GreenWing is incredibly proud to announce the release of “At The Time”; the 1st single from their sophomore album “Eatin It” – set for release on March 15th, 2024.

“At The Time” is a song that tackles the awkward moments in life when you think everything is just fine until someone close to you helps you achieve a new perspective on your situation and suddenly your eyes are opened to the reality with the newfound clarity. In the case of vocalist Matt Stinn, this was when a group of his friends lovingly staged an intervention to check on his mental and physical well being following a year that could only be summed up as “hell”. Tackling this heavy topic with a tongue-in-cheek attitude, this song’s playful vocals lean heavily on the one two punch of GreenWing’s rhythm section featuring Travis Wiliams on bass and Kolton Kimbley on drums. All these elements are topped with a tasteful sprinkling of melodic hooks supplied by lead guitarist,  Anthony Allegretto. 

“At The Time: ” is an exciting peek into what listeners can expect from GreenWing’s upcoming album and is available now on all streaming platforms!

I never got around to writing my comments on each album, so here is a short summary.

Earl Grant was a pleasant little trip back in time for some soulful tunes.

The Clockworks are new to me, but I like what I heard.

Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter, I doubt if I ever listen to this again but I had to listen to the band that has Reverend in their name. i.e. Pastor Norman

I came within a whisker hair to overdosing on Stéphane Grappelli. I like his music and some of his collaborations created magic. I made it through my albums by him and look forward to the end of “G”.

Earl Grant
Earl Grant
R/B Pop
LP
1970

The Clockworks
Exit Strategy
Alternative
Stream
2023

Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter
SAVED!
Rock
Stream
2023

Django Reinhardt & Stéphane Grappelli
Quintet of the Hot Club of France
Jazz
LP
1974

Duke Ellington, Svend Asmuuen, Stéphane Grappelli, Ray Nance
Jazz Violin Session
Jazz
LP
1963

 Stéphane Grappelli
 Golden Hour of Stéphane Grappelli
 Jazz
 LP
 1978

Stéphane Grappelli
Uptown Dance
Jazz
LP
1978

Stéphane Grappelli & Yehudi Menuhin
Tea For Two
Jazz
LP
1978

 Yehudi Menuhin & Stéphane Grappelli
 Jealousy (Hits Of The Thirties)
 Jazz
 LP
 1973

Yehudi Menuhin & Stéphane Grappelli & The Alan Clare Trio
Music of the Thirties
Jazz
LP
1978

It’s been another good week of good music.

TV Death The God, The One and The Devil Stream 2023

This is a carryover from last week, which should tell you I like this album enough to keep playing it. Straight ahead gritty rock and roll. It doesn’t pretend to be anything other than that, and it does that very well.

Pink Floyd The Piper at the Gates of Dawn CD 1967

I think many people are unaware of Pink Floyd’s pre-Dark Side catalogue. I’ll let Wikipedia tell you more.

“The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is the debut studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 4 August 1967 by EMI Columbia.[7] It is the only Pink Floyd album made under the leadership of founder member Syd Barrett (lead vocals, guitar); he wrote all but three tracks, with additional compositions by members Roger Waters (bass, vocals), Nick Mason (drums), and Richard Wright (keyboards, vocals). The album followed the band’s influential performances at London’s UFO Club and their early chart success with the 1967 non-album singles “Arnold Layne” and “See Emily Play”.“

In The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, we hear a band finding its way. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn could stand independently without the Dark Side of the Moon. There is solid music here that displays their psychedelic sound that is different from the run-of-the-mill bands churning out radio friendly pablum. I am relisting to The Piper at the Gates of Dawn as I write this blog and, I still love what I hear.

Harry Nillson Nillson Schmillson CD 1971

This is a highly regarded gem of an album. It is loaded with hits; in fact, I think the whole album is a hit.  Without You is a huge success and has been covered by many artists. As an aside, another great band is mewithoutYou. Side two of the album is one fantastic song after another. 

Without You, Coconut, Let The Good Times Roll, Jump Into The Fire, and I’ll Never Leave You.

