Radio Free California (2025)

23/07/2025

A day late but here it is, Radio Free California Episode 2529, courtesy of my blog so you don't need a Spotify account to hear it. New music this week from Liang Lawrence, Walter Trout, Vernon Reid, Lissie, Robert Plant, The Goo Goo Dolls, BBBL, Nine Inch Nails, Cory Wong, Forth Wanderers and much more. Enjoy!

Not a lot to talk about this week, save for a sparkling new single from Robert Plant, Nine Inch Nails appearing on a soundtrack, and The Goo Goo Dolls showing up on a different one.

Cory Wong's latest live album is a lot of fun, and the track I feature this week has a sax solo by Kenni Holman, who is Cory Wong's secret weapon. He's one of the best sax players I've ever heard, and I know Dave Koz. (Sorry Dave).

I admit that I like Amy Macdonald's new album, even if most of it sounds like B-sides and album tracks to me. Ain't nothing wrong with that. The new album from Forth Wanderers is also good, but a bit strange in spots. I like it overall. And of course I have a soft spot for Colin Hay, having seen him live in his troubadour days.

And diving back into the whole AI debate again, is the band ever//never. I'd have never noticed them if they hadn't followed me on Bluesky. I honestly don't know if they're an AI band or not - they sure sound like one but someone is updating their Bluesky feed.

Finally, the Liang Lawrence track "A Day Off in Margaritaville" is a fun song and I'm looking forward to her next album.

And of course, RIP Ozzy.

New music this week from Liang Lawrence, Walter Trout, Vernon Reid, Lissie, Robert Plant, The Goo Goo Dolls, BBBL, Nine Inch Nails, Cory W...

14/07/2025

Because the Metagrok doesn't much care for my spotify playlists here is a link to my blog. New music this week from Hot Chip, Emma Harner, Caeseria, Jon Batiste, Lola Young, .38 Special, Wet Leg, Brenda Mtambo, Press Club, The Korgis (!!!), Mammoth, Coast Arcade and much more. Enjoy!

On the new music front, I cannot recommend highly enough the new album from Caeseria. I only added three songs from their new album to the station, but I could have added them all. This is a solid album and should push them forward in terms of their career.

The Wet Leg album is pretty good too, but I have to admit that their best stuff is in the first two singles, added previously to the station. I still found a couple more tracks to add though.

Another new discovery for me this week was Emma Harner. Her discography is still pretty small, but there isn't a bad song in the mix. I added a couple this week.

Yes, there is a song about a Basketball player for the Phoenix Suns in this week's list. I'm not a Suns fan but it's a damned catchy song.

Finally, who had new singles from 38 Special or The Korgis on their bingo card?!!??!!? 38 Special will have a new album coming out in the fall but I'll be honest I haven't given either of these bands much thought since the 1980's.

New music this week from Hot Chip, Emma Harner, Caeseria, Jon Batiste, Lola Young, .38 Special, Wet Leg, Brenda Mtambo, Press Club, The Korg...

07/07/2025

New music this week from a newly revived Kesha, NoSo, Ethan Tasch, The Vanns, The Lemonheads, Men Without Hats (in a glorious return to form), Blake Rave, Lucius, Remerge Band, Curtis Harding, Ida Marie and so much more. Enjoy!

Not a lot of people release music on the 4th of July weekend so I really had to go digging into new singles and indie bands. That said, the new Kesha album, the first on her own label, is really pretty good. It sounds to me like she had a "let's liberate Taylor Swift" moment of her own. A lot of it is a breakup album, but it's also about freedom and I for one have to applaud that spirit.

In the new singles department is the GLORIOUS new single from Men Without Hats, called "I Love the 80's". To be fair to them, they never actually went away, but I dare you to name a single song of theirs other than "Safety Dance". We just haven't been listening. We should - the new song is fantastic.

I think my favorite discovery this week is NoSo, who has only released a few singles so far. The songwriting and production is first rate, and I've been listening to their singles a lot the past few days.

It's also nice to see Evan Dando and his collection of misfits known as The Lemonheads still out there plugging away.

I'm not a fan of auto-tune, but there are two songs this week by artists who use it. The first is 88rising and 8RO8's collaboration - which instead of the usual hip-hop cliches is a heart-felt tribute to 8RO8's home state of Hawaii. The other is 4stro with Kid Moon, because Kid Moon uses auto-tune on everything, which is kind of a shame as he has a good voice. But he's friggin' everywhere these days. Every week I discover a new artist because he has done a collaboration with them.

