In a feature introduced to The Personal Mixtape after week two, each participant will pose a question for a future participant.

This week, question 1 comes from Steve Goldberg of Earworms and Song Loops.

What song did you initially (and even secondarily) not like at all, but with time, age, and perspective, have come to not only appreciate, but even love (or like a lot)?

There has to be a better example of this, but I’ll go with the first one that popped into my head: Britney Spears’ “Toxic.” When I was in high school and college, I was a devout anti-poptimist (long before that term existed). I really relished being “not like the other girls” when it came to most things, but especially my musical tastes. Patriarchal, toxic masculinity bullshit that I couldn’t recognize or understand back then. Regardless, my whole body tensed up at popular music, and I refused to acknowledge even to myself in private that there was any merit to it.

I remember a year two after this song came out, I would have been a Sophomore in college or thereabouts, a few of my friends and I cut class to drive out to a roller rink in the middle of the day. It was empty (a weekday morning - imagine!) but the jams were pumping. I don’t remember a single song that played apart from “Toxic,” but that’s the day I fell in love with it. YouTube became a thing soon enough, and though in my memory the video for this song has her dancing with a snake on a plane, I now realize I’m mixing up “Toxic” and “I’m A Slave 4 U”, probably because Snakes on a Plane came along not far after that. A lot of snake-filled, pop culture memory associations in the early 2000s.

What song would you want to be remembered for loving?

This is one I’ve explained many times before, but let’s give it another try. Ted Leo’s “Timorous Me” has always been my song. Musically it’s not really typical for me – it’s equal parts Thin Lizzy and Irish funeral dirge. But it’s also about the perfect music fan, and that’s something I can deeply relate to. The actual perfect music fan was a real person. Her name was Timory Hyde, and she died tragically at a depressingly young age. She’s been eulogized by more than just Ted Leo, in fact. As somebody who’s obsessed with music but without any musical talent of my own, it’s a beautiful and relatable thing to hear about Timory, how Ted “watched her sing along with every word/in the prettiest voice that I never heard.” It’s a song about grief and loss, but for me it’s always been a song about loving music first and foremost.

What was your favorite song by your first favorite band?

I’m about to break a rule I didn’t realize I had until I read this question: never write about The Beatles. And yet, The Beatles were my first favorite band. Enough has been said about them and my additional commentary is uninteresting and unnecessary, so I’ll be brief: “Hey Bulldog” has always been my favorite Beatles track. It holds up to this day even though it’s not on any of my favorite albums (and I’m a full album girly, so I rarely get to hear it). There’s something so rough and unpolished about it compared to the rest of their work, even their post-touring output. I’d honestly class it as early garage rock. It also doesn’t hurt that it has one of the best bass lines in all of rock’n’roll.

What song instantly puts you in a particular season (summer, winter, etc.)?

I talk a lot about summer music, make a lot of summer playlists… warm weather is what I typically try to curate a musical mood for. But I think that has to do with the fact that it’s the more depressive, wintry music that is more evocative, and I guess I’ve been trying to pull away from it. Nothing puts me more instantly into three feet of snow than Radiohead’s “Just” (and really, all of The Bends). I used to be a top tier wallower and the entire record was full of grade A weep-worthy anthems. I’m just not built for leaning into depression anymore. Does that mean I’m not experiencing music to its full capacity these days? Now I’m worried.

What’s a song you wish more people knew about?

This is a tough question, because I function in albums and artists rather than individual songs most of the time. I’ll pick one I was certain I’ve already talked about:

Everyone considers 69 Love Songs to be The Magnetic Fields’ magnum opus, and for good reason. But 1995’s The Wayward Bus/Distant Plastic Trees is a twee pop icon, shimmery and light and floaty and a total about face from its darkly sardonic descendant. “100,000 Fireflies” – the very last song – is its shining diamond. There’s nothing to it except chiming keyboards, a drum machine, and one ethereal distant voice: “I have a mandolin, I play it all night long, it makes me want to kill myself…”

I dare anyone to name a more haunting, more beautiful, and simultaneously tongue-in-cheek track. It’s perfect.

What song would you want playing in the background of your dreams?

There is a type of pop music that I can’t seem to nail down, something I personally call “indulgent pop” – dreamy and sweeping and cinematic – that would be perfect for this. Something like Magdalena Bay or Hatchie. Maybe Deep Sea Diver.

What's your walk-on song?

I recently learned that a walk-on song specifically refers to music playing when athletes enter the field, rather than the song that plays when your character enters a movie scene for the first time. As the world’s least athletic person, I can’t imagine any universe, real or imaginary, where I would have any kind of walk-on song. But if this means theme song, it’s always going to be Viagra Boys, “Punk Rock Loser.” Nothing says “I think I’m cool but I’m actually a complete embarrassment” than this absolute banger. Also the video is a masterpiece (and I want to learn the stupid little dance at the end of it).

What’s a song you love that you were shocked to later find out was a cover?

Okay, I’ll bite, because this is incredibly embarrassing. “Hanging on the Telephone”. I had no idea until maybe 3 or 4 years ago that this wasn’t a Blondie original. Isn’t that insane? The Nerves’ version is fantastic, and I’m always so delighted to make these kinds of discoveries.

[Ed: I had no idea until I read your answer to this question, so don’t be so hard on yourself!!]

What's a song from an album — whether it's appeared on New Bands for Old Heads or not — that is so different from any previous music that you've struggled to (or even been unable to) find a good comparison to an earlier artist?

This happens all the time, but often not because it’s so different from something I’ve previously heard, and more because I’m lacking the necessary vocabulary, and I’m also creating artificial barriers with my own rules.

I can think of a lot of comparisons from, say, 10-20 years ago, but that doesn’t count as “old” for my readers so I have to dig further back. So because I tell myself I have to think of genuinely nostalgic comparison points, I frequently have problems finding RIYL analogues for many new songs.

Other times, I know for certain that I can hear an old influence in a song, something incredibly specific, but it won’t come to me. One in particular has been eating at me for years now – feeble little horse’s “Tin Man”. There’s something in the chorus that sounds unbelievably familiar to me, but I haven’t been able to grasp it. It stopped me from recommending the band wholesale for ages! I have, of course. Several times. But the usual comparisons – Pavement, Slowdive, Sonic Youth – aren’t really hitting the mark. Maybe somebody will finally solve this riddle for me.

I think I would have liked to hear the inverse of your previous question: What older artist do you struggle to find modern analogues for?

The list is endless, of course, but there are a few heavy hitters that I’m disappointed in myself for not finding obvious new comparisons for. R.E.M. is a big one. The earlier, janglier stuff seems doable, but once we get to Monster, I’m out. What new music sounds like “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” This can’t be rocket science; I love R.E.M. but (don’t come for me) they aren’t exactly that novel or out there, musically.

BONUS QUESTION!! Due to a scheduling mix up, I ended up with two questions from prior participants for Gabbie. This one comes from Brad Kyle of Front Row & Backstage.

If you already play an instrument, what's another instrument you'd like to try, and what song might you try to play first? If you don't play an instrument, what's one that you love the sound of, and would like to give it a go (either with lessons, or just playing by ear), and what's the first song you'd try to play? For our purposes here, voice is certainly included!

I never hold back about how talentless I am musically. I played the piano as a kid (in lots of air quotes, because I was lazy and didn’t get far) and I can carry a tune (my voice was made for harmonizing, not to be heard on its own!), but neither of those things count as knowing how to play an instrument. There’s a reason why I write about music, you know? I’ve always had the dime-a-dozen dream about being able to shred a guitar solo or – better yet – lay down a thick, complicated bass line. I even bought a bass a million years ago and I’d plunk out some of my favorite lines by ear. Unfortunately, I subscribe to the Coach McGuirk school of hobbies (“if you’re not immediately good at something, why do it?”), so I gave up almost immediately.

Playlists (Embedded and Hardcoded)

Spotify Playlist

YouTube Playlist

And now it’s over to you! Why not head to the comments to let us all know your thoughts on Gabbie’s picks and what some of your songs would have been.

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For volume seven of The Personal Mixtape we welcome Brad Kyle who publishes Front Row & Backstage (honestly, I feel like Brad needs no introduction, but ya never know!). Thanks so much to Brad for joining us!

Earlier this week, Front Row and Backstage celebrated five years on the platform! Congrats Brad on your momentous success and all that you do for the MusicStack community!!

If you’d like to be involved in this series, please send me a message!

In a feature introduced to The Personal Mixtape after week two, each participant will pose a question for the following participant.

This week, question 1 comes from Kristin of All The Things She Said.

Is there a specific song or artist/group that you and your dad shared a love for, or that brings up a specific memory of him?

Thank you, Kristin….I love your question, as I know you’re a regular Brad-reader, and it’s from that POV (like Mark’s questions) that makes the best questions! I answered Mark’s first question (this list’s #2) before I saw yours, so that’ll help focus-direct this one a bit more!

“Shared”: I really don’t recall me playing anything for him, but he’d always have his jazz playing, not only on just “random” nights, but certainly when Helen and Martin Mark (The Mertzes to my family’s Ricardos, to I-Love-Lucy the setting just a bit for ya!) came over for a couple hands of Pinochle and/or ping pong! This would’ve been anytime in the ‘60s (I was 15 in 1970, for a reference point).

One particular artist from Dad’s collection of 20,000 LPs and 78s that reminds me of him, it would have to be Duke Ellington. I learned a lot about the jazz master conductors/leaders/arrangers/composers like Ellington and Count Basie, and what they did and how they sounded was very attractive to me. They seemed to be “hip’n’happenin’,” but were far beyond the “sweet” and jumpy ‘30s/’40s big band stuff he still sometimes played, but this more “traditional” jazz was becoming more my jam than the wild and experimental notes of those like Miles Davis. My favorite vocalist to come out of this jazz milieu was definitely Ella Fitzgerald!

My choice for a Duke Ellington track is a live one from The Ed Sullivan Show, aired on March 7, 1965. It features the great Ella Fitzgerald fronting the Ellington Orchestra in a 3-song medley. This is significant on several fronts. I know I’d heard a lot of both Duke and Ella by the time I was 10, through Dad’s records! Ella quickly became my favorite female singer, ever, and a performance like this is a huge reason why! Plus, my family and I would always watch The Ed Sullivan Show on Sunday nights, and on this March 7, 1965 show, I was a week-and-a-half from my 10th birthday, and it’s highly likely I was sitting in front of the TV watching this with my folks!

[Ed: since this lovely live medley isn’t available on Spotify I’ve included “I’m Beginning To See The Light” and “Mood Indigo” from Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Duke Ellington Song Book and the live rendition of “Cotton Tail” from the July 27th performance on The Ella Fitzgerald & Duke Ellington Cote D’Azur Concerts on Verve on the Spotify playlist]

What’s a favorite song that one of your parents used to play when you were a kid?

I know we (my slightly older brother, Clint, and I) had a portable record player on which we played colored-vinyl Bozo the Clown records on (I was born in 1955). One might’ve looked like this:

Called a record-reader, these albums would have a “page” or two of record sleeves bound between a stiff cardboard outer jacket (note binding tape, above, on the left). There would also be pages bound within, that had words (and pictures) to the story a narrator would read on the record (there was theme music and interstitial music, too. There was an electronic “beep” (or other sound) the child would hear when the story continued on the next page (a “turn-the-page” notice). A fun example:

Beyond that, Dad might pull a novelty LP or 78 from his collection of 20,000, and play something like Lonnie Donegan’s “Does the Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour on the Bedpost Overnight?” or a Spike Jones track or two, or maybe Stan Freberg. With so much from which to choose, it’s hard to single out just one song Dad used to play for us! This recent “Vital Records” with Andy (aka Andres) reveals a couple of the actual comedy albums I know Dad used to play for Clint and me in the ‘60s:

The Vinyl Room

Vital Records #23: Phono Phunnies

We all know — and love — music history legend and writer extraordinaire Brad Kyle…

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3 months ago · 28 likes · 58 comments · Andres and Brad Kyle

What song feels like it doesn’t belong to the artist who made it?

Oy. The first musical aberration that came to mind, Mark, was this Mike Love abomination (he added lyrics to Leiber & Stoller’s classic “Riot in Cell Block #9”), and then proceeded to sing it (as “Student Demonstration Time”) with some sort of treatment to his voice, with the production adding sirens’n’such. It certainly doesn’t sound like a Beach Boys song!

Otherwise, 1971’s Surf’s Up is one of my favorite Beach Boys albums, and a lifelong favorite. But, it only took one listen back then, and I’d play Side 1, making sure I lifted the tonearm before it ventured anywhere near the “S.D.T.” zone, ending the side!

What song makes you think about time passing?

Wow….what an existential question! Beyond the obvious songs about “time,” in and of itself, my first thought would probably be, ironically enough, the duo of songs that ends that same wonderful Beach Boys’ Surf’s Up album (late August 1971), “‘Til I Die” and “Surf’s Up.” Both written by Brian Wilson, Van Dyke Parks wrote the lyrics to “Surf’s Up,” and Brian and the other Beach Boys contribute vocals on both. And, each and both songs can bring me to tears with little trouble.