Harry Nillson was an enigma. He didn’t like performing live and never toured to promote his music. But he could surely belt out the emotions in Without You. Adding to his fantastic music writing, singing and song creation is his contribution to the producing of music, whose influence is still felt today. He worked with close-harmony singing in a return to the Great American Songbook, vocal overdub experiments, and fusions of Caribbean sounds. Do your ears a favour and listen to this album.

Frank Zappa Strictly Commercial CD 1995

Strictly Commercial is a compilation album by Frank Zappa. It was released in 1995, two years after his death and sparked a lawsuit by his family against Rykodisc, the label that Frank released his music through. This is out of print now. I got a copy through a local used music store. Zappa wasn’t the most commercial artist; his music seldom slipped easily into genres or radio playlists. His music has to grow with you, and once you get it, you won’t want to stop listening. I listen to him frequently.

U.S. Girls Bless This Mess & Live from The Bunker Studios  Stream 2023

These are albums carried over from several weeks ago. They are a listen that Joel recommended. He knows what I like.

Peter Gabriel 1/0 Stream 2023

I/O Gabriel’s first album of new original material in over 21 years since Up (2002), marking the longest gap between two studio albums in his solo career. I/O features 12 tracks, each with two different mixes labelled the “Bright-Side Mix” and “Dark-Side Mix”. It is also Gabriel’s longest studio album, with both mixes each clocking in at over 68 minutes and the total project lasting over two hours. Get your beverage of choice, settle in a comfy chair and listen. If you like the previous music of Peter Gabriel, you will like this album. There are no real surprises in this epic undertaking. I recommend Wikipedia again. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I/O_(album)

Jerusalem Ridge Looking Back CD 1993

This is, indeed, looking back. Jerusalem Ridge is comfortable in bluegrass and early Country and Western music. Hence you hear the band looking back at the music that influenced them. It’s a solid listen; we played the album on a road trip yesterday and enjoyed it.

Rose Alaimo A Place To Go When You Need To Hide   Steam 2023

Rose Alaimo explains, “‘A Place to Go When You Need to Hide‘ is a concept album, a story, about the highs and low lows of life and how they can be a lot to navigate without losing ourselves in the waves. About how we all have a place inside of ourselves, where we can go when the world gets to be too much… These songs were written during the worst parts of Covid, amid massive political unrest and racial tension in the US, an uptick in school shootings, the onset of Russia’s war on Ukraine, and more generalized anger and tension between people than I have ever seen.”

I dived into this album expecting easy-listening pop music to play in the background while I was busy with something else. I put aside the “something else” hit rewind and listened to this album intently. Rose Alaimo has crafted and blessed us with a really enjoyable listening experience.

Whitney Fenimore & Addison Agen

Punching Bag

Stream (single)

2023

I’ve had this on repeat for the last two weeks. It is still a single, but I look forward to the day the album is released.

Steve Earl

Essential Steve Earl

CD

1993 

I listened to Steve Earl while reading a book. I had to set the book aside and grab my iPad to follow the lyrics. I came away with a deeper appreciation for Steve Earl and his music and lyrics as a weaver of tales. I want to get some of his albums to soak in his music deeper than I can on a best-of album.

Listening to the stories Steve Earl put to music got me thinking about other musicians who are spinners of yarns. Being in a bit of a county-western groove, I put my money down on Corb Lund and his excellent album 5 Dollar Bill. Corb’s albums are pretty much filled with story songs.

Corb Lund

5 Dollar Bill

CD

2002

 Bob Dylan

Rough And Rowdy Ways

CD

2020

Mr.Dylan received a Nobel Prize for writing, so putting him on this blog should be easy. No, it wasn’t that easy. He is a prolific writer and does some story songs, but most songs are just that. He does write darn good music, but I had to do some searching and remembering when it comes to story songs. My first stop was at my favourite Dylan album, Desire. This album is more like a book set to music. The opening song is Hurricane, the story of Rubin “Hurricane” Carter. It’s a great song and a great story song. I know Dylan has dozens of other story songs, but that would require a long blog to cover them all, so I’ll stop at Desire and Hurricane. Please keep checking back because I have a blog under construction about story songs.

