SAVAGE RADIO PLAYLISTS MARCH-APRIL-MAY 2026

 

WILLIAM BUSH of Milwaukee, WI's IMMORTAL GIRLFRIEND

SEPTEMBER 3, 1986-DECEMBER 24, 2025

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #518 MARCH 4, 2026

1. "People Are People" performed by Depeche Mode

2. "Misery" performed by Winter ft. Horse Jumper Of Love

3. "What's Right?" performed by Ratboys

4. "Missing Out" performed by Maya Hawke

5. "Say No More" performed by Real Estate

6. "Cupid de Locke" performed by The Smashing Pumpkins

7. "Who Needs You" performed by Queen

8. "Holy Wars...The Punishment Due" performed by Rodrigo y Gabriela

9. "The Shout" performed by Pete Townshend

10."Au Revoir Reservoir" performed by Silversun Pickups

11."Inferno" performed by The Last Dinner Party

12."Afterthought" performed by Tame Impala

13."Hourglass" performed by Immortal Girlfriend

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #519

"1976: HAPPY 50TH ANNIVERSARY-PART 1"

MARCH 11, 2026

1. "Space Intro/Fly Like An Eagle" performed by The Steve Miller Band

2. "Happenings Ten Years Time Ago" performed by Todd Rundgren

3. "Back In The Saddle" performed by Aerosmith

4. "Do Ya" performed by Electric Light Orchestra

5. "Squonk" performed by Genesis

6. "Beth" performed by KISS

7. "Station To Station" performed by David Bowie

8. "Green Earrings" performed by Steely Dan

9. "Angel From The Coast" performed by Thin Lizzy

10."Peace Of Mind" performed by Boston

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #520

"SONGS OF..."

MARCH 18, 2026

1. "American Obituary" performed by U2

2. "Jet Stream Heart" performed by Temples

3. "Your Favorite Toy" performed by Foo Fighters

4. "Somebody Got Murdered" performed by The Clash

5. "Here Comes President Kill Again" performed by XTC

6. "Passenger Seat" performed by Wolf Alice

7. "My Life" performed by Julia Cumming

8. "Yellow Eyes" performed by Yebba

9. "Colonized Mind" performed by Prince

10."Right Here Right Now" performed by Jill Scott

11."Picture This" performed by Blondie

12."A Tough Decision" performed by The Charade

13."holy mystery" performed by Willow

14."Human" performed by Brandi Carlile

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #521

"1976: HAPPY 50TH ANNIVERSARY-PART 2"

MARCH 25, 2026

1. "Let 'Em In" performed by Paul McCartney & Wings

2. "Royal Orleans" performed by Led Zeppelin

3. "Come Dancing" performed by Jeff Beck

4. "Knowing Me, Knowing You" performed by Abba

5. "You Were So Warm" performed by The Dwight Twilley Band

6. "You Take My Breath Away" performed by Queen

7. "Hurdy Gurdy Glissando" performed by Steve Hillage

8. "I Wanna Rule The World" performed by 10cc

9. "(The System Of) Dr. Tarr and Professor Fether" performed by The Alan Parsons Project

10."New York City" performed by T-Rex

11."Beware My Love" (live) performed by Paul McCartney & Wings

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #522

"WHO'S THE FOOL?: APRIL FOOLS DAY"

APRIL 1, 2026

1. "Description Of A Fool" performed by A Tribe Called Quest

2. "Fool Too Long" performed by Rockpile

3. "The Card Cheat" performed by The Clash

4. "Babooshka" performed by Kate Bush

5."Ship Of Fools" performed by World Party

6."Only A Fool Would Say That" performed by Steely Dan

7. "The Fool On The Hill" performed by The Beatles

8. "April Fool" performed by Pete Townshend and Ronnie Lane

9. "What In The World??..." performed by The Dukes Of Stratosphear

10. "Still A Fool" performed by Muddy Waters

11."Fooled Again (I Don't Like It)" performed by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

12."Fools" performed by Van Halen

13."Foolin'" performed by Def Leppard

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #523

"1976: HAPPY 50TH ANNIVERSARY-PART 3"

APRIL 8, 2026

1. "Everybody Loves The Sunshine" performed by Roy Ayers Ubiquity

2. "Hotel California" performed by Eagles

3. "Dr. Funkenstein" performed by Parliament

4. "I Love Ladies" performed by he Rolling Stones

5. "Dance Sister Dance (Baila Mi Hermana)" performed by Santana

6. "2112-1. Overture/2. The Temples Of Syrinx" performed by Rush

7. "Zoot Allures" performed by Frank Zappa

8. "With Your Love" performed by Jefferson Starship

9. "Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved, Loved) performed by JAMES BROWN

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #524

"REMEMBERING PRINCE...10 YEARS LATER..."

APRIL 15, 2026

all songs performed by Prince except where indicated

1. "Sign O' The Times"

2. "I'm Yours"

3. "777-9311" performed by The Time

4. "The Belle Of St. Mark" performed by Sheila E.

5. "Two" performed by Madhouse

6. "The Screams Of Passion" performed by The Family

7. "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore"

8. "The Daisy Chain" performed by The New Power Generation w/ Doug E. Fresh

9. "Cinnamon Girl"

Savage Radio for VINYLTHON 2026

April 18, 2026

hour 1

1. "The Spirit Of Radio" performed by Rush

2. "Murderess" performed by Power Station

3. "Nothing To Fear (But Fear Itself)" performed by Oingo Boingo

4. "The Golden Calf" performed by Prefab Sprout

5. "(Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket" performed by Elton John

6. "Doo Doo A Do Do" performed by Robert Plant

7. "Moving In Stereo" performed by The Cars

8. "Simmatar" performed by The Smashing Pumpkins

9. "Nuclear" performed by Ryan Adams

10."Gap Tooth Smile" performed by Djo

11."Coming Soon" performed by Queen

hour 2

12."Mountains" performed by Prince and the Revolution

13."Black Maria" performed by Todd Rundgren

14."Fine, Fine Day" performed by Tony Carey

15."Stranger" performed by Electric Light Orchestra

16."Man Of Our Times" performed by Genesis

17."Meant To Be" performed by Disq

18."Track" (live at Palisade Studios) performed by Slow Pulp

19."Talking Nonsense" performed by Kainalu

20."Wrapped Around Your Finger" performed by The Police

21."So Good To See You" performed by Cheap Trick

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #525

APRIL 22, 2026

1. "I Played The Fool" performed by Michael Stipe

2. "Rumble" performed by Thompson Springs

3. "D19" performed by Disq

4. "595" performed by Violet Grohl

5. "Nothing To Me" performed by Tinted Windows

6. "Mrs. Vandebilt" performed by Paul McCartney & Wings

7. "Too Far Gone" performed by Todd Rundgren

8. "The Empty Dream Machine" performed by Gorillaz ft. Black Thought, Johnny Marr and Anoushka Shakar

