Malcolm Gauld
A new batch, mostly 2021 releases. Go to my Spotify playlist titled “Fresh Songs for a Stale Quarantine” for a listen.
1. “Glenfern” by Kathleen Edwards – Just discovered Ms. Edwards. Already like her. “When I go walking in my neighborhood, I wonder how I even got here.”
2. “Idaho” by BoDeans. Off 2020 Vision. Great to have these guys back in the game. “Staring at the world from my home in Idaho…”
3. “Be Good” by Carsie Blanton. Words to live by: “Be good to the people you love and love everybody you like.”
4. “Special Announcement” by The Felice Brothers. Off Special Announcement (2021) – “I’m saving up my money to be President… I can promise more berries On Blueberry Hill. I can promise you this:
Charlie Parker on the ten dollar bill.”
5. “On the Inside” by Bailey Kent ’18. Off On the Inside (2021 EP) – One of three Hyde alums on this list. (Any alums out there with recent releases? Send ’em my way.) Check out this 4-minute doc video about Bailey’s music and this EP:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=%22On+the+Inside%22+by+bailey+kent&docid=608003692899012261&mid=BBAFD5620DE075DA2D63BBAFD5620DE075DA2D63&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
6. “The Balcony” by Fruit Bats. Off The Pet Parade – My new favorite song. (This week, anyway.) Never heard of these guys, but this is very catchy. “Now alone again as usual, Out on the balcony. A two-point-eight is still a quake, And it can shake away what you believe.”
7. “I’m More Inclined” by Teenage Fanclub – Kinda like a 60s pop song. “This life is complicated. It’s enough to make you blue. And then you have the rug get pulled from under you.”
8. “Coltrane” by Hailey Tuck – Where has this girl been all my life? Such a clear voice! Would have fit perfectly in a smoky 40s jazz club fronting a tight combo. She also does awesome covers of songs you would not expect: Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice”… The Zombies’ (remember them?!?) “Tell Her No”… “My Funny Valentine”… even The Carpenters’ “Close to You.” Cannot understand why she is not huge! (I know, I say that a lot!)
9. “Sanctuary” by Hiss Golden Messenger – Straight ahead. Catchy. “Feeling bad, feeling blue. Can’t get out of my own mind, but I know how to sing about it.”
10. “Kathy’s Waltz (Previously Unreleased)” by The Dave Brubeck Quartet. Off Time OutTakes (2021). Previously unreleased takes from the original 1959 recording sessions. More proof that those must have been some awesome sessions!
11. “Feelz” by Bay Ledges – The latest from Zach Hurd ’99. “And I could just turn it off, but you can’t turn off a feeling.”
12. “You” by Keep Shelly In Athens (featuring Georgia Hurd ’03 on vocals) – “It’s a family affair.”.. Wait, that’s a different song, but you get the idea…
13. “If You Love Me” by Christone “Kingfish” Ingram – Play the blues! “If you love me, please say that you do; If you don’t, I’m through with you.”
14. “Sleeping” by The Band. Off Live at the Royal Albert Hall, 1971 (2020 Remix). My Top-5 all-time fave bands list might change from time-to-time, but these guys have permanent status. The incomparable Richard Manual, RIP serves up the vocals on this stripped down version of a lesser known tune from the Stage Fright (1970) album. As always, Richard is hauntingly beautiful. “Sad old ships. A morning eclipse. I’ve spent my whole life sleeping.”
15. “Truck Stop at the End of the World” by Bill Kirchen – Off King of Dieselbilly (2005) Not new, but Messr. Kirchen was put on this earth to dwell among the many here among us who think that life is but a joke. “Well, my CB tells me they went and started World War 3. Now listen here truckers, them missiles don’t scare me…”
(Rock) Onward, Malcolm Gauld
