At 70: The Percussion Music of Stuart Saunders Smith, Vol. 1
Alex Prior – The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra – Ballet Edmonton – Chronos Vocal Ensemble – The Wolf of Lafontaine Song & Dance
Jocelyn Morlock was an artist who’s work was presented, quality, quality.
HUNGRYTOWN: Circus For Sale
Circus For Sale is a recording that I fell in love with from the first listen, and I haven’t stopped listening to it. Smart lyrics and a cracker of a band are a winning combination. Released by Big Stir Records.
Bert Jansch – Morning Brings Peace of Mind
Iron & Wine – Light Verse, this is the newest recording by Iron & Wine, aka Sam Beam. This is the seventh album from Beam and carries forward the quality of his previous recording as well and breathing new life into his unique sound and musical stylings.
Iron & Wine – Woman King
The Flavor That Kills – Book of Secrets
Mildlife – Chorus
Chris Connelly – Artificial Madness
Dover Lynn Fox – Low Moon Courtesy of https://www.barkpr.co.uk Album blog to follow, sometime in the future.
Fred Hersch – Silent, Listening This is a style of listening that I endorse. Turn off the T.V, Walk away from the computer. On your phone or iPad use Genius to scroll through the lyrics and Wikipedia to learn more about the artist or recording. But, that’s all! No browsing. No Facebook. No social media, only the ones that present the music that you are listening to. If It’s a streamed album I use my best headphone’s and chill while I listen. It it’s a physical copy I sit in the music room and use the big stereo and let the music envelope me. Either headphones or stereo are OK, the main idea is to focus on what you are hearing. What are the lyrics saying? What vocal qualities deliver those lyrics. What musical instruments are playing. Keep these questions going for every track and get to really know the music.
Starting a playlist with a song recorded by The Call immediately gets my attention. This track, The Walls Came Down, is from what could be considered a lesser-known album, Modern Romans.
Great Lake Swimmers – Great Lake Swimmers
Great Lake Swimmers – Uncertain Country
Great Lake Swimmers – The Waves, The Wake
Great Lake Swimmers – New Wild Everywhere
Great Lake Swimmers – A Forest Of Arms
I plowed through the Great Lake Swimmers‘ discography. I have enjoyed their music for quite a while and have seen them live numerous times, the first being in 2015.
Keith Green – The Prodigal Son
Keith Green – So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt
Keith Green – Songs for the Shepherd
I enjoyed hearing Keith Green again. I often listened to him in a past life, but not so much now. He was a gifted musician and songwriter who has held quite well.
The Decemberists – What a Terrible, Terrible World
I’ve got to have the Decemberists in rotation at least monthly. Seeing them live is still one of the best music experiences I have ever had.
Vetiver – Thing of the Past
Vetiver – To Find Me Gone
I only have one album from Vetiver, and I have enjoyed their slightly different sound. So, I listened to their most recent recording, Up On High, and found it boring, popish music that didn’t push any boundaries. It was very commercial. I then listened to a recording from their middle period, The Errant Charm, and it was more interesting than Up On High and closer to their To Find Me Gone album, but still less appealing to my ears. So, then I listened to the album that immediately followed To Find Me Gone, Thing of the Past. I didn’t have the magic of To Find Me Gone, but it was a very good listen. Thing of the Past has some excellent moments, such as their cover of The Swimming Song, which has been covered umpteen times; my favourite is by Kate & Anna McGarrigle.
A little addendum, I like their art work on these two albums.
Taylor Swift – Midnights
Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department
My son’s girlfriend, Lauren, is a Taylor Swift fan and gave me the album Midnights as a gift. I had previously casually listened to some of her material, but this was my first serious listen. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. So when her new album appeared, I immediately listened to it. Later that day, I talked with Lauren and compared notes. We both thought Midnights was a far better album.
Lee Greenwood – Somebody’s Gonna Love You
I was never a fan of Mr. Greenwood, I think I acquired this album in a collection that I brought in. It has not aged well and I think the cover photo is creepy.
