All Dogs / Saintseneca / Yowler

Some people have all the luck. It is difficult to have and maintain one decent band no less three outstanding ones.

Today I give you the three Columbus, OH musical projects of Maryn Jones: All Dogs, Saintseneca, and Yowler. All had released in 2015 that somehow escaped me but I am making up for that all here and now.

All Dogs is solid, fuzzy indie rock that falls into the world shared by Eric's Trip, Bully, Dilly Dally, Doe, and Waxahatchee.




Saintseneca is Zac Little's band that also includes Maryn as a member. The blueprint is pop music with an distinctly American folk music foundation. The band however constructs a lofty, loud, and philosophically rich record that falls somewhere between The Acorn and early Arcade Fire. Smart and interesting stuff to say the least.






And last but not least, Yowler haunts the way early Cat Power does. It is intimate, stark, and highlights just how beautiful her voice is. I believe Julie Doiron from Eric's Trip may also be her spiritual guide as their delicate and aching voices are so strikingly similar.

Throwback Thursday : A.C. Marias

Looking back to 1989 when Angela Conway recorded an album for Mute Records on the name A.C. Marias. The collaborators for this remarkable piece of music entitled One of Our Girls (Has Gone Missing) include Bruce Gilbert of Wire (a band she had a long history of working with), Rowland S. Howard (Birthday Party), and Barry Adamson (Magazine / Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds) making this a must listen for those who have an interest in sparse, experimental post-punk with a dark cloud hovering over top.

New Album Alert : Charlie Hilton - Palana

Women in music can't win. If we raise our voice to a yell, people accuse us of trying to be too masculine, or wonder why we are so angry. If we use a feathery, airy vocal approach, we are accused of playing up our femininity in a way that somehow makes our art less potent. If our lyrics are too personal, go to dark places, we are reviewed as morose to our detriment. Conversely if we write in a less serious, more playful tone, we are branded idealist, immature, or too candycoated. Damned if we do, damned if we don't.

The media critique of Charlie Hilton's Palana contains a bit of this kind of misunderstanding and complaint. It is almost like saying a painting has failed because the the medium of watercolor is too transparent, a pastel too subtle of a color, silver too reflective, or a pencil shadow is too soft. These are tools and palette choices of an artist and whatever artist does with those things is exactly what makes them, well, them. These 12 songs are a muted mirror to the artist. Her tone and stories are taken from the personal journey that moves like a dream, confounds as to what is a lasting crisis verse the temporary growing pains towards becoming a new self. For those who don't have the pleasure of making songs as an exploration of self, this is a shimmering example of this process and the healing that can come from excavating the dark channels of the imagination. Palana was inspired in part by the often misunderstood novel Steppenwolf by Hermann Hess. Both bodies of work reflect a miserable, lost person seeking to be found or potentially reborn. Rather than focus on the pessimism of the book or this record, the better takeaway is the complex philosophical prism they have created. Lonely in a crowd. Happy in sadness. Part human, part animal. Stuck but running through the motions of life.

Palana is Charlie Hilton's first solo album. Previously she has been a member of the Portland, OR trio Blouse however fans will not discover a wildly different vocal brush stroke here. Comparisons to Broadcast, Nico, and Astrud Gilberto still hold true however the rainy day retro paired with modern electronics make this a fresh and lovely listen. Like any good story the plot is dotted with strife, conflict, astute observations, humor, romance, and told with a narrative that is direct and engaging. The music doesn't amplify the drama, Hilton presents her thoughts like a gentle echo.

On a side note, is it just me or does Hilton's album art look a little bit like Gainsbourg 9th studio album with Brigitte Bardot? I love the visual tribute to what could easily be a psych-pop French '60s album or an early Bossa Nova record. 

Follow This Atta-GIRL! Playlist

I have created a 2016 Atta-GIRL! Spotify playlist.

Every time I post about a new release that can be found on Spotify, I will add it to this playlist. Follow this playlist to have all the music I review in one handy, organized place.

New Album Alert : Giant Peach

Giant Peach is an extra fuzzy treat for fans of early Dinosaur Jr. who love blazing guitars, layers of distortion, and somewhere buried in the layers of loud to louder, male/female vocal melodies riding atop the static surf.

Two years in the making New York band Giant Peach's Tarantula is out now on Don Giovanni.

