Playlist

OCTA Music Weekly – Episode #141

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Another week, another new music weekly.

This week was special. If you want to make EOTY list in December, you can make a pretty amazing top 10 just by using albums that were released on 25th of June. I’m sure I missed a ton completely and fair to say that I’ve only scratched the surface of the ones that I was aware of and did include on this post. Anyway, I tried my best to compile some sort of playlist out of these awesome releases, so let’s dive into the new music of the week.

I think it starts with the new Flora Hibberd album for me, because I’ve become such a big fan during the past year. However, picking early favorites is pretty impossible, because there’s like a dozen albums here that might become very dear to me. There’s new albums from Vincent Neil Emerson, Hiss Golden Messenger, Dana Sipos, Rose City Band (only singles on Spotify, so visit Bandcamp or record store to get the full experience. A wise thing to do with any record on any playlist of course), T. Hardy Morris, Lucy Dacus, Maple Glider, Michael Cormier, Faye Webster, Dawn Riding, Squirrel Flower, Anna Ash (EP), Massage, Hurry, 2nd Grade, The Mountain Goats, JP Harris’ Dreadful Wind & Rain, Cedric Burnside, Spellling, Pom Pom Squad, Katherine Priddy, Jesse Marchant and GoldenOak. Was that everything. God only knows.

The Finns usually dedicate midsummer for getting drunk at a summer cottage, but we did get run of fabulous singles from Bad Sauna, M, Epilä (missed this last week), The Lovematches and Muuan Mies.

Oh and let’s not forget the international, because there’s plenty of gold here. I think my favorite here is Carlene’s first single, because a) it’s wonderful b) I’ve been wanting to hear new music from Carly Maicher for a decade. New singles and album announcements from Anna Tivel and Tre Burt are also really big deal and something that I love wholeheartedly. The latest one from Andrew Bryant is pure gold too and so are the singles by Dolly Valentine, Stranded Horse, Matthew McNeal, Tim Easton, Leah Blevins, Caitlin Jemma and Sierra Ferrell. Again just to name a few. You’ll find them all below.

That’s all for this week. I’m on vacation from the day job for the next two weeks. A large chunk of that will be dedicated to resting and watching football, but I try to do some blog stuff too now that I have the time. At least a few of those round up thingies and maybe some sort of quick mid-year list too. Love from a distance.