Joey Gregrash – North Country Funk
Joey Gregrash – tell the people
An acquaintance suggested I listen to Joey Gregash and his take on the Neil Young song, Down By The River. He claimed it was better than the original. I didn’t get that impression; it is good, but I’ll stay with Neil Young for now.
Charles Lloyd – The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow
My introduction to Charles Lloyd was the album Vanished Gardens, which he made in collaboration with the backing band The Marvels and roots music singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams. This new recording isn’t a Vanished Garden; this time, he comes across as more free-spirited and inventive, but it is still a good listen.
Joe Cocker – The Best of Joe Cocker
A blast from the past, Joe Cocker should be remembered as a good singer and collaborator. You can’t see him on a CD, so you get the music and nothing but the music. Seeing Joe Cocker live should only be done after listening to an album or CD.
The David Grisman Quintet – The David Grisman Quintet
It is a cross between Americana and Jazz, and I like it. The band is full of talented artists who had productive
The Waterboys – Fishman’s Blues
This album has been on my frequent rotation list for a long time. I just heard a reference pop up and had to re-listen to it. It’s just as good as it ever was.
Eleven Hundred Springs – Bandwagon
It’s new to me, with a traditional C/W feel and a Texas drawl.
Bodies of Water – Ears Will Pop & Eyes Will Blink
This album is weird, but weird in an interesting way. I don’t know what I can say, they have their own way of making music and it works here and there, I am fond of the opening track mostly.
Arlo Guthrie – Alice’s Restaurant
I don’t know what it is but I like Arlo Guthrie, Alice’s Restaurant is still a hilariously good song.
Arlo Guthrie – Amigo
Highlights: Great Lake Swimmers, Vetiver,Taylor Swift and much more.
Let’s start at the beginning, in the Marble Zone. This is where self-reflection leads to creativity, and minutes become hours. Welcome to The Marble Zone.
“The Marble Zone is a place where I am at peace, where I can be creative and tap into what I most enjoy. Songwriting is cathartic and therapeutic, so the overarching theme is quite meta. There are references to the process I undertake when being creative, but I think the concept is universal; I invite others to find their own Marble Zone.“Joe Carnall Jnr stated. Speaking on Welcome To The Marble Zone’s sonic palette, he added: “Over the past few years, I’ve been intrigued by the soundclash of guitars and electronic music and found myself listening to many New Order at the time of writing the record. Apart from the obvious ‘Hooky’ bass lines and 808-inspired drum sounds (Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer), I became obsessed with Bernard Sumner’s vocal melodies and delivery. There are many other influences in there; dig around, and you’ll find Talking Heads, Gorillaz, Baxter Drury, LCD Soundsystem, Tame Impala and even a bit of Kraftwerk.“
This sophomore opus is a treasury of diary entries from a thirty-something father of three, who has gone from knowing everything to nothing at all, balancing the chaos, beauty, relentlessness and depression of the past three years – accepting what Carnall refers to as “The Marble Zone.”
“I’m deep down in the Marble Zone, on my last life,” confesses Joe Carnall Jr. as the synth-infused curtain lifts on Good Cop Bad Cop’s sophomore album, Welcome To The Marble Zone, which was released on 5April 2024 via Count to Ten Records.
The brainchild of Joe Carnall Jnr., Good Cop Bad Cop’s frontperson rose to prominence as the figurehead of 00s indie band Milburn, who have enjoyed an incredible resurgence since their return six years ago. However, not being one to look back, Carnall began writing what would become Good Cop Bad Cop’s debut offering in 2018 and recorded the album in Los Angeles, USA, featuring none other than Matt Helders of Arctic Monkeys’ fame behind the kit. Although 2024’s follow-up was put together closer to home, the guitars were left in their cases for the most part, with Carnall and Gold Teeth (Andy Nicholson) opting to push the synth and hip-hop undertones further. The result somehow sounds like both “then and now.”
This album is a keeper. Apart from the PR words I borrowed heavily from, there is only a little I can add. What is my favourite track?
Does It Get Any Easier? Its lyrics resonate with me. Joe Carnall Jr. tells us: “‘Does It Get Any Easier’ is arguably the most instant song on the album. It is a playful acceptance of life as a fully-fledged grown-up when, in all honesty, you still feel like Bart Simpson. Gomez meets Parliament.”