Even at 16, and beginning my junior year of high school, as I was getting more familiar with those two songs in particular, they became hauntingly yearning and touching in their sadness, both in their lyrics, melodies, and chord changes. Since then, I’ve always played and considered those songs together as a medley, even though they’re not presented as such on the album. When asked what song(s) I’d like played at my funeral, these are forever my choices.

What song would you want playing as you walk into a room if you were in a film?

Probably the song I asked the DJ to play at the 1991 wedding reception for my newlywed wife and I, Genesis’ “Turn It On Again”! The DJ missed her cue on starting the song (and the marriage only lasted 6 months), so it’d be nice to hear it played “correctly,” upon my entrance into a filmed scene….the opening guitar figure making for a tension-filled backdrop for my entrance as (pick one) A) the arch-nemesis (are nemeses ever anything but arch-? or B) the ka-night in shining armour!

What’s your most memorable song from a movie?

It has to be the one that made me stop the damn thing, re-wind the DVD, and hear it again…and, I still couldn’t believe I was hearing a song that would quickly and firmly plant itself in my all-time Top 10, and I just stumbled onto it in a “foreign movie”! Picture it: Late-’90s, a British-made film called Get Real that I had put in my Netflix queue. Its tag line was “School’s out. So is Steven Carter.” Which also, I’m just noticing, gives a new, second meaning to this song’s title and possible lyrical theme!

May I introduce the jaw-dropping “Staying Out For the Summer” by Britain’s Dodgy…a hummable bass line, a made-for-radio melody and construction (with exultant chorus)!, a nifty merging of surf tunes and power pop….even horns! The Beach Boys hints and winks are borne out in the below acoustic guitar duo, The Moon Loungers, who deftly weave in “Good Vibrations” half-way through!:

And, this….live in-studio from May 2026:

And, the proof of an enduring song? It works in an acoustic duo setting:

I’m not a songwriter, but if I was, I’d be proud to hang “Staying Out For the Summer” over my mantle as my one song-penning attempt in life (oh, and “All I Want” by Toad the Wet Sprocket).

What’s your favorite song by the first band you ever saw in concert?

I’ve “famously” had two “first concerts”: My first-ever coming in 1965, with Mom taking me to The Astrodome to see The Supremes open for Judy Garland! She was into Judy, of course, and I was an early fan of Diana and her girls. Fave song? “Stop! In the Name of Love.” It was the female sonic equivalent (for me) of The Beatles’ “She Loves You.” Both are two of my Top 4 favorite all-time songs (another is “I Get Around” by The Beach Boys.

The only thing that kicks the S’premes off my Top 3 list is “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes, “The National Anthem” as I’ve called it. When it comes on at a public location, I say (to anyone within earshot), “All rise for the National Anthem.” Yeah, I get looks. Wanna make sumfin’ of it? 😁

I was 10 ½ for the Garland/Supremes show, and wrote about it here. The first true rock show I ever saw came from Dad’s 2 comp floor seats (from the radio station he worked at) to “An Evening with Led Zeppelin” on March 29, 1970, 11 days after my 15th birthday (they were touring in support of their late-’69 Led Zeppelin II album). I must’ve gotten dropped off. My date? A girl. I know. Who woulda thunk? Who coulda thunk?

I don’t remember this at all (from Google/A.I.’s account of that show): “Stage Rush: Toward the end of the show, fans rushed the stage, forcing the band to deal with a crumbling, packed stage front.” My favorite song of theirs? “The Immigrant Song,” from 1970’s Led Zeppelin III.

What song makes you think about where you come from?

Nothing comes to mind right off the bat, Mark, that screams “Houston” or “Texas” to me, however existential you may have meant that question to be (city? frame of mind?). So, I’ll choose literal, and thankfully, I get to dodge the seemingly obvious country tune, as that’s not really my bailiwick! I will say it’s impossible to not think of my home town when I hear “Houston” by Dean Martin (written by Lee Hazlewood)!

I know you used to have a mammoth collection of records before you sold them on eBay back in the day. If you could choose just one record to have back, what would it be and what would be the first song from it that you’d want to play?

Thank you, Mark. Good question….As I’ve said to Andy on more than one occasion, it’d be tough to pick one, as I adored all 2,000 of my LPs (of which 90% or so were collectible promos), or as I’ve called them, my “vinyl vuddies”! I’d probably be tempted to pick one I thought might “travel” through the decades, now, with a more elevated monetary “worth” or “value.” And, if that was the case, I’d pick one of the first Capitol Records Beatles albums from ‘64; it had the word “PROMO” in the upper right-hand corner of the jacket (in tiny holes machine-punched by the label).

But, as Dick Van Dyke’s Rob Petrie character once said in the fabulous early-’60s The Dick Van Dyke Show sitcom (and, one of my favorites), “let me separate my conscience from my greed”! I think a good choice, though, for this would be Jethro Tull’s Thick As a Brick, released the first week of March, 1972 (and is, in essence, one song, so Playlist inclusion would seem out of the question; although, a banded version was released to radio at the time, by Chrysalis Records, so it could get radio play)! Another promo, the album had a several-page fold-out “newspaper” attached to the jacket! As a fan of newspapers (and writing!), even then, I thought this was pretty cool!

I was 2 weeks away from my 17th birthday, and was already 3 years into having taught myself the flute, by ear, learning all of Tull lead singer/flautist, Ian Anderson’s flute licks off the records up to this point (4 albums before Thick As a Brick). I was also lead singer/flautist in Brimstone, my 6-piece rock cover band based at my Houston area high school. Thick As a Brick was a particularly challenging record to learn the flute parts to, but, I eagerly lapped up the challenge, and probably had the whole album down, cold, in a couple weeks!

So, the album has huge sentimental value because of that flute element, plus I loved newspapers, and it was fun perusing its pages for various articles!

Here’s a live performance of “Thick As A Brick” from Tull’s famous concert at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland in November 1977:

[Ed: Although it’s from a different performance, the Spotify playlist includes the rendition from the “Inflated Edition” of the live album Bursting Out, remixed by Steven Wilson. Appearing on disc three, this version was recorded at Madison Square Garden on October 14, 1978]

Knowing now how your life turned out, is there a direction you wish it could’ve gone, and why didn’t it?

I would have loved to have tried my hand at a job at a record label….like promotion, or some sort of creative desk job at Warner Bros. Records (preferred) or at Columbia or A&M Records. I moved from Houston to L.A. in 1980 (at 25) precisely for that reason, but ended up continuing my record store job (from Cactus Records & Tapes in Houston), having landed one quickly upon my So. Cal arrival at Music Plus Records & Tapes in suburban Glendale.

I think the reason I didn’t get a label job was a lack of drive, ambition, and not really knowing what it would take to do one of those label jobs; and, a lack of self-confidence, I’m sure. Pretty soon after landing, I managed to get up the courage to call and secure an interview at the upper-Sunset Blvd office (the 9000 block, just up from Tower Records, The Whisky, and The Roxy) with a “suit” at small Scotti Bros. Records (in about 1981), who, at the time, was distributed by Atlantic Records, and was part of the mega-conglomerate, WEA (pronounced “wee-uh”), or Warner/Elektra/Atlantic.

I figured if I could land at a small label, I could, more easily, get a job at a larger label, eventually. Scotti Bros. seemed accessible, as they featured a roster of teen/pop artists, like Leif Garrett, Ian Lloyd, TV actors John Schneider and Susan Anton, Survivor, and others), and I could see myself, pop sensibility in tow, getting behind that genre of artists.

I can’t remember the name of the gentleman who interviewed me, but after getting all dressed up in my best suit and tie, and driving in from the Valley, I can’t remember a thing I said, or anything he asked me. I just know I had no idea how to properly “sell” myself for that job in that place at that time….clearly out of my element.

Now? I’d talk circles around the guy, and in five minutes, have the next 18 months of career direction, guidance, songs’n’producers and release schedules plotted out for half-a-dozen artists on the label’s roster! Age, yes, but self-confidence, a little more experience, and more of an awareness of everything it took to (as my late brother, Clint, used to remind me) “A.B.C.”….always be closing!

Like now! Thank you so much, Mark, for this terrific ride! I had a blast! 💪😁👍

Playlists (Embedded and Hardcoded)

Spotify Playlist

YouTube Playlist

And now it’s over to you! Why not head to the comments to let us all know your thoughts on Brad’s picks and what some of your songs would have been.

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The album is currently my favorite of the year thus far, by quite a large margin. While the songwriting is brilliant, it’s the vocals that keep me coming back for more; they’re simply sublime. I honestly didn’t think he’d be able to replicate his studio vocals in a live performance setting. But boy was I wrong. He was even better!

In a stripped down show, just a man and his guitar (and a lap dulcimer for two songs), in front of a few hundred people, Jay Buchanan put on a masterclass in storytelling and singing. For 2+ hours he shared the tales behind the songs and then delivered said songs magnificently. I felt like I was sitting in on an episode of VH1 Storytellers.

It’s the sort of concert you just want to sit there and take in, so I shot no video, only took two  photos and a couple of audio clips.

Here he is with a beautiful rendition of “Sway”, my favourite song from the album:

If you like what you’ve heard here, be sure to give the entire album a listen. It’s fantastic!!

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I find this to be one of the more pervasive and corrosive elements of my depression. The name of my publication says everything about my approach to life — it’s all about the joy! As such, a significantly reduced access to joy has been a real emotional gut punch. One disturbing way in which my anhedonia has expressed itself recently — and this is the first time it’s happened — has been an inability to find real enjoyment in music, an art form which has long been one of my deepest and most reliable sources of joy.

Thankfully, it feels like I may be turning a corner emotionally. On Thursday, Tina and I went out for a walk, a short 4-mile loop which took us through some forestry land, something in short supply in our local area. I experienced moments of deep joy as we walked, our trail alternating between managed pine forest and more ancient mixed woodland.

Later in the day, as I scrolled through Instagram reels — not something I do often — I had my breath taken away several times by reels involving music (a live Phil Collins performance of “In The Air Tonight”, David Gilmour in studio with Rick Beato listening to his guitar solo from “Comfortably Numb”, and the intro to “Nutshell” from Alice In Chains’ MTV Unplugged performance). While I have at least been able to find comfort and contentment from some of my favourite albums and artists over the last couple months, I hadn’t had such a visceral reaction to anything musical (outside of the recent gigs I’ve attended) in quite some time, and it felt great.

For the first time in months, I actually feel inclined to write something and I’m forcing myself to grasp the nettle while I actually have the motivation. So let’s get into this installment of Songs That Make Me Cry!

I’ve long wondered about the conditions required to foster a profound emotional connection to a specific song. While I’m sure there are many such elements, I’ve narrowed it down to the following three that tend to be the most meaningful for me:

• Time and place markers

• The people with whom I associate the song

• The subject matter and/or delivery of the song

Of course, other elements come into play from time to time: sometimes the music itself — whether the melody, the harmony, or some other feature — is sufficient to inspire tears; or perhaps the song has appeared in a movie scene which carries a significant emotional weight for me. I’m sure I’ll find reasons to expand the list in the future, but for now, the three factors mentioned above capture the essence of what’s important to me.

While O’Connor’s “Black Boys On Mopeds” — the first song in this series — is a beautiful, profound, and deeply moving song, it generally doesn’t contain any of these elements in a significant way. My reaction to the song had far more to do with my poor emotional health at the time (are we sensing a theme here?) than it did with the song itself.

Today’s song touches on all three emotional song drivers in some way; it came into my life in October 2024 and has been lodged in my consciousness ever since.

The Time and Place

The latter half of 2024 represented a liminal time between the end of my working life and a new chapter that included ten months of travelling before relocating to the UK to find a new home. In the middle of September, Tina and I completed our hike of the UK’s longest National Trail, the 630-mile South West Coast Path. By the time October rolled around, we’d moved on to adventures that were “slightly” more laid back. After summitting the twenty-five 1,000-foot peaks of the Isle of Man and hiking the 133-mile Kerry Way in Ireland, we headed off for a guided group tour of the Orkney Islands, an archipelago of more than 70 islands located 10 miles north of mainland Scotland.

On the fourth day of our trip, Tina and I found ourselves introduced to this heartbreaking song, and the sad tale told within. Earlier in the day, after taking the ferry over to the Island of Hoy from our base on the “Mainland” (Pomona, the main Island of Orkney), we’d completed a six mile walk out to the westernmost tip of the island for a view of the majestic “Old Man of Hoy”, a 137-meter (449-foot) sea stack just off the coast.

As we made our way back to the ferry, we stopped off for a quick visit to the “Dwarfie Stane”, a Neolithic rock-cut tomb hollowed out over 5,000 years ago. Weather-wise, this had been our most gorgeous day on the trip so far, and we were both filled to the brim emotionally with the sights that the day had delivered thus far. It was within this context, on a tiny island in the far north of Scotland, that we’d be introduced to a story and a song that would touch us deeply and leave a lasting impression.

