Playlist #269

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Happy Monday, folks! It’s officially summer (both in that the summer solstice occurred yesterday and I’m finally no longer in school), and that means most teachers are sitting curled up in a ball dissociating for a few days before they jump into whatever summer job they’re doing. I’m working at a summer camp that’s running out of Michelle’s school (though there is no official connection between the two other than the camp is using the Sycamore School’s location to host the camp). All that being said, here’s a playlist to set the mood.

  1. Roosevelt, “Everywhere”: It’s a Fleetwood Mac cover! That really doesn’t do anything all that different than the original. Which always makes me wonder, why cover a song if you’re not going to do anything different with it?
  2. Modest Mouse, “Missing The Boat”: That drum machine beat that kicks the song off always gets to me for some reason. I just really dig it.
  3. Margaret Glaspy, “Jesus, Etc.”: I’ve been compiling a list of songs I want played at my funeral, and this one currently tops that list. Ir’a just so forlorn and heartbroken that it fits perfectly for something like a funeral.
  4. The Mountain Goats, “Up The Wolves”: I like The Sunset Tree. As a transition between the boombox era of the band the fleshed out, full band that appears on Tallahassee and later records, it’s a neat look at how John Darnielle came to grips with working directly with other musicians. Also, it’s just a great song.
  5. The Avett Brothers, “Die Die Die”: Emotionalism remains my favorite Avett Brothers album, and songs like this one – with the harmonies and the stomping rhythm – help exemplify why.
  6. B.B. King, “The Thrill Is Gone”: You can’t beat the king of the blues, and this is hands-down his best song. I still marvel at the idea of adding strings to a blues song. It’s great.
  7. Bruce Springsteen, “Reason To Believe (Electric Nebraska)”: The electric Nebraska demos sound exactly what you think Nebraska would sound like if all the songs were played with bass and drums added in. That said, this song still hits right if you ask me. The rhythm section gives it some muscle and some menace.
  8. Genesis, “Man On The Corner”: I know Phil Collins Genesis is often dismissed as pop pablum, especially when you get to Invisible Touch, but I always really dug the stuff they did when he was the leader of the band. And this song shows that he could ask some big questions about the nature of society and how we treat one another. Also, it’s got a good hook.
  9. HAIM, “Now It’s Time”: Why not take a U2 Pop song (specifically, “Numb”) and reuse it to do something completely different?
  10. The Lemonheads, “Take It Easy”: Another cover to round things out. Again, doesn’t really do much of anything all that different from the original version, though at least Evan Dando’s voice is different enough from Glen Frey’s that it’s got that going for it.

Playlist #268

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Happy Monday, folks! The end of the school year is finally nigh; Wednesday is the last day of classes here in Northern Virginia, and it couldn’t have come any sooner. Of course, summer job starts next week, but it should be fun and fulfilling. Anyway, here’s a list of songs to get us through this partial week of classes and on into the sunny summer days.

  1. The Beach Boys, “All Summer Long”: Is there any band more connected with summer than the Beach Boys? I don’t think so. Every one of their songs just cries out “summer!” to me. And this is a pretty darn good summer song to me.
  2. Michigander, “Better”: I always like how full of hope this guy’s songs are. He fully acknowledges that life is often difficult at best and godawful at worst, but things can improve. Things can get better. And I think we all need to hear that sometimes.
  3. Marshall Tucker Band, “Fire On The Mountain”: There’s something about songs like this – deep-fried southern country rock with a hint of gothic undertones – that just tickles a particular need I have.
  4. Death Cab For Cutie, “The Flavor of Metal”: If you told me that I’d be listening to (and enjoying!) a new Death Cab For Cutie album in the Year of Our Lord 2026, I’d think you were smokin’ crack. But here we are.
  5. Harlem Shakes, “Strictly Game”: This is an upbeat, tap your toes and scream along to the chorus sort of song, perfect for that Monday morning pick-me-up.
  6. The Pretenders, “Middle Of The Road”: Chrissy Hinde remains one of the best rock vocalists in the biz. I will not be taking questions on this at this time.
  7. George Harrison, “Don’t Let Me Wait Too Long”: I feel like Wednesday afternoon may never arrive. George Harrison gets it.
  8. Lucero, “On My Way Downtown”: I don’t know that, in my entire life, I have ever really made my way downtown for much of any reason. I tend to avoid the downtown areas of most cities unless it can’t be avoided. I certainly don’t go looking for bars downtown.
  9. Pearl Jam, “World Wide Suicide”: It’s just a sonic slap to the face, just the thing to wake you up and get you fired up on a Monday morning.
  10. The Ventures, “Pipeline”: Who doesn’t love instrumental surfer music? I’ll always dig the amount of reverb they’re able to plaster over everything; I aspire to that level of drenched reverby goodness.