You Know What Punk Is?

Punk isn't being 20 something and angry / willing to do wild things in the name of rebelling against society. Punk is being over 40, tied to the system with adult responsibility of raising a family and or buried by a career, and rather than buy into the stereotype that women of a certain age are supposed to be invisible, take to the stage all over again (or in some cases never stepping off the stage).

This 30 minute documentary shows us the the ladies who helped paved the way for punk (The Slits, The Raincoats, Siouxsie, Chrissie Hynde) the first time in the '70s are on the cutting edge again by showing the world that aging doesn't have to mean playing dead.

Heads up ladies, you think sexism sucks? Wait until that seamlessly blends with ageism too. #olderwomenvoices

2016 Favorite : Savages - Adore Life

The sophomore slump is real friends and it is a thing to fear. There is unimaginable pressure for a band when their debut album rockets out of the atmosphere into something close to stardom as it did for Savages and their 2013 release Silence Yourself.

Good news, Savages entered the studio and produced a fearless, nearly flawless new album. Adore Life is out today.

It is as if Patsy Cline has swaggered her way into a post-punk apocalypse with her heart exposed. The band's blood pumps fiercely like one body turning the sonic dirge of The Birthday Party into the kind of energetic siren heard on early Fugazi records.

I applaud a band that plays together as if it is having a meaningful conversation. They give each other space and yet there are swells where they come together to deliver a compact tidal wave of power. This is the kind of rare chemistry capable of delivering an atomic bouquet of blinding beauty.

The theme of the record often targets love but it isn't romance glorified; there is also angst and open concerns. When vocalist Jehnny Beth asks"Is it a demon or an angel?" on "When in Love", she is accidently describing the record at its core. It doesn't rest on safe middle ground. These 10 songs deliver the entire spectrum of darkness and light; bleak and dazzling all at once.

Throwback Thursday : Hop Along Reissues 2012 Debut Album

Coming early March (3/4/16) via Saddle Creek, Hop Along's jaw dropping roller coaster ride of a first album Get Disowned will be reissued. The formats include blue vinyl, CD, and cassette. You can pre-order them here.

Their most recent release Painted Shut won the hearts of many and earned them lots of new fans but this first record is hard to beat. Singer (also guitar player) Frances Quinlan's voice dive bombs and swoops as if a bird has been given the gift of flight for the first time. It is as if her throat has invented flight itself. Her lyrics are clever, personal, and ever surprising. You never know quite know what she is talking about, where she is going with her stories, and this all makes her poetry and attack of her words all the more captivating. Your ears will want to know what comes next because each turn is impossible to predict. These are not borrowed songs you have heard a hundred times before, Hop Along's distinct voice owns them outright. The band then acts as a tight bind to her magnificent songbook and together they make the musical version of a book you would file under modern American classics.

And the clincher? Withing the fingerprint that is wholly unique, there are sweeping choruses and melodies Weezer only wishes they had thought of first. If you liked Hop Along's newest release, you will LOVE this reissue.

Hop Along National Tour Dates

# = Headlining

* = w/ Dr. Dog

1/24: Columbus, OH @ Double Happiness #

1/25: St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway #

1/26: Norman, OK @ The Opolis #

1/29: Santa Ana, CA @ The Observatory *

1/30: Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater *

1/31: Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst *

2/2: Reno, NV @ Cargo @ Whitney Peak Hotel *

2/3: Bend, OR @ Midtown Ballroom *

2/4: Portland, OR @ Crystal Ballroom *

2/5: Seattle, WA @ Neptune *

2/6: Vancouver, BC @ Venue *

2/8: Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory *

2/9: Boise, ID @ Neurolux #

2/11: Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge #

2/12: Colorado Springs, CO @ The Black Sheep #

2/13: Boulder, CO @ Boulder Theater *

2/16: Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theater *

2/17: Flagstaff, AZ @ The Orpheum Theater *

2/19: Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern *

2/20: San Diego, CA @ The Observatory North Park *

2/23: Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room #

2/24: Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop #

2/25: Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop #

3/17: Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore *

3/19: New York, NY @ Terminal 5 *

5/13-15: Atlanta, GA @ Shaky Knees Festival

5/27-30: George, WA @ Sasquatch! Music Festival

The Bitch Is Back, Kinda Sorta

Seattle, WA all girl band 7 Year Bitch called it quits around 1997 but this was after they spent the earlier part of the '90s delivering a more primal version of the Runaways with growling vocal muscle flexing out front. Powerful, tough, and always a good time live, the band is releasing its first record in 20 years. Recorded live in Seattle at Moe's in 1996, this recording captures the band in their prime.