 The Decemberists

The Crane Wife

CD

Colin Meloy is the lead writer for The Decemberists and a fantastic storyteller. Much like Dylan, there are too many to cover in a short blog so I will highlight one album, The Crane Wife. The title song is an homage to a Japanese folk story—two other distinct stories, When the War Came and Shankill Butchers, are included. Much of the Decemberists’ catalogue has stories. I recommend The Hazards of Love as a fantastic story album.

 David Gilmour

David Gilmour

LP

1978

This is the David Gilmour. Yeah, the guy from Pink Floyd. This is his first solo album, recorded in 1978 between Animals (1977) and The Wall (1979). This album is like listening to a Pink Floyd album pieced together from the cutting floor of those two Pink Floyd albums.

In my youth, the trip to the Wainwright Stampede was a highlight of the year. There were the thrills of going on the rides, with the ferris Wheel and rollercoaster being my favourites. And then there were the rigged games. We knew the odds of winning were slim, but we fed them quarter after quarter in the elusive attempt of winning a stuffed animal. A favourite of mine was a game with a grappling hook that I had to maneuver over the prize of my choice and try to lift it to a chute that would drop it into my eager hands. And I won a nice prize once, a cowboy on a bucking horse. I should have been watching the live cowboys on real bucking horses instead of throwing good money away.

Then there were the food stalls; corndogs with mustard and cotton candy were my favourites. corn dogs weren’t a big mystery; they were just hot dogs wrapped in corn meal. Cotton candy, on the other hand, was a mystery to me. How could they get plain old sugar to transform into threads they could load on a stick?

Another mystery is how people can create beautiful music from the simplest things. Things like love, lost love, memories, regrets, and the joy of living. I am listening to a band this week named Spunsugar, hence the opening monologue about cotton candy, which is similar to spun sugar. The album is called “A Hole Forever” and it is worth giving a listen to.

Spunsugar takes dreams, broken dreams, to be more specific and weaves them through the song “Do You Know The Way To San Jose” by Dionne Warwick—the beauty of how to make cotton candy or, in this case sweet music.

A good mosh pit song is A Flicker In My Lights. Spunsugar adds: “We wanted to do a 2.0 version of our first ever single “Native Tongue,” intense and short. We managed to make it even shorter, 1:52. You don’t really need more than that.”

Photo credit: David Möller

The band members are Cordelia Moreau, Elin Ramstedt and Felix Sjöström

The next song grinds and pulsates and gets under your skin, where it weaves its magic. I think this is my favourite from this album. Good stuff.

Spunsugar explains it better than I do. “Skin Unwell talks about a paradox that only few people have experienced. A feeling of being annoyingly clever but at the same time being three steps behind – always. The sound image is still very Spunsugaresque with those intersections of rugged and soft, emphasis and stillness—a reflection of a dull and sluggish life rushing before someone’s eyes.”

Words For Others has a big bass beat chugging along, and the rest of the song comes along for the ride. Taxidermy is the closer.

“This is Cordelia’s favourite song on the album. It references the movie Psycho (1960), and she says it’s her most personal song to date. Therapy? We don’t know her.”

Closing remarks.

Spunsugar

“A Hole Forever is largely about coming to terms with everything dark within, the dirty and shameful. Being torn between owning it or trying to work it off. It’s about getting older and confessing things while the thought of one day dying sinks in. The album deals with the image that you are dying already when you are born and that life is a slow death. The songs become bricks of important points in life. Kind of like watching life flicker by but instead like in a movie it’s in a spiral.”

Norman Quote

A Hole Forever is a good album, especially if you like grunge post-punk edgy guitars and backing instruments with sweet vocals, thoughtful lyrics, and overall, just good music.

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I can’t remember the spark, but Joel & I were thinking about album titles that tell us what the music is for. One of the first was Ambient 1: Music for Airports by Brian Eno. I have never heard the album played in an airport.

The fun part of gathering songs and album titles was initially using only our brain cells—no cheating by going to Genius, Wikipedia or Apple Music.

I picked the next one, Music For The Hard of Thinking by Doug and the Slugs. I love this album, and I think the title is great. 

Music for Psychedelic Therapy by Jon Hopkins. Joel suggested this one.

Music for an Avant-Gards Massage Parlour by Ben Goldberg and Kenny Wollesen. That one is another that I love the title of.

