“Imdabes”, Gmcfosho

This way: Imdabes

Gmcfosho (also known as Gil McRipley Jr., formerly as "gmv") is a satirical rapper on YouTube, known for his low budget music videos and songs. His channel was made on April 7, 2007, with his first video uploaded a month later under the name "gmv" (below, left). Before his music videos, he regularly uploaded sketches and songs. His first video under the gmcfosho alias was posted on July 4, 2011.

[Spotify] Imdabes

“Rona Pollona”, Ghost of Vroom

This way: Rona Pollona

Mike Doughty and Andrew “Scrap” Livingston’s new band Ghost of Vroom have released their new full length album “Ghost of Vroom 1”. 

The collection was produced by Mario Caldato Jr. and features 11 brand new tracks, including the first two singles "I Hear the Ax Swinging" and “More Bacon than the Pan Can Handle”. Listen below.   

The veteran singer-songwriter Mike Doughty has announced his new band Ghost of Vroom with bassist and longtime collaborator Andrew “Scrap” Livingston, releasing their debut Ghost of Vroom 2 EP September 25 on Mod y Vi Records. Possessing a sense of urgency streaked through every one of his lyrics, as well as a dynamic, genre-blending approach to songcraft, the new collection is a formidable introduction to the latest era in the former Soul Coughing frontman's fascinating career. 

[Spotify] Rona Pollona

“Press Gang”, TV Priest

This way: Press Gang

TV Priest are an English rock band formed in London in 2019. The band consists of Charlie Drinkwater (vocals), Nic Bueth (bass and keyboard), Alex Sprogis (guitar), Ed Kellend (drums).

They signed to Sub Pop after only having played one gig in an industrial freezer in November 2019, with other concerts cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Their debut album, Uppers, was released on 5 February 2021 by Sub Pop, which is described as an offshoot of Rough Trade Records.  

[Spotify] Press Gang

“She's in Disguise”, Thee Headcoats

This way: She's in Disguise

Thee Headcoats was a band formed in Chatham, Kent, England in 1989, that was well known for its garage rock sound, explicitly sticking to this style on almost all of their albums. The band's signature sound as well as their prolific writing has been attributed to Billy Childish's love of simple, direct recording. The band has been on multiple labels including Billy's own Hangman Records, Damaged Goods and Sub Pop.

The band played their final concert on 12 May 2000 at the Dirty Water Club. Childish went on to play with other bands including The Buff Medways (1999 to 2006) and The Musicians of The British Empire (2007 to 2011).  

[Spotify] She's in Disguise

"Into the Valley", Skids

 This way: Into the Valley

Skids are a Scottish punk rock and new wave band, formed in Dunfermline in 1977 by Stuart Adamson (guitar, keyboards, percussion and backing vocals), William Simpson (bass guitar and backing vocals), Thomas Kellichan (drums) and Richard Jobson (vocals, guitar and keyboards). Their biggest successes were the 1979 single "Into the Valley" and the 1980 album The Absolute Game. In 2016, the band announced a 40th-anniversary tour of the UK with their original singer Richard Jobson.

Some members went on to form the Big Country (Hello guitar sound!)

[Spotify] Into the Valley

"Through the Dark", Alexi Murdoch

 This way: Through the Dark

Alexi Murdoch (born 27 December 1973) is a British folk musician and songwriter. Since his debut in 2002, Murdoch has released two LPs and one EP. His music has been featured in numerous television shows and films. 

[Spotify] Through the Dark

 

“I Miss a lot of Trains”, Tom T. Hall

This way: I Miss a lot of Trains

Hall died at his home in Franklin, Tennessee, on August 20, 2021 at the age of 85.

 

I really don't like this guy, but this one song is solid gold. That syrupy Nashville sound as country music circles the drain. Thomas T. Hall (May 25, 1936 – August 20, 2021), nicknamed "The Storyteller", was an American country music singer-songwriter and short-story author. He wrote 12 No. 1 hit songs, with 26 more that reached the Top 10, including the No. 1 international pop crossover hit "Harper Valley PTA" and "I Love", which reached No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. He is included in Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Songwriters.

