Another week, another new music weekly.

Sorry for the small delay. I’ve been suffering with small flu symptoms for the past few days. Had a covid test too, which was negative. So just an ordinary one. At least this time around. I still suspect that I might have had it back in March, because I was sick for eight weeks with what was by far the weirdest sickness of my life. And even after the so-called “recovery”, I’ve felt like absolute horseshit all year long with freaky symptoms that come and go. Since mid-March my year has been a total nightmare with awful night sweats, chest pains, headaches, tachycardia and what not. There’s no way to tell what I really had in the spring, because you couldn’t get a test early on. But whatever the hell it was, I never fully recovered from it. That’s kind of why there has only been this weekly post on the blog and why I’ve been horrible at answering to your emails and messages. I just haven’t had enough energy to do much more than just trying get through each day. So sorry about the lack of updates and horrible correspondence. But enough with the personal mumbo jumbo. Here’s a very quick run of this week’s new releases.

I’ve spent most time this weekend with Terra Spencer’s beautiful new album. It has been the remedy for my flu-ish mind. Other big things this week for me are the new album from Trevor Beld Jimenez and the EPs from Gianna Lauren and Molly Parden. The week also gave us new great albums from Gwenifer Raymond, Spencer Cullum, The Flat Five, Wayne Graham, Charlie Kaplan, Chris Stapleton and Gillian Welch (rarities comp) plus EPs from Brittain Ashford & Matt Bauer and Lambchop. Oh yeah and there’s a new album from The Parson Red Heads at least in the US. I think there might be a later Euro release, because it’s not available on Spotify over here.

In Finland, we have more home recordings from Veli. What a sweet EP. There’s also new albums from Maustetytöt and KO:MI plus singles from Nightbird, Gim Kordon, EPILÄ and Johannes Faustus.

And finally international singles. There’s a new single from Teenage Fanclub. A kind of big deal for me, because The Posies, Teenage Fanclub and The Sugarrush are my all-time favorite bands. There’s also the final single from the John Calvin Abney album that’s due out next week, Lucero cover from Heather Valley, new beautiful ones from Pony Bradshaw, LadyCouch, Small Houses and so forth.

That’s it for this week. Back to bed. Love from a distance.

1. Terra Spencer feat Bela String Quartet – In the City (Chasing Rabbits, 2020)
2. Gianna Lauren – Whoa (Vanity Metrics EP, Forward Music Group, 2020)
3. Molly Parden – Feel Alive Again (Rosemary EP, Tone Tree Music, 2020)
4. Trevor Beld Jimenez – Comeback Kid (I Like It Here, Curation Records, 2020)
5. Teenage Fanclub – Home (single, PeMa, 2020)
6. John Calvin Abney – Showing Up Late (single, Black Mesa Records, 2020)
7. Pony Bradshaw – Calico Jim (single, Black Mountain Music, 2020)
8. Nightbird – Spring (single, Ella Ruth Institutet, 2020)
9. Heather Valley – The Last Song (single, 2020)
10. Gwenifer Raymond – Worn Out Blues (Strange Lights Over Garth Mountain, Tompkins Square, 2020)
11. Jason Sinkhorn – My Last Folk Song (single, 2020)
12. Brittain Ashford & Matt Bauer – Night In Saguaro (Day Inside a Night EP, Commodore Trotter, 2020)
13. Spencer Cullum – Imminent Shadow (Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection, yk Records, 2020)
14. Small Houses – Since Always (Scratch Tracks #1, 2020)
15. Wayne Graham – Infinitude (1% Juice, Celebration Records, 2020)
16. LadyCouch – Good God (single, Cafe Rooster Records, 2020)
17. Pearl Charles – Imposter (single, Kanine Records, 2020)
18. The Flat Five – I Don’t Even Care (Another World, Pravda Records, 2020)
19. Veli – Breedersin Pod (Kotiäänityksiä II, Evil Veli Recordings, 2020)
20. EPILÄ– Liimaukset irtoo (single, Kyydisk, 2020)
21. Gim Kordon – Betoni kukkii (single, All That Plazz, 2020)
22. Maustetytöt – Äiti älä huoli (Eivät enkelitkään ilman siipiä lennä, Is This Art! 2020)
23. KO:MI – Liquid Walls (We Said We Didn’t Know but We Knew, Soliti, 2020)
24. Charlie Kaplan – In California (Sunday, 2020)
25. The Duke of Norfolk – December / Willow in the Sun (single, Bramar Records, 2020)
26. Slowforce – Walls (single, 2020)
27. Chris Stapleton – When I’m With You (Starting Over, UMG, 2020)
28. Kelsey Waldon – Sam Stone (single, Oh Boy Records, 2020)
29. Gillian Welch – City Girl (Boot No.2: The Lost Songs Vol.3, Acony Records, 2020)
30. Ottoman Turks – 35 to Life (single, State Fair Records, 2020)
31. The Feels – She’s Probably Not Thinkin’ Of Me (single, 2020)
32. Randolph’s Leap – Up in Smoke (single, Fika Recordings, 2020)
33. Corvair – Sunday Runner (single, Wiaiwya, 2020)
34. The Real Numbers – Brighter Then (single, Meritorio Records, 2020)
35. Johannes Faustus – Valo (single, 2020)
36. Badge Epogue Ensemble feat Jennifer Castle – Just Space for Light (single, Telephone Explosion Records, 2020)
37. Leif Vollebekk – Long Blue Light (single, Secret City Records, 2020)
38. Graeme Kennedy – Revival In Lincoln (single, 2020)
39. Chris Acker – Someday Lovers (Good Kid, 2020)
40. Lambchop – Weather Blues (TRIP EP, City Slang, 2020)

