Damu the Fudgemunk featuring Blu - "God Speed"

Photo courtesy Damu the Fudgemunk

For the second single off Damu the Fudgemunk's KPM Crate Diggers series, which seems him working with KPM's extensive archive of records, the producer brings in Blu. "God Speed" is the result, and it's truly a unique blend of hip hop. KPM's archive isn't limited to the genres hip hop typically samples, and "God Speed" uses mostly samples of string and wind instruments and beats that could be from a jazz, marching band, and some other type of record. The song is surprisingly stark, and while it's hip hop, it's such a unique version of hip hop. While most releases in the genre tend to get repetitive and follow a tried and true formula, Damu the Fudgemunk is giving us some of the most intriguing sounds we've heard in a long time.

You can listen to "God Speed" below. Conversation Peace is due out September 3 on Def Presse. You can pre-order/pre-save a copy here. For more on Damu the Fudgemunk, check out the artist's Bandcamp and Facebook.

First Listen: New Releases for 16 July

Artist: Willow (a.k.a Willow Smith)
Album: lately i feel EVERYTHING
Quick Thoughts: Willow (Smith), daughter of Will and of the hair that whips back and forth, has a very aggressive, Poppy-meets-hyperpop (...hyperpoppy?) effort here that is surprisingly impressive and effective. It's a nice gamble of sorts for an artist that could have a lot of success staying in a pop starlet lane. This won't be for everyone, and I think that's at least partially the point, but recruiting folks like Cherry Glazerr and making things loud and aggro worked for me.
Songs of Note: "Gaslight," "Come Home," "¡BREAKOUT!"

Artist: John Mayer
Album: Sob Rock
Quick Thoughts: It's easy to forget that John Mayer's debut album, Room for Squares (20 years old now!) was actually really solid. Mayer is a great guitarist and a solid songwriter, but also often comes across as an example of rock excess. Sob Rock not only leans into it with the Richard Marx pastiche, but it shows why Mayer is so good at what he does. This is very, very good, and worth a listen.
Songs of Note: "Last Train Home," "New Light"

Artist: K.D.A.P
Album: Influences
Quick Thoughts: This electronic effort from the Broken Social Scenester is interesting, not only because of who it's from, but because the sort of lo-fi approach that you don't always get in the electronic space. I don't have a lot to say about this one as much as just knowing that it exists is a good thing.

Artist: Joshua Burnside and Laura Quirke
Album: In the Half-Light
Quick Thoughts: It's not easy to make a statement in four songs, but holy crap this EP. This is the sort of dark, stark Americana we love, and it just keeps getting better as it goes on. At only four tracks, it's just a taste of what something more could be, but in a weird release week, this deserves some time.
Songs of Note: "Far Away the Hills Are Green"

Artist: John R. Miller
Album: Depreciated
Quick Thoughts: Speaking of solid roots efforts, here's John R. Miller with a lightweight, fun record that hides the pain and hurt behind a little bit of jaunt. I don't have a whole lot to say about it, but I kept getting surprised by how into this I was, and I think it's got a shot at being a sleeper favorite for me this summer.
Songs of Note: "Lookin' Over My Shoulder," "Borrowed Time"

Artist: Anna Tivel
Album: Blue World
Quick Thoughts: I've been critical of the pandemic-era music dumps we've seen. While artists need to get paid, there's a fair amount of creative bankruptcy in putting out demos and live efforts that no one is asking for. Anna Tivel has two pandemic-era releases that buck the trend - instead of just dumping out odds and sods from her records, she's instead either reinventing her latest (like with The Question (Live and Alone)) or reinventing her best efforts as she does with Blue World. This is a gorgeous record that reimagines many of her songs as if you wandered into a smoky jazz club and stumbled upon a gem. We love Anna Tivel here, and she's probably the best kept secret we have in these parts outside of David Wax Museum. Make time for this.

