This Track Is Fire!

I fucking love this song, and no, it's not new. I believe it's about 10yrs. old at this point, so maybe you're wondering why I'm posting it. A little something about me: I have 900+ CDs (in storage), ~150 vinyl LPs, and terabytes of mp3s. I like music, I like music a lot.  With such a vast collection I have lots and lots of individual songs. I'll like a song and listen to it obsessively for a while, but eventually move on to another set of tracks.  Every so often I'll dig up a song from the past and rediscover how awesome it is. This week that's Suuns "2020." So what's to love? Part of it is the wailing guitar combined with that pulsing bassline, but I think the best way to describe this track (and many of the tracks I post here) is that it contains a sort of aural umami. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I find this song to be terribly catchy despite it not being a typical pop song. To be fair, I couldn't tell you anything about a...

Fleetwood Mac certainly have a whole host of fantastic and classic songs, several more popular than this one. But this one is my favorite. Maybe it's the slow build. Maybe it's the horns. Maybe it's because it's different, not a typical pop or rock song. All I know is that I bought the entire 2LP (on sale, mind you), just so I could listen to these few minutes on vinyl. Have a great weekend and see you again on Monday! Enjoy!

This is obnoxiously loud and aggressive, but it speaks to me. On the strength of this track I briefly considered going to see them open for In This Moment, but $66 (+ service fees) is a lot to pay for just one song from one band. Regardless, this track will melt your face off and you'll thank them for it. Enjoy! VIGILANTES by WARGASM

A few weeks ago a friend of mine was telling me how good the 40th anniversary remaster of Listen Like Theives  was. Serendipitously, the collector's edition went on sale a week or so later, so I scooped it up. Just as he said, this mix sounds fuller and brighter than the original. There's nothing wrong with how it was mixed back in 1985, but this new mix is fantastic. If you're an INXS fan you owe it to yourself to have a listen, and if you can find it for a good price, grab the LP/3CD collection. I'm very happy with my purchase.

I admit that I had never heard of this Grand Rapids band before seeing them open for Jack White this Spring, and I live here! That said, I love that Jack had a local band open for him, but more importantly, they're fucking good. I immediately bought their album on Bandcamp after hearing them play. Have a great weekend! See you on Monday! Easers by EASERS

Maybe it's the bass, maybe it's the drum march beat, maybe it's Sexxy Red or Lil Wayne, I don't know, my place isn't to understand why a song grabs me, but this one does. Enjoy!

Pixel Grip is a band I've been watching for a couple of years now. I honestly don't know how I stumbled across them, probably from an NPR podcast on new music, but what matters is that I was immediately hooked. They straddle this space between dance music, EBM, techno, dark wave, synthpop, you name it, if it's electronic with a slightly sinister tinge, well, that's Pixel Grip. I was lucky enough to see them open for HEALTH in Detroit last year and have been eagerly awaiting their new album ever since. This track in particular is frenetic, lusty, and just overall fantastic. Enjoy! Percepticide: The Death of Reality by Pixel Grip

A friend of mine suggested this band, and this song, to me about 18 months ago. Clearly I fell in love with it. I didn't own the album so I bought it on vinyl and I'll be damned if this isn't one of my favorite opening tracks of all time. It's just so fucking good. They have a new single out ("Inept Apollo") and I am debating going to see them this fall when they play in Detroit, but it's a weeknight and I'm old. Thinking about them made me return to this song again, and I know I just said this above, but damn, it really is so fucking good. Have a great weekend and we'll see you again on Monday with more music! Enjoy! Strange Disciple by Nation of Language

When I posted earlier today about Brian Wilson I didn't think that I would be making a second exception so soon, let alone just a few hours later. Sadness... We all have those songs that when we throw them on we instantly get pumped up. For me, "Getting Closer" is one of those seminal songs. I first heard of Nitzer Ebb when I saw them on the ticket that I purchased for my first concert: Depeche Mode at Pine Knob in 1990. I had no idea what "Nitzer Ebb" meant, but after talking to anyone who might have known I found out they were an EBM band from the UK, and were lablemates of Depeche Mode on Mute Records. They had just released their album Showtime and would be supporting DM on their "World Violation" tour that summer. This was in the decades well before streaming, so if you wanted to check a new band out you had to actually buy their album, or in my case, their CD. So, I did. 35 years later "Getting Closer," as well as "Fun To Be Had...

My plan for this blog is to post at 10:00 AM (Eastern) most weekdays, but then Brian Wilson had to go ahead and die . ☹️ Cue "God Only Knows." This song always makes me think of Christmas, specifically the opening and closing scenes of Love Actually . Is that fair to Mr. Wilson? Probably not, his genius is far beyond that small connection to a favorite Christmas movie of mine, but this song is just that: genius. It's such a lovely bit of irony-bordering-on-sarcasm in a song that trancends its pop placement. "I may not always love you But long as there are stars above you You never need to doubt it I'll make you so sure about it..." God damn, that's good. Rest in peace, Brian Wilson.

Being an industrial act I am forced to wonder if this song title is an homage to The Revolting Cocks "No Devotion?" I honestly don't know, but this scrannel of a song, while somewhat grating and uncomfortable, is also catchy as Hell. I can't fully describe what I like about it. Maybe it's because it sounds like classic industrial while also sounding new, maybe it's just that right amount of aggressive that I enjoy while driving, or maybe it's just because it's good. Regardless, I love it. Enjoy! No Devotion by Shallow Waves

Listen, of course I was going to start a new blog with a post about Depeche Mode. That said, yes, this song is a couple of years old, but like any song that becomes an instant classic, it comes back around from time to time. Like today.  I suddenly felt compelled to hear this song - that in my opinion - firmly belongs amongst the better songs in Depeche Mode's catalog. So, welcome to the blog and enjoy the music. Now you have a little taste of who I am and what I like.