[Spotify] I Miss a lot of Trains

[Seth Avett solo] I Miss a lot of Trains

"Johnny Appleseed", Joe Strummer

 This way: Johnny Appleseed

Joe Strummer, was a British musician, singer, songwriter, composer, actor, and radio host who was best known as the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, formed in 1976. Joes solo career turned out some great records. Here is performing with his band the Mescaleros.

[Spotify] Johnny Appleseed

"Swim until you can't see Land", Frightened Rabbit

This way: Swim until you can't see Land

I can not tell you how fantastic this band is, it just is.

Frightened Rabbit were a Scottish indie rock band from Selkirk, formed in 2003. Initially a solo project for vocalist and guitarist Scott Hutchison, the final line-up of the band consisted of Hutchison, his brother, Grant Hutchison (drums), Billy Kennedy (guitar, bass), Andy Monaghan (guitar, keyboards) and Simon Liddell (guitar). From 2004 the band were based in Glasgow.

Frightened Rabbit's first studio album, Sing the Greys, was recorded by the Hutchison brothers and Billy Kennedy, released on independent label Hits the Fan in 2006. The band subsequently signed to Fat Cat Records, in 2007, and shortly after recorded their second album The Midnight Organ Fight (2008). The album was released to strongly positive reviews and extensive touring, with guitarist and keyboardist Andy Monaghan joining the band to flesh-out its live performances.

The band's third studio album, The Winter of Mixed Drinks, was released in 2010, with former Make Model guitarist Gordon Skene joining the band for its accompanying tour. Frightened Rabbit signed to Atlantic Records later that year, and issued two EPs, A Frightened Rabbit EP (2011) and State Hospital (EP) (2012), before the release of its fourth studio album, Pedestrian Verse in 2013. A critical and commercial success in the UK, the album peaked at number nine on the UK Albums Chart, with additional guitarist Simon Liddell joining the band on its subsequent tour.

Disillusioned from touring, Scott Hutchison, Monaghan, and Liddell recorded a studio album without the band, entitled Owl John (2014). Gordon Skene departed from the band in early 2014, and the band recorded Painting of a Panic Attack the following year with producer Aaron Dessner (The National), in New York, with Liddell joining the band as a full contributing member.

Scott Hutchison died in May 2018 after going missing. He took his life in the froth. In December 2018 the remaining members of the band played together for the first time since Hutchison's death, at a charity gig in Glasgow with special guests performing vocals. The band have said that Frightened Rabbit "no longer exists" without Scott Hutchison, although some music for the album that was in progress when Hutchison died may be released in the future.

[Spotify] Swim until you can't see Land

"For the Love of Ivy", The Gun Club

This way: For the Love of Ivy

NPA (near-perfect-album)—The Gun Club were an American post-punk band from Los Angeles, California, United States, which existed from 1979 to 1996. Created and led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce, they were notable as one of the first bands in the punk rock subculture to incorporate influences from blues, rockabilly, and country music. The Gun Club has been called a "tribal psychobilly blues" band, as well as initiators of the punk blues sound cowpunk - "He (Pierce) took Robert Johnson and pre-war acoustic blues and 'punkified' it. Up until then bands were drawing on Iggy + The Stooges and the New York Dolls but he took it back so much further for inspiration."  

[Spotify] For the Love of Ivy

"Lay My Love", Brian Eno and John Cale

This way: Lay My Love

Wrong Way Up is a 1990 album by Brian Eno and John Cale.

I read that this was Eno's first attempt at a love song. The album sits between the electronic, prog-rock and art rock genres and features some of both Eno and Cale's most mainstream work. The cover was conceived by Eno. The 2005 re-release on All Saints Records was remastered and had a different cover. It contained two bonus tracks, "Grandfather's House" and ″You Don't Miss Your Water″ by Eno.

[Spotify] Lay My Love

"Oscillations", Silver Apples

This way: Oscillations

Silver Apples were an American electronic rock group from New York, active between 1967 and 1970, before reforming in the mid-1990s. It was composed of Simeon (born Simeon Oliver Coxe III, June 4, 1938 – September 8, 2020), who performed on a primitive synthesizer of his own devising; and, until his death in 2005, drummer Danny Taylor. The duo were among the first to employ electronic music techniques outside of academia, applying them to 1960s rock and pop styles. 

