Although no album will top “My Finest Work Yet” (fittingly) for me, the latest release from Andrew Bird is a welcome accompaniment to modern times. I like it more every time I listen to it. I like it so much I couldn’t pick just one song. Here are my top two tracks from Inside Problems, which also happen to be tracks one and two from the album.
Tag: indie music
Daily Dose: Wet Leg, “Angelica”
Wednesdays are my Mondays so here’s my commute song. I play it on my way to the former Cliff House Restaurant where Western Neighborhoods Project has opened The Museum at The Cliff, a free community history and art pop-up, with friends from ACT Art Conservation and The Great Highway gallery. Open weekends through the end of August and maybe longer! GET TICKETS.
Daily Dose: Alabaster DePlume, “Is it Enough”
Friday finds me asking for the same thing every week: “Give me a career in the arts and a latte!”
And also, “Give me one more day on this earth.”
Daily Dose: Nora Brown, “Little Satchel”
There’s nothing I love more than musicians who dig down deep and seemingly sing from another time. Nora Brown fits that bill.
Daily Dose: Flyte, “Archie, Marry Me”
If I ever get married (an act that is looking increasingly unlikely), this is the song that will walk me down the aisle.
Go ahead and steal the idea, future Mrs. and Mrs. Just be sure to message me with recorded evidence so I can have the thrill of seeing the concept enacted. ; )
Daily Dose: Gregory Alan Isakov, “Caves”
There are few musicians I’m more devoted to than Gregory Alan Isakov. I’ve seen him live numerous times, and the poster they doled out at his last Fillmore show is one of the few I’ve deemed worth the framing price.
Evening Machines, his forthcoming album, is officially released October 5th, but a few singles are now streaming. “Caves” has been a replayer for me this week, and, in my attempt to put my money where my mouth is and buy more music, I’ve pre-ordered a special autographed copy.
Daily Dose: Max Garcia Conover, “week 72 // rich man”
Max Garcia Conover is from Portland, Maine, and he releases weekly songs through Patreon that are beautiful. Beautiful in the way that poetry makes truth immediate and gives it shape. Beautiful in the way that it reminds us how music is a living, daily ritual. Beautiful in the way it reinforces constancy and the importance of repition to creating something worth having–a body of work by which he will be remembered fondly.
I hope he finds himself in California soon, so I can find my way to this concept performed live.
Daily Dose: Typhoon, “The Lake”
Some songs are as delicate and fragile as they are strong and lovely. Perhaps it’s the secret depressive in me that so authentically connects to music that warbles with vulnerability. Or maybe that’s just the undercurrent that makes good music, and it’s natural to like good music. Regardless, this track isn’t new…just new to me. I like it very much.
Daily Dose: Mike Viola, “The American Egypt”
What I like most about Mike Viola’s music is that it feels unique, a la Elvis Costello. So many songs and albums sound the same these days, and, while it’s clearly influenced by vintage songwriting structures, his approach feels fresh at a time when 80s synth pop is dominating a market that wasn’t alive to remember the 1980s. It certainly feels honest. These are things I appreciate.
If you’re wondering if you should keep listening, maybe his pedigree will intrigue you. Viola co-wrote the theme song for That Thing You Do, and also composed much of the music you heard in Judd Apatow’s Rock Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. He’s worked with Ryan Adams, The Monkees, Jenny Lewis, and Rachael Yamagata. These are also things I appreciate.
Daily Dose: Still Corners, “The Message”
Greg Hughes and Tess Murray make enjoyable music. I love the synthy, outer space surf western vibes that emanate from this new track; it’s very next-horizon. Their new album, Slow Air, has been on constant rotation when I’m working: the perfect music to make the research less stultifying. I love music, and I love workflow grooves, and Slow Air is the tits.
Californians can see them live this Fall: at the Casbah in San Diego on October 30th; at Resident in Los Angeles on November 1st; and at Neck of the Woods in San Francisco on November 2nd. Go see them.
Nostos Algos 