Record Roundup

The number of software startups that could conceivably even hope to have a significant positive impact on consumers' lives is probably vanishingly small at this point, but if someone somewhere came up with an app that could monitor new releases for you and let you know when your favorite artists (and those selected by this hypothetical gizmo's proprietary RIYL engine) had stuff out, and then put those titles on a big list for you to check off, I think it'd make a lot of people very happy. Or maybe just me — I don't know how you keep track of the records you want to check out, but at this point, I personally have been reduced to dropping them in a Notes file that I leave open throughout the day.

Some of these are titles I've managed to give a cursory listen, but I don't feel like I've really heard yet, so they remain. The Lockwood one is just there because I'm not going to add it to my library — it's seasonal music! — but it's rad, and I intend to play it a lot every year. Anyway, you get the point; most of these are newer releases, but some are just albums people have mentioned or recommended at various points, and I know myself well enough to know that if I don't write these things down, I'll forget them forever. (Or at least until the next time someone brings them up.)

Most days, there are things I'm listening to for some specific purpose, but on the days I'm free to roam, this is the list that I fall back on — and I was able to do some falling back this morning, so now it's time to quickly recommend a few things:

Sophie Gault, Baltic Street Hotel
I'm a No Depression subscriber, and I make a point of running through their Friday newsletter to see which new releases they've reviewed. If they look interesting enough for whatever reason, then they go on the list — which is how I ended up listening to Baltic Street Hotel despite knowing nothing at all about Sophie Gault. I'm really glad I took the time, because this is a consistently excellent collection of roots rock/alt-country tunes that hangs like a pair of comfortable jeans on the line between Lone Justice and Lucinda Williams. Bonus points for some unsurprisingly stellar production work from Ray Kennedy; it's been way too long since I spotted his name in the liner notes.

JD Simo and Luther Dickinson, Do the Rump!
I keep checking out new stuff from the Dickinson brothers — together and solo — despite not having been truly moved by anything they've done since World Boogie Is Coming way the hell back in 2013. Do the Rump! more or less continues that vaguely unsatisfying streak; what the Dickinsons do, they do very well, but if you spend enough time with it, you eventually come to realize that it occupies an extremely narrow bandwidth, even in the context of traditional hill country blues. I don't know anything about J.D. Simo, but it may be safe to assume he's at least partly responsible for the fire that's sporadically lit beneath Luther throughout this set, and it may be worth checking out if for no other reason than the hallucinatory swamp madness of the nearly eight-minute title track.

Nada Surf, Moon Mirror
These guys have long held a spot on the lengthy list of acts I'd probably really like if I ever just took the time to investigate their music, and based on what I hear here, I should really probably get around to doing that sooner than later. The band's tenth album and first for New West after a long stint at Barsuk, Moon Mirror is a deftly assembled delivery mechanism for hooks and harmonies, expertly dispensed in equal measure; in other words, this is a great record for anyone who misses Fountains of Wayne. Perfect pop songs, powerfully performed.

Watching: In addition to enjoying the previously recommended ongoing seasons of Industry, Bad Monkey, and Slow Horses, I'm also happy to have The Old Man back on my streaming device of choice. If you aren't familiar with the show or have forgotten all about it since Season 1 aired two years ago, it's one of those shows with such a killer cast (Jeff Bridges, John Lithgow, Alia Shawkat) that it'd have to try awfully hard to suck. It's far from perfect, but any deficits in the drama are more than eclipse by the absurd amount of talent on display as well as the sturdiness of the premise, which revolves around a retired CIA agent (Bridges) who's forced out of hiding when a long-buried chapter from his past decides to reopen itself. (FX)

I also gorged on Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored Story of '80s Hair Metal, despite the fact that it's really just a three-episode docuseries adaptation of a book that I inhaled after it was published in 2021. I dug it almost as much the second time around partly because I'm a soft sell for oral histories — I wrote a pretty good one! — but also because the subject matter is fascinating. Speaking as someone who lived through the era in question, I never ever expected to be given feels by the lead singer of Tuff, but that's what happened and I'm not going to apologize for it. (Paramount+)

Reading: I finished Amp'd a day or two before the release of a new book I'm excited to dig into, and not just because the author will make an appearance on an upcoming episode of the Record Player. To tide me over 'til I could start that one, I decided to dive into Warren Littlefield's Top of the Rock: Inside the Rise and Fall of Must See TV, which is exactly what it probably sounds like — an oral history of everything that went into scheduling NBC's Thursday night juggernaut, starting with the early '80s advent of Cheers and continuing through the Friends era (and presumably a bit beyond). I'm only about 40 percent finished, but I also only picked it up a few days ago, so that's saying something. In other book-related news, Loggins-Loving Friend of Jefitoblog Libby Cudmore has a new one out right now, and everyone should go buy it! Read more about Negative Girl right here.

Around the Corner: Last week was a shit week for New Music Friday and Old Music Friday — hopefully, tomorrow will tell a different story. I'm not sure what Saturday holds for us, but it's been a minute since we had a Bootleg City. And speaking of the Record Player, Matt and I recorded a new episode earlier this week, which means our late summer hiatus is coming to an end. You've been warned!