The People

This song wouldn’t have had the same impact if not for Mungo, our guide on the Orkney Islands trip. Indeed, the reality is that we likely would have never heard this song at all if he hadn’t played it for us. In his mid-70s at the time of our trip, Mungo had been sharing his love of the great outdoors for the vast majority of his life, and we’d been lucky enough to have him as a guide in Scotland’s Cairngorms mountain range a year earlier. We were thrilled when he arrived at our meeting point in Inverness with the news that Tina and I were the only two participants on the tour and it would just be the three of us.

The fact that we were a small group turned out to be the very reason we ended up being able to experience the song at all. When you’re with a group, you can only travel as quickly as the slowest walker, and Mungo admitted that because of slow walkers on past tours, he’d never actually been able to take a group to visit the Dwarfie Stane, which we’d assumed was our last sight for the day. But, as we made our way back to the van for our return drive to the ferry dock, Mungo said he had one more place he really wanted to show us if we were up for it. Whenever we’re on a tour with someone who knows an area well, we’re always happy to be guided by their expertise. Clearly this was meaningful to Mungo, so we were more than happy to add a final stop to the day’s itinerary.

The Subject

Just after passing the Water of Hoy, a small loch adjacent to the B9047, Mungo pulled into a layby that served as a tiny parking lot for our destination. As we emerged from the van, we saw a narrow wooden boardwalk snaking its way across open moorland to a white headstone surrounded by a rickety white picket fence. This, Mungo told us, was the grave of Betty Corrigall and before we made our way over, he wanted to share with us her sad tale.

There’s no way I can do justice to the tale woven by Mungo, or the manner in which he shared it, but this excerpt from an entry on the Chiddicks Family History Blog provides the full story:

After hearing Mungo’s rendition of this sad tale, we made our way down to the grave in silence to pay our respects to a woman who had been so poorly treated, both in life and in death. After returning to the van, Mungo asked if we would oblige him further and listen to a song that had been penned about this tragic tale. Of course we would.

The Song

Mungo fired up his phone and began playing “Betty Corrigall” by the Scottish folk singer, songwriter and guitarist Ivan Drever. Born on the island of Sanday in Orkney, Drever has been a mainstay in the Scottish folk scene for over four decades. Having spent the earlier part of his career in bands including The Knowe O’Deil Band, Drever McGuire Young, and Wolfstone, he’s since pursued a successful solo career, releasing over fifty albums.

On what felt like a mystical afternoon on the island of Hoy in October 2024, three people sat huddled together in a van next to a bleak moor. As the late afternoon sun cast its soft warm glow, we listened intently to Ivan Drever’s beautiful and heartbreaking tribute to Betty Corrigall, tears rolling down our cheeks. It’s what I can only describe as a truly magical musical moment, one that will forever connect the three of us.

Simplistic in its form, comprising only guitar and vocals, the song requires no further introduction:

Last night, Tina and I listened to the track several times, with numerous “rewinds”, in an attempt to properly piece together the lyrics, which I hadn’t been able to find online. I’m almost certain we’ve managed to correctly transcribe them, although there’s one uncertainty at the end of the fourth stanza. While we struggled at a few points to discern what Drever was singing, a little internet sleuthing eventually pointed us in the right direction. I’ve footnoted these areas in the lyrics as I believe they add valuable context.

When the bell rings, Betty Corrigall
Do you think of those who left you?
Were your crimes so unforgivable?
And where did your lover go?

How did you feel then, Betty Corrigall?
When they discovered your condition?
Did they treat you with disdain
And was Coventry1 your bones?

As you lie here, Betty Corrigall
With the peak of Withi Gill2
Frowning down upon your grave
Do you wonder what you’ve done?

So, how did you die then, Betty Corrigall?
And by which road did you go?
And the child which went there with you
Should ask did it know?

Were you banished, Betty Corrigall
To the line ‘tween the Walls of Hoy3
And was it made for them much easier
Would you forever disappear?

So here you lie now, Betty Corrigall
For a while no mark to tell
Unholy ground your final resting place
Can you look up and see the change?

When the bell rings, Betty Corrigall
Do you think of those who left you?
Were your crimes so unforgivable?
And where did your lover go?

Thanks so much for sticking around to the end of this post. I’d really love to hear what you thought about this track, so please hop into the comments and let me know.

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In a feature introduced to The Personal Mixtape after week two, each participant will pose a question for the following participant.

This week, question 1 comes from Steve Goldberg of Earworms and Song Loops.

What's your favorite song from the last year that one of your kids turned you on to?

You know what’s funny? I listen to more new music than they do! I let my kids each play a song on the way to school every morning in the order they are ready to go. And sometimes it’s wild what they pick. The only one that’s mostly predictable is my daughter, who has been hooked on Lana Del Rey’s Ultraviolence for a solid two years now. My youngest went a couple of weeks playing “Is This Love” by Whitesnake, and before that, it was some 70s band (classic rock that I didn’t remember - the name reminded me of the Jayhawks, but it wasn’t them). My middle son turned me on to Tame Impala a couple of years ago (the album Currents from 2015), but it was mostly me playing Tame Impala’s new album, while he played some older Mac DeMarco stuff or a couple of songs off of Tame Impala’s Currents.

I thought I found one that was released in the past year, but it was just the specific video that was uploaded nine months ago, but my youngest was playing “Lavender Buds” by MF Doom a lot during the last couple weeks of school. When I first heard it, I assumed it was from the 70s, but it was released in 2004. It’s pretty catchy, and I enjoy it.

What song feels most like your life right now?

This one is a bit challenging - my brain first went to “Panic” by The Smiths LOL! I recently got “deactivated” as an associate faculty member from a job I’ve been doing since 2015, and that really threw me into a deep panic. Like, I also lean towards “Yes, I’m a Mess” by AJR because my life always seems chaotic. But, AJR also has another song that could apply: “100 Bad Days.” Those have both kind of been anthems over the last couple of years - one of my best friends is a big AJR fan.

Maybe it should be “My Own Worst Enemy” by Lit? LOL

I’m awful at picking just one song! (If you need just one for the playlist - I would go with “Yes, I’m a Mess.”

What’s your first memory of a song?

I’m not sure about a “first” memory. My mom always played music- mostly Disney soundtracks for me when I was little. We would grab brooms and do the “Chimney Sweep” in the dining room. But, it feels like one of the earliest memories I have of radio music is hearing “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” when we were on a road trip. I was maybe around 3 years old? It was night, so all the stars were out, and I just remember trying to look for a star that looked like Lucille Ball or trying to find her in the sky!

What’s one song you’ve recommended to more people than any other?

Anytime anyone mentions covers, I immediately go to Daughter’s cover/mashup of “Perth” by Bon Iver and “Ready for the Floor” by Hot Chip.

What genre do you usually dislike — but has one song you adore?

I’m very much not a country music person, but I love The Chicks! I ran out and bought “Not Ready To Make Nice” when it came out. (I also loved “Cowboy Take Me Away,” “Wide Open Spaces,” and their cover of “Landslide.”) If there would be just one song I’ve gone back to of theirs, it would be “Lullaby,” because I played it a LOT when my kids were little.

What song is tied to a turning point in your life?

This is dramatic, but Meg Myers’ “Monster.” LOL. But maybe equally her song “Feather,” which is about getting up, flying high, and being free. Are you going to fire me for never being able to name just one song? LOL. Both of these songs and Meg Myers specifically are very much tied to kicking my ex out the first time - finding new music and filling the house with it constantly. If I had to pick just one for the playlist, I would go with “Feather.”

What song would you really have loved if it just hadn't been overplayed to death?

I overplay songs to death! LOL! I get obsessed. But, while initially Disintegration by The Cure was a “no skips” album for me, I find myself skipping “Lovesong” a lot because that one was a bit overplayed (as well as “Friday I’m In Love” from Wish).

What's one band, past or current, that you would love to see live (or to have seen live if they're no longer around)? And what song would you most want to hear them play live?

Currently, I would absolutely LOVE to see Wet Leg! They will be here in Iowa for Hinterland in August, but unfortunately, the tickets are expensive, and so is parking! LOL

But, I would seriously LOVE to attend the entire fest because look at this lineup!!

Anyway, going back to Wet Leg - I LOVE so many of their songs!! I can’t pick just one that I would love to see live! But, if I had to pick only one, “Mangetout” would have to be it.

What's a favorite song that you've discovered through the Wax On Wax Off Wednesday vinyl nights series at your local brewery Wake Brewing?

I would have to say Peaches. Yeah, that’s an artist. But, back when I heard the song “Fuck the Pain Away” in the movie Jackass Number Two (2006), I really didn’t realize it was a real song… So, when one of the vinyl night regulars played it one night, I was like “Woah!! I need to know who this is!!” So, I had heard the song before, but never knew who the artist was. I became a Peaches fan! I will also say that pretty much every vinyl night someone plays something that I have to take a picture of the album to look up later because I loved the song!

Hahaha! Sorry, not sorry. But, “What artists are you most obsessed with right now?” (I’m letting myself have two!)

Florence Road, of course. I don’t think that obsession is ending anytime soon. I think they are about to blow up over here. They opened for The Last Dinner Party on some of their US tour dates, then went and did sold-out headlining shows all over Europe, and they are back playing a few headlining shows in the US (one date in Canada!) I think they are currently getting a lot of traction from their single “Hanging Out to Dry,” and I’m cheering them on!

Noah Kahan. I just can NOT stop listening to like most of Stick Season (2022) and most of The Great Divide (2026). He is an amazing storyteller and lyricist. His Tiny Desk Concert got me pretty obsessed with the song he played off of Stick Season, “Orange Juice.” It was one I had heard many times before, and it wasn’t one that really stood out to me, but for some reason, hearing it in the Tiny Desk Concert sparked a new obsession with it.

My next newsletter post will be about him and his April trifecta (documentary, tiny desk concert, and new album release - and yes, almost a few months after the fact LOL). As much as I prioritize writing about women artists or women led bands, he will probably be the only male artist I ever write an entire post on.

I had this in an answer above as a second choice, but since I gave myself this question, I cut it from the question above and pasted it here: I would die to see Noah Kahan (with opener Gigi Perez [who I also super love]!!!!) on his current tour (but they were literally ALL (anywhere near me anyway) sold out by the time I heard about the tour and checked).

*sidenote, Noah Kahan met Bon Iver at a Hinterland fest in Iowa back in 2023. Bon Iver did some backing vocals and played the banjo and guitar on a few songs on Noah Kahan’s latest album (“Downfall,” “Spoiled,” and “Dan”).

Playlists (Embedded and Hardcoded)

Spotify Playlist

YouTube Playlist

Kristin has given us a lot of additional song options in her responses this week. Clicking the button below will allow you to enjoy all of Kristin’s song picks from this installment in one special YouTube playlist — The Personal Mixtape Volume 6 (The Super Deluxe Edition)

The Super Deluxe Edition

And now it’s over to you! Why not head to the comments to let us all know your thoughts on Kristin’s picks and what some of your songs would have been.

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The New Music Sampler series is a monthly snapshot of new albums that grabbed my attention during the prior month. While there’s no guarantee that any of these releases will make my Album of the Year list come December, they all make a strong case for inclusion.

Life has seemed awfully busy for me over the last month and this month’s New Music Sampler kind of snuck up on me. I wrapped up my sister’s 3-week visit to the UK by spending four days with her in London, showing her some of my favourite sights in the city. Since then, Tina and I have continued our regular walking and also had some fun adventures together.

We travelled to Liverpool for a night, our first time in the city, to take in a qualifier for the Women’s 2027 World Cup, the Lionesses vs. Ukraine. England won handily but, having failed to win their group, will now need to qualify through playoff games against Greece and Ukraine.

There’s also been a couple movies — Disclosure Day and Supergirl — and three concerts. On a solo trip to Birmingham, I watched Ethel Cain at the O2 Academy and a few days later travelled down to London with Tina to see Harry Styles at Wembley. This past weekend, we were in London again, catching the marvelous M.C. Escher exhibition at Somerset House on Friday and seeing Alanis Morissette in concert (with Pale Waves and Skunk Anansie opening) at Crystal Palace Park on Saturday. Phew! No wonder the last month feels like it’s flown by!

I’m currently sitting on a train from Salzburg to Budapest, heading into the second half of our “summer vacation” (not sure what constitutes a “vacation” now that I’m retired). We were originally supposed to be hiking the Dachstein Circuit in the Austrian Alps, but due to Tina’s injury just before our last long distance walk in May, we decided to cancel that hike. With non-refundable round-trip tickets to Salzburg already paid for, we decided to take in a couple European cities.