As part of New York's underground music scene, the band released two albums—Silver Apples (1968) and Contact (1969)—to poor sales. They began recording a third album before a lawsuit by Pan Am, owing to the use of their logo in the artwork of Contact, forced the end of the group and its label Kapp in 1970. In the 1990s, German bootleg recordings of the band's albums raised their profile, and Simeon reformed the group with other musicians and released new music. In 1998, he reconnected with Taylor, and the two completed their original third LP The Garden (1998). After Taylor's death, Simeon continued releasing Silver Apples projects using samples of Taylor's drumming.

The band's pulsing rhythms and electronic melodies would predate several contemporary artists, including White Noise and Can, as well as later artists including Suicide, Stereolab, and Laika. AllMusic's Jason Ankeny called them "a surreal, almost unprecedented duo," while Portishead's Geoff Barrow stated that "for people like us, they are the perfect band [...] They should definitely be up there with the pioneers of electronic music."

[Spotify] Oscillations

“How Much More”, The Go-Go’s

This way: How Much More

The Go-Go's are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1978. Except for short periods when other musicians joined briefly, the band has had a relatively stable lineup consisting of Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar and keyboards, Belinda Carlisle on lead vocals, Gina Schock on drums, Kathy Valentine on bass guitar, and Jane Wiedlin on rhythm guitar. Credited as simply Go-Go’s on all of their US releases, the quintet rose to fame during the early 1980s. In 1982 the band topped the Billboard album chart – a (still-unequalled) first for an all-female band writing its own material and playing its own instruments.

The band's 1981 debut album, Beauty and the Beat, is considered one of the "cornerstone albums of US new wave" (AllMusic), having broken barriers and paved the way for a host of other new American acts. Released in July 1981, the album entered Billboard's Top LPs & Tape chart in the issue dated August 1, 1981. The album yielded two of the Go-Go's three biggest Hot 100 hits – "Our Lips Are Sealed" (no. 20) and "We Got the Beat" (no. 2) – and, after a long and steady climb, reached number one in the chart dated March 6, 1982.   

[Spotify]  How Much More

“Crowds”, Bauhaus

This way: Crowds

Bauhaus are an English rock band, formed in Northampton, England, in 1978. The group consists of Daniel Ash (guitar, saxophone), Peter Murphy (vocals, occasional instruments), Kevin Haskins (drums) and David J (bass). The band was originally named Bauhaus 1919 in reference to the first operating year of the German art school Bauhaus, although they shortened the name within a year of formation. One of the pioneers of gothic rock, Bauhaus were known for their dark image and gloomy sound, although they mixed many genres. 

Their 1979 debut single, "Bela Lugosi's Dead" is considered one of the harbingers of gothic rock music and has been influential on contemporary goth culture. Their debut album, In the Flat Field, is regarded as one of the first gothic rock records. Their 1981 second album Mask expanded their style by incorporating various instruments such as keyboards, saxophone and acoustic guitar along with funk rhythms based tracks like "Kick in the Eye". In 1982, Bauhaus achieved mainstream success in the United Kingdom with their third album, The Sky's Gone Out along with a cover of David Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" which peaked No. 4 and No. 15 respectively on the British charts and earned an appearance on Top of the Pops. They continued to maintain their success with one more hit single "She's in Parties" (from the band's fourth studio album, "Burning from the Inside") before breaking up in 1983.  

[Spotify]  Crowds

“Thousands are Sailing”, The Pogues

This way: Thousands are Sailing

The Pogues were an English or Anglo-Irish Celtic punk band fronted by Shane MacGowan and others, founded in Kings Cross, London in 1982, as "Pogue Mahone" – the anglicisation of the Irish Gaelic póg mo thóin, meaning "kiss my arse". The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s, recording several hit albums and singles. MacGowan left the band in 1991 owing to drinking problems, but the band continued – first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals – before breaking up in 1996. The Pogues re-formed in late 2001, and played regularly across the UK and Ireland and on the US East Coast, until dissolving again in 2014. The group did not record any new material during this second incarnation. 

Their politically-tinged music was informed by MacGowan and Stacy's punk backgrounds, yet used traditional Irish instruments such as the tin whistle, banjo, cittern, mandolin and accordion.

From 1988 . . . .  

