Without a doubt, LEM is the best value your money can buy for 60 minutes of new music curated for your listening pleasure. While you are pondering on that, let’s begin with Brian Jordan and Colan Miles who present as Sun Shines Gold. They are from the Scottish Borders south of Edinburgh, Scotland they tell me, once a four-piece band, now a two-man venture. From their Alone EP, you’ll hear the Neil Landstrumm mix. Yes, trainspotters will insist Sun Shines Gold sound like ____ but, you have to agree, they do it very well. Looking forward to hearing more from these lads. A fellow out of Toronto goes by the moniker, Wayley, from his self-titled EP we selected, What’s It Gonna Take. This is smart pop songwriting, a well-produced single. Listen carefully, can you detect that Canadian accent? Next up, you’ll be glad we stopped in New York, New York to hear from Jourdann. Not going to mess around about this, Jourdann’s LP, Taffy Town is superb. Listen to that “so cool, yet plaintive voice” on Sick Of It. Jourdann says, “I’m an aspiring singer-songwriter, trying to pursue a career in ui/ux design” adding, “I have the imagination and the confidence of 8-year-old me and I’m proud of that! This song is about a crush that’s gone sour from the start because you know for a fact that they don’t feel the same way about you. More specifically, it’s about being tired of constantly finding yourself in this situation over and over again and wishing that things would be different for once.” If you can’t relate to that you’re either lucky or most likely a wee bit too fond of yourself. Such an excellent record, interesting production too. Back to Toronto, we go to hear from Sook-Yin Lee & Adam Litovitz with Delicate Tracks from the LP, Jooj Two. Sook-Yin Lee is a noted avant-gardist, multimedia artist & broadcaster, in the 2010s she teamed up with her romantic and longtime collaborator Adam Litovitz to make electronic pop as Jooj. Tragically, after struggling with anxiety, depression, and prescription drug dependency, Litovitz died by suicide in 2019. To celebrate the story of their relationship and the massive void left by Litovitz’s passing, Lee completed a cycle of songs they had begun working on together, Jooj Two is the result. Lee’s voice is mesmerizing. Wife is the song you’ll hear from Marlo Mudd who resides in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. She recorded her LP, Songs From My Youth amid the pandemic at the Anacortes Unknown Studio. Marlo says Songs From My Youth explores looking at times passed in a changing world and from the retrospective gaze that comes with getting older. This reminds me of a Tweet my friend Kate Clarke sent the other day: “I’ve reached that point in life where every photograph I own gives me a twinge of sadness – not just because some of those people are gone and those times have passed. For me, mostly, it is because I didn’t fully appreciate those moments and there’s no denying it”. You should know that Kate was married to acclaimed singer-songwriter, Terry Clarke. Since Terry’s passing, Kate has often shared her thoughts on their relationship and her loss on social media. Thank you for the words, Kate. Marla Mudd mentions and uses an old photograph for the artwork to Songs From My Youth. And, check out her website, nice artwork on display. We always like to include a tasty slice or two of Reggae in the show, Mungo’s HiFi out of Glasgow does a fine job with Intravenous Dub, a haunting mixdown of the ethereal Sugar Water by Hollie Cook. We segue into the other-worldly voice of France’s Pupajim gracing the time-bending Time Traveller. Both cuts are from Antidote a ten-track album of dub remixes to existing and yet to be released Mungo’s produced anthems, inspired by dub pioneers such as King Tubby, Scientist, and Errol Thompson. As soon as we saw that Eliza Shaddad had a new album, we had to get it on the show. The London-based artist has been a name to keep an eye on for a while now and her latest offering will not disappoint. From the opening acoustic guitar riff of the title cut, The Woman You Want you can be sure this is a special album from a very special artist. Australian singer-songwriter, Maple Glider says, I feel like alien goop and my songs are TMI. Not so sure we know what alien goop means but you can never have too much information in a song. For instance Good Thing from Maple’s LP, Enjoy Is The Only Thing lets us take a peek into her mind. Lovely. When you listen to Marshland Lullaby by Awkward Corners from the LP, Amateur Dramatics make sure you take note there is a whole album to explore. Awkward Corners is the project of, musician, DJ, and writer Chris Menist, he says it all started as a small project in Islamabad, where Chris was living at the time. Initial recordings were made with local musicians in Pakistan and then subsequently in Thailand. For Marshland Lullaby you’ll hear the beautiful voice of Kitty Whitelaw with David Leahy on double bass. The hardworking Nico Beatastic of Shoredive Records must never sleep because he is constantly releasing new music. Submotile are husband and wife Michael Farren and Daniela Angione. Their album Sonic Day Codas was mastered by Simon Scott of Slowdive. The cut we selected is Sunflower, a raucous stomper with a wall of noise guitars, crashing cymbals and unrelenting, yet stellar drumming. The last cut is Disturbing Body from the album of the same name by Cots, the debut solo project by composer, singer, and guitarist Steph Yates. This emotive song features Josh Cole on Bass, Ryan Brouwer on flugelhorn & trumpet, Thomas Hammerton plays keys, and the percussion is by Blake Howard. To add to the mystery of Disturbing Body, Steph Yates has a video of herself swimming, twisting, and turning underwater. Knowing how long it takes for a simple video shoot, Steph must have extraordinary stamina and lungs to accommodate all the various angles and positions for the camera. Captivating.
Playlist
- Sun Shines Gold – Alone (NLD Mix)
- Wayley – What’s It Gonna Take
- Jourdann – Sick Of It
- Sook-Yin Lee & Adam Litovitz – Delicate Tracks
- Marlo Mudd – Wife
- Mungo’s HiFi – Intravenous Dub
- Mungo’s HiFi – Time Traveller
- Eliza Shaddad – The Woman You Want
- Maple Glider – Good Thing
- Awkward Corners – Marshland Lullaby
- Submotile – Sunflower
- Cots – Disturbing Body
Artwork by Lesley Bowden “Shoe Mountain On A Rainy Day” 2001 36” x 36” giclée print on archival paper. Courtesy of Norman B’s collection
Life Elsewhere 