These are the Random Weekend selections I most enjoy — little blasts from the past that give me an excuse to catch up with an artist I’ve long ago forgotten.
Josh Joplin Group made a (very) minor alternative splash at the turn of the millennium, releasing an album called Useful Music that is among the better examples of that late 90s alt-rock sound.
I downloaded Big Star’s celebrated first two albums awhile back but I haven’t had a chance to dive into them just yet.
This is a band that has influenced many of my favorite artists and yet I know almost none of their music. The few tracks I’ve heard from their debut album (#1 Record) are excellent.
The Random iTunes Fairy is giving us a little sneak peek at one of next week’s featured artists.
Josh Rouse’s The Happiness Waltz is a breezy, sun-drenched album full of songs just like this one. Most of them take the perspective of a man who has lived a full but troubled life and finally arrived at a place of peace and (as the album title suggest) happiness.
The dozen or so albums Elvis Costello has released in the new millennium have run the gamut from work for symphony orchestras and jazz pianos to hard-edged country, alternative folk and a pop-funk collaboration with The Roots.
But the best of them may well be 2008’s Momofuku, the most conventional of the bunch.
Eschewing the high-concept themes of Costello’s other recent work, Momofuku was bashed out over a few weeks and released with little fanfare. And it’s exactly what the doctor ordered.
‘Metal Heart’ is a track from Garbage’s 2005 album Bleed Like Me, the last record they released before 2012’s comeback album, Not Your Kind of People.
Following their excellent first three records, Bleed Like Me was a bit of a disappointment. At least that’s how I remember it. I’ll be honest, I haven’t listened to it very often since its release. When I want to hear Garbage, I will almost always reach for their sophomore release, Version 2.0, one of the very best 90s albums.
Meet Me In Montauk 