“The Great Divide”, Wussy

This way: The Great Divide

Wussy is an American four-piece indie rock band formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2001. The band consists of Chuck Cleaver (vocals/guitar), Lisa Walker (vocals/guitar), Joe Klug (drums) and Mark Messerly (bass). Former members include Dawn Burman (drums) and John Erhardt (pedal steel). Cleaver and Walker write most of the songs and either alternate lead vocals or sing them in harmony. Live performances feature the two vocalists having a "combative rapport". They have released seven albums, one live album, two EPs, one mini LP and a number of singles.  

Wussy formed in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2001 while Chuck Cleaver had just released the last album with his previous group, Ass Ponys.[9] He met Lisa Walker and asked her to perform with him at a local awards show in Cincinnati in 2001. Following the performance the duo decided to form a band together. Walker, originally from Muncie, Indiana, attended Cedarville University and has worked in marketing. They were joined by Messerly on bass and Dawn Burman on drums in 2002. Burman had not yet mastered the instrument but joined as she "loved their sound and wanted to be part of it". Cleaver finalised his previous band with a compilation in 2005 leaving him to concentrate on Wussy. They made their recording debut in 2005 with the album Funeral Dress on Shake it Records, the label of a local record store of the same name. The record was produced by John Curley at his Ultrasuede Studios, where the band would continue to record future albums. While making the album all four band members suffered some personal hardship that inspired much of the 2007 record.

[Spotify] The Great Divide

“Sad Peter Pan”, Vic Chestnutt

This way: Sad Peter Pan

If you don't know Vic Chestnutt you need to get busy, a trove awaits. Vic Chesnutt (November 12, 1964 – December 25, 2009) was an American singer-songwriter from Athens, Georgia. His first album, Little, was released in 1990. His commercial breakthrough came in 1996 with the release of Sweet Relief II: Gravity of the Situation, a charity record of alternative artists covering his songs.

Chesnutt released 17 albums during his career, including two produced by Michael Stipe, and a 1996 release on Capitol Records, About to Choke. His musical style has been described by Bryan Carroll of AllMusic as a "skewed, refracted version of Americana that is haunting, funny, poignant, and occasionally mystical, usually all at once". 

Injuries from a 1983 car accident left him partially paralyzed; he used a wheelchair and had limited use of his hands.

[Spotify] Sad Peter Pan

“Tuxxxedo Mask”, Dadadoh

This way: Tuxxxedo Mask

I cought this band playing at the First Friday event in Phoenix at the Heard Museum. A very terrific band making all kinds of good noise and music. A great hybred of rock and rap. This album is dedicated to the Phoenix music scene. A city of HOOLIGANS! Every song on it is about our time in the city making music after releasing WOWEE! From taking wild trips with loved ones to losing people to drug abuse to dead end relationships: this album is the audio version of a reality show that is the Phoenix music scene!  Released April 29, 2022

[Spotify] Tuxxxedo Mask

“I want one of Those”, Hugh Cornwell

This way: I want one of Those

Hugh Alan Cornwell (born 28 August 1949) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and writer, best known for being the lead vocalist and lead guitarist for the punk rock band the Stranglers from 1974 to 1990. Since leaving the Stranglers, Cornwell has recorded a further ten solo studio albums and continues to record and perform live.

Cornwell grew up in Tufnell Park and Kentish Town and attended William Ellis School in Highgate, where he played bass in a band with Richard Thompson, later a member of folk rock band Fairport Convention. In the late 1960s, after earning a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from the University of Bristol, he embarked on post-graduate research at Lund University in Sweden. Not long after his arrival he formed the band Johnny Sox.

The Stranglers

Cornwell returned to the UK in 1974 with Johnny Sox (minus Hans Wärmling). Drummer Jet Black then joined the band. At one stage it was just Cornwell and Black, who were then joined by bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel. Guitarist, keyboardist and saxophonist Hans Wärmling, on holiday from Sweden, joined the line-up towards the end of 1974. The Johnny Sox name was dropped, with the band adopting the name the Guildford Stranglers before settling on the Stranglers. 

[Spotify] I want one of Those

“Home”, Bat for Lashes

This way: Home

Natasha Khan (born 25 October 1979), known professionally as Bat for Lashes, is an English singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. She has released six studio albums: Fur and Gold (2006), Two Suns (2009), The Haunted Man (2012), The Bride (2016), Lost Girls (2019), and The Dream of Delphi (2024). She has received three Mercury Prize nominations. Khan is also the vocalist for Sexwitch, a collaboration with the rock band Toy and producer Dan Carey. 

[Spotify] Home

“Cavern”, Liquid Liquid

This way: Cavern

Liquid Liquid is an American no wave and dance-punk group, originally active from 1980 to 1983. They are best known for their track "Cavern," which was covered—without proper permission or attribution—by the Sugar Hill Records house band as the backing track for Melle Mel's old school rap classic "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)." The group released a series of extended plays, including the acclaimed 1983 12" EP Optimo. In 2008, the band reformed and have played in multiple countries.

