Today’s Music Monday is an etymological road trip from Paul Simon’s 1983 album Hearts and Bones. The album was a commercial failure relative to his other works, but it happens to be one of my favourites. This cheeky song is mixed in with some of his most beautiful tunes. Clara and I were lucky to find an original LP pressing at a charity shop this year. Graceland is one of my favourite albums of all time, but I find myself playing Hearts and Bones and his earlier One Trick Pony album far more…

On Sundays I try to at least quickly note some of my favorite listening from the week prior — things I would later regret having not written about in more depth, so better to share here briefly than not at all. ▰ This is a cool coincidence. Last week I mentioned the great new album, Shards, by the trio of electronic musician BlankFor.ms, pianist Jason Moran, and drummer Marcus Gilmore, and I linked to an archival live video of a different artist from the excellent NYC venue Roulette — and now…

Hey people! Today I thought I’d share with you a really stunning, celestial solo organ piece. It is a prelude, written by a very young British composer, Christopher Churcher. He composed this for organist Tom Bell in 2023. The composition takes its title from James Agee’s poem “Sure On This Shining Night”, the same poem which was set to music by Samuel Barber a few years after its publishing. According to the composer, the piece is inspired by the experience of slowly discovering the night sky.…

This is some very classically 80s pop; I have a soft spot for this sound, corny as it can be. I don't think Panarama ever made it big in the English-speaking world, but I was turned onto them via the soundtrack to the 80s movie Fire and Ice that featured a lot of their music. (Note: Youtube has changed the way embeds of playlists show up and it's really hard to tell that this is a full album embed. It'll play through to the next song if you let it!)

"Wagon Wheel" by Old Crow Medicine Show Listen on Apple Music Your browser does not support the audio element. Share a song that captures the feeling of being homesick. Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show I've heard this called the unofficial state song of my home, state, North Carolina. "Headed down south, to the land of the pines, I'm thumbin' my way to North Caroline" If I die in Raleigh, at least I will die free. View Lou Plummer's Crucial Tracks profile

The Polaris Records Story27 tracks+bookletBacchus Archives Records, 1991tracklist1 - The New Breed - Wasting My Time2 - The New Breed - It's Love3 - Richies Renegades - Don't Cry4 - Richies Renegades - Baby It's Me5 - Richies Renegades - Come Alive (Pepsi Spot)6 - The Renegades - Waiting For You7 - The Renegades - Tell Me What To Say8 - The Swinging Epics - Run To Him9 - Billy Bo And His Arrows - Voodoo Rhythm10 - Billy Bo And His Arrows - Shuffle11 - Billy Bo And His Arrows - Chatter12 - The…

Women of Music Volume 16 Cover : Genya Rayan (of Ginger & the Gingerbreads)Barbara Evans - Beatnik Daddy.mp3 Charlotte Deak Hardage - Day After Never (The Day After Never)..mp3 Cookie Mold (in Sheer Smegma) - I Wanna Be A Man.mp3 Damita Jo - Jambalaya.mp3 Dusty Springfield - Can I Get A Witness.mp3 Goldie & the Gingerbreads - Skinny Vinnie.mp3 Janiva Magness - I Can Tell.mp3 Marion Colby - Just Because.mp3 Pauline Pinkney - Three Mountain Men.mp3 Penny Hardman - Oh Darling.mp3 Sylvie Vartan -…

[1974]One of those songs that nobody ever says is the greatest but...What a sound! The louche lounge lizard with one of the heaviest and most guitar-centric things he ever did.The 'In' Crowd is an old 60s soul tune that Ferry renders unrecognisable with this glorious racket. Also preempts Bowie's plastic soul periodWait for the 3:18 moment when the guitars go bananas, well the whole song gets wonderfully unhinged at this point and doesn't let up til the end. He really was doing something…

Everything is the same. Oh, except I just put up my Albums of the Decade interview with Cleric. That changed. Keep safe. If you're new to this metal blog of bones you can also check out the various interview projects I have going on as well as the weekly recommendation posts. And if you'd like to keep abreast of the latest, most pressing developments follow us wherever I may roam (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify, Bluesky, TIKTOK etc), and listen to my, I guess, active? (no) podcast…

The Best Record of 1989: Day 40

My current favorite song is still “Homewrecker” by sombr, thus it remains at #1 for a third week, while Dexter and The Moonrocks‘ “Freakin’ Out” and Temper City‘s “Self Aware” hold at #2 and 3 for a second week. My friend Lyia Meta enters the top 10 with her powerful rock gem “Raging Halls”. The sole new entry this week is “Hold Me In The Dark” by British singer-songwriter and guitarist Myles Smith, an immensely popular folk-pop artist with over 22 million monthly listeners on Spotify and 1.7…

Does it get any better than this? La Furia Roja vs. La Albiceleste! Lamine Yamal vs. Lionel Messi Messi! To celebrate today’s historic World Cup championship match between Spain and Argentina, I am posting this Spanish language remix of K’NAAN’s “Wavin’ Flag” featuring David Bisbal.

