Mondays are nobody’s friend. Here’s a few more of those current and (mostly) new spins that are going through my ears of late and today.
alt
The War On Drugs – Strangest Thing
Another song released ahead of the incoming A Deeper Understanding album and another beautific slice of guitar driven wonder from The War on Drugs. I’m starting to think that the new album might be more addictive than Lost In The Dream‘s vibe was. Adam Granduciel’s voice has more than a hint of Dylan’s nasality and the sound and that guitar work…. gorgeous.
Broken Social Scene – Halfway Home
Broken Social Scene’s new album Hug of Thunder is not only an excellently titled slab of alt-rock but is real testament as to what a large musical collective (between six and nineteen members at times) can do when coming back off a break without disappearing up their own rectums like a certain other large musical collective beginning with A and ending with rcade Fire seem to have done.
Waxahatchee – Never Been Wrong
I got 2013’s Cerulean Salt using my itunes voucher haul but kinda forgot about Kate Crutchfield’s music since in the tide of more new music and discoveries but am now enjoying her new album Out In The Storm.
Radiohead – I Promise
OKNOTOK the OK Computer revisit is just sublime. In amongst the remastered original album and wealth of b-sides there’s three unreleased tunes all dating to the period between The Bends and OK Computer.
‘I Promise’ is the stand out of those for me. First showcased while they were opening for Alanis Morissette (yup, you read that right), the band didn’t think ‘I Promise’ was strong enough or that it didn’t fit vibe for OK Computer, left it and didn’t play it again for a couple of decades when, they played it again last month and Thom York said “What a bunch of nutters we were, and probably still are. One of the things — one of the crazy things we did — was not release this song, because we didn’t think it was good enough.” At the time it probably would have taken over the radio but it’s so atypical of where they were and were heading and was too pure pop and sunlight in comparison. It didn’t fit then but now, as one review puts it, it’s like “an exquisitely faded Polaroid.”
Mumbling About... 
Nice. I’ve been wanting to get OKNOTOK, just haven’t been able to afford it yet. It’s always harder to justify paying money for an album you mostly already own.
I do have a rule that if I own something on CD already I won’t drop money to have it on wax too but…. I justified the expense to myself as a) my enthusiasm over A Moon Shaped Pool meant I fat-thumbed my order for the LP (I was on the road at a service station at the time) and didn’t realised I’d ordered the standard edition until it was too late so the blue version is a consolation and b) OK Computer is probably in my Top 10 and the remastering and b-sides are of such quality that this really does warrant owning
Yes, I think that one is in my top ten as well.
Of these, I’d say I like the last three better than the first one. I confess to being hit-or-miss on indie rock. Much of it just doesn’t resonate with me. I heard the Radiohead song when another blogger did it. Of all the bands we discuss online I can’t seem to find one blogger that does not like Radiohead. How the hell did they wind up opening for Alanis Morrisette? I don’t dislike her. I just don’t get how they’re an opening act.
It is an odd one now but in context not so odd. When The Bends dropped in ’95 the US wasn’t so warm a market and they were still only known for “Creep” so doing a month on the road with her at peak Jagged Little Pill popularity (when she was still considered edgy and alt for college radio playlists etc) got them a good chunk of exposure. At the time singles like ‘Just’, ‘Street Spirit’ etc weren’t a million miles away from shared playlists.
Ah, OK. I took it to mean this happened more or less recently. That makes sense. As to Morrisette, I think Jagged Little Pill is a terrific album and plan on writing about it. Which will only serve to further confuse at least some readers of my own blog who ate certain my tastes somehow exactly match theirs and are disappointed to find it does not.
I look forward to that post. I was quite into it at the time and even a couple after. Speaking of Alanis, you may enjoy this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOpQ_w81pg4
Opening for Alanis does seem like a career low.
True but then that Jagged Little Pill tour gave both Radiohead and Taylor Hawkins exposure