Category: Weekly New Wonders Playlist !

This latest WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST featuring our favorite new songs from recent days is kind of small. 2019 has been a crazy good music year, with inevitably more to come so we can just put this down the universe taking a breather. And hey, this is in no way a reflection on the beauty and finery of the songs included this week. In fact we are going to take the half full approach because it so happens there was a brilliantly wonderful album released this week to fatten up your listening schedule.

Michael Kiwanuka’s third album titled Kiwanuka was released this week and it is too, too beautiful. As in every song. Now while The Guardian review of the album this week described it as “one of the greatest albums of the decade”, I’m not going to go there just yet. That’s because I’m currently in throes of complete irrational infatuation with this thing. And so I think it would be best to wait until the emotional smoke clears before I’m saying crazy, over the top shiz about how I want to spend the rest of my life with it or start comparing it to my favorite album of all time, Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On”… BUT it is without question one of the absolute best things I’ve heard this year, managing somehow to be both tear inducing and life affirming.

It sounds like the past distilled through the lens of the future. It’s ROCK AND SOUL united. Like The Isley Brothers in 1971 disassembling and transforming “Fire And Rain” and “Ohio” into profound, powerful soul. Like the haunting psychedelia of Minnie Riperton on “Les Fleurs”. Like Gil Scott-Heron preaching about how hard it is to be alive while embedded in the sweetest melody. Like the mournful majesty of Friends of Distinction’s “Going In Circles”. “Kiwanuka” just glows with all of this and more. It feels both eerie and like the sun warming your face. It’s instantly memorable and endlessly tuneful.

I know I sound like a nerd saying all that in such a flowery over the top way but I just want to drive home that this thing is really kind of beautiful. Check both that and the wonderful new stuff out below !

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Sometimes a song will be so good, so perfect, that I will actually get misty. It doesn’t happen that often but whenever it does, it feels like being gifted with some brilliant, mystical prize. I’ll always remember hearing Prince’s “I Would Die 4 U” for the very first time in my teenage bedroom & dissolving into floods of tears because…I don’t know. It wasn’t just the words, it was the sound of it. I mean, it was everything. It forcefully hit every nerve in ways I’ll probably never understand. I definitely didn’t then. All I knew is that I wanted to play it over & over & over again. Anyway the night sky is crying in NYC as I write this, plus it’s a little chilly which means conditions are ideal for putting on the headphones & cranking up the best new music from recent days. It’s all right here for you. WELCOME TO THE LATEST WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST ! You can listen on Soundcloud or Spotify below.

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Rock and Roll has officially been kicking around since the mid ’50s. Since then many albums have been released. As a result of all this, not a week goes by these days, where someone does not call attention to a specific album anniversary. 5 years, 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, 50 freakin’ years. I’m not 100% sure what is being signified by showcasing these anniversaries other than we are all getting older. Whenever I see an article celebrating an album’s original release, I think one of two things :

1- Shit, it’s been that long, seems like yesterday. Also, I’m old.

2-That album is not very good ( I’m phrasing that more politely than what my actual thought usually is).

The potentially mind-blowing album anniversary factoids haven’t happened yet, you know, like when The Beatles “Sgt.Pepper” turns 100, or Taylor Swift’s “Lover” turns 50. That stuff seems genuinely insane.

Anyway, last week saw the 37th anniversary of Daryl Hall and John Oates wondrous 1982 album “H20”, a record full of the awesomest 80s NYC soul pop this side of heaven. 37 is not a genuine demarcation point in anniversary world of course but in Hall and Oates world, this record was a significant event. And so any excuse to celebrate it’s beautiful, sweaty, poptastic life is valid.

There are going to be some new long form, faintly demented pieces appearing on the blog over next 2 weeks. One of them involves Hall and Oates and it will be both loving and critical, full of joy and Oates. I can’t wait to share it with the 1 or 2 of you that care ( seriously) !

Welcome to the latest WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST, featuring some beautiful pop music from recent days. You can listen on Spotify or Soundcloud below. And let’s make a pact to meet back here in 2056 to celebrate how awesome these songs still sound then okay ?

