Marlon Williams - "Hello Miss Lonesome"

Marlon Williams released his self titled debut album last year, after three or four years with 'The Unfaithful Ways', which he formed at high school. He then went on to perform with fellow Lyttelton artist Delaney Davidson for a couple of years, which saw the release of three volumes of Sad But True: The Secret History of Country Music Songwriting, and memorable tours around the country - with Tami Neilson along for the Grand Ole Hayride.
Marlon Williams' solo album lived up to or even surpassed expectations. His early boys choir grounding has paid dividends. Whether he is singing country, Lyttelton style Americana, gospel or old time crooning, the vocals are superb. The first single and album opener "Hello Miss Lonesome" is something different again. It's a kind of Rockabilly hoe down, which is a little unconventional and surprisingly fast faced, compared to the pace of the album thereafter. But the vocal performance is, again, something to be cherished. For me, this song grew from, "wow I didn't expect that" to a bit of a craving.

GANGLY - "Fuck With Someone Else"

In 2014 a single "Fuck With Someone Else" appeared from nowhere from an unknown Icelandic band called Gangly. It was picked up locally with a lot of excitement. However, the mystery that surrounded the band garnered just as much interest as the song. There was plenty of speculation thrown around about who the band members were, from a teenage bedroom artist, to Sin Fang and Samaris. The Sin Fang and Samaris similarities turned out to be correct, with Sindri Már Sigfússon and Jófríður Ákadóttir finally confirmed as two of the members. Úlfur Alexander Einarsson of Oyama is the other member. "Fuck With Someone Else" is RnB/Electronica bliss and the girl/boy vocals are a little bit like The xx... but from the higher end of the scale. So glad this song finally went global.

King Loser - "Troubled Land"

One of my favourite moments in the 90's was when King Loser gave us a treasure that Nancy and Lee would've been proud of. After hearing that the two founding members of King Loser, Chris Heazelwood and Celia Pavlova, are back out there with solo projects - it must be time to re-live the greatness of "Troubled Land" from their 'Caul of the Outlaw' album released in 1996.

Frankie and the Witch Fingers - "Merry Go Round"

Frankie and the Witch Fingers are a band from Bloomington, Indiana - but now based in LA. Their music is firmly rooted in the past.... from 60's garage rock and surf rock to psychedelic pop. "Merry Go Round" is strictly in the latter camp and could be enjoyed as much by the current garage rock revivalists as the original psychedelic rockers from the 60s. "Merry Go Round" was originally released as a 7" single and is not on their latest self titled album released by Permanent Records last year. A band that may stay underground - but don't let your mates miss out.

Prince & The Revolution - "Raspberry Beret"

In 1985 Prince proved that psychedelia and funk could be blended together so effortlessly. The album 'Around the World in a Day' may not be his 'Sgt Pepper' but "Raspberry Beret" is up there with the best from the entire Beatles catalogue.

Trapper Schoepp - Ogallala

Trapper Schoepp is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin based musician. Formally the leader of Trapper Schoepp and the Shades. He just released his new album 'Rangers and Valentines' and it has as much an Americana influence as rock and pop. He has many stories to tell and his extended family and ancestors are a large part of the subject matter. The album was produced by Raconteur, Brendon Benson in Nashville. "Talking Girlfriend Blues" is a fun song about sharing all to the driver while hitching to a date, which all goes wrong when he mentions her name.... all done in a similar vein to the old talking blues songs of Guthrie and Dylan. Another song that really stood out for me is "Ogallala". It kind of has a 70s pop sound and is very catchy. But not saccharin, of course - definitely fit for Bitter FM. It's a winter song (timely, as we move towards winter down here) about a road trip through Nebraska and being stuck in Ogallala without much more than a bottle of cold/flu medicine to drink and only The Hobbit on at the movie theatre. It's basically about going out of his mind while waiting for the road to thaw and wishing he had made it to Omaha instead of Ogallala. And yes, the place does exist. It most likely won't be picked up by the Ogallala tourism office.

Carole King - "It's Too Late"

It has now been 45 years since the release of Carole King's 'Tapestry' album. Released in 1971, Tapestry was a huge success, particularly in the USA, where it was number 1 for 15 consecutive weeks. It followed her debut solo album 'Writer', which surprisingly, was a flop. 'Writer' featured James Taylor on guitar and backing vocals as well. In fact, it was James Taylor who convinced her to sing and record her own songs, instead of writing for other artists (which she had been doing successfully with her husband Gerry Goffin right through the 60's).
However, with the strength of the songs on Tapestry, it was destined to be huge. For someone who had co-written so many hits for so many artists, her songwriting was as strong as ever here. She recorded a couple of her songs, which had been hits for Aretha Franklin and The Shirelles - "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" and "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" respectively. But her new material was just as strong. "It's Too Late" was the first single and spent 5 weeks at number 1 on the Billboard charts.
This is an album that seems to resinate with fans of all genres, young and old, and even through every decade since its release.
Definitely one of the all-time great albums..... which I'm sure you all agree.