I wonder how Fellini decided that LA DOLCE VITA would cover ten days, ten nights, and one stray morning after? I suppose that’s what it added up to once he’d included all the scenes he wanted, though ten is a nice round number. Day 8 is the shortest yet — the film is getting more […]

Jason Koebler, 404 Media: The AI music generation tool Suno scraped millions of songs and lyrics from YouTube Music, Deezer, and Genius, as well as from the stock music libraries Pond5, Jamendo, Freesound, the International Music Score Library Project, and podcasts via RSS feeds, according to a hacker who breached the company and shared data about Suno’s training libraries with 404 Media. The hacker was also able to access user information for hundreds of thousands of Suno’s customers, as well…

I went to a hi-fi store in Luxembourg called "L'Audiophile" today. (If you are ever in the country, they are extremely friendly, helpful and super knowledgeable. I feel they have a bias toward speakers, but they still have a good selection of head-fi products.) My original goal was to test a whole bunch of headphones with different sound signatures. While I recently got into hi-fi (see here and here), my focus was primarily on DAPs and IEMs. But I thought it was time to update my home gear and…

Front 242 05:22:09:12 OffGet It At Discogs A combination remix collection and wholly separate album, 05:22:09:12 Off (aka Evil Off) is a semi-sequel to 06:21:03:11 Up Evil, appearing about six months after the release of the first disc. Not only is it a fine companion piece to the earlier disc, it easily stands on its own, finding the band thoroughly engaged in some of its most extreme, experimental music ever. A fair amount of the record is given over to darker plunges, with grinding…

This was originally going to be a quick study as to how I want my characters to wear over-ear headphones that turned into a full piece where I get to play with watercolor pencils a bit more. Gallery password is art/art

Album of the Week, July 18, 2026 When is a hit not a hit? In the world of the music business, having an album that tops a Billboard chart may not be enough to save you from the axe. Such was the fate of Youssou N’Dour’s contract with Virgin Records following the release of his second album for the label. Set, which sounded a note of support and positivity for the Senegalese Set-Setal movement, hit number one on the world charts but failed to generate a single that matched the performance of The…

[1973]Glam insanity. A deranged one of a kind psychedelic glitter scuzz jam. If you chucked David Essex, Neu, Hendrix and Glitter Band into a blender...The sort of thing you imagine Helios Creed and Damon Edge were probably into... I mean if you stripped the vocals off here it would resemble Alien Soundtracks/Half Machine Lip Moves era Chrome.

"Joe Hill (Live at the Woodstock Music & Art Fair, 1969)" by Joan Baez Listen on Apple Music Your browser does not support the audio element. What song makes you feel like you're part of something bigger? Joe Hill by Joan Baez This old song from the labor movement was adopted by the anti-draft movement. Joan Baez, whose husband was imprisoned for draft resistance, sang this to 300,00 people at Woodstock. We are all part of something bigger. View Lou Plummer's Crucial Tracks profile

This American vocal soul group originated in Rochester, New York, and were originally billed as The Bandwagons (and subsequently The Bandwagon). Led by lead singer Johnny Johnson, they also comprised singers Bill Bradley; Artie Fullilove; and Terry Lewis. In March 1968, they recorded “Breakin’ Down the Walls of Heartache”, which reached number 4 on the British charts in October of that year. This resulted in their first British tour before the year was out. Melody Maker’s 26 October 1968 issue…

Billed as Neo Dolly Parton melodic noise stark punk and post-punk soundscapes by my old mate John Robb1, Molly Vulpyne and her band rattle through a number of sleazy punky numbers that are pretty good but I probably need to sit with them a bit longer. "UR A FAD X" has shades of early Soundgarden mixed with "The Spaghetti Incident?". I bought "Back Down" by defunct Dublin "Diet Punk" band, Katy's Party, based solely on the opening riff to "Clement's Time". I could easily see them as a support…

Today has been a long, hot day, so I don't feel up to a full blog post. It was today in 1968 that the animated movie Yellow Submarine, based on music of The Beatles, premiered at the London Pavilion at Piccadilly Circus. I will then leave you with the song from which the movie takes its name and which inspired much of its plot.

Day one of the Yacht Club. Dashboard Confessional and the Black Keys

dragon-in-a-fez:succumbing-song:

19:12 - The album arrived at the record store today! I love buying from my local record store. It just feels more personal. The store owner even gave us some tips on how he keeps his records dust-free. (Though mine still got dusty, but his method helped a lot). I won't buy another album until I get a freakin' jorb.

I think BROADCASTED was a fantastic first album from Air Credits but then I was less wowed by their interim releases until this one: this one brings back their theatricality, their futurism, their humor, their fat beats and smooth lyrics. You gotta love when people commit to the bit. Air Credits live in a post-apocalyptic future world and I’m happy to join them for these albums. Or you can let the lyrics wash away and you’re left with just good head-bouncing bass and looping samples. I love…

Look at that! “During the first half of 2026, CD sales surged 16% to 16.3 million units.” “One explanation may be changing listening habits among younger fans. According to the report, 60% of Gen Z listeners now say they most often listen to music from the 1990s or earlier, a huge increase from 18% in 2021. Whether driven by nostalgia, discovery via streaming, or a wanting to own a tangible piece of an artist’s work, younger audiences appear to be embracing physical formats.” Via Consequence

Our kind of store. Rough Trade Neal’s Yard, October 2001 – one of two Rough Trade stores to get fully taken over by ‘Drukqs’ for release day. The first time Rough Trade did this since 1977, for The Sex Pistols ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’. Warp Records (17th July 2026) Later this year the Aphex Twin double album Drukqs celebrates 25 years since its initial release. Today (17th of July 2026) Warp Records posted a reference to the albums release day on its social media channels with a photograph of…