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“Music In A Mellow Mood” is a 4 LP set from 1969. Despite the fact that it’s been living in my house for several years, I have never listened to it. I found it in a box on the curb outside this record store that was closing down, which means it was my equivalent of an abandoned puppy. I couldn’t heartlessly leave it there, ignored, unloved and vulnerable to the elements. And so here it lives, leaning against a shelf, being especially mellow since it doesn’t ever come anywhere near the turntable. I’m never motivated enough to actually play it. I sometimes find myself staring it for no apparent reason. In the game of life, it’s clearly won.

The latest WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST is a big one. It is in fact TWO WHOLE WEEKS worth of amazing new music. It doesn’t feature as many songs as “Music In A Mellow Mood” but it does have a few of the same attributes in that it is Pleasure Programmed ™, parts of it are hypnotically mellow and some of the songs are about love being blue. But seriously, there are some real beauties in here this week, we hope you find something to steal your heart…

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Ric Ocasek was one of those people where if he was out in the street you couldn’t miss him. One day about a dozen years ago, my co-worker Dennis and myself were in Union Square Park on our lunch break from the music store where we worked, walking through the food stands and heard a couple of woman shouting. “Ric ! Hey Ric !” We turned and saw Ric Ocasek  meandering through the moderately crowded path between the stands. The women were giggling and prodding each other, trying desperately to get his attention but he didn’t acknowledge them. They appeared to be a couple of suburban ladies who couldn’t believe their luck ( Hey, I can say that because I’m one of those technically), here he was, the man who soundtracked their school years in the flesh.

Dennis and I were embarrassed on his behalf, I mean he was just peacefully cruising through his neighborhood, not looking for attention. But I understood and appreciated their excitement even though we’d seen him around before. It was Ric of The Cars. Ric who wrote Just What I Needed, Let’s Go, You’re All I’ve Got Tonight and Drive. Ric from MTV and Creem Magazine. And so yeah, they couldn’t help themselves. You couldn’t really blame them for getting excited.

Ric was one of a kind in every way. He and the Cars made perfect weird and wonderful pop music that will endure as long as the earth is turning. He also actively mentored, coaxed, and nurtured new bands. As I write this, The Cars Complete Greatest Hits album is # 1 on iTunes. No matter what you might feel about people predictably jumping on the posthumous bandwagon, the fact that these songs are still getting love and that maybe a younger generation are discovering them for the first time is really kind of beautiful and awesome.

Okay, no way to transition neatly from that. Let’s just say here is some wonderful new music by some artists you may not know of yet but who hopefully will make your day feel better. Welcome to the latest Weekly New Wonders Playlist. Heartbeat City, here we come…

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I had this poster of Boy George up in my bedroom as teen (not the physical one depicted, that was lost ages ago but same image). I truly, truly loved him. I kept a freakin’ scrapbook. Bought 2 copies of every magazine he was in so I could cut one up for scrapbook inclusion. Alas, I was totally embarrassed by my infatuation with George, worried people would think it was “weird”. And so I fell into the self-hating routine of hiding my giant poster. Basically if anyone was coming over and there was potential of them seeing my room, I would pre-emptively take it down and temporarily replace it with something more “respectable” like Adam Ant or f-ing Sylvester Stallone in his green tank top. When they left I would put it back up. Sad right, that I was worried what people would think. I was ultimately “cured” once I saw Culture Club actually perform at the Pier in NYC and found myself surrounded by hundreds of freaky George loving anglophiles like me who while they also loved George passionately didn’t appear remotely ashamed ( yes, it was a real life version of Bee Girl in the Blind Melon video). While I wasn’t completely healed of my insecurity, I did cave considerably that night and bought a garish Culture Club tee shirt which I subsequently wore in public. Baby steps. Anyway, a trillion years have gone by since then and at this stage I can honestly say I feel no shame admitting I’d rather listen to Culture Club than Tom Waits or Leonard Cohen. It’s not even close.”Church of the Poison Mind”? Turn that shit up.

Speaking of transcendently beautiful pop music, here is the latest WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST, featuring the best new music from recent days. We hope something here will melt your heart and take you there .

