100 Mile House – From Fall To Fall
100 Mile House – Hollow Ponds
Chagall Guevara – Chagall Guevara
FM- Surveillance
Various – Folkways, A Vision Shared
Tom Waits – Rain Dogs
Four Seasons- -The Four Seasons Story
America – The Complete Greatest Hits
Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill
Peter Framptom – Frampton Comes Alive

It has been an interesting week musically. I didn’t stream much, just Chagall Guevara and Ignore Alien Orders, the third album from Sweden’s The Holy Ghost. I had good intentions of writing a blog about this album, but as usual, I go to the well, but the buckets dry. I will do a shout-out about this album. It is excellent. Sweden has been a hotbed of music recently, and Ignore Alien Orders keeps that trend going, and they do it in a refined style. The Holy Ghost doesn’t have a sound that fits easily in any genre hole. They made their genre, and it works smooth as silk. Ignore Alien Orders” was recorded in The Dustward, Stockholm, Sweden, by Stefan Brändström, who also mastered the album.

Chagall Guevar are like an old friend that I hadn’t sat down and had a coffee with for ages. I gave away the CD copy of Chagall Guevara that I had, and copies online are pricey so I’ll be content to stream it. Chagall Guevara were an American rock band formed in 1989 by solo artist Steve Taylor, guitarists Dave Perkins and Lynn Nichols (from the 1970s Phil Keaggy band), bassist Wade Jaynes, and drummer Mike Mead.

Steve Taylor needed no introduction for me. I have most of his catalogue and have listened to his music for ages. Dave Perkins is a great session player who has played for an impressive list of musicians. Bluegrass and swing with fiddle-maestro Vassar Clements, Texas renegade-country with Jerry Jeff Walker, singer-songwriter pop with Carole King, alternative rock with Chagall Guevara, Americana with Guy Clark, blues and jazz with violinist Papa John Creach, reggae with Mystic Meditations, and industrial hard-core with Passafist. And more:

bio:

Lynn Nichols has an impressive list of people that he has played with, Phil Keaggy being the big one for me.

Tom Waits is one of my favourite and underrated artists. Alphabetically he is in the last row of CDs against the wall and above a stack of cassette cases, yes, I still listen to tapes occassionally. Anyhow, Tom Waits may not get played a lot, but when it is, it is a pleasure.

The Four Seasons, wow, I hadn’t dusted this slab of vinyl off for ages. It had me smiling at songs that I remembered, places that I had been and people that I had known. Good music is timeless. I also don’t know how they became a super group with Frankie Valli’s voice. I love it and apparently a lot of other folks do as well. It is so distinct and singular, no one else sounds like Frankie Valli.

The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill is an album that garnered a boatload of positive reviews and was a good seller, those two don’t always dance with each other. I totally get the significance of this album and how it came to be an album of considerable importance in the history of rap and rock. I know that, but it took me several listening sessions before the music and lyrics began to attach themselves to me on a personal level. The education of Norman towards this album has moved from elementary school to junior high. A move that came with good marks.

Yeah, so that’s about it for this week, a short list with many respins on a few of them. Hear y’all next week, and may your listening be happy.

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-

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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.

My beautiful wife Valerie and I were on vacation the last four days, so we had road tunes sandwiched between casual listening on my brand-new CD player. My old Onkyo has lasted 35 years; it will now join me in retirement.

The new Yamaha works fine, but I have one beef with it, the lack of lights on the all-black front makes it difficult to see the function buttons. Thankfully it comes with a remote control. I also like that it can display album, artist and song name with letters, not just numbers; it can also do that.

The music? I started the week with The Beatles‘ white album, I listened to it last week, and I could listen to it again next week. Good music and good memories set the tone as we hit the road. First up was Tracy Chapman‘s self-titled debut album. It takes my breath away every time I listen to it. We let the lyrics wash over us. The message is as powerful today as it was in 1989 when it won several Grammy awards.

Next up was The Definitive Collection by Randy Stonehill. There are some good cuts on this best of disc, but the flow of the songs seemed choppy at times. There are a couple of songs on this disc that I still enjoy. If you want a one-song sampler, I would recommend Rachel Delvoryas.