Music for Animals by Nils Frahm. It’s a great album, and I am sure the animals will also like it.

There were a couple of close cousins, such as this duet from the Talking Heads, Fear of Music and More Songs About Buildings and Food. They aren’t strickly music for so they end up on the cutting room floor.

At this point, we ran out of album titles rattling in our brains that fit the “Music For” category. I was sure there had to be more, so I fired up the old iMac and started researching the topic of “Music for.” Apple Music was my first stop and the last. Compiling a comprehensive list would require a paycheck from someone. I picked out a few that caught my fancy. The rest are, well, the rest of Music For…

Music for Book Lovers by Various is a perfect match because I enjoy reading and listening to music. I can’t remember the spark, but Joel & I were thinking about album titles that tell us what the Music is for. One of the first was Ambient 1: Music for Airports by Brian Eno. I have never heard the album played in an airport or anywhere else except at home. The fun part of gathering songs and album titles was initially using only our brain cells—no cheating by going to Genius, Wikipedia or Apple Music.

I picked the next one, Music For The Hard of Thinking by Doug and the Slugs. I love this album, and I think the title is an easy pick. 

Music for Psychedelic Therapy by Jon Hopkins. Joel suggested this one, and I was drawing a blank as to who they were, so I am listening to the album as I type. It’s good.

Music for an Avant-Gards Massage Parlour by Ben Goldberg and Kenny Wollesen. That one is another that I love the title of.

There were a couple of close cousins, such as this duet from the Talking Heads, Fear of Music and More Songs About Buildings and Food.

At this point, we ran out of album titles rattling in our brains that fit the “Music For” category. I was sure there had to be more, so I fired up the old iMac and started researching the topic of “Music for.” Apple Music was my first stop and the last. Compiling a comprehensive list would require a paycheck from someone. I picked out a few that caught my fancy. The rest are, well, the rest of Music For…

As you can see and hear, our casual bantering led to this mad list that could go much longer if the urge to go completely bonkers ever knocked on my door. For your listening pleasure, I present:

Music for All Occasions by The Mavericks

Music for Reading by Halidon

Music for Book Lovers by Various is a perfect match because I enjoy reading and listening to music.

Music for Silent Movies by Various caught my eye, but not my ear. After all, they are silent movies.

Music for Imaginary Movies by Berry Weight

Music for the Visually Impaired by Eazy Mac. I do wear eyeglasses.

Music For The Lyrically Impaired by Eazy Mac has my name all over it. I couldn’t write a song if life depended on it.

Music for the Hearing Impaired by Eazy Mac, my ears are doing well. I just had them checked a year or so back.

Musicforthemorning, by Pete Yorn, does he have music for the remainder of the day?

Music for the Native Americans by Robbie Robertson. A tip of the hat to a fellow Canadian and an outstanding musician who recently went away.

Music for Torching by Billie Holiday is a shout-out to Joel.

These are vague, just music for. Not for anything specific.

Music for by Astrïd

Music for by Odigin

Music for by Kevin Scherschel

Music for… by Backward Collective

Music for by Erik Nilsson

Music for by SLM

Music for… by Movome

Music for activities

Music for Deep Sleep by Various

Music for Silence by Nick Murphy

Music for Meditation by Various

Music for Pleasure by Monaco

Music for Pleasure, Music for Pain by Space

Music for Love by Asha

Music for Sex by Eroticamila

Music for Makin’ Love by Various

Music for Lovers by Dinah Washington

Music for Pleasure by The Damned

Music for Listening to Music to by La Sera

Music for Happiness by Joey Pecoraro

Music for Animals

Music for Cats by David Teia

Music for Dogs by Pet Care Music

Music for Earthworms by Aesop Rock

Music for Crocodiles by Susheela Raman

Music for Chameleons by Jesse Harris

Music for Dog People by Blue Dogs

Music for Animals by Nils Frahm 

Music for Earthworms by Aesop Rock

Music for various peoples.