9. "Go Through The Night" performed by Elephant Gym

10."The Tears Of Things" performed by U2

11."Liquid Girl" performed by The Ambers

12."Tighter, Tighter" performed by Alive N' Kickin'

13."Terrestrials" performed by Pond

14."Where Is My Husband!" performed by Raye

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #526

"1976: HAPPY 50TH ANNIVERSARY-PART 4"

APRIL 29, 2026

1. "I Wanna Go To The Sun" (live) performed by Peter Frampton

2. "Rising Sun" performed by Utopia

3. "Calling Dr. Love" performed by KISS

4. "Do What You Want, Be What You Are" performed by Daryl Hall & John Oates

5. "One For The Vine" performed by Genesis

6. "Hejira" performed by Joni Mitchell

7. "All The Way Around" performed by Marvin Gaye

8. "As" performed by Stevie Wonder

9. "American Girl" performed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #527

MAY 6, 2026

1. "G.O.D. and the Broken Ribs" performed by Jack White

2. "No More Lies" performed by Thundercat with Tame Impala

3. "Holding On For Life" performed by Broken Bells

4. "Traffic Lights" performed by Flea with Thom Yorke

5. "Losey Boulevard" performed by Seasaw

6. "It's Gonna Be Me" performed by David Bowie

7. "Stellar" performed by The Smashing Pumpkins

8. "Days We Left Behind" performed by Paul McCartney

9. "Song For Hal" performed by U2

10."End Of Beginning" performed by Djo

11."Shine Again" performed by Weezer

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #528

"HUGHES MUSIC: THE MUSIC FROM THE FILMS OF JOHN HUGHES"

MAY 13, 2026

1. "If You Leave" performed by Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark

(from "Pretty In Pink" writer/producer: John Hughes director: Howard Deutch)

2. "Kajagoogoo" performed by Kajagoogoo

(from "Sixteen Candles" writer/director: John Hughes)

3. "Tenderness" performed by General Public

(from "Weird Science" writer/director: John Hughes)

4. "Fire In The Twilight" performed by Wang Chung

(from "The Breakfast Club" writer/director: John Hughes

5. "March Of The Swivelheads (Rotating Heads-Dub Version)" performed by The English Beat

)from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" writer/producer/director: John Hughes)

6. "If You Were Here" performed by The Thompson Twins

(from "Sixteen Candles" writer/director: John Hughes)

7. "Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" performed by The Dream Academy

(from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" writer/producer/director: John Hughes)

8. "This Woman's Work" performed by Kate Bush

(from "She's Having A Baby" writer/producer/director: John Hughes)

9. "Rhythm Of Life" performed by Hugh Harris

(from "Uncle Buck" writer/producer/director: John Hughes)

10. "Beat City" performed by The Flowerpot Men

(from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" writer/producer/director: John Hughes)

11. "Ring Me Up" performed by DiVinyls

(from "Sixteen Candles" writer/director: John Hughes)

12."She Loves Me" performed by Stephen Duffy

(from "Some Kind Of Wonderful" writer/producer: John Hughes director: Howard Deutch)

13."Danke Schoen" performed by Wayne Newton

(from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" writer/producer/director: John Hughes)

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #529

"DAYS OF THE WEEK"

MAY 20, 2026

1. "Saturday's Child" performed by The Monkees

2. "Monday Morning" performed by Fleetwood Mac

3. "Monday" performed by Wilco

4. "Sunday Papers" performed by Joe Jackson

5. "Tuesday Heartbreak" performed by Stevie Wonder

6. "Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon" performed by Queen

7. "Manic Monday" performed by Prince

8. "Waiting For Wednesday" performed by Lisa Loeb and Nine Stories

9. "Wednesdays" performed by Ryan Adams

10."Thursday's Child" performed by David Bowie

11."Sunday Afternoon In The Park" performed by Van Halen

12."Friday I'm In Love" (live) performed by Olivia Rodrigo & Robert Smith

13."Sweet Tuesday Morning" performed by Badfinger

14."Sunday Girl" performed by Blondie

15."Pleasant Valley Sunday" performed by The Monkees

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #530

"SPRING HAS SPRUNG: GOODBYE MAY 2026"

MAY 27, 2026

1. "2 Or 3" performed by The Lemon Twigs

2. "Anywhere" performed by Ratboys

3. "Weirdo" performed by New Order

4. "Slow Dancing" performed by Lindsey Buckingham

5. "New Mistake" performed by Jellyfish

6. "Looking For Love" performed by The Cars

7. "Bonny" performed by Prefab Sprout

8. "You Get What You Deserve" performed by Big Star

9. "Ruled By Fear" performed by Julia Cumming

10."Guts" performed by Sylvie Lou

11."Calligraphy" performed by The New Pornographers

12."Spring" performed by Ben Watt

13. "When I Say" performed by Badfinger

14."Zionsville ii" performed by Khruangbin

EVERYTHING SHIFTS: "THREE HARES" GENTLE BRONTOSAURUS

 

"THREE HARES"
GENTLE BRONTOSAURUS

GENTLE BRONTOSAURUS:
Huan-Hua Chye: vocals, guitars, keyboards, ukulele
Nick Davies: vocals, keyboards, trumpet
Paul Marcou: drums, percussion, vocals
Scott Stetson: vocals, guitars
Anneliese Valdes: bass guitar, vocals, conch

all music and lyrics by Huan-Hua Chye except
"Edge To Lose" and "Agatha's Ashes" music and lyrics by Scott Stetson
"Feelings Of An Earthquake" music and lyrics by Nick Davies
"Cassini" music and lyrics by Huan-Hua Chye & Tom Morton

Cover Illustration by Huan-Hua Chye
Graphic Design by Scott Stetson
Produced, Recorded and Mixed by Gentle Brontosaurus

Released February 13, 2026

"Can't pretend that growing older never hurts"
-Pete Townshend
"Slit Skirts"

I am going to begin this piece by extoling the virtues of another band.

A band that has long possessed an enormous piece of my musical heart, ever since their debut album "Love Junk" (released October 26, 1988) arrived within my Freshman year of college is The Pursuit Of Happiness. As led by singer/songwriter/guitarist Moe Berg, the band's signature ABBA meets AC/DC sound of sweeping to soaring melodicism and vocal harmonies combined with sledgehammer hard rock swagger over the course of their five albums continues to hit a sweet spot after many decades.

Yet, what truly gave this band their eternal status with me has always been via Berg's peerless songwriting, which feels like the short story chronicles of the lives, loves, loses, hopes, fears and often devastating failures of the albums' not-as-young-anymore cast of characters, figures who occupy the exact same world as the listener as the songs are sprinkled with cultural references grounding the stories to a specific time and place while always remaining existential. 

