Category Archives: Uncategorized

Time for another edition and as we’re just hours away from Valentine’s Day, we thought it would be appropriate to put together a playlist from our library. These are actual songs (you can’t make this stuff up)…..

1. Big Black Delta: “If—ingloveyou”
2. Chris Stowe: “I MIss Her When I’m Drinking”
3. Foxygen: “Why Did I Get Married?”
4. The Goodbye Radio: “I Don’t Mean A Thing I’m Saying”
5. I’m In You: “Call Me When You’re Drunk”
6. Jon Schande: “I Really Like Sonic Youth And I Really Want To Have Sex With You”
7. The Lovely Bad Things: “I Just Want You To Go Away”
8. The Martinets: “She Scares The Shit Out Of Me”
9. May McDonough & Company: “Hell Is For Lovers”
10. Partly Faithful: “Partly Faithful”
11. Standard Fare: “The Look Of Lust”
12. Time Travels: “You’re No Cary Grant…She Said”
13. Weepikes: “Bad Valentine”
14. Halestorm: “What Were You Expecting?”
and finally J.Geils Band: “Love Stinks”

Here are the new releases for February that we are following:

So Far:
Bert Jansch: “Avocet” (reissue complete with set of lithograph prints)
The Cult: “Hidden City”
Freakwater: “Scheherazade”
Dr. Dog: “The Psychedelic Swamp”
Elton John: “Wonderful Crazy Night”

February 11-12
Kanye West: “T.L.O.P.”
Wynonna & The Big Noise: “Wynonna & The Big Noise”

February 19
Animal Collective: “Painting With”
Yoko Ono: “Yes, I’m A Witch Too”
Wolfmother: “Victorious”
The Cave Singers: “Banshee”
Ra Ra Riot: “Need Your Light”
Mavis Staples: “Livin’ On A High Note”
Matmos: “Ultimate Care II”
Lake Street Dive: “Side Pony”
Jesu/Sun Kill Moon: “Jesu/Sun Kill Moon”
Cavern of Anti-Matter: “Void Beats/Invocation Trex” (ex-Stereo Lab)

February 26
Anthrax: “For All Kings”
Bonnie Raitt: “Dig In Deep”
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis: “This Unruly Mess I’ve Made”
Sarah Neufeld: “The Ridge”
School of Seven Bells: “SVIIB”
Yuck: “Stranger Things”
Peter Frampton: “Acoustic Classics”
Willie Nelson: “Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin”
Waco Brothers: “Going Down In History”
Emitt Rhodes: “Rainbow Ends” (his first new album in 43 years)
Lily & Madeline: “Keep It Together”

Our 2016 playlist is now at Spotify. We will be adding a bunch of new music in the next few days so check it out. I get asked constantly why we are using Spotify. Personally I would prefer my iTunes downloads and cds but the reality is that streaming sites like Spotify are the wave of the future. I came to that realization when I discovered that certain Chevrolet vehicles like the Sonic and Spark don’t have a cd player and manufacturers like Hyundai are eliminating the player from every vehicle they make……

Here is a link to my 2016 playlist (there are a few others available as well). It includes new music from David Bowie, Sia and Elton John plus artists like Field Music, School of Seven Bells and Wire (one of my favorite bands; don’t know how I missed their 2015 album) https://open.spotify.com/user/daa.com/playlist/5NNqBtJNKeuF4aVAlGC8dd.

Happy New Year. We made it through another year. We thought we would kick off the festivities with a list of what new music to expect during the month of January. But first we will start with a list of what you may have missed in December; after all maybe you have a gift card or two to use.

December:
Bruce Springsteen: “The Ties That Bind (The River Collection)”.
Coldplay: “A Head Full Of Dreams”
Kid Cudi: “Speedin’ Bullet To Heaven”
Rick Ross: “Black Market”
Sunn O))): “Kannon”
Grimes: “Art Angel”  (it would have been on my “best of” list)
Baroness: “Purple”
Cage The Elephant: “Tell Me I’m Pretty”

January 1
Rachel Platten: “Wildfire”

January 8
David Bowie: “Blackstar” (we will review this)
Official Soundtrack for “Straight Outta Compton” (featuring N.W.A., Eazy-E and Ice Cube)

January 15
Panic At The Disco: “Death Of A Bachelor”

January 22
Eleanor Friedberger: “New View” (you can hear a cut at our Spotify playlist)
Half Japanese: “Perfect”
Megadeath: “Dystopia”
Savages: “Adore Life”
Shearwater: “Jet Plane And Oxbow” (one of our favorite bands)
The London Suede: “Night Thoughts”
The Besnard Lakes: “A Coliseum Complex Museum”
Tindersticks: “The Waiting Room”
Tortoise: “The Catastrophist”
Ty Segall: “Emotional Mugger”
Black Sabbath: deluxe editions of “Black Sabbath”, “Paranoid” and “Master Of Reality”
Santigold: “99c”

January 29
Basement: “Promise Everything”
Bloc Party: “Hymns”
Nevermen: “Nevermen” (TV On The Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe, Mike Patton of Faith     No More and Adam “Doesone” Drucker)
Sia: “This Is Acting” (Her last album made our “best of list”)
Tedeschi Trucks Band: “Let Me Get By”

We close out 2015 with music…what else. We found this at one of our favorite sites (Aquarium Drunkard); and who better to provide music for a festive holiday than Mae West, Tom Waits and Buck Owens. Click here for the downloads. Happy Holidays. Enjoy.