I'm not really a fan of AI music either, but there is an AI artist on this playlist, who I have featured before, called BBBL. There is a lot of controversy around right now about fake vs. real bands and the conversation can get heated. That said, I can get behind BBBL because there's obviously a guiding hand behind their sound, with real production going on.

I have been accused of promoting AI because of Remrge Band as well. I hate to break it to you, but they're a real band; I've met them. I do think they're using AI to master their works, which a lot of digital distributors offer these days for a small fee. I've never done it myself because to my ears it all starts to sound the same, but that music does get noticed by the algorithms various streaming services use - they're AI too.

Sometimes I read the bio's of AI bands, because they're almost always so bad that they're funny.

New music this week from a newly revived Kesha, NoSo, Ethan Tasch, The Vanns, The Lemonheads, Men Without Hats (in a glorious return to form...

01/07/2025

Because the Metanowoke doesn't much like my Spotify Playlists, here is a link to my blog. Crazy week! New music from Peter Gabriel, Fishbone, Bruce Springsteen, HAIM, Lorde, Wet Leg, From Indian Lakes, The Besnard Lakes, Infinity Song, Love is Noise, more of John Fogerty's "John's Version" release of old CCR material and much more. Even I'm in there! Enjoy!

Where do I even begin this week? Bruce Springsteen releases SEVEN full albums of previously unreleased material. There's some experimentation in the "new" material. There's a full country album. There are songs obviously meant for his "I'm a vocalist" album, There's a lot of solo acoustic work. There are forays into pop and indie. It's really quite a haul and if you're a fan you should pick it up. It was hard to select only 2 songs from the whole set.

There's Fishbone, who have put out their best album in a couple of decades. With this playlist added to the rotation there are now 6 new Fishbone tracks in the radio station rotation.

All of a sudden there's a new Peter Gabriel album? It's a live album and most of it is things you have heard before, but the album opens with a new track and it's a good one.

The Lorde album finally dropped and it's a reminder of why we all fell in love with her music in the first place. She's an adult now and has obviously experienced a couple of things that no 17-year old would have, and it only fills out her character and her song topics. It's great work.

My favorite discovery from the week is the band From Indian Lakes. I took a deep dive upon hearing their new material and I now have their entire discography. I don't know if you'll like them, but I sure as hell do.

The week's playlist closes out with a song from Will Liverman, who is an Opera Singer. I've been a fan for some time, but his new album branches into pop domains from time to time and this ballad that I close the playlist with is strikingly beautiful.

Crazy week! New music from Peter Gabriel, Fishbone, Bruce Springsteen, HAIM, Lorde, Wet Leg, From Indian Lakes, The Besnard Lakes, Infinit...

23/06/2025

Because Metagrok doesn't much like my Spotify Playlists, here is a link to my blog. New music this week from Hotline TNT, Leisure, Memi, Yungbld, Daily Toll, Hembree, Easy Easy, Muse, Enuff Z'nuff(!), Motley Crue with Dolly Parton, sombr, Lorde, Colin Hay and much more. Enjoy!

An undeniable pleasure for me this past weekend was the discovery of Hotline TNT. Not only is their new album a banger but their entire catalog is one great song after another. I cannot recommend their new album highly enough - it was hard to limit just adding a few songs on this playlist.

You might also note a number of songs by Yungblud on this list too. What can I say? I like pop music done right, and respect for opening his album with a 9 minute track. And yes, I do think he looks like a young Dave Navarro.

At first I had thought my surprise track of the week was going to be the re-working of Motley Crue's ballad (and frankly not a great song) "Home Sweet Home" with Dolly Parton. I'm not really a fan of the song but Ms. Parton adds some depth. And then out of nowhere Enuff Z'nuff drops a new single? It's been 35 years since I gave that band any thought at all and apparently I've missed a run of albums and band lineups.

I also have to give a shout out to MEMI, a South Korean hard rocker that I blasted over and over this past week while the news got weirder and weirder.

Finally, there is the new GoGoPenguin album, which is well worth your time when you're looking for instrumental music and adult-oriented jazz that doesn't put you to sleep.

