Obsessively devoted to excavating the unjustifiably overlooked, forgotten, hidden in plain sight & truly underappreciated in the musical universe, old and new.
Central Park doesn’t technically “belong” to me. But when it rains, and I’m the only one foolish enough to be riding my bike in the soak, it can sort of feel like it does ( humor me here). The playlist I ride along to in the rain is different than the one I roll along to in the sun. That one tends to be poppier and more manic. In the rain though, things gotta be moody. Introspective. Tearjerking. All the corny, predictable stuff that the rain represents. The “In The Rain” playlist needs to reflect the big wet gray sky, big wet green leaves, and if it’s worth its salt, have the potential to trigger some crying. The pic above is from the foggy, rainy park today. Let’s get moody.
It’s been a while but here is the latest WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST which has turned out to be “Weekly” only in name. It’s a month’s worth of beautiful songs, thus is a bit of a beast (in the best way). Come meet your new, hour-long, melodic friend below on Soundcloud or Spotify.
It is officially baseball season (wait, come back) and for the first time in my lifelong fandom, I have decided to participate in a Fantasy League with my co-workers ( If you are blessedly unsure of what that is/means, just do a search). I never took part in a Fantasy League because I am too much of a fan of my own questionable team —that’d be the NY Mets—to be able to root against them under any circumstance ( you build your Fantasy team from all active players so you will inevitably have players on your Fantasy team trying to crush your real-life favored team i.e. My Mets). That guy in the pic is Connecticut’s own George Springer, one of my favorite non-Met players, who is on my Fantasy team who are named “The Stonecutters” after the fabled secret organization on The Simpsons (“We do, we do”).
Damn. I am already irritating THE LIVING F*CK out of myself not only by describing this new affliction but because I have not stopped obsessing over my roster for the past week and have been hypnotically staring at the app during every free moment to see how I’m doing. It’s awful. The season is only a few days old and I am already getting my arse whooped hard thanks to my many rookie mistakes…but I shall persevere and promise not to bring this up again. In the meantime, there is music.
Welcome to the latest WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST featuring the finest, foxiest songs that have surfaced over the past couple of weeks. And yes, there really are TWO amazing new songs titled “Baby Bangs” ( A first and likely a last). Listen to those and all of this week’s heart barnacles below on Soundcloud or Spotify.
Just saw the new brutally entertaining, cartoonishly nuts, Kristen Stewart movie Love Lies Bleeding. It is basically a white trash version of the iconic 1996 film Bound ( though not as good, as if it could be). It also features one of my all-time favorite songs; “The Moon is Blue” by Colourbox ( hear here) which I have loved since first buying the single as a young one back in ye olde 1985(!). When I heard the opening notes, I felt a little gatekeeper-ish, like “Hey, that’s my song”. But I gave in pretty quickly, just wanting the scene to be as grand as the song, which it kinda was. Bless you “The Moon is Blue”, you officially belong to the world now and I’m okay with that.
And now please enjoy the latest WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST featuring the best tunes that have crossed our path over the past couple of weeks. They are frothy, fiery, and beautiful to the last. Listen on Soundcloud or Spotify below.
I know a few passionate Nick Cave fans but have never been into his music myself ( I know, I know). That said, I genuinely dig his weekly newsletter The Red Hand Files where he responds to fan letters, addressing grief, culture, religion, and all matters of the heart. Yes, it can get serious but it is also seriously funny on occasion. He isn’t a psychologist or a faultless authority on life, which he regularly admits, but he is an empathetic listener and eloquent, elegant wordsmith. Anyway, it’s worth subscribing. Recently, a filmmaker/musician named Tam wrote to him saying that “My muses have left me and I have lost all motivation to create”. Nick responded to this letter with some hilariously awesome tough love:
“What makes our particular job so exceptional that it requires inspiration or a muse to do it? We are artists and we labour in the service of others. It is not something we do only if and when we feel motivated – we create because it is our responsibility to do so. In this respect, our occupation is no different than that of most people. Does an ordinary adult go to work only if they feel in the mood? Do doctors? Do labourers? Do teachers? Do taxi drivers? We are duty-bound to do our job, like everyone else, because the space we occupy depends upon our participation and breaks down if we don’t. A committed artist cannot afford the luxury of revelation. Inspiration is the indolent indulgence of the dabbler. Muses, Tam, are for losers!”
