Author: Joe Mahoney

I like things made by people who love their work

Help save Stereogum

A lot of my quick links point to posts on Stereogum, a site that’s been around for ages but is now in danger of shutting. I read it religiously, it’s my number one source of new music and artists. And the comments section is actually really fucking good.

Scott Lapatine went fully independent earlier this year, buying the site off the parent company, just in time to see COVID-19 fuck over the entire live music industry and murder his advertising revenue.

To shore up and improve the business Stereogum are running an Indigogo campaign, the first perk of which is an ’00s covers album featuring 54 different artists. The list includes Clipping, Lucy Dacus, Rostam, The New Pornographers, Dirty Projectors, and The National. The cost is US$20 (about $NZD30) and you get more stuff if you donate more.

I’ve gotten way more than $30 worth of entertainment from Stereogum over the years. I cannot recommend the site highly enough. If you are a regular reader, please consider donating, too.

July Tracks, 2020

I use an IFTTT applet that adds tracks that I’ve “liked” on Spotify to a monthly playlist. In June I tapped the heart icon 15 times.

This month’s liked tracks started out with a deep cut from the Kinks and ended with Al Green by way of a fairly eclectic mix of artists and styles.

A decent chunk of the tracks are by NZ artists that featured on The Local List NZ. Not all the tracks are my usual style but they all caught my ear enough for me to want to play them a few times. The Kelsy Karter‘s Harry has an infectious, dumb chorus that’ll get stuck in your head for days. And the Stick To Your Guns hits all the hair metal power ballad buttons. Stupid Crazy by eleven7four really isn’t that good when I think about it but I never hit the skip button. The best track of the kiwi ones is Call You Out by deryk, who seems to be being hyped as the the next Lorde. It’s a good song, more Portishead than Lorde.

Other tracks are a mix of old-to-me songs that I hadn’t put on the liked list. The Amanda Palmer cover of The Mess Inside comes from a compilation that accompanied the first season of I Only Listen To The Mountain Goats. I think I prefer this version to the original.

July was a fun month for me music-wise. I’m looking forward to what August brings.

June Tracks, 2020

I use an IFTTT applet that adds tracks that I’ve saved on Spotify to a monthly playlist. In June I tapped the heart icon 11 times.

June was not a month where I paid much attention to music. I normally start giving the playlist for the current a decent amount of play in the last week and carry that through the start of the next one but the opportunities didn’t come up this month.

The best “new to me” song was Cumberland Gap by David Rawlings along with Gillian Welch. It’s a cracking tune, the opener for the latest Guy Ritchie flick, The Gentlemen. I enjoyed the film but song stuck with me.

The rest of the tracks are good individually, but the whole playlist is kinda weird and meh. July has been pretty slim pickings so far, but hopefully it’ll include some gems.