Through dark, biting humor, sardonic word play, unapologetically carnal knowledge filtered through genuine understanding and empathy, Berg with The Pursuit Of Happiness delivered music bathed in themes of self awareness, arrested development, painful heartaches and the benchmark moments where life pivots from one phase into the next...should the song's characters allow themselves the opportunity to listen to the messages of their circumstances and their inner voices.  

The Pursuit Of Happiness existed within a certain rarefied air of alt-rock/pop songcraft, of which I would also include the likes of Fountains Of Wayne, Belle and Sebastian and The New Pornographers.

And to my ears and heart, I am now implored to include Gentle Brontosaurus.  

The Madison, WI based quintet Gentle Brontosaurus, to whom I became introduced to via their lovely previous release "Bees Of The Invisible" (released May 12, 2018), a breezy collection of sunshine drenched confections perfectly designed for a Summer's day at a park or garden party. With the release of their latest album, "Three Hares," their first in eight years, Gentle Brontosaurus has arrived with a deeply involving work that takes the twee elements of past material and expands the sonic palate to to serve what I hear as a darkly emotional song cycle filled with the short stories and character studies of people--some young, others in young middle age--facing down hard questions of identity, choices, placement, consequences and a developmental stasis.

Gentle Brontosaurus' "Three Hares" opens with the excellent "Luxury Bones," composed by the band's chief songwriter Huan-Hua Chye, " which sets the table for the album.

"When we were in second grade
They asked us what we wanted to be
I never thought that I would say
An insurance actuary
But there's no market for
A hundred thousand ballerinas
A hundred thousand quarterbacks
Filling sports arenas"
       
Immediately gripping with its lament, presented in equal parts humor and sorrow, the romance of youth and the reality of adulthood collide in a world ruled by numbers in which "there's no room for dreamers" (a lyric that leapt out of my headphones on first listen), the stage is expertly set for the remainder of the album to come.

The mini-suite of both the bouncy "Major Arcana" and the startling, voyeuristic "My Favorite Monster," Chye writes tales of people seeking emotional fulfilment yet finding themselves overtaken by Tarot astrology and potential porn addiction, respectively. It is here where Gentle Brontosaurus begins to flex their musical muscles from their specialized brand of sweetly decorated pop towards sounds that are more overtly aggressive, dynamic, even sinister, perfectly encasing Chye's storytelling with the precisely delivered musical bedrock. And again, lyric's like "Loneliness looks just like a man" propelled themselves to my ears.  

"Tumbleweed" finds the band observing a couple dining at a local Denny's "eating Moon Over My Hammy" accompanied by Nick Davies' despondent trumpet suggesting either sad margueritas or a desire for margueritas to numb the stilted moment between the two on a Summertime slow night...just like the ones before. 

"Nothing around here changes
So, we're just killing time
Current status: stasis
Frozen, with a pump or two of cherry lime..." 

The restlessness of a relationship, a life or an existence not advancing even as time rests for no one. The urgent desire to leave yet being fearful of change is palpable as the song yearns passionately for an escape. "Tumbleweed, you and me, let's go," our protagonist pleads over and again.

Yet, as you can probably guess, she most likely won't.

Guitarist, and new band member since 2019, Scott Stetson arrives with "Edge To Lose," the first of his two selections, this one starring a self described "First time caller, long time listener/Part time backer, full time prisoner" fending off isolation through the rabbit hole of talk radio and conspiracy theories. The desire for connection and understanding dovetailing into the building a false reality based upon grievances he may not have ever held in the first place but has now adhered himself to makes for a decidedly unconnected existence as represented by Gentle Brontosaurus' punchier attack, augmented by Chye's woozy keyboards and Stetson's lyrical guitar solos.

Affairs of the heart take up space over the album's next two tracks, Chye's girl group vibe "Bend The Knee," and the astral "Cassini," composed by Chye and Tom Morton, her collaborator in their joint side project Vowl Sounds. In the former, we find a couple at the end of a union begun with the physical motion and continued through the emotional capitulations of the song's title.

"And it feels a little sad, my love
Because I think we really tried
I wore your ring like a bandage
A blindfold for my starry eyes"

In the latter, we find ourselves in the middle of an extramarital affair, self described "destroyers on a suicide mission," already fallen into the false intimacy traps of sharing wine on the balcony while debating the validity or insufferably of Neil DeGrasse Tyson (a terrific detail) while attempting to cloak the loneliness ("I kiss your forehead and pretend you would be truer to me"). 

Two songs of two romances where there are no happy endings continues to give the album a sincere emotional weightiness whose impact is made further through the elegant songwriting and performances.

Stetson's "Agatha's Ashes" taken Gentle Brontosaurus back to the garage with the late period Tom Petty styled track, which feels to be an exploration of mortality, grief, loss and the quandary of finding or rejecting meaning when life suddenly expresses a certain meaninglessness. 

As a counterpoint, the subversive jubilant  Chye's "Loneliest Bird" arrives with a Nick Davies trumpet fanfare that made me think of the late John Entwistle's occasional brass punctuations in selections by The Who. This song's characters, the titular "loneliest birds"  of Nigel and Martha represent a human dichotomy: the singular feelings of isolation which contribute to the overall feeling of aloneness in the world are in actuality universal feelings, experienced long before and after we are here and gone.  

"Three Hares" enters its final stretch with the outstanding, painful, cathartic "Blue." Set in 1992 and starring Yu-Tin and her reflection in the bathroom mirror, she ponders just what if she could possibly be different, be something or someone else in a White American world fueled by White American beauty myths and standards. 

"I just want to be an All American, corn fed, apple pie girl
Milk-pale skin, calling my parents by their first names, hair that
Holds a curl 
Prying open my eyes in the mirror
Trying to make them just a little bit bigger
Trying out names that sound just a little bit whiter
Wishing my eyes were blue" 

It is a thunderstorm of a song which finds Gentle Brontosaurus operating at full power, with muscle and melodicism, ensuring Huan-Hua Chye's personal song becomes a full band statement. It is an open hearted high wire of a song which in just four minutes explores identity, self-loathing and cultural rejection, the need for belonging while inwardly struggling for self-acceptance and the universal plight that exists when we all wish, at one time or another, if we could just be anything other than what we naturally are. I would argue, that in the band's brief catalog of material, "Blue" is their highest achievement to date.

Nick Davies' "Feelings Of An Earthquake," inspired by a real event, brings the album to its' poignant close.

"I feel the fault lines
Moving at the base of my spine...