On a personal note I worked with 7 Year Bitch for a few years when I lived in Seattle in 1994. I had just been hired by C/Z Records, the label that put out their first full length. My timing was strange. I moved to the city on the heels of two major losses to the music community there, Mia Zapata of The Gits (who was murdered) and the guitarist of 7 Year Bitch Stephanie Sargent (alcohol related).

The first two records I was acting as a sales rep for was Enter : The Conquering Chicken by the Gits and 7YB's Viva Zapata - both bands suffering from deep personal losses as these records saw their official release. As you can imagine, it was a tough time for the bands, the record label, and the local music community. I really could not have timed my move to the Northwest any more poorly as it would also be just a few months later that Kurt Cobain would be found dead.

A new release cycle is intense because when a band releases a new record, they are expected to play live as often as possible and build up press by completing interview after interview. The media often, and with good reason, always drifted towards the both band's losses in these interviews so the ghosts of their fallen members and friends felt ever present. I recall a photo shoot for The Gits where the remaining members posed with their arms spaced apart to leave room for Mia who was painfully missing from what should have been a joyous moment of a new release celebration. We wiped away tears at tables near by tossing back whiskey shots because none of us could escape the emotions attached to this tragedy and the final souvenir of Mia's voice.

The other memory that sticks with me comes from 7 Year Bitch shows. After the murder of Mia the women of Seattle were scared to walk home late at night. This was how we lost Mia and we feared the same horrific attack. Stemming from this panic, there were meetings to learn self defense and vent this rage of no longer feeling safe in the city we called home. From this group action came the organization Home Alive. After 7 Year Bitch shows, if you did not feel safe walking home, this group would help pay for your ride home. (Ironically all of this years before we learned that Mia's murdered was in fact a cab driver) Home Alive also helped cover the costs of self defense classes during this time period so I cannot stress how important their existence was during this time in my life.

Mia was strangled by her murderer with the strings from her hoodie and to this day my instinct is to remove them from my clothing in tribute to her. Twenty years later and this still weighs heavy on my heart.

We all know that so often music isn't just music. It represents bigger things like moments in our lives, and a community of people we call our second family. My time in Seattle from 1994 to 1996 has a very specific soundtrack. Just hearing 7 Year Bitch takes me back in time instantly and the memories come flooding back. I appreciate that this new record is not only a celebration of the power of their live performance and their songwriting skills but it is a reminder of friendship, courage, and survival too.

Mind the Gap

We hear the statement that women make less than men in the American workplace. The figure that gets tossed around is .77 per every dollar a man makes. It turns out that fact has a lot of grey area to it. Like all data, there are important variables that shape this result. The gender pay gap is also influenced by what women look for in a job, how we prioritize our lives, how we value money, our education level, the fields of work we gravitate towards, our roles within a family structure, our ability to bargain for pay increases, our fears of being judged harshly if we make stronger demands for higher pay, and the list goes on and on.

A recent Freakanomics Radio Podcast spoke to experts on the subject and they shed some light on just how gender economics works and importance of looking at the history of women working in America as well as behavioral dynamics that feed into this complex issue.

There is no one smoking gun. Think of this issue more like a low lying fog that is dense and nearly impossible to get through with ease. If you are interested in the understanding the truth behind the gender pay gap I highly recommended streaming this episode.

Stream the story here. 

Meet Nicole Blonder, VP of Marketing at Mute Records N. America

My goal is to post a different letter from a women within the music industry every few weeks in 2016. The idea is to show that there is no one correct way into the music industry and that there are endless routes to take once you find yourself in it. 

