Lo and behold I’m still here. As the kick in the dangly bits of Monday slips into Tuesday afternoon I thought it as suitable a time as any to put together a few of those things I’ve been listening to, a veritable smorgasbord of aural delights as big as… well.. what feels like the right length for a blog post, really.
Pixies – There’s A Moon On
New Pixies? It’s a pretty safe bet that anything they release will end up being welcomed by my lugholes.
Idlewild – Love Steals Us from Loneliness
Idlewild were a great band – I say were; I think they got back together but I’ve not heard anything of their more recent material – and so I was pretty chuffed to find their fourth album Warnings / Promises had received a vinyl release and it’s had a good few spins since picking up on sale a few weeks back.
Melody’s Echo Chamber – Where the Water Clears the Illusion
So Tame Impala gets a lot of play in Hill House as my wife is a big fan. There’s a lot of connections between the dude (Kevin Parker) and Melody Prochet who is Melody’s Echo Chamber that I don’t really know too much but it’s no surprise there’s a similar vibe to the music too. Anyway, this came up on the radio a while back as an intro and I’m really digging all the different elements – there’s some hints of shoegaze, space-rock and dream pop in there – in here and brew they create.
Kurt Vile – Wages of Sin
Speaking of things getting a good few spins; Kurt Vile’s new album (watch my moves) is yet another welcome addition – he just gets better with each passing album and they’re all such a great vibe to get lost in and if you add that vibe it to a Springsteen classic…
Soccer Mommy – Shotgun
I feel like I should have heard Soccer Mommy – the musical endeavour of Sophie Allison – before now. Probably because if you spin to the bottom of the Snail Mail listing (or whatever you call it) on Spotify Soccer Mommy is listed down there next to Lucy Dacus… instead it was having heard this one on the radio and then hitting up the streaming service to hear more.
Rage Against The Machine – Freedom
There’s been a real nostalgia drive in my house of late – harking back to that last great decade of music. Rage have featured heavily. They made three fucking intense and great albums and signed out (albeit with a covers album as number four) and this… well it doesn’t need any words.
OK so I don’t do TikTok or much social media in general but there’s this dude on there who I got send a link to – Jacob Givens. Honestly if I could hug him I would, he feels like a kindred spirit and it was seeing some of his videos that kicked off the nostalgia push so I’ll share one here as he’s also on youtube:
Mumbling About... 
I enjoyed this, particularly RATM. The covers LP has got ‘Pistol Grip Pump’ on it which some days is my very fave RATM track.
It’s always a good day to play some RATM – though admit I never gave Renegades enough attention. I’ve been blasting their second album a lot lately, Down Rodeo has a fantastic opening lyric blast
I’m ashamed to say I’ve never heard that album. I’ll get my coat.
I wouldn’t; it seems to be on fire
Nice to see Tony’s crawled out of his fucking bunker again. Some comments before he disappears:
–Overall, dug everything, some more than others. I’m certainly aware of the Pixies. But they came and went and then came back so never much listened to them. And the only song they ever seem to play by them over here is “Here Comes Your Man.” I also especially liked Idlewild. The vocal – in fact, the whole tune- sounds pretty R.E.M influenced.
Not sure if Vile does enough with “Wages of Sin” to make it much different from The Boss. BTW, as you know, Springsteen is playing EU but not the UK. You’re gonna have to go to Dublin (or someplace) if you wanna see him. Weirdly, Soccer Mommy popped up somewhere the other day. Good song. But what’s with this trend of singer-songwriters performing under pseudonyms all about? Best video here? That Givens guy. I’m angry about whatever they’re angry about. Funny.
My bunker is being renovated.
I’ve got a feeling (a feeling deep inside) that UK dates will be added but will be part of the Hyde Park thing again so won’t be able to announce yet.
Hyde Park thing??
Yarp – there’s usually a big name playing some festival type thing in Hyde Park during the summer. Bruce did it back in 2012 – this year Pearl Jam have got two nights held over from 2020 but the artist and festival tend to announce at the same time
….aaand just like that Springsteen is playing Hyde Park in 2023. Now to see how much of an arm and leg is required to get 2 1/2 tickets
I saw that. Tix go on sale for Boston (March 2023) next week.
So, I got tickets for Boston today. TicketBastard had offered a “fan-verified’ early buy. I wound up in a queue and initially the only tix I could find were balcony. I kept looking and 2 Floor tickets (TD Garden) popped up. The cheapest tickets I saw (even for lousy seats) was 350 Euros. I paid that and with bullshit feels added on it was close to 900 Euros for both. Literally the only reason I felt like I could (and did) pay that is because I was asked to coach someone one-on-one and the exact pay was 1000 bucks. So I said fuck it. So, good luck.
Yeah there are a few here – starting at £171 a ticked which is daylight bloody robbery as far as I’m concerned for a concert. Having just paid for this summer’s holiday I’m not on a position to drop on three tickets at that sorta dosh. I know money isn’t made in album sales etc these days but they’re having a bubble bath with some of these gig prices lately
No argument here. But I think I’m seeing this as my swan song. I’ve seen just about everybody I want to see, at least of the big star/large arena type. My wife and I (she’s as big a fan as we are) will go and that will be, I think, a fitting ending. From then on I’ll just hit the small clubs for 40- 60 bucks, maybe a couple times a year. But if I have to end somewhere, well, might as well be sprung from cages on Highway 9.
BTW, I hope your fucking vinyl records haven’t melted. Jesus wept!
Ha! No I keep them away from direct sunlight. Even where we are and benefitting from the shade of a bay window and trees the 40 degrees on Tuesday became horrendous, I was more worried about me melting than the records at that point
I didn’t realize you lot didn’t have air conditioning. And your houses are built to hold the heat in.
Absolutely. Mine was, I think, built in the ‘30s when they were still expecting the Thames to freeze at winter or at least the regularity of British seasons. The days of traditional seasons are long gone really – climate change is taking hold and I’m just glad at least I’m on high ground
Ar least for now. Boston is, of course, a port. (Read your history old boy). So we now get water lapping up on the streets in a storm. If we are true to form we will talk about it endlessly and do nothing.
BTW
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2022/07/22/entertainment/bruce-springsteen-high-ticket-prices/index.html
Yup – same with seats over here. Disgusting really. It’s leaving an understandably sour taste in a lot of mouth
Don’t be too hard on Bruce. That “dynamic pricing” isn’t his idea. It’s Ticketbastard’s
Absolutely but nobody seems bothered enough about it to do anything either. Ticketbastard have got em all by the short and curlies if they wanna tour
Yes, well, recall that Pearl Jam tried. My tickets included over $100 in “fees.” No matter. This will be my final BIG concert. The rest will be small clubs. Still stuck with TicketRipoff by tix are generally less than $100.
Soccer Mommy is really good – I loved her debut, and the second had ‘Circle the Drain’ which is great. Third one is shaping up to be really strong.
Oh hell yes: I though I’d been listening to her debut on repeat but it turns out it was a collection (or album’s worth) of demos. Really looking forward to album three
That Collection pre-debut record is really good too,
Kurt Vile is on heavy rotation at home and Soccer Mommy seems to have a knack of releasing quality work.