I Cried For A Friend This Morning:Joe Carnall Jr. tells us,” ‘I Cried For A Friend This Morning’ is a love letter delivered too late and easily the most difficult song I’ve ever written. A downside of getting older means losing people you love, something that never really occurs to you, if you’re lucky enough to avoid it, in your younger years. Musically, the overbearing sustain on the piano is a metaphor for grief.”
Far From Home: “Easily the most blissed out tune on the album, which aimed to steal some of the warmth and tranquility from the chorus of ‘Feel Good Inc.’ by Gorillaz. It is a song about the passage of time and how we only really live to create memories.” This quote from Joe Carnall Jr. inspired me to listen to Gorillaz because I wasn’t all that familiar with their sound, part of the joy of listening to new music is the rabbit trails that it sends me on.
The album artwork of Demon Days by Gorillaz was designed by English comic book artist Jamie Hewlett, who was co-founded the band with Damon Albarn.
I recommend Welcome to The Marble Zone. It has hooks and lyrics that demand more than one listening session. Make a nice cup of tea, settle into your favourite chair, put on your headphones, and give this a serious, focused, and intentional listen. Welcome to The Marble Zone is a good album; I’ll get my cup of tea now.
New Jersey’s QUIZ SHOW presents ‘Flotsam’ EP, the second offering for the boys of From Shudder To Think.
New Jersey-based indie rock trio Quiz Show presents their ‘Flotsam’ EP, released via Montclair, NJ-based Magic Door Record Label. The EP follows up their eponymous debut album, an electrifying collection full of protest, friendship, and frustration, released in 2023 to wide acclaim.
Quiz Show is made up of Chris Matthews of Shudder To Think, bassist Jesse Krakow, and drummer Joe Billy, who replaces the original Kevin March (Guided By Voices, The Dambuilders, Shudder To Think).
These songs are the first that the current Quiz Show lineup wrote together from scratch. Each adding their instrumental work and vocals, they discovered something new and unexpected in the process – a whole that was far more than the sum of its parts. The EP is three original songs that tell stories about living – now and in the past. There is something melancholy about the record but also a resonant chord of joy and perseverance.
Recorded and produced by award-winning producer Ray Ketchem (Guided By Voices, Luna, Versus, Elk City, Gramercy Arms) at his Magic Door Recording Studio, this EP was engineered by Ketchem with Brian Robbins(Blondie, Bring Me The Horizon, Papa Roach).
‘ Flotsam found floating or washed up by the sea, represents the shattered, lost stories of people’s lives. It’s easy to ignore, but there is value in treating flotsam as a mystery to solve, a story to tell, a lost connection between past and present waiting to be discovered.
“‘Super Concrete’ was the name of the company my brother worked for before he passed. He was a different person, mostly a source of the unexpected and usually trouble. Many wrote him off as poorly adjusted – as flotsam – but that’s not even close. So, while he may have lived a nontraditional life working at Super Concrete, living in DC’s gay community, and making a home with his boyfriend, he created a life of beauty and purpose,” explains Chris Matthews.
“Packing ’em'” explores how flotsam gets organized in the chaos of the sea. When we feel adrift, it’s natural to seek refuge. But what can feel like a safe harbour is actually something that uses our struggle to fuel its desires. Be careful when it feels like ‘no one knows, but everybody knows’ simultaneously; people’s answers are probably not their creations or for their benefit.
“China Glaze” is a memorial to a good friend who had an exceptionally brilliant mind. Flotsam here is the way it feels when someone leaves you to continue living without them. Musically, the song tries to reflect the slipperiness and scattered experiences that come with loss. The lyrics include my fractured, precious memories of the man who left, and learning to live well in a world without him. Good luck tomorrow!”
Over the years, my wheels (vehicular modes of transportation) have varied, sometimes for the good and sometimes not so good. My first wheels were a bike, I am in a parade in Viking Alberta in this photo. Cowboy hat and boots were my attire of choice back in 1967 and I still like putting them on.
