Another week, another weekly playlist.

I have the flu and therefore not a whole lot of energy or brain activity. So I apologize, if my writing makes even less sense than usually. The flu is also the reason why there hasn’t been other blog posts during the past 3-4 days.

The big album releases for me were from John R. Miller & The Engine Lights, Emily Brown and Aaron Lee Tasjan. I’m also fond of the new albums by Saintseneca, Summer Magic, Courtney Hartman & Taylor Ashton, Parting Lines, Alien Boy and Donnie Fritts. Then there obviously was the big one from Big Red Machine, but I just didn’t find a whole lot to hold on to with a quick listening. I know it’s me and not them and I feel like I’m missing out on something great. I’ll give it another go later. Oh and M G Boulter’s new EP is gold.

Lots of great singles too. The big ones for me were from Becky Warren, St. Lenox, Grand Salvo, Laura Jane Grace & The Devouring Mothers and Lac Belot. Obviously I like each and every song on this list, so I could easily namecheck everything. I even expanded this thing to 30 songs and gave up on that 23 thing, because it gives some extra space to include more great new music.

Some wonderful ones from previous weeks appear again and then there’s some slightly older stuff that I missed out when they came out. One even from December 2017, because I just found the Aaron Beckum record yesterday.

My absolute favorite song that surfaced this week is Carnival Barker from Vanessa Peters, but that’s not yet on Spotify. A blog post about that will appear as soon as the flu fog disappears from my head and I can write something that even remotely matches the greatness of it.

OCTA Weekly Playlist Episode #7

1. Becky Warren – The Drake Motel (single, 2018)
2. John R. Miller & The Engine Lights – How It Feels In the Light (The Trouble You Follow, Emperor Records, 2018)
3. Aaron Lee Tasjan – End of the Day (Karma For Cheap, New West Records, 2018)
4. Laura Jane Grace & The Devouring Mothers – Apocalypse Now (&Later) (single, Bloodshot Records, 2018)
5. Ryan Culwell – Moon Hangs Down (The Last American, Missing Piece, 2018)
6. The Other Years – Adaline (single, No Quarter, 2018)
7. Queen of the Meadow – Withdrawn (single, 2018)
8. St. Lenox – Don’t Ever Change Me New York City (single, Anyway Records, 2018)
9. Madeline Leman and the Desert Dwells – Diva With The Fever of Change (single, 2018)
10. Mitski – Nobody (Be The Cowboy, Dead Oceans, 2018)
11. Lac Belot – Friendly Beast (single, Solina Records, 2018)
12. Parting Lines – Climb (See You On The Other Side, 2018)
13. Summer Magic – Certain Little Cloud (Sharks And Other Dangers, 2018)
14. Donnie Fritts – I’d Do It Over Again (June, A Tribute to Arthur Alexander, 2018)
15. Advance Base – Your Dog (single, Run For Cover, 2018)
16. Drew Beskin – Midnight Avenue Edge (single, Laser Brains, 2018)
17. Marlon Chaplin – Drain Me (The Circle, 2018)
18. Alien Boy – Somewhere Without Me (Sleeping Lessons, Tiny Engines, 2018)
19. Courtney Hartman and Taylor Ashton – Been on Your Side (Been On Your Side, Free Dirt Records, 2018)
20. Lorain – Rose Window (single, 2018)
21. Aaron Beckum – Everlasting Love / River Of Blood (Classic Bad Times, Swamp Moth Missionary Society, 2017)
22. Joshua Hedley – Broken Man (single, Third Man Records, 2018)
23. Austin Lucas – My Mother and the Devil (Immortal Americans, Cornelius Chapel Records, 2018)
24. Saintseneca – Feverer (Pillar Of Na, Anti-, 2018)
25. Lauren Balthrop – Maple Tree (single, Tone Tree Music, 2018)
26. Matt Harlan – What We Saw (single, What We Saw Records, 2018)
27. Beth Snapp – Don’t Apologize (Don’t Apologize, NewSong Recordings, 2018)
28. M G Boulter – Frances Forlorn (Blood Moon EP, Hudson Records, 2018)
29. Grand Salvo – In The Water (single, Mistletone, 2018)
30. Emily Brown – Stay Lovin’ (Bee Eater, Song Club Records, 2018)

Oh and 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 a) if someone wants to follow it, they can just follow that one list and will get a new set of songs each Sunday b) so that I don’t have a trillion of different playlists on my Spotify account.

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

Another week, another weekly playlist.

This week gave us new albums from Ryan Culwell (masterfully exploring all rootsy corners from the sweetest lullabies to reverb-soaked rock’n’roll), The Bill & The Belles (old-fashioned American songs with sweet three-part harmonies) and Joel Henry Little (the 70s-influenced pop treasure I had the honor of premiering earlier in the week). Adam Faucett would obviously be among that group, but it isn’t available on the Finnish Spotify. New albums from Steady Holiday, Murder By Death, Lorkin O’Reilly, Whitney Ballen, Lemon Twigs rule as well. Plus then there’s of course all the albums that I’m not even aware of, because your blogger is hardly in the know and continuously miss a lot of great stuff. Tips are always welcome.

There were so many great singles that I really thought about expanding the list to 30 songs, because there just wasn’t enough space for everything this week. Boygenius material was all great of course and then there were also parade worthy new singles from Small Houses, Colter Wall, Emily Brown, Valley Maker, Laura Gibson, The Pollies, Justin Wells, Ben Pirani, Monnone Alone and a few earlier ones from Charles Walker and John R. Miller that I missed when they were released, but enjoyed during this week.

Obviously some of the finest albums from the last week (Austin Lucas, Adam Remnant, Mitski and Riley Pinkerton) stay on the list with a new song, but let’s stop this pointless rambling and get on with the playlist.

