Playlist

OCTA New Music Weekly – Episode #314

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Another quick and late edition of the new music weekly. I was on winter vacation away from home for the past five days and just quickly put this together on Sunday evening. So a lot is probably missing, because I didn’t have time to search and listen. But here we go anyway.

The Delines is the album of the week. There’s also great new albums from Jacksonport, Dead Gowns, Skyscraper Stan, Horsegirl, Anna Arboles (EP), Truman Sinclair, James Felice, Frog, Outro (EP), Pacific Walker, Richard Dawson, Ron Pope, Gary Louris, Darrin Bradbury (EP), The Altons, Brennan Edwards (EP) and Denison Witmer.

The Finnish part has new albums from Honey Crisp, Tiina Vanhapelto & Rosazol and Tuomo & Markus and Verneri Pohjola plus a Kismet EP. And too many singles to type again, but you’ll find them below. The Finnish part starts with #23 Viitasen Piia and ends with #41 Vellamo. A lot of great songs there like the new one from Tanssiva Karhu.

Will Stratton’s new song Bardo or Heaven is the international song of the week. I love this sad and beautiful song. Maybe my favorite song of the year so far. Other early faves came from Weaving, Kristina Murray, Clara Mann, Joni, Moontype, Jason Isbell, Mike Frazier, Toria Wooff… again just to name a few.

That’s all for now. Like, share, follow and all the usual promotional nonsense. It all matters. Back next week with hopefully less rushed effort. Love.