Playlist #267

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Happy Monday, folks! We’re well into June now, and school continues for…reasons? I’m not really sure anymore. But I’m getting stuff done and prepped for next year, so that’s good. Anyway, some coworkers and I are going to get together this week and next to play some music! Here’s our setlist.

  1. Santo & Johnny, “Sleepwalk”: It’s an instrumental that you’d probably recognize if you heard it. One of the guys I’m playing with plays pedal steel guitar, which makes this a perfect song for us.
  2. Iron & Wine and Calexico, “History of Lovers”: Some of these songs are ones I’ll sing, like this one. I tried to choose songs that were (A) easy to play and (B) could or did feature pedal steel in them already. This one fits both criteria! And it’s fun.
  3. Wilco, “Jesus, Etc.”: Another of my choices. I wanted a Wilco song, and had it narrowed down between this one and “California Stars.” Kinda tempted to ask if we can change it to “California Stars” now, though, ’cause it’s such a fun song.
  4. Bruce Springsteen, “Stolen Car”: Dunno how all my choices got shoved into the beginning of the set, but that’s okay (it’s probably just down to the way I searched them up on my phone when putting together the playlist). This one falls under the “easy to play” side of things, since it’s just a two-chord song (just G and C. Now you can figure out how to play it yourself. This is educational).
  5. The Eagles, “Take It Easy”: Not one of my picks, surprisingly enough, though one that I am clearly well aware of and already know how to play. I’ll do some backing vocals on it, though, although I’m not sure I can get as high as the “eaaasy” as I ought to. We’ll have to see.
  6. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, “Built To Last”: For some reason, my brain always thinks of this as “latter-day Tom Petty,” but it’s from the first half of his career. The ’90s was also only six years ago, as far as my brain is concerned, so ignore that. It’s another easy one to play, and I love playing it.
  7. Hank Williams, “Hey, Good Lookin'”: The last of my suggestions. If you’re looking for a good pedal steel song, you can’t go wrong with Hank.
  8. Creedence Clearwater Revival, “Lodi”: My only challenge with this song is going to be hitting that key change for the last verse. I’ve never been able to pull off the key change. I’m gonna have to practice.
  9. Eric Clapton, “Lay Down Sally”: Another super-easy one to play, and it’s a lot of fun.
  10. The Band, “The Weight”: The biggest challenge with this one is going to be hitting those backing vocals and not sounding like a wounded cat.

Playlist #266

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Happy Monday, folks! I’m glad we’ve finally seen the back of May; that month had it out for me, I swear. But now it’s June, and the end of the school year beckons. Here’s a playlist to start your week.

  1. Paul McCartney, “Lost Horizon”: McCartney released a new album last week. It’s pretty good. It’s a McCartney album, which I feel like is a known quantity at this point in his career. His voice is still in fine form, even if there’s the occasional warble to it, and the man still crafts beautiful melodies like most people craft bowel movements.
  2. SUSS, “Sunset IV”: These guys do “cosmic Americana,” which is ambient music with pedal steel. This particular collection, Counting Sunsets, gets the closest they’ve actually been to composing what I’d think of as songs, but it’s all very pleasant music to listen to while you do your laundry on a rainy Sunday.
  3. nep, “A Big Brown Dog Named Bagel”: a musician I discovered via Facebook last week. Her first album, which this song is from, is mostly acoustic singer-songwriter fare, while her more recent album (last year’s Noelle) incorporates more modern styles and sounds. Both are pretty good, though, and this particular song is great.
  4. Billy Bragg & Wilco, “California Stars”: Could Mermaid Avenue be done nowadays? Could you get an anti-folk folkie like Billy Bragg and alt-country darlings like Wilco together, throw a bunch of Woody Guthrie lyrics at them, and get a masterpiece like this? I’m not sure you could, but I’m glad we did.
  5. Grateful Dead, “Touch of Grey”: It’s very difficult to ever actually say exactly what a Grateful Dead song is about (other than psychedelic drugs and overlong guitar solos), but I’m pretty sure this one is about trying to age gracefully, even when you fall on your ass or you, like, drop trou in front of your fiancée’s parents. I could be wrong, though, and this one could just still be about drugs.
  6. Mike Doughty, “Grey Ghost”: I just love the rhythm and feel of this song. It’s great.
  7. Drive-By Truckers, “Everybody Needs Love”: Is this contemporary southern rock’s answer to the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love”? Maybe. Is it a great song? Definitely.
  8. The National, “Bitters & Absolut”: Who doesn’t love a song about being an alcoholic?
  9. Bahamas, “Lost in the Light”: A lazy, laconic guitar riff helps this song lope along to those beautiful harmonies in the chorus.
  10. Camera Obscura, “If Looks Could Kill”: I love how bouncy and jangly the guitar part is in this song, and the vocals are just perfect. No notes.

