OCTA Weekly Playlist – Episode #72

Another week, another weekly playlist.

Time to get this one done today, because tomorrow I’m watching a neverending mega event were they also play some ball for 11 minutes or so. I also have a one week winter vacation now, so I might be a bit easier to reach during the next week. Lately emailing to me has like blasting words into a void and I’m deeply sorry about that. There’s just not enough time to read them all and especially reply them all. It would be difficult even if this was full time thing and this is only a dear hobby that I write on my spare time. And well after spending the eight hours at the factory, spending the next 2 reading and replying emails is often a bit too much.

This was again a pretty great release week. Tre Burt, Drive-By Truckers, Possessed by Paul James, Squirrel Flower and Frances Quinlan were on top of my list. Sorry for putting Streetlight Blues again from Squirrel Flower. There’s other wonderful songs on it too. I just kinda fell badly for this one during the week and wanted to put it close to the top this time. There’s also new albums from Brian Johannesen, Katie Blount, Son Little, Edmund Wayne, Raina Rose and Tall Tall Trees. A couple of EPs too from Emma Hill, Sophie & The Broken Things, Baseball Dad, Remington Super 60 and Zach Pack (this last one is from 2019, but I just found it a couple of weeks ago thanks to Vincent Neil Emerson).

This time the Finnish part consists of albums from PK Keränen & Muuan Mies, an EP from Sami Heikkilä and a new single from Hermaja. Plus revisiting that 2019 from Teini-Pää EP, because it’s just so damn good.

The international song of the week is obviously the new single from Ariel Sharratt & Mathias Kom. These lovely The Burning Hell people are releasing a duo album and this is the first single from the forthcoming album. Some other big ones for me were the new Lilly Hiatt single, the first one from new Tompkins Square signing Sam Burton, the new Dan Reeder single that sort of reminds of that fabulous Ted Lucas album that I love so much and the new Leon Russell cover from Vincent Neil Emerson. Just to name a few. All these songs are here, because I like them a lot.

And as usual revisiting some of my favorites from last week at the end just so they don’t disappear too fast from this list. Hint: there’s also an OCTA Weekly Playlist Archive at Spotify, if you miss a week. I’ll keep a couple months worth of playlists over there, but eventually they will disappear too. That’s kind of my I make this writing post each week. Anyway, that all for this week. I’ll try to make a few of those round up thingies during the week. All the best and love love love.