My first car was purchased from my Mom in 1972, a 1967 Rambler American 440 station wagon, for 800 bucks. It was a nice car that I drove for quite a few years. I drove it to Mexico in 1975; when I pulled into gas stations, I would tell the attendant to check the gas and fill it up with oil. That was back when attendants filled the gas, checked the oil and washed the windows. I used about 20 cans of oil to get there and back. It left a trail of blue smoke behind, leading to police closely following us as we slowly cruised through the posh part of Beverly Hills. I didn’t bother with the bus tour of celebrity homes; I just glanced casually at some of them from the comfort of my car. I should have fixed the engine in the States; it was less expensive than Alberta’s, but we wanted to ensure I had enough money to get us home.
I had done some custom work on the Rambler. The first thing was a paint job. I had an accident that caved in the driver’s door, but it was hard to match the faded original paint, so I painted the whole car Cadillac Green with a white pinstripe down each side. I had custom rearview mirrors, which got painted with the car. Fat rear tires gave it an aggressive stance. Unfortunately, I had hit a curb, and the right rear was wobbly, leading to some people driving up beside me and telling me my tire was going flat. Another thing that I would have fixed with a bit more coin. We had left our good-paying jobs with some cash in hand; I think it was about three grand between us. In hindsight, it was foolish to leave the jobs because they were easy money, working in the open pit mine in the Crowsnest Pass. My respiratory doctor tells me that working there probably contributed to my lung condition in later life, along with smoking a pack a day until I quit smoking about 35 years back; it was harder to quit smoking than any other addition in my experience. Back to the Rambler, I took out the front bench seat and put in high back fibreglass seats that never got installed correctly, which made the car a bit embarrassing to take a date in. I rented a car to go on a date once.
The Rambler was getting harder to keep together, so 1977, I sold it for $200 and bought a 1958 Pontiac Sky Chief or Chieftain. The photo above is not my car, it looked similar and the colour is close to what I had. That was a sweet car to drive. I can remember driving it to my sister’s grad party in a farmer’s field; the cops had a check stop but didn’t stop me for some reason. It had its flaws, though. The guy I bought it from had swapped the stock three on the tree for four on the floor. It had a slight problem; he had installed it with the shift backwards, so the first gear was where the fourth should have been, etc. It was otherwise stock and a nice clean car without rust, and the engine ran clean. It was heavy, so it took a block to get it up to the speed limit and then another block to stop. That is an exaggeration, but you get the picture. That car slipped away from me due to my addiction to alcohol and stupidity. I had been driving a company truck on a survey crew, but I quit the job about the time I lost the Pontiac, so I was walking or bumming rides for a spell.
Eventually, I ended up living in Red Deer and buying a mid-70s Chevy 4X4. I don’t have a photo of the truck but it would have been similar to the one in the photo above. It was a good drive for surveying, but not so good impaired. I sold it to a farm kid who put a downpayment on it so he could sell a calf and pay the total price, which he did. I am trying to remember how much I paid for it or how much I sold it for. Nope, I don’t know.
With no driver’s license, I rode a bicycle for a year, and at the end of the year, I bought a 1969 Mercury Montego, which turned out to be a money pit. Once again, I don’t have a photo of the actual car that I owned but it would have been similar to the one above. I had the engine rebuilt, bored, stroked and souped up to get more horsepower out of the little 302 in it. I put on a medium-rise manifold with a Holley 750 double pumper on top of the rebuilt engine and added a Holley exhaust system through Chrome Side Exhaust muffler pipes. It had a nice rumble. I put fat tires on the back and traction bars to hold the rear end down; that was wishful thinking. The little 302 gave me good short bursts of power but no high end. I could beat almost anything off the lights, but it had a top end of 75 mph, terrible on the highway. I was red-lining the poor little engine to drive any distance on a Highway, so it became a street car only. It started falling apart, so in 1984, I sold the Merc to a guy who would part it out, and with the money in my pocket, I moved to Edmonton in my Dad’s 1975 Ford 300. What a piece of shit; I drove it for a very short spell and then gave it for free to my cousin Ken; he is handy with tools and cars. Then I got Dad’s 4X4.
