We’re rooting for the sun these days, figuratively and literally, but somehow, it keeps evading us. What day is it? Will you please tell me? Oh, that’s right, it’s Wednesday and Bubble Wrap just did their show. This is where we tell you what we played. Among this week’s discoveries: CZ, Will Butler, Mode, As The Flowers Fall, and Simon Groß.
We found Simon Groß on Lofi Girl’s site. Turns out, he’s quite the multiculturalist — resides in Germany, releases on Lofi Girl, a label out of Paris, and has a new Asian-inflected record called The Castle In The Sky which is very chill and vaguely melancholic, as befits these times.
Will Butler + Sister Squares, from Brooklyn, have an entertaining disc out that exacts maximum mileage out of time-honored affectations and stylings that you might recognize. It’s clever and keeps you on your toes.
Having some serious family roots in Fall River, MA, I was happy to play CZ, a solo artist who lists FR as her present location although she makes sure we know that she’s actually from Rhode Island. That’s fine but FR is not that far away from RI, in more ways than one. As for the music, CZ’s album, ON THE BEACHSIDE, is a pleasurable drift along a seaside that I’m glad to know still exists.
And for the final slot, I have to mention As The Flowers Fall from Australia who have a full-lengther out called A Trip To The Moon. The Flowers are as dreamy and romantic as their name suggests, but not soporifically so. Favorite tunes — “Absolute Desire” and “Abstract Time.”
Scroll on for all the mood-drenched detail…
April 10, 2024
Sunny Side
Space Ghost – What Day Is It?
Lonzo and Oscar – I’m My Own Grandpa
Arthur Schwartz – Triplets
Stan Freberg – Little Blue Riding Hood
Push Grandma In The Nettles – Stayin’ Alive
Sins of the Fathers – Mast Park
The Yuppies – Midas Touch
Carly Simon – You’re So Vain
Velvet Underground – Who Loves The Sun
The B-52s – There’s A Moon In The Sky
Will Butler and Sister Squares – Stop Talking
Fickludd – Hanna i Ekhult
CZ – Candy and Birds
Sun Ra – The Sun One
Bill Withers – Ain’t No Sunshine
Voodoo Glow Skulls – Here Comes The Sun
Will Butler and Sister Squares – Willow
Simon Grob – When The Stars Align
Max Blansjaar – Anna Madonna
Prince – Musicology
Prince – On The Couch
Mode – Ditto
Misty – Don’t Call Me Man
Jeremy Rhodes – Hit Me All At Once
Slave – Volcano Rupture
The Half Cubes – The Girl
As The Flowers Fall – Absolute Desire
David Kilgour and the Heavy Eights – Diamond Mine
Quincy Jones – Desafinado
Charlie Parker – On The Sunny Side of the Street
Photo credit: Katja Schulz from Washington, D. C., USA, CC BY 2.0