Of note:

* Dee Gees - Hail Satin/Foo Fighters - Live (If all mainstream music allowed themselves to get weird more often, the world would be better off.)
* The House in the Woods - The Spectral Corridor (Ambient-adjacent project from Pye Corner Audio's Martin Jenkins)
* Eliza Shaddad - The Woman You Want (Eliza Shaddad is always sneaky great.)
* Anna Meredith - Bumps Per Minute (18 Studies for Dodgems)
* Karen Black - Dreaming of You
* Tin Can Collective - Axiomatic Alarm Clock
* Charli Adams - Bullseye
* Clairo - Sling
* Wavves - Hideaway
* Steve Dawson - At the Bottom of a Canyon in the Branches of a Tree
* The Wind Ups - Try Not to Think
* Ida Mae - Click Click Domino
* Tones and I - Welcome to the Madhouse
* Lucid Express - Lucid Express
* The Lasso, Jordan Hamilton, and The Saxquatch - Tri Magi
* JOON - lag

EPs:

* Yves Tumor - The Asymptomatical World EP
* Esther Rose - How Many More Times
* A Place to Bury Strangers - Hologram
* Attawalpa - Patterns
* Jayla Kai - Epitome
* Candy Ambulance - Hard-Boiled
* Jennie Lawless - I Am Here to Make Friends
* Ambar Lucid - Get Lost in the Music
* Margo Price - Live from the Other Side
* Catie Turner - Heartbroken and Milking It
* Cakes da Killa and Proper Villians - Muvaland Vol. 2
* The Secret Sisters - Quicksand EP
* Moonsign - Light From a Second Floor Apartment Window

Live albums/Compilations/Reissues:

* Joseph Spence - Encore: Unheard Recordings of Bahamian Guitar and Singing (This is an outstanding compilation.)
* Turin Brakes - The Optimist LP - Original Demos
* Drive-by Truckers - Live at Plan 9 - July 13, 2006
* Genesis Owusu - Missing Molars (Swnt Deluxe)
* John Vanderslice - ETHICAL JUTE MOUSE: Lost Songs from Tiny Telephone 2001 - 2021
* Joyce Manor - Joyce Manor (Remastered)

Also out:

* Tramp Stamps - We Got Drunk and Made an EP (Insultingly awful.)
* Instupendo - Love Power A-to-Z

Bite Me Bambi Cover The Go-Go's

As a card carrying music snob blogger, I like to pretend I'm above the ska punk cover. No self respecting music "journalist" would dare admit to liking a ska punk band releasing a cover of a classic song from the 80's! The audacity! Luckily I'm over forty and don't require this site to pay the bills, so I'm bringing you Bite Me Bambi covering The Go-Go's iconic "Our Lips Are Sealed." A ska cover of "Our Lips Are Sealed" is a perfect pairing. It's already a joyously fun song, and ska is a joyously fun genre. Plus, Bite Me Bambi are ridiculously fun, so there we go! Is Bite Me Bambi covering "Our Lips Are Sealed" a truly mind-blowing, life altering song? No, but it doesn't need to be. It's just fun. It's also July, and as we get older summer means less and less fun, so let's all savor this as a fun summer thing and get over ourselves.

Bite Me Bambi says of the cover selection:

"We wanted a fun summer song and have always wanted to do a Go Go's song. We had initially planned to do the song during covid, but it got lost in the shuffle of other tunes. Terry Hall from ska legends The Specials co wrote the song with Jane Wiedlan so we thought it would be a cool one to make into a Ska song. As it turned out, we ended up recording it pretty close to the 40 year anniversary of the release date of the original, and the induction of the Go Go's to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, so we thought it was Kismet. That is the yearbook answer...Okay the real answer is:...it was a awesome song to rollerskate to.."

You can watch the video for Bite Me Bambi's version of "Our Lips Are Sealed" below. A download of the song can be purchased here. For more on Bite Me Bambi, check out the band's website.