New music this week from Lorde and Lola Young tells me that the next generation is going to be all right.

New music this week from Hotline TNT, Leisure, Memi, Yungbld, Daily Toll, Hembree, Easy Easy, Muse, Enuff Z'nuff(!), Motley Crue with Do...

16/06/2025

Because the Metaface doesn't much care for my Spotify Playlists, here is a link to my blog. An eclectic selection of new music this week from David Byrne, Neil Young, Cloud Nothings, Slow Coast, The Blindfold Experience, Huntertones, Annahstasia, Japanese Breakfast, New Candies and much more. Enjoy!

An odd week for new music but with some interesting surprises including new music from David Byrne, Neil Young, Cloud Nothings, Slow Coast...

09/06/2025

Because the Facemetawhatever doesn't much like my playlists here is a link to my blog. Great new music this week from Vistas, Monkey House, Sweet Emergarde, Turnstile, Prince, Cypress Hill, beaux, Comet Gain, Moptop and much more. Enjoy!

I only discovered Vistas this past week, and what a discovery this has turned out to be. Really, you should check them out.

Monkey House looks to be attempting to wrest the "Next Steely Dan" title away from everyone else, and it's a pretty good effort.

The Cypress Hill album is the long-teased concert with the London Philharmonic. I've played previously released tracks from this before but now the whole album/concert is available and it's every bit as awesome as you'd think.

And Sly. Long live Sly.

Great new music this week from Vistas, Monkey House, Sweet Emergarde, Turnstile, Prince, Cypress Hill, beaux, Comet Gain, Moptop and much ...

02/06/2025

Because FaceMeta doesn't much care for my playlsits, here is a link to my blog. New music this week from Peach Fuzz, Ben Caplan, John Fogerty (sort of), Ministry (also sort of), Wet Leg, Lorde, Sunsick Daisy, Ty Segall, Garbage, Moptop, KennyHoopla, Beth Sarah and much more. Enjoy!

A couple of notes about this week's music starting with John Fogerty. Earlier this year he finally, finally, was able to get the rights to all of the music he wrote during the Credence days back. What happened to him is a cautionary tale to any songwriter - but for 50 years people made money off his work and he didn't get a dime. That has finally been fixed.

Fogerty has been re-recording his Creedence Clearwater Revival catalogue with his sons as the backing band, and he's going to start releasing them as "John's Version" - the first of which came out this week. This includes my favorite CCR song, "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" but also included a song I didn't even know, which I've added to the playlist this week. More to come. I hear through the grapevine (I see what you did there) that he actually lobbied his record label to call these re-recording "Taylor's Version" but the idea was shot down.

That would have been hilarious.

You will also see the same sort of thing happening with Ministry. When they evolved into an Industrial/Noise Metal band I really didn't follow along - I much preferred their synth-pop work from their early days. Well they too have re-recorded some of their old catalog (including "Every Day is Halloween") and are calling it "The Squirrely Years". This gives me the excuse to add a couple of my favorite Ministry songs to the playlist and call it new music.

My playlists, my rules.

Finally, it's worth your time to check out the back catalog of the band Moptop. The new album they have coming soon will be in English, but this is their 5th album - they're from Brazil and their previous albums are of course in Portuguese. Get past the language barrier - they're a good alt-pop band, and like I said, their new material is in English and if I hadn't told you that they're from South America you'd have never noticed.

As I always say, there is great music out there, but you need to search for it. That's what I do.

New music this week from Peach Fuzz, Ben Caplan, John Fogerty (sort of), Ministry (also sort of), Wet Leg, Lorde, Sunsick Daisy, Ty Sega...

26/05/2025

Because the Fakebooks don't much like my Spotify playlists, here is a link to my blog. New music this week from Glass Caves, Shed Seven, Footballhead, Sparks, The Antinomy Insurgency, Elbow, Slow Mass, Blurry, The final release from Cola Boyy, Another Sky, Taj Mahal & Keb' Mo', Will Liverman and much more. Enjoy!

There is also new music from Bruce Springsteen, although not from the sudden EP he dropped from the opening night of his tour in Manchester. I've also included "new" music by Don Felder. It's a decent song, but I have to admit it sounds like a poor copy of a better song he's part of from the end of the 1970's. You will probably be able to tell.

The new album from Glass Caves surprised me. This could very well be a breakthrough album for them, and it would be well deserved.