The 4X4 was a Dodge Power Wagon that was rather unique. Dad had purchased a 1975 Dodge from a guy who had driven it off the dealer’s lot and, a week later, ran into a train with it while driving impaired. The truck’s shell was totalled, but the drive train was still new, so Dad and his friend Ken stripped the truck down, took out all the salvageable parts and chucked the rest out. Dad then bought an older Dodge that the guy had blown the engine out of, but the body was more or less intact. It was in rough shape but intact. It was about to get rougher as our hunting wagon; we drove it off-road plenty of times, and it was scratched and dented. Dad and Ken patched all the parts with the occasional trip to the local auto salvage yard and dubbed it the Johnny Cash special 75,76,77,78,79 Dodge Power Wagon.
They put a custom gas tank under the tool chest that rested on the edges of the box so we could drive for a week without having to gas up. Unfortunately, they forgot to flush the tank, so we replaced fuel pumps daily as the steel shards came through. They also built a heavy-duty bumper on the front that held a winch that I contributed to the build, and they put an equally heavy-duty bumper on the back; I wish we had put a second winch on the back. It was great in the bush and OK for around town, but not a highway driver; it had a nasty shimmy at highway speeds. It also had a terrible blind spot on the passenger side beside the door.
In the photos below we are stuck. The trees didn’t have enough roots to hold them in place and with no winch on the back we were stuck. We slept overnight in the muskeg and in the morning Dad walked out to the road and got a guy with a Ford 4X4 to come and pull us out backwards. He had to winch 3 times to get to where we were stuck.
In 1985, I started working with Coordinate Surveys, which had an office three blocks from where I lived, so I gave the truck back to Dad and walked to work. They let me drive their company vehicles as I moved up the ladder to party chief. About this time, I bought a 1949 Dodge Jeep 4X4 from a vehicle scrap yard for $200; I sold it a few months later at a net profit to a guy from Red Deer who planned to restore it. I often wonder if he ever did. It had most of the original parts.
Fast forward to 1992, I got married, and shortly after that, we bought a 1994 Dodge Spirit. I don’t have a photo of it but it looked like this stock photo. It was Valerie’s wheels until 2001 when Valerie hit some black ice on the Whitemud Freeway, and the car got totalled. We used the insurance money to buy an early 00s Mazda van. It was the top end of whatever year it came out and had all the bells and whistles, including air conditioning and heat to the van’s back seat. That was also its undoing; the rear heat/air conditioner failed, and fixing it would cost somewhere above $3000.
We used the Mazda as a trade-in for a brand-new 2008 Dodge Caravan, stock photo on the right. We drove that van to Miami and back in 2009, 16,000km. We call it our “Epic Road Trip.” Valerie continued using the van, and I drove a 1995 Ford Ranger. A stock photo again, in fact just assume they are all stock. Note to self and others, take photos of your cars and trucks.
It had a V-6 engine and a four-speed manual transmission, and it was a fun little vehicle. Fun until the transmission blew out halfway to Red Deer on Highway 2. It would cost about $3000 to fix it, more than the truck was worth, so we sold it for a couple of bucks. I bought a Kia Sportage that got me around that winter. Next up was one of my favourite rides from all my vehicles: a 1995 Nissan Pathfinder.
It was a real workhorse and plowed through snow up to the bumper; yes, I tested that out. I drove that till 2010 when the transmission died on it; I was ready to cry; I loved that SUV. It had a great custom stereo, oversized rubber and a clean interior. Unfortunately, it was rusting severely, a weak spot for all Pathfinders of that era, and things started falling apart. We had a choice: either keep pouring money into the Pathfinder or take that money and buy a new vehicle.
I had been looking at new vehicles and liked the latest Kia vehicles’ looks and the favourable reviews they were getting. We ended up buying a his-and-hers set of 2010 Kias.
Valerie got a base-model Rondo, and I bought a top-of-the-line Kia Forte Koup SX. As of today, we are still driving those two vehicles. Being retired, I don’t go out much in the Forte, but we drive the Rondo all over the place. It’s a dependable and fun little SUV.