1. Flora Hibberd – Archipelago II (Hold, 2021)
2. Carlene – Time Passes (single, 2021)
3. Dana Sipos – A Crude Likeness (The Astral Plane, Roaring Girl Records, 2021)
4. Vincent Neil Emerson – Debtor’s Blues (Vincent Neil Emerson, La Honda Records, 2021)
5. Hiss Golden Messenger – The Great Mystifier (Quietly Blowing It, Merge Records, 2021)
6. Tre Burt – Sweet Misery (single, Oh Boy Records, 2021)
7. Rose City Band – Ramblin’ With the Day (Earth Trip – Thrill Jockey Records, 2021)
8. Dawn Riding – South Missouri (The Light, The Long Road Society, 2021)
9. T. Hardy Morris – Fake Gold (The Digital Age Of Rome, Normaltown Records, 2021)
10. Andrew Bryant – Birmingham (single, Sentimental Noises, 2021)
11. Michael Cormier – I’ll Stay on the Line (More Light! Dear Life Records, 2021)
12. Maple Glider – View From This Side (To Enjoy Is the Only Thing, Partisan Records, 2021)
13. Lucy Dacus – Going Going Gone (Home Video, Matador Records, 2021)
14. Faye Webster – Sometimes (I Know I’m Funny Haha, Secretly Canadian, 2021)
15. Squirrel Flower – To Be Forgotten (Planet(i), Full Time Hobby, 2021)
16. Dolly Valentine – Do It All For You (single, Holy Golden Music, 2021)
17. Anna Tivel – Two Dark Horses (single, Fluff and Gravy Records, 2021)
18. Anna Ash – What the Light Can Do (Fire Season EP, 2021)
19. Stranded Horse – Towards a Waning Glow (single, 2021)
20. Matthew McNeal – Tired of Believing (single, Black Matte Sound Company, 2021)
21. Massage – Michael Is My Girlfriend (Still Life, Bobo Integral, 2021)
22. Hurry – A Fake Idea (Fake Ideas, Lame-O Records, 2021)
23. Dolour – Naive (Origin Story Vol 1, 2021)
24. 2nd Grade – As Long As We Can Talk About It (Wish You Were Here Tour Revisited, Double Double Whammy, 2021)
25. Michael Robert Murphy – Holding On (single, 2021)
26. The Mountain Goats – Dark In Here (Dark In Here, Merge Records, 2021)
27. Bad Sauna – Kaikki kotona (single, All That Plazz, 2021)
28. Epilä – Joutilaat suut (single, 2021)
29. Muuan Mies – Marjukka (single, Helmi Levyt, 2021)
30. M – Sinun omasi (single, Solina Records, 2021)
31. The Lovematches – Losing My Mind (single, 2021)
32. Tim Easton – You Don’t Really Know Me (single, Black Mesa Records, 2021)
33. Leah Blevins – Beautiful Disaster (single, Crabtree Records, 2021)
34. Wild Earp – Livin’ the Life (single, Western Myth Records, 2021)
35. JP Harris’ Dreadful Wind & Rain – Country Blues (Don’t You Marry No Railroad Man, Free Dirt Records, 2021)
36. Sierra Ferrell – In Dreams (single, Rounder Records, 2021)
37. Jason Eady – French Summer Sun (single, Old Guitar Records, 2021)
38. Cedric Burnside – Love You Forever (I Be Trying, Single Lock Records, 2021)
39. Spellling – Always (The Turning Wheel, Sacred Bones Records, 2021)
40. Pom Pom Squad – Forever (Death of a Cheerleader, City Slang, 2021)
41. Mega Bog – Crumb Back (single, Paradise of Bachelors, 2021)
42. Katherine Priddy – The Spring Never Came Back (The Eternal Rocks Beneath, Proper Music, 2021)
43. Emma Russack – Space and Time (single, 2021)
44. Damon & Naomi – Sailing By (single, 2021)
45. Yee & O’Brien – Campaign (single, 2021)
46. Jesse Marchant – Hard To Say the Meaning (Antelope Running, AntiFragile, 2021)
47. GoldenOak – Paradise (Room to Grow, 2021)
48. Low – Days Like These (single, Sub Pop Records, 2021)
49. Joseph M – Kick in the Head (single, Black Matte Sound Company, 2021)
50. Christopher Paul Stelling – Wildfire (single, Tone Tree Music, 2021)
51. Sam Lynch – Good Year – acoustic (single, 2021)
52. Caitlin Jemma – One Little Feeling (single, American Standard Time Records, 2021)
53. Cecilia James – Pretty In Your Eyes (single, Cowgirl Boot Girl Records, 2021)
54. Doug Tuttle – Weak Ends (single, Wild Honey, 2021)
55. Maya Elise – Going Nowhere (single, 2021)
56. Derek Ted – Cascade Spilling (single, 2021)
57. Gregory Ackerman – Full Grown (single, 2021)
58. Emily Duff – Another Goodbye (single, 2021)
59. Rodney Crowell – Triage (single, 2021)
60. Dan Whitaker – One More Story Told (single, Empty Highway, 2021)
61. Flatland Cavalry feat Kaitlin Butts – Life Without You (single, 2021)
62. Billy Strings & Del McCoury – Midnight on the Stormy Deep (single, Rounder Records, 2021)
63. Wayne Graham – Balloons (single, K&F Records, 2021)
64. K.C. Jones – Holding Out On Me (Queen of the In Between, 2021)
65. Joe Bourdet – Seamist 2021 Mix (Meadow Rock, Mountain Sounds Recorders, 2021)

Playlist link

Playlist Archive

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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International music, News

Carlene and Jeremy Ferrara

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This June 25 release date is something else and it might take a day or two to get the new music weekly ready, because there’s so much to love and cherish. One of the key songs on it will be CARLENE’s remarkable new single Time Passes. She is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter and this is the first single from her forthcoming album Looking Out My Window that she has been working on for ten years. It’s a magical folk song and I can’t wait to hear the full album sometime this fall.