Getting close to home, we went with Voulez-vous by ABBA. Having a Swedish heritage, ABBA is close to royalty status for me. They also knew how to make an excellent radio-friendly song or two. This album went gold and was in the top ten worldwide. 44 years later, it is still charting and selling impressively well.

Safely home, I popped Those Who Tell The Truth Will Die by Explosions In The Sky into the big stereo and relaxed. My son Joel, the other half of WeatheredMusic, is flying to Portland, Oregon, in a few days to see EITS live. That should be fun. I am sitting this one out since I just got home from one long drive and plan to take two more mini-road trips later this month.

Happy listening, everyone.

This is what I listened to this week, albums only, I listen to a boat load of singles but don’t bother listing them. Would The Loveboat be a boatload of singles? No, my wife and I took our honeymoon on one of the Loveboats, definitely not single.

Dylan Marlowe – Dirt Road When I Die – Streamed – 2023
A shot of C/W to start the week, I’m generally not a fan of modern country, but I can always sneak some in under the radar. I have Wanted! The Outlaws in my car as the CD of the day.

Dick Dale & His Del-Tones – Surfer’s Choice – – Streamed – 1962
I was working on a guitar riff, and when I surfed the internet for the chords, this caught my eye. Like C/W, I am not usually listening to surf rock, but a dose here and there doesn’t hurt.

Sorrows – Love Too Late – Streamed – 1981
Research for a review of Arthur Alexanders new album, Steppin’ Out

Roy Orbison – All-time Greatest Hits of Roy Orbison Volume 1&2 – CD – 1989
I had the privilege of seeing Roy Orbison live in/about 1977, and it still ranks as one of the best shows I have seen.

Arthur Russell – Picture of Bunny Rabbit – Stream – 2023
Test run of some new music; it’s quirky but in a good way.

Tony Allen & Adrian Younge – Tony Allen JID018 – Stream – 2023
Friday’s new music, this one is a keeper. Nigeria meets the USA for a funky jazzy percussion driven album of pure joy for my ears.

Stevie Wonder – Various – Stream – 2023
I like Stevie Wonder’s music, mostly the ’70s albums.

Roberta Flack – Chapter Two – LP – 1970
I took a break from blogging and got back to the LPs. Roberta Flack had a captivating voice. I like her early material, this is her second album.

Flash and the Pan – Flash and the Pan – LP – 1979
Still listening to “F.” This is a deserted island record.

T.R. Bruce – Selling Your – Stream – 2023
I’m back to streaming some new music.

Nevis – Reverberations – Stream – 2023
The first track on this album blew me away the first time I heard it.

Flash and the Pan – Early Morning Wake Up Call – LP – 1984
More “F” ing vinyl.

Annie Taylor – Inner Smile – Stream – 2023
Inner Smile is an excellent mowing-the-lawn album. I put on my over-the-ear active noise-cancelling headphones. Inner Smile is nearly the same amount of time I need to mow the backyard lawn. Now I am listening to Inner Smile in the office and this is one sweet rock and roll album.

Guided By Voices – Welshpool Frillies – Stream – 2023
More new music from Friday.

Some of these recordings are reviewed on my blog site, WeatheredMusic.ca

Kevin – On Repeat #205 – Stream – 2023
Another playlist that I enjoyed listening to. Thanks, Kevin.

Reverberations are the repetition of a sound resulting from the reflection of sound waves. Reverberation is not an echo; it is more like the echo of an echo; repeat as needed. Reverb is common in an electric guitar setup. It could be a floor pedal, a rack component or built into the amp and activated with the flick of a switch. Reverb is also used by sound engineers, architects, and numerous others, it is literally all around us.

Reverberations is also the name of a Nevaris album released nearly two months ago. Better late than never, I hope. When the single Dub Sol hit my inbox in March of this year, I put it on repeat and got my groove on. I loved it! And then, I waited for the full release to drop, which it did on June 2nd, which will be two months ago, in a couple of days. I have listened to this numerous times over those two months as I waited for inspiration to hit me and write something about this incredible album. It hit me today.

Manhattan-based artist NEVARIS and legendary bassist-producer BILL LASWELL have crafted an energetic and soulful collaboration inspired by the energy of New York City. Dub Sol garnered the praise of CARLOS SANTANA, who called this collection “a work of supreme creativity.”

