Hey everyone,
I recently had the chance to sit down with Ian Murray, a.k.a. Butch Bastard, and talk with him about his new album Las Vegas Salvation which I’ve already named as my album of the year (even though the year is not quite half over.) It’s a bold move, but one I stand by confidently. Our interview will be released this coming week, so be sure to listen to that episode when it drops. Also, if you’re a Butch Bastard fan, be sure to check out his Substack.
PJ Harvey has a new album titled, I Inside The Old I Dying, which will be released on July 7th. I thought this might be a good time to revisit a piece I wrote early last year titled, “An Introduction to PJ Harvey” which provides a fairly deep-dive for the uninitiated. Whether you’re a long-time fan of Polly Jean or you’re altogether new to her music, I believe you’d enjoy it and learn something from it.
In addition to these weekly emails, there’s a wealth of other longform music writing available to paid subscribers. Other longform content like the above-mentioned PJ Harvey piece, The Musical Genius of Aimee Mann, Separating the Art From the Artist, 10 Awful Songs From Great Bands, Things Are Great with Band of Horses, The Worst Album Titles of All Time, What the Artists Who Played Woodstock Were Paid, and so many other articles like these are available in the Zappagram archives to paid subscribers.
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Ground control to reader: Take your protein pills. Put your helmet on.
This music newsletter ain’t gonna read itself.
“My heart is broken in the face of the stupidity of my species.”
—Joni Mitchell
ROCK THE VOTE
:: MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD
WEEKLY PLAYLIST #61
:: NEW MUSIC EVERY WEEK
Featuring: Shaed, Madeline Kenney, Allison Russell, Sharon Van Etten, Jess Williamson, Sumbuck, Bird and Byron, Mary Hennessy, Christine and the Queens, PJ Harvey, My Morning Jacket, Slow Joy, Flake, Atticus Chimps, Young Other
ZAPPAGRAM #61
ZAPPAGRAM PLAYLIST (ALL WEEKS)
MUSIC NEWS
:: WHAT’S GOING ON
Pearl Jam’s New Album is “Close to the Finish Line,” Says Stone Gossard
Gossard says producer Andrew Watt has been "energizing" the band [Consequence]
Indiana Man Arrested for Stalking Taylor Swift, Intimidating Her Eras Tour Dancers
The 36-year-old man faces charges of stalking, invasion of privacy, intimidation and harassment after appearing at singer's Nashville home among other social media threats [RollingStone]
Social Distortion’s Mike Ness Reveals Tonsil Cancer Diagnosis
The band have postponed their North American tour while Ness undergoes treatment [NME]
Heart’s Nancy and Ann Wilson Are Writing New Music Together Again
Nancy describes the new music as "closer to what you would have heard us originally do in the '70s" [Consequence]
Tool Expands Tour With Fall North American Dates
The band added several North American tour dates to its handful of previously announced festival appearances, beginning on Oct. 3 in Loveland, CO [Spin]
Queens of the Stone Age Announce 2023 Tour
Following European festival dates, the band will play North American shows in the summer and fall [Pitchfork]
Wilco Bring ‘Cruel Country’ on the Road With U.S. Tour
New fall dates follow a set of Midwestern and Southern shows earlier this year [RollingStone]
Run-DMC to Headline 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop Concert at Yankee Stadium
DJ Kool Herc, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Ghostface Killah, Slick Rick, and more are performing at the Bronx celebration [Pitchfork]
Tenacious D to Play U.S. Concerts in September 2023
Jack Black and Kyle Gass have expanded their Spicy Meatball Tour [Pitchfork]
Brian Eno Schedules First Solo Tour
The concert, titled "Ships," will center around his 2016 album The Ship with backing from the Baltic Sea Philharmonic [RollingStone]
Neil Young Confirms Summer Solo Tour Dates
Neil Young will embark on his first tour in four years this summer as part of a solo acoustic jaunt focused on rarely performed material [Spin]
Sufjan Stevens Announces Michigan 20th Anniversary Reissue
The singer-songwriter partnered with Third Man Pressings to release a new special edition vinyl honoring the 20th anniversary of his third studio album, Michigan [Consequence]
Joni Mitchell Returns With Epic All-Star Celebration at the Gorge
Mitchell's first ticketed concert in over 20 years, provided a deep-dive into the legendary singer-songwriter's catalog [Rolling Stone]
Harry Styles Rumoured to Perform at Super Bowl 2024 Halftime Show
Although the internet rumour is far from being verified, fans have already embraced the idea [NME]
Garth Brooks Says His New Nashville Bar Will Serve Bud Light Despite Conservative Boycott
The country legend said, “I want it to be a place you feel safe in, I want it to be a place where you feel like there are manners and people like one another. And yes, we’re going to serve every brand of beer. Our thing is this, if you are let into this house, love one another. If you’re an asshole, there are plenty of other places on lower Broadway.” [Conse quence]
Z-REX
:: ZAPPA’S RECOMMENDATIONS
+ More suggestions for interesting music-related TikTok accounts to follow: Gabbie provides great music recommendations “for people who think the 90s were 10 years ago.” Amanda works in the industry and also has great music recs. RockabuyRecords is a brick-and-mortar record shop in Oakham, Rutland, UK, run by a great father and son team who serve up great album recs. My friend Kudani really knows her music! She makes fascinating videos covering both new and classic albums, and I consistently discover something new from her. Lastly, Dean Baldwin runs SiriusXM’s Classic Rewind show and he also has a great TikTok channel in which he covers (in great detail) lots of classic rock favorites.
+ I love everything that the band Shaed does—like this beautifully inspiring song “Colorful” written out of love and in support of anyone who struggles to love and accept themselves for who they are, or this acoustic version of their song “Too Much” or this performance of “Lonesome” or this virtual festival show from Lollapalooza 2020 where they performed “Melt.” Of course, they are known for their 2019 breakout hit “Trampoline” but no matter what they do, it’s smooth and soulful. Chelsea, Spencer, and Max are incredible musicians and I might have an opportunity to interview them later this year, so certainly keep an ear out for that. I couldn’t be more excited!
NEW RELEASES
:: RECENTLY DROPPED MUSIC
The Boo Radleys: Eight [listen]
Christine and the Queens: Paranoia, Angels, True Love [listen]
Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit: Weathervanes [listen]
Jenny Lewis: Joy’All [listen]
Love and Rockets: My Sweet Twin [listen]
My Morning Jacket: MMJ Live Vol. 3: Bonnaroo 2004 [listen]
Youth Lagoon: Heaven Is a Junkyard [listen]
RELEASE RADAR
:: UPCOMING RELEASES
- JUN 13 -
Spoon: Memory Dust EP
- JUN 16 -
Balmorhea: Pendant World
Drive-By Truckers: The Complete Dirty South
The Flaming Lips: Hypnotist EP
Hand Habits: Sugar the Bruise EP
John Mellencamp: Orpheus Descending
Mötörhead: Live At The Montreux Jazz Festival ’07
Queens Of The Stone Age: In Times New Roman…
Son Volt: Day of the Doug
The Teskey Brothers: The Winding Way
- JUN 23 -
Albert Hammond Jr: Melodies on Hiatus
Amanda Shires & Bobbie Nelson: Loving You
Candlebox: Live at the Neptune
Lloyd Cole: On Pain
M. Ward: Supernatural Thing
Portugal. the Man: Chris Black Changed My Life
Sleepy Gonzales: Mercy Kill EP
Wye Oak: Every Day Like the Last
- JUN 30 -
Charlie Watts: Anthology
Frank Zappa: Funky Nothingness
Grateful Dead: Here Comes Sunshine 1973
The Jins: It’s A Life
Lucinda Williams: Stories From a Rock n Roll Heart
- JUL 7 -
ANOHNI and the Johnsons: My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross
Local Natives: Time Will Wait for No One
PJ Harvey: I Inside the Old I Dying
Taylor Swift: Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)
ON THIS DATE
:: MUSICAL HAPPENINGS OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
- JUN 12 -