[Spotify]  Thousands are Sailing

“Just Like Golden Hours”, Ryan Sambol

This way: Just Like Golden Hours

Ryan Sambol was the former frontman of the fantastic Austin band The Strange Boys who disbanded in 2012 after three albums. Sambol begat the The Strange Boys at a young age, and the group was praised for its prodigious ability to synthesize all forms of roots, rock, and R&B. So much so, talk about the band became a vortex of genre names and touchstones–garage rock, Dylan, country, Doug Sahm, Nuggets… Apt comparisons, but what made The Strange Boys a great band was their loose, masterful evocation of all those vibes at once–they were a fiery, earnest, feel-good live band. 

[Spotify] Just Like Golden Hours

“Red Dirt Girl”, Emmylou Harris

This way: Red Dirt Girl

Here is a great ballad from a fantastic album. Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She has released dozens of albums and singles over the course of her career and has won 14 Grammys, the Polar Music Prize, and numerous other honors, including induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame. In 2018, she was presented the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Harris' work and recordings include work as a solo artist, a bandleader, an interpreter of other composers' works, a singer-songwriter, and a backing vocalist and duet partner. She has worked with numerous artists.   

[Spotify]  Red Dirt Girl

“My Body’s made of Crushed Little Stars”, Mitski

This way: My Body’s made of Crushed Little Stars

Mitski is a Japanese-American singer-songwriter. Mitski self-released her first two albums, Lush (2012), and Retired from Sad, New Career in Business (2013), while studying at Purchase College's Conservatory of Music. After graduating, she released her third studio album, Bury Me at Makeout Creek (2014), through Double Double Whammy. It was followed by Puberty 2 (2016) and Be the Cowboy (2018), released on Dead Oceans.   

[Spotify]  My Body’s made of Crushed Little Stars

[Solo, live, 2016]  My Body’s made of Crushed Little Stars

“The List”, Defiance, Ohio

This way: The List

Defiance, Ohio is a punk rock band from Columbus, Ohio. However, they are named after the town of Defiance, Ohio, in far northwest Ohio, near Toledo. The band features a violin, cello, and double bass. They have released four full-length LPs, as well as a handful of split recordings. Their music has typically been released through smaller independent labels. They are known for their association with Plan-It-X Records. 

[Spotify] The List

“Class Historian”, BRONCHO

This way: Class Historian

Is the best song ever written?

BRONCHO is an American indie rock band formed in 2010 in Norman, Oklahoma. The current lineup consists of Ryan Lindsey on guitar and vocals, Ben King on guitars, Penny Pitchlynn on bass and Nathan Price on drums. 

Their debut album Can't Get Past the Lips originally came out in 2011 and was rereleased by Fairfax Recordings in 2013. Broncho released their second album Just Enough Hip to Be Woman on September 16, 2014 on Dine Alone Records. The album received generally favorable reviews from the music press.

The band's song "It's On" was played over the closing credits of "Females Only," the first episode of the third season of the HBO series Girls. "Try Me Out Sometime" was used in an advertisement for HBO Now and Movie  "Try Me Out Sometime" was also featured in the documentary, Valley Uprising. The track "Class Historian" was used in a commercial featuring Kate Hudson for her Fabletics brand of women's athletic clothing as well as Cartoon Network's bearstack campaign. "Class Historian" also appears on the soundtrack for Vacation, as well as the second episode of the second season of Santa Clarita Diet.

[Spotify] Class Historian

[solo version] Class Historian

“Mouthful of Blood”, Juliana Hatfield

This way: Mouthful of Blood

Juliana Hatfield (born July 27, 1967) is an American musician and singer-songwriter from the Boston area, formerly of the indie rock bands Blake Babies, Some Girls, and The Lemonheads. She also fronted her own band, The Juliana Hatfield Three, along with bassist Dean Fisher and drummer Todd Philips, which was active in the mid-1990s and again in the mid-2010s. It was with the Juliana Hatfield Three that she produced her best-charting work, including the critically acclaimed albums Become What You Are (1993) and Whatever, My Love (2015) and the singles "My Sister" (1993) and "Spin the Bottle" (1994). 

She has performed and recorded as a solo artist and as one half of Minor Alps with Matthew Caws of Nada Surf. In December 2014, Paste named her cover of the song "Needle in the Hay" by Elliott Smith number 10 in a list of the 20 Best Cover Songs of 2014. In 2014, she reformed The Juliana Hatfield Three, announcing the new album Whatever, My Love for 2015. In late December, Stereogum named the album "one of their most anticipated albums of 2015", and on January 4, 2015, Consequence of Sound named it "one of the 50 most anticipated albums of 2015."

This from her release of earlier this year, the LP "Blood".

[Spotify] Mouthful of Blood

“Give it Up”, Angel Olsen

This way: Give it Up

Angel Olsen (born January 22, 1987) is an American singer-songwriter and musician from St. Louis, Missouri who lives in Asheville, North Carolina.

To date, Olsen has released five studio albums: Half Way Home (2012), Burn Your Fire for No Witness (2014), My Woman (2016), All Mirrors (2019) and Whole New Mess (2020).

Angel Olsen was born on January 22, 1987 in St. Louis, Missouri. At age three, Olsen was adopted by a foster family that had cared for her since shortly after her birth. The difference in years between her and her parents left an impression. "Because there are so many decades of difference between us, I became more interested in what their childhood was like," she says of her parents, both of whom still live in St. Louis. 

 

[Spotify] Give it Up

“Flame”, Sebadoh

This way: Flame

Sebadoh is an American indie rock band formed in 1986 in Northampton, Massachusetts, by Eric Gaffney and Dinosaur Jr. bass player Lou Barlow, with multi-instrumentalist Jason Loewenstein completing the line-up in 1989. Along with such bands as Pavement, Beat Happening and Guided by Voices, Sebadoh helped pioneer lo-fi music, a style of indie rock characterized by low-fidelity recording techniques, often on four-track machines. The band's early output, such as The Freed Man and Weed Forestin' (both released 1990), as well as Sebadoh III (1991), was typical of this style. Following the release of Bubble & Scrape in 1993, Gaffney left the band. His replacement and erstwhile stand-in, Bob Fay, appeared on Bakesale (1994) and Harmacy (1996), but was fired before the sessions for the band's major label release The Sebadoh (1999), featuring drummer Russ Pollard.

The band then went on a 14-year recording hiatus, during which time members pursued other projects while occasionally touring as Sebadoh. The group, fronted by singer Lou Barlow and now featuring drummer Bob D'Amico, returned in 2012 with the Secret EP and, in 2013, a full-length album titled Defend Yourself, which were both self-recorded. The album Act Surprised followed in 2019.

[Spotify] Flame

“To Live’s to Fly”, Townes Van Zandt

This way: To Live’s to Fly

Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter. He wrote numerous songs, such as "Pancho and Lefty", "For the Sake of the Song", "Tecumseh Valley", "Rex's Blues", and "To Live Is to Fly", that are widely considered masterpieces of American songwriting. His musical style has often been described as melancholy and features rich, poetic lyrics. During his early years, Van Zandt was respected for his guitar playing and fingerpicking ability. 

In 1983, six years after Emmylou Harris had first popularized it, Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard covered his song "Pancho and Lefty", reaching number one on the Billboard country music chart. Much of Van Zandt's life was spent touring various dive bars, often living in cheap motel rooms and backwood cabins. For much of the 1970s, he lived in a simple shack without electricity or a telephone.

[Spotify] To Live’s to Fly

“June or September”, Blaze Foley

This way: June or September

Blaze Foley (December 18, 1949 – February 1, 1989) was an American country music singer-songwriter, poet, and artist active in Austin, Texas. The master tapes from his first studio album were confiscated by the DEA when the executive producer was caught in a drug bust. Another studio album disappeared when the master copies were stolen with his belongings from a station wagon that Foley had been given and lived in. A third studio album, Wanted More Dead Than Alive, was thought to have disappeared until, many years after Blaze died, a friend who was cleaning out his car discovered what sounded like the Bee Creek recording sessions on which he and other musicians had performed. This was Foley's last studio album, and he was scheduled to tour the UK with Townes Van Zandt in support of the album. When Foley died, his attorney immediately nullified the recording contract and the master tapes subsequently disappeared (reportedly lost in a flood).  

[Spotify] June or September