the road. Edmonton to Montreal. Montreal to Paris. Paris to Florence. Florence to Stockholm. Stockholm to Reykjavik. Reykjavik to Vancouver. Vancouver to Edmonton.

Below we find Greenland on the left and icebergs on the right. The mountains in Greenland are impressive.

Back home I dived right back into listening to music.

The Saint James Society Bab(a/y)lon Rising
Phillip Sandifer On My Way
Jim Reeves The Best of Original Hits
Ólafur Arnalds, Talos A Dawning
Faron Young Four In The Morning
Nena 99 Luftballons
Erik Satie Piano Music Of Erik Satie, Vol. 1
Eddie Schwartz Schwartz

I had a slow week musically. I bought a new big-screen smart television and found myself wasting more time than I should have in front of the idiot box. I also had a few household tasks that ticked off a few hours. Anyhew, no excuses, I have a short list this week. Short in quantity but still bursting with quality.

https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/2021/winter/tv-brain-study/

Todd Rundgren Initiation

Todd Rundgren The Hermit of Mink Hollow

Todd Rundgren Back To The Bars

Harry Rusk Canadian Country Hits

UB40 Labour of Love

Let’s start with Todd Rundgren, shall we? I have four of his albums, two of which are double albums, so I had a total of six albums to listen to. That came out as 4.38 hours of Todd. I had listened to Something Anything last week, so that shaved off 44 minutes, but it was still over four hours of Todd Rundgren in one sitting.

I have only had one occasion where I overdosed on a band, that was The Talking Heads, and that was years ago. Since then, I have plowed through many multi-album artists with no hangover. Until I hit Todd Rundgren, I really liked his music. Something Anything is a fantastic album, and the rest come just behind it. The Hermit of Mink Hollow has lots of ear candy, and it spawned several single hits, including “Can We Still Be Friends,” which should be making Todd barrels full of money because it has been covered by numerous people and created hits for a few of them.

Back to the Bars is a two-slab live album which reprised a significant number of songs from his early albums, so I had already listened to many of the tracks. I’m glad that I made it out without hating the music of Todd Rundgren, I just have to limit myself to one album at a time.

The Quality of Mercury is a new band to me, courtesy of Shameless Promotion PR; thank you, Shauna. I like them. The first listen to their new single, ‘Ganymede,’ was very good, so I listened to the album again with the lyrics in front of me and liked it just as much. They do not conform to the top ten recipes of three-minute songs about finding love, being in love, or losing a lover. They do sing about love, but it is so obtuse that you may not even notice that it was about love.

From the press release:

“Ganymede builds patiently and purposefully, taking us on a cinematic journey that reflects the album’s overarching themes of distance, discovery, and transformation. It’s a song about finding love and losing it, fulfilling Rouse’s core mission of exploring emotion and texture across vast sonic terrain.

“Ganymede is a love story told through the lens of science fiction. It follows two people who meet and fall for each other on a space station that’s orbiting in the golden atmosphere of Jupiter, a place full of warmth, wonder, and the thrill of possibility. He’s cautious. She’s fearless. And he follows her, chasing the gravity of her spirit,” says Jeremiah Rouse. 

“But when she persuades him to explore Ganymede, a cold, sterile moon, the warmth between them starts to fade. The relationship fractures in the isolation and cold environment, and eventually, she walks away, leaving him alone at the edge of an airlock. This song is about how love can start bright and beautiful, but lose itself in unfamiliar terrain. I want listeners to feel like they’re watching a film unfold in slow motion and to feel the quiet heartbreak of trying to hold on to someone who’s already gone.”

Handling not only writing and performing, but also engineering, this music is a reflection of Rouse’s sonic DNA. Influenced by iconic bands such as Hum, Failure, Starflyer 59, and Sunny Day Real Estate, The Quality of Mercury crafts music that is anthemic yet accessible, cinematic yet catchy—the perfect blend of muscle and melody.

Rouse’s recorded works serve as a bridge to his audience —a suitably distant medium, given his songs about receiving transmissions emanating from the other side of the universe and epic, intergalactic voyages. For all its otherworldly sound and association with the vastness of outer space, the intensity and intellect, depth and profound insight of this music is also a journey into the artist’s own inner space.