1. The Delines – Her Ponyboy (Mr. Luck & Ms. Doom, Decor Records)
2. Jacksonport – Your Own World (Ting Ting, Ay Caramba Records)
3. Skyscraper Stan – Those Were Days (Those Were Days, Cheersquad Records & Tapes)
4. Dead Gowns – See People (It’s Summer, I Love You, And I’m Surrounded By Snow, Mtn Laurel Recording Co)
5. Anna Arboles – Joni (Pure Fanfiction EP, Anxiety Blanket Records)
6. Horsegirl – Well I Know You’re Shy (Phonetics On an On, Matador Records)
7. Truman Sinclair – Gold Star (American Recordings, R&R)
8. Outro – Fool (Broken Promise EP, Repeating Cloud)
9. Frog – Where Do I Sign Var. III (1000 Variations on the Same Song, Tapewormies / Audio Antihero)
10. James Felice – Pick Up Line (The Little Ones, Million Stars)
11. Gary Louris – Listening to Bobby Charles (Dark Country, SHAM / Thirty Tigers)
12. Darrin Bradbury – Chuck (What the Heaven? What the Hell? EP, Like You Mean It Records)
13. Denison Witmer – Confessions (Anything at All, Asthmatic Kitty)
14. Richard Dawson – Bolt (End of the Middle, Domino Recording Co)
15. Pacific Walker – Some Kind of Gury (Lost in the Valley of the Sun)
16. The Altons – I Try, I Try (Heartache in Room 14, Daptone Records)
17. Brennan Edwards – Stones (Appalachia Untold Sessions EP, Cloverdale Records)
18. Ron Pope – Nobody’s Gonna Make It Out Alive (American Man, American Music, Brooklyn Basement Records)
19. Kristina Murray – Watchin’ the World Pass Me By (single, Normaltown Records)
20. Toria Wooff – That’s What Fallinf in Love Will Do (single, Sloe Flower Records)
21. Will Stratton – Bardo or Heaven (single, Ruination Record Co / Bella Union)
22. Weaving – Moon (single, Glamour Gowns)
23. Viitasen Piia – Muuttolintu (single, Utopiia)
24. Tanssiva Karhu – Hiljaisuus (single, Alakulttuuritalo)
25. Satu Lii – Pelastetaan toisemme (single, Young Diamond)
26. Kirsikkapuu – Olen rakastunut taas! (single, Minna Records)
27. Neiti Olga – Kyllä jalat kantaa (single, Humu Records)
28. Nikita Titov – Uhrilampaat (single)
29. Helmi Ada – Onnensulka (single, Stupido Records)
30. Tiina Vanhapelto & Rosazol – Pat ja Mat (Soolopolis, Mydog Records)
31. KIUSA – Baby (I’m In Love With You)
32. Kismet – Answering Machine (Fast and Sweet EP, Kammio Records / Tobold Piipari Records)
33. The Snake – To Be Alone (single, Svart Records)
34. Klara LaFleur – Flame Girl (single, Luova Records)
35. Carla Aakre – life (single, Kieku Records)
36. Honey Crisp – Darkness and Light (Yesteryears, Honey Crisp Musique)
37. Tuomo & Markus and Verneri Pohjola – Standing Rock (Music For Roads, Grandpop Records)
38. Timo Kämäräinen feat Arppa and Esa Kotilainen – Kuusamo (single, Lördag)
39. Väisänen – Rauhassa maatuen (single, Valassaaret)
40. J. Karjalainen – Sineadin laulu (single, Warner Music)
41. Vellamo – Spring Will Come (single)
42. Clara Mann – Doubled Over (single, The State 51 Conspiracy)
43. Joni – Things I Left Behind (single, Hand In Hive / Keeled Scales)
44. Moontype – Long Country (single, Orindal Records)
45. Florist – Gloom Designs (single, Double Double Whammy)
46. Cassidy Waring – Hold Me Tight (single)
47. Will Stewart – Late for the Banquet (single, Earth Libraries)
48. Jason Isbell – Foxes in the Snow (single, Southeastern Records / Thirty Tigers)
49. The Lowtimers – Thunderstorms (single, Alabama Sound Company)
50. Justin Wells – Up There With Angels (single)
51. Todd Day Wait – That’s Not My Pal (single, Cloverdale Records)
52. Matthew McNeal – Chipped Teeth (single, Matte Black Sound Company)
53. Renaldo Domino – Chemistry (single, Modern Jive Records)
54. Jason Joshua – I Really Love You (single, Sheridan Music)
55. Thee Illusions – Just Like Magic (single, Black Bird Records)
56. Yves Jarvis – Decision Tree (single, Next Door Records)
57. Ben Kweller feat Waxahatchee – Dollar Store (single, The Noise Company)
58. Mike Frazier – Ballard Avenue (single, Geneva Records)
59. John Davey – When Pennies Were Dimes (single)
60. Dewey Lester & The 6:03 – I Always Knew (single, Starboard Records)
61. Edwyn Collins – The Heart is a Foolish Little Thing (single)
62. Butler, Blake & Grant – One and One is Two (single, 355 Recordings)
63. The Minus 5 – Words & Birds (single, Yep Roc)
64. Fine China – Fraught with Danger (single, Velvet Blue Music)
65. Tom Henry – Art House (single, Royal Oakie Records)
66. Lucy Dacus – Best Guess (single, Geffen Records)
67. Skylar Gudasz – Lean Closer to Me Now (single, Perseids Records)
68. Sarah Quintana feat Emily Mikesell – Be My Love (single)
69. Leipä – Alkemisti (Auttaa jaksamaan, Tulli-levyt)
70. The Bird Calls – Butterfly Strokes Home (Melody Trail, Ruination Record Co)

Spotify Playlist

Tidal Playlist

YouTube Playlist

A few Bandcamp cuts for the lovely non-streamers:





Oh and do buy the vinyl/cd/download. Spotify and other streaming services are perfect for these introductory purposes, but try to buy at least the music that matter the most to you

I’ll make the playlist on Spotify and then transfer it to other platforms. This means a few tracks might be missing from the from the other platforms, if they are not available there. Oh and there’s a bunch of older episodes on my Spotify profile, if you miss an episode or want to revisit.