1. Tre Burt – What Good (Caught It from the Rye, Oh Boy Records, 2020)
2. Drive-By Truckers – 21st Century USA (The Unraveling, ATO Records, 2020)
3. Possessed By Paul James – I Didn’t Know You When (As We Go Wandering, Independent, 2020)
4. Squirrel Flower – Streetlight Blues (I Was Born Swimming, Full Time Hobby, 2020)
5. Frances Quinlan – A Secret (Likewise, Saddle Creek, 2020)
6. Ariel Sharratt & Mathias Kom – Never Work (single, BB*Island, 2020)
7. Dan Reeder – Love & Hate (single, Oh Boy Records, 2020)
8. Brian Johannesen – Damn These Saint (Holster Your Silver, Independent, 2020)
9. Lilly Hiatt – P-Town (single, New West Records, 2020)
10. Vincent Neil Emerson – Manhattan Island Serenade (single, La Honda Records, 2020)
11. Sam Burton – I Can Go With You (single, Tompkins Square, 2020)
12. Katie Blount – Dark Water (Dark Water, Independent, 2020)
13. Son Little – After All (I Must Be Wrong) (Aloha, Anti, 2020)
14. Durand Jones & The Indications – Young Americans (single, Dead Oceans, 2020)
15. Cayley Thomas – Blue Jean Baby (single, Independent, 2020)
16. Whim – Somebody Else’s Tongue (single, Fluff & Gravy Records, 2020)
18. Greg Mendez – Bike (single, Forged Artifacts, 2020)
19. Emma Hill – How Could I Have Been So Wrong? (How Could I Have Been So Wrong? EP, Kuskokwim Records, 2020)
10. Sophie & The Broken Things – Paper ID (Self-titled EP, Petaluma Records, 2020)
20. Hermaja – Sua en myy (single, Helmi Levyt, 2020)
21. Muuan Mies – Mummo kertoo (Onni, Helmi Levyt, 2020)
22. Sami Heikkilä – Eiväthän kukat (Kaunein muisto EP, Luova Records, 2020)
23. PK Keränen – Lost Together (Serobi Songs, Playground, 2020)
24. Margaret Glaspy – Killing What Keeps Us Alive (single, ATO Records, 2020)
25. Laura Gibson & Dave Depper – Let’s Go (single, 2020)
26. Lady Lamb – We’ve Got a Good Thing Going (single, Ba Da Bing! 2020)
27. Pope – Lucky (single, Independent, 2020)
28. Baseball Dad – January (January EP, 2020)
29. Remington Super 60 – The Highway Again (New EP, Cafe Superstar Recordings, 2020)
30. European Sun – The Future’s Female (single, Wiaiwya, 2020)
31. Jeff Pianki – Song About (single, Independent, 2020)
32. Borrowed Beams Of Light – Worldbuilding (single, 2020)
33. Edmund Wayne – Zihua (Expectations of a Flower, Beach Dog Records, 2020)
34. Tall Tall Trees – Expectations (A Wave Golden Things, Joyful Noise Recordings, 2020)
35. Raina Rose – One One Thousand (Vesta, Independent, 2020)
36. Woody Woodroth & The Piners – Cherokee Maggie (single, PineHoller Records, 2020)
37. Elijah Ocean – Behind the Times (single, Independent, 2020)
38. Jesse Daniel – Rollin’ On (single, Die True Records, 2020)
39. Zach Pack – Cowboy Coffee (Panther Branch Road EP, 2020)
40. Joe Nolan – Tupelo Honey (single, Rootsy Music, 2020)
41. Robert Irish – Could You Learn to Love a River (single, Independent, 2020)
42. Lily Konigsberg – I Said (single, Wharf Cat, 2020)
43. Lemon Pitch – Airtight (single, Repeating Cloud, 2020)
44. Teini-Pää – Lähtisitkö (Täynnä kysymyksiä EP, 2020)
45. Diet Cig – Night Terrors (single, Frenchkiss Records, 2020)
46. Dakota Theim – Yonder (Somewher Under the Sun, 2020)
47. Andy Shauf – Fire Truck (The Neon Skyline, Anti, 2020)
48. Hello Emerson – May 2018 (How To Cook Everything, Anyway Records / K&F Records, 2020)
49. Bart Budwid – Northern Sky (Another Burn on the Astroturf, Fluff & Gravy Records, 2020)
50. Bonny Light Horseman – 10,000 Miles (Bonny Light Horseman, 37d03d, 2020)

Playlist link

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

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.

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Dakota Theim, Mo Troper, Witch’s Wall and Untogethers

Over the years this blog has drifted towards roots-ier surroundings, but every now and then it’s good to go back to the actual roots of the blog and share a couple of fabulous pop songs. This little blog entry is heavily influenced by the new Dakota Theim album Somewhere Under the Sun, which came out on the 10th of January. I just found this Portland-based songwriter and his album last Friday thanks to American Standard Time. Read their long and detailed review here to get a better grip of why you should introduce your heart to these songs or just hit play below to hear a couple of melodic and catchy pop treasures. This is such a wonderful 60s / early 70s influenced pop album and I love every second of it.

Dakota Theim at Facebook
Dakota Theim Website

Another should-be hit record from Portland is the forthcoming Mo Troper album Natural Beauty that is due out on Tender Loving Empire on the 14th of February. The previous one Exposure & Response was one of the best power pop albums I’ve heard in recent years, so I have high expectations for this one. I think I already shared Jas from Australia in the latter parts of 2019, so let’s drop the other two singles here.

Mo Troper at Facebook

Witch’s Wall are from Birmingham, Alabama and they have a self-titled debut album coming out on the 3rd of April on Cornelius Chapel Records. I don’t know a whole lot about them yet, but I do know that this first single Lady Love is rather superb and comes also in form of a beautiful nostalgic video. I look forward to hearing their blend of dreamy pop, experimental rock and psychedelic vibes when the album arrives.

Witch’s Wall at Facebook

Last stop on this pop tour tonight is Tampere, Finland and the great new single The Peasant from Untogethers. A full-length album will follow in March on Iso Pinkki, but first we can enjoy this gorgeous 60s influenced pop song along with archive footage of Finnish lumberjacks doing some log racing back in the late 40s.