Got that? Suck it up and get to work. And forgive me for saying this Nick, but your response has become my muse.
On that note, it is now time for the latest WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST starring the sweetest, most wondrous new songs that have crossed our path over the past couple of weeks. There’s a reassuringly ’70s/’80s flavor to this week’s batch. You can step into the time machine below on Soundcloud or Spotify.
I visited The Museum Of Natural History recently and remain fascinated with this romantic squirrel scene in which one seems to be reciting poetry to the other. They are truly living their best afterlives providing a few seconds of much-needed sweetness to those that pass by them each day. Love you squirrels, keep on keeping on.
And with that, welcome to the latest WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST featuring the finest songs that have been released over recent days. There’s lots of lustrous heartbreak, anthemic majesty, soul, and riffage to be had in these 16 (!) angels that follow. Damn. That sounded very, very over-the-top. Then again, when it comes to exulting a beautiful song, why not behave like a deranged, hyperbolic monster? Sloppy pop-love forever!
You can listen to the playlist on Soundcloud or Spotify below!
Also, do yourself a favor and spend some time with Mk. Gee’s new album Two Star & the Dream Police! Melodic, ethereal, soulful, scantily clad, a little Prince-y, a smidge-Arthur Russell-ish with an added dab of Stevie Wonder, it’s just plain old gorgeous. You can hear that below too!
Several months ago I innocently posed a question to my co-workers regarding how many (scrambled) eggs it was appropriate for one person to consume in a single sitting. I honestly didn’t know and was curious. My normal serving size was 5-6 eggs at that point. “Is that too much?” I innocently inquired. They were horrified. I was told that the long-established norm when it came to egg consumption was two at a time. Two. “What, are you training for a power-lifting competition?” was one of the genuinely awesome insults lobbed my way.
Though many days have passed since my sad query, my co-worker Joe still occasionally refers to me as “Luke”, the character Paul Newman plays in the 1967 classic Cool Hand Luke because of the scene where Luke claims he can eat 50 eggs in an hour (spoiler: he does). The criticism didn’t deter me as I had 5 freakin’ eggs today…but I thought about it as I made them, so I guess that’s a step forward in the quest for normalcy. Meanwhile the Luke-ing goes on. Know what, this is the perfect opportunity to share my favorite egg joke ever. Warning: It’s a Dad joke. Ready?
What did the bartender say to the egg and piece of toast when they walked into the bar together?
“We don’t serve breakfast here”
And with that, welcome to the latest (and first of 2024) WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST featuring the finest new songs released over the past couple of weeks. There are unspeakably gorgeous tracks from English Teacher, Kacy Hill, Sloe Noon, and many more brilliant folks to be had. You can listen below on Soundcloud or Spotify! These songs are egg-cellent. Yeah, I just did that.
I listen to thousands of songs every year and make playlists of standouts as I go (yeah, nerd here). My ‘Best Songs of 2023’ playlist closed out the year with over 400 songs within its confines. This week I finally culled that list down to a small, edible chunk of 30 and those are the tracks that feature in the official PuR’s Best Songs Of 2023 Playlist. I’m one of those backward people who need to decompress before I go to work (I know, weird), so the majority of this maniacal editing and ferreting takes place very, very early in the morning before the sun comes up. It’s sick.
Melody continues to be my own personal Jesus and is the foundation of how PuR’s Best Songs Of 2023 list is “computed”. The only criteria for a song’s inclusion are overall swoonworthy-ness and melodic majesty. It doesn’t matter if a song was released as an official single or if an artist is well-known and/or established. The determining factor is the song itself. I guess the main thing these songs have in common is their hook-filled tunefulness. So this list is built for you my fellow melody-hounds.
And with that, please enjoy these weird, endlessly wonderful songs made by gorgeously inspired humans in 2023. Hope they make you swoon. Big Love.