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.

Another week, another new music weekly.

A really slow release week probably because of the US election. Grateful that it turned out well and we can breathe a bit more easily after this result. Love speaks louder still like VanWyck sings on the Ballad of the Quiet Citizen. Of course following the election also took all my time and attention, so it’s a big possibility that I also missed some releases entirely. Anyway, here’s the short release round up and playlist of the week.

There’s new albums from Kristofer Åström, David James Allen, Andrew Collberg, Herman Dune, Donovan Woods and Honey Made. I also featured the Chris Acker album for the first time. I stumbled upon A Song Catcher’s video of Orion’s Gut a few weeks ago and been listening to it ever since and finally bought it on Friday on Bandcamp day. It came out early in the year, so I’m really late to this one. Thankfully music is relevant whenever it hits your heart. Sometimes it may seem like a life span of an album is like two weeks around the release date and new music blogs such as this might even contribute to this feeling. It’s load of rubbish though. It doesn’t matter if the music was released in 1935 or tomorrow, if it hits your soul today. That Normal Heights EP is also some weeks old. Here’s the full list of album/EP releases that were on my radar this week:

Chris Acker – Good Kid (March release, first time on the new music weekly and playlist)
Kristofer Åström – Hard Times (Startracks)
David James Allen – Radiations (Garment District Records)
Andrew Collberg – 1986 (Papercup Records)
Herman Dune – Notes from Vinegar Hill
Donovan Woods – Without People
Normal Heights – The Trees EP (OCT 20 release)
Honey Made – Brand New

Outside of the streaming world there’s bunch of good ones too.

Daniel Romano – White Flag (Another 2020 album from Daniel Romano. If I get lazy with the year-end lists, I can make a great top10 AOTY list just by using Daniel Romano albums.)
No. 1 Knife – Mr. Nickelsworth (Cafe Rooster Records) (New band by Brian Wright and Sally Jaye)
Matthew ‘Doc’ Dunn – Rain, Rain, Rain (OCT 26 release from Canadian cosmic cowboy, I just bought it myself)
Fred Thomas – Another Song About Riding the Bus (Selected Songs 2002​-​2020) (Antiquated Future Records) (This is the one that I meant to mention a week ago, a rarities comp from the great Fred Thomas)

The Finnish section is pretty small. Only revisiting the gorgeous Message Field album from the past week and adding the new Mauri Dark single to the playlist. Helmi Levyt also released a beautiful album by A O I D E, which is not yet on the streaming services.