I started this post a week ago, before we headed down to London, in the hopes of having it published by Sunday. But the sightseeing has been non-stop and I haven’t had the time to come back to it. Thankfully, the 5+ hour train ride is providing the perfect opportunity to wrap this up and cast it out into the digital ether.

June felt like a very quiet month for music, and for the first time so far this year, there was one week that generated zero albums of interest for me (despite the 40+ albums I sampled that week). There ended up being only eight albums in June that grabbed my attention enough for inclusion in this month’s sampler. An additional three releases from earlier in the year are also included here. Two of these popped up on my musical radar for the first time in June, and one has been reevaluated in the light of a brilliant live musical experience.

Five of this month’s albums come from artists that are either long-time favourites or have made my AOTY list before.

A.A. Williams is an artist I’ve followed for quite some time and the doom-adjacent heavy mellow sound on her latest is literal music to my ears. I recently learned she’ll be opening for Chelsea Wolfe (who has a new album coming later this year) in Munich in mid-December. Luckily the gig’s happening on the last night we’re in Germany on our next Christmas Markets tour, and I’m excited to be seeing them both.

Both Bedouine and Fruit Bats have made my AOTY lists before, with Fruit Bats consistently making my top 20 until last year’s acoustic album, which didn’t really resonate with me. Both of these releases, quite unexpectedly if I’m being honest, find themselves on the outside looking in and easily could have been left off this list.

For Bedouine, her latest is very much a “right time/place and state of mind” album for me. Sometimes, when I’m in the right mood, I absolutely LOVE what she’s doing on this album, while at other times it all feels a little “meh”. But I’ve kept it on my list this month as it’s the type of album that I know has the potential to really grow on me.

For Fruit Bats, while the album hasn’t moved me yet, I know from experience that their albums tend to be slow growers and I want to give the latest the time and space to work its magic.

Although Fatoumata Diawara has been releasing music for over a decade, she first came to my attention with 2018’s Fenfo, which was a top 25 release for me that year. Although I did enjoy 2023’s London Ko, her current album Massa is her best to date for me. The album is a little poppier than earlier releases, mostly eschewing west African instrumentation while still remaining true to the Wassoulou musical traditions. It’s a gorgeous album that rewards repeated listens — I’ve been called back to it regularly and am finding myself falling under its musical spell.

Jalen Ngonda has remained on my musical radar since his 2023 debut Come Around and Love Me. His latest album very much brings that old 1960s and 70s soul sound that’s fairly typical of the Daptone Records musical aesthetic. His gorgeously smooth vocals and the lush instrumentation, while a throwback to earlier eras, still sounds fresh and relevant today.

Among the three brand new-to-me artists, we have two strong debuts — Alewya and Dominique & the Diamonds — and the fifth album from Liz Lawrence, a well established solo artist who is also one half of the electro-pop outfit Cash+David.

Born in Saudi Arabia to an Egyptian father and Ethiopian mother, Alewya was raised in West London. With a dozen singles and an EP under her belt in the last five years, her brilliant debut album Zero draws on a wide array of musical influences. While a comparison to M.I.A. is inescapable on “Maktoub”, a much broader musical palette is employed here than on M.I.A.’s Arular.

I was turned on to Dominique and the Diamonds by Jeremy Shatan when he covered the album on the June 27 installment of his “A Song for Friday” series. The lovely contralto vocals of singer Dominique Gonzales are supported and swept along by the beguiling sounds of pedal steel, Wurlitzer and mellotron. The self-described “classic California country-rock” sound is a joy, and it’s an album I’ve been coming back to fairly regularly over the last week.

With Vespers, English singer-songwriter Liz Lawrence has now delivered five solo albums in the last fifteen years. This album is a meditation on “the beauty of the dying, the resilience of the living and the infinite fountain of love that sustains us”. Written in the aftermath of the loss of her sister, who died in a tragic accident while holidaying in Ireland, the album is deeply affecting. As musical responses to grief go, it’s right up there with Sufjan Stevens’s Carrie & Lowell and Mount Eerie’s A Crow Looked At Me.

Below is the Spotify playlist for my June picks along with a music video from each album.

Substack and Spotify don’t always play well together, so here’s a hardcoded link:

Spotify Playlist

Here’s the legend for the emojis you’ll see next to some of my picks:

🏆= a definite, already locked-in, AOTY pick

💪= a very strong contender for a slot on the AOTY list

💪A.A. Williams - Solstice

Genre: Post-Rock

Release Date: June 5

Selected Track: “Poison”

Bedouine - Neon Summer Skin

Genre: Chamber Folk Chamber Pop

Release Date: June 5

Selected Track: “On My Own”

Fatoumata Diawara - Massa

Genre: Afropop, Desert Blues, Malian Blues

Release Date: June 5

Selected Track: “Massa”

🏆Jalen Ngonda - Doctrine of Love

Genre: Retro Soul

Release Date: June 5

Selected Track: “Burning Temptation”

Liz Lawrence - Vespers

Genre: Folk, Lo-Fi Indie

Release Date: June 5

Selected Track: “Black Ulysses”

Fruit Bats - The Landfill

Genre: Chamber Pop, Indie Folk, Indie Rock

Release Date: June 12

Selected Track: “Perhaps We’re a Storm”

Alewya - Zero

Genre: Alternative R&B, Jungle, Pop Rap, UK Hip Hop

Release Date: June 26

Selected Track: “Maktoub”

Dominique and the Diamonds - Honky Tonk Queen

Genre: Alt Country

Release Date: June 26

Selected Track: “Not The One”

Previous Misses

Of the three “Previous Misses” albums, I’d already heard one of them and, after quite a few listens, had ultimately given up on it. The album in question is Harry Styles’ latest Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally., which initially was a little too all-over-the-place musically and stylistically for me. So, what changed? Seeing him perform live at Wembley is the simple answer. He performed all but two of the songs from the album and the levels of energy and charisma he brought to the show, combined with the excitement and participation of the audience, made this one of the best musical experiences of my life. The excitement of that show cemented an unexpected love for the album, which I’ve now been enjoying regularly ever since.

Archive has been making music for 30 years and their 1996 release Londinium remains a foundational trip hip album for me, possibly one of my top ten in the genre. Their sound has morphed and evolved over the years, at times heading in directions that didn’t appeal to me. While not quite returning to their roots on the latest, there are some songs with a bit of a downtempo edge, and overall, the album is an enjoyably ruminative and meditative listen.

Durand Bernarr was brand new to me until Shanté featured him on her Pride Month collab with Max Freedman and Mark Edward Randall. After winning the Grammy for Best Progressive R&B album for last year’s “Bloom”, Bernarr returned with BERNARR. in May. I’m loving the mix of sounds — from funk to rock, gospel, and classic R&B — and Bernarr’s vocals are both powerful and versatile. The entire album is a joy!

Archive - Glass Minds

Genre: Art Rock, Trip Hop, Progressive Electronic

Release Date: February 27

Selected Track: “City Walls”

💪Harry Styles - Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.

Genre: Pop

Release Date: March 6

Selected Track: “American Girls”

Durand Bernarr - BERNARR.

Genre: Neo-Soul, Alternative R&B

Release Date: May 1

Selected Track: “River”

As always, I’d love to hear what you think about these songs and albums. Once you’re finished reading, listening and watching, please hop into the comments.

• Anything new for you here? Did you like it? Love it? Hate it?

• Which of the tracks is your favourite?

• Do you feel compelled to check out any of these albums?

• What did I miss in June? Hit me up in the comments with some of your favourites from the last month!

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In a feature introduced to The Personal Mixtape after week two, each participant will pose a question for the following participant.

This week, question 1 comes from Tamara Casey of Rare Groove Productions.

What song best encapsulates how you feel about working with dogs?

Ooh, this is a great question.

I have written about dogs and dog songs a few times, including a post featuring ten songs titled “3-legged dog,” but I’m not sure any of them fully capture how I feel about working with canines. Probably a song about accessing my inner child would be most accurate. But that feels too hippy-dippy, and I want to choose something canine-specific.

I did a bunch of searching in my vast music catalog, and nearly every song about dogs is either about one’s own dog (I almost went with Cat Stevens’ classic, “I Love My Dog”) or the dog was used more as a metaphor than as an ode to an actual dog (as in Ben Folds’ excellent “Dog”).

After much hemming and hawing and deliberation, I decided to go with Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci’s “Poodle Rockin’.” If more than one person reading this knows this song (or band), I will be very surprised. I was a big fan of this very strange but endearing Welsh alt-rock band during the ‘90s and early 2000s. If you like Belle and Sebastian, but wish they were harder to pin down, you’ll like GZM.

This one reminds me a bit of early Roxy Music. It’s full of fuzzed-out guitars, wacky keyboards, has an off-kilter, catchy chorus, and a bridge with lots of “oohs and aaahs.” The chorus captures the joy I often feel walking my dogs, even though I have no poodle clients at the moment!

“And we went ooh, poodle rockin’ baby / Poodle rockin’ / My mind was a mess before you brought happiness / You’re chasing sticks and stones / Like you just don’t care at all.”

What’s the first song you were ever obsessed with?

To quote the great Thomas Dolby, “My brain is like a sieve”. So I really have no idea. My first 8-track (yes, my first piece of physical media was an 8-track) was Air Supply’s Love and Other Bruises album. I think my dad bought it on LP and got me the 8-track too, because he was a big fan.

This fuzzy, hazy half-memory led me to stream some Air Supply albums, which inspired me to write an earworm essay on their 1982 hit, “Sweet Dreams”. I can totally picture young me listening to their 1980 breakout album, Lost in Love. I won’t choose the obvious self-titled song or the massively popular “All Out of Love,” though. It’s the third track that, hearing it again just now, triggered something resembling obsession.

That song is “Every Woman in the World.” I am picturing my dad, with his freshly coiffed perm (à la vocalist Hitchcock), singing this song to my mom on their anniversary. “You’re every woman in the world to me / You’re my fantasy / You’re my reality.” It’s so cheesy and so perfect. It’s a duet between vocalists Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell, who seem like they’re singing the song to each other.

If you can get past the syrupiness of the production, it’s impossible to deny how well the two Russells’ voices blend together. And in the music video, it’s impossible to deny how low Graham’s shirt is unbuttoned.

Was I going to make sure an Air Supply song made this playlist regardless of the question? Probably.

In truth, the short answer to first obsession would probably be some kids’ sing-along song like “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” but that’s boring.

What song makes you reflect on how you’ve changed?

The first thing that popped into my head was Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle.” It’s certainly one of the greatest songs ever written and never fails to trigger the deep feels. It’s a classic love song, but the idea of putting time in a bottle makes me want to reflect upon my entire life.

Another song that comes to mind is Ben Watt’s achingly sad and gorgeous “Forget.” His first true solo album after 20 years with Everything But the Girl, Hendra, is a record I return to whenever I’m feeling emotionally turned off. It never fails to crack open some inner doors. I love every song, but “Forget” is the one that resonates most deeply. The song, as I hear it, is about struggling to truly feel again after heartbreak or some other traumatic life event. “But who am I fooling when I say I have no regrets / You can push things to the back of your mind / But you can never forget.” Bernard Butler’s guitar playing on this record is sublime.

What song feels like it’s following you through life?

Following me through life. Hmmm. There are so many songs I’ve always loved and never gotten sick of, but what comes to mind is likely influenced by the fact that I just saw this artist perform it live in concert. That would be Joe Jackson’s “Real Men.” It’s a gorgeous ballad, with a melody that envelops my heart in a deep way. The lyrics are about as open and vulnerable as any from Jackson’s vast catalog. “Real Men” is from Joe’s brilliant 1982 album Night and Day. Joe’s vocals are fantastically impassioned, raw and unfiltered.

Having explored male friendship these past couple of months in an essay series, I find this song even more pertinent to my life right now. The pervasive stereotypes of the rugged individual, the provider, the leader, the dominator — they can become norms when we don’t push back against them. I can’t think of another song that questions manliness and sexuality in such a direct and honest way.

What’s a man now? What’s a man mean?
Is he rough or is he rugged? Is he cultural and clean?
Now it’s all changed, it’s got to change more
‘Cause we think it’s getting better but nobody’s really sure

What was the first dance at your wedding?

My wife and I didn’t have a traditional wedding. So no best man, no maid of honor, groomsmen, bridesmaids, or wedding planners. No DJs and no organized dancing. All food was brown gruel, and the only beverage offering was water you had to hand-crank from a well.

Okay, that last sentence is a lie.

It actually was a blast!

We had an outdoor afternoon wedding in a local park and hired a klezmer quartet (a stripped down version of the band Kugelplex) for the ceremony and to roam and play klezmer songs at the reception. That is, until the taiko drums came out and the taiko ensemble I was a member of at the time gave a live performance! All the guests got a lesson and had a chance to hit the drums.

If we had had a “first dance,” I want to say we would have chosen Judas Priest’s “Breaking the Law.” We would have dual headbanged and then, 93 seconds in, grabbed the mic from the DJ and screamed, “You don’t know what it’s like!” This was our inside joke for years; whenever one of us got frustrated with the other, we’d defuse the tension by yelling, “You don’t know what it’s like” in a really bad British impersonation of Rob Halford.