If you are looking this after a week has gone, the embedded Spotify will show the latest playlist. I’ll just update the same playlist because if someone wants to follow it, they can just follow that one list and will get a new set of songs each weekend.

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News

Flora Hibberd, Nicole Hale and Renny Conti

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A quick music video post of some of my favorite albums of January 2025. Not a lot of words, but there’s three wonderful songs/albums.

First a long time favorite Flora Hibberd from Paris, Texas. This time via Eau Claire, Wisconsin where she recorded her new album Swirl with another big personal favorite Shane Leonard. Magic all around and I already know this will be one of my most loved albums of 2025.

Flora Hibberd Website

Next over to Austin, Texas. I wasn’t familiar with Nicole Hale beforehand, but thankfully I found her beautiful new album Some Kind of Longing. Such a gorgeous slow burner of a record. Thor Harris and the Little Mazarn people lend a hand among others. Love this music video for Remembered This Way as well.

Nicole Hale Website

Carrying our bags to New York to meet up with songwriter Renny Conti. Another new find for me and I found his self-titled album a week or so after the release, but instantly fell for it. Here’s Looking at the Geese from the album to wrap up this little blog post.

Renny Conti Website

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Playlist

OCTA New Music Weekly – Episode #313

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Here we are again. What a lovely week, because Chicago-based Finom were on a Finnish tour. I really loved their concert at Bar Ö. Kind of ashamed that I have never featured Finom on this playlist. At least I have featured both solo Sima Cunningham and solo Macie Stewart before. There’s actually a new solo Macie Stewart album coming out this spring and the first single came out this week. So you’ll find that beauty from this week’s playlist. Oh and big thanks to Jonna Tervomaa for bringing Finom to play for us Finns. It was special.

The Bird Calls made the album of the week. There’s also great new albums from Sam Moss, Jake Nicoll (EP), Sean Thompson’s Weird Ears, Horsebath, Will Worden, Gold Baby, Nadia Reid, R.O. Shapiro (EP), Miss Tess, Hunter Burgamy & Georgia Parker (EP), Sharon Van Etten, Dropkick, Guided by Voices and Ben Seretan.

My favorite Finnish release is the new Leipä album. I loved the singles and well everything else these people have done before Leipä, so I kinda new I’m going to dig this album without even listening. But I do recommend listening to it as well. Gorgeous stuff. Other Finnish gems of the week are albums from Punomo, Viba, Anne-Mari Kivimäki and a covers EP from Jere Ijäs. And some singles gold from Sonja Selene, Kärmes, New Silver Girl and Lempi Elo.

New Kassi Valazza single and the first outtake from her forthcoming new album is the international single of the week. Once again marvellous song. I can’t wait to hear the album. Other early faves came from Esther Rose, Kristin Daelyn, Domestic Drafts, Darci Phenix, The Burning Hell, Tobacco City, Dean Wareham, Macie Stewart, Pearl Charles.. again just to name a few. A very busy release week especially on the singles front. I should learn to limit this playlist, because I know it’s longer than anyone will listen.

That’s all for now. Like, share, follow and all the usual promotional nonsense. It all matters. Love.