...It feels alright
The whole room sways left and right
And at the same time
Everything on wheels rolls away

I've got the ghostly sense of a loss
Of the only coordinate set that I had 
Now I'm feeling lost
I'm left with nothing to measure against
No firm unit of distance
As everything shifts
Everything shifts"

It would be the song to break you if not for the band leaning richly into the "Gentle" side of its moniker. Davies' sensitive vocals as surrounded by his mournful trumpet and Scott Stetson's equally aching guitar lines, Chye's keyboards, the tender backing vocals of both Chye and bassist Annaliese Valdes and the glide of drummer Paul Marcou's ride cymbal and snare superbly cushions the impact of a full album of emotional earthquakes, leaving powerfully pensive aftershocks in its wake...just before you press "PLAY" all over again.

It may seem odd to you but as I listened to Gentle Brontosaurus' "Three Hares," I found myself often thinking of the controversial, divisive third season of "The Bear." Critically and through fan discussions on-line, there contained a tenor that this was the season of the series in which "nothing happened." For me, I felt completely the contrary as it was the season in which I thought everything happened. Yes, it was a season completely in stasis and for me, I felt it to be the point as we had been given the lives, traumas and anxieties of a collective of characters and this third season was the one where we observed and felt them wrestling with their pasts, desiring different futures but were all unaware or unable to piece together just how to move forwards even as life in always moving forwards.

Gentle Brontosaurus' "Three Hares" delves into this sentiment brilliantly as they have weaved together a tapestry of situations in a non-judgmental, enormously humane fashion with a sense of songcraft that ensures the listener will not be undone by the experience while we are asked to embrace and understand these stories and characters. In doing so, the band have released their best album to date. It is beautifully sequenced. It is their best sounding album which finds the quintet flexing their muscles to include a wider range of textures and abilities while never eschewing that certain twee quality that remains their trademark.     

As I have gotten to experience and furthermore, gotten to know and to have been befriended by several of the bands in Madison, WI., I am again amazed with the amount of talent, skill and artistry on display right here in my city, which I feel could easily stand shoulder to shoulder with more widely established and even legendary artists. Over and again, I have expressed upon this site the wonderment I feel witnessing a band made up of individuals who are all serving the song in question and without any display of ego whatsoever. Gentle Brontosaurus fits this description and then some and with "Three Hares," they have emerged with a work of art that deserves the fullest of your attention and appreciation, especially in a musical field that is fully saturated with artists looking to be noticed.   

Returning to The Pursuit Of Happiness for a moment, I am thinking of a song that possibly describes how this album feels to me. The song in question is one called "Tree Of Knowledge," and the lyric that comes to mind is the following:

"He feels like he's falling, falling
Out of grace and into knowledge"

Gentle Brontosaurus' "Three Hares" feels like this, a collection of songs starring people who are just like you and myself, all trying to just figure out what existence in this life, at this point in our collective history actually means and could be...should we allow ourselves the impetus to keep trying when we feel unsafe, unappreciated, unfocused, unmoored, unseen and unloved.

This is what empathy sounds like and Gentle Brontosaurus' "Three Hares" is already one of my favorite albums of 2026. 

SAVAGE RADIO PLAYLISTS: JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2026

 

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #510

"HAPPY NEW YEAR 2026: SIDE ONE, TRACK ONE"

JANUARY 7, 2026

1. "Hello Again" performed by The Cars

2. "Over The City" performed by TV Eyes

3. "Discotheque" performed by U2

4. "Hot Stuff" performed by The Rolling Stones

5. "Abacab" performed by Genesis

6. "Vexations" performed by Tortoise

7. "How The West Was Won And Where It Got Us" performed by R.E.M.

8. "Wind Up Workin' In A Gas Station" performed by Frank Zappa

9. 'Synchronicity I" performed by The Police 10."You Better You Bet" performed by The Who

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #511

"REMEMBERING DAVID BOWIE...TEN YEARS LATER"

JANUARY 14, 2026

1. "Speed Of Life" performed by David Bowie

2. "The Prettiest Star" performed by David Bowie

3. "Hot One" performed by Shudder to Think

4. "Ballrooms Of Mars" performed by T-Rex

5. "Chelsea Lovers" performed by Dave Stewart

6. "Blackstar" performed by David Bowie

7. "Celestial" performed by Donny McCaslin

8. "Life On Mars?" performed by Seu Jorge

9. "Four Out Of Five" performed by Arctic Monkeys

10."Some Weird Sin" performed by Iggy Pop

11."Kingdom Come" performed by David Bowie

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #512

"REMEMBERING NEIL PEART: GIVE THE DRUMMER SOME 2026"

JANUARY 21, 2026

1. "Chemistry" performed by Rush

2. "Rain" performed by The Beatles

3. "Fred" performed by Tony Williams

4. "Kinetic Ritual" performed by Klark Kent

5. "Shortberry Strawcake" performed by Sheila E. ft. Prince

6. "Magic Dance" performed by Nate Smith

7. "Loki Cat" performed by Jimmy Chamberlin Complex ft. Billy Corgan

8. "Four Sticks" performed by Led Zeppelin

9. "Gangrene" performed by Utopia

10."Feeding The Fire" performed by Genesis

11."Between The Wheels" performed by Rush

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #513

JANUARY 28, 2026

1. "Say Goodbye To Mum And Dad" performed by Tears For Fears

2. "Gradually" performed by Ben Watt

3. "Balls And Pins ii" performed by Khruangbin

4. "King Of The Mountain" performed by Kate Bush

5. "The Happy Dictator" performed by Gorillaz ft. Sparks

6. "Every Day" performed by Steve Hackett

7. "Zombie" performed by Yungblud & The Smashing Pumpkins

8. "Midnight Song" performed by Wolf Alice

9. "In The Stars" performed by Melody's Echo Chamber

10."Been Undone (Dark Side Mix)" performed by Peter Gabriel

11."Asking For A Friend" performed by Foo Fighters

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #514

"BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATION 2026: PART 1"

FEBRUARY 4, 2026

1. "Ain't That Easy" performed by D'Angelo and the Vanguard

2. "Let's Get On With It" performed by Arrested Development

3. "Beautiful People" performed by Jill Scott

4. "I Belong To You" performed by Lenny Kravitz

5. "Call On Me" performed by Daniel Caesar

6. "Who Knows?" performed by Jimi Hendrix

7. "Condition Of The Heart" performed by Prince & The Revolution

8. "Living In The Upside Down" performed by Fishbone

9. "I'm Still Somehow" performed by El Michels Affair & Black Thought

10."My Only Friend Is You" performed by Fantastic Negrito

11."Someday We'll All Be Free" performed by Donny Hathaway

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #515

"HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY 2026"

