Feb 26 - RY X

I'm heading back to Asia tomorrow! First time this year. Can't believe I haven't been in Asia in nearly 3 months. It's crazy. I'm not going to China, but to Malaysia for a conference. So only for like 3 days. But I'm happy I'll be back in Asia and eat delicious food. And hopefully use up all the Ringgit I collected during my (practically) monthly trips there over the last couple years. Actually, it seems I'm not traveling so much anymore anyway. Kind of weird. I don't know if I'll be able to keep my status up if this keeps up. We'll have to see.

Anyway before going, I'll share some quick music. This time another contender for best albums of the year. This one is Unfurl, the new album from RY X. If you remember, I've written about him in the past, in many iterations, and said that I would listen to anything this man does. This man being Australian singer Ry Cumming, and RY X being his solo project. But he had a couple of groups he joined in and did vocals for over the last few years after he put out his debut. And all of them were great. (Howling and The Acid, if you're wondering). Anyway, he put out his new album a couple weeks ago and I love it. A lot. My favorite song is actually Foreign Tides, one of the singles he put out in the lead up to the album. Maybe my favorite song of the year before. I have been listening to it a lot. On repeat. Very loudly. I love the power behind the chorus. Plus everything about it, really.





I already shared Untold last year, which was the first single in the lead up to this album. So now to pick another good one... I'll go with Coven. Because I like how it builds up, and I really want to hear it live, and it was one of the stand-out tracks that was not released as a single before the album came out. There are others, cause the whole album stands out, but I think this was the first stand out one. Now I just need to see him live. He's touring, and he's from Australia, but no Australia dates scheduled yet. But I'm sure it's coming. That's nice to be able to say. That I know someone I want to see will be coming to the place I live. Pretty great!

Feb 23 - Julia Jacklin / Carla Geneve

I went to a hoe down for the first time last night. In Australia. Because apparently country line dancing and square dancing are a big part of Australia culture. When I say big part, I mean it's probably about as big as it is in America. So everyone knows it, everyone's done it, and most people even had to learn to do it in elementary school. I was very surprised. But out here they call it bush dancing. So when my friends invited me, I imagined that it was a big dance out in the woods somewhere with a lot of people on drugs. But no. It was just a bunch of people dressed up like cowboys doing line dancing. And it was fantastic. So much fun. Not something I am going to make a hobby out of, but great time.

Also I think I drank more last night than any other night since I moved to Australia. It was like being back in Shanghai.

I've also noticed this week that I seem to be listening to a lot of folk rocky ladies lately. Not so folky, more rocky, but definitely folk influenced. This may be my sound of the year. We'll see. But right now, I'm really into it. So I'm sharing some of this type of music, and all Australian.

Up first we have Hay Plain, which is not a new song. It is a few years old. But I just got really into it. It's by Julia Jacklin, who I had heard prior to moving here, but who I did not particularly get into until I moved here. And more because I found out about her band Phantastic Ferniture, which I blogged about already. So then I went and listened again, and really fell in love with Hay Plain, off her 2016 debut album Don't Let The Kids Win. And actually, I'd been hearing a lot of her because she just released her new album, Crushing, yesterday, so all the singles would pop up on various playlists over the last few months. And there are some good ones. But Hay Plain is still her best.





The other rocky Australian lady is Carla Geneve, from Perth. I found out about her because I went to see Cat Power, and she was the opener. I had only gone because a friend really likes Cat Power, and I thought it would be nice (it was). And it's live music, so why not, right? Anyway, this woman Carla Geneve opened, and I was pretty blown away. Which is very rare for someone whose music I have never heard and who I'm seeing for the first time as a live act. And, to make it even more impressive, it was just her and her guitar. Not even a live band. But her voice is great. And her songs and melodies and everything. She doesn't have a lot of music (at that point only 2 songs on Spotify, now up to 3), but I'll share 2 of them with you. Starting off with Listening, which is one of those first two.