What song do you love that you’d struggle to defend?

I don’t struggle to defend any song that I truly love. I mean, I chose Air Supply as my second song. But I do often struggle to defend artists who’ve done terrible things after I’ve already formed a relationship with said song. Michael Jackson is a good example. I performed the Thriller dance as part of ‘Thrill the World’ on Halloween 15 years ago, and I’ll always have great memories of that day, but I doubt I’ll voluntarily choose to play any of his records.

I do write about earworms, many of which are songs that drive a good portion of the populace crazy, as they won’t escape the brain without advanced techniques. And I usually apologize to readers for the sonic torture I’m inflicting on them. That represents a little bit of a struggle. So I’ll go with an earworm for my answer.

The song I’m choosing is the 1972 instrumental remake of “Popcorn” by Hot Butter. The original was written by Gershon Kingsley in 1969 for the album Music to Moog By. And to go along with a melody that is impossible to get out of your head, here is a video of the German dance troupe Fernsehballett performing to this song.

What song is a music collaboration that shouldn’t work, but really does?

I spent way too much time searching through my record collection to find something perfect to answer this with. I am going to cheat and pick two songs because it’s impossible to separate my choices.

The first is from the great David Hasselhoff, who released a covers album, Open Your Eyes, filled with collaborations that shouldn’t work. Here’s a short list of his collaborators: James Williamson (The Stooges), Elliot Easton (The Cars), A Flock of Seagulls, Todd Rundgren, Charlie Daniels, Steve Cropper, and my favorite: Ministry. They perform a very strange yet fascinating cover of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.”

The other song I’m going to choose brings together four massive talents. First, on vocals, the one, the only William Shatner. Second, on piano, the always sweet and sassy Ben Folds. Also on vocals, the aforementioned Joe Jackson. And the song? A rockingly lively cover of Pulp’s “Common People.”

There’s even a great music video of this killer kollab.

What song calms you down?

I listen to a lot of ambient music to calm me down. In fact, I probably listen to ambient more than any other genre of music, as I struggle with pretty constant anxiety and insomnia. I can’t handle massage music, but I do love quite a few artists that blend electronic and acoustic instruments into uniquely calming music. One of my favorites is the band Cowboy Sadness. Others I recommend are an Australian composer who goes by Zosh.P, Jon Hopkins, Max Richter, Niklas Paschburg, and so many more.

A favorite recent discovery is Kelly Moran. She is a pianist whose songs are transporting and hypnotic. It’s not especially slow or calming per se, but it has a way of bringing me into balance. One of my favorites from her is a song called “Don’t Trust Mirrors.” Good song and even better advice.

You’ve written before about learning to play congas in your teenage years and playing in a band. Who’s your favourite drummer / percussionist and what’s a song that highlights everything you love about their work?

This one might be the toughest to answer. I don’t really have a favourite percussionist. I used to, when I was younger, but I enjoy so many drummers across so many different genres that it feels impossible to choose just one. I’ll pick someone whose career I wish I had.

I could have gone with Tony Allen, who was Fela Kuti’s drummer and played with hundreds of amazing musicians (including Joan as Police Woman, whom Mark and I both love), but I am going to choose a legend whom most people have never heard of.

This percussionist played with the following: The Rolling Stones, Nick Drake, Stevie Wonder, Taj Mahal, Ginger Baker, Billy Preston, Joe Walsh, Herbie Hancock, Hugh Masakela, and so many more. Do you know who it is?

Kwasi “Rocky” Dzidzornu, better known as Rocky Dijon, was a Ghanaian percussionist who played on countless classic songs from the 60s and 70s. His work with the Stones is the most recognizable. That’s him playing the congas on “Sympathy for the Devil.” His rhythms were never showy. They always fit perfectly within the available space of a song. As a newbie on the congas as an 18-year-old, I was able to (mostly) figure out many of Rocky’s riffs.

For the playlist, I’m going to choose his amazing work on Stevie Wonder’s “Boogie On Reggae Woman.” It’s just Stevie and Rocky on this classic from his Fulfillingness’ First Finale album.

What’s a song that reveals new layers the more you listen to it?

Okay, I chose this question because I really want to include the song “Dog Problems” by The Format on my playlist.

I’m kicking myself for not going to see them on their recent tour, since they just reformed after an almost 20-year break. I used to play the album Dog Problems religiously. It was one of my go-to soundtracks while on the Precor elliptical at the gym.

I love a clean, heart-on-the-sleeve pop song that goes in unexpected places, and The Format specializes in that. “Dog Problems” is a bit schizophrenic, both lyrically and sonically, yet it’s unbelievably catchy.

It’s a break-up song, a song about a lover who cheated on the narrator, and all the stages of grief are captured in four minutes and 11 seconds. It’s got amazing horns, zany percussion, tender piano, and a 10-second freakout that perfectly illustrates post-breakup crazy mind. I also love Nate Ruess’ voice, which oozes with personality and emotion. Some might find it too much personality, but not me.

I’m realizing that I need to write an earworm post on this song, as I have a lot more to say about it. So I’ll stop there! Thanks so much for inviting me to be part of your fantastic Personal Mixtape series!

Playlists (Embedded and Hardcoded)

Spotify Playlist

YouTube Playlist

And now it’s over to you! Why not head to the comments to let us all know your thoughts on Steve’s picks and what some of your songs would have been.

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Turning down a small act at a small venue to see a Harry Styles concert at Wembley felt like a no-brainer. I’ve wanted to see a concert at Wembley1 ever since watching Live Aid when I was just a wee lad (14 years old to be exact). And I’ve been a fan of Harry (yes, we’re on a first name basis now) since the 2017 release of his self-titled solo debut. While I hadn’t really connected with this year’s Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally., his prior album (Harry’s House) was a top twenty album for me in 2022 and I’ve generally enjoyed much of what I’d heard from him. Thankfully, I was able to convince my wife Tina (do I really need to add “my wife”? surely most have you have been around long enough to know who she is. but I digress), which was exciting because everything’s better when she’s around.

This concert was, in a word, INCREDIBLE. I’ve wanted to give myself some time and space so as not to make any overly bold proclamations, but now, a couple days removed from the show, I can comfortably say that Harry Styles at Wembley sits among my top five concert experiences of all time. I’m not planning to pen a review of this concert — Chris has done a far better job on that than I ever could2 — but I wanted to take the opportunity to share some of the video footage I took at the show.

Shania Twain, who Styles has credited as one of his influences, both in music and in fashion, was the opener and while I found her vocals a little hit and miss, overall she was great. I’ve included only one clip from her performance, but it’s an important one for me as “You’re Still the One” was the first dance at our wedding 26 years, 11 months, and 26 days ago. I’ve also included eleven clips from the main event.

Perhaps not surprisingly, having seen all but two of the album’s tracks performed live, I’m now a fan of Harry’s latest, and it will almost certainly appear on my AOTY list this year.

Let’s jump in!

“You’re Still The One” from 1997’s Come On Over:

“Watermelon Sugar” from 2019’s Fine Line:

“Coming Up Roses” from 2026’s Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.:

“Italian Girls” (non-album interlude):

“American Girls” from 2026’s Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.:

“Keep Driving” from 2022’s Harry’s House:

“Ready, Steady, Go!” from 2026’s Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.:

“Dance No More” from 2026’s Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.:

“Treat People With Kindness” (with elements of Talking Heads’ “This Must Be The Place”) from 2019’s Fine Line:

“Season 2 Weight Loss” from 2026’s Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.:

“Aperture” from 2026’s Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally.:

“Sign of the Times” from 2017’s Harry Styles:

Thanks for being here. Hopefully something in this post brought you some joy!

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2

Comm. Failure

Concert Review: Harry Styles – Wembley Stadium, London (26 June 2026)

EDIT…

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2 months ago · 2 likes · Chris Garrod

In a feature introduced to The Personal Mixtape after week two, each participant will pose a question for the following participant.

This week, question 1 comes from Andy from The Vinyl Room.

What song do you wish you had written yourself?

“Superstar”, by the great Leon Russell and Bonnie Bramlett, as performed by The Carpenters. However, the single line from a song that makes me think “greatest line ever” is from “Five Minutes”, by Gretchen Peters, “Back when you were Romeo and I was Juliet, West Texas Capulet and Montague”. What a metaphor.

What’s a song you haven’t listened to in years but still remember perfectly?

“Touch Me In The Morning” by Diana Ross. This was one of the first 45s I ever bought with my own money. I was probably only 6 or 7 years old. I used to save money that I got for my birthday or Christmas and use it to buy records. Not sure why I was so enamored of this particular song at that age. However, I have always been a bit of an old soul. Just popped it on to sing along, it really is a great song.

What song would your closest friends say is “your song”?

They would probably say “Brandy” by Looking Glass and they wouldn’t be wrong, strictly speaking. Speaking for myself, I would say “Green Eyed Lady” by Sugarloaf. Yes, I have green eyes. We don’t get a lot of songs written for us.

What song would you pick if you had to introduce yourself to a stranger?

“Sympathy For The Devil” by the Rolling Stones. Sorry, couldn’t resist. I have a dark sense of humor.

What song feels like a snapshot of a version of you that no longer exists?

“San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)” written by John Phillips, recorded by Scott McKenzie. This song reminds me of being a child in the Bay Area in the 70s. I grew up amongst hippies. That whole vibe was gone by the late 70s/early 80s, along with my childhood. I still love bell bottom jeans, embroidered clothes, muscle cars and the music of that era, but that little girl is long gone.

What song reminds you of a very specific night?

“Celebration” by Kool And The Gang. Went to see them the first time they performed at the Concord Pavilion in 1981. I was 15. It was an amazing concert. There are so many I could rattle off, but that one stands out.

What song made you fall in love with music?

There is no way I can pick a single song. What I would say made me fall in love with music is AM radio. Specifically, KFRC in San Francisco. My earliest musical memories start around 1970, listening to that radio station. I loved it all. I still listen to replays of American Top 40 now on Sirius XM 70s on 7. Given that Motown was probably one of my biggest influences, I’ll go with “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Diana Ross.

What’s your most memorable song from a movie?

“Gonna Fly Now” by Bill Conti from Rocky. I was 11 years old when one of my best friends and I snuck out of the house to go see this film. This song just fit the film so perfectly. It created a lasting impression. Of course, other themes like The Pink Panther appeared earlier in my childhood, but those placements were different, so were the musicals. The theme from Rocky was something so specific and so perfect that it always remains at the top of this list.

You’ve written before about your love of sailing. Imagine you have an opportunity to take all of your MusicStack friends out for a day of sailing. You get to choose where we’ll sail — San Francisco Bay, Annapolis, or Tortola in the British Virgin Islands — and what we listen to. Where are we sailing, what album are we listening to, and what’s your favorite song from the album?

Well, since it’s just a day sail we are talking about, I think we would have to stick to Annapolis. A single album is tough, but I would go with The Best Of The Doobies from 1977. They get lumped in as Yacht Rock, which is ridiculous, since Yacht Rock is not an actual thing. However, it’s a great album that suits being out on the water. As for a specific song, I guess it would be “Listen To The Music”. Seems appropriate for a bunch of MusicStackers hanging out.

What’s a somewhat obscure song that remains important to you?

“Harbor Lights” by Boz Skaggs. It will be 50 years old this year. It only has 5 million streams on Spotify. I don’t think I picked up this CD until about 1986. This is a beautiful song that has been one of my favorites since I discovered it. If you want to understand how untrendy my musical tastes are, this sums it up. Peak 80s, I was listening to the Silk Degrees album, from 10 years earlier. The end of this song has this eclectic Latin jam, which is completely orthogonal to the rest of the track, but that’s Boz.

Playlists (Embedded and Hardcoded)

Spotify Playlist

YouTube Playlist

And now it’s over to you! Why not head to the comments to let us all know your thoughts on Tamara’s picks and what some of your songs would have been.

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The New Music Sampler series is a monthly snapshot of new albums that grabbed my attention during the prior month. While there’s no guarantee that any of these releases will make my Album of the Year list come December, they all make a strong case for inclusion.

May began with Tina and I hiking another UK National Trail, our second of the year so far. This time it was The Cotswold Way, which we tackled over nine days of walking, taking in 103 miles of gorgeous scenery and logging close to 15,000 feet of elevation gain. After returning home I had a quick turnaround — just one day for some housecleaning and laundry — before heading down to London to meet my sister who flew over to visit us in the UK, her first trip over here in at least a decade. She was with us in the Yorkshire Dales for two weeks, including eight wonderful walks, before the two of us went to London for four days of sightseeing.

