LWA Blog — music

Julie Byrne's last album, Not Even Happiness, was my first encounter with her. Read a blurb and listened to it on a whim and it really clicked with me. If I remember correctly, the album came out in the fall of 2017. I looked her up and saw her tour was hitting SF in early 2018, so I just made it a point to try to make the gig and pick up the record there. The show finally arrived, she was the middle act on a three band bill. She was as good as I hoped she would be. After...

Happy birthday to Björk's Debut, released 30 years ago on this day (5 July 1993). I had followed The Sugarcubes at the start, I saw them on Saturday Night Live, wondering who was this girl and her incredible voice. Eventually saw them supporting U2's Zoo TV tour (92, I think). Then this album came out and what an unexpected turn this took. A cornucopia of influences on this album which somehow totally work, and it still sounds fresh today. Just an excellent album, through and through. Give it a shot if you haven't yet heard it.

  Happy 78th to the legend (born July 1 1945). The is one of my fave pics, I think it was in the running to be the cover of Parallel Lines. Her autobiography, Face It, was published in 2019 (it's a fascinating read) and I attended the San Francisco stop of her book tour that year. She and Chris Stein were there, they were so funny and they had some great San Francisco stories. And I got a signed copy of the book. Nice to see she is still performing. She and Nick Cave just dropped a new duet today, which...

Very much enjoying PONY's Velveteen, which was released about a month ago. Kind of super catchy buzzsaw power pop, which is right up my alley. Give it a spin here if that sounds interesting to you.  

Compared to last year's Primavera, the 2023 edition was a smashing success in my mind. They tightened up the grounds a bit and relocated a few stages. The longest walk from stage to stage was probably about 12-15 mins, down from at least 20 mins last year. The crowd was noticeably more manageable. I think last year, being the first year back from lockdown, a lot of people were itching to get out and do something and it showed. Last year was bursting at the seams. This year's crowd wasn't nearly as much of a struggle to navigate. Even the...