Liquid Liquid emerged from downtown New York's no wave scene. The group's original records were pressed in very limited quantities on 99 Records, and can now fetch high prices. "Cavern" originally appeared on the EP, Optimo, recorded by Don Hünerberg. Though the pressings were small, the music has had a lasting and far-reaching impact. A music video for "Cavern" was produced by Michael Sporn.

[Spotify] Cavern

“Safety Pin Stuck in My Heart”, Patrick Fitzgerald

This way: Safety Pin Stuck in My Heart

Patrik Fitzgerald (born Patrick Joseph Fitzgerald, 19 March 1956, Stratford, East London) is an English singer-songwriter and an originator of folk punk. The son of working-class Irish immigrant parents, he began recording and performing during the punk rock movement in 1977, after working briefly as an actor. 

His early songs were generally short, sarcastic efforts, recorded with just an acoustic guitar and occasional studio effects, with lyrics containing a large amount of social comment. Fitzgerald was soon regarded as an original of his genre, somewhere between a punk-poet and an urban folksinger, and was lauded in some circles as "the new Bob Dylan". After starting out as a busker, he approached David Bowie's original manager, Ken Pitt, requesting his services; Pitt declined but an audition was set up with Noel Gay in 1975 who also turned Fitzgerald down.

In 1976 Fitzgerald auditioned, alongside Mick Jones and Tony James for the band London SS, again without success. After a spell acting in a communal theatre group (9 months in Stratford's The Soapbox Theatre), he drifted towards the developing Punk scene. He was a regular customer at the Small Wonder record shop in London, and when Small Wonder launched a record label Fitzgerald was one of the first to submit a demo – and got a deal, with the new label releasing his first three EPs, the first being Safety-Pin Stuck in My Heart, still his best-known work, and one which he subtitles "a love song for punk music". Patrik became a regular performer at London punk gigs, and supported The Jam on their national tour.

[Spotify] Safety Pin Stuck in My Heart 

“River of Dirt”, Marissa Nadler

This way: River of Dirt

Marissa Nadler (born April 5, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter. Active since 2000, she is currently signed to Sacred Bones Records and Bella Union, and released her ninth full-length studio album, The Path of the Clouds, in October 2021. Her music has been characterized as blending "traditional folk, Gothic Americana, and dreamy pop into an original musical framework". Her music "is rooted in old-school country and folk but brings in elements of experimental and black metal". Sometimes the term "dream folk" has been invoked to describe her work. 

Singing in a mezzo-soprano, Nadler has received acclaim for her vocals. Her voice was described by Pitchfork as one "you would follow straight into Hades", and also "textured and angelic, with just a hint of pain captured within her iridescent falsetto". The Boston Globe said, "She has a voice that, in mythological times, could have lured men to their deaths at sea, an intoxicating soprano drenched in gauzy reverb that hits bell-clear heights, lingers, and tapers off like rings of smoke".

[Spotify] River of Dirt

“I Dream of Wires”, Robert Palmer

This way: I Dream of Wires

Here is a cover of a Gary Numan song featuring him on keyboards. Robert Palmer (19 January 1949 – 26 September 2003) was an English singer and songwriter. He was known for his powerful and soulful voice, his sartorial elegance, and his stylistic explorations, combining soul, funk, jazz, rock, pop, reggae, and blues. His 1986 song "Addicted to Love" and its accompanying video came to "epitomise the glamour and excesses of the 1980s".

Having started in the music industry in the 1960s, including a spell with Vinegar Joe, Palmer found success in the 1980s, both in his solo career and with the Power Station, scoring Top 10 hits in the United Kingdom and the United States. Three of his hit singles, including "Addicted to Love", featured music videos directed by British fashion photographer Terence Donovan.

Palmer received a number of awards throughout his career, including two Grammy Awards for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance and an MTV Video Music Award. He was also nominated for the Brit Award for British Male Solo Artist in 1987 and 1989. He died from a heart attack aged 54.

[Spotify] I Dream of Wires

“New Day Rising”, Hüsker Dü

This way: New Day Rising

New Day Rising is the third studio album by the American punk rock band Hüsker Dü. It was released in 1985 through SST Records. As with its predecessor, the album continued to deviate from the fast-paced hardcore punk style of the band's earliest releases, showing an evolution towards slower tempos and more melody.[citation needed] According to music journalist Andrew Earles, the album expanded the "pop-core" side of the previous album into an entire album. Specifically, he cited the tracks "Chartered Trips", "Something I Learned Today", and "First of the Last Calls" from the previous album as having informed this album's sound.

The band released the album Zen Arcade through SST Records in July 1984, and the label's co-owner Joe Carducci immediately requested another album. The band wanted to self-produce, but SST insisted on Spot, who produced many of the label's albums, including all of Hüsker Dü's. The recording atmosphere was thus tense. 

[Spotify] New Day Rising