‘Reverberations‘ is the third collaboration between Nevaris, Bill Laswell and this lineup of musicians (D.J. Logic, Will Bernard, Peter Apfelbaum and Lockatron, with the addition of Matt Dickey), here focusing more on the dub aspects of their sound. Here, the musicians’ New York City roots shine through. Bass, percussion, drums and turntables take center stage on this track, with a New York sound that channels the energy and vibrancy of the city. Reverberations is released via Laswell‘s boutique label M.O.D. Reloaded. 

These songs wouldn’t fit on a 45 vinyl. Correction, one piece; Locatronic clocks in at a mere 3:43. The remainder are at lengths ranging from 4:29 to 7:46. Heck, you would need both sides of a 45 to contain some of these tracks. All told, these are gathered together as a glorious 45 minutes of head bobbing, toe-tapping, and pausing whatever I’m doing while I listen to this music. Did you notice how I slyly moved from a 45 to 45 minutes? Continuity folks, all in the name of continuity.

A musician and visual artist, Nevaris is a percussionist, keyboardist, vocalist and composer whose music is influenced by Afro-Latin, dub, funk and the sounds of the streets. Born and raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, he is of European and Mexican descent with multi-generational roots in both N.Y.C. and L.A.’s Echo Park neighbourhood. Dang, it would have been so cool if he had lived in Reverberation Park instead of Echo Park!

Before recording ‘Reverberations,’ Nevaris recorded and performed with an evolving lineup of musicians named Loud Apartment, most notably Bernie Worrell of P-Funk and Talking Heads fame.

“This record builds on the momentum from ‘System Breakdown’ and ‘New Future,’ which we released in 2020 and 2022 as Loud Apartment. There were dub aspects of those recordings, so Bill Laswell and I decided to create a recording entirely focused on that sound. It was a logical next step and came together in an organic way. We let the music go where it needed to go,” says Nevaris.

Photo Credit: Nevaris photo by Michael Black

“It’s a dub-based project, with breakbeat, funk, ambient, and afro-latin elements. It’s rhythm-based music where the pocket is essential. Lockatron is a huge part of that, as, of course, is Bill Laswell, DJ Logic and everyone else involved. Peter Apfelbaum‘s horn arrangements are also a core aspect. In my mind, it’s a cohesive piece of music that is best listened to as a whole rather than as individual songs. And Bill takes it where it needs to go with the production like no one else really can.”

In addition to his work as a musician, Nevaris is a visual and multimedia artist who has worked on various creative projects across mediums. He also co-founded Nolej Records, Nolej Studios and the Uncomun Festival.

Enough talking for now. Let’s listen to the music, please.

Reverberations is released via Laswell’s boutique label M.O.D. Reloaded. 

Pre-order the ‘Reverberations’ album https://nevaris.bandcamp.com/album/reverberations

Spotify  https://open.spotify.com/artist/7v3fX2yK24jpCaMktBQUbY

‘Interference’  https://nevaris.bandcamp.com/track/interference 

‘Dub Sol’  https://nevaris.bandcamp.com/track/dub-sol

Apple Music  https://music.apple.com/us/album/reverberations/1669589207

T.R.Burge has lived in Canada. That alone gives me a good reason to like this album since I have lived in Canada for many years. Given his musical skills, I would suspect him living in one or the other of Canada’s metropolis music magnets, Vancouver on the west coast and Toronto servicing the rest. He has lived in Australia, Canada, Scotland, Siberia and England and is heavily influenced by his past experiences and travelling in his songwriting and style of playing. He studied old-style blues guitar in Sydney and spent some time in a Soviet-style music institute in Siberia, teaching children to speak English there. 

For seven years, he lived in Australia, and when not playing in Auzzy bands there, he was in the outback talking to rural guys and miners about beer, no not just for fun; that was his job. 

Over the past years, T.R.Burge has been based between Berlin and Manchester, playing in bands and again collaborating with other musicians. His solo releases are a product of this time, the people he’s met, and the stories he’s gathered along the way.