And finally the international singles. The playlist starts with a protest song by Chris Pierce. I know him from War & Pierce, but this solo stuff is also very powerful. There’s an album coming out in 2021. Chris Velan’s first song in French sounds gorgeous even though I don’t have any idea what he is singing about. Black trans artist Apollo Flowerchild also released a wonderful single as did Terra Spencer, Adam Lee, Ordinary Elephant and Pickering Pick. I also featured Emma Swift’s fabulous song from the 19th of October. I missed it at the time, because even the thought of looking for her songs on Spotify didn’t occur to me, but looks like she has made an exception with a single. Oh and as for Spotify, what garbage news they again presented us this week with the lower promotional royalty rate. You need to pay more, not less. I’m starting to feel ashamed doing this weekly round up that revolves around a Spotify playlist.

That’s it for this week. Love from a distance.

1. Chris Pierce American Silence (single, Pierce Records, 2020)
2. Chris Acker – Orion’s Gut (Good Kid, 2020)
3. Chris Velan – Ma baleine (single, 2020)
4. Kristofer Åström – Another Love (Hard Times, Startracks, 2020)
5. David James Allen – Birthday Cake (Radiations, Garment District Records, 2020)
6. Apollo Flowerchild – Bloody Hands (single, Trans Trenderz, 2020)
7. Andrew Collberg – Magnolia (1986, Papercup Records, 2020)
8. Terra Spencer – Saigon (single, 2020)
9. Tanya Tucker – Pack Your Lies and Go (single, Fantasy Records, 2020)
10. Herman Dune – Heartbroken & Free (Notes from Vinegar Hill, 2020)
11. Pickering Pick – On the Edge of the Light (single, 2020)
12. Kacy & Clayton and Marlon Williams – Isn’t It (single, New West Records, 2020)
13. Trevor Beld Jimenez – Moment (single, Curation Records, 2020)
14. Frankie Lee – Bad Love (single, 2020)
15. Ordinary Elephant – Let Me Tell You What I Think (single, Berkalin Records, 2020)
16. Emma Swift – The Soft Apocalypse (single, Tiny Ghost Records, 2020)
17. Adam Lee – I Am a Coward (single, 2020)
18. Mauri Dark – Dreams of a Middle-Aged Man (single, 2020)
19. Christian Kjellvander – Trouble (About Love and Loving Again, Tapete Records, 2020)
20. CJ Stranger – Hey Stranger (single, 2020)
21. Melissa Erin – Golden (single, 2020)
22. Donovan Woods feat Katie Pruitt – She Waits For Me To Come Back Down (Without People, Meant Well, 2020)
23. I Am Oak – Furrows (single, Snowstar Records, 2020)
24. Normal Heights – Remember Who Came (The Trees EP, 2020)
25. Honey Made feat Tamara Mack – Be True (Brand New, 2020)
26. Daniel Markham – Glamourous Like Godessess (Burnout, 2020)
27. Austin Lucas – Cry Over (Alive in the Hot Zone, Sabotage Records / Cornelius Chapel Records, 2020)
28. Ian Daniel Kehoe – Sci Fi Lover (Rock and Roll Illusion, Tin Angel Records, 2020)
29. Floating Room – Dancer (Tired and True EP, 2020)
30. Sam Burton – Why Should You Take Me There (I Can Go With You, Tompkins Square, 2020)
31. VanWyck – I Wish You Well (God Is on a Detour, Maiden Name Records, 2020)
32. McCarthy Trenching – Winter Solstice, Post Office (Perfect Game, 2020)
33. Message Field – 135 (A Brief Visit to Skull, Soit Se Silti, 2020)
34. Selah Broderick – Rainy Day (Anam, Western Vinyl, 2020)
35. C.A. Jones – Aquarius Moon (The Velvet Hour, 2020)

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.

Another week, another new music weekly.