Imagine that acoustic. It's much better than you're imagining. Also because her voice is actually so powerful. Which doesn't come out on a recording like this. But damn. Anyway, here's another song by her. This one is 2001, the new one. I love how it builds. Plus especially at the end there you really get a hint of how strong her vocals really are. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing her again.

Feb 21 - Toro Y Moi / Y La Bamba

Jeez things have been crazy. And by things I mean work things. Just so busy. So much going on. I have a new employee who is taking up all my time in training (she's great, just a TON to get her up to speed on as quickly as possible), plus a very difficult employee I'm dealing with at the moment, and all the work I'm supposed to be doing but don't have time to because I'm dealing with those two. Oy.

On the personal side, things are very quiet. Not much going on. Just lots of concerts upcoming. And a bit of travel. But otherwise, just so so these days.

But on the music side, I need to catch up. So I'm starting by sharing my favorite tracks from two of my favorite albums of the year so far. I know it's only February, but there have been some damn good ones so far. And the two I'm sharing today are both albums which I'm surprised at how much I like.

The first artist is Toro Y Moi. I always thought he was fine, but that was it. But he has this new album, Outer Peace, that is just amazing. Everything about it is so good. It is super funky and dancey and fun. And weird. I love it so much. I already wrote about him last year, when I shared the track Freelance, which was one of the first singles off this album. And I still love that one. But there's so many other good ones, too. Like Who I Am. So good. So funky. So dancey. So delicious.




So I actually saw him with a friend in New York a few years ago, even though I wasn't a huge fan. But how this song makes me feel is exactly how fun I remember the show being. That's a pretty damn good sign, no? Now I really want to see him live again. But back to the funk. So much funk. So good. So sexy. So delicious. Here's Ordinary Pleasure. Which will bring you so much more than just ordinary pleasure.





Then the other band is Y La Bamba. I found out about this band a couple years ago when they released their last album, which I loved. Especially the opening track, Ojos Del Sol. Such a gorgeous song. Well now they've released a new album, Mujeres, and it's great. As in the past, a mix of English and Spanish indie rock. And the best tracks this time are in Spanish. Which was probably the case last time, too. There are two stand-out tracks, though, the first of which is the title track, Mujeres.




My other favorite, Bruja de Brujas, does chill out a bit, but actually is also quite similar, I think. Just with the choral style vocals. Not as faced paced, but still pretty quick here. And, quite repetitive. But wonderful. Really wonderful. As is the whole album.

Feb 15 - Rina Mushonga / Júníus Meyvant / Claude Fontaine

It feels like forever since I've written. It's only been 2 weeks, but they have been 2 non-stop weeks of work. Very busy lately. Anyway, I'm just gonna share a few songs here to make up for lost time and then get going to dinner.

I said today would be Europe, and it turned out to be harder than I expected. I don't know why. I thought of a lot of British stuff, but I wanted Europe, not UK. So I'll first share what I'm listening to right now, which is Rina Mushonga. She's Dutch-Zimbabwean, and she just put out her first album. I really liked her debut single, Atalanta, and shared it last year. The album, In A Galaxy, is ok. Interesting, but not that great. But there is one other song that I quite like, which is 4qrtrs. So that's our first song for today.





And then is Júníus Meyvant. I'm sure I've written about him before. He's an Icelandic folky guy, and his second album, Across The Borders, just came out last month. Super cool. Great album. Good guy. I'm a fan. Go listen. The first album was maybe better, but this one is also great. And I had a hard time picking between New Waves and Let It Pass. But I think I'm going with Let It Pass, even though I might like New Waves more, because I think Let It Pass is more typical of what I love about him.




And last up is not a European artist. It's actually an American artist. But she's got a European sounding name. Claude Fontaine. She only has one single so far, Cry For Another, which is very reggae influenced. And very good. I like it very much. Waiting for more. Please and thank you.