I am so far behind that I think I’m winning. I have stacks of albums in my online music queue. The vinyl has stalled in the middle of the letter F, no, not that F. I want to blame it on summer when I spend more time on the deck and mowing the lawn rather than spend the day looking at the flowers, the birds and the clouds drifting by. I can’t blame the summer, though; I fire up my old-school 160 GB iPod and churn out some old-school rock-and-roll through head cans while I push the lawn mower.

The music, though. The music still arrives in my inbox, and I still listen to good, healthy chunks that keep my musical brain happy. I don’t want listening to music to become a job that I have to do. I want my listening to be loose, spur of the moment, new and fresh or old favourites. Some play in the background, and some are front and center for focused listening. There is always music playing. 

So, I sit playing Flash and the Pan, Early Morning Wakeup Call, in the dead of night. The Grammarly word editor is open and ready to write. And….? I type out a treatise on why I am not writing: the irony, oh, the irony. Although promising, this album isn’t my favourite by Flash and the Pan. Their self-titled debut holds that spot quite easily.

La Faute released her debut album’ Blue Girl Nice Day’ on May 26, 2023. @LaFaute (the mistake, in French) (aka Peggy Messing) is a dark, dreamy solo project. A visual artist, multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter originally from Winnipeg, Canada, she explores surface vs. depth, longing, betrayal, mourning and desire themes. Using a four-string tenor electric guitar and obsolete hardware samplers, she created her captivating live show and released her debut EP just before the pandemic.

Blue Girl Nice Day is good. Easygoing but not lethargic. Smooth but not bland. Musically challenging but not arduous.

http://www.barkpr.co.uk/ 

THE 3 CLUBMEN – a new project from XTC’s ANDY PARTRIDGE, JEN OLIVE and STU ROWE. The trio’s eponymous debut EP, THE 3 CLUBMEN, was released on June 30 via the Swindon-based Lighterthief label in cooperation with Burning Shed. Recalling XTC’s later pastoral period, a touch of Jen Olive’s math-pop angularity and the eclectic sound of producer-artist Stu Rowe. These avant-pop delights offer a strange, seductive blend of experimental pop, jazz and sci-fi cinema excellence.

I didn’t know what to write about this album. I have listened to it repeatedly and like what I hear, but I have drawn a blank on what to write—there, done. I wrote something. Now it’s your turn to listen. 

 Shameless Promotion PR at contact@shamelesspromotionpr.com

LOW-RES released DÄRFÖR Collaborating with Maria Pettersson and Calle Olsson (Paper, Paddington DC, The Bear Quartet) for the release, ‘Kitchen’ makes for a wonderfully broad and atmospheric listen. High-energy music. Yeah, high-energy. Synth-driven and 80s-influenced, good energy. johan@mysticsons.com

Guitarmy of One is the solo project of guitarist Scott Helland, who combines the thrilling sounds of spy-themed instrumental surf guitar music with punk vitality. Taking listeners on a sonic adventure to the realms of intrigue, danger and surf-soaked excitement, Helland channels that raw and unconventional spirit into a quirky fusion of genres. ‘Top Secret Agent Man on a Wire Tapped Phone at Sea’ https://youtu.be/W0EDFef7blQ

Come on! Any music that mentions Soylent Green deserves a listen. Shameless Promotion PR at contact@shamelesspromotionpr.com

Graham Parker. Yes, that Graham Parker. I love his new album, “Last Chance To Learn The Twist.” I have listened to this album at least a dozen times, maybe even a baker’s dozen. It hits all the right buttons for my listening tastes. It has British New Wave all over it, which is no surprise considering the origin story of Graham Parker. He had a cracking good band backing him up, and they worked the British pub scene until their breakthrough to the big leagues with the album Squeezing Out Sparks, released in 1979. I suggest you read his story on Wikipedia, listen to his back story in music on Apple Music and then listen to Last Chance to Learn The Twist. That, my friends, is an excellent way to spend a day.

Pathos Trio   +Polarity-

r(φ)=acos⁡(kφ+γ0)

The Brooklyn-based Pathos Trio releases its second album, Polarity, on September 15 on the Imaginary Animals label. This album landed in my inbox yesterday, and I gave it a passing glance. Today, I gave it two listens from front to back. Polarity isn’t just an album; it is an opus. Pathos Trio is percussionists Marcelina Suchocka, Felix Reyes, and pianist/composer Will Healy.

The group’s commitment to bringing its love of dark, dense, and heavy sounds into a contemporary classical framework is everywhere on the album, as is the group’s passion for collaboration. Polarity features new works from composers Ian Chang (Sun Lux), Phong Tran (MEDIAQUEER), Andrew M. Rodriguez (Close Your Eyes), Vicente Hansen Atria, Paul Mortilla, and Clara Warnaar.

The album takes listeners on quite a ride from Ian Chang’s buggy, pulsating Mega Cicada to Paul Mortilla’s more oceanic exploration of breathing 21600. Clara Warnaar’s piece Home/Gone is inspired by her phone’s auto-correct changing the word “home” to “gone.” She says in her notes: “That unsettling deconstruction of what we began with gets replaced by something more distorted and complex, but potentially beautiful.” And suitably, that’s where this album leaves us.

Whew, so much new music. I am drowning in music. On top of the new crop listed above, I have sampled dozens of other artists/albums and listened to some of my collection of vinyl or CD and streamed music while working. So much good music and so little time.

I start fresh on September 1. Everything in my inbox will quietly exit stage left, and I will see what new music comes my way on Friday, which is release day for most albums. The vinyl will rotate again, restarting in the letter F, and I will begin my autumnal activities.

Happy listening, everyone.