Nicole Blonder and I crossed paths somewhere in the early 2000s. I was just beginning my career as a sales rep at an indie music distributor called Caroline. We worked alongside many remarkable record label and Mute was one of them. Nicole would work with sales reps like myself on many levels. She was educating us about each new release by sharing the new music and background on the artist before we began trying to sell it to our account base. We would then work together to plan our best course of action when selling the record. There were sales goals, target markets, and as a team we would focus on getting these new releases into the marketplace. On top of these new release cycles there were also annual conferences she presented to us at, shows we attended together, and then the occasional joint visits a key account if we felt that her representing the label and artist might help increase our chances of a store not only carrying the record but also in a quantity we felt was appropropriate. We would also unsure there was a marketing plan in place with that store or distributor to help sell through their purchase. We timed things not just around the street date of a new release but around artist tours as well. Needless to say we spent a lot of time together for the 10 plus years I worked at Caroline and she at Mute.

We all know how rare it is for any company in the music industry to last the test of time (Mute has been around since 1978!) and it is even rarer that an employee stays in one place for 15 + years. I respect Nicole so much for the work she has accomplished and consider her to be not just an expert in music sales and marketing but also one of the genuinely kind people I have ever had the honor of working with. I give you Nicole Blonder.

Nicole (left) and I (right) on an industry boat ride back in the day.

    **************************************************************************

It all began for me, like a lot of us, through a pure passion for and connection to music. By the time I got to high school I was fully submerged and super excited about discovering good music - new and old. Started buying CDs, borrowing my dad's 60s/70s records, and going to concerts when I could.  Pivotal radio stations for me were WDRE in Long Island and WHTG in NJ (when I could get the signal!). I was definitely a 90s Alternative radio girl. At some point I started paying attention to the labels associated with my favorite bands, which opened up even more avenues of discovery.  I was also guided by a few magazines and catalogs I'd see at the bookstore - CMJ in particular, came with a CD which I thought was brilliant, and Sassy of course.  I grew up in super deep Brooklyn and hadn't yet discovered the cool record shops of Manhattan.

At some point during my senior year of high school a friend invited me to write a few CD reviews for a small magazine she got involved with, which lead to us attending a small music conference at NYU. A few local labels had tables set up there, selling music & merch. One of them was Go-Kart Records. They had cool shirts, even if I hadn't heard of their bands before and I picked up some free stickers and I think they had a zine I also grabbed.

As I was graduating high school (Midwood, in Brooklyn) another friend and I thought it might be fun to intern for a label the summer before starting college, so I contacted Go-Kart, thinking it would be a total long shot because all labels were big and fancy and didn't need high school kids hanging around. Greg Ross, the guy who ran the label, contacted me, and my best friend Daena and I got jobs as summer interns for Go-Kart in the summer of '95. I went back as an intern the subsequent two summers home from college. It was a super scrappy outfit, run out of Greg's old 2 bedroom apartment near NYU. There was one real employee, and me, so I was exposed to a lot, and learned a ton pretty quickly. My main job there eventually was calling record stores to check stock, assembling packages, bringing things to the post office and other menial tasks. It was down and dirty but I loved it.

I started Binghamton University in Fall '95, and luckily one of the first friends I met in my dorm was a sophomore who loved all the same music as me and had a radio show. He invited me to be his apprentice and I felt like I won the lottery. I was on the air at WHRW every semester from then through to my last. It was a total blast and one of my very favorite things about college. A super musical education too, WHRW's record library was a treasure trove and I spent a lot of time digging around, finding random things and just listening to music. I was also amazed at how much everyone there knew about music I had never even heard of! Students and community members both. Jr & Sr years I served as music director, and all the label radio promotions folks would call, as they do, to talk records. My final college summer, I found two internships with Sire (who actually paid!) and Matador. I'm still friendly with folks I worked for then. I graduated in '99 and not knowing what I really wanted to do, figured I'd send my resume to everyone I'd met in music so far because it seemed like fun and I did not want a un-fun job. I got a call from Mute, and started working there the day after labor day 1999 as Retail Coordinator, mostly thanks to the experience I had at Go-Kart.

The rest, as they say, is history.....I

Remembering Trish Keenan

Five years ago musician Trish Keenan of Broadcast fame passed away at age 42 from pneumonia. Still missing her talent very much today. She was and will forever will be an inspiration to me.

Powered by Rainbow Static: White Poppy

Carousels are lovely for a person like me. I don't like unpredictable wild rides with blind turns at high speeds. For those with anxiety the gentle circular motion and slow gallop of the horses is a thing of comfort and beauty. While in the modern day many wouldn't consider it amusement park worthy, these sparkling, majestic rides offer a gentle, dreamy passage beneath a sturdy flying beast.