Well it is the season to be jolly, right? And in keeping with the holiday spirit, the staff at “Dave’s Not Here” wanted to share some time-honored traditional thoughts like “brotherhood”. And who better to express those sentiments than Tom Lehrer……..thanks Jeff. Click here.

 The Best Of 2015?

Another year (musically) is over. And where I had trouble finding 30 albums to choose from last year; this year I had trouble finding 20. Seriously. In case you are wondering, my criteria is really quite simple…..is this an album I will be listening to 5 years from now? Sorry Adele. So here we go and in no particular order:

Bjork: “Vulnicura Strings”. Bjork is an acquired taste and not for the faint of heart (musically). Her 2015 album “Vulnicura” was a mix of highs and lows and required repeated listenings to fully appreciate. She followed it with a companion project using her original vocals and only string accompaniment. It’s an album made even more intense by the sparse arrangements; but if anything it’s even better than the original. Of note the album features the Viola Organista, an instrument designed by Leonardo da Vinci, but only built centuries later. Click here.

Patty Griffin: “Servant Of Love”. This is her 10th album and easily her best. The country and gospel influences are less evident with more folk, rock and blues in the mix. As one publication put it, “Youngsters have their pop hits; this is songwriting for grown-ups”. Click here.

Husky Rescue: “The Long Lost Friend (Special Edition)”.  The Finnish indie electro-pop band’s latest is a double disc featuring music that came out in Finland in 2013; the second disc features more of the band’s current work. Included on the discs are remixes, instrumentals composed for a New York exhibition by designer Kustaa Saksi and music that was part of a series of seven-inch releases in Finland. This is not an album that I would call a classic by any means and like Bjork, it takes a few times through to really appreciate the music. But The highs so outweigh the low points that it made my list. Click here.

Kendrick Lamar: “To Pimp A Butterfly”. Hands down the best rap album of the year and destined to be one of the all-time classics. Kendrick may be to rap what Bob Marley was to reggae. Click here.

Laura Marling: “Short Movie”. Laura’s albums are so good that I fear people are starting to take her for granted. After all this is her 5th album in 7 years. The initial comparisons to Joni Mitchell and Fiona Apple have long since passed. Since she went electric (for now) it’s Chrissie Hynde. Here is a link to some free downloads (at Aquarium Drunkard) of an in-studio radio show she did for Sirius that included songs from the new album. Click here.

Jason Isbell: “Something More Than Free”. Jason isn’t rock, he isn’t country, he isn’t a folk singer and he isn’t indie/alternative even though this album has been #1 or #2 on each of those charts. He’s a songwriter, a musician and a major talent. I wouldn’t trust a “best of ” list that doesn’t include this album. Click here.

Courtney Barnett: “Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit”. This is the debut full-length album from the Australian indie/alternative rock singer and it’s superb. It also appears to have made just about every “best of” list this year….including mine. Click here.

Faith No More: “Sol Invictus”. FNM released their first album in 18 years to glowing reviews. I’m no fan of alternative metal especially when it’s mixed with hip-hop, funk and punk. But Faith No More has never been a band that was easy to define. As lead singer Mike Patton told Billboard magazine, “Sol Invictus” is “like ELO or The Beach Boys going through a gothic laundry cycle”. If you’re interested in the band’s older albums “The Real Thing” and “Angel Dust” are out on expanded double-disc reissues. Click here.

Reina del Cid: “The Cooling”. If you search you’ll find her listed as a singer-songwriter, but that misses the point, especially now that she has a full-time band. One Amazon reviewer called “The Cooling” an “engaging folk, funk, rock fusion straight out of Minneapolis”. More people need to hear this record. Click here.

Kasami Washington: “The Epic”. An album that appeals to hard core jazz fans and the rap/hip-hop audience is hard to find. But Kasami’s work with Kendrick Lamar gave him instant credibility and jazz fans were sure to follow. This ambitious 3-disc set makes a statement that few jazz albums have even attempted. Click here.

Ryley Walker: “Primrose Green”. Walker is a talent who seems to invoke Van Morrison, Nick Drake and John Martyn all at the same time. Some reviewers have complained that Ryley seems stuck in the 60s, which doesn’t seem like much of a criticism when you’re trying to figure out what decade Justin Bieber is stuck in. Click here.

 Best Reissue: Amare Toure/Ensemble Black & White: “Amare Toure (1973-1980)”. From our September 20 post: “There are many musical mysteries out there and this African percussionist-singer is one of the most intriguing. He had an affinity for Latin music, particularly Cuban; and this retrospective covers his most productive period. He was “the toast of Senegal”; now no one is sure if he is even alive.” If you’re interested you’ll other examples of the Senegal/Cuban connection at Amazon and eMusic. Click here.

Best Album From 2014 That I Missed: Mr. Twin Sister: “Mr. Twin Sister”. The Long Island band uniquely blends dream and indie pop in a hypnotic “electronic-tinged pop cocktail”. The songwriting is stellar which makes for an album you won’t tire of, and that’s saying a lot these days. Click here.

Best New Artist of 2015: Sasha Siem. The British-Norwegian singer, songwriter and classically trained composer draws comparisons to Laurie Anderson, Bjork and Kate Bush. Her 2015 album “Most Of The Boys” deserved more exposure than it got. She’s a major talent….stay tuned. Click here.

Best Song Of The Year: James McMurtry: “Forgotten Coast”. One of my all-time favorite artists channels JJ Cale and Jimmy Buffett. Click here.