FEBRUARY 11, 2026

1. "All The World Loves Lovers" performed by Prefab Sprout

2. "Friday (I'm Gonna Love You)" performed by The Lemon Twigs

3. "Guess I'm Fallin' In Love" performed by Spoon

4. "Man I Need" performed by Olivia Dean

5. "All I Want" performed by The Pursuit Of Happiness

6. "Look What You've Done To Me" performed by Sunflower Bean

7. "Does Anybody Love You?" performed by Todd Rundgren

8. "Forget That Girl" performed by The Monkees

9. "It's Over" performed by Djo

10."Dreaming Of You" performed by Sloan

11."Ruin My Day" performed by Jon Brion

12."You Don't Know My Name" performed by Alicia Keys

13."Bizarre Love Triangle" performed by New Order

14."Cruel To Be Kind" performed by Nick Lowe

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #516

FEBRUARY 18, 2025

1. "Hold Out Your Hand" performed by Chris Squire

2. "Luxury Bones" performed by Gentle Brontosaurus

3. "Votive" performed by The New Pornographers

4. "The Wreckage" performed by Silversun Pickups

5. "Armatopia" (live) performed by Johnny Marr

6. "Bloodless" performed by Andrew Bird

7. "Everybody Needs Love" performed by Foxygen

8. "Bin Bin ii" performed by Khruangbin

9. "Husbands" performed by Geese

10."Welcome To Burning-By-Sea" performed by Joe Jackson

11."The Death Of The King/Follow The Sun" performed by The Anniversary

SAVAGE RADIO EPISODE #517

"BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATION 2026-PART 2"

FEBRUARY 25, 2026

1. "The Price You Got To Pay To Be Free" performed by The Cannonball Adderley Quintet

2. "Penitentiary Philosophy" performed by Erykah Badu

3. "Freedom Jazz Dance" performed by Vernon Reid

4. "Punk Rocky" performed by A$AP Rocky

5. "In The Sunrise" performed by Adi Oasis

6. "Peace Go With You, Brother" performed by Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson

7. "Put It Down" performed by Corinne Bailey Rae

8. "Numb" performed by Gary Clark Jr.

9. "I Lied to You" performed by Miles Caton from "Sinners"

10."Love Is Love" performed by Fishbone

MY YEAR IN MUSIC 2025: MY FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2025

 

And now, we reach the the top of my personal list of favorite 2025 releases, of which there are six in all.

"THE UNIVERSE SMILES UPON YOU ii"
KHRUANGBIN
Released November 6, 2025

I now that I should tread lightly with this but I do need to thank the algorithms for bringing Khruangbin into my life. 

It was as auspicious as anything else, because for quite a spell several years ago, while poking around videos on You tube, the algorithms suddenly placed a suggestion into my feed. At first, I didn't notice at all. Soon, I realized that this suggestion kept appearing, as if a gently persistent rem in der from a friend. Finally, late one night, after essentially tiring of seeing the suggestion, I clicked upon the link to see what this was all about and within moments...I was floored...and shortly afterwards, I never looked back. 

The semi-instrumental, hypnotically rhythmic music of the Houston, Texas based trio of guitarist Mark Speer, bassist Laura Lee and drummer Donald "DJ" Johnson Jr. feels exactly like the translation of the band's Thai moniker, which is "airplane." Certainly, the sensation of flight is apparent. But, what I think of is the emotional sensation that rests within travel, whether physical or spiritual, because essentially, we, as a species, are forever within the process of the journey. Ruminating over the past, contemplating the future, while attempting to gather sense of the present simultaneously. The destination, by contrast, is not essentially the point and here is where Khruangbin exists for me.

"The Universe Smiles Upon You ii" is a tribute to, and full recreation of, the band's debut album on its tenth anniversary and the result is as mesmerizing as everything we have experienced. Yet now, Khruangbin is in a period of simultaneous reflection and progression as they utilize their debut to ponder where they have been and where they exist in 2025 after five previous albums and two EPs with Leon Bridges. The album firmly exists as one of 2025's instantly repeatable albums as it could play upon a loop and you would be intoxicated for the entire duration. 

This is seductive, sometimes propulsive, genre defying, hallucinatory, transportive music that is their idiosyncratic signature. And then, smack in the middle of the album is the surprise..."Bin Bin ii"...less than two minutes and an explosive window into fully unexpected Hendrix-ian psychedelia. If this album is lacing a metaphorical period at the end of this ten year musical sentence, I am excited to see where the next sentence begins.

"THE OVERVIEW"
STEVEN WILSON
Released March 14, 2025

Discoveries...

I know nothing, absolutely nothing about Steven Wilson. He has not existed upon my musical radar whatsoever until this year as he released his eighth solo album, a conceptual work that dives directly into my progressive rock beating heart--a genre that I admittedly have not paid much grand attention towards in recent years.

"The Overview" is a two track album, with each selection divided into eight and six movements, running 23 and 18 minutes respectively, that embraces the cosmic concept of the overview effect, a shift in one's view of humanity and existence upon viewing Earth from space. Featuring some lyrical aid from none other than XTC's Andy Partridge, Steven Wilson, who handles vocals and the lion's share of the instrumentation, has fashioned a work which contains a dash of Pink Floyd here, splashes of Tangerine Dream there but it most widely reconnected me to both Yes' "Close  To The Edge" (released September 13, 1972) and Yes bassist/vocalist the late Chris Squire's solo effort "Fish Out Of Water" (released November 21, 1975).

As heady as the album is with its conflations of the mundane and the majestically existential, I would urge listeners to not find approaching this work as impenetrable as some of prog rock openly embraces. For me the warmth of the instrumentation, the vocals and the superb melodies drew me inwards and held me enraptured for the duration, all sticking to my brain powerfully. In so many ways, I have always found the finest of prog rock music to exist as music for introverts, as the crescendos and musical; dynamism abound represent what is happening to us internally. 

To paraphrase David Bowie's "Blackstar," we have eagles in our daydreams and diamonds in our eyes. Steven Wilson's "The Overview" took me through the wormhole and back again...over and again.

"SELF PORTRAIT"
RYAN ADAMS
Released December 1, 2025

I realize greatly that the topic of Ryan Adams may be a powder keg for some of you. I understand. Deeply. For me, the controversies that have existed around this figure for the entirety of his career--from his youthfully brash days as an alt-country/punk rock styled enfant terrible, to the more recent issues of sexual misconduct which all but fully derailed his career--have been profoundly troubling. And still...somehow, I wish to believe that the truth of him exists within his enormous musical body of work, songs and albums of such emotional fragility that always feel as if he is charting the map of the human heart one track at a time...often to heart aching degrees. 