A bit less crowded release week, but still plenty to love and cherish. New Austin Lucas and Daniel Markham albums are always a big deal. I’ve been a fan for a long time. Ian Daniel Kehoe falls into same long time favorite category, but that wasn’t as big for me this week because I bought Rock & Roll Illusion when he released a trio of albums on Bandcamp a while back. But yeah, the first one is now streaming and the other two are also on their way. Check them out, if you missed them before. Sam Burton album is an absolute beauty. Loved the singles and it’s great to finally hear the album too. VanWyck has a fabulous new album as well. I’ve shared the advance singles on the earlier episodes and included one of my all-time favorite VanWyck songs on this new one. That gorgeous McCarthy Trenching album I mentioned a week ago is now also streaming. And on the EP front, that Floating Room EP is here now and it’s awesome. There’s also many other lovely things like albums from Selah Broderick, Jim White, Christian Kjellvander, Joel Henry Little, Eels and so forth. Here’s the full list of albums/EPs that were on my radar this week.

Austin Lucas – Alive in the Hot Zone (Sabotage Records / Cornelius Chapel Records)
Daniel Markham – Burnout
Sam Burton – I Can Go With You (Tompkins Square)
VanWyck – God Is in the Detour (Maiden Name Records)
McCarthy Trenching – Perfect Game -this was OCT 23 Release, but wasn’t streaming before
Ian Daniel Kehoe – Rock and Roll Illusion (Tin Angel Records) -AUG 6 release on Bandcamp, now streaming
Floating Room – Tired and True EP
Selah Broderick – Anam (Western Vinyl)
Jim White – Misfit’s Jubilee (Loose Music / Fluff and Gravy Records)
Christian Kjellvander – About Love and Loving Again (Tapete Records)
C.A. Jones – The Velvet Hour
Eels – Earth to Dora (PIAS)
Joel Henry Little – Little Songs (Gare du Nord Records)
Betsy Phillips – Tell Me I’m a Tree EP (Tone Tree Music)
Sam Morrow – Gettin’ by on Gettin’ Down (Forty Below Records)
Sinai Vessel – Ground Aswin (Single Occupancy)
Alayne May – Home Is Coming EP

And from outside the streaming world (at least for now), there’s at least a debut release from American Standard Time Records. It’s an album by wino-strut & Friends. Check it out on Bandcamp. There was something else that I should mention here, but for some reason I just can’t remember it right now. I’ll add it later, if my brain starts to function.

Next to the Finland part of this thing-y. The big one is a new album release from Message Field. Other Finnish cuts on the list are great new singles from Suad, Sammal, Treemer, (proto)Torvinen and Tahtoisin kertoa sinulle tarinan.

I made an exception this time and featured Greta Morgan’s single again. It was a last minute addition last week and I really fell in love with the song during the week. So I wanted to give it another push and this time bit higher on the list. The big new single of the week comes from Johanna Samuels. She also joins the Mama Bird family with this single. Izaak Opatz from the same family brings some cover magic to the table and some of my other faves came from Aaron Lee Tasjan, Robert Chaney, Bart and Bailey Bigger. All others deserve a mention too. Like that Greta Morgan single showed, some last minute additions at the latter part of the playlist might become my biggest favorites. Oh yeah, and Michael Penn surprised us with a wonderful new single. That’s not on Spotify, so you won’t find it from the playlist.

That’s it for this week. Love from a distance.