Children of the Flaming Wheel - "Trenches"

Children of the Flaming Wheel feature three members of Hallelujah the Hills (which accounts for 75% of the band). Since we are obviously huge HtH fans here, we kinda have to give Children of the Flaming Wheel a shot. While their new single, "Trenches," is wildly different from anything their other band has released, longtime fans are still going to find a lot to love here. Their Bandcamp bio describes them as "galapagogo garage punk for the freakazoids!" Surprisingly, what you're imagining in your head is probably pretty close to what "Trenches" sounds like. It's a pretty rockin' psychedelic version of garage rock, but it's a short burst of psychedelia at just over two minutes. It sounds like if The 13th Floor Elevators came during the punk explosion of the late 70's.

You can listen to "Trenches" below. The song is available as a download here. For more on Children of the Flaming Wheel, check out the band's Bandcamp.

Calicoco - "Heal Me"

We first discovered Calicoco back in 2019, a year after they released their amazing album Float. We became enamored with Giana Caliolo's music. The combination of 60's crooner style vocals with modern indie and folk hits such a sweet spot of my musical taste. When I saw Calicoco had a new single out, I was thrilled for more of the same, but "Heal Me" straight up rocks. This is not the direction I expected, but I'm certainly not complaining. "Heal Me" keeps everything we loved about Calicoco before, but cranks up the noise. Sure, the cover of Heartless Bastards' "New Resolution" earlier this year gave us a hint of what Calicoco could do while rocking out a bit more, but this new song is an entirely new direction. It reminds me of Stef Chura going a little more in a straightforward rock direction while keeping the indie rock buzz and crunch.

You can watch the video for "Heal Me" below. Underneath is due out September 3 on Dadstache Records. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on Calicoco, check out the artist's website.

Jennah Barry - "Venus In Heat"

Photo by Dario Lozano-Thornton

Nova Scotia's Jennah Barry has released a new single, and if you were a fan of last year's Holiday you're going to love this one. "Venus In Heat" dives even deeper into the 70's AM radio sound of her previous release. It's not quite a full on 70's throwback, though. This one keeps plenty of modern pop and dream pop intact. It's a modern take on a vintage torch song with just the slightest hints of country, making it a gorgeous melding of genres into something that sounds fresh and familiar at the same time. That's kind of Jennah Barry's entire thing, and what we're coming to adore about her music.

Jennah Barry says of the new song: "This song is about the first few days of falling in love, when you feel great and terrible all at the same time."

You can listen to "Venus In Heat" below. The song is available as a single via Bandcamp. For more on Jennah Barry, check out the artist's website.

Colleen Green - "It's Nice to Be Nice"

I can't think of any artist that would release a song called "It's Nice to Be Nice" that I would want to listen to besides Colleen Green. That's just truly the magic of Green. In her hands, "It's Nice to Be Nice" is more about wishing she could exile her own negativity. It's not preaching to the public at large to be more kind, it's about her own struggle. It's done in that incredible pop meets indie rock style that only Green can truly pull off. This is one of her more pop songs, but it still has all that DIY punk and indie vibe that we need in a Colleen Green song. She's the rare indie rocker that seems to get better and better the more pop and closer to mainstream she gets.

You can watch the video for "It's Nice to Be Nice" below. Cool is due out September 10 on Hardly Art. You can pre-order/pre-save the album here. For more on Colleen Green, check out the artist's website.

JATK - "Conscious Wonder"

Photo by Aneleise Ruggles

We're suckers for really well done power pop, and JATK (the project of Boston singer/songwriter Matt Jatkola) is quickly becoming a new favorite. His latest single, "Conscious Wonder," is a prime example of that. It's this giant, jangly as anything pop song that reminds me of mid-90's Matthew Sweet, Atlantic-era Lemonheads, and a little Gram Parsons thrown in. It's a gorgeous and sunny pop song literally perfect for this period of the summer (if it ever stops raining here in New England). If this was released in 1995, this would have been a pretty decent local radio hit.