With full disclosure, I will admit to taking a pause from Adams' discography after the news of that day fell, largely out of respect to what was being said as so little information was explicitly known. Since that time, only one article/interview was released during which it was revealed that charges against Adams had been fully dropped yet that information was not widely reported as he and his publicist of that time had parted ways. After reading, I chose for myself to wade back into the Ryan Adams waters as I wanted, again, to believe that the truth of the man rested within the music. I wanted to have hope for the humanity of the situation, the nuances within all of the behaviors as you have an especially gifted artist fueled with restless creativity clashing with issues with anger issues, depression, addiction, a public divorce, grief for the bandmates and family members lost over the years as well as debilitating Meniere's disease. 

Trust me, I am not making excuses for his often reprehensible behavior. But again, we are dealing with the war between the artist as a person and the art that we may love. As stated, I chose to return for myself and furthermore, if we are being honest, if we were to look into the human lives of all of the artists we each love, I am certain we would find a mountain of reprehensible human behaviors to reckon with. 

At any rate, I have kept up with Adams' frighteningly prolific releases these several years and his latest, a new 24 track double album, is emotionally shattering. Fueled through a more lo-fi approach, sprawling and a bit messy, "Self Portrait" is a raw, devastating listen for as always, there is almost nothing one could say about him that he is not already singing about himself in his songs, as well as within his stark cover versions of New Order's "Blue Monday," and R.E.M.'s " The One I Love." 

Yes, sometimes, it veers in and out of self pity but not one moment ever struck me as performative or false in its intent. In songs like "Saturday Night Forever," "Bye Bye Balloons," "I Am A Rollercoaster," "Thunderstorm Tears," "Try Again Tomorrow" and "Theo," a ballad to a beloved cat since passed on and more, the maw of loneliness and regret is palpable, the pain of mistakes made, emotional avenues closed and potentially lost forever exist as an existential howl of sorrow, making for exquisite music for a cold rainy day or the depths of an endless Winter.

As of this time, Ryan Adams has sought counseling and even achieved sobriety for a good two years before apparently falling out of it again, demons fully intact and ready to lash outwards. Simultaneously, he has announced that he is retired from touring and plotting three new studio albums. I genuinely hope for his health and healing above all else and if channeling into his art is at all helpful, then so be it. 

As it stands, I was profoundly affected by the living diary of "Self Portrait."          

"MORTAL PRIMETIME"
SUNFLOWER BEAN
Released April 25, 2025

Now, we're really reaching the top!

Just a mere seven months after releasing their roaring EP entitled "Shake" (released September 27, 2024), the trio Sunflower Bean unveiled their fourth and best album to date. "Mortal Primetime" opens with their trademark arena rock riffs merged with 1970's AM radio melodies but this album soon takes an enormous swan dive into their most emotionally vulnerable material yet.

Beginning with album's fourth track, "Look What You've Done To Me," Sunflower Bean takes the listener through a variety of colors and moods that just ache with yearning, longing, the stretch for connection and love and somehow not ever quite reaching it. Bassist/vocalist Julia Cumming, already an extremely gifted singer, really emerges as a star as she channels both Ann Wilson and Karen Carpenter while unearthing one heartbroken pang of the lovelorn with such robust sensitivity. Guitarist/vocalist Nick Kivlen is no slouch himself as the shimmering, stunning "Please Rewind" took my breath away. 

And man, by the shoegaze fuzz album farewell of "Sunshine" fades away, you will be drying your eyes.

"THE CLEARING"
WOLF ALICE
Released August 22, 2025

I really wish that I cold see Sunflower Bean on tour with this band, for they feel so evenly matched in approach, intent and emotional intensity. But, I'm telling you, on tis album, Wolf Alice has raised the stakes grandly.

Opening with thunderous applause, Wolf Alice's fourth album places vocalist/guitarist Ellie Rowsell front and center and what an extraordinary frontwoman she is! Her spectacular vocals skyrocket from one end of the album to the other, again with bombastic riffs and drums merged with outstanding 1970's AM radio melodies. 

Trust me, dear listeners, "The Clearing" just does...not...stop! Like Sunflower Bean, it is a work that shifts in a variety of colors and moods. "Bloom Baby Bloom" explodes in manifestation. "Bread Butter Tea Sugar" is a veritable ELO tribute. The ghostly "Midnight Song" exists proudly alongside the sunshine joyride of "Passenger Seat," the interior "Leaning Against The Wall," the elegiac gallop of "White Horses" and the defiantly absorbing finale of "The Sofa," demonstrates that Wolf Alice is a band that pop music desperately needs. To create ear catchers that demand your attention and vibrate with their powers. These are songs that stick to the brain and the heart rapturously,  

And my word! The downright phenomenal "Just Two Girls" to my ears, sounds like it could be their version of ABBA's "Dancing Queen"!  

ALBUM OF THE YEAR

"CABIN IN THE SKY"
DE LA SOUL
Released November 21, 2025 

 It's so difficult to explain but you always just know it when you hear it.

De La Soul, ever since its inception, has always felt to be a genre unto themselves. So much so, that it has truly taken me nearly the entire longevity of their career to truly catch up to them.  Their first three albums--the astounding debut "3 Feet High And Rising" (released February 6, 1989), the tremendous sophomore rabbit hole of "De La Soul Is Dead" (released May 14, 1991) and the searing jazz focused "Buhloone Mindstate" (released September 21, 1993), and all collaborations with Producer Prince Paul--are perfection and untouchable to the point it made it almost difficult to keep pushing ahead at the time of each subsequent album's new release. 

All of that being said, and completely falling head over heels for their previous album, "And The Anonymous Nobody" (released August 26, 2016), I have since caught up, largely due to the devastating passing of David Jude Jolicoeur (a.k.a. Plug Two or Trugoy The Dove or Dave) on February 12, 2023 at the age of just 54. 

De La Sol's "Cabin In The Sky" is their ninth album, their first in nine years and the first without David Jude Jolicoeur...sort of. The album serves as a tribute to Trugoy The Dove from his bandmates Kelvin Mercer a.k.a. Posdonus and Vincent Mason a.k.a. DJ Maseo as well as working in full collaboration with their fallen member, through material left behind as well as through his spirit which permeates the entire experience which is powerfully stirring from start to finish.

Over 20 tracks, "Cabin In The Sky" is a lush, expansive journey through memory, regret, grief, brotherhood, rumination, reflection, lessons learned and loves lost all the while placing one foot in front of the other to move forward without the one crucial figure who walked with you from the beginning. It is a work, while never some sort of hip-hop dirge, is one so deeply solemn and enveloping that I often could feel my molecules shifting with each lyrical passage, vocal inflections and production and instrumental flourish as every single moment served to cement the love between these three men in the art they created and which defines them in music history and its future.

De La Soul's "Cabin In The Sky" is the album, above all others, they had to get right. And I would like to believe that Dave is smiling from the hereafter in pride. Dear listeners, this album is the definition of a family affair and a blessing, from the three members to each other in life, death and beyond as well as to all of us who have been graced with the gift of De La Soul for decades. 

