Another week done, and another Friday Music!
Got an interesting assortment for you this week — most of which was sourced from my “Discovery Weekly” playlist on Spotify — stuff from acts I’d never heard before, new stuff from classic acts, you name it.
First up, though, in honor of my parents’ 50th Anniversary, a special tune — a close family friend, who has always pretty much been one of my uncles, wrote an original Wedding March for their ceremony back in ’68, which he based on this track. Procol Harum – “A Whiter Shade Of Pale.” Happy Anniversary!
This is an L.A.-based band called Dorothy, which, like “Blondie” is the name of the whole band. The lead singer of the band is named Dorothy Martin, though — and her voice reached through the speakers and just smacked me around. She’s got a powerful belt which reminds me a lot of Florence Welch (from Florence + The Machine), but fronting a more rock-oriented band. Also: This is not the similarly-titled Thorogood song. Dorothy – “Who Do You Love.”
Robert Finley spent the early 70s working as a semi-pro musician, but then gave it up and became a carpenter. In 2015, as a senior citizen, he was declared legally blind and had to stop working as a carpenter, so he started busking…and he was discovered. His debut album Age Don’t Mean A Thing came out in 2016, and his second, GOIN’ PLATINUM! was released late last year. This is a track from that album: Robert Finley – “Get It While You Can.”
A couple of my favorite bands from the 80s have new music out — the first is Blancmange, who, after releasing three studio albums in the early-to-mid 80s, re-formed and started releasing albums again in 2011. This track is from their latest album, Unfurnished Rooms, which came out last year. Blancmange – “What’s The Time?”
The second is Gene Loves Jezebel — well, one of them, at least. The twin brothers who founded the band had a falling out, and now both have their own versions of the band, one in the US, and one in the UK. Each have the right to the name, but when in the other’s territory they are called “[Brother’s Name]’s Gene Loves Jezebel.” It’s sad, really. Anyway, this is Jay Aston’s (UK) version of the band. Gene Loves Jezebel – “Izitme.”
Dipping into the prog side a bit here, with Tauk, a 4-piece instrumental rock fusion 4-piece band from NYC. I’ll admit that the title was the first thing that intrigued me, but the more I listened to the track, the more I really got into it. Tauk – “Space Ghost.”
…and we’ll close with this: A band doing what it calls Carnatic Progressive Rock — a mix of prog with the traditional carnatic music of Southern India. You know that I’m all about genre mash-ups, and this is really interesting stuff. Agam – “Subrahmanyena Rakshitoham (Onwards & Upwards).”
There you go — hope that you enjoyed this week’s selections. Drop me a note to tell me what you thought, or to request any musical genres you’d like to hear me dip into in the future.
Have a great weekend!