Music for People by Vast

Music for Babies by Various

Music for the Masses by Depeche Mode

Music for People by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch

Music for People In Trouble by Susanne Sundfør

Music for the Jilted Generation by The Prodigy

Music for Men by Gossip

Music For A German Tribe by wumpscut:

Music for NGRs by Da Kid Lu

Music for My Friends by Skyzoo

Music for the Mature B-Boy by DJ Format

Music for Misfits by Big B & The Felons Club

Music for Hooligans by The Oppressed

Music For Scientists by Patrick Olson

Music for Tourists by Chris Garneau

Music for Nurses EP by Oceansize

Music for Strippers, Hookers, and the Odd On-Looker by Kristeen Young

Music for Dummies by Big Japan

Music for Film and Theatre by Hania Rani

Music for various inanimate objects

Music for Cars by the 1975

Music for The Two-Cycle Engine by Billy

Music for Elevators by Anthony Stewart Head

Music for a French Elevator and Other Short Format Oddities by the Books

Music for Accelerated Culture by Hadouken!

Music for Barbecues by Bent

I know there a a gazillion more out there, leave a note if you have a favourite that didn’t make this list.

Due to some health issues my list is short, but good.

It’s been a quiet week musically, and many single songs don’t make the list, with one exception. Whitney Fenimore & Addison Agen’s song Punching Bag. You can listen to it on the streaming platform of your choice.

Whitney Fenimore & Addison Agen

Punching Bag

Stream (single)

2023

Steve Earle

Essential Steve Earle

CD

1993

Corb Lund

5 Dollar Bill

CD

2002

I listened to Steve Earle numerous times with different intents. First, for the enjoyment of listening to some music that made me happy. Then, with intent, I focused on the lyrics. Steve Earle is a good storyteller, which first drew me in. The third listen was for the music; some mighty fine guitar pickin’ was happening. Then I went back to a final listen to enjoy the music again.

Continuing with the storyteller theme, I shifted my listening to Corb Lund. I think I have most, if not all, of his albums, and I have seen him live 3 or 4 times. Corb Lund is an authentic Western yarn spinner who is different from most. Corb Lund will approach songs from different angles than the standard 4/4 time, and he has some interesting lyrics, for example, the second song on this album, Expectation and the Blues. And then there’s Apocalyptic Modified Blues, a song with deep lyrical content set up with music that sounds like a collision between a gypsy caravan and a chuck wagon. These aren’t your standard country and western songs, although there are plenty on 5 Dollar Bill. All in all, it is a good album with lots of character and characters.

Jon Gibson – on the run-LP – 1986

I have been listening to Jon Gibson for ages. He’s a white Stevie Wonder. He is not an impersonator; he has his God-given voice that happens to sound like a black soul singer.

Jimmie Dale Gilmore – Fair and Square – LP – 1988

With Joe Ely and Butch Hancock, Gilmore founded The Flatlanders, who perform together occasionally. Fair and Square is a good listen.

Beck – Odelay – CD – 1996 

I have a Beck splurge now and then. I do enjoy listening to him now and then.

Beck – Guero – CD – 2005

John Lennon – The John Lennon Collection – CD – 1989

John Lennon probably ranks as one of the top-selling dead musicians. This CD is a best of, and I like it marginally; I generally don’t care much for the ‘best of’ collections, but I will make an exception for this album. It isn’t the strongest of Lennon’s catalogue, but this would be a good candidate if you want some noise in your car on a drive in the country.

Joy Division – 1977-1980 – CD – 1988

I am very fond of Joy Division, and although this is a best-of collection, it should be reasonable considering the quality of the songs. It should. It doesn’t. It doesn’t stand alone as a collection of outstanding songs by an excellent band. Maybe it’s because I like albums over singles, original albums over best-of collections. Whatever… For an introduction to Joy Division by a person unfamiliar with Joy Division, tell them to listen to Unknown Pleasures.

Julian Lage – Love Hurts – Stream – 2023

Put on your cans, lay back on your most comfortable furniture, and let Julian Lage take you to a peaceful place, which may be smooth meditation or sleep—Julian Lage’s music is my go-to for falling asleep or having a chill time.

Van Morrison –Accentuate The Positive – Stream – 2023

A friend once told me that if you listened to one Van Morrison song, you have heard them all. I understand what he means, but I’m afraid I have to disagree with him. His voice is part of what makes him Van Morrison, which has remained much the same throughout his career, including this new offering from Van Morrison. He also knows how to use that voice with the music and use the music to make the best of his vocal abilities.