Playlist #265

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Happy Tuesday, folks. I’ve got the first three days of this week off for various holidays and teacher work days, so I’ve spent the time relaxing and not thinking about what I have to do when I get back to work on Thursday. Here’s a playlist.

  1. The Gray Charlies, “Burnt Offering”: My brother released his full EP last Friday, and I think you should listen to the whole thing, but especially this song. And not just because this is the one that I wrote the words and music for. No, because the way the singer digs into it just hits right, and the strings are absolutely gorgeous.
  2. Rostam, “Like a Spark”: This is just Van Morrison’s “Astral Weeks,” right? Like, I’m not complaining, but this is just “Astral Weeks” with different words.
  3. The Pauls Band, “Penguin Parade”: A buddy of mine from work released a second single last week, and it’s pretty darn good.
  4. Shakey Graves, “Time Flies”: A lo-fi slab of acoustic-based alternative folk, which is a string of words that either immediately made you make a vomit emoji face or light up like a Christmas tree.
  5. The National, “The System Only Dreams In Total Darkness”: Aside from being the only National song I can think of with an actual guitar solo in it, the title is unnecessarily long and I kinda love it for that.
  6. Antony with Bryce Dessner, “I Was Young When I Left Home”: A Dylan cover? On one of my playlists? It’s more likely than you’d think!
  7. Hurray for the Riff Raff, “Pa’lante”: Apparently a word in Spanish that means “foward” or “keep going.” A nice little reminder that as hard as things get, as ridiculous as the world around us seems, we have to keep trying not to fuck it up too much and just move forward each time we do.
  8. Van Morrison, “Madame George”: Is it a song about a drag queen? Or about his own mother? Even Van doesn’t know. But it’s beautiful.
  9. Tom Petty. “The Apartment Song (Demo)”: I always preferred the demo version of this song, since the lyrics are a little different in the second chorus (instead of just repeating the chorus, he adds in some new words in the second run through and it just really fits and I’m sad it didn’t make it into the final version). Plus, I’m pretty sure that’s Stevie Nicks singing backing vocals on it.
  10. Daniel and the Lion, “No Ghost”: This slice of pop perfection is all Clyde’s fault. He’s the only reason I even know who this band is.

Yesterday’s Bright Frontiers Album Notes

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Now that the album has been out for a week or so, I thought I’d give some insight into the songs and the production of this particular album. This particular album was the most difficult one to make so far; I spent most of last summer just not recording anything, and then when I started actually writing and recording songs again, it was damned difficult to get recordings I was happy with. All that aside, let’s go song by song and see what there is to see.

“Teapot Apocalypse”: A simple song, and one that I got recorded fairly quick. I do love the chord progression for this one, and the idea of the teapot apocalypse is one I’ve played with before (in a Kraken Vacuum song called “Release the Kraken!”).

“That Human Touch”: I recorded two versions of this song accidentally. The first version was too rough and I didn’t care for the guitar tones I came up with. I didn’t intend to re-record it, but I’d forgotten I’d done the first version and sat down and did a significantly better take the second time around. My brother added the synth horns in post-production, and I rather enjoy them, goofy as they may be.

“Honest Misery (Acoustic)”: The first of two all-acoustic songs on the record, both of which have fuller versions as well. Why did I do that? I dunno, it seemed like a good idea at the time. This was always a very simple song, and I still really like this version of it. I’m not 100% sold on the idea that the “full band” version really adds all that much, but you can be the judge.

