Category: Weekly New Wonders Playlist

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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One of the most terrifying episodes of Twilight Zone is “The Midnight Sun” from 1961. It’s about the sun moving closer to the earth (or vice versa) and the physical and emotional breakdown of a landlady and the only tenant remaining in her building that hasn’t fled the city. The temperature is 120 degrees and conditions are becoming unlivable. And of course because it’s Twilight Zone there is a twist ( no, not gonna mention it in case you haven’t seen it, in which case, please do so asap because it’s awesome). It’s both eerily prophetic and haunting and frankly hasn’t been far from my mind during the current heatwave.  It’s the anthesis of “summer fun” which is another reason why it rules. Oh yeah, welcome to the latest Weekly New Wonders Playlist ! I’d say it was HOT but you already know that. Anyway, there are some fine pop songs that want to meet you. You can listen on Soundcloud or Spotify, links below !

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You know when a particular song/film/book/piece of art strikes you in the head and heart and after touting it’s amazingness, when you ultimately share it with others they don’t feel the same ? I was absolutely obsessed with this old movie from 1971 called “Death in Venice” ( okay, still am). Years ago they had a revival screening in NYC and I was beyond thrilled that I would finally get the opportunity to share this AMAZING THING that I LOVED with what I assumed were my like minded friends. I’d repeatedly stated how incredible it was, completely built it up, saying crazy obsessive shit like “this is one of the greatest movies ever made” and “Dirk Bogarde is so genius”.  I went with no less than 3 friends in the naive hope they would be blown away and love it as much as I did. This did not happen. They ALL thought it was f-ing boring. In their eyes, I now had a black mark on my taste meter. At the time, I was genuinely embarrassed…which is ridiculous but there you go. It’s that old cliche i.e. when you love something you want to share it and have others experience your same irrational, starry eyed joy. With that in mind it’s time for the WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST featuring what we think are some of the handsomest songs from recent weeks and days. We don’t expect you to love every song and want to squeeze them all, but we live in undeniable hope that you will discover something wonderful to put on repeat and soundtrack your travels this week. They’re beautiful.  (and “Death in Venice” is too). You can listen on Soundcloud or Spotify, links below!

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This is singer-songwriter Valerie Carter (1953-2017). Her first 2 solo albums ( 1977’s “Just A Stone’s Throw” & 1978’s “Wild Child” respectively) were reissued together this week in collection form as “Ooh Child: The Columbia Years” & well, she was just amazing. Anyway, while you’re “Spotifying”, “I-Tuning” or “Padora-ing” this week, please take a minute & check it out because, holy lord, she had a transcendent, shockingly wonderful voice. The nearest she got to having a hit record was when her cover of the aforementioned “Ooh Child” played over the closing credits of the bonafide cult classic of suburban teen ennui from 1979 ( & one of the best movie’s EVER) “Over the Edge”. The original version is a classic but unbelievably hers CRUSHES IT, a genuinely insane achievement. And so check that out if you haven’t before as well as the tracks “Cowboy Angel”, & “Wild Child” because they are tear-jerkingly gorgeous. Speaking of tear-jerkingly gorgeous, it’s time to glorify the BEST NEW MUSIC that’s arisen over the past week which is to say welcome to the WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST. We hope you find your new favorite song(s) within it ! You can listen on Soundcloud or Spotify, links are below just for you.

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Not looking to darken the proceedings of presenting the latest WEEKLY NEW WONDERS PLAYLIST featuring the MOST wonderful new music we’ve met over the past week, but want to take a minute and pay tribute to someone no longer physically with us who’s absolutely worth remembering and knowing about right about now.  His name was Jimmie Spheeris and he died 35 years ago this week in a motorcycle accident in Los Angeles. He was an absolutely amazing singer-songwriter who should’ve been better known. He looked every inch the 70’s troubadour, long haired, bearded, toting his acoustic guitar but there was something about his songs, full of summer breezes and insecurity, melodic and complex, that was utterly special which is to say jeezus damn, he was pretty amazing. Anyway, take a minute this week and spend some time with the handful of albums he blessed us with because they are all full of beauties and they’ll make you feel loved okay ? Now back to our regularly scheduled and beautiful new music…

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Normally I’d write a big intro to tout the wonderful new songs within the latest Weekly New Wonders Playlist ( and they are uniformly wonderful, swear) but I’m slightly spent from writing about this old Beatles book ( please check it out, it’s the entry after this one !)…and so all I’ll say is here are some fine pieces of new music and I hope you find your new, beautiful theme song within. Also here is a gratuitous photo of genius Francoise Hardy from back in the day just because. You can listen on Soundcloud or Spotify because we wanna make it easy. Go rock…

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