Untogethers at Facebook

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Drive-By Truckers, Lilly Hiatt, Tré Burt and Possessed by Paul James

Continuing with the quick round up posts. This time some advance singles and music videos from forthcoming 2020 albums. The new Drive-By Truckers album The Unraveling is due out this Friday 31st of January on ATO Records. Both advance singles have been really great and I can’t wait to hear this one. The latest one Thoughts and Prayers is a powerful and important song about gun violence & gun control and the failure to address the issue in a meaningful and concrete manner. Thoughts and prayers don’t cut it anymore. It never did.

Drive-By Truckers Website
Drive-By Truckers at Facebook

There’s also a new Lilly Hiatt album on the horizon. We still have to wait a little while for this one, because Walking Proof is out on the 27th of March on New West Records. There’s a lot of good ways to pass that time. Like blasting this fabulous first single Brightest Star on repeat as long and as loud as you can without causing a distress among the neigbours. This is going to be a damn good album.

Lilly Hiatt at Facebook
Lilly Hiatt Website

Another beauty that comes out this Friday is the Tré Burt album Caught It From the Rye that will be released by John Prine’s label Oh Boy Records. This Sacramento, CA-based songwriter self-released the album back in 2018, so people in the know might have heard it back then. I’m grateful for the re-release, because based on the two singles this is going to be a rather special one and deserves a wider audience. Watch the videos below and then carry on setting a camp outside the record store.

Tré Burt Website
Tré Burt at Facebook

This Friday is shaping up to be a brilliant release date. Possessed by Paul James aka songwriter Konrad Wert is also releasing a great new record As We Go Wandering on the 31st of January. I first got to know him from the 2008 movie The Folk Singer: A Tale of Men, Music & America over a decade ago and have been a fan ever since. There’s a couple of advance singles available (you’ve already heard them, if you follow the weekly playlist. Like everything else on this post too). When It Breaks is a beautiful new rendition of an older PPJ song and then there’s this powerful and important first single Be at Rest.

Possessed by Paul James Website
Possessed by Paul James at Facebook

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Hello Emerson, The Innocence Mission, Liila Jokelin and Laura Moisio

A quick post of few things I’ve loved madly during the recent weeks. Beginning with a new favorite Hello Emerson from Columbus, Ohio. I just recently discovered them, because one of my favorite labels Anyway Records released their new album How to Cook Everything in the states. It’s on K&F Records here in Europe. My addiction started with this beautiful and moving story song Seat16b. A really lovely Kylli-täti kinda video too (only Finns know that reference). The whole record is equally great and just came out on the 24th of January.

Hello Emerson Website
Hello Emerson at Facebook

The Innocence Mission from Lancaster, Pennsylvania has released wonderful music since 1989. Their new album See You Tomorrow came out on Bella Union on the 17th of January and it sets the bar really high for 2020. The opening trio The Brothers Williams Said, On Your Side and Movie is just oh wow and the magic stays with you throughout the heavenly beautiful record.

The Innocence Mission Website
The Innocence Mission at Facebook

The debut album by Finnish songwriter Liila Jokelin sneaked into my 2019 top 3 during the last month of the year. It didn’t get a whole lot of recognition on this blog though due to the late release date at the end of November. I don’t think I ever even shared this gorgeous music video for album cut Sateet tuovat terveisensä. So let’s take care of that now and further recommend her great album Kaamos on huono esileikki that came out on Helmi Levyt. Such a strong and unique record that doesn’t play it safe. Beautiful, dramatic, disturbing and never ever boring.

Liila Jokelin at Facebook

The song I’ve loved the most during this first month of 2020 is the new Laura Moisio single Kaukana onnesta. It’s poignant, quietly monumental and deeply moving. A song that maybe resonates with me more than I’m comfortable to admit, because I’m not always the most optimistic type. Therefore this devastatingly beautiful song also serves as a good reminder to not let things slide out of my control. And despite the almost overwhelming sadness, the song is still somehow comforting and instead of dragging me down, it is able to fill my heart with warmth and light. Her new album is coming out on the 6th of March on Texicalli Records. I can’t wait to hear it, because the two advance singles have been pure gold.

Laura Moisio at Facebook
Laura Moisio Website

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