“¡Tierra Del Fuego!”: This song started out as an instrumental many, many years ago. I finally put some lyrics to the song late last year, and it’s a fun song to play. I am rather sad that the choral “aaahs” that I originally put in it didn’t make it into the final mix.

“To the Ones Who Go Before (Elegy)”: This is the song that broke me. I wrote it last April after my uncle suddenly passed away. He was the great musician in the family, the guy who was in a half dozen bands and could play the hell out of the guitar. We turned to him for advice and feedback and the occasional guitar solo (he played the solo on my song “This Town Ain’t Big Enough” back on that first EP). I tried no fewer than three times to record this song, and gave up on all but the last version. Things just…didn’t click. The vocals weren’t right, or the guitar wasn’t right, or something felt wrong. I finally managed to get a good version put together late last year, and the final piece was hiring a guy off of SoundBetter (a website for professional musicians and musician-adjacent folks) to play the saxophone solo over the end of the song. I’m still waiting for my dad to record vocals for the second verse so I can release another version of the song featuring family members. We’ll see when or if that happens.

“Flicker and Spark”: I don’t generally write traditional love songs. It’s just not in my wheelhouse. But this one turned out alright, I think. I’m particularly proud of the little guitar riff at the end, simple as it may be.

“Honest Misery (Dishonest Version)”: Here’s the “full band” version of the song. I had some weirder guitar parts in there, but Clyde took them out. It’s probably for the best. Again, I’m still not really sure this version particularly adds anything that the original acoustic version was really lacking, but it’s still not bad.

“Here’s To Dyin'”: I wanted to write a John Prine song. Did I accomplish that? Probably not. Would it make him proud? I like to think so.

“The Last of the True Believers”: A song written entirely for the piano. This one took a couple of different attempts to get right, what with the change of pace between the verse and the chorus. I’m really proud of the guitar work in this one, even if there’s no acoustic guitar in this song (which is weird for me).

“When I Say Your Name, Only Silence Answers”: I wrote this one trying to write a Lord Huron song. I don’t think there’s enough reverb on the final product for it to qualify, but I still dig the final result.

“To the Ones Who Go Before (Acoustic)”: For a while, I thought about just having this version of the song and not the “full band” version. I was so frustrated with how progress on that version was going and just recorded this one instead. I still like it, and it makes a nice end song for the album. Clyde recommended I put this one here, and I’m glad he did.

Playlist #264

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Happy Monday, folks! After last week’s multiple fiascos, I’m hoping this week (which will feature the last time I see some of my students before graduation) will go smoother and with fewer towed cars. Let’s get into the playlist.

  1. Neil Young, “Walk On”: Among the many challenges I faced last week was trying to find a cover of this song that simply didn’t exist. I heard an alternate version of it on the Tonight’s the Night 50th Anniversary set, which somehow tricked my brain into thinking there was a cover I’d heard of it back in the late 90s/early 2000s and I just couldn’t remember who’d done the cover. Spent a few hours Thursday evening trying to figure it out, only to discover it was…the version I’d heard on Neil’s Decade collection back then. I Mandela Effect’d myself, I guess? I dunno. The song is a jam.
  2. Jack Johnson, “Taylor (4-Track)”: Speaking of songs I heard back in the late 90s, I had the MP3 of this song on my computer back in college and preferred this version to the album version that came out on Brushfire Fairytales, but I hadn’t been able to find this version of the song for more than 10 years and had despaired of ever hearing it again. Along comes Surfilmusic, a collection of soundtrack cuts and a bunch of early 4-track demos, this song among them. Made my weekend, let me tell you.
  3. Brian Fallon, “Better Before”: I knew Fallon (and the Gaslight Anthem) had some Bon Jovi in their musical DNA; it’s damn-near required for a Jersey band to have JBJ and the Boss in their musical make-up. But this is the Bon Jovi-est song the man’s ever recorded, and I kinda love it.
  4. Wilco, “Everyone Hides”: While a lot of Wilco’s newer music seems like it was designed to just wash over you in an acoustic hush, but some songs still stick out. Like this one. It’s got a very insistent rhythm and a neat guitar figure.
  5. Lazlo Bane, “Superman”: Have you watched the Scrubs revival? I was pleasantly surprised with how good it is. And the theme song – this song – still hits just right.
  6. Radiohead, “These Are My Twisted Words”: A glitchy, stuttering number, the sort of song that you hear and immediately recognize as peak Radiohead.
  7. Galaxie 500, “Isn’t It A Pity”: An elegiac 80s college rock take on the George Harrison classic. Whereas George’s version relied on the wall of sound wash of guitars and voices to carry the tune, Galaxie 500 strip it down to a single guitar, bass, and drum kit and prove the bones of the song are as solid as can be.
  8. The Fray, “Over My Head (Cable Car)”: Can you believe this song is more than 20 years old? I still think of them as a band that just came out! Am I just an Old now?
  9. Kate Wolf, “Across the Great Divide”: I love this song, I just hate the harmonica in it. I feel it undercuts the tone of the song.
  10. Violent Femmes, “American Music”: What could I possibly say about this song other than, if you don’t sing along, you’re not American.