Ah, the stories. The stories that T.R. can tell us. Stories that run the gamut from the call for freedom in the opening track, Free Man, to Precious Stones, a song that T.R. tells us references a dream he had. Precious Stones is about aiming for the best in life and has mystical aspects.

I love the soft guitar licks that T. R. lays down, most evidently in the openings to the first two tracks, Free Man and Japanese Rain. In Japanese Rain, T.R. tells us that it “relates to a trip I took to Japan pre-Covid and what seemed like an endless night of adventures and experiences.”)

Selling You – Single – “Selling You is a song that was inspired by a particular experience whilst playing in a punk ethos band in Leeds. We had a permanent practice room above a bar in the city centre, this room was covered in cobwebs and had an old stage at one end of it, there was also a secret meeting room where the national front had met up in the 80s, it had a strange vibe, we also played in the bar downstairs at weekends, there was both light and dark experiences during that time.”

Selling You: Video, “The video for Selling You, was shot on location in Berlin; the emotional sentiment of the song felt very appropriate for Berlin, and it’s a place where I have spent a great deal of time in the last few years. The narrative in the video represents the underlying story which inspired the song. The director Emily Hagan did a great job; she lives in Berlin but is from Manchester and has done videos for band members of New Order and Johnny Marr, amongst other things.”

Selling You is probably my favourite track, followed by the strong closing notes of Ride This Rail (A hopeful lament for people to take it easy on themselves and keep pushing through, we can be so focused on getting things done and forget to take in the ride.)

Selling You is a well-crafted E.P., but I was left wanting more at the end, so I listened to T.R.s previous E.P. God Ache and then put on Selling You again; problem solved, I could hear more T.R. Burge. If you want to hear more music by T.R. Burge, please follow these links.

https://trburge.com

https://soundcloud.com/user-356971216https://trburge.com

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChanrbBLPWb99Vg9kusadVA

https://www.instagram.com/trburgemusic/

For press enquiries, don’t hesitate to get in touch with http://www.mysticsons.com 

This is what I have been listening to this week.

Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids – There’s No Face Like Chrome – LP – 1974
I enjoyed seeing Flash Cadillac and the Continental Kids live in 1975. The highlight of their show was to gather at the front of the stage, bow to the audience, and then turn around and moon the audience.

I Am A Rocketship – La Cruella – Stream – 2023

The album will be out on August 4, not long from now. I have been trying to gather my thoughts into a blog about this album. I’m still gathering and listening to the album multiple times. It’s good music, and I hope my thoughts gel into a blog before the album drops.

The Beatles – The Beatles – Stream – 1968

I have clear memories of this album and a wedding party in 1972 where I imbibed too much while I listened to The White album. It is still a solid listen, my affection for the music has not dimmed, and my consumption of mind-altering substances these days is limited to coffee.

T.R. Burge – Selling Your – Stream – 2023

This is a new album. It dropped last week, I found this to be a very smooth EP, and repeated listens did not ruin its flavour. https://soundcloud.com/user-356971216/sets/selling-you-ep

Annie Taylor – School Girl – Stream – 2023

This is another new album I have enjoyed listening to. There are flavours of Patti Smith, and it certainly has a punk edge to it. There are some delicious guitar riffs, and her voice has a very punk snarl. School Girl will undoubtedly gather more trips around the virtual turntable this week.

Tantrum Zentrum – Don’t Be A Fascist – Stream – 2023 There is only only the single, Don’t Be A Fascist, on Apple Music as of today. I look forward to the whole album. The music is good, post-punk, I would call it. It’s the lyrics and the title that got my attention.

Various – 1960’s Happy Days – CD – 2004 Road trip music, this 3 CD pack got my wife and me through 4 hours on the road to visit my Mom.

The Beatles – The Beatles – Stream – 1968 Again!

Happy listening everyone.

What’s been on Norman’s turntable this week.

Revered Billy Simmons & William Simmons – Rollscanhardly – Stream – 2009 This was a random pick on Apple Music because their name contained the word Reverend. I liked and listened to the music several times over the last few weeks.

The Johnsons – Gypsies For Life – CD – 2006 This was a CD bin-diving find. I have a previous album by them, So I Says To The Guy, that people have contacted me through Discogs to see if I want to sell it. I don’t. They are a hometown band. I like supporting the local music scene.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Beat The Devil’s Taboo – CD – 2010 I enjoy the BRMC and have all their studio albums. I found them through Michael Been of the Call, Wiki it for the bigger story.

