I enjoy talking music, wether is in person or via internet forums. One of those people is Kevin Alexander from On Repeat Records. This is a follow-up to one of his posts.
For The Record by Kevin Alexander
Some words on blue highways, low-watt radio, and why getting lost might be the whole point.
Apr 18, 2026
Kevin Alexander: “I should clarify that I like road trips that aren’t in a city and aren’t ones where GPS leads you by the nose through the most efficient route.”
Norman: I use GPS through unfamiliar areas and often take the road less travelled. I have driven on some amazing back roads. Discover the small abandoned churches and graveyards on the back roads of Alberta, find interesting geological features that don’t show up on any promotional travel itinerary and talk to some amazing people and listen to their stories.
Kevin Alexander “I must’ve been sick the day they taught us all to fall in love with new cars.”
Norman: I have owned one new car in my 60ish years of driving, that is my current car, and it is 16 years old.
Kevin Alexander “My favourite trip is doing 101 from north to south.”
Norman: I drove the 101 in 1975 with my friend, Steve Miller, no, not that Steve Miller. It was an amazing drive. My favourite trip, we call it ‘The Epic Road Trip’, was a 16,000 km trip doing a big loop from Alberta, through most of the northern states, down the east coast, across the Gulf coast to New Orleans, north to Memphis, west to Flagstaff, turned north and back home.
Kevin Alexander: “that car didn’t have working A/C either.”
Norman: We did a road trip through southern Alberta one year, and the A/C quit while the temp was in the high 30s.
Kevin Alexander: “Find a good blues station or some zydeco and go with it.”
Norman: I like making mix tapes, a throwback to the years before digital music. We were in the digital age on our Epic Road Trip, and with an iPod with 160 GB memory, we had mix tapes for each state and plenty of the cities we passed through. Our Epic Road Trip took us through 27 US states. The funny thing is that we meet people who have never left their home state/province.
Kevin Alexander: “You are almost guaranteed to see some ‘active weather’ in Texas.”
Norman: Texas was nice; it was clear and hot in Joel, Texas. The most active weather we encountered was a torrential rainstorm in upstate New York, with gusty winds, huge raindrops, no hail, and pounding water from the sky. We holed up in a tourist pullout, which I compliment the state of New York on having the best ever.
Kevin Alexander: “the best restaurant likely won’t be on Yelp.”
Norman: I never used Yelp for anything; the best food we had was in New Orleans, at a nice little restaurant on the coast, with boats bobbing in the water and quiet jazz playing in the background.
Brian Raftery on former MTV VJ Matt Pinfield and his road back after suffering a stroke.
”You can only imagine waking up and going, ‘Where is everybody, and what’s going on?’” Pinfield said. “I’m still processing it.” Not long after his re-emergence, it became clear that Pinfield’s computer-like recall of obscure music lore was intact. One of his first post-coma conversations was about Guy Stevens, the British D.J. who produced the Clash’s “London Calling” album, and who supposedly came up with the name for Procol Harum’s 1967 single “Whiter Shade of Pale.”
“I have no idea why I was talking about him,” Pinfield said with a laugh. “Probably because I love the Clash, and because it’s an incredible song.”
Brian Raftery on former MTV VJ Matt Pinfield and his road back after suffering a stroke.
Norman: I am grateful that cancer and having a stroke are not among my contributions to CMDT 2025 or DSM-5-TR. Unfortunately, the contributions I do have mean I no longer offer a treasury of music trivia to the world at large, but I still get great pleasure from listening to and reading about music. The Clash and Procol Harum are in my collection. I have managed to gather seven versions of the Clashes’ self-titled debut album. London Calling has long been a favourite of mine; we used to play the song live in a band that I was a minuscule part of years ago. Sandinista has been in semi-regular rotation on the turntable lately, for no reason other than to listen to more great music. Last but not least, Procol Harum. I enjoy the album Procol Harum Live In Concert With The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and not just because I live in Edmonton and go to hear the Symphony Orchestra several times a year. As a matter of fact, I will be at the Winspear, an amazing building for music, enjoying a show by the Symphony next week.
New Music
The Singles
I very rarely blog singles because I very rarely listen to singles. I enjoy the long-play format, and hence most of my listening and blogging fall into that realm. Regardless, I have received a couple of singles in the last couple of weeks that I rather enjoyed and thought I would break tradition by sharing.
Liam Hopkins (stylized as LIAM hopkins) is an alternative rock artist based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, the home of GreenWing, a band that I have written about previously. He reached out to me last week about two singles he released from his album, which he is still recording and is due for release at an undisclosed time. “I’m Afraid of Americans” is the lead single, co-written by Bowie and Brian Eno for the album Earthling. LIAM gives us an edgy, guitar-dominated cover of a song that has spawned many covers. The most notable, in my opinion, is Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails. Trent played it with Bowie and with NIN. While LIAM doesn’t wander too far from the essence of the Bowie/Reznor tracks, he does make it his own, turning it into his own cover of a song that has been covered a lot over the years. This is not a note-for-note cover; it has its own flavour that I think Bowie would respect. Given the current state of the USA, this song is more relevant than ever.
