This month we’ve got some old songs that sound like new songs, some new songs that sound like they’re ageless, some slow songs that sound like they’re about the burst forth with intensity. And more than one song whose live video is maybe better than the studio track.
Show notes from our July 2023 Spotify Podcast:
We started with Phoebe’s ten submissions and Al’s ten submissions, but our finished, 11-song playlist is put in an order that we think makes sense musically. Which is not same same order that we pick the songs during the picking ceremony heard during our podcast.
Song notes (Quotes are from song lyrics):
- “Sit beside the breakfast table, think about your troubles”
The Beatles listed him as their favorite American musical artist, he collaborated with everyone from Randy Newman to John Lennon (and he, Lennon and Ringo Starr were once kicked out of LA’s Troubadour nightclub for heckling The Smothers Brothers. - “I’m lookin’ for some country life, some kickin’ room no more city life, I want the river”
Beach Boy Dennis Wilson brings this wonderful song. - “We have no knowledge and so we have stuff and stuff with no knowledge is never enough to get you there”
This is Greg Brown’s third appearance in our playlist. He’s got one of the most recognizable sounds we know of, and we never tire of him. - “Got a call from a good friend, come on down for the weekend, didn’t know if I could spare the time”
Brian Protheroe is an actor and a musician. We can’t imagine that “Pinball” is almost 50 years old. - “Well, it’s always fun and games until it’s clear you haven’t got the skill in keeping the gag from going too far”
Aimee Mann’s “Red Vines” might be one of those songs where the live video is even better than the studio recording. - “My mind is faster than it thinks to run to where it doesn’t need to be”
When Elizabeth Moen’s “Headgear” was recorded for a Tiny Desk Contest, NPR music called it “one of the entries we can’t stop watching”. Also a really good live version. - “When a girl feels so alone, what a tease to throw a bone, should’ve just stayed at home”
Tune-Yards are Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner. They bring a wonderfully eclectic vibe. - “We all break a little when we fall, and everybody keeps saying, ‘Get up, get up'”
Please enjoy this sweet video (directed by Jasmine McGlade, animated by Ruth Lingford) from Gregory Alan Isakov of his single, “The Fall”, and read this excellent Atwood Magazine article about the song by Mitch Mosk. - “It’s changing all the time and it starts to blur the line, it’s supposed to keep you safe”
This is Laura Marling’s second appearance with us, but her first in over two years. - “Trade your whole world, you’ll come over, as soon as you hear me playing my calliope”
Maybe the best songwriter you’ve probably never heard of, Willis Alan Ramsey. - “So all of you folks in heaven not too busy ringing the bell, some of us down here ain’t doing very well”
Back for his/their third visit to our playlist, Songs: Ohia was Jason Molina, accompanied here by Jennie Benford on vocal and mandolin.
Both our Spotify playlist and our podcast are updated and released around the first of each month. We’re recorded monthly in the warm and cozy hug of the OML Studios in lovely downtown Manchester, Richmond, Virginia.
Thanks to Knob Creek 9 year bourbon for help in recording this month. Our theme music is from “Red Eye” by E’s Jammy Jams, accordion music by Andrew Huang. Other background music includes “On The Rocks” by Track Tribe.
Featured image: One of our new ritual sounds, Tina Tambourine is used to signify a particularly danceable track (in memory of the late Tina Turner). Like many of the objects we use to make our podcast, it was purchased at Richmond’s Diversity Thrift.
If you have questions or suggestions, feel free to let us know!
See you next month!
