To be fair, he DID write it, and he DID record it first - in 1978. It's HIS song.
It feels a little weird to pay tribute to a great outlaw country singer-songwriter like David Allan Coe - whose biggest hit wasn't made popular by his own recording of the song. ("Take This Job And Shove It", by Johnny Paycheck, by the way).
But no. This perfect country and western song - co-written by Steve Goodman and an uncredited-by-choice John Prine, would end up being Coe's biggest personally recorded hit song. It hit #8 on the Country charts in 1975, and ended up being one of the biggest hits of the year.
This live performance of the song - despite the fact that he didn't write it - illustrates just how great a storyteller Coe was.
Wikipedia calls Australian artist Carla dal Forno an "electro-pop singer".
Yeah. Maybe.
But she's much more than that.
Her latest album, Confession, was released on Friday, and it is one of my favorites of 2026 so far. It's dreamy and skilled. Her fourth solo album (after three as lead vocalist for the band F Ingers (and a release or two with Mole House)), it is a lush masterpiece.
Today's song leads off the album, and it is an ethereal opus that sets the tone for the entire album.
Sometimes this blog feels like ad copy. I'm sometimes parroting facts from the artist's Wikipedia page... or worse, their official bio, rather than telling you how it makes me feel. And, with all the new music I hear, I sometimes get apathetic about it. I'm going to try not to do that this week.
I heard Eaves Wilder's debut album Little Miss Sunshine last week, and it was part of a streak of albums I had listened to after a long streak of albums that were just meh. This album is delightful. The title came from an ironic nickname given to the artist - she admits herself that she was "a bitch". The album itself is full of songs that are nature-themed in title - referencing types of weather and land - kind of going through her own imposter syndrome like a meteorologist.
The results should erase any self-doubt she has.
Look, I have a very hard time listening to Chris Brown since his incident with RiRi.
I came around on this song - which was produced by Diplo and Afrojack - for two reasons.
The first were the guest stars on this track, who STOLE the track. STOLE. Busta Rhymes and his speedrap is the thing of legend. Lil Wayne proves to be his equal. And their participation made this song a huge hit - one of the biggest of 2011, on top of the fact that it was just a huge hit in its own right.
Honestly, I spent the last two days referencing this song and this video, I feel we need to talk about it.
I think we all know that the two members of Videoclub were a couple, both musically and romantically. This was their first single, one of their best known songs, and while it spoke of what seems like love, it's really talking about a superficial love, with little depth.
I'd like to think Adèle and Matthieu had more than just this, but that's the song.
I really want to dislike Mattyeux.
But I'll be damned if he doesn't write a hell of a song,
I'd feel a lot better about it if the video wasn't a direct ripoff of Videoclub's "Amour Plastique" and a lyrical response to "C'est drôle" by Adèle Castillon, his ex-lover and ex-bandmate.
But still. Hell of a song.
You know, when Midnight Sun, Zara Larsson's fine album from 2025, was released, I listened to it soon after its initial release - early October. I liked the album quite a bit. I stopped short of calling it "great" but I enjoyed it, and said I'd come back to it.
And then I moved on. And I got a bit sick of hearing "Midnight Sun".
But "Stateside" gave me a good reason to give Zara Larsson a second chance. And it's a good thing. Her second biggest hit was a single from 2015 that peaked very high in Europe, including spending time at #1 in her native Sweden, and in the 70s... uh, stateside. And, she released this video in her native Sweden and Europe.
I usually work forward on these posts.
Today, I'm working mostly backwards, and we're starting with the Winter Olympics - specifically the skating exhibition done by two-time gold medalist Alysa Liu.
What happens when the gag goes so far that it's no longer a gag?
You get two very technical musicians who now have to wear elaborate costumes every time they perform.
So let's talk about Angine de Poitrine.
They're a duo who are aliens from another planet, 333 years old - Khn and Klek Poitrine - who have known each other since they were 13. But really, it was a band - La Poëysce - who were booked for the same venue two nights in Saguenay, Quebec two nights in a row and created an alter ego so people would show up the second night.
But forget about the costume schtick for a second. This is math rock - and take a good look at Khn's instrument. First of all, it's a double-necked instrument, with a guitar and a bass (based on a Fender Stratocaster, for those so inclined) with separate outputs and.... well, about four times as many frets as standard instruments. He's playing notes between the standard twelve notes.
