Here is this weeks playlist

Lydia Loveless – Nothing’s Gonna Stand in My Way Again I have always been a Lydia Loveless fan, but on her sixth album, she has really taken it up a notch. It’s kind of the culmination of a long road to get here. She has always had some swagger; she has always been a bit alt country, always some pop, but I don’t think she has gotten that formula as right as she has here. On the song “Sex & Money,” she has the confidence and swagger of Chrissey Amphlett of the Divinyls or that other Chrissie from The Pretenders. One also can’t dismiss the RIYL of Neko Case at her most accessible. Her vocals and lyrics are gripping, relatable, and convincing, especially on songs such as “Runaway” and “Feel.” This is easily her finest album to date, and possibly the start of a run of an artist really finding their footing.

Bleach Lab-Lost In A Rush Of Emptiness—this could be a blueprint for good mainstream pop music. The London group really nails it and has a polished sheen that takes them out of that amateur sound of so many similar bands, yet this feels genuine. Jenna Kyle’s confidently subdued vocals and the Cure-ish guitars don’t emulate Mazzy Star and those bands, but they sure give you that feeling like when you first heard them. A must-listen.

Al Menne – Freak Accident-so I used to write these reviews in about four hours early in the morning on Friday and rush through them, and then there would be a handful of things I really liked that I would hear later and never mention until I put together the end of the year list, and who knows if anyone looks at that as it’s 200 titles. Who knows if anyone reads this? Either way, this is a good example of why, once I started this blog site, I started taking a few days to listen to everything that came out that I could find. This was pretty low on my list for some reason, and the first listen didn’t grab, but repeated listens put this in my top three for the week. Al is the vocalist for Great Grandpa, and I think of Christian Lee Hutson’s band. This is a really good indie singer-songwriter album and really reminds me of Lucy Dacus, both lyrically and stylistically. There is a little subtle twang here and there that Big Thief fans may dig. If you like Jay Some, Lucy, Phoebe, and the like, you should enjoy this.

Briston Maroney – Ultrapure-second album from the Knoxville artist. I keep thinking this artist is bigger than he is. He has that sound of a well-established indie singer-songwriter who has a foot in being raw, genuine, and heartfelt, and one in mainstream pop sensibility. It’s a sound that is usually embraced with much success, but I guess that is still coming. This is a very good, appealing sophomore album from the 25-year-old.

Chappell Roan – The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princeess- debut album from the Missouri native. Chappell is opening Omaha’s Olivia Rodrigo show. I think this is as solid of a mainstream Taylor-era pop album as you can get. There are fun and infectious teen pop moments such as the opener “Feminomenon” and more than a couple tracks that I feel show the influence of Lady Gaga, who is now the influential pop-mother to all of these young artists. Kind of like Madonna was to Gaga. We old. There is a lot of youthful stuff here, but there are also more mature moments than one will find on some of the other albums of this style, and a lot of sexuality that goes beyond the backseat in high-school lyrics of those same artists. These are incredibly well-crafted mainstream pop songs, and I don’t really hear a dud on here, and it has enough variation in style and mood to actually warrant a fifty-minute run time. If you are a fan of good radio pop, this is a must-listen.

The Alchemist, Wiki, and MIKE – Faith is a straight-forward, straight-traditional hip-hop album with the legendary Alchemist putting down music for young rappers Wiki and MIKE.  Nothing mind-blowing, but a nice, laid-back hip-hop album.

Benét – Can I go again? -quite good soulful indie pop music. Only the first song, “The Real Me” truly stands out on the first couple listens. The rest is a very nice listen, but we will have to see if the songs dig in. The voice and sound are there.

Emily Kinney – Swimteam-Wayne America native, and Beth on The Walking Dead Charming singer-songwriter pop-Americana album with very matter-of-fact no-bones lyrics

Flat Worms – Witness Marks-third album from the LA Band that sounds like a UK post-punk band. They really connect when they get a subtle little hook in their song, like in “See You At The Show”. I wrote off their last album, but this one has a spark to it. 

Teenage Sequence – Teenage Sequence-UK lad doing what sounds like bedroom-produced electronic talky post punk type stuff, minus the punk and more disco.  It’s a lot of fun, but it may wear off at some point as it has a cheeky vibe and a little bit of a silly attitude. Worth checking out.

This group of albums are things I liked and may listen to further 

Jenny Owen Youngs – Avalanche

Mad Honey – Satellite Aphrodite

Loraine James – Gentle Confrontation

Sally Anne Morgan – Carrying

Samantha Urbani – Showing Up

Radian – Distorted Rooms

Meltt – Eternal Embers

Laurel Halo – Atlas

Will Butler + Sister Squares – Will Butler + Sister Squares

K. Michelle – I’m the Problem

Teenage Fanclub – Nothing Lasts Forever- 

yeule – softscars

Devendra Banhart – Flying Wig

CHAI – CHAI

Kiefer – It’s OK, B U

Amindi – Take What You Need

3TEETH – EndEx

Roosevelt – Embrace

Bakar – Halo

Kylie Minogue – Tension

Kid Francescoli – Sunset Blue

Brent Cobb – Southern Star

Das Koolies (feat. members of Super Furry Animals) – DK.01

Yoke Lore – Toward a Never Ending New Beginning

zzzahara – Tender

Grrrl Gang – Spunky!

Here are the rest of this week’s releases that didn’t connect with me personally 

2Rare – Rare Story Pt. 2

aldrch – industry standard

Another Michael – Wishes to Fulfill

Buddy Miller & Julie Miller – In The Throes

Cannibal Corpse – Chaos Horrific

Paul Rodgers – Midnight Rose

Various Artists – More Than a Whisper: Celebrating The Music of Nanci Griffith

Various Artists – Yellowjackets Season 2 Official Soundtrack: Music from the Original Series

Ben Goldsmith – The World Between My Ears

Kylie Minogue – Tension

Dead Feathers – Full Circle

Declan Welsh & The Decadent West – 2

Doja Cat – Scarlet

Dominique Fils-Aimé – Our Roots Run Deep

Final Gasp – Mourning Moon

Ghost Train Orchestra and Kronos Quartet – Songs and Symphoniques: The 

Music of Moondog

Grails – Anches En Maat

The Holy Ghost – Ignore Alien Orders

Jeffrey Alexander + The Heavy Lidders – New Earth Seed

JOHN – A Life Diagrammatic

JP Saxe – A Grey Area

Le Couleur – Comme dans un penthouse

Lord of the Lost – Blood & Glitter

Matteo Bocelli – Matteo

My Lament – The Season Came Undone

Parmalee – For You 2

Patio – Collection

Petey – USA

Pkew Pkew Pkew – Siiick Days

POSTDATA – Run Wild

Shadwick Wilde – Easy Rider

Slaughter Beach, Dog – Crying, Laughing, Waving, Smiling

Stephen Sanchez – Angel Face

Stu Brooks – 40HZ

underscores – Wallsocket

WaqWaq Kingdom – Hot Potato