In my recent opinion piece on music appreciation, I opined that music has become less time sensitive in the new media age. So I am starting a new music feature to highlight recommended new (mainly) pop-rock albums on a post-monthly basis. So here it is – Recommended Albums (September 2020). Check them out!
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7 track album
Source: Black Aura My Sun, by Deserta
Listen to the new album from Deserta. For fans of dream pop.
Credit : Michael Wood
English singer-songwriter Ralegh Long is back with a new song – “Heaven, Almost” – now playing at your favourite streaming service. A chamber pop instant classic.
It is such a rush when a singer-songwriter-musician nails his colours to prog rock in this day and age! In fact, Durkee is proud to describe his music as “a blend of progressive, metal/rock, doom metal, post-hardcore, and post-rock.” A brave man!
Lost within the hype, attention and brouhaha over the 50th anniversary re-issue of The Beatles “White Album”, is First Collection 2006 – 2009, a retrospective on the early Fleet Foxes recordings.
After the success of last year’s Sgt Pepper remix reissue, this 50th anniversary edition of my favourite Beatles album was the one to look out for!
Hard rock revival? I fuckin’ hope so! Add another band to the burgeoning list – Ontario’s The Castor Troys.
Seattle new wave revivalists Spirit Award are back with a new album, Muted Crowd.
Aussie indie pop starlet San Mei returns with a new EP, Heaven.
The Rachets (Ashbury Park, NJ) sound like a cross between The Clash, The ‘Mats and The Hold Steady. Which is fine with me!
Good to hear that James Lye who played guitar with me in The Groovy People years back has set up his own label – Maker Records, and it has released the new single from Bakers in Space.
A rare thing indeed to come across a pop song that addresses the social issues of Singapore but Shannon Luke has done exactly that with his latest single, “The Survey”.
The Haunting of Hill House is a horror drama miniseries streaming on Netflix. Loosely based on Shirley Wilson’s classic 1959 novel of the same name, this Netflix series is a tour-de-force from writer-director Mike Flanagan and possibly one of the best of its kind this year.
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Photo credit : James Omara
EC fans received a bit of a scare after the singer-songwriter cancelled a clutch of live dates due to ill health. But news of his recovery and the release of Look Now – one of Costello’s best albums of recent times – must have cheered diehard followers!
There is a pleasing new wave of music artists taking the bold step of making ‘real’ music again. The old-fashioned way, so to speak. Like Texas-based singer-songwriter Molly Burch.
Philly indie rockers Restorations return from a 4 year hiatus to deliver a powerful new album, LP5000.
In 2018, retro pop rock still has relevance though probably not for millennials and younger generations. But it matters not. I know that the PoP Faithful will enjoy these releases. Good enough!
Continuing our lookback at our publishing history with a decade-old review of Brass Bed!
BRASS BED Midnight Matinee (Self released)
I’m guessing that Brass Bed got their name from Dylan’s Lay Lady Lay but I could be wrong.
Mention Styx online and chances are you are going to be trolled. But for a time, the pop-rock quintet were one of the biggest bands on the planet.
When Trump became President, there was lots of talk about how resistance to his administration would inspire loads of protest music similar to the 80s with Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. Has not quite panned out that way, so thank goodness for Seattle’s The Refusers!
The moment one gets into Ken Sharp’s latest album, Beauty in the Backseat, one is transported back to the ’70s, where pop-rock was king of the airwaves.
