Monday Music

It's another Monday so here's some tunes I've been digging over the last few days/weeks/whenever...time seems both maddeningly fast and slow these days. 

First up is The Front Bottoms "Fairbanks, Alaska." They remind me of the Mountain Goats, but with a more pop bent. I think it was about a decade and a half ago that I became obsessed with Alaska. I read many books on the state and even subscribed to Alaska magazine for a year. It still fascinates me and I hope to visit there one day. Right now, this great song can take me there.

The Front Bottoms

Better Oblivion Community Center is Phoebe Bridgers and Conner Oberst and I really dig their tune "Dylan Thomas" for various reasons. It has this great mid-Nineties indy music vibe reminding me a lot of Bettie Serveert and I love the line "strapped into a corset, climbed into your Corvette." Plus my father was a big Dylan Thomas fan....I suppose poets can have fans, right?

Better Oblivion Community Center

Jefferson Starship's "Stranger" is a rocking tune from their 1981 Modern Times album. 

Jefferson Starship

The Beths are a great band from New Zealand led by Elizabeth Stokes. The "Future Me Hates Me" video puts me in mind of a Wes Anderson movie. This dreamy pop kills me every time. I don't know if its the pure water in New Zealand, but so much great music comes from there.

The Beths

The self-titled Genesis album (often called "Shapes") from 1983 has been in high rotation the last week or so (a dirt cheap "target" West German cd pressing) and it blows my mind that the 4th single "Taking It All Too Hard" didn't really receive much of a push. Sure; you make a video that will offend loads of people years later (see "Illegal Alien" for reference), but this wonderful tune didn't merit one. I'm generally not that keen on fan made videos but this one featuring scenes from the movie Career Opportunities is quite good.

Genesis - Taking It All Too Hard

One of my favorite YouTube channels is the NewRetroWave one. If you like 80's style synth music check it out. Here's a nice short instrumental from Gab Manette which dropped a week or so ago. Plus, if you put a photo of 80's era Molly Ringwald as the thumbnail for your video I will probably watch it. 

I'm sure I've posted this before (maybe just on my FB page...maybe not), but this is my blog so my rules. I'm not for shoplifting, but the moment at 4:02 in this video when she plays the purloined record is pure Wizard of Oz inspired magic. This is what music does for me. It turns the darkest day into technicolor.

New Order "Temptation"