Carlene Website
Carlene at Facebook

More recent folk treasures. This time from Portland’s Jeremy Ferrara who made one of my favorite albums of 2020. He already has a new one lined up and and Everything I Hold will be released by American Standard Time Records on the 9th of July. There’s a couple of great singles out there already. I’m especially fond of this beautiful and deeply moving song called Fictional.

Jeremy Ferrara at Facebook
Jeremy Ferrara Website

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International music

Matthew Milia, Libby DeCamp, Evan Cheadle and The Deep Dark Woods

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Another quick round up of musical things that I’ve loved during the recent weeks. First a major release alert from Detroit, Michigan. Like I already mentioned on the new music weekly, there’s a new Matthew Milia album on the horizon. That’s a big deal for me, because I have deep love for both Frontier Ruckus and solo Matthew Milia. He is probably my favorite songwriter of the past decade or so and I can’t wait to make my heart a home for the new album. Keego Harbor will be released on 16th of July, but you can already listen to the wonderful opening track Salad Bars at Bandcamp. Pre-order is up on his website for LP/CD/Photobook and Bandcamp for digital.

Matthew Milia Website
Matthew Milia at Facebook

Staying in Detroit for a great record that is already out and available. I think I first discovered folk singer-songwriter Libby DeCamp thanks to a GemsOnVHS video a few years back and I have been following her since on different platforms. Her debut full-length Westward and Faster came out on the 21st of May and contains exceptional songwriting and various shades of roots music. Such a great record.

Libby DeCamp at Facebook
Libby DeCamp Website

Moving across the border to Canada. Victoria, British Columbia to be more precise. A long time favorite Evan Cheadle released his new timeless beauty Fault Like Serenade on the 11th of June. Here’s one of my personal favorites Ice Water from this enchanting album. I think I actually need Ice Water on multiple levels during this current heatwave.

Evan Cheadle Website
Evan Cheadle at Facebook

Almost too logical next step is to wrap up this little blog entry with a song or two from the magnificent new The Deep Dark Woods album Changing Faces that came out 14th of May on Six Shooter Recordings. After all, Evan Cheadle has played a big part in The Deep Dark Woods during the recent years. The creative force and songwriter extraordinaire of the band is Ryan Boldt who has again created a captivating collection of songs. Here’s one of the standouts with a deeply moving music video and gentle nod to Thompson.

The Deep Dark Woods Website
The Deep Dark Woods at Facebook

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International music

Flora Hibberd, Andrew Bryant, Joe Bourdet and St. Lenox

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Just a quick post of recent songs and music videos that I love madly. One should write essays about the greatness of these instead of just small blurbs, but maybe this is better than nothing. London-born and Paris-based Flora Hibberd has quickly become one of my favorite songwriters in the world. Archipelago was my EP of the year in 2020 and next Friday I’m going to celebrate both the midsummer and the release of her new album Hold. Here’s the wonderful first single Night, Perpetual in form of a lovely music video.

Flora Hibberd at Facebook
Flora Hibberd Website

Andrew Bryant from Mississippi is also one of my favorite songwriters and has an album coming out in a few weeks. A Meaningful Connection will be released on the 9th of July, but we already have a couple of great songs available. My favorite so far is this deeply moving and utterly wonderful song called Reality Winner.

Andrew Bryant at Facebook
Andrew Bryant Website

Next up is a timeless Californian folk rock treasure that is already out and available. Joe Bourdet’s album Meadow Rock has been one of my most anticipated 2021 album releases and it finally saw the light of the day on the 18th of June. Here’s the new music video for album track Lost Along The Way along with another personal favorite from Bandcamp.

Joe Bourdet at Facebook
Joe Bourdet Website

Wrapping this little blog entry with another special album that is already waiting for you at the record store. Ten Songs of Worship and Praise for our Tumultuous Times is the new album by St. Lenox and it came out on Don Giovanni Records on the 11th of June. My favorite song from the album is Arthur is at a Shiva. Albeit a part of the reason why that song stands out for me might be my deep love for the music video of the song. Wonderful song, baking tips and heartfelt commentary subtitles. What’s not to love. Check it out below and then hear/buy the whole thing over at Bandcamp.

St. Lenox at Facebook
St. Lenox Website

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