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I was in Cape Canaveral, Florida last week and that pic above is what things were looking like then, calm and serene. My family lives there these days and frankly the impending hurricane, Dorian, has been ever present in my mind and causing a lot of worry. Of course there’s been a lot of bad news on the planet over the past few days beyond that, so much that it can feel like there is no reason to be joyful or celebratory…but yes, we’ve got this music stuff. And these songs, well, they’re just here and that’s enough. And with that here’s the best new music of recent days otherwise known as the WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST.

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AND there have been several pretty fine albums kicked out over the past week especially those by Orchin , Kris Kelly, and Shura. I’ve attached links below so please check them out, as they are all in possession of beautiful things. Here are the links, dig in ! :

I know. Those are some seriously cuddly squids. Or squid. I looked it up and apparently either is okay if referring to more than one. Look at those eyes, they are absolutely full of love ( and maybe some exhaustion judging by half mast position of the eyelids). I was seriously tempted to get one but I already have a small, plush sheep and honestly I’d rather if these squid(s) ended up in some imaginatively demented kids hands.

Right, so welcome to the latest in beautiful new music, all within the latest WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST. This weeks collection is particularly airy, laid back and melodic. Not intentional, it just worked out that way. It’s perfect for shutting out all the noise ( your phone, other people) and escaping. And so close your eyes, hold your squid close, and come enjoy some wonderful pop music.

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Have you ever been listening to particular song when something bad happens and then from that point on don’t want to listen to it anymore because you then believe the song is “bad luck” ? A few years ago, I got a ticket riding my bike in Central Park because I had both earbuds in and apparently you can only have one in when you ride, even in the f-ing park. Anyway the song playing when this happened was…Barbra Streisand’s utterly criminal, disco cheese movie anthem from 1979 “The Main Event”. Despite how I just described it, I am in no way distancing myself from this song. I still think it’s awesome…but from that point on I was afraid to play it because I’d convinced myself that it attracted bad spirits and that clearly, wicked things would happen if I ever did. It sat untouched in my gigantic ’70s playlist for several years and I would actively avoid it, knowing it would bring the rain if I dared to play it. Well, at some point this year, as I was gardening i.e. geekily refining and editing playlists, the temptation became too great and I just had to play it. Sure, it was within the safe confines of home but I realized I myself  had imbued it with the negative mojo, not the NYPD. I had to play it to kill the power, to take it back. And it worked. I killed the devil in Barbra Streisand’s “The Main Event” and set it free. Sure, I am still reminded of the ticket moment as Barbra croons “Extra, Extra” to open the song, but it’s mostly been freed from the negative connotations it once held. That’s the thing, if you listen to music all day, that kind of crap is bound to happen. Ultimately though, what I’m saying is fuck all that. Songs are medicine, they are courtroom dogs, and when you listen to this weeks especially wonderful WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST I hope you find something that transcends any rubbish, frustrating or sad thing that happens today because really, that’s what it’s for.

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That guy in the drawing above is Donny Hathaway (1945-1979), one of the greatest singers ever to walk the planet. I drew it a few years ago in my weird ballpoint pen way because he’s a bit of a hero for me. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about him tonight. If any of you have been watching the depressing, hedonistic, spectacular show Euphoria on HBO over the past few weeks & are anything close to being music nerds, hopefully you have been appreciating the songs they’ve been using to soundtrack things. It’s a mix of old & new & the choices have been exceptionally good. They recently employed Randy Newman’s 1983 gorgeously sad deep cut “Same Girl” in the most tearjerking fashion imaginable & it became pointedly clear at that moment there were fellow music nerds behind the scenes aligning the sounds to the visuals. It’s rare that a show gets this stuff right on a consistent basis, so what’s happening on Euphoria is worth exulting. In the show’s season ending big finale tonight, they used Donny Hathaway’s classic cover of “A Song For You” during a typically emotional scene. I was moved by the scene but also by the fact that this show was exposing Donny & his vocal brilliance to a whole new generation of people. Not to be dramatic, but the thought of a teenager discovering that sound for the first time, maybe crying, maybe wanting to hear it again & explore his other songs, well, it’s just pretty f-ing wonderful. Which leads us here…Wecome to the latest WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST featuring the best, clutch it to your heart pop music of the past week. It’s all about DISCOVERY, always & what’s better than stumbling unexpectedly upon a beautiful song you didn’t know existed until that moment ? If you answered “nothing”, you’re right 🙂

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