Thankfully, I was still able to carve out time along the way to listen to music, both new and old. My last.fm stats tell me that May was the first month of 2026 that I listened to less than 2,000 songs, with my listening volume down 20% from my average for the first four months of the year. I probably managed to listen to 40 or 50 new albums in their entirety over the month with 25 making my short list of albums with further potential. Ultimately, eleven of those albums didn’t make the cut; of the remaining fourteen, ten are May releases and four are albums released earlier in the year that hadn’t yet found their way onto my musical radar. Let’s jump in!

After being all in on 1994’s Under The Pink, I followed Tori Amos’ career closely through the early 2000s, slowly losing interest around the time of 2006’s The Beekeeper EP. Two decades later, the lovely and thought-provoking collection of songs she’s delivered on In Times of Dragons has brought me back into the fold.

A couple of darkwave albums found their way onto this month’s sampler — a mid-April release from SDH (Semiotics Department of Heteronyms) and a May release from Mica. These two records definitely scratch a very particular musical itch for me; whether they’ll have the staying power to still be in the AOTY conversation by the end of the year remains to be seen, although Mica’s album is making a strong case.

One album that’s already solidified a spot in my top albums of 2026 is Phosphene’s Velveteen, an album that I’ve been enjoying for a couple months after the band graciously shared a pre-release copy with me in early April. After thoroughly enjoying the duo’s last full-length, 2023’s Transmute, which made my top 30 that year, I’m absolutely smitten with what they’ve delivered with this album. The duo have significantly expanded their sonic landscape and created an album that’s equal parts heady dream pop, enveloping piano ballads and crunchier shoegaze-y gems. Matt and Rachel have been writing the stories behind each of Velveteen’s tracks in their Song Imploder series over on their own Substack. Reading about the genesis of these songs — and even hearing how each track evolved musically — has been a revelation and has added such a depth of understanding and a further appreciation for their music.

You can sample this gorgeous album below and if you love it, as I’m sure many of you will, please head over to Bandcamp and purchase a digital copy or the 140g black vinyl with 12” lyric sheet insert.

The continuing theme of an increased exposure to new reggae albums in my musical diet continues to bear fruit. The 40 Children, the latest release from Ras Teo and the Lone Ark Riddim Force, fronted by Santander-based Spaniard Roberto Sanchez, is an exercise in true roots reggae with some fascinating tales to tell. Ras Teo (also known as Jah Menelik), who is of Armenian heritage, was born in Sweden and is currently based in L.A. On “Arba Lijoch”, my selected track from the album, he recounts the story of the Arba Lijoch, the forty orphaned Armenian children adopted by Ethiopia’s Emperor Haile Selassie I.

From Wikipedia:

Arba Lijoch were a group of 40 Armenian orphans who had escaped from the atrocities in Ottoman Empire, and were afterwards adopted by Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia, then Crown Prince Ras Tafari. He had met them while visiting the Armenian monastery in Jerusalem. They impressed him so much that he obtained permission from the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem to adopt and bring them to Ethiopia, where he then arranged for them to receive musical instruction.

The Arba Lijoch arrived in Addis Ababa in 1924, and along with their bandleader Kevork Nalbandian became the first official orchestra of the nation. Nalbandian also composed the music for Ethiopia Hoy (words by Yoftehé Negusé), which was the Imperial National Anthem from 1930 to 1974.

Another re-release compilation becomes the third of the year so far to make its way into one of my monthly samplers. EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert essentially acts as an archival release as many of the songs are either restored/remixed versions, never-before-heard live material, or medleys stitched together in the service of Baz Luhrmann’s film of the same name. There’s a joyful energy and a clarity to the songs in this collection that really highlight The King’s vocal prowess and stage presence; it’s been a joy to listen to.

An unexpected pleasure arrived in the form of House of Mirrors, the seventh full-length from Nashville’s All Them Witches. The band first came to my attention in 2018 with their fifth album, ATW, a blistering collection of blues rock, stoner rock and psychedelic rock tracks. I’ve since explored and enjoyed their entire discography and their latest, which continues a string of stellar releases, is already a shoe-in for an AOTY slot this year.

A welcome surprise for me was discovering London-based British soul sensation Skye Newman, who released her debut album SE9 on May 29. Essentially this is two EPs — October 2025’s Part 1 and May 2026’s Part 2 — combined into one full-length (at least that’s how it appears on the DSPs). There are a lot of influences here: I’m hearing shades of Lola Young, Selah Sue, Joss Stone, and, of course, Amy Winehouse. Newman’s future is bright and I’m excited to see her career take shape; it’s off to a great start.

Elsewhere, if you’re looking for a more chillaxed vibe, In Moments, the second album from Sophie Hawes, the Bristol-based producer and singer who records as Slowe, offers a lovely collection of neo-soul and soul jazz tracks and Alela Diane delivers eleven gorgeous Americana and chamber-folk songs on her eighth full-length Who’s Keeping Time.

For selections with a little more energy, something that’ll at least get you nodding your head or tapping your feet — or might even pull you off the sofa for a quick boogie around the living room — I present these three exciting new albums:

• Beck Zegans, guitarist for the band Palehound, shares a collection of dark, folk-tinged indie rock on her solo debut Engraving of Armor;

• Pittsburgh band feeble little horse tilts the noise pop of their earlier albums towards hyperpop territory on bitknot; and

• Pigeon, featuring Guinean vocalist Falle Nioke and drummer Graham Godfrey (perhaps best known for his work with Michael Kiwanuka and the SAULT musical collective), offer up an exciting and somewhat experimental genre-bending album of funk-infused Afrobeats and tight post-punk on their debut OUTTANATIONAL.

Below is the Spotify playlist for my May picks along with a music video from each album.

Substack and Spotify don’t always play well together, so here’s a hardcoded link:

Spotify Playlist

Here’s the legend for the emojis you’ll see next to some of my picks:

🏆= a definite, already locked-in, AOTY pick

💪= a very strong contender for a slot on the AOTY list

Pigeon - OUTTANATIONAL

Genre: Afrobeat, Afro-Funk, Post-Punk

Release Date: May 1

Selected Track: “Black James Dean”

Tori Amos - In Times Of Dragons

Genre: Piano Rock, Art Pop, Singer-Songwriter

Release Date: May 1

Selected Track: “Provincetown”

💪Mica - Leave My Body Somewhere Dark

Genre: Darkwave, Post-Punk, Alternative Pop

Release Date: May 8

Selected Track: “Corpse Dance”

Slowe - In Moments

Genre: Neo-Soul, Jazz, Soul Jazz

Release Date: May 8

Selected Track: “How Hard Can It Be?”

🏆Phosphene - Velveteen

Genre: Dream Pop, Shoegaze, Indie Pop, Post-Punk

Release Date: May 19

Selected Track: “Black Ring”

💪Alela Diane - Who’s Keeping Time?

Genre: Singer-Songwriter, Chamber-Folk, Americana

Release Date: May 22

Selected Track: “In My Own Time”

Beck Zegans - Engraving of Armor

Genre: Indie Rock, Art Rock, Experimental Folk

Release Date: May 22

Selected Track: “Record Tamer”

feeble little horse - bitknot

Genre: Noise Pop, Indie Pop, Slacker Rock, Shoegaze

Release Date: May 22

Selected Track: “Poison”

🏆All Them Witches - House Of Mirrors

Genre: Blues Rock, Stoner Rock, Heavy Psych

Release Date: May 29

Selected Track: “Culling Line”

Skye Newman - SE9

Genre: Neo-Soul, Alternative R&B, Indie Pop

Release Date: May 29

Selected Track: “Man of the House”

Previous Misses

Elvis Presley - EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Genre: Rock, Pop, Rhythm & Blues, Country

Release Date: February 20

Selected Track: “Tiger Man”

Taroug - Chott

Genre: Electronica, Downtempo, Ambient

Release Date: March 27

Selected Track: “Cicada”

SDH (Semiotics Department of Heteronyms) - Rider

Genre: Darkwave, Electronic Pop, Synthpop

Release Date: April 17

Selected Track: “Rider”

💪Ras Teo meets Lone Ark - The 40 Children

Genre: Reggae, Roots Reggae

Release Date: April 24

Selected Track: “Arba Lijoch”

As always, I’d love to hear what you think about these songs and albums. Once you’re finished reading, listening and watching, please hop into the comments.

• Anything new for you here? Did you like it? Love it? Hate it?

• Which of the tracks is your favourite?

• Do you feel compelled to check out any of these albums?

• What did I miss in May? Hit me up in the comments with some of your favourites from the last month!

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For volume two of The Personal Mixtape we welcome Andy who publishes The Vinyl Room. Thanks so much to Andy for joining us!

If you’d like to be involved in this series, please send me a message!

In a feature introduced to The Personal Mixtape after week two (h/t to Emm from Emm as in Music for the suggestion), each week our participant will pose a question for the following participant. This week, question 1 comes from Emm.

You have just won the lottery. You can go out and buy everything on your white whale list. What do you buy first and why?

I’d move heaven and earth to buy access to the studio stems of Mariah Carey’s “Vision of Love”.

The first time I heard this song, I felt uplifted in ways I still cannot describe. The beat, the melody, the octave jumps, the acrobatic runs — it’s how I fell in love with music.

Mariah’s performance, at just 19, is so breathtaking she often had to prove her voice was real.

I would kill to have access to the studio stems and isolate her vocals, her vocals and the piano, her vocals and the drums – you get the gist. I’d lock myself up for days like a kid with a new toy.

Failing that, the isolated tracks – from the soundboard – of her performing this song at Good Morning America (1990), Saturday Night Live (1990), or Madison Square Garden (1995) would be wild.

This song is my life. No mixtape of mine could start with anything else.

What song instantly takes you back to childhood?

I grew up in Argentina. My grandfather played the accordion and piano, and we would all, as a family, often sing at birthday parties, in the car, and just about every time we were together.

For reasons I’ve never fully understood, one of the songs in the repertoire was the Scottish folk song “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean”. How and why an Argentinian family, with no connection whatsoever to Scotland, knew this song and sang it so often (in broken English, no less) is beyond me.

I learned English at a very young age and have always enjoyed singing. My grandfather, frustrated by the constant mispronunciation and invented lyrics of my aunts, would often ask everybody to just shut up and let me sing the song alone.

This soulful rendition by Ray Charles is my favourite.

What’s a great song to have sex to?

Oof. So many. My answer varies depending on which stage of my life I have in mind. For context, I’ve had sex with way more people, in more different states of love, care, and sobriety, and in much weirder circumstances than the average person. That’s a story for another day.

For a while, my answer would have been Bruno Mars’ “Gorilla” or Pharell Williams’ “Gush”. Proper sex anthems. During quieter periods, Massive Attack’s “Blue Lines”, the Isley Brothers’ “Between the Sheets”, and well, the entire Marvin Gaye discography (especially “Keep Gettin’ It On” and “Is That Enough”). Lushness galore.

Chet Faker’s cover of “No Diggity” is another great one. It’s a funky ocean of pleasure and pulse, particularly if substances are involved. My husband and I used to go raving every weekend and we’d spend the entire mornings at after-parties where a lot of stuff happened. This song was, for some reason, often playing in the background.

But if I must pick my all-time favourite song to have sex to, I’ll go with Maxwell’s “Til the Cops Come Knockin’”. You can’t get more sensual than this.

What song would you want played at your funeral?

I was going to choose something uplifting, such as Mariah’s “Anytime You Need A Friend” or Earth, Wind & Fire’s “That’s the Way of the World”, to help my loved ones find some comfort, but who am I kidding? I want them to cry. To sob inconsolably. To be confronted with the most vulnerable version of themselves as they say their last goodbyes.

Look, I’m a histrionic, dramatic, emotional mess. I’m the touchiest, most passionate, most intense person you’ll ever meet. If you’re at my funeral, chances are I made your life hell a couple of times, but I loved you unreservedly, and I always showed you my most vulnerable self. The best way to pay tribute to my life is to unleash your emotions and let them run wild.

Hence why I’m picking Donny Hathaway’s beautiful, heart-wrenching rendition of “A Song For You”. This song breaks me every single time, without fail. Guaranteed to make a rock cry.

What song changed the way you look at the world?

“Praying for Time” by George Michael. I remember listening to it as a kid in Argentina amidst a backdrop of poverty, financial chaos, and social and political unrest. I don’t want to get too technical, but what Argentina went through in the late 90s and early noughties is widely considered one of the worst economic collapses in modern history — a sovereign debt and currency crisis that spiralled into a full-blown systemic financial and political meltdown.

There were riots in the streets, no money in ATMs, and my parents were genuinely worried we wouldn’t have enough to eat.

This track gave me the language to make sense of the chaos around me. What I love about it, besides George’s exquisite vocals, is the simultaneous specificity and universality of the lyrics. He wrote it inspired by late 80s England; it felt current to me one decade later, 7,000 miles away, and I bet it’ll feel current to you, wherever you are now. He was such a clever songwriter.

What genre do you usually dislike, but has one song you adore?

