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What is Since You Asked?

My Facebook rule, for as long as I can remember, is to avoid posting anything with political or religious content. Not surprisingly I have fallen from this ideal several times. (It usually involves reading a post that agitates me in some way, but that’s not important—my commitment to keeping Facebook a positive place for people who have friended me is.) It’s not that I have anything against political or religious expression—far from it. If you know me, my politics and views on religion are no surprise. I have several Facebook friends who post largely political things with lots of humor thrown in, and whether I agree with them or not they have a certain grace in how they express things. But as for me, I think it best, at least as far as Facebook is concerned, to refrain from venturing into those waters. I do have opinions on these things. Who doesn’t? I think the best way to reconcile this is to gather what writing I have done on religion and politics in a place where one has to a
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PETER'S BEST NEW SONGS OF THE WEEK 3-31-2022

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  Never in any particular order Playlist link: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/peters-best-new-songs-of-the-week-3-31-2022/pl.u-jVL6LIZBBM1 3-31-2022 Feels Like Home--Annie Keating Lawn--Aldous Harding Opening Night--Weezer Blue--Camp Cope All Dressed Up--Keb'Mo' Bethel Woods--Midlake Where The Light Used To Lay--Yumi Zouma Melody Something--Pictish Trail Tom Sawyer--Brad Mehldau (Feat. Chris Thile) This week's notes: I started the list thinking it was a pretty bleak week for new music, but one by one the good stuff started poking out of the weeds. And I have to say I’m getting tired of people complaining that nobody makes decent music any more, because they do. Case in point, Annie Keating. Yes, she makes liberal use of the Chris Isaak impenetrable guitar jungle in production, but her lyrics are full of unexpected but welcome contrasts. Feels Like Home has a great three-bar phrase repeated at the end. I wasn’t familiar with Aldous Harding until a few weeks ago. La
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PETER'S BEST NEW SONGS OF THE WEEK 3-24-2022

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  Never in any particular order Playlist link: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/peters-best-new-songs-of-the-week-3-24-2022/pl.u-xl2Nks1vvlD 3-24-2022 You Got to Move--Mavis Staples & Levon Helm Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning--Jorma Kaukonen A Little Bit of Love--Weezer Blue Monk--Makato Ozone One Less Light--Dianne Killen This week's notes: Recorded in 2011 but only now released, You Got To Move is from a live performance by Mavis Staples and Levon Helm, and the track is nothing short of magic. The vi substitution in the turnaround makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. And of course Mavis. Young people, this is how groove actually feels.  Another entry in the old-people-can-still-rock-at-least-until-they're-dead genre is a 2012 live performance from Jorma Kaukonen and Barry Mitterhoff, Keep Your Lamps Trimmed And Burning. Vocal is eerily reminiscent of Leon Russell. Lots of fun invention between the guitar and mando. Who is the genius who decides these ge
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PETER'S BEST NEW SONGS OF THE WEEK 3-17-2022

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Never in any particular order Playlist link: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/peters-best-new-songs-of-the-week-3-17-2022/pl.u-kv5lvskDDNV 3-17-2022 Harness The Wind--Calexico Here's To Moving On--Dashboard Confessional Cavalcade--Thomas Enhco, David Enhco & Quatuor Voce On Your Way (Felix Song)--Anaïs Mitchell Back To You--Jake Cornell (Don't) Hold Me Down--PM Warson This week's notes: Calexico makes a second appearance on PBNMOTW with Harness the Wind, a gorgeous little gem that takes the dance beat I associate with Pitbull and makes it listenable as the framework for a song. Here’s To Moving On is falls squarely in the how-do-we-survive-after-the-breakup genre but says new some new things about what that first morning you start feeling again is like. The new Dashboard Confessional album is all acoustic guitars and voices and works that way. Cavalcade is somewhat long (8:20) and not surprisingly has several sections, but is completely arresting from the jump. A sta
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PETER'S BEST NEW SONGS OF THE WEEK 3-10-2022

