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Day Late and a Dollar Short, My Favorite Music of 2018

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Once again I am months late in posting this. A concerted effort to post to this blog gives you my list from last year. Not in any order just 10 things I liked. Alphabetical order.

Kurt Baker Combo Lets Go Wild
Power-pop appears to be being put out at an equal deluge as it had been in the late 70s early 80s. Most is competent yet disposable. This one had a little something extra for me.
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Bat Fangs s/t
A love letter to 1970s and 1980s. Glam, power pop and hard rock wrapped together in a 2018 shell. Catchy and fun. The production choices bug me a bit but don’t put me off.
[bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=1246827356 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5]
Beak >>>
Beak is a dude from Portishead this is their third album. More planned out song structures this time around. Again grabbing influences from the 70s through the present but from different sources; Krautrock, Spacerock, post-punk, electronic, trip-hop, etc.
[bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=581054831 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 license_id=118]
Ghost Prequelle
I’m on the “love them” side. A little softer but the song writing is so good I didn’t notice.

The Joy Formidable AARTH
I always assume this band is huge. They have a modern rock sound at least production wise. Songs are catchy, epic, progressive, heavy, gentle and subtle, much more dimension than 99% of modern rock. Probably why they aren’t as huge as I assume they are. A great recovery from the underwhelming Hitch.
[bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=1912537451 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5]
Kronos Quartet Clouded Yellow
Kronos Quartet is modern classical string quartet that has a lot of albums. This one really struck me, modern, a bit weird, creepy and unnerving. All songs composed by Michael Gordon, I’m not going to pretend to be an expert on him…
[bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=75703261 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5]
Nothing Dance on the Blacktop
The resurgence of shoegaze is a bit weird to me. Especially with so many metal and black metal bands jumping on. Nothing finally made an album who’s songs grabbed me. Lots of people saying it sound like Hums I don’t hear that, I hear a metal band playing shoegaze.
[bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=2547506892 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5]
Uncle Acid and The Dead Beat Wasteland
The 70s stoner/acid rock trend ran out of steam at least a decade ago. Every once in a while a band will catch my ear. Uncle Acid’s first album was fun and then they went into the morass of stoner/doom coming out the other end with Wasteland. Still many of the tropes that you’d expect but as usual the songwriting is the difference.

Wand Perfume
One of the billion newer psych bands. Their album Golum is easily one of my favorites of the 2000s, but they don’t seem to want to repeat themselves. This is much more indie psych than the heavy psych of Golum. Still intreating and the emphasis is more on the songs than atmosphere that so many “psych” band tend to fall into.
[bandcamp width=100% height=42 album=312456484 size=small bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5]
Voivod The Wake
The second post Piggy album. Voivod’s heyday (War and Pain through The Outer Limits) is some of my favorite music ever. They’ve gone through a lot but have never hit the heights of their early work. This is the closest they have come. While still sounding like a amalgam of their entire career The Wake brings a few new ideas to the table. Still a unique band but a bit of a pastiche of themselves.

Day Late and a Dollar Short, My Favorite Music of 2018

Here’s a new playlist for June 9, 2017

fistfulofdave

Left End Take In Stride
70’s rock like Silverhead

Tygers Of Pan Tang Wild Catz
NWOBHM

Alice Cooper Ballad of Dwight Fry
You have a problem if you don’t know Alice Cooper

The Sensational Alex Harvey Band Delilah
Yup the song Tom Jones made famous

Satisfact Dysfunction
Doing the post-punk revival 10 years before everyone else

U.D.O. Don’t Look Back
From ormer Accept main man’s 2nd solo record

Avatarium The Starless Sleep
Leif Edling of Candlemass’ newish project

Pond Moth
Weirdo’s from the 90’s not really grunge

Samiam She’s A Part Of Me
Indie pop punk

ILLLS Our Shadow
Shoegaze

Zoom Balboa’s Cannon
Angular 90’s indie rock

Sprinkler Kent
Grunge?

The Futura Bold We Shoot Golden
Former Mary My Hope guy

Flo & Eddie Cheap
These guys sing on something you own

Flower Leperds *Only 12 years old
Punk

Fastbacks Gone To The Moon
What I think of when I hear pop punk

Drive Like Jehu Bullet Train to Vegas
Caustic

Blue Oyster Cult Black Blade
Moorcock lyrics about Stormbringer and Elric

Doggy Style Peace in the City
Thoughtful for a band called Doggy Style

Sentinel Beast Dogs Of War
Thrash

Here’s a new playlist for June 9, 2017

The first true-color images of Saturn taken during Cassini’s close encounter are coming in — and they’re beautiful! – ImaGeo

fistfulofdave

A close-up image of Saturn shows a striking, sky-blue hurricane eye swirling at the north pole—1,200 miles across with clouds moving at 330 miles per hour.

Source: The first true-color images of Saturn taken during Cassini’s close encounter are coming in — and they’re beautiful! – ImaGeo

The first true-color images of Saturn taken during Cassini’s close encounter are coming in — and they’re beautiful! – ImaGeo

Playlist for the week of March 12, 2017

fistfulofdave

  1. Girl “Hollywood Tease”
    Phil Lewis of LA Guns and Phil Collen of Def Leppard’s early NWOBHM band.

  2. Donovan “Cosmic Wheels”
    From his “glam” album.

  3. Uriah Heep “High Priestess”
    Still on a Heep binge.

  4. The Knack “Sweet Dreams”
    Beatleish song off of their third album “Round Trip”.

  5. Raven “Don’t Need Your Money”
    Classic NWOBHM, Raven was a frantic force of nature on their first three records.

  6. Alejandro Jodorowsky “Psychedelic Weapons”
    60’s psych meets Morricone song from the “Holy Mountain” soundtrack.

  7. Godplow “Mesmerized”
    The US Swervedriver. Don’t get excited it’s good but not that level.

  8. Heavy Tiger “I Go for the Cheap Ones”
    Yeah, this had it’s own post. Swedish rock power.

  9. Bee Gees “I Laugh in Your Face”
    A fantastic bitter dirge.

  10. Basil Poledouris “Anvil of Crom”
    Over the top ManOwaR level epic from the first Conan movie.

  11. Terry Reid “Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace”
    Came to the almost Led Zeppelin singer through Cheap Trick’s cover of this song.

  12. Powermad “Nice Dreams”
    I prefer the version on the “Combat Bootcamp EP”. Late 80’s thrash although this song isn’t thrash more a spidery slow boil.

Playlist for the week of March 12, 2017