I have to also note that this week a lot of music from last year (2024) and even earlier came across my radar, much of it quite good. I am a bit sad to say that these are songs I missed, and aren't on my playlist now. The lesson to be learned here is that there is LOTS and LOTS of good music out there you may never hear. Go looking for it.

And by the way, having Taj Mahal and Keb' Mo' team up for an album is every bit as awesome as you'd think it is.

Go enjoy your day off. Bye!

New music this week from Glass Caves, Shed Seven, Footballhead, Sparks, The Antinomy Insurgency, Elbow, Slow Mass, Blurry, The final relea...

20/05/2025

Because the Metaface doesn't much like my Spotify playlists, here is a link to my blog. New music this week from Pearl Jam, Lola Young, sombr, Billy Nomates, Sunken, Rain Parade, Chuck D, Sunflower Bean, Ben Lee, Tune-Yards, Janita and much more! Enjoy!

Until 4 days ago, I had never heard of the artist who calls himself sombr. Apparently I'm the 30,225,156th person to get into his music. Okay, I'm late to the party, but I like what I'm hearing. I know, I know, I'm no longer one of the cool kids. He just never turned up in the places I go hunting for music.

Now I've never been a fan of Ye (Kanye West). Supposedly he was a genius arranger and rapper but for my tastes I'd rather have Dre, Chuck D or Ice-T. But holy fu***ng s**t I'm not going to play his new single. I mean holy fu***ng s**t (again) what the hell happened to this guy? Can someone please suggest a brain scan for the guy? He might be seriously ill.

Okay, "might" is pretty weak under the circumstances. The man might need a Sybil level psychiatrist at this point.

I talked a bit last week about what it takes to get on one of my playlists, there are also things that will make me drop your music into the trash imeediately and praising Hi**er is one of them. I mean I feel filthy giving it a few seconds of listening.

And dude, overmodulated synths are not back. They're just not.

New music this week from Pearl Jam, Lola Young, sombr, Billy Nomates, Sunken, Rain Parade, Chuck D, Sunflower Bean, Ben Lee, Tune-Yards, J...

12/05/2025

Because Metaspace doesn't much care for my playlists, here is a link to my blog. New music from Sub-Radio (whose album finally dropped!), Tetrarch, Sam Roberts Band, I'm With Her, Cypress Hill, U***d Sailor, kid moon, Liam Finn, Little Feat, Molly Miller Trio, Elbow, The Amazons, Ainsley Costello and much more. Enjoy!

Sometimes I get queries from artists about how I decide what's going on my playlists and how do they get on them. The simple answer is that I have to find you. You can't buy your way on, and I have no idea why you'd want to. While I do heavily focus on brand new stuff there are other criteria as well. But sometimes, every once and a while, a slight bit of nepotism can creep in. Track 47 on this list is by Cameron Esther and it's her debut single. She's the daughter of a guy I knew in college and have seen a few times since.

But it wouldn't end up on the playlist if I didn't like it.

New music from Sub-Radio (whose album finally dropped!), Tetrarch, Sam Roberts Band, I'm With Her, Cypress Hill, U***d Sailor, kid moon, Lia...

06/05/2025

Because the Faceplace doesn't much care for my Spotify playlists, here is a link to my blog. New music this week from Lights, Pink Skies, Mary and the Sharks, Suzanne Vega, Real Estate, Sparks, Say Sue Me, Mammoth, Home Free, Grouplove, Lucius, a new mix of an old REM song for a grand purpose, Hikaru Utada and much more. Enjoy!

A lot of music this week defies stereotypes of what you might expect from an artist. Suzanne Vega laying down a groove? Utada Hikaru returns to singing but in English and Japanese? New (sort of) music from R.E.M.? The Doobie Brothers heading towards Country? There's a lot of this going on.

It's also worth pointing out that the new album by Lights is bloody fantastic. I added 4 songs from that album to the rotation. Artist J Appiah really surprised me with his new single. I haven't thought much of him before but I need to seriously reassess that. The new album from Ben Williams is also a solid knockout even if much of it isn't the sort of thing you would catch on radio.

New music this week from Lights, Pink Skies, Mary and the Sharks, Suzanne Vega, Real Estate, Sparks, Say Sue Me, Mammoth, Home Free, Group...

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