For Rouse, music isn’t just sound. It’s a vast, immersive world. Each track is built as a sonic landscape, grand in scope yet meticulously detailed. The goal is simple but ambitious: to create music that reveals something new with every listen. Tiny flourishes, subtle swells, and sound elements crossing the stereo field are placed with obsessive precision, often blooming unexpectedly or popping out at just the right moment. Every detail matters, perhaps to a fault, but that’s part of the craft.

With a background in film production and a lifelong love of sci-fi cinema,  Jeremiah approaches songwriting with a distinctly visual mindset. Every song is imagined like a scene from a movie — framed, lit, and paced as though it were a short film. That cinematic sensibility, combined with a meticulous approach to sound design, results in music that’s as emotionally resonant as it is sonically rich.”

Back to Norman: Combining sc-fi and hi-fi lights up the space around me with great music. I’m eagerly anticipating the release of the entire album on October 24. I quite imagine it sounding even better on a full-on hi-fi, please tell me it comes out on vinyl, or CD, or even cassette.

‘Heaven’s Gate’  https://thequalityofmercury.bandcamp.com/track/heavens-gate

Spotify  https://open.spotify.com/artist/727hN46NfBt32nJJMeDo2N

YouTube  https://youtu.be/pusaFvxHyes

‘The Voyager’ album https://thequalityofmercury.bandcamp.com/album/the-voyager

‘Ganymede’  https://thequalityofmercury.bandcamp.com/track/ganymede

Spotify  https://open.spotify.com/track/7wNn8ZS3FihGCPH8sNW18n

Apple Music  https://music.apple.com/us/album/ganymede-single/1833980836

YouTube   https://youtu.be/POUek4JKClQ

‘Transmission’ LP (2017)  https://thequalityofmercury.bandcamp.com/album/transmission

Harry Rusk Canadian Country Hits

Harry Rusk gives us our weekly dose of Canadian content with his album of Canadian Country Hits. This is an enjoyable album; it won’t top my list of favourite albums, but it is still fun to listen to. While most of these songs are relatively obscure, they are hits for Harry Rusk fans; it is still good-quality music. If you like old-time country music, you will likely enjoy this album.

The Joe UT OH

Speaking of obscure, we have The Joe. Good luck finding a hard copy of the album. UT OH is not going to knock fellow Canadian rapper Justin Bieber off the charts, but UT OH has its own charm. It wanders all over hell’s half-acre, which gave me a challenge to try to coalesce any meaning or overarching theme to this recording. So, I am listening to UT OH again, and I still don’t know for sure, but I think it is the rant of a confused young man who doesn’t know what to believe. His faith is a jumble, his life is chaotic, and he can’t find a place that is safe to call home. Home, both literal, metaphorical and figurative. In fact, one of the tracks is “It’s A Jungle Out There.” I don’t know, I just like it. The Joe is something new to me and has introduced me to some rap that I don’t hate, unlike mainstream rap, which is often marred by hate, lust, and lies.

UB40 Labour of Love

I listened to UB40 back in the 1980s, but then the 1990s came along, and they disappeared from my radar – my bad, not theirs. Now, we are in the 2020s, and I am enjoying UB40 again. Labour of Love is reggae/pop, not hardcore reggae. If you are looking for authentic Jamaican reggae, stop reading right here.

If you are OK with reggae/pop and playing loose with the downbeats, you will likely enjoy Labour of Love. It is not a bad album; in fact, I enjoyed it as a reggae/pop album. Labour of Love is an album of cover versions. Released in the UK on September 12, 1983, the album is best known for containing the song “Red Red Wine”, a worldwide number-one single, but it also includes three further UK top 20 hits, “Please Don’t Make Me Cry”, “Many Rivers to Cross” and “Cherry Oh Baby”. The album reached number one in the UK, New Zealand and the Netherlands and the top five in Canada.

Done. That is another week of music. Although it may not have been a particularly big week in terms of the number of albums listened to, it was still a good music week. I am at the end of the letter “S” and look forward to starting the letter “T” soon. Have fun listening to whatever music makes you happy, I do.