Tag: Jenny Lewis

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Playlists

Playlist: New tunes from 2023, part two

Happy Friday all!

For me, it’s an especially happy Friday because at the end of today’s work day, I’ll be off on vacation leave, taking a much needed break from the office and at the same time, these pages, for just over a week and a half. I’ll be sure to take full advantage of the time away and not think of anything except that moment and the next, and come back fully recharged and refreshed. But before I go, I’ve got one more blast of music to share with you all: part two of my ongoing New Music of 2023 playlist.

To be truthful, I can’t believe I’m posting another one if these already. I typically do each instalment of these four part series of new tunes for the year once every three months but it feels more like three minutes rather than months since the last time I did one. I can’t really recall very much of what I’ve done during the second quarter of 2023. It’s not that I haven’t appreciated each breath I’ve taken, moments shared with my lovely wife, etc and etc, but there’s been so much sameness, it’s hard to extract one moment from the next. It’s been working, eating, sleeping, and mostly more of the same.

Interestingly, the music I’ve been listening to hasn’t quite reflected this same feeling. It’s been for the most part very reflective and present and self-aware. Music that breathes with you and embraces you. It’s not something I purposely sought out but it found me nonetheless. Have a look through and see if you disagree, and don’t worry, it’s not all work and no play. There’s a bunch of fun jams thrown in there to shake things up for you as well.

But I won’t guide your thoughts too much, I’ll present the music that I’ve ridden on during these second three months of 2023. If you’re not sold on checking out all twenty-five, perhaps sample from a few of these highlights:

      • Daughter sets us off on the right track with “Be on you way”, the beautiful and breathless track from “Stereo mind game”, their first album in seven years
      • The brash yet melodic garage rock feels of “Love beyond the grave” reminds us all why we love what Crocodiles are all about
      • Montreal-based dream pop duo Bodywash and their track “Kind of light” had me wondering why on earth I’d never heard of them before this
      • The National are back up to their old tricks with “New Order t-shirt”, weaving stream of conscious narratives and haunting melodies that I dare you to not adore
      • Olivia Jean’s “Trouble” is dark, grimy, and glamourous, not to mention chock full of attitude
      • The ever brilliant James has released a new double album in celebration of their 40 years in existence, reimagining many of their iconic tunes with an orchestra and it includes wonderful new number called “Love make a fool”
      • Pond frontman Nicholas Allbrook is channeling Bowie in “Jackie”, an amazing tune off his new solo album, “Manganese”

Here is the entire playlist as I’ve created it:

1. “Be on your way” Daughter (from the album Stereo mind game)

2. “Sepsis” Blondshell (from the album Blondshell)

3. “Love beyond the grave” Crocodiles (from the album Upside down in heaven)

4. “Rushin’ river valley” Fruit Bats (from the album A river running to your heart)

5. “Major league” The Tallest Man on Earth (from the album Henry St.)

6. “Kind of light” Bodywash (from the album I held the shape while I could)

7. “Gamma rays” Temples (from the album Exotico)

8. “Slow burn” Rose City Band (from the album Garden party)

9. “American daughter” Beach House (from the EP Become)

10. “Flight paths” Great Lake Swimmers (from the album Uncertain country)

11. “New Order t-shirt” The National (from the album First two pages of Frankenstein)

12. “Time back” Indigo De Souza (from the album All of this will end)

13. “Gaagige” Zoon (from the album Bekka ma’iingan)

14. “Trouble” Olivia Jean (from the album Raving ghost)

15. “True mirror” Esben and the Witch (from the album Hold sacred)

16. “The likes of us” Lanterns on the Lake (from the album Versions of us)

17. “Visions” Frankiie (from the album Between dreams)

18. “Pretty Boy” Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds (from the album Council skies)

19. “Love make a fool (Orchestral version)” James (from the album Be opened by the wonderful)

20. “Jackie” Nicholas Allbrook (from the album Manganese)

21. “Joy’all” Jenny Lewis (from the album Joy’all)

22. “Social lubrication” Dream Wife (from the album Social lubrication)

23. “Silver girl” Spoon (from the EP Memory dust)

24. “Mór” Sigur Rós (from the album Átta)

25. “It’s just a bit of blood” bdrmm (from the album I don’t know)

Apple initiates  can click here to sample the above tracks as a whole playlist.