“Left Hand Free” by Alt-J. It’s certainly not from a genre I dislike — believe it or not, I was an indie and alt-rock fan in my teenage years — but it’s a song most people don’t immediately associate with me these days.

I love it. Madly. My main pull, of course, had to be the bluesy riffs and reckless attitude. I own that album (This Is All Yours) on vinyl, mostly because of this song, but the whole record is fantastic.

The track was a highlight for me in that spicy playlist I would play during the aforesaid after-hours gatherings of gentlemen. It provided a nice contrast to my usual funk, R&B and trip-hop sounds. It often raised an eyebrow or two, especially if it came on right after Mariah’s “Fantasy” remix with ODB, which once prompted a guy to turn to me and say, “You’re a bit of a mystery, aren’t you?” What I replied is a story for another day.

What’s a song you know all the words to (even if you wish you didn’t)?

Memorising lyrics comes naturally to me (one of the perks of being an actor). There are a lot of songs I know the lyrics to, even if I never intended to.

I can’t see why someone would wish they didn’t know the lyrics to a specific song, though. Is it due to embarrassment or shame? If you vibe to the music, that’s all that matters.

I’ll choose “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls. Not because I wish I didn’t know the lyrics — I’m a proud fan, actually — but because the song is a catchy bastard that won’t leave you alone.

I loved it as a kid, I love it now. From A to Z.

What’s the best song you’ve discovered in the last year?

I like this clever wording – the song doesn’t have to be new, but new in my life.

That said, I’m picking one that was actually released in the past year: “Believer” by Liam St. John. I discovered it courtesy of our generous host, Mark Nash, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

Mark was kind enough to suggest I give the album a listen and… man, I had to get the album (Man of the North) on vinyl straightaway. It’s such a brilliant record from start to finish.

The southern rock and bluesy vibes are right up my alley. Liam sings and plays like his life depends on it. This song is my favourite because it sets my veins on fire.

I know you’re passionate about going to the gym. When you have low energy or are struggling with motivation at the gym, what a song that will always pump you up?

As someone who spends an insane amount of time at the gym, I can confidently say I’ve cracked the science behind the ultimate workout playlist:

• Cardio start: Cameo’s “Word Up” (fires you up in no time)

• Heavy compound lift superset (your main lift): Aerosmith’s “Gotta Love It” (get a grip on that pump, right?)

• Accessory superset: Don West’s “Equaliser” (let that backbeat do all the work)

• Isolation superset: either Rick James’s “Sexual Luv Affair” (to remind yourself why you’re here) or Billy Ocean’s “Stand and Deliver” (to stay focused). If you’re feeling rowdy, switch to Duran Duran’s “U.M.F.”

• Burnout isolation superset: Janet Jackson’s “This Time” or Neneh Cherry’s “Woman” (you’ll need combative female energy here – trust me on this, fellas)

• Abs/core finisher: bring back the funk in a way that grounds you: “Let’s Groove” by Earth, Wind & Fire.

You’re welcome.

Now, if you want one song to conquer all, go with Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition”. It never fails.

What’s your favourite song to sing at karaoke?

My answer might surprise you: “Fumblin’ with the Blues” by Tom Waits.

When people know you can sing, the pressure to deliver is high. My specialty is heart-wrenching soul and blues, which is a bit too much for karaoke.

This song is entertaining enough to fit in, interesting enough to stand out, and deep enough for people to know you mean business.

I can sing it in any state of sobriety, which is no small feat. I can even sing it without warming up (don’t tell my vocal coach).

Above all, it’s a song that truly speaks to me on a deeper level than you might expect. I can deliver a convincing performance because I can genuinely relate to it. If this puzzles you, you’re not alone. Bit of a mystery, aren’t I?

So there we go, folks: from Mariah Carey to Tom Waits. This is my life. If you need a clue, it’s all in the blue notes.

Playlists (Embedded and Hardcoded)

Spotify Playlist

YouTube Playlist

Andy has given us a lot of additional song options in his responses this week. Clicking the button below will allow you to enjoy all of Andy’s song picks from this installment in one special YouTube playlist — The Personal Mixtape Volume 3 (The Super Deluxe Edition)

The Super Deluxe Edition

And now it’s over to you! Why not head to the comments to let us all know your thoughts on Andy’s picks and what some of your songs would have been.

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What song changed your mind about a certain artist?

It wasn’t so much a song as repeated exposure. I had never quite entered Nina Simone’s world because I am such a Dusty Springfield fan that the news that Simone had thrown a drink at her gave me pause. I know, I know. But Dusty was formative to my understanding of empathy and emotions. Having said that, my wife loved Simone and played her double-disc anthology frequently in the car when we made our first attempt to buy a house as COVID was becoming a pandemic. There are several songs I could say moved the needle, but I chose “Ne Me Quitte Pas”. For one, it’s Brel and Scott Walker opened my world to him. But Simone sang it in French, not the English translation, which loses Brel’s poetry and his intent, which is almost a satire of such songs. And yet, Simone still subverts Brel’s intent because, well, just listen. That’s how I became a fan and could not quit her.

What’s your karaoke song?

No, Mark. No. I am not doing karaoke. I sang once in public at a high school talent show and that was that. And yet, I am constantly singing, in particular doing household chores like bedmaking, dishes, and laundry. And there are several songs I sing a lot. I don’t mean to make this an “Oops, all Scott Walker-related” set of songs, but I do love singing his take on Brel’s “Jackie”. How many songs offer you the opportunity to sing “in a stupid-ass way?” Or about “authentic queers and phony virgins?” So, if any song is going to get me on stage, it is that.

What’s your favourite TV show theme song?

That’s a tough one too. And the answer is not an easy one. It’s a little contrarian. See, it should be “You’re Dead” by Norman Tanega, which was the theme for What We Do In the Shadows. Except it wasn’t written for the show and I think it was also used in the original movie. So, let’s go with the closing theme that Sesame Street used from 1972 until 1992 or so. It’s often referred to as “Funky Chimes”1 or “Funky Bells”, and it is fire. I mean funkier than yogurt left in your car for a month funky. The fact that it remained the closing theme for 30 years attests to its greatness. And people have done extended mixes of it, which, yes please!

What song is a music collaboration that shouldn’t work, but really does?

I did a Five For Friday some time ago about that very subject. So I will go with Ozzy Osbourne and Was (Not Was) doing “Shake Your Head (Let’s Go to Bed)”. I know, it’s cheating being self-referential, but it really is one of those things that works despite itself. The prince of darkness. The dadaesque Detroit dance band. I said at the time that Osbourne delivered each line like it was based on life experiences. And I have to think it might have been. Or at least close enough. I can only imagine what we don’t know about him, because what we do is horrifying and hilarious.

What’s your walk-on song?

Since I was lazy and referred back to a 54F in my last answer, I will forego citing “Let There Be Drums” from a recent Tune Tag with Brad Kyle and pick a different one here. And that is “Buena” by Morphine. Put that on and you can walk into any room feeling righteous, maybe even sexy. It’s just drums, two-string bass, a sax and intrigue. Do you need much more? No, apart from a cool outfit. And freshly-painted nails. The song will take care of the rest.

What’s a song that makes you cry even before you play it?

A lot of them, Mark. Narrowing it down to one is tough. Last year, CMAT was eliciting tears when I was cuing up “Euro-Country” or “When a Good Man Cries”. But I will pick Jessica Pratt’s “The Last Year”, which arrived after two major life traumas. It felt autobiographical, like Pratt had channeled all my hopelessness into a short and lovely song that also allowed for some light. Because there was light. I was weeks away from marrying my wife. And Pratt’s song was ripe for me to love and have intense cathartic cries to in that liminal space. Just typing the key lyric: “I think it’s gonna be fine / I think we’re gonna be together / and the distances I can see / It’s you and me / I’m gone with all the changes in my mind” is making me a soppy, mascara-runny mess.

What’s the first music video you remember seeing?

I can’t say for certain. Being in Canada, there was no MTV until we got a version of that in ’84. In the meantime, there was The New Music, a kind of televisual Rolling Stone, if you will, a community cable show that aired videos, Friday Night Videos on NBC and All Hit Videos on the Bangor ABC station. It’s a tossup as to whether it was a video by Squeeze or AC/DC on the community cable show, so let’s go with Squeeze and say it was “Cool for Cats”, even though it could have been “Nailin My Heart”. It all sounded fresh and weird and, uh, cool. But if we are really being honest, Schoolhouse Rock might have been my first music video, okay?

What was the first song that made you feel like you belonged in the world?

Mark, that assumes I feel like I belong! I have always felt like a stranger on earth, right from the moment someone noted to my mom that I was left-handed. So I’ll go with one of the first songs that made me want to be in the world: “Band of Gold” by Freda Payne. It’s one of the earliest songs I remember and it horrified and fascinated me. Horrified me because I couldn’t parse why Payne was so distraught. Fascinated me because my heart went out to her. It was my education in the world of all things adult, and I still feel like I am learning it. The internet finally gave me insight on what “Band of Gold” was about, but I treasure that first exposure when the impetus for its urgent pleas seemed so unknowable.

What’s your wife’s favourite song?

Mark, I have to confess: my wife doesn’t do favorites. Never has. I think that’s why I have evolved into a creature who doesn’t entertain “best of” lists because it is all arbitrary and subject to change. I did ask her again and her position is unchanged. I love her for that. So I will pick “All I Want” by Joni Mitchell. The way she sang it one evening when we were out for a delayed celebration of our first year together resulted in the song forever being associated with her. And you know what? I love that. Not as much as I love her, though.

Who is the one artist you wish the world knew about but doesn’t?

I try to do an Emm’s Gems to give life and love to some albums that have gone missing over the years, or artists who never got their break. And I would have said Longhouse, because that album has saved my life. It’s full of feminine energy: not just Lisa Herman’s voice and her poetic lyrics, but the chorus that joins her on each song. I insisted that “Heaven”2 from the one-and-done album be my walk-down-the-aisle song when I married my wife, despite the chapel not being able to stream it. We brought our own setup so I could play my digitized version of that song. I think it should be everyone’s wedding song. But I am biased. And that song makes me cry too before I even play it.

Playlists (Embedded and Hardcoded)

Spotify Playlist

YouTube Playlist

And now it’s over to you! Why not head to the comments to let us all know your thoughts on Emm’s picks and what some of your songs would have been.

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The Cotswold Way was our twelfth UK National Trail — of twenty two — and it exceeded our expectations. There was plenty of variety in terms of both scenery and terrain, and every day was beautiful, even today’s walk into Bath (which isn’t always the case when you finish a trail in a city). Thankfully, with pain relief, Tina’s knee remained manageable over the course of the hike and my plantar fasciitis didn’t flare up. We’re now looking forward to a couple laid back days in Bath, relaxing and doing a bit of sightseeing, before heading home on Wednesday.

Thanks to all of you who followed along on our fantastic journey!!

Here are some photos from today’s walk:

The radio station of the mind only served up one track today, “Already Gone” by The Eagles, which stayed with me for most of the day:

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Tomorrow we’ll transfer back to Cold Ashton to walk the final 11 or so miles to the official end of the walk in Bath. This has been a gorgeous although at times challenging walk and it’ll be nice to have a couple days to enjoy Bath before heading home on Wednesday.

Here are some photos from today’s walk:

One again, the radio station of my mind served up a trio of songs this morning, starting with Aimee Mann’s “That’s Just What You Are”:

Shortly thereafter some energy arrived in the form of “Salvation” by The Cranberries:

And the last song before my internal DJ packed up for the day was “Rosy and Grey” by Lowest of the Low from their wonderful debut album, 1991’s Shakespeare My Butt:

I’ll be back tomorrow with photos from our final day of walking and the tunes that soundtracked the journey.

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After three days of almost exclusively walking in woodland, we had a much more diverse walk today. There were still a couple areas of woodland walking, but we also had a lot of walking in meadows and fields with, at times, far-reaching overland views. The diversity of scenery was a refreshing change and thankfully the forecast for rain didn’t materialise, meaning we were blessed with yet another dry day.

Here are some photos from today’s walk:

The radio station of the mind was quiet for much of the morning and then delivered a wonderful selection of three tunes in quick succession. As I found myself in a particularly meditative state mid morning, one of my favourite Buddhist mantras, “Om Mani Padme Hum”, came to mind and stayed with me for quite some time:

Not long after that song faded from my consciousness, something came up in conversation (I won’t get into the unnecessary tangent) that brought to mind one of my favourite Schoolhouse Rock songs, “Conjunction Junction”:

Later in the morning Tina said something to which I responded with a quip from one of our favourite Christmas movies, The Polar Express. Last year, for the first time in years, we didn’t manage to watch that one, primarily because we were working our way through a long list of new-to-us Christmas movies. One of those “new” ones was “Meet Me in St. Louis” and that’s the film (and song) that came to mind. I’ll never hear “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” the same way again:

I’ll be back tomorrow with photos from another day of walking and the tunes that soundtracked the journey.