Taking White Poppy's 2015 release entitled National Phenomena for a spin is the musical version of a merry-go-round. You softly get carried round and round in a current of shimmering delay with an occasional whisper of sweet nothings.

Below are some video's by this two piece from Vancouver, Canada.

Can Punk Make You a Black Feminist?

Chardine Taylor-Stone thinks so!

 

Thank You David Bowie

At a very young age I wasn't sure what gender David Bowie was and it honestly never mattered to me. He seemed otherworldly and gave me, like so many others, the courage to be whoever we wanted to be. He made the rebirth of self possible through art and what lost outsider with even just an inch of creativity wouldn't be inspired by that? He was among the first artists I was exposed to that blurred the lines of  what the world saw as male or female and helped me understand it was okay to have any varying degree of masculinity and femininity. From him I also learned that with androgyny we could be stripped of a gender tag and not have to identify firmly as either. What gorgeous freedom that can deliver a kid trying to find their way in life.

Bowie was an icon on so many levels, as a musician, performer, nonconformist, ally, fashion visionary, and we can add conversation starter to that list. He helped confront pop culture and challenge the strict boxes artists were supposed to nearly fit within.

Thank you David Bowie for bringing a little more acceptance, mystery, style, talent, and excitement to our suburban bedrooms.

Cina Polada

This Finnish band fueled by a husband and wife team call themselves bedroom indie pop but I disagree unless the bedroom they reference is from the '80s, has room for 5 members with guitars, bass, a lot of effect pedals, drums, two keyboards plus a singer, and is covered with posters by bands like The Human League, Spandau Ballet, and Thompson Twins. Cina Polada are catchy, mild mannered synthpop (RIYL Au Revoir Simone, Saint Etienne, Lykke Li) and a debut EP is expected from them this year.

Smile Down Upon Us

Have you ever watched kids just being kids? They play alone or with others in total disregard for the outside world. They throw 100% of themselves into their magical world and seemingly don't seem to care what anyone else thinks. To be this free, this open, and this genuinely playful is something most adults don't know how to recreate in the slightest. Smile Down Upon Us however has managed to escape restriction and maintain total innocence. There is genuine chemistry between UK / Japanese duo Keiron Phelan and moomLoo. This exotic garden is brought to life with the help of a few additional musicians and the end result is a leisurely stroll down a colorful path you won't want to end. 

 

My 2015 Favorites and End of Year Wrap Up

This is a repost from my other blog Lightning's Girl. While not all the artists below feature at least one female member, almost 75% of them do.

If you truly believe that there aren't any good modern day bands or great new records being made, you didn't try very hard this year. 2015 delivered an abundance of quality music. So much in fact that this might be the largest list of stuff I loved since I started making end of year best of lists two decades ago. I think playing in an active band (Positive No) has helped me stay on top of new music too but in the end, I will always call myself a music fan before I call myself a musician. Finding new music to fall in love with is an addiction I don't ever want to kick.

This Spotify playlist features 100 songs from a large variety of genres that I really loved this year. Not all of the artists on this playlist made my best of / end of year list below so they are two different beasts, great songs -v- great albums. 

Happy new year friends. 

Top 25

Sauna Youth DISTRACTIONS  (Upset the Rhythm) 

Whyte Horses - Pop or Not (self released)  

Dirty Ghosts LET IT PRETEND (Last Gang Records) *"Cataract" is my song of the year

Trash Kit - CONFIDENCE (Upset the Rhythm)**came out Dec 2014 / LP arrived in 2015

Sacred Paws 6 SONGS (Rock Action Records)

Desperate Journalist ST (Minty Fresh) 

Joanna Gruesome PEANUT BUTTER (Slumberland Records)

Love of Diagrams BLAST (Bedroom Suck Records) 

Novella LAND (Sinderlyn)

Annie Girl and the Flight BODIES (Annie Lipetz)

Viet Cong ST (Jagjaguwar)

Dilly Dally SORE (Partisan Records)

The White Birch THE WEIGHT OF SPRING (Glitterhouse Records)

Doe FIRST FOUR (Old Flame Records)

Soko MY DREAMS DICTATE MY REALITY (Babycat records) 