The sound is made possible by looping pedals at the bareish feet of Khn and Klek - this is how they can have multiple instruments playing at once. It's a complex sound and very technically interesting.... but also, it's a solid sound.
This performance was recorded by KEXP in France a couple of months ago, and has quickly become one of the channel's most viewed... and with good reason. This was their opening song, and it is from their new and EXCELLENT album Vol. II, so go check that out.
Several years ago - November 12, 2012, to be precise - I set up a Google alert for an artist that is considered to be the most prolific in history. Asha Bhosle performed more than 12,000 songs behind the scenes for many Bollywood movies. If you have seen a Bollywood movie, you'd recognize her voice. She's also one of the few Indian artists to receive a Grammy nomination - and she received two of them.
Her legacy is absolutely monstrous. To this day there is no greater influence to the playback genre.
I was more hopeful with each passing day that she had discovered immortality.
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| The immortal Asha Bhosle |
Asha Bhosle passed away today, aged 92.
From the Bollywood movie Hare Rama Hare Krishna, this is Asha's immortal voice in playback, and probably her most well known song.
You knew we'd get here at some point, right?
Slayyyter's new album WOR$T GIRL IN AMERICA was released in late March, and it's a grimy electronic masterpiece. This album is a clear contender for our #Wicked25 this year.
Today's song - co-written by Slayyyter and her producers - is called by her "the best song I've ever written." It makes sense. It's dark and inventive.... and also, she's literally shooting a Chanel handbag in this video.
Afrika Bambaataa was a complicated man with a complicated history - and not always a good one. Several CREDIBLE child sexual abuse allegations were definitely part of his history, and that's horrendous. Because of that, I almost didn't post this one.
What is undeniable is that he was one of the people who started hip-hop house parties in the 1970s. So, with his passing, a pioneering and very dark portion of hip-hop history closes. This 1982 single was his only appearance on the Billboard Hot 100, and the song is seen as one of the most influential hip hop songs of all time.
Normally, I would say that the artist who passed would be missed, but in this case, I won't be saying that. I will say that he leaves behind some influential music. That's all I am going to say.
"Snipe Hunter is Tyler Childers going all‑in on weird spiritual country: talking to gods, playing with garage rock and Phil Spector (and Rick Rubin) sounds, and still somehow landing back in the holler. It’s messy and brave in a way major‑label country almost never is. This is the album I absolutely expected to dislike and almost didn't listen to - and yet, here we are, talking about it, because it is that undeniably good." - Literally me.
I don't take many trips back to the 1980s, but in this caex of Fairport Convention) and Linda Thompson - a husband-and-wife duo - had been married for nine years and had released five albums of varying acclaim and success. They had been dropped by Gerry Rafferty, who had financed recordings that generated no interest. Their marriage was struggling - and Linda was pregnant.
So when Joe Boyd signed them to his Hannibal Records, he was taking a serious risk. What he got was a masterpiece of an album that ended up being a pretty big hit, 1982's Shoot Out The Lights. It would be the duo's final album (and their marriage would be over by the time of the album's releasae), but it would reestablish Richard as a songwriting force.
The title song is a masterclass in guitar-driven emotional rock music.
So, we talk a lot on here about a lot of those big music prizes. From the Mercury Prize, for the UK, to Polaris for Canada, to the Australian Music Prize, there a lot of them.
One I have not talked about much is the Premio Ruido, or the "Noise Prize", given to Spanish artists. shego - named after a character from the TV show Kim Possible, of all places, is a band that is a of women from Madrid who were on the shortlist for the 2025 version of that prize.
Their album No lo volveré a hacer is absolutely amazing, even though it is almost entirely in Spanish - which you won't notice or care about. It is highly recommended and worth a listen!
Had I known Angèle had new music coming in March, I wouldn't have posted her in February.
I literally could not wait any additional time to post her newest single today. It's in English and French, and it is just a GREAT pop song. Teaming up with electronic duo Justice, they have made possible the most accessible and obvious hit song for both of them - and since it was written by Angèle herself (with composition contribution by Justice), it's clear she's well in tune with what makes a hit.
The video was shot on iPhone. No joke. And it's completely unhinged.