Dear 23 – OCTA Weekly Playlist Episode #6

1. Ryan Culwell – The Last American (The Last American, Missing Piece, 2018)
2. John R. Miller – Red Eyes (single, Emperor Records, 2018)
3. Austin Lucas – Happy (Immortal Americans, Cornelius Chapel Records, 2018)
4. Justin Wells – A Love Song (single, 10 in 20, 2018)
5. Riley Pinkerton – Beyond You, Honey (Nothing Ever Is, 2018)
6. Emily Brown – Take Me Up Slowly (single, Song Club Records, 2018)
7. Boygenius – Me & My Dog (single, Dead Oceans, 2018)
8. Bill & The Belles– My Carolina Sunshine Girl (Dreamsongs etc, 2018)
9. Joel Henry Little – Oh Shorakkopoch (Spuyten Duyvil, Life is a Minestrone, 2018)
10. Small Houses – I Remember Me (single, 2018)
11. Laura Gibson – Tenderness (single, City Slang, 2018)
12. J Mascis – See You At The Movies (single, Sub Pop, 2018)
13. Charles Walker – Sorted Out (Charles Walker / Ben Trickey split, Anthem Breath Records, 2018)
14. The Pollies – Fell In Love (single, This Is American Music, 2018)
15. Valley Maker – A Couple Days (single, Frechkiss, 2018)
16. Steady Holiday – Who’s Gonna Stop Us (Nobody’s Watching, Barsuk, 2018)
17. Monnone Alone – Cut Knuckle (single, Lost and Lonesome, 2018)
18. Ben Pirani – Art School Girl (single, Colemine Records, 2018)
19. Adam Remnant – She Has a Way Of Finding Me Out (Sourwood, Anyway Records, 2018)
20. Mitski – Lonesome Love (Be The Cowboy, Dead Oceans, 2018)
21. Colter Wall – Saskatchewan in 1881 (single, Young Mary’s Recording Co, 2018)
22. Lorkin O’Reilly – When The Days Cool Down (Heaven Depends, Team Love Records, 2018)
23. Murder By Death – Last Night On Earth (The Other Shore, Bloodshot Records, 2018)

Oh and 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 a) if someone wants to follow it, they can just follow that one list and will get a new set of songs each Sunday b) so that I don’t have a trillion of different playlists on my Spotify account.

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.

Another week, another weekly playlist.

The biggest album release of the week for me was the new Austin Lucas. One of my favorite songwriters in the world and the new album Immortal Americans is utterly wonderful. The first solo album from Southeast Engine’s motor Adam Remnant is also high on my list, because it’s a damn good album. Then there’s the new Mitski obviously. Maybe not the closest thing to my personal taste, but I do think she is a phenomenal artist and songwriter and her success is also a welcome reminder that sometimes this music business makes some sense and good music can still gain a huge following. There were also new music from old favorites Death Cab For Cutie, Papa M and Great Lake Swimmers, but I haven’t really had the time to investigate those yet.

Then there were great new singles from Drew Beskin, Kristina Murray, Karine Polwart, Cat Power, Jim Bryson, Annika Norlin, Amy Ray and so forth. Nickel & Rose and Hadley McCall Thackston deliver the most important and powerful messages in the middle. Last week’s finest new albums from Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis, Riley Pinkerton, Bird Streets, John Cathal O’Brien remain on the list with a different song. I still can’t let go of Michael Nau and then there’s some stuff I missed earlier like the incredible Tiny Ruins song or Chris Lee Becker’s album. But let’s stop this nonsense and move on to the list. Austin Lucas can do the honors and start it with my current favorite song, The Shadow and Marie from his incredible album Immortal Americans.

Dear 23 – OCTA Weekly Playlist Episode #5

1. Austin Lucas – The Shadow and Marie (Immortal Americans, Cornelius Chapel Records, 2018)
2. Kristina Murray – Strong Blood (single, 2018)
3. Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis – I Just Lived a Country Song (Wild! Wild! Wild!, Bloodshot Records, 2018)
4. Chris Lee Becker – Made Of Gold (In and Around Bethlemen USA, Horton Records, 2018)
5. Adam Remnant – Carpenter’s Daughter (Sourwood, Anyway Records, 2018)
6. Karine Polwart – Ophelia (single, Hudson Records, 2018)
7. Mitski – Two Slow Dancers (Be The Cowboy, Dead Oceans, 2018)
8. Nickel & Rose – Americana (Americana EP, 2018)
9. Hadley McCall Thackston – Change (Hadley McCall Thackston, Wolfe Island, 2018)
10. Cat Power – Woman (single, Domino Recording Co, 2018)
11. Annie Oakley – Did You Dream (single, Horton Records, 2018)
12. Amy Ray – Sure Feels Good Anyway (single, Daemon Records, 2018)
13. Drew Beskin – Suspicion From The Start (single, Laser Brains, 2018)
14. Jim Bryson – Cut Bait (single, Coax Records, 2018)
15. Bird Streets – Thanks For Calling (Bird Streets, Omnivore Recordings, 2018)
16. The Molochs – Too Lost In Love (single, Innovative Leisure, 2018)
17. David Smalt – Leaves Burning (single, 2018)
18. Tiny Ruins – How Much (singe, Marathon, 2018)
19. Annika Norlin – Correspondence: Failure (single, Razzia Records, 2018)
20. Riley Pinkerton – Nothing Ever Is (Nothing Ever Is, 2018)
21. Michael Nau – Funny Wind (Michael Nau & The Mighty Thread, Full Time Hobby, 2018)
22. John Cathal O’Brien – Tavern (These Borders, 2018)
23. Fred Thomas – House Show, Late December (single, Polyvinyl Records, 2018)

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.