Shopping WHY CHOOSE (Fatcat Records)

Soak BEFORE WE FORGOT HOW TO DREAM (Rough Trade Records Ltd) 

Julia Wolfe ANTHRACITE FIELDS (Cantaloupe Music)

Boogarins MANUAL (Other Music)

Chain of Flowers ST (Alter)

Pinkshinyultrablast EVERYTHING ELSE MATTERS (Club AC30)

Hurry Up ST (Army of Bad Luck Records)

Wand GOLUM (In the Red Records)

Infinity Girl HARM (Topshelf Records)

Eternal Summers GOLD AND STONE (Kanine Records)

Other Favorite Records

Terrible Truths ST (Bedroom Suck Records) 
The Leaf Library  DAYLIGHT VERSIONS (Where it's at is where you are)

Salad Boys METALMANIA (Trouble in MInd Records) 

Cloakroom FURTHER OUT (Run For Cover Records)

Menace Beach RATWORLD (Memphis Industries)

Gnoomes NGAN! (Rocket Recordings)

Kagoule URTH (Earache Records Ltd)

No Joy MORE FAITHFUL (Kemado Records) 

Wildhoney SLEEP THROUGH IT (Deranged Records) 

Swervedriver I WASN'T BORN TO LOSE YOU (Cobraside)

Death and Vanilla TO WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE (Fire Records)

Jacco Gardner HYPNOPHOBIA (Polyvinyl)

Noonday Underground BODY PARTS FOR MODERN ART (Hands Full Records)

Cold Beat INTO THE AIR (Crime on the Moon) 

Eerie Summer - THE WAY I DON'T UNDERSTAND ANYTHING ANY MORE (self released) 

Youth Lagoon SAVAGE HILLS BALLROOM (Fat Possum Records) 

Julia Holter HAVE YOU IN MY WILDERNESS (Domino Recording  Co Ltd) 

C. Duncan ARCHITECT (Fatcat Records)

Ghetto Ghouls COLLISIONS (Self Released)

Knife Pleats HAY BARK BEACH (Where it's at is where you are)

Jeff Bridges SLEEPING TAPES (Squarespace)  

Myrrias ALL ALONE (self released)

Bjork VULNICURA STRINGS (self released)

Beach Slang THE THINGS WE DO... (Polyvinyl Records)

Protomartyr THE AGENT INTELLECT (Hardly Art) 

The Spook School TRY TO BE HOPEFUL (Fortuna Pop)

Intelligence VINTAGE FUTURE (In The Red Records)

Sextile A THOUSAND HANDS (felte)

Killing Joke PYLON (Spinefarm)

Sumac THE DEAL (Profound Lore)

Reissues / Collections:

Oz Brazoes ST (Som Livre) 

Annie Philippe - SENSATIONNEL! - Ace Records

Guerre Froide ST (Born Bad Records) 

Va CRIMINALE VOL 3 & 4 (Goodfella)

Marie et les Garcons 1976 - 1979 (Ze Records)

Va LIBRARY OF SOUND GROOVES / OBSCURE PSYCHEDELIC MANUSCRIPTS FROM THE ITALIAN CINEMA (Semi-Automatic Records)

Assorted Favorite 2015 Moments:
Being featured on Apartment Therapy

Playing Brownies one last time (Hi-Fi Bar) 

Favorite show I played was @ Bathtub Republic in DC

Harrisburg, PA / Little Amps - secret weapon of a DIY show space and great coffee / people.

Peep Show final season (Favorite show of all time) 

Twin Peaks DJ set to cast members Mrs. Briggs and Lucy

Beach Slang live / seeing Jim some 20 years post Weston 

Live: Mutoid Man / Child Bite live at Gwar-B-Q (Gwar Bar is also a favorite place of 2015) 

Dynamic Truths reunion show @ The Answer

Asbury Park, N.J. Pinball Museum

Beaufort, SC - who knew?  

Supreme Court ruling making same sex marriage legal

Loretta Lynch as Attorney General

U.S. and Cuba make nice

Strangeways Tirami'zu Brew Rum Barrel Aged Porter  

Master of None for its stellar music supervision
DJing with Bob Nastanovich in the name of charity

This band doesn't have much of an online presence so here is a video from one of the best records I purchased this year.