1. Austin Lucas – American Pyre (Alive in the Hot Zone, Sabotage Records, 2020)
2. Daniel Markham – Devils (Burnout, 2020)
3. Sam Burton – She Says That She Knows (I Can Go With You, Tompkins Square, 2020)
4. VanWyck – Ballad of the Quiet Citizen (God Is in the Detour, Maiden Name Records, 2020)
5. McCarthy Trenching – Asking for a Friend (Perfect Game, 2020)
6. Ian Daniel Kehoe – Rock & Roll Illusion (Rock and Roll Illusion, Tin Angel Records, 2020)
7. Floating Room – Freak Show (Tired and True EP, 2020)
8. Aaron Lee Tasjan – Up All Night (single, New West Records, 2020)
9. Izaak Opatz – Goin’ Through the Big D (single, Mama Bird Recording Co, 2020)
10. Johanna Samuels – High Tide for One (single, Mama Bird Recording Co, 2020)
11. Greta Morgan – When the Sun Comes Up (single, 2020)
12. Selah Broderick – Green Eyes (Anam, Western Vinyl, 2020)
13. Message Field – Numbers (A Brief Visit to Skull, Soit Se Silti, 2020)
14. Jim White – The Mystery of You (Misfit’s Jubilee, Loose Music / Fluff and Gravy Records, 2020)
15. Christian Kjellvander – Actually Country Gentle (About Love and Loving Again, Tapete Records, 2020)
16. C.A. Jones – In the Blue Room Hotel (The Velvet Hour, 2020)
17. Robert Chaney – Whatshisname (single, 2020)
18. Eels – Gentle Souls (Earth to Dora, PIAS, 2020)
19. Bart – Song For Manny (single, Idee Fixe Records, 2020)
20. Joel Henry Little – Catherine (Little Songs, Gare du Nord Records, 2020)
21. Cayley Thomas – Do It All With You (single, 2020)
22. Bailey Bigger Weight of Independence (single, Big Legal Mess Records, 2020)
23. Betsy Phillips – I Must’ve Missed that Part (Tell Me I’m a Tree EP, Tone Tree Music, 2020)
24. Gianna Lauren – Closed Chapter (single, Forward Music Group, 2020)
25. Suad – Sleep the Nights (single, Svart Records, 2020)
26. Knife in the Water – Tears Won’t Make the Cotton Grow (single, Keeled Scales, 2020)
27. Sammal – Returning Rivers (single, Svart Records, 2020)
28. The Huntress and Holders of Hands – Doctrine (single, 2020)
29. Sam Morrow – Sit Crooked, Talk Straight (Gettin’ by on Gettin’ Down, Forty Below Records, 2020)
30. Frank Turner and Jon Snodgrass – The Fleas (single, Xtra Mile Recordings, 2020)
31. Typhoon – Welcome to the Endgame (single, Roll Call Records, 2020)
32. Ailsa Tully – Drive (single, Dalliance Recordings, 2020)
33. Rose Hotel – Drive Alone (single, Cold Lunch Recordings, 2020)
34. Sinai Vessel – A Must While So Near (Ground Aswin, Single Occupancy, 2020)
35. Treemer – Weapons (single, Soft Monsters, 2020)
36. The Boys With the Perpetual Nervousness – Play (On My Mind) (single, Bobo Integral, 2020)
37. Matthew Sweet – At A Loss (single, Omnivore Recordings, 2020)
38. (proto)Torvinen – Sipsejä ja kokista (single, Humu Records, 2020)
39. Jess Locke – Destroy Everything (single, Dot Dash Recordings, 2020)
40. Jesse Malin – Ameri’Ka (single, Wicked Cool Records, 2020)
41. Nathaniel Rateliff feat Kevin Morby – There Is a War (single, Stax Records, 2020)
42. Kelsey Waldon feat Adia Victoria and Kyshona Armstrong – Mississippi Goddam (single, Oh Boy Records, 2002)
43. Katie Pruitt – Ohio (single, Rounder Records, 2020)
44. Helado Negro feat Flock of Dimes – Lotta Love (single, 4AD, 2020)
45. Tahtoisin kertoa sinulle tarinan – Miten ihminen voi olla niin yksin (single, 2020)
46. This Frontier Needs Heroes – South Dakota (single, 2020)
47. Gillian Welch – Peace in the Valley (single, Acony Records, 2020)
48. Alayne May – Watercolor Pines (Home Is Coming EP, 2020)
49. Joe Kaplow – Little Sleep (single, 2020)
50. Felix Hatfield – Lucky to be a Sad Man (False God, 2020)
51. Sierra Ferrell – Why’d Ya Do It (single, Rounder Records, 2020)
52. Rachel Brooke – The Awful Parts of Me (The Lonelines In Me, 2020)
53. Becky Warren – Birmingham (The Sick Season, 2020)
54. Stephanie Lambring – Save Me Tonight (Autonomy, Tone Tree Music, 2020)
55. Sam Moss – Sunday People (Shapes, Lost Honey Records, 2020)
56. Laura Veirs – Vapor Trails (My Echo, Bella Union, 2020)

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.