Here we are in 2023, and Van Morrison has a new album for us to enjoy. 

Van Morrison has been a prolific musician over the years. Accentuate The Positive is his 45th studio album. It is a cover album of Morrison’s favourite rock and roll, R&B and country songs. There are some great covers here, and it is interesting to know what Morrison has had on his turntable over the years.

Backed by top-shelf musicians, including electric guitar from the late Jeff Beck and vocals from Chris Farlowe on ‘Lonesome Train,’ plus guitar from Taj Mahal on, ‘Lucille’ and, ‘Shake, Rattle and Roll.’  How much better can it get than to have Taj Mahal as a guest musician on your album? I highly respect and enjoy listening to this album and give it an 8 out of 10.

By Stevie Connor

The album Thank You Valued Customer from Shplang has confounded me. I like the music. But I don’t know how to tell you. Here is what the band, the core duo of Peter Marston and John Krausetells us about creating the music, which I feel is the backbone of this album. The music propels the lyrics forward.

Peter Marston tells us, “Although we write the songs playing together, we do not record basic tracks live. It’s all one instrument at a time (which in part is why we have an embarrassingly lengthy gestation period). We lay down, in turn, a drum machine, guitar (or bass), bass (or guitar), second guitar, keys, solos, sound effects real and electronic, vocals, live drums, and then, at the end, wipe the drum machine. I’m exhausted writing it! It gives us a fairly controlled sound, but also allows a lot of attention to detail which is an important part of the Shplang sound.”

I totally respect these guys for paying attention to the details in the music. “Music is the space between the notes,” is a quote attributed to French composer Claude Debussy, with jazz trumpeter Miles Davis famously expressing similar ideas several decades later. I feel that quote could easily be applied to Peter Marston and John Krausetells and their musical craftsmanship.

Although Shpland gives us a master class on how to make intelligent music, the lyrics are another story. Peter tells us they never spend more than 15 minutes writing the lyrics. This does not mean the lyrics are bad; they are pretty good, considering the brief amount of time it takes to write them. From my perspective, it tells me that the music is the thing, and they nail that with some interesting turns of phrase. For example, they have the song Das Diddley in German, with a hat tip to Rammstein, a German Neue Deutsche Härte band. Later in the album, Shplang throws in a song sung in French, À Son Son.

Scattered within the album are a couple of tracks that mesmerized me. Look Me Over is a psychedelic song about drunkenness. Having years of experience with drunkenness and then recovery, I keep my ears open to songs about those touchstones of addiction. Everyone Can Change is a song of hope that follows Look Me Over, with some intelligent lyrics.

“Don’t get tired or lose your way; everyone can change.”

“Baby Hobo” is trippy. It has lyrical styling reminiscent of the coffee shop beat scene in the late 1950s. I can just imagine Leonard Cohen sitting around a table with in a New York bagel shop with Peter and John. The baby noises in the song take me back to when my son was born and it put a smile on my face.

I caught an earworm from the song Lay A Little Love On Me. It has a funky groove that has dug in, and has lived there for three days. The next track cracks me up, Peter Marston and John Krausetells describe it as “an irreverent study in comparative religion, but mostly Shplang’s interpretation of slow-burn funk.” The title is Buddha (What Was That?), and it is an easy highlight for me (a retired pastor).

Next, Shplang delivers a catchy little nonsense song closer to hard rock than the other tracks on this album. They tell us that “Little Mushroom Men from Mars” is a sci-fi parable set to an amalgam of prog and heavy metal. One of our favourite bands is Klaatu, and I can see their influence here, especially in the lyrics and the double-tracked narration in the verses. Scott Goldbaum played the shredding guitar solos and was the third guy to take a shot—it isn’t easy! Laying in the telemetry and rocket launch sound effects here was challenging and rewarding.”

I am a fan of Klaatu, and the Little Mushroom Men From Mars has that flavour on full display. Shplang closes the album with another mirthful song, She, The Fair Bag Girl.

So, there we have it, an album of catchy tunes to brighten your day! Week? Month! Just listen to it see if it brightens your day the same way that it brightened mind, with a bonus earworm.