And as always, wherever you are in the world, I hope you continue to be well. Above all, enjoy the tunes.

If you’re interested in checking out any of the other playlists I’ve created and shared on these pages, you can peruse them here.

Categories
Live music galleries

Ten great Ottawa Bluesfest sets: #3 Jenny Lewis – Tuesday, July 8th, 2014

(This year’s edition of Ottawa Bluesfest has been cancelled, for obvious reasons. In previous years, especially on my old blog, I would share photos and thoughts on some of the live music I was enjoying at the festival throughout the duration. So for the next week and a half, I thought I’d share ten great sets, out of the many I’ve witnessed over the years, one for each day on which music would have be performed. Enjoy.)

Jenny Lewis and her band and a sea of umbrellas at Bluesfest 2014

Artist: Jenny Lewis
When: Tuesday, July 8th, 2014
Where: River Stage at 7:00pm
Context: Another of the pitfalls of outdoor music festivals is inclement weather. Of course, Ottawa in July is particularly fun for the wild weather and it just seems to get more unsettled as the years roll on. I’ve weathered more than a couple storms in the middle of concert crowds, whether during sets or waiting for them to begin. It’s gotten so that dollar store ponchos have become a regular fixture in my pack whenever I head out to a festival. Others bring umbrellas and to them I say: “Leave them at home!” They often blow open and break in strong winds and they block the views of anyone unfortunate enough to be behind you.

But enough of that.

Back on the Tuesday night of the 2014 edition of Bluesfest, the skies opened up, exactly as forecast, and drenched the diehards awaiting the arrival of indie singer/songwriter Jenny Lewis. The rain was such that they delayed of the start of her 7pm set and it just seemed to get worse and worse, until the rain seemed endless and we started to think that the River stage would be washed away, along with our hopes of seeing Jenny Lewis live. She finally did go on at 7:40, leaving only twenty minutes remaining of her originally scheduled set. I stuck it out because I’d been following her since her days with Rilo Kiley and had enjoyed quite a bit of her solo work. And who knew if she’d ever make it back to Ottawa?

Jenny Lewis and her band only performed a total of six songs: a couple of Rilo Kiley tracks, a couple of tracks from her album with the Watson Twins, and the brand new single off her upcoming album, “Just one of the guys” (see full list below). She came out wearing a colourful outfit (similar to that shown on the aforementioned new album cover), playing a rainbow coloured acoustic guitar, and projecting a like mannered disposition. For the final song, “Acid tongue”, her backing band, dressed in whites and blacks, gathered behind her, choir-style to sing backup, while she serenaded us quietly on her acoustic guitar. It was a lovely set and I’m grateful that we got the chance to see her, even though it was only a short performance, but one can’t help wonder what else she would have played had the rain not altered the schedule.

Afterwards, wandering away from the stage, I overheard Lawrence Gowan (!) on one of the main stages cracking a lame joke about double rainbows. I looked up and sure enough, there was a magnificent rainbow that again matched Lewis’s garb and guitar and that seemed to end at the foot of the River Stage on which she had just performed. Coincidence?

Rain parkas and umbrellas
Jenny Lewis
Natalie Prass and Megan McCormick
Jenny Lewis, Macey Taylor, and Joshua Adams
Jenny Lewis and her rainbow guitar
The rainbow ends at the River Stage

Setlist:
Just One of the Guys
Silver Lining (Rilo Kiley song)
Rise Up With Fists!!
You Are What You Love
A Man/Me/Then Jim (Rilo Kiley song)
Acid Tongue

Categories
Vinyl

Vinyl love: The Postal Service “Give up”

(Vinyl Love is a series of posts that quite simply lists, describes, and displays the pieces in my growing vinyl collection. You can bet that each record was given a spin during the drafting of each corresponding post.)

Artist: The Postal Service
Album Title: Give up
Year released: 2003
Year reissued: 2013
Details: 10th anniversary deluxe edition, Remastered, 3 x LP, Triple gatefold, 8-page booklet

The skinny: The one and only collaboration between Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello (aka DNTEL) received the 10th anniversary reissue treatment and I was all over it. It was 10 clean and crisp pop gems that seamlessly blended indie pop and electronic, though this release included extra b-sides, remixes, and even a brand new song.

Standout track: “Such great heights”