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Here are some photos from today’s walk:

The radio station of the mind continues to be less active than it was at the beginning of the walk, which isn’t surprising given how fulfilling being in nature is for the soul. The more present I am in the world, the less distraction, musical or otherwise.

Only two musical selections today. The first was prompted by Tina warning me to watch out for the roots on the trail. My mind was taken to the song “Dread Lion” by Lee Perry & The Upsetters, which starts off with a chant, “the roots, the roots, the roots…”:

Next up, and the last song for the day, was Neil Diamond’s “Kentucky Woman”:

I’ll be back tomorrow with photos from another day of walking and the tunes that soundtracked the journey.

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What song sums you up as a teenager?

The easy answer here would be to just type (“Insert New Order song here”). If time travel were possible and we could zoom in on my Walkman, the safe bet would be that it’s one of their tapes in there. But I think the song that sums it up best is Jawbreaker’s “Chesterfield King.”

For one, I was listening to them almost as much as I was to our friends from Manchester. Second, the lyrics aren’t an exact match of what I was experiencing, but I spent a lot of time hanging out in convenience store parking lots, driving around, and “glued up on some chicks.” And just to make it all a little more meta, I spent a lot of time driving around listening to Jawbreaker, so there’s that.

What’s a song you love by an artist you don’t?

“Half of My Heart” by John Mayer. Mayer’s emblematic of a lot of the beige singer-songwriter stuff we’ve been subjected to over the years and seems purpose-built for supermarket speakers — and that doesn’t even touch the cringy stuff like “Bigger Than My Body” and “Daughters.” Most of his catalog is for when dudes want to come across as ‘sensitive.’ The first time I heard his “Heavier Things” record was when we were helping a friend move out, and her ex-boyfriend was blasting it in an attempt to woo her back. It didn’t work. So yeah, not a fan. But Lord help me, this is incredibly infectious. Resistance is futile.

What’s the first single you ever bought with your own money?

Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Relax.” I bought the 7”. On the back is a quote about not letting the bastards get you down. My parents were, um, less than thrilled with that. But somehow I sold them on letting me keep it. Still have it, actually.

What’s a song you hate that everybody loves?

4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Up” — the album was mandatory in-store play at the record store I worked at, and it absolutely ruined this song for me. 30+ years later, and I can’t stand it. I’m usually pretty easy going, but it makes me reflexively angry. It’s like misophonia in song form.

This is a short answer, but honestly, the less said about this, the better.

What do you think should be the theme song for your generation?

Nirvana — “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” At this point, this is a default answer, but hear me out here. More than anything, this track showed (at scale) that we didn’t have to obey convention. We didn’t have to listen to what gatekeepers at labels had traditionally fed us. I’m mindful of the irony, but it was a record everyone loved while also marking the beginning of the end of monoculture. For those of us who didn’t really buy into the debauched glam metal scene, this was sweet relief. Generation-wise, to this point, we’d mostly been listening to music made either by young boomers or those quite a bit older than us. Bands like Nirvana showed Gen X that we could make our own music — and live our lives — on our own terms.

What’s your favourite road trip song?

“Drive South” — John Hiatt. I say it often, but I truly believe it’s not a road trip unless Hiatt gets played once. There is something about his voice and his sound that pairs perfectly with burning up the interstate — doubly so if you’re anywhere south of I-40 or anywhere in the Delta. The themes of escape, the theme of two broken people finding redemption in one another. Absolute magic. I spent a lot of time on the road in the early ’90s. I had no idea what I was looking for, but these two had found it. At some point here, I’ll retire and (probably) take part in that great American tradition — seeking warmer weather. Me, my better half, and Gizmo. I can’t wait to drive south.

What song changed your mind about a certain artist?

“Shakedown Street” — by the Grateful Dead. In high school, you were either all in on the band or not. No one just kinda liked them. In my circle, they were a bit of a punchline. There was some overlap amongst hardcore kids, goths, and punks—but very little to none with jam band fans (unless weed was involved; that was always the great conciliator). At any rate, for years, I blew them off. As time went on, I softened a bit and carved out an exception for “Touch of Grey,” which is frankly an incredible pop song. Flash forward about 10 years, and I heard “Shakedown Street. About halfway through I realized I was into it. Like, way into it. That was all it took. Flash forward again to this past fall, and I’m at a Ducks game at Autzen, and there was a Grateful Dead tie-in. It’s a bit dissonant to hear the Dead booming through the PA at a college football game, but man, it felt good. 16-year-old me wouldn’t know what was happening. Lol.

What’s a song for which you love the cover version more than the original?

Doobie Brothers — “What a Fool Believes.” Kenny Loggins’ original is just… not that good. I know yacht rock is a thing now, but it wasn’t always. There were a lot of years when this was squarely in the guilty pleasure category, shunted away for times when I was in the car by myself or away from prying eyes/judgy friends. And fair play to Kenny Loggins — he’s got some great tracks, but this ain’t it. Even Self’s cover blows the doors off the original.

I’ll also carve out a special spot for Joan Jett — “I Love Rock and Roll.” Before I started school, I’d never heard pop rock and roll—at least consciously. My dad played jazz, and my mom never quite left the mid-’60s musically. Hearing this and J. Geils Band’s “Centerfold” were revelatory and opened me up to a whole world I never knew existed.

A few others:

• Anthrax — “Got the Time” (honestly didn’t know it was a Joe Jackson original until several years later)

• Talking Heads — “Take Me to the River”

• The Slits — “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (sorry, Marvin!)

• Nirvana — “Love Buzz”

Most of your readers will know about your lovable dog Gizmo. If Gizmo had a theme song, what would it be?

At heart, Gizmo’s a post-punk guy, so probably something from “A Bell Is A Cup…” era Wire. But he also fancies himself as a style maven and a bit of a ladies’ man, so it’s gotta be something that touches on both of those. With that in mind, it’s gotta be ZZ Top’s “Sharp Dressed Man” or Herb Alpert’s “Rise.” He switches it up depending on circumstances.

Which artist’s records do you own the most of?

The answer isn’t New Order; it’s George Benson. I inherited most of them from my dad. Benson was my dad’s favorite, so by default, he became my favorite jazz artist. His entire discography is represented here — from the extreme jazz of his early years through attempts at a much more mainstream sound and collaborations with artists like Kashif. It’s all fantastic, in my opinion, but more than that, it’s really helped shine a light on who my dad was and what his tastes were. As kids, it’s easy to simply see someone simply as mom or dad, but they were people before you came along — people with real values, habits, and musical tastes. I didn’t get a chance to learn much about those first two. These records help fill in a lot of the blanks on the third.

Song selection: “Give Me the Night”

Playlists (Embedded and Hardcoded)

Spotify Playlist

YouTube Playlist

And now it’s over to you! Why not head to the comments to let us all know your thoughts on Kevin’s picks and what some of your songs would have been

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Despite feeling like more of a challenge than we’d anticipated, today was another lovely day out on the trail. Plenty of farm animals, a vineyard, some woods, and distant views of the River Severn, and its estuary, which separates England from Wales. Here’s a selection of photos from today:

The radio station of the mind only served up one track today, but it comes from one of my favourite albums of 1984. “I Kissed the Spikey Fridge” is a rather bizarre but absolutely marvelous track from King’s debut album Steps In Time. Here’s a brilliant live rendition from the band’s appearance on The Tube, including the track “Unity Song”:

I’ll be back tomorrow with photos from another day of walking and the tunes that soundtracked the journey.

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The New Music Sampler series is a monthly snapshot of new albums that grabbed my attention during the prior month. While there’s no guarantee that any of these releases will make my Album of the Year list come December, they all make a strong case for inclusion.

Wow! I though March was fast, but April has absolutely flown by and I can’t believe we’re already a third of the way through the year! I’d hoped to have this post done and dusted before heading out for our hike on May 1st, but life got in the way. Now that Tina and I are well into our 9-day hike of the Cotswold Way, this post will by necessity have to be shorter than it would normally be.

As new releases go, April didn’t offer much that really grabbed me, with only nine albums making it onto my short list, along with two misses from earlier in the year (both March releases).

A couple artists delivered highly-anticipated (for me, anyway) new releases and while I was immediately pulled in by Jessie Ware’s Superbloom, I was initially less enthused with Metric’s Romanticize The Dive. Having said that, I find Metric’s releases tend to take a while to work their magic and I can already feel it growing on me.

I love archival releases and reissues, but they only ever tend to make my AOTY lists in small numbers; this month’s sampler includes two such releases. The Analog Africa label is one of my favourite reissue labels, and their collection of Antoine Dougbé’s work with the L’Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Contonou is glorious. The second is a fantastic compilation that I missed when it was released at the end of March. Soundway Records’ Fight The Fire: Digtal Reggae, Conscious Roots and Dub in Nigeria 1986-91 does exactly what it says on the tin, bringing “Jamaican reggae entwined with Nigerian styles, politics and consciousness”.

I’m not necessarily a huge NIN fan, but after reading accounts of their amazing Coachella performance with Boys Noize, I was intrigued enough to give their collaboration a listen. While I’m not sure there’s enough there for it to still be an AOTY contender for me by the end of the year, it’s certainly held its own in the few weeks since its release.

I seem to be connecting with a lot more reggae this year than I have in prior years, which I think is simply related to more exposure. Since starting up with Qobuz, I’ve been seeing many more releases in genres that I’ve not followed closely for some time. As such, some unexpected jazz picks have made their way into this space this year and reggae is also appearing more frequently than usual — not a bad thing as it was one of my first musical obsessions. Protoje’s latest, The Art of Acceptance, is already making a strong case as an AOTY contender.

Elsewhere, we have Parlour Greens’ groovy collection of instrumental soul jazz that shares musical DNA with Shirley Scott’s classic organ albums, a trip hop and darkwave album from Milan’s Pindhar (a March release), and retro soul and blues from Paris-born soul singer and songwriter Tiwayo.

Below is the Spotify playlist for my April picks along with a music video from each album.

Substack and Spotify don’t always play well together, so here’s a hardcoded link:

Spotify Playlist

Here’s the legend for the emojis you’ll see next to some of my picks:

🏆= a definite, already locked-in, AOTY pick

💪= a very strong contender for a slot on the AOTY list

Hiding Places - The Secret To Good Living

Genre: Indie Rock, Bubblegrunge, Shoegaze

Release Date: April 3

Selected Track: “Dead Dove (Your Love Was Never A Waste of Time)”

Melanie Baker - Somebody Help Me, I’m Being Spontaneous!

Genre: Alt Rock

Release Date: April 10

Selected Track: “Real Life”

Parlor Greens - Emeralds

Genre: Soul-Jazz, Retro Soul, Instrumental Funk

Release Date: April 10

Selected Track: “Eat Your Greens”

Tiwayo - Outsider

Genre: Retro Soul, Soul Blues

Release Date: April 10

Selected Track: “I’ve Got to Travel Alone”

Antoine Dougbé - Antoine Dougbé et L’Orchestre Poly-Rythmo De Cotonou

Genre: Afrobeat, Afro Psych, African Funk

Release Date: April 17

Selected Track: “Djomido Ma Dougbe Tche”

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💪Jessie Ware - Superbloom

Genre: Disco, Dance-Pop, British Soul

Release Date: April 17

Selected Track: “Ride”

Nine Inch Nails, Boys Noize - Nine Inch Noize

Genre: Industrial, Electronic, EDM

Release Date: April 17

Selected Track: “Vessel”

💪Protoje - The Art of Acceptance

Genre: Reggae, Roots Reggae, Dancehall

Release Date: April 17

Selected Track: “At We Feet” feat. Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley

Metric - Romanticize The Dive

Genre: Indie Rock, Synthpop, Synth Rock

Release Date: April 24

Selected Track: “Time is a Bomb”

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Previous Misses

Pinhdar - Comfort in the Silence

Genre: Trip Hop, Electronica, Darkwave

Release Date: March 27

Selected Track: “Mute”

💪Various Artists - Fight the Fire: Digital Reggae, Conscious Roots and Dub in Nigeria 1986-91

Genre: Reggae, Roots Reggae, Dub

Release Date: March 27

Selected Track: “Watiyo” by Don Bruce

As always, I’d love to hear what you think about these songs and albums. Once you’re finished reading, listening and watching, please hop into the comments.

• Anything new for you here? Did you like it? Love it? Hate it?

• Which of the tracks is your favorite?

• Do you feel compelled to check out any of these albums?

• What did I miss in April? Hit me up in the comments with some of your favorites from the last month!

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Here are a selection of photos from today’s walk:

The radio station of the mind was fairly quiet today, beaming in just three tracks. First up was “Only the Lonely” by The Motels:

A long-time favourite arrived in the form of Neil Diamond’s “Shilo”, an absolute classic:

Last but not least — and fitting given how much we’ve been roaming over the past four days — was the outstanding B-52’s track “Roam” from 1989’s Cosmic Thing:

I’ll be back tomorrow with photos from another day of walking and the tunes that soundtracked the journey.

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