As with all truly great power pop, the sunny vibes of "Conscious Wonder" mask a much darker story. Matt Jatkola explains:

“The lyrics are about hugging the line between existence and non-existence, and they touch on some heavy subjects about death and struggle. I wanted the sound of the track to encompass the feelings of joy and grief at once. Not an easy task, but I think we captured something special. You can tap your foot to it or dance to it, but there's some twangy country lap steel longing away in the background too. Nothing is ever just happy and that's ok. There's a comfort in thinking that, in some way, you're going to live forever. You won't in a real sense, but you will in a philosophical sense. And at the very least, you're alive today. These are all truly wonderful things to contemplate and write about. They're especially poignant topics for me right now.”

You can listen to "Conscious Wonder" below. The song is currently available on JATK's Bandcamp. For more on JATK, check out the artist on Facebook and Twitter.

Live Shows: Service and Miracle Blood, Ralph's Rock Diner, Worcester, MA 7/16/21

As venues open and shows are ramping up again, I haven't been quite comfortable going inside a venue yet. My COVID anxiety hasn't settled down yet, so for right now I'm sticking with outdoor venues. Luckily, Ralph's, everyone's favorite dive bar/punk and metal club in Worcester, is currently hosting shows outside on their "patio." Patio is in quotations since it's really more of the end of their parking lot that's kinda cordoned off with some tables and chairs. There's a PA, but no lighting system except for streetlights and some string lights. In other words, it's pretty perfect if you know and love Ralph's.

I finally made it down to one of these since Service was playing. They are one of my favorite discoveries from last year, and I couldn't wait to see their ultra-aggressive noise punk in person. For a band that hadn't played a show in who even knows how long at this point, they mastered that tight but loose combination I need in a live show. It may not have been technically perfect, and there were a few sound issues, but it's literally an indie punk show in a parking lot, so that's a requirement. Plus, they played loud to the point that free earplugs were handed out to whoever wanted them for an outside show. It was a little strange seeing a show like this with the majority of the crowd sitting at chairs and tables, but it's how we're all adjusting right now. But a loud, screamed filled rock performance by musicians who are shockingly talented was exactly what I've been missing all this time.

Next up were Miracle Blood, who I didn't know of before this show. Sporting a singer who kept informing the crowd about how much distortion pedal was being used in each song (much more humorous in person than it sounds when I write it), the Boston band played a blistering set. Even the song that was almost a ballad ended up being crushingly loud (and distorted!) by the end. This is a band that made a song about a Pomeranian be one of the loudest songs of the night. To me they sounded like if Jello Biafra jammed with The Melvins without ever sounding like when Jello Biafra actually played with The Melvins. Miracle Live in that area between punk and metal while refusing to commit to either. They're a band we'll be keeping an eye on from now on.

Apologies to both Pillowman and Dando Fever for missing their sets. I had an early morning on Saturday, so I needed to bail early. Plus, my baby steps to live music includes building up to a four band bill. Normally I'd avoid a cover band on purpose, but Dando Fever specialize in the music of The Lmeonheads and Juliana Hatfield, so missing them was a true bummer.

The Cocker Spaniels - "Racism Priest"

The Cocker Spaniels is the musical project of North Carolina's Sean Padilla, "... a 40 year old black dad who likes Prince and Guided By Voices a lot," and reflects those two artists in his music. I know you're thinking that mixing Prince and Guided By Voices sounds like a horrible idea, but now you've thought about it for a few more seconds and love the idea. And you're right to love it. On his new single, "Racism Priest," Padilla takes the smooth soul side of Prince and mixes it with the frenetic indie rock of Guided By Voices. Yeah... it's fantastic, even with the less than fantastic story behind it.

Sean Padilla explains the story behind the song:

"This song was inspired by a White person with whom I attended middle school, who privately messaged my spouse on Instagram last year to apologize for having called Black people the N-word when she was younger (when she and I were classmates). I had no idea that the slur had ever been in her vocabulary but, then again, that may be why she apologized to my spouse, whom she only knows through the internet, instead of to me. It was an awkward situation that instantly killed our friendship."

You can listen to "Racism Priest" below. The Cocker Spaniels Are Still Alive, and So Are You (which sees Sean Padilla playing almost all the instruments on) is due out August 13. You can pre-order a copy through Bandcamp. For more on The Cocker Spaniels, check out the artist's Facebook.