The second single is “Start Again.” I like this track even more than “I’m Afraid of Americans.” It has more grinding, gritty guitar work, which I like. I think this is LIAM’s strong point: great guitar work. A vocalist, drummer, guitarist, bassist, and synthesist, LIAM is a hands-on artist who writes, performs, and produces his own material. I would label LIAM’s work on these two tracks as post-punk, alternative, grunge, and indie rock, but that is only an approximation. LIAM is developing his own sound, and I look forward to the release of his first album, “Cannibal,” later in 2026.
Robin Ross & The Melodynes share “All I Want (Is A Lover).”
Welcome back to the 60s. A masterclass in flower power pop with a modern soul, the track has already caught the attention of major television supervisors, landing a featured spot in the star-studded Apple TV+ and Peacock original series “Margo’s Got Money Troubles”. Starring Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nick Offerman and Nicole Kidman, the series features the song in a pivotal scene in its second episode, which aired April 15, 2026.
‘All I Want (Is A Lover)’ is out April 7th via RPM Entertainment Enterprises and available from digital platforms, including Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon and Bandcamp, where the new ‘Mind Space’ album can also be found digitally and on CD. A huge thank you to Shameless Promotion PR odern for sharing this gem with me. The album, Mind Space, sounds closer to Jefferson Airplane and the harder-edged sounds of the ‘60s.
‘All I Want (Is A Lover)’ video https://youtu.be/KNgKeu5BD3I
Bandcamp https://robinross.bandcamp.com/track/all-i-want-is-a-lover
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/4SKxITRBOhAcggLalifGFs
Apple Music https://music.apple.com/us/artist/robin-ross/1640503541
‘Mind Space’ album https://robinross.bandcamp.com/album/mind-space
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/2jlv1wJiQTmXvwWEpONgjv
‘Campfire on the Moon’ video https://youtu.be/EvcXnpvuE1Q
‘Spill No Mo Wine’ video https://youtu.be/ya4lLg9uggA
“The Awakening” by XANIMAL. Released via New Human Music and Shameless Promotion PR, 7 April 2026, ‘The Awakening’ is available as an exclusive Bandcamp release until April 21, and will also be available from other digital platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music. Further releases are anticipated later this year. This is a slice of dream pop with a dose of East Indian fusion, lush atmospheric synths, and hypnotic tabla, unfolding into funky breakbeats to create a dynamic sonic landscape. Vocalist Noëlle Hampton delivers a haunting narrative of disillusionment and loss, reflecting the uncertainty and shadows of the modern world. In contrast, Nagavalli’s ethereal vocalizations elevate the track, infusing it with a sense of hope and transcendence. “Together as One” by Nagavalli, Katie Marie, Candi Sanders is a song to be put on repeat, one listen isn’t enough to unpack it.
‘The Awakening’ ft Nagavalli video https://youtu.be/Fas2hEismsI
Bandcamp https://newhumanmusic.bandcamp.com/track/the-awakening (out now)
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/artist/6EuIa5GziTMVPNVGTyQOv4 (out April 21)
Apple Music https://music.apple.com/us/artist/xanimal/1762992028 (out April 21)
“’This Is Not Heaven’ by Lowsunday, previewing their ‘Low Sunday Ghost Machine – Black EP’ via Projekt Records and Shameless Promotion PR.
Full “Low Sunday Ghost Machine – Black EP” will be released May 15th via Projekt Records and Shameless Promotion PR. “White EP” is out now, 10 April 2026.
This is my kind of music. Etherial, blending darkwave and shoegaze, with sharp guitar parts over synths.
“‘This is Not Heaven’ was the last song we recorded for the Black EP. We really enjoyed injecting the heavy synths on the chorus, the asymmetrical guitar leads and the driving bass line beneath an intricate and melodic rhythm guitar,” says Shane Sahene.
“We felt this song captured everything we are about in that it hits the refrains with a shoegaze atmosphere, more electronic choruses and lyrical transparency, much less vague than many of our songs… it touches on many aspects of our sound.”
Bobby Spell adds, “This was another really enjoyable song to write. The guitar textures and melody lines create a dark song with uplifting sections. The mood shifts in the choruses giving a feeling of brightness or a way out of melancholy”.
Lowsunday slipped under my radar during their original run in the 1990s, but I have them locked in now and will be exploring their back catalogue, looking forward to the White EP arriving in May.
This is Not Heaven’ video https://youtu.be/CX-zD_tTsDM
Spotify https://open.spotify.com/track/73czdJH9PvNdPAlmmBAefi
Apple Music https://music.apple.com/us/album/this-is-not-heaven-single/1883145470
Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/lowsunday/this-is-not-heaven
‘Low Sunday Ghost Machine – White EP’ https://www.projekt.com/store/product/arc00371
Bandcamp https://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/album/low-sunday-ghost-machine-white-ep
‘Nevver’ video https://youtu.be/yjc8o5fccNU
‘Soft Capture’ video https://youtu.be/i_5UeD04mlk
‘Love Language’ video https://youtu.be/9ytV47-jnPQ
‘Low Sunday Ghost Machine (2025 remaster)’ https://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/album/low-sunday-ghost-machine-2025-remaster
‘Elesgiem’ (2024 remaster) LP https://projektrecords.bandcamp.com/album/elesgiem-2024-remaster
Shameless Promotion PR
Weathered Music 