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  Never in any particular order Playlist link: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/peters-best-new-songs-of-the-week-3-10-2022/pl.u-2abXDU122lW 3-10-2022 Living My Best Life--Ben Rector Simulation Swarm--Big Thief Good To Be Home (Home Again)--Keb' Mo' Little Miss--Will Joseph Cook Endless Summer--Superchunk This week's notes: Shamelesssly cribbed from Gala Albo's 10 Best New Spins of the Week from college station KCSN is Ben Rector's Living My Best Life. Great morning coffee song. "Looking at things like 'What the actual hell?'"  Thanks to Gala also for Simulation Swarm from Big Thief. Adrianne Lenker has developed a truly fearless lyric facility. She pronounces "little Andy" like "little endy".  Keb' Mo's new album has several gems on it, among them the title tune Good To Be (Home Again). Songwriters take note: this is a perfect chorus. Love the B3 used as seasoning.  Someday I'd like to meet Will Joseph Cook on th
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PETER'S BEST NEW SONGS OF THE WEEK 3-3-2022

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  Never in any particular order Playlist link: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/peters-best-new-songs-of-the-week-3-3-2022/pl.u-gx4kRsLllk0 3-3-2022 El Mirador--Calexico Can't See Stars--Erin Rae It's Beginning To Rain Again--Little North Bright Star--Anaïs Mitchell Don't Break--Immanuel Wilkins A Real Thing--The Beths This week's notes: El Mirador just simply has to be heard. It is cinematic in scope and will take you to a hundred different places and offer you a slightly different local Mezcal in each. Erin Rae makes her third appearance on PBNSOTW with Kevin Morby doing co-lead. Can't See Stars is a simple thought expressed well, although I could have wished for something other than pedal steel to provide texture. I thought I caught Erin out for using "murmuration" incorrectly, but she was referring to definition 2. Little North is a Scandinavian piano trio, and as far as I can tell Familiar Places is their first album. Play It's Beginning To Rai
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PETER'S BEST NEW SONGS OF THE WEEK 2-24-2022

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  Never in any particular order Playlist link: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/peters-best-new-songs-of-the-week-2-24-2022/pl.u-2abdvu122lW 2-24-2022 Held--Spoon @spoontheband Wondering--Alma Naidu @alma_naidu Pismo--Tino Drima California Belongs to You--Erin Rae @ErinRaeMusic Quiet Moments (feat. Kristin Chenoweth)--Keb' Mo' @kebmomusic 4am--Will Joseph Cook @WillJosephCook This week's notes: Notes:  Pay attention, aspiring rock stars. Spoon gets to the meat of the song quickly, writes a darkly intriguing lyric, and keeps the production clean and spare with the vocal right out front. I love the grand piano left hand notes providing growl and dimension. Alma Naidu now holds the record for appearances on PBNSOTW with three. She's brilliant, and you owe it to yourself to listen through to Wondering, it will heal some part of your angst. Never heard of Tino Drima before, but I like this song. And Pismo Beach. So it's a twofer. Lou Reed meets the B-52's and ever
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PETER'S BEST NEW SONGS OF THE WEEK 2-17-2022

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Never in any particular order 2-17-2022 Time For The People--The Temptations @thetemptations  https://music.apple.com/us/album/time-for-the-people/1591692586?i=1591692591 You Know the Way--Freedom Fry @freedomfrymusic https://music.apple.com/us/album/you-know-the-way/1603133468?i=1603133478 You--Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard @buzzardbuzzard https://music.apple.com/us/album/you/1583668447?i=1583668473 On the Brink--Mason Jennings @masonjennings https://music.apple.com/us/album/on-the-brink/1588452099?i=1588452121 Modern Woman--Erin Rae @ErinRaeMusic https://music.apple.com/us/album/modern-woman/1584398501?i=1584398882 Echo for Ingrid--Thyla @thylamusic https://music.apple.com/us/album/echo-for-ingrid/1580934907?i=1580934928 Bonus: Amazing new cover versions And so it Goes--Alma Naidu @alma_naidu https://music.apple.com/us/album/and-so-it-goes/1586781663?i=1586781981 The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald--Punch Brothers @punchbrothers https://music.apple.com/us/album/wreck-of-the-edmund-fitzgeral
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