Chick Corea was born in Chelsea, MA (1941) • Brad M. Carlson, a.k.a. Bun E. Carlos, drummer of Cheap Trick was born in Rockford, IL (1950) • Brad Delp, guitarist/singer of Boston, was born in Peabody, MA (1951) • Pete Fardon, bassist of The Pretenders was born in Hereford, England (1952) • Singer-songwriter/guitarist Junior Brown was born in Cottonwood, AZ (1952) • Multi-instrumentalist John Linnell, of They Might Be Giants, was born in NYC (1959) • Radiohead avoided a blackmail attempt by releasing 18 hours of music recorded during the making of their classic album OK Computer. Tapes from the sessions had been stolen by hackers who demanded $150,000 for their return. Instead, the band released the tapes in full, with profits going to climate crisis activists Extinction Rebellion. (2019)
- JUN 13 -
Singer-songwriter David Gray was born in Cheshire, England (1968) • Rivers Cuomo, of Weezer, was born in NYC (1970) • Alanis Morissette released her studio album, Jagged Little Pill. (1995) • A roadie who worked for Oasis and Elton John was arrested and charged with smuggling millions of pounds worth of ecstasy into the U.K. (2000)
- JUN 14 -
Guitarist Steve Hunter, who worked with Lou Reed, Aerosmith and Alice Cooper and who played the acoustic intro on Peter Gabriel's 1977 hit 'Solsbury Hill' was born in Decatur, IL (1948) • George O'Dowd, a.k.a. Boy George, was born in London (1961) • Singer-songwriter Joshua Radin was born in Cleveland, OH (1974) • Three fans died during an Ozzy Osbourne gig after falling from a balcony at Long Beach Arena. (1986)
- JUN 15 -
Waylon Jennings was born in Littlefield, TX (1937) • Harry Nilsson was born in NYC (1941) • Steve Walsh of Kansas was born in St. Louis, MO (1951) • O'Shea Jackson, a.k.a. Ice Cube was born in Los Angeles (1969) • Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol was born in Bangor, Northern Ireland (1976) • Motown Records released “Let's Get It On” by Marvin Gaye. (1973) • Nirvana's debut album Bleach was released in the U.S. (1989) • Ella Fitzgerald died in Beverly Hills, California, aged 79. (1996)
- JUN 16 -
Singer-songwriter/producer Lamont Dozier was born in Detroit (1941) • Tupac Shakur was born in NYC (1971) • Bob Dylan recorded “Like A Rolling Stone” at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City. (1965) • The three-day Monterey Pop Festival in California began, featuring legendary performances by Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, and The Mamas & the Papas. (1967) • David Bowie released his fifth studio album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. (1972) • Kristen Pfaff, bassist of Hole, was found dead in her bathtub due to a heroin overdose, aged 26. (1994)
- JUN 17 -
Mike Buck, drummer of The Fabulous Thunderbirds, was born in Austin, TX (1952) • Philip Chevron of The Pogues was born in Dublin, Ireland (1957) • Jello Biafra of Dead Kennedys was born in Boulder, CO (1958) • Kendrick Lamar was born in Compton, CA (1987) • Carole King went to #1 on the U.S. album chart with Tapestry for the first of 15 consecutive weeks. (1971) • Dolly Parton recorded “I Will Always Love You” in RCA's Studio "B" in Nashville. (1973) • Kate Bush went to #1 on the charts with “Running Up That Hill.” Originally released in 1985, the song enjoyed renewed interest after featuring in the Netflix show Stranger Things.
- JUN 18 -
Paul McCartney was born in Liverpool (1942) • Dizzy Reed, keyboardist of Guns N’ Roses was born in Hinsdale, IL (1963) • Simon Rowbottom, guitarist of The Boo Radleys, was born in England (1969) • Columbia Records started the first mass production of the 33-RPM LP. The new format could contain a maximum of 23 minutes of music per side versus the three minutes that could be squeezed on to a 78 RPM disc. (1948) • Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols was stabbed and beaten during an attack in a car park outside a London pub. The next day, other members of the Pistols were beaten by a gang armed with iron pipes. (1977)
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Zappagram #61: PJ Harvey, Tool, and Shaed…oh my!