Each Friday, I go to a half dozen websites to find interesting new music releases I want to check out. I write them down and listen to them over the next week. I am happy to share this list with you. Remember that I haven’t listened to these albums yet, so I can’t attest to their quality. But I am eager to check them out. If you find this post helpful, be sure and like it. If I get some likes, I will continue these posts weekly.
- *Alison Brown & Steve Martin – Safe, Sensible, & Sane (Bluegrass w guest stars)
- * William Prince – from the Country (First Nations Americana singer-songwriter expands his laid back sound)
- *Neil Young – Archives Volume III 1976-1987
- Miles Kane – Sunlight in the Shadows (fuzztone-soaked, T. Rex-inspired rock)
- Chrissie Hynde – Duets Special (Pretenders singer)
- Meme del Real, La Montaña Encendid (Solo record from member of great Mexican rock band Cafe Tacuva)
- Charlie Pride – Endlessly: A Tribute to Brook Benton (unreleased record from mid-1980s by country star)
- Silvana Estrada, Vendrán Suaves Lluvias (Mexican singer-songwriter inspired by Joni Mitchell’s Blue)
- Holly Golightly – Look Like Trouble (punk blues legend)
- JD Crowe and the New South – JD Crowe and the New South (remastered bluegrass classic w 2 bonus tracks)
- Joshua Ray Walker – Stuff (Americana)
- Mariel Buckley – Strange Trip Ahead (mostly acoustic- based indie rock album)
- Tame Impala – Deadbeat (dance music by former guitar psychedelic artist)
- Boz Scaggs – Detour (melancholy vocal standards)
- Todd Snider – High, Lonesome and Then Some (Americana)
- Kenny Barron – Sunset to Dawn (reissue of jazz pianists 1st album)
- Good Luck – Big Dreams, Mister (indie/emo/power pop/folk punk band)
- Orchestra of the Swan – Light and Shadow (interpretations of well-known film scores)
- Lan Lang – Piano Book 2 (classical solo piano)
Sources: https://www.americanaboogie.com, https://www.allmusic.com, https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/606254804/new-music-friday, https://www.brooklynvegan.com/ and Spotify’s new release radar.
Here are new songs not (yet) on albums I am eager to check out. Sort the playlist so the newest songs are first. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5PzB7LYHLlnj9ZIY8DibaV?si=EKGoEfSPTJmVGNbSTwPvQg&pi=6asgzWQhSAKHz
Music spotlight:
I recently rewatched the Coen Brothers’ film A Serious Man (along with the great movie podcast Blank Check). If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend A Serious Man. I was struck by a beautiful Yiddish ballad that appears in the film several times, “Dem Milners Trern.” A little internet research indicated that the song was written by Mark Warshawsky. Warshawsky was a lawyer in the Ukraine during the last half of the 1800s. He wrote songs on the side, and the only reason we know his songs today is because Sholom Aleichem, the beloved Yiddish writer, got him to publish his songs. Here is a Spotify playlist of Warshawsky’s songs. The version of Dem Milners Tren from A Serous Man is not on Spotify, but I found a similar-sounding version.