And HEY, following the best song list is a list of PuR’s BestAlbums & EPs Of 2023 with links to listen to them attached(!). So much good stuff, oh man.
P.S. It wasn’t exactly my most prolific year as far as posts on PuR (understatement) but I am determined to make up for it in 2024 (dammit). I promise lots of new music in the form of the WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST ( I do the work so you don’t gotta) and even more of PuR’s insane, breathless Rating the Albums! feature series where we break down artist discographies to ludicrous extremes and I curse. A lot.
PuR’s Best Songs of 2023 Playlist!
Listen on Spotify:
Listen on Soundcloud:
PuR’s Best Albums & EPs of 2023!
These albums are depicted above and listed below in alphabetical order because ranking ’em proved impossible as they have all been the top fave at one time or another over the past year. They are all beautiful! You can listen to each of them below!
The Last Dinner Party’s NYC show this past week in NYC was an absolute joy. It was fun and beautiful, full of theatrical anthemic pop, and made me feel like a freakin’ lovesick teenager (which is something I have not been for many decades). Over the past several days, they have brought out my absolute worst hyperbolic tendencies so it would be best for all of us if I just end it here by saying they make fabulous tunes, do a fabulous show, and basically f*cking rule.
It is now time for the latest WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST featuring the best new music from the past week or so. It includes the latest Last Dinner Party single plus a handful of other genuinely handsome and wondrous things.
P.S. Head over to Cover Me ( your home and haven for everything cover version) for my tribute to soul legends The Spinners, and witness actual Rubberband Men in action. Read it here!. Plus you can check out our Best Kate Bush CoversEver feature where I try to explain why gatekeeping is bad but understandable and how Kate Bush is an actual religion. Read that here!
Listen to your WEEKLY NEW WONDERS below on Soundcloud or Spotify!
That’s just a gratuitous old pic of our family Basset hound, Daisy aka the dog my brother and I spent my childhood and teen years with. She was a beautiful and seriously stubborn lady. You couldn’t get up from the couch without her moving into your spot while you were gone and then refusing to give it back (growling ensued if you even attempted it). She would lie sideways in front of the fireplace so no one could enjoy it as much as she did. She hated the rain and would maniacally zoomie around the house after being taken out in even the most delicate drizzle. Her 15 minutes of fame came when she was featured on one of David Letterman’s ‘Stupid Pet Tricks’ segments back in the ’80s. She didn’t do her trick right and gave a seriously underwhelming performance. It was disgraceful. So yes, she was amazing. Every time I see a Basset in person, I feel like I am seeing her. Anyway, just randomly wanted to pay tribute today. Good girl.
Music! It’s time for the latest WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST featuring the finest new tunes that have surfaced in recent days. I know I always say they are wonderful, foxy, and fabulous, but I swear they are. Listen below on Soundcloud or Spotify hound dogs.
Tried to find a gentle pic for today. I had something silly originally but thought this would be better for right now. That’s Frog and Toad of the eponymous kid’s illustrated book series created by Arnold Lobel in the ’70s. There are four books starring these best friends and they are the height of simplicity and love. The stories involve everything from ravenous cookie eating to wild leaf raking to the value of alone time (love that). It’s a good idea to have these books at hand on your shelf, along with all the Peanuts anthologies. They are truly medicinal if you’re feeling rubbish. Also, there is music.
That was my shitty segue inviting you to check out the latest WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST featuring the finest new songs that have surfaced over recent days. They are all exceedingly swoonworthy. Listen below on Soundcloud or Spotify!!!!
I also want to shout out the amazing new album by David Hale, Paradigm (as well as his two previous releases Something Peculiar and Business as Usual). I gotta tell you, as a full-blown ’80s nerd who still worships that sound, and a complete melody hound, Paradigm sounded damn good to me (as did the other two). Haven’t heard anything this synth-pop, hook-filled fabulous in a while. You can listen to that below as well!
Listen to Weekly New Wonders Playlist on Soundcloud here:
Listen to Weekly New Wonders Playlist on Spotify here (click on playlist name below):
PICKING UP ROCKS 