Adam Dylan Marlowe – Dirt Road When I Die – Stream – 2023 This is just an Apple New Music random sample; not my thing.

Arthur Alexander – … steppin’ out! – Stream – 2023 Another review up on WeatheredMusic.ca
SORROWS – Love Too Late – The Real Album – Stream – 1981 They are part of the backstories of Arthur Alexander.

I Am A Rocketship – La Cruella – Stream – 2023 New review forthcoming.

Teenage Fan Club – Thirteen – Stream – 1993

Shaun Ferguson – La Lumber De L’ombre – L’Ombre De La Lumiere – Stream – 2023 This was a late-night search for something to put me to sleep. I thought it was Slumber!

Charlie Peacock – Charlie Peacock – LP – 1986 Another choice bin diving find and inexpensive to boot. I had it on cassette and now have it on LP. I listened to it twice.

Les Paul and Mary Ford – Les and Mary – LP – 1955 Still working my way through the vinyl stack alphabetically. A couple more in F still to go.

La Cruella – I Am A Rocketship – Stream – 2023

And of course, a tip of the hat to Kevin On Repeat.

Arthur Alexander. Arthur is … Steppin’ Out! The first step/track is “Woman,” a song that opens with a blistering drum intro, and then the electric wet reverb jumps in, taking Arthur Alexander close to a “Wipeout,” but not quite. We get a great opening track full of energy that blasts beyond the surf to a new world of music. That world revolves around Arthur Alexander’s … Steppin’ Out!.

The opening track is Woman, although it is reminiscent of surf rock revisited. It isn’t. It is full-on rock and roll. And that is where Arthur Alexander shines. He has a lifetime of musical influences, and when he lets them out, we get songs like Woman.

I had to do my homework on the second track, It’s Not Love Anymore #2. I was not knowledgeable of SORROWS, a band that Arthur Alexander was a part of in the late ’70s and early ’80s, so I was off searching for Arthur Alexander in 1981. New York was a hotbed of music in 1981, with bands playing in every nook and cranny all over The Big Apple. Out of all the venues, CBGB was the place to play, both on and off the stage. Arthur Alexander and SORROWS played CBGB and had a hit album, Teenage Heartbreak. Look them up on Apple Music or YouTube; it’s a good album.

I have enjoyed listening to SORROWS. They had a straightforward pop-rock act in the same vein as The Cars or The Romantics. They were easy to enjoy with two guitars, two lead singers, and steady bass and percussion. I can see why they would have been an excellent act to take in at any club, but especially CBGB.

Back to the future, it’s 2023, and I am moving forward to Arthur Alexander and his new album … Steppin’ Out! It has elements of SORROWS, which is only natural since it is in his musical heritage. On the other hand, … Steppin’ Out! is also fresh, and it finds Arthur Alexander exploring new soundscapes.

 Track number three, (She’s a) Red Hot Lover, is a synth-pop song that sees Arthur Alexander exploring new musical territory outside the two-guitar band SORROWS. There is still a guitar solo, but the synths propel this song forward and make (She’s a) Red Hot Lover the great track that it is.

One Life (Is All You Got) I let Arthur Alexander tell you about this track.

“One of those reflective pieces… we’re here only for a short time and just passing through, so don’t sweat the small stuff; stand up for yourself and what you believe… ’cause one life IS all you got! No

do-overs! Somehow, the song reminded me of the “Aftermath” era Stones vibe, and when the breakdown comes, I wanted to really throw a left curve to the listener and make it a “WTF is this?!?!” moment. “Aftermath“?… Brian Jones fucking MADE that album! I was working on that song when I went to Europe to see my brother just before the pandemic hit. I took the tracks with me and recorded him playing Oud for the breakdown part, “This one’s for you, Brian!”… and I’m sure no one will mind that it climaxes with some of The Who’s tried and true clichés before it all crushes back into the song! ;)”

Track five is Ashes, and it reminded me of The Kinks. I don’t know why. It’s a breakup song. Nuff said.