There you have it for 2025. I am hoping that the music of 2026 continues to be as purposeful and sustaining.

MY YEAR IN MUSIC 2025: PART FOUR-THE HONOR ROLL

 

Part Four of this series will take a slight detour before I reveal my top favorite albums of 2025. 

I wanted to spend some time with you about albums that clearly made an impression but were also the ones that did not immediately ascend but one day conceivably might due to just spending more time with them. The artistry on display is without question as these are all strong, richly presented, unquestionably layered works. Some of them might even be some of your favorite 2025 releases but for me, they are hovering just under the ones I loved even more.

"TWILIGHT OVERRIDE"
JEFF TWEEDY 
Released September 26, 2025

Already a 2025 critical and fan favorite, this 30 songs triple album is indeed one I need to spend more time with. Now, unlike so many listeners, I am one who adores the extended album experience as typically presented upon double albums. In fact, many of my most favorite albums are doubles. So, the prospect of a triple is not intimidating for me as a listener as I so often love the idea of being submerged in a world. All of that being said, my fervor for Jeff Tweedy's musical universe of solo material, and of course, Wilco, has softened a tad over the years but I remain a fan and this new album largely continues in Tweedy's more recent wheelhouse of no frills production, relaxed presentation and in-the-room aesthetics that feel as if the songs are being unveiled just 10 feet away. Tweedy has created an experience fully designed for you to luxuriate in, to take your time with in our frighteningly accelerated culture. And I plan to do just that.

"TRON:ARES"
NINE INCH NAILS
Released September 19, 2025

One more reason to thank David Bowie while continuing to mourn his passing is to be thankful for whatever role he played in aiding Trent Reznor in his sobriety many years years ago. 

While I do not actively listen to Nine Inch Nails very much these days, I also cannot imagine a world where this fully idiosyncratic sound did not exist. During the alternative music boom of the 1990's my peaks were actually not Nirvana and Pearl Jam, while I love both bands. My preferences were The Smashing Pumpkins and Nine Inch Nails. By the time Trent Reznor officially partnered with Atticus  Ross and they ventured into film scoring, the output has been so prolific and bountiful that I have to add it that it has been impossible for me to keep up with it all...and there has admittedly been much that I have missed. 

Even so, this film score to the third in the "Tron" series boats a complete score under the NIN moniker yet, true to form, it is a dense experience where we can hear how Reznor and Ross have fully mastered the art of film composition yet without watering down the very qualities that make them as unique as they are. 

And still, there are surprises in passages that feel akin to Walter Carlos' synthetics from Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange" (1971) to hearing Reznor's growth as a singer with the propulsive "As Alive As You Need Me To Be" and the stunning duet with Judeline on "Who Wants To Live Forever?" 

"TOUCH"
TORTOISE
Released September 9, 2025

Another band that I would never had heard of if not for the late John Hughes. 

The Chicago based instrumental outfit first came to my attention through their inclusion in the soundtrack to one of Hughes' rarest, and one of his final films, "Reach The Rock" (1998)--a film scored by Tortoise drummer John McEntire. That film score propelled me into the band proper and they completely filled my wheelhouse of arcane, angular instrumental works as I had long built up a passion after digesting gallons of Tangerine Dream growing up.

The band's eighth album, and their first in nine years, continues their elastic post-rock path as element of prog, jazz, and the avant garde in fashions that feel so otherworldly while simultaneously warmly recognizable. 

Despite the scary album cover photo, Tortoise's music has always served as a source of engagement as they have never existed as an outfit that felt as if they were writing and performing above me, so to speak. They have consistently felt approachable, never prickly, forever inviting me to return and dive into their world for another luxurious stretch. 

Returning to David Bowie, album opener "Vexations" felt like an update of his "Speed Of Life." Mere seconds into "Elka," I was so in love with that Tangerine Dream-ish hypnosis. "Promenade a Deux" carries that Ennio Morricone sweep. I think you can understand where I am going with finding certain musical touchstones but trust me, and especially after all of their existence, Tortoise sounds like absolutely no one else.

"LULLABY FOR THE LOST"
DONNY McCASLIN
Released September 26, 2025

David Bowie is here to thank once again, for if he had not handpicked this musician for his final album, I never would know of him.

As I am certain with many of you, I was introduced to saxophonist Donny McCaslin and his bandmates through Bowie's final album "Blackstar" (released January 8, 2016). I was so amazed with what I had heard that I remained steadfast in following his output ever since. His latest album carries a more explicitly leaning edge towards a rock music aesthetic and rhythms while remaining as artfully incendiary and as inventive as ever. This album, very much like the ones already mentioned by Tortoise, Nine Inch Nails plus other albums to follow in this listing, is an experience which is purposefully immersive and by no means designed for passive listening. It is demanding of your fullest attention.

  

"HOODOO TELEMETRY'
VERNON REID
Released October 3, 2025

Case in point is the latest solo offering from Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid, a figure I will follow anywhere ever since I was introduced to his musical world back in 1988 with his band's debut album.

I think out of his entire musical discography, I remain the most blown away by a solo release entitled "Mistaken Identity" (released June 1996) where he collaborated with legendary hip-hop producer Prince Paul. That album's audacious melding of art rock, hip-hop, funk, fusion, blues, soul and anything else Reid could think to incorporate blew my head apart in the best ways. 

"Hoodoo Telemetery" feels to continue in this vein as it is undeniably a schizophrenic album, also in the very best ways. Again, it is demanding your full attention as you hang onto the rapid rocket ride through the history of music--and therefore, Black music--with Reid's bottomless influences and interests alongside his restless creativity and stratospheric guitar heroics. 

"SON OF SPERGY"
DANIEL CAESAR
Released October 24, 2025

As unsettling as the algorithms are, it is striking with how correct they have been when they eerily arrive to suggest something new for me that I just may be interested in. Daniel Caesar was just one of several artists in 2025 I was pointed towards...and was subsequently entranced by.

He is an artist that I know nothing about and had not previously heard of but on my first few listens, he suggested something that could possibly exist within the same universe as late period Talk Talk and/or solo Mark Hollis and definitely, Frank Ocean's "Blonde" (released August 20, 2016).

There is a near weightless quality to the album, yet that is not to suggest that it is without substance. I am thinking in terms of the atmospherics of the work. It feel so ephemeral, ethereal as it poses a dialogue between Caesar and himself regarding questions of spirituality, masculinity, family, humility and existence.   

"UNCLOUDED"
MELODY'S ECHO CHAMBER
Released December 5, 2025

Released right at the end of the year, I know that I haven't been able to yet give the album the complete attention it deserves to reach its greatest impact. But, that being said, the fourth album from psychedelic pop singer-songwriter-musician Melody Prochet did instantly tickle my synesthesia. 