With the hip replacement, I got a new set of wheels: a 2024 Stella Rollator. Along with the Forte, it will probably be my last set of wheels. If I ever won the lottery, I would buy another ’58 Pontiac in the same colour as the one I had owned and a 1995 Pathfinder, preferably rust free. So there we have it, all my rides over the years.
I like mix tapes and compilation albums, so when Big Stir Records told me about Generation Blue, I was skeptical at first but happy to give it a virtual spin. My cautious approach was about to be changed into a enthusiastic encouragement for everyone to listen to this album and check out some new sounds.
There are 11 songs on here that I had yet to hear before I listened to them on Generation Blue , and I have yet to listen to the band’s full albums; I’ll get around to that eventually. I’m working on it. Generation Blue is a pleasant listen with some excellent bands. Shufflepucks’ opening salvo Where The Hell Is She gets us into the mood with a fiery tune that made me want to see them live. The video of them playing this song gives us a glimpse of the energy that they put into their music. Where The Hell Is She is an excellent opening track.
For me, a stand-out track was Broken Tooth by Campfire Girls. They bring a fresh sound and excellent energy pacing through the full five minutes of this most listenable song. It is from their 2003 album Tell Them Hi. It is a bit long in the tooth, but it’s still good after all these years. Good music doesn’t get old.
Nerf Herder’s tongue-in-cheek track is called We Opened For Weezer. It’s a fun romp throughout, and good instrumentation makes it a must-listen.
Ozma gives us the track No One Needs To Know. That sentence could be misconstrued. It is a track that people should know about. It has an interesting take on faithfulness in relationships.
Overall, this is a solid album with good energy throughout, and someone put some thought into the order of the songs because they follow and then lead each other seamlessly. I’ll say well done to my friends at Big Stir.
I saw a blog where a person had listed their one to ten favourite songs. I put a spin on that list and made mine an alphanumeric list. This isn’t necessarily my favourite songs, they are however songs that I like, are alphanumeric and they fit well into such a list as this.
One by Three Dog Night – This is easily my top ten number song
One by U2 – This is number 2 of the shared number one. One is still a good song.
Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad by Meatloaf – Meatloaf said it: Two out of three ain’t bad.
Two Birds, One Stone by Drake – We move from two out of three to two birds with one stone. This is a long and complicated song.
Three Little Birds by Bob Marley And The Wailers – Bob sang 3, one more bird than Drake.
Pigs (Three Different Ones) by Pink Floyd– Pink Floyd moved us away from birds to other critters. Instead of three little birds there are three different pigs, the same number as Bob’s birds, but not just one pig, it is three different ones.
Four Out of Five by Arctic Monkeys – The Arctic Monkeys don’t tell us about animals other than humans and the monkeys in the band name, but they are staying at Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, which has a Four Out Of Five rating in the travel guide.
FourFiveSeconds is a song by Rihanna and Kanye West, with instrumentals by Sir Paul McCartney. In it, the singer tells us they are four or five seconds away from ending the relationship, like George Harrison and Ringo Starr when the Beatles were recording The Beatles: Get Back.
Five Years by David Bowie is “perhaps one of the best album openers of all time,” as Reuben Tasker quotes it on Genius.
It’s Five O’clock Somewhere by Alan Jackson featuring Jimmie Buffet – This is a fun little tune, nuff said.
Five Days In May by Blue Rodeo – A bit of Canadiana, they have been touring what seems like forever. On February 7, 1985, Blue Rodeo played their first show at The Rivoli in Toronto. They have collected pretty much all the hardware a band in Canada can receive, and they deserve it.
Six by Sleeping At Last – All this counting has made me sleepy.
Six Feet Apart by Luke Combs – This song has a bit of fun with the distance we are separated from the ones we love, six feet.
seven by Taylor Swift – Thanks to my son’s girlfriend, I am developing an appreciation for Taylor Swift.
Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes is one of the most easily recognizable guitar intros. It is fun to play on the bass guitar.
7 Summers by Morgan Wallen We end our journey through time with 7 Summers by Morgan Wallen. We have seconds, hours, days, years, and seasons 4 of them: The Four Seasons (Vivaldi).
