V/A: PURE TRANCE VOLUME 5 (2016)

Its one of those weeks where I spend many hours listening to non stop trance and house. If Solarstone and the Forerunners are involved, its always going to be great. Biologick gave me a standout cut here as well as too many to name. I love the way this mixes from the start to the end seamless picking up BPM and energy. All classy. Wonderful trip.

SOUL ASYLUM 'Change of Fortune' (2016)

Caught me by surprise that they were still making albums these days. This is as good as their previous best songwriting, but with updated, bigger production. As a whole, I always liked Soul Asylum more than The Replacements and Dave Pirner a better writer than Westerberg.
I'll be listening to this all week and beyond.

12/13/16:
This has turned out to be one of my top 10 for 2016. I'm thinking that the 3 songs in a row:
Doomsday
Ladies Man and
Moonshine
 are the peak of the album. Moonshine could be one of the best SONGS of the year.

THE MODERN LOVERS 's/t' (1976)

I'd heard drips and drabs of this band through the years and they never bowled me over. So checking out the full s/t album I found a few really good standout cuts;  'Pablo Picasso' and 'Girlfriend' which were better than what I remember. Some genius lyrics.

THE LUCY SHOW 'Mania' (1986)

I remember hearing about this UK band when I was a DJ on WSIA in 86 when this album came out, but I was completely engulfed in hardcore punk and heavy metal at the time. So recently, I stumbled across this album again for a full listen and I like it a lot. Very REM (and they even toured with them). This may be considered dream pop before the term was used. Some soft ballad-y stuff minus the cheese. And no, that is not Michael Stipe in the picture. Glad I found this album though 30 years late.

NAGLFAR 'Ex Inferis' EP (2002)

Swedish black/death metal band that I like a lot as one of my favorites in the genre, but somehow I missed this 2002 EP on Century Media records. Not too overproduced, the way black metal is supposed to be. Blasting and thrashing with excellent guitar skills. Will add this to my metal favorites list.

TITLE TRACKS 'It Was Easy' (2010)

It's hard for me to keep up with the bands on labels I used to love, Like Dischord Records, Even though this didn't come out on Dischord, and the band are now on the roster, its got members of Q and Not U who made very good music. These hipsters today really don't like too much (or any) distortion on their guitars. Some almost folk-ish pop here. Varied harmonies. Not terribly memorable for me for the most part. I can't see myself listening to this album again.

DEALING WITH DAMAGE 'Navigating the Middle Ground' (2016)

There's an innocence in the vocals of this punk band. Ed from Stupids (UK punk veteran) plus some other above average writers and musicians. It's on bandcamp and I like what I hear upon a few listens. Tuneful vocal lines, Well produced.

11/15: I've revisited this album a few times now and its really started to click.

https://dealingwithdamage.bandcamp.com/releases