Lulu, Won’t You Be My Girl is a bit of fun, and yes, Arthur, you succeeded. I am quoting Arthur Alexander again. “I love the old-style trad jazz, swing music and vaudeville songs from the ’20s and ’30s. The guitar break reflects my love for Django Reinhardt; it’s just too bad my playing ability does not. I was trying to make this song as corny and camp as I possibly could, and, gosh darn, I hope I succeeded.”

Norman says, “Yes, you succeeded.”

Why Can’t You Come harkens back to the SORROWS‘ edgy punkish, push-the-boundaries type of music. I love it. The lyrics have a dark edginess that the grungy guitar pushes violently across the soundscape straight at our faces. Early 80s punk, yeah, it works.

I Miss You is a fun, quick bit of mid 60’s pure pop music. It doesn’t pretend to be more than that; it is just fun to listen to.

A Little Too Much gives us Arthur Alexander playing around with the synth again. I hear some of Gary Numan’s Cars floating around in this track until it blasts into a synth-infused rock and roll number, booting Gary’s synth aside with more of Arthur Alexanders’ guitar work. Interesting transitions are happening in this track; I listened intently, trying to hear everything that is going on between the notes. I’m still listening. I feel there is still more for me to hear.

Humming Blues In Four presents four short stories for us to peruse.

Silver Cloud in Arthur Alexander’s words: “Believe it or not, I wrote this one also while with the Poppees. Alas, by then, they were still in their “She Loves You” phase while I was in my “All Things Must Pass” and “Dark Side of The Moon” phase, so, of course, the band had zero interest in it. Sorrows did actually cut a demo of it which one can hear on the Bomp! “Bad Times Good Times” release, but we never got to do it “for real.” So here it is, finally, as it was intended.”

Norman’s words: “I hear more late-career Beatles, so yes, I agree with the “All Things Must Pass” assessment. I don’t hear DSotM, and I know that album inside out and backwards, and no, there are no Satanic messages when played backwards. Silver Cloud is still a good song, no matter which influencer you relate it to.

Flying Shadows

Arthur Alexander: “A total fluke, this one!… I was about to record Luis’ drums for “Fly Away,” but I still didn’t have any lyrics to put down, even a scratch vocal track for Luis to follow the song structure. Without giving it much thought, I grabbed a guitar and recorded a quick scratch track of the melody line so that at least he had something to follow and be able to tell a verse from a bridge, etc… When I listened back to it, I was stunned! It sounded like The Shadows, one of my biggest musical influences and a band probably not only responsible for me making music at all but equally responsible for where and how rock and roll went as it did, period! At least in Europe, and actually, as a consequence, the rest of the world! Hearing that inspired me to pay a real homage to my heroes!” 

This turned out to be a winner for us. A great closing track with the same ethos as the opening track and a tonne of great music between those two book ends. Arthur Alexander has gifted us with a great album with … Steppin’ Out!. It sparked a desire in me to listen/relisten to some music from the early 80s as well as the joy of hearing this most excellent album.

This has been an interesting week of music listening. It is light on jazz and classical and features some good rock and roll.

I have enjoyed the music of Jose Feliciano for many, many years and still enjoy his music. The live album is a good best of collection and sounds good for a live album.
Jose Feliciano – Feliciano – LP – 1968
Jose Feliciano – Alive Alive-o! Live At London Palladium – LP – 1969

Addeyee – Spår av Addeyee – Streaming – 2023

Freddy Fender – Before The Next Teardrop Falls – LP – 1975
This album is a blast from the past. Freddy has his day in the spotlight with his number 1 songs, Before the Next Teardrop Falls and Wasted Days and Wasted Nights. He continued to perform and record music until just before his death.

Perennial favourites for me, I enjoy The Clash and even play London Calling on guitar.
The Clash – Combat Rock – iPod – 1982
The Clash – London Calling – iPod – 1979

Arthur Alexander – … steppin’ out! – Streamed – 2023
This is a new album that will be released on July 28th.

Backward Collective – Music For…(vol. 1) – Streamed – 2007 A bit of interesting new music. I’m not sure if I like it or not.

Revered Billy Simmons & William Simmons – Rollscanhardly – Steamed – 2009 Some more new music, I do like them.