Eight Days a Week by The Beatles It has the measure of time, namely days, but it is number eight on our list.
Eight Seconds by Teak See the comment above.
9 Teen 90 Nine by Limp Bizkit – generally, I wouldn’t say I like swapping numeric digits into text, but I’ll let this one slide by.
9 by Föllakzoid, I have grown to like this track more and more as I replay it and explore the band’s other offerings. It is interesting, I will see how well it ages. Check back here occasionally so see when I do an update.
10 by Misled Children
10 Summers by Ashley Singh We had 7 Summers by Morgan Wallen; Ashley Singh gives three more. I have no problem with more summers and less winter.
I am going to throw in some random number songs. This list is far from the definitive list of numeric songs. Gather your favourites into your list; it’s a fun way to stroll down memory lane and learn about other artists and their music.
I’ve listened to The James Clarke Five, Zoom, and The Gadfliesagain. This album is a keeper, and I hope James Hughes releases a vinyl version so I can listen to the whole album on my big stereo. “Long gone are the days when Echo & The Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes and THE CHERRY BOYS represented the 1980s Liverpool new wave scene, but Cherry Boys frontman JAMES HUGHES is still churning out fantastic music as JAMES CLARKE FIVE. Friday brings the release of his latest album ‘Zoom and The Gadflies’ via UK label Favourite Recordings.”
“This album was written and recorded over a period of two and-a-half years. As it progressed song by song, I found that it was showing a common theme inspired by the music that excited me as a child: people like Adam and The Ants, and also the likes of T Rex and the ‘production style’ of the Glam Rock era,“ explains James Hughes.
“So it gathered pace in that direction, which for me was very exciting if initially subconscious, development. But then all my music is in some way an homage to the music I love, with, of course, my personal quirks in the mix – for example the penultimate song, Buddy and Joe, which is my take to the music of Joe Meek, Telstar etc. On the other hand, D’You Not Think is inspired by psychedelic-era fairgrounds and steam organs (albeit with a ‘political’ lyric), and for me this song personifies the great fun I had putting this album together.“
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This album was recorded in his home studio in London, James Hughes produced and mastered it. He performed all instruments and vocals except Mack The Sax, who plays saxophone on ‘Gadfly Groove,’ and Karen Bates, who provides backing vocals on ‘It’s Been So Long.‘
As of March 15, the ‘Zoom and The Gadflies‘ album is available on fine digital platforms, including
Before you all come to the end of this blog, I want to add one more thing. As I listen to the song ‘(Who’s Been On The) Big Rock Candy,‘ I can’t help but wonder if this started on Big Rock Candy Mountain. Harry McClintock first recorded and copyrighted “The Big Rock Candy Mountains” in 1928. I am partial to the Berl Ives version. It doesn’t matter; they are both quality songs that can stand on their own merit.
I’m so far behind that I think I’m winning. I’ve been listening to a ton of excellent music recently that I should be writing blogs about but have never gotten around to. My apologies to the artists and the PR teams. I will go with the argument that a little is better than nothing.
The Cat’s Eye by Sun Atoms. This track is from 2021. When I encounter a band I am unfamiliar with, I will listen to their back catalogue. Thus, it was the amazing single The Cat’s Eye because I got invited to listen to the Sun Atoms’ new single Ceiling Tiles. Both of these are worth the time to listen to them.
Thanks to Shauna McLarnon from Shameless Promotion PR
Adam Ant. When Ilisten to the opening song of The Dave Clarke Five’s new album Zoom and the Gadflies, that is what I hear: Adam Ant.
It is not plagiarism. It just managed to bounce off a couple of memory chips in my brain because of a similarity. The whole album, Zoom and the Gadflies, has a retro feel. A loving glance back to the music that we grew up with, that we made love listening to, and for some like me, music that we still listen to now and again. Excuse me while I dig Adam Ant out of the box and dust it off.
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James Clarke Five is James Hughes’s solo project. He is perhaps best known as a keyboardist and vocalist for Liverpool 80’s new wave band The Cherry Boys, contemporaries of Echo & The Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes, whose members also played with The LA’s, Cast, The Icicle Works and Lightning Seeds.
