Shooflypie

This past Friday was a big release day, with 4 new albums that I will probably be listening to over and over again. That means it's probably time to write about what I've been into over the last month-and-a-half or so. Sound good? Phoebe Bridgers/Stranger in the Alps - Before last fall, I hadn't listened to any of Bridgers' music. Sure, I knew of her, but that was it. It wasn't until Boygenius (the group she's in with Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus) that I really heard anything she'd done. Their EP is great, so I thought it was time to expand my horizons and give this one a listen. Better late than never is a cliche for a reason, right? Anyway, the album starts off very strong with "Smoke Signals" and "Motion Sickness." The former is contemplative and moody and lovely with killer lyrics while the latter is more prickly and up-tempo with (again) killer lyrics. It's a strong start to the album. If I had to pick one track to get someon...

I spent a large part of January just listening to one thing after another and not getting into any sort of groove. That changed toward the end of the month (and into the start of this month), when a handful of albums started getting more spins. These are those albums (CLUNG CLUNG): Bonny Doon/Longwave - This album and band have been championed by an fellow listener of the Rockin' the Suburbs podcast, so I decided to check it out. Their sound is all jangle and chime, the pace is almost languid at times, and the lyrics have a lot of repetition. The more you listen, the more is just gets lodged in your head. Take, for instance, the way the guitar solo blossoms out of the steady pace of "A Lotta Things," which is all acoustic guitar to that point. "Saved" reminds me of Pavement, with its loping beat and repeating "Are you a believer or not?," but it has some subtle notes on its way out like the one ringing chord on the guitar that just changes the overal...

It hasn't been that long since the last Heavy Rotation (certainly there have been bigger gaps between editions), but I have a handful of albums I haven't been able to stop listening to over the past six weeks or so. These are their stories... The Black Crowes/Amorica - I was a big fan of The Black Crowes when they appeared on the scene; I had both Shake Your Moneymaker and The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion on CD and played them a ton. So why didn't I get Amorica when it came out? Or any of their records after that? I have no idea. I do know what made me check it out now - a friend I met through the Rockin' the Suburbs podcast shared a song off of it and then a whole Black Crowes playlist. That was enough for me to start listening. Honestly, the first time through I thought it was okay. The second time I thought it sounded good. After the third time, I was all in. Their sound isn't really different on this album - it's still got echoes of the Stones a...

School has started back up and my glorious endless summer days are now ended and gone until next June. Fortunately, this shift in free time hasn't affected my ability to listen to music too much, because I can still listen any time my kids aren't in my room and I'm not in a meeting or making copies or collaborating or what have you. This edition of Heavy Rotation features the albums I listened to over and over again in August and the early part of this month. Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires/Youth Detention - I should have listened to Patrick Foster (one of the co-hosts of the podcast, Rockin' the Suburbs). He touted this album as one of the best of 2017, but it wasn't until the podcast ran an interview with Lee Bains that I gave it a try. Yup, I should have listened. It's a rock album that has 17 songs and 6 of those have exclamation points in the title...and the music matches that enthusiastic punctuation. I love "Whitewash," which starts out a...

It's just under 2 months since the last Heavy Rotation, which might be the shortest gap between them ever. I also have a few others albums I played a handful of times, such as Violent Femmes' self-titled, but not quite enough to include here. A fact worth noting is that half of these I have been listening to via CD; in fact, I've picked up more CDs in the past few months than I have in years. Anyway, here are some words about what I've been spinning (physically or digitally) of late... Buffalo Tom/Quiet and Peace - Last time out I wrote about their album Skins and talked a little about the band and my history with them. Quiet and Peace is their brand-new one and the third since their almost decade long hiatus; as much I like Skins , this one is even better. The opener is "All Be Gone" and it was the first song to be released from the album. I liked it from the start - a charging beat, a soaring melody in the chorus, a tasty guitar solo. It took me a whi...

Last year I only managed two Heavy Rotation posts; it was the same in 2016. This year I hope to get back to 2015 levels, where I put up four. Posting one in early February gets me off to a promising start, at least. The albums I'm writing about here have been keeping me company throughout January (and even late December in many cases)... The Breeders/Title TK - I'll admit it. I really slept on The Breeders. Sure, I loved "Cannonball" just as much as everyone else back in '93, but I didn't investigate any further. Thanks to streaming, however, I've become quite familiar with Last Splash and love it. Still, however, I hadn't ventured much beyond that album. It wasn't until the band announced it was coming back earlier this month that I gave this album I try. All I can say is...man, I really slept on The Breeders. Title TK is actually their follow-up to Last Splash , coming 9 years later. It's also produced by Steve Albini, which is a fact ...