Playlist #263

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Folks, it feels like today has been a whole month of Mondays dumped on me all at once. I don’t even wanna get into it. Here’s a playlist for y’all while I go sit in a corner and try not to plan murder.

  1. The Florida Mass Choir, “Storm Cloud Rising”: The song featured on the last couple of episodes of Season 1 of Daredevil: Born Again, and I dug it. It’s very moody and atmospheric for a gospel song.
  2. Rage Against the Machine, “Sleep Now In Fire”: For when you need to feel a bit of rage in your soul, there really is no one better.
  3. Reel Big Fish, “Hungry Like the Wolf”: The best version of this song, hands down. It just needed those ska horns.
  4. Alannah Myles, “Black Velvet”: Apparently she didn’t start seeing a dime from this song until rather recently. And that is just absolute bull honkey.
  5. Roger McGuinn & Tom Petty, “King of the Hill”: I do love listening to the Tom Petty Sirius XM station, because his catalog is deep enough that I can still get surprised by a song I wasn’t really aware of like this one.
  6. Them, “I Can Only Give You Everything”: I also get to hear songs like this one on the Tom Petty station. There are so many songs by Them that I just don’t know, because their stuff just wasn’t widely available when I was a kid, and now I’m purposefully seeking it out because why the hell not?
  7. Wilco, “One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend)”: I love the little repeated guitar figure in this song so much, I don’t even mind that the song is damn-near 10 minutes long.
  8. The Envy Corps, “Story Problem”: A friend I worked with back seventeen, eitghteen years ago introduced me to this song. I still love it.
  9. Frank Turner, “Get Better”: For when I need to try to feel more optimistic, which is challenging today.
  10. Soul Coughing, “Fully Retractable”: For when it is, in fact, fully retractable.

Playlist #262

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Happy Monday, and May the 4th be with you! And all my Lutheran friends say, “And also with you.” Here’s a playlist.

  1. Pat McGee Band, “Bookends”: A student introduced me to this band last week. Pretty solid singer-songwriter stuff.
  2. Nocturnne, “Proximity”: A DIY singer-songwriter (I have a thing for that style) writing exactly what you think a 20-something singer-songwriter would write. It’s not bad, but I’m not sure it’s really speaking to me.
  3. Old 97s, “Timebomb”: A ripsnorter of a song, it explodes out of the gate and blew little grad school Charlie’s mind back in the early 2000s. It remains awesome.
  4. Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeroes, “Man On Fire”: Let us cast our minds back to the far-flung year 2012, when Stomp-Clap-Hey! ruled the airwaves and a band with such an unwieldy name could come to prominence. And then let’s never speak of it again.
  5. The Elected, “It Was Love”: This song (and this band more in general) gives me hope that there’s an audience out there for someone whose voice is weak like mine.
  6. Elton John, “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me”: Elton John just makes you feel things sometimes, y’know?
  7. Ram Jam, “Black Betty”: Bam-ba-lam.
  8. Molly Hatchet, “Flirtin’ With Disaster”: Somehow this turned into a Southern Rock playlist without me even trying. But if you don’t find yourself doing 90 down the highway with this song blasting out the windows, there’s something wrong with you and you might be clinically dead.
  9. Marshall Tucker Band, “Can’t You See”: If there is a sadder Southern Rock song out there, I don’t know it, because most rock songs don’t encourage you to “crawl inside and die” in a hole in the wall or jump off the tallest mountain in Georgia (a state totally known for its tall mountains).
  10. The Dandy Warhols, “Minnesoter”: My favorite song about being someone from Minnesota? I’m not sure that’s actually what it’s about. I’m not sure the guy who wrote it is entirely sure what it’s about.