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Hughes now lives in London.
Thanks to Shauna McLarnon from Shameless Promotion PR
Between the Dead and the Dreaming. I don’t know anything about this recording. On Bandcamp, Between the Dead and the Dreaming is described as “dark ambient/instrumental music from Jason Herring of the Mystery Plan, the Interstellar, and Muchacho.”
It was released on February 23, 2024. That’s all I have, so it’s good that this is about the music. I like the music. Yes, it has bits of ambient moments, but it is also an album that deserves serious listening. Plenty is going on that could be lost without focused listening.
Thanks to Ten Millimeter Omega Recordings.
Rose Alaimo – A Place To Go When You Need To Hide
“The song ‘Power Lines’ is about the connections that exist between us, whether we are aware of them or not. One thing that was highlighted during Covid was how unbelievably interconnected we are. How fast the virus spread across the world was astounding, and in the middle of everyone debating mask and vaccination mandates and people becoming increasingly stressed and angry and there being more and more division between everyone, a tree was blown over on my property, taking the power lines down in front of my house. I walked outside and, after the shock of seeing this healthy tree ripped up by the roots by a strong wind, I noticed the lines that were down,” says Rose Alaimo.
“I saw how they were connected to my house, and how the main lines also connected to my neighbor’s house, and how those same lines connected every single house on the street. I never stopped to notice how physically connected all of these houses were by these power lines and how what happened to my house affected everyone else around me. It struck me as an interesting analogy to how we as humans are also all more connected to each other and to the world around us than we might initially assume. These connections may not be visible but they are definitely there. We can spread viruses to each other and we can spread anger and fear, but if we are mindful of this interconnectedness, we can also choose to spread GOOD things: kindness and understanding and peace.”
Thanks to Thanks to Shauna McLarnon from Shameless Promotion PR
GreenWing is a band on their way up the ladder out of the rabbit hole. Live, they rock the house. Recorded, they rock my speakers.
They have a new single, Enough, coming out on Friday, March 1. This song is deep, man, profound. Listen to the lyrics;
Sometime I wish it was still easy
But I won’t cling to the past
You got to grow and change perspective
Or you’ll do the same things and it won’t last
I love them—good music, good lyrics from good guys in a good band. Check them out; they are talented and relatable.
GreenWing is pleased to announce the release of “Enough,” the second single off their upcoming sophomore album “Eatin’ It,” – set for release on March 15.
“Enough” is a song that tackles the inherent uncertainty that comes hand in hand with a sophomore release and the feelings of fear and insecurity that come when deviating away from a path that has proven successful in the past. While musing on feelings of uncertainty and fear, Singer Matt Stinn’s lyrics are framed by ambient verses full of tension provided by drummer Kolt Kimbley and Bassist Travis Williams. As tension builds, the verses rise and give way to a chorus accentuated by the one-two punch of hammering guitars provided by Stinn and lead guitarist Anthony Allegretto. “But trust, I haven’t given up on you” echoes in a sense of triumph from the band as the song turns full circle on its verses that were painted in self-doubt to accept the fact that staying the course isn’t also the best option.
GreenWing proudly embraces change, new tonalities, and what’s next on their new single “Enough,” which is available now on all platforms.
Established in 2021, GreenWing quickly made a name for themselves with an onslaught of Canadian tour dates featuring their signature singalong hooks, infectious driving rhythms and chaotic stage presence. After the 2022 release of their debut album “Late Bloomer,” the band saw themselves enlisted for opening slots for bands such as Three Days Grace, Mom Jeans, One Bad Son, Reinwolf and more. In short order, GreenWing found its growing cult following amongst fans of Canadian Live music and released a subsequent single in 2023 entitled “Dark.” With this new release came numerous industry nominations, including being named Sask Music’s 2023 “Rock Artist of The Year.” Now turning their focus to the future, you can find GreenWing spending 2024 touring in support of their Sophomore album “Eatin’ It” – set for release on March 15, 2024
Weathered Music 