I can't remember the last time I had such a short span between Heavy Rotation posts. I am going to only talk about 4 albums and 1 EP, which might have something to do with it. My listening has been more scattershot and less concentrated than usual, which has a lot to do with this being my first year as a teacher. Still, I've listened to these albums quite a bit in the last 5 or so weeks and I wanted to get down some thoughts on them, especially with the big releases coming up in the next month or so. Stating the obvious here, but boy, do I love music! Middle Kids/Middle Kids EP - I first heard this band on KEXP (side note: I miss summer because I my schedule doesn't allow me to stream John in the Morning right now), specifically the song "Edge of Town." It begins it muted fashion, just some guitar and getting the melody established. It starts expanding as the song goes along, with a simple yet effective guitar solo almost 2 minutes in, then it pulls that great ...

The last Heavy Rotation was way back in September, which is too long. I've definitely had albums that would qualify in the interim, but I'll just focus on the last month or so here. Charly Bliss/Guppy - This album was getting really good reviews, so I decided to check it out. I liked the music on the first listen, but wasn't sure if I could handle the lead singer's very high, sharp voice. On the second listen, I didn't notice the voice so much. On the third listen, I fell in love with it. Power pop always gets me in the end. "Percolator" starts everything off with its nervy guitar and solid bass line. "Westermarck" is more of a shuffle and has a great guitar solo. If you need an entry point, however, "Glitter" is a perfect choice, with a chorus that will sink its hooks deep into your brain. And if that isn't enough, "Ruby" sounds like a lost track from Weezer's Blue Album and it is glorious. Actually, if you like t...

One problem I've had with listening to a majority of music via Spotify is that I don't have a record of what I've been listening to...which sometimes means I forget about music that I really like. I decided to start writing down what I listen to back on July 10, so I have a pretty good idea of the albums I've listened to quite a bit since then. So, here's what I've been into... Big Thief/Masterpiece - I first heard the title track on All Songs Considered and was immediately taken with its rock crunch, jagged guitar solo, and the sweeping voice of lead singer Adrianne Lenkar. I was happy that the rest of the album lived up to the promise of that first song. The opener, "Little Arrow," is bare bones, just an acoustic guitar and Lenkar's voice; it feels like a field recording, with some slight distortion or maybe a blown speaker effect. It's an affecting little tune and makes the guitar and drums opening of "Masterpiece" that much mor...

Here's what I've been mostly listening to for the last month or so... Foo Fighters/Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace and Sonic Highways - The Foos were featured in my last Heavy Rotation way back in October and I suggested then that they would appear in future editions. Obviously, I was right. My Foo resurgence continued with the TV version of Sonic Highways , which I got for Christmas, and watching those episodes did not make me sick of the songs. In fact, I only wanted to listen to them more, especially opener "Something From Nothing," which is played in every episode. The song is Foo Fighters in a nutshell - quiet opening, pounding drums, power chords, a solid melody, a guitar solo, and lyrics that might not make total sense but sound good when you're singing along. That combination totally works for me right now and Sonic Highways delivers in spades - from the snarl of "The Feast and the Famine" (track #2) to the epic sweep of "I Am A Riv...

The second half of September saw these five albums get a lot of play... Destroyer/Poison Season - The album opens with strings and a tinkling piano on the first of three times we hear the song "Times Square" (this one adds "Poison Season I" to the title; the last of the three adds "Poison Season II" and the middle one adds nothing) and it reminds me a little of "Pure Imagination." It's over in 2:33 and gives way to a blast of sax and pounding drums. Really, "Dream Lover" comes on like Springsteen and the E Street Band. Unsurprisingly, I like it a lot. Speaking of Springsteen, there is a song here called "The River." It's sultry and slinky and has some great horns. The middle "Times Square"is built around an acoustic guitar, piano, drums, bongo, and a sax and it bounces along perfectly. "Archer on the Beach" brings back the slink with a groovy bassline and drums offset by a squalling guitar before...

HEAVY ROTATION #26 I've been meaning to get to a Heavy Rotation for a couple weeks now and just haven't managed it. I'm a little past the prime period I listened to these albums, which was probably mid-July to mid-August, but I did play them quite a bit during that time and wanted to talk about them. Jason Isbell/Something More Than Free - I was very excited for this album to come out. For starters, Isbell's previous album, Southeastern , was one of my favorite albums of 2013 (maybe even #1?). Secondly, the two songs that came out before the album's release, "24 Frames" and the title track, were great. Finally, all the early reviews were extremely positive. The good news is that I was not disappointed in the least; in fact, this album will probably make my top ten for the year. Take "24 Frames," for instance: "You thought God was an architect, now you know/He's something like a pipe bomb ready to blow/And everything you built that...