The New Cue #386 June 7: Bar Italia, Orlando Weeks, Cardinals, Vince Staples, Marika Hackman, Friko, Caribou, Kelley Stoltz

"Those who did drop the needle on it were treated to gem after gem"

Good morning,

Welcome to your weekly Recommender fix. Don’t fret – the playlist is returning this week. It must have been a tough week for you, so many questions. ‘Why did they not have a playlist last week? They only just started putting a link to Apple Music on the playlist, but now there’s no playlist at all?’. Hey, this is showbiz and we’re live on air, shit happens. One of us was camping for God’s sake!

But we’re back on track today with a host of new music picks, two mind-blowing selections and, yes, a playlist. Look, here it is, it hasn’t been harmed:

And it’s here for the Apple Music crew.

Enjoy the edition, we’ll see you on Monday,

Ted, Niall and Chris

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An Album To Blow Your Mind #1

Katy J Pearson picks some formative retro-futurist transmissions.

Katy J Pearson’s first two albums, 2020’s Return and 2022’s Sound Of The Morning, delivered a combination of folk and country with an ever-so-slightly off-kilter twist. Pearson recently announced a third, Someday Now, which is out in September on Heavenly. Judging by first single Those Goodbye, her new material moves her closer towards the stranger end of the spectrum, recalling psych pop outliers like Cate Le Bon or Gwenno.

Here’s Katy to tell you about one of her all-time favourite albums and a formative musical influence…

Broadcast
Tender Buttons (2005)

“I first heard Broadcast when I was around 19. [Tender Buttons track] I Found The F was a really special moment as their music sounded like the kind of sound I was striving for. It was eccentric, human, but also incorporated amazing electronic elements and effects. It was such a self-assured and well put together sound. From then on, I listened to Tenders Buttons constantly. When I looked into it it was actually their third studio album and was created after the departure of quite a few band members and had lead singer Trish Keenan and James Cargill working in a more stripped-back way. I listened to their previous albums after this, but I always find myself going back to Tender Buttons for inspiration. Trish Keenan’s lyric and melodies on this record are so strong and unique. She was the most amazing songwriter. The landscape that was created around these lyrics was such an immersive and stimulating world and the album was such an eclectic mix of songs. Two of my favourite songs on the record are Michael A Grammar and Tears In The Typing Pool. The songs are so different, but I come back to them so often. Michael A Grammar is a song I reference a lot in my own music because of its atmosphere and lo-fi elements. Trish Keenan is one my favourite songwriters.”

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Recommender

Niall Doherty

I interviewed Ed O’Brien ahead of his 2020 solo album a few years ago and the Radiohead guitarist said he’d always put off making a record of his own because “the last thing the world needs is a shit album by a member of Radiohead”. Earth, released under the handle of EOB, was far from that, a dance-y epic art-rock effort that’s momentum was derailed by Covid but went well enough by O’Brien seems to be working on a follow-up. But you can understand why he was daunted – he used hearing Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood playing him the 2007 Radiohead song Weird Fishes/Arpeggi as one reason for his reticence in the sense that he heard it and sort of thought to himself, ‘Well, shit, I couldn’t write that’.

I think of O’Brien recalling that reaction every time someone releases a cover of Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, which is often: this week the Chicago duo Friko released their version of a song that’s cover versions have now become a sort of subculture in Radiohead lore. There are almost so many out there that pretty soon you’ll be able to put together a whole Weird Fishes/Arpeggi album, each one pulling the song in a different direction. Here’s a soulful slo-mo version by British singer-songwriter Lianne La Havas:

And here’s a flamenco-flavoured take by Mexican duo Rodrigo Y Gabriela: