Getting a bit slower on the release front, but still plenty to love. New Vincent Neil Emerson is the album of the week. A lot of awesome songwriting there. The Resonant Rogues is also a beauty on the rootsier side of things. If you are into pop / alternative, we have new ones from long time faves Steven Adams and The Provincial Archive. Other excellent new album releases came from Pete Molinari, Pheribee, Model Shop (EP), Daniel Sherrill, Chris Stapleton, Will Payne Harrison (deluxe edition), The Reds, Pinks and Purples (EP) and Todd Snider. Oh and not sure does those two new Hezekiah Jones songs count as a single or EP, but it’s excellent of course.
A couple of great Finnish album releases too from Lau Nau and Aavikko. A few singles too from Nina Kaitaranta, Suosikki, Thelma’s Dream and Voikukat. The last one is a week or two old, but I forgot to include it then.
The international single of the week is the new one from Hurray for the Riff Raff. Other early faves came from Jeremy Ferrara, Hezekiah Jones, Shoulder Season, Smug Brothers, Frog and Jeremy Squires. Again just to name a few.
That’s all for now. Like, share, follow and all the usual promotional nonsense. It all matters. This week more than usual, because covid is still keeping me tired even though the actual symptoms flew by in three days or so. Bigger thing are the rumours about Spotify changing things that every track needs to reach 1000 plays annually before receiving royalties. That seems like total bullshit that will make long tail back catalogue earning almost impossible for smaller artists. I can understand some very low threshold, because there’s millions of tracks on Spotify but that seems like far too big of a stretch. I so wish they would go to user-centric model. As a heavy user I would happily pay €30 per month for Spotify as long as the money would go to artists that I listen to and not to major label acts or the extension of executives summer villa. Anyway, we shall see what are the final facts. Hopefully it’s something more reasonable that just makes the frauds and gaming the system harder. That could actually have a positive effect, but it’s hard to give them the benefit of a doubt at this point. If the changes happen as rumoured, I have no idea how I should react. On one hand, it feels like I should quit altogether and on the other hand it feels like it would be even more important to have these small independent diy playlists as an alternative for the in-house editorials. We shall see. But I will continue at least this year like before. Love from a distance.
1. Vincent Neil Emerson – I’ll Meet You in Montana (The Golden Crystal Kingdom, La Honda Records / RCA Records, 2023)
2. The Resonant Rogues – Slow Burn (The Resonant Rogues, 2023)
3. Steven Adams – Holiday Casual (Drops, Fika Recordings, 2023)
4. Model Shop – Six Day Sunday (Check the Forecast EP, Meritorio Records, 2023)
5. The Provincial Archive – Planetarium (Good Luck, Consonant Records, 2023)
6. Pete Molinari – You’re Poetry to Me (Wondrous Afternoon, Blind Faith Records, 2023)
7. Pheribee – Something Someone Would Say (Little Sandy Mountain, 2023)
8. Hezekiah Jones – Having a Time Machine Isn’t a Good Enough Reason to Time Travel (single, 2023)
9. Jeremy Ferrara – Darkness is a Bright Sound (singe, A For Effort Records / American Standard Time Records, 2023)
10. Todd Snider – But Seriously Folks (Crank It, We’re Doomed, Aimless Records / Thirty Tigers, 2023)
11. Chris Stapleton – The Bottom (Higher, Mercury Nashville, 2023)
12. Will Payne Harrison – Tequila or Me (Tioga Titan (Deluxe Edition, 2023)
13. Daniel Sherrill – Lake Earnest or That’s Fine, I’ll Use Your Wet Towel, American Standard Time Records, 2023)
14. Jeremy Squires – Graveyard (single, Blackbird Record Label, 2023)
15. Hurray for the Riff Raff – Alibi (single, Nonesuch Records, 2023)
16. Shay Martin Lovette – Dark November (single, Red-winged Black Bird, 2023)
17. The Roseline – Aloneness (single, RPH Records, 2023)
18. Great Peacock – The Innocent (single, 2023)
19. Smug Brothers – You Almost Let Loose Your Tongue (single, Anyway, 2023)
20. Shoulder Season – She Says Goodbye (single, 2023)
21. The Reds, Pinks and Purples – A Figure on the Stairs (Murder, Oral Sex & Cigarettes, Burundi Cloud, 2023)
22. Thelma’s Dream – Sofia (single, 2023)
23. Lau Nau – Simona (Aphrilis, Fonal Records, 2023)
24. Nina Kaitaranta – Pioni (single, Kaita records, 2023)
25. Voikukat – Markat tiukassa (single, Alakulttuuritalo, 2023)
26. Suosikki – Aaltoihin (single, Soit Se Silti, 2023)
27. Aavikko – El Camry (Sound of Muysic, Soit Se Silti, 2023)
28. Matthew “Doc” Dunn – The Ranger (single, Cosmic Range Records, 2023)
29. Alice Faye – Reject (single, 2023)
30. Frog – New Ro (single, Audio Antihero / Tapewormies, 2023)
31. Jacob Miller – Landslide (single, 2023)
32. Juniper – I Was Thinking About You (single, Confidential Records, 2023)
33. Graham Hunt – Tashmere Anthill (single, Smoking Room, 2023)
34. Nathan K. – Benton Harbor (single, 2023)
35. Brown Horse – Shoot Back (single, Loose Music, 2023)
36. Zach Russell – Take Me Back To Tennessee (single, Carlboro Records / Thirty Tigers, 2023)
37. David Quinn feat LoneHollow – Back No More (single, Soundly, 2023)
38. Nicolette & The Nobodies – The Long Way (single, ArtHaus Music, 2023)
39. Fanny Lumsden – Enjoy the Ride (single, Cooking Vinyl Australia, 2023)
40. Leah Blevins – Used (single, Crabtree Records / Thirty Tigers, 2023)
41. Jana Pochop – Pretty Please (single, Patient Grasshopper Music, 2023)
42. Jess Jocoy – Our Little World (single, 2023)
43. Andrea and Mud feat Chelsea Lovitt – Residual Heartache (single, Guest Wifi Records, 2023)
44. Tender Lakes – Escape the Rain (Nocturnals, 2023)
45. Krypta – Tuntematon, pimeä (Outo Laakso, Svart Records, 2023)
46. Salaliitto – John (Portaat, Salalevyt, 2023)
47. Kelly Sloan – The Kiss (Insides Out, Victory Pool, 2023)
48. Andrew Bryant – Love (Prodigal, Sentimental Noises, 2023)
49. Jeffrey Martin – All My Love (Thank God We Left the Garden, Loose Music / Fluff & Gravy Records, 2023)
50. Julie Arsenault – Light One Up (Nothing Sweeter, Son Canciones, 2023)
A few Bandcamp cuts for the lovely non-streamers:
Oh and do buy the vinyl/cd/download. Spotify and other streaming services are perfect for these introductory purposes, but try to buy at least the music that matter the most to you
I’ll make the playlist on Spotify and then transfer it to Tidal. This means a few tracks might be missing from the Tidal version, if they are not available on that platform. Usually it’s 1-3 tracks that are not on Tidal. There’s a bunch of older episodes on my Spotify profile, if you miss an episode or want to revisit.
If you are looking this after a week has gone, the embedded Spotify will show the latest playlist. I’ll just update the same playlist because if someone wants to follow it, they can just follow that one list and will get a new set of songs each weekend.