Prochet has always possessed an impressive knack for finding the perfect artists to collaborate with in order to realize her vision, from Tame Impala's Kevin Parker to members of the band Dungen. This time, she is working with El Michels Affair and once again, the breathiness of her vocals, combined with the dazzling colors of her songwriting now merged with the hip-hop atmospherics makes for another hallucinatory joyride. 

"NEW LFE"
LIZ LONGLEY
Released March 21, 2025

Finding warmth in a world that is growing darker and colder by the day--if not the hour--it so difficult to come by. Yet, there was a reason that I played Liz Longley's "Can't Get Enough" as the final song of Savage Radio to conclude the year of 2025. It is a song of those seemingly simple things, moments and emotions that are large enough to sustain every single one of us, crucially in the worst of times, making for an especially crystalline grace note.

Liz Longley is yet another algorithm suggestion that paid off beautifully as her album, filled with tales of love, marriage, parenthood, lust, sorrow, renewal and wonderment, sits proudly in the bedrock of modern country music but is more than comfortable spiraling off into alt rock, acoustic pop, stark ballads and eve a dash of wat sounds like a French chanson tinged with a Spanish flourish.

And yet, it is her voice. As a writer, certainly. But...the sound, the warmth, the tenor and timbre...nothing but sighs here folks.

"BASED ON THE BEST SELLER"
SLOAN
Released September 26, 2025

I cannot express enough how incredible this band is!

Canada's very own Sloan, containing the superior talents of all four singers, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists--Andrew Scott, Chris Murphy, Jay Ferguson and Patrick Pentland, respectively--alongside unofficial fifth member Gregory Macdonald on keyboards, vocals and percussion continue to show no signs of slowing down in their 30 year history and now, upon their 14th album of bracing, expertly delivered power pop.

As I have often expressed, the band reminds me of a crossroads somewhere between late period Beatles and XTC combined with their great white north neighbors in The Pursuit Of Happiness as remarkably again the band have constructed a waterfall of melodies, harmony vocals, propulsive riffs and glam rock stomp drums. This is the perfect kind of ear candy...the kind that lasts and lasts and lasts! Man, do I LOVE this band!!! 

MY YEAR IN MUSIC 2025: PART THREE

 

By now, you all know that this is not my actual listening space! But, you also know that you have now officially reach the third part of my listening experiences of 20205. Here are more of the albums that made the greatest impressions and impacts upon me. 

"FROM THE PYRE"
THE LAST DINNER PARTY 
Released October 17, 2025

Operatic, flamboyant, theatrical, swaggering and filled end to end with all manner of vocal, instrumental and lyrical flourishes, The Last Dinner Party kind pf upended me when I first heard of them as they carried an aesthetic that reminded me a little bit of 1970's era Queen without ever really sounding like them at all. 

Arriving just one year after their startling, audacious debut "Prelude To Ecstasy" (released February 2, 2024), "From The Pyre" smooths out the jagged edge just a hair and ultimately presents a dynamic follow up that blows away any pre-conceived notions of any potential sophomore slump. Album openers "Angus Dei" and "Count The Ways" set the stage brilliantly with soaring choral vocals and swinging dark riffs, as if a curtain is being raised within a vast, ornate theater. The wrathful "This Is The Killer Speaking" and especially the stunning, chilling "Woman Is A Tree," feels like a sinister coven casting grim spells from around the cauldron.    

And still, the band possesses a terrific pop edge through tracks like "Second Best," "Inferno" and "The Scythe," showcasing they are as radio ready as anyone...should some adventurous radio programmers give this terrific album the proper attention it deserves. 

"DOUBLE INFINITY"
BIG THIEF
Released September 5, 2025

I could easily listen to this album upon a loop.

Feeling as if explicitly spun from the cosmic earthiness of the track "Spud Infinity" from their excellent previous release "Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You" (released February 11, 2022)--my entry point into this band--the sixth album from Big Thief is especially liquid in its sonics, lyrics and the stream of consciousness flow from the album's beginning to its conclusion. 

It is a work that feels to pus further than past albums as I felt even more submerged in the folk psychedelia that took me on a luscious head trip throughout. From the sky lifting "Words" to the plaintive "All Night All Day," the spacey mantras of "No Fear" and the trilogy of embrace found in the album's closing section of "Grandmother," "Happy With You" and "How Could I Have Known," and more, Big Thief have constructed a campfire in the clouds and the result is hypnotic.

  

"IRON"
POST ANIMAL
Released July 25, 2025

Another album with an impeccable sense of flow was the fourth album from the Chicago based sextet--Joe Kerry a.k.a. Djo returned to the band for this project--which, like one of the album's song titles, feels as warm as a "Setting Sun."

Despite its mid-Summer release, "Iron" is a work tailor made for Autumn as you can clearly see and feel the falling leaves and the colors of the season in your mind's eye as you listen. Clean, clear vocals and instrumentation, combined with some occasional off kilter humor and sonics--as on the dark cautionary fable of "Dorien Kregg"--you gather the sense that this album was made by a group of people who genuinely enjoy each other. It is that sense of brotherhood that I think reached out and grabbed me beyond the warmth of the overall production the most. It's not an album that is going out of its way to jump in front of your face and demand attention from you and it is not polite background coffeehouse music either. Post Animal has created something designed to inspire you to lean in closer as you breathe in deeply. 

It feels like a beauteous pastoral day listening to the grass grow.

   

"TIMELESS WORLD FOREVER"
GRAHAM HUNT
Released June 13, 2025 

This is has a personal connection as this artist lives in my city, I have seen him perform several times and this album was created with the aid of 4/5 of my beloved band and friends in Disq. That being said, if I had no personal connection to any of the figures involved, it would still be one of the best albums I heard in 2025 and further, I feel it is Hunt's best album to date. 

Self described as an "imaginary magic realist version of Madison," Hunt's latest album caps a planned trilogy of releases strung together thematically as well as by the basement East side Madison studio location in which all three were recorded. For me, it is a swirling confection of songs that suggest an updated version of  '90s era Beck ("I Just Need Enough"), the hip hop, punk rock hybrid within the David Lynch-ian narrative of quintessentially East side Madison lore ("East Side Screamer"), a relaxed dream world ("Been There Done That"), romantic loneliness wrapped in an altered state invitation ("Movie Night"), post rock with a riff Queens Of The  Stone Age would kill for ("Cave Art") and more. 

Graham Hunt's "Timeless World Forever" is an always surprising, defiantly left of center, fully idiosyncratic power pop album that is more than deserving of your full attention and it yet another musical statement informing the outer world of the deep pockets of talent we have right here in Madison, WI.