Though I have to admit that I haven’t listened yet, Asheville NC outfit Wednesday’s latest album Bleeds just dropped yesterday. In support of that, I wanted to offer the video for the first single from album, released several months ago to critical acclaim.
“Elderberry Wine” leans into the more accessible elements of the Wednesday shoegaze alt-country formula. You could even see someone weaned on the thin gruel of contemporary country music developing an appreciation for the reverence of Americana in the song and video. With more hooks than a tacklebox, the song gets stuck in your head for days.
In honor of Tops’ new album Bury The Key being released yesterday, I’m featuring one of the tracks, “Falling On My Sword,” as the Saturday Night Video this week.
“Falling On My Sword” is my favorite among the early singles from this LP and probably the one that most closely matches the 70’s prog rock-inspired cover art. It’s a bit of a left turn for Tops. Based on their previous work, you would think anything born of a seventies influence would be more in line with late-decade disco (and the remainder of the album features some of that).
The occasion of Ozzy Osbourne’s death should not have been surprising. In fact, it wouldn’t have been surprising if the legendary metal singer had died twenty years ago. It was something of a miracle that he lasted this long, given the state of his health for the last few decades (who would have thought Prince Nelson Rogers would repose before the Prince of Darkness). Osbourne played his final show though—just weeks ago—which was by most accounts an impressive affair, and then exited this world gracefully as if he’d done what he came to do.
Recent events have provided the perfect opportunity for a reminder about Black Sabbath doom metal disciples Castle Rat and their new songs. Castle Rat’s upcoming album The Bestiary already has two publicly available tracks, “Wolf I” and “Wizard.” The tracks represent growth in complexity from those on their debut album as well as a more polished sound. On “Wizard,” guitarist Franco “The Count” Vittore finally gets to stretch out with an epic solo that brings to mind 80s metal maximalism.
Castle Rat – The Bestiary King Volume Records | Bandcamp
The Bestiary is set to release on September 19, 2025.
Though Laura Groves “Sky At Night” was released as part of her album Radio Red in 2023, it may be my favorite “new to me” song this year. Groves delicate bedroom chamber pop is at once melancholy and curious. Her vocals bring to mind Natasha Khan’s Bat For Lashes project for which she was once a backup singer.
This isn’t an “official” video, so it’s pretty simplistic, with pattern overlays, retro technology, color washes and Groves herself serving as the main visual interests. The song itself is the draw here. It’s one of those rare tracks that I can just rewind and listen to over and over.
Glazyhaze released Sonic in March of this year. The sophomore album from the band has received a lot of positive press for its refined take on shoegaze, with physical copies selling out very quickly and having to be restocked hastily.
With shoegaze being such a global phenomenon at this point, you wouldn’t necessarily pick up on Glazhaze’s Venetian origins. Still, singer Irene Moretuzzo’s aquiline nose and Neapolitan beauty, and the gratuitous smoking in the video for “Nirvana” are some clues. The band cites DIIV as a major influence, and it comes across in their music, which is full of glide guitar and ethereal textures.
Years ago, a friend a colleague mentioned to me how she gets choked up at daddy/daughter songs. I thought to myself that I couldn’t even name a single song that would fit into that description. It’s interesting how our interest in different musical genres put us in touch with varied subject matters. With Scout Gillett’s “Enough,” I can finally say I have at least some idea of what my colleague was talking about.
Gillett’s last album, No Roof, No Floor, brought her Midwest rural sounds to the city, reflecting the urban environment of Brooklyn where she had relocated. The videos that accompanied those songs made a subject out of life in New York. Gillett’s new singles, created after her move to Los Angeles, bring to the foreground some of the earthiness that always bubbled a bit beneath the surface of her songs. The sunny California setting works alongside her new sun kissed look.
Chris Stewart from Black Marble sets his Joy Division-like post punk to footage from a rodeo, what appears to be a county fair and a horse race. He plays his icy synth on the outskirts of a concert crowd watching a band that seems a much more likely rural attraction. Stewart doesn’t stray far from the sounds of his Brooklyn origins, despite the subject matter of the video. It’s a strange juxtaposition, but it works in a slice-of-life kind of way.
When someone complained about the surface noise that came with listening to music on vinyl, the late BBC disc jockey John Peel (a notable lover of the format), was said to have replied, “Mate, life has surface noise.”
It’s hard to argue with Peel’s assessment of life in this mortal coil. Who among us wouldn’t wish that things were different, though?
I’ve come to a point of frustration with my record collection where even new records have an amount of surface noise (crackling, pops) that are hard to ignore. It’s especially irking when you pay so much these days for any music pressed to vinyl. I’ve tried various methods to reduce the noise:
A new stylus
An anti-static brush
A Big Fudge record cleaning set
A Milty Anti-static gun
A Spin Clean record cleaning set
Homemade cleaning solution recommended by several sites
Nothing has made a substantial impact. I still have newer records that sound like they’ve been gathering dust in the attic for years. I even have some older records that won’t play. Here’s video of one of my favorite records with the needle skating across it.1
Independent records labels, in particular, have gone all in on vinyl. I get countless emails from various labels touting their latest releases on wax. I just received an email from Polyvinyl Records today about new vinyl variants of albums by the band Alvvays. These are in edition to several variants that are already offered by Polyvinyl and at places like Newbury Comics. You can hardly blame the artists and the labels for milking this cow for all it’s worth when opportunities for compensation from making music are drying up.
Despite being sympathetic to the plight of the recording industry, vinyl is a market that I’m becoming less likely to participate in.2
I couldn’t replace this record, even if I wanted to. It’s long out of print, like many vinyl releases. ↩︎
This especially holds true in a world where so much music is available for little cost in the hi-res streaming format. ↩︎
