So, what are you listening to these days?

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Finally, Jacob and dodie with a performance of "Summer Rain"

And I was unfamiliar with the song when I posted that, but it's a Jacob Collier original, with Madison Cunningham and mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile appearing on his original recording.

 

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The Canadian rock band Saga were a big thing for a time in the seventies and eighties ("On the loose", "Wind him up"), part of a wave of Canadian hard rock that happened in that era. Original Saga guitarist Ian Crichton has a new project coming out that is quite interesting (he's also still a part of the current incarnation of Saga along with his brother, original Saga bassist Jim Crichton).

 

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Ah, Violet Orlandi. So happy she's back releasing regularly. This week is a cover but it's a beauty, her latest take on a song by Swedish rockers Ghost. This acoustic version of "Mary On A Cross" is a thing of beauty and she makes full use of her alto range here. Beautiful song, beautiful voice.

 

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Long before Grammy awards, sold-out tours, and bestselling records, Laufey was a fifteen year-old singer-pianist appearing on Iceland's Got Talent. And she was already quite poised and professional on stage. Nothing like seeing the beginning of what now looks to be a great career.

 

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Six years later, attending Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. This song later appeared (in its full version) on her first EP, Typical of Me, in 2021 and on her live album A Night at the Symphony in 2023. I don't think she or Berklee realized that less than four years later, she'd be an award-winner hailed for introducing traditional jazz vocals to Gen Z.

 

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And the "Goddess Edition" of Laufey's Grammy-winning Bewitched came out today. Four songs plus everything from the original release. This penchant of the modern music industry for putting out multiple editions of the same album gets annoying but I'm not about to complain about new Laufey. The first single from the Goddess Edition, the eponymous "Goddess" was an amazing song. Along with the album today came the lyric video for "Bored".

 

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And some Chinese prog with a Canadian connection came out today. OU's second full album Frailty is produced by Vancouver wiz kid (he sings, he plays guitar, he writes, he engineers, he produces, he makes julienne fries) Devin Townsend. Both OU and Townsend record for the Inside Out record label which is how they connected.

 

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This is only up for a few more days apparently, but it's a nice introduction to Laufey if you have an hour before Friday to give it a listen\view. She performs a selection of her songs in the Barberini Museum in Potsdam, Germany along with sharing her musings as she tours the museum. Her thoughts on music, art, and the relationship between them are an interesting insight into her as an artist and the performances, all solo with no backup group, are exquisite.

 

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(moved)

 

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Long before Grammy awards, sold-out tours, and bestselling records, Laufey was a fifteen year-old singer-pianist appearing on Iceland's Got Talent. And she was already quite poised and professional on stage. Nothing like seeing the beginning of what now looks to be a great career.

Damn, looks like it got hit with a copyright sting. Oh well.

 

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Along with the raft of new metal I talked about in the metal thread, we got a new song from American singer-songwriter Malinda. This is the second one from her this year and both draw heavily on her love of Irish music. Nothing said yet about a new album but if songs keep coming at this rate, I'll expect one later this year or early next.