1. The Bird Calls – Critic Meets Artist (Melody Trail, Ruination Record Co)
2. Sam Moss – Feathers (Swimming)
3. Jake Nicoll – Sabre-Toothed Tiger (On Hold EP)
4. Sean Thompson’s Weird Ears – New Memories (Head in the Sand, Ears Over America / Missing Piece Records)
5. Horsebath – Really Did a Number on Me (Another Farewell, Strolling Bones Records)
6. Will Worden – Take these Chains (The Only One & All the Others)
7. Hunter Burgamy & Georgia Parker – Midnight Wind (Hunter Burgamy & Georgia Parker EP)
8. Miss Tess – Nobody Wins (Cher Reve)
9. Nadia Reid – Cry On Gue (Enter Now Brightness, Chrysalis)
10. Gold Baby – Blizz (I Came Howe To Find You, Dogbone)
11. R.O. Shapiro – Worthy (Worthy EP)
12. Sharon Van Etten – Idiot Box (Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory, Jagjaguwar)
13. Dropkick – In a Different Light (Primary Colours, Bobo Integral)
14. Guided By Voices – I Couldn’t See the Light (Universe Room, GBV Inc)
15. Ben Seratan – a surreal hour of normalcy (astral projecting into flavortown, Sound as Language)
16. Domestic Drafts – Someplace Without Rain (single, Glamour Gowns)
17. Kristin Daelyn – It Came to Me Then (single, Orindal Records)
18. Kassi Valazza – Weight of the Wheel (single, Loose Music / Fluff & Gravy Records)
19. Esther Rose – New Bad (single, New West Records)
20. Ken Pomeroy – Stranger (single, Rounder Records)
21. Darci Phenix – Hummingbird (single, Get Loud Recordings)
22. Jere Ijäs – Tästä asti aikaa (Jeremias EP1, Texicalli)
23. Leipä – Kvandarian (Auttaa jaksaamaan, Tulli-levyt)
24. Punomo – Meil on kaikki (Kahdeksan kertaa, Playground)
25. Viba – Ei oo mulle maailmassa ketään muuta (Harso, Eclipse)
26. Lempi Elo – Mitäpä minä (single, Eclipse)
27. Sonja Selene – Oikeus Elää (single, Helmi Levyt)
28. Anne-Mari Kivimäki – Tunteet (Kotiin, Rockadillo)
29. Kärmes – Myrkkykäärme (single, KHY Suomen Musiikki)
30. New Silver Girl – Loud Love (single)
31. Tobacco City – Bougainvillea (single, Scissor Tail Records)
32. Michael Robert Murphy – Lift the Curse (single)
33. Mythical Motors – Finer Thrills (single, Repeating Cloud)
34. Sharp Pins – Storma Lee (single, Perennial)
35. The Burning Hell – Luna FM (single, BB*Island / You’ve Changed Records)
36. The Ophelias – Cumulonimbus (single, Get Better Records)
37. Pearl Charles – Step Too Far (single, Taurus Rising Records)
38. Echolalia – Little Bird (single, Full Time Hobby)
39. Dean Wareham – That’s the Price of Loving Me (single, Carpark Records)
40. The Look Aways – A Flower is a Lovesome Thing (single, Tableaux Records)
41. Mirrored Daughters – Unreturning Sun (single, Fika Recordings)
42. Macie Stewart – Spring Becomes You, Spring Becomes New (single, International Anthem)
43. Whitney Johnson & Lia Kohl – 73/74 (single, Drag City)
44. Pascale Cheron – Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright (single)
45. Kora Feder – In a Young Person’s Body (single)
46. Dead Gowns – Maladie (single, Mtn Laurel Recording Co)
47. Ruby Gill – Touch Me There (single)
48. Caroline Spence – Let Go (single, Tone Tree Music)
49. Georgia Harmer – Can We Be Still (single, Arts & Crafts)
50. Cristina Vane – Shake It Babe (single, Blue Tip Records)
51. Waxahatchee – Mud (single, Anti)
52. Anna Hillburg – The Shape’s Gonna Shift My Way (single)
53. Neal Francis feat Say She She – Ned You Again (single, ATO Records)
54. Okonski – Dahlia (single, Colemine Records)
55. Destroyer – Hydroplaning Off the Edge of the World (single, Merge Records)
56. Jetstream Pony – Bubblegum Nothingness (single, Spinout Nuggets / Shelflife Records)
57. Icarus Phoenix – Shallow Water (single)
58. Pete Mancini – Stomping Grounds (single)
59. Rapt – Making Maps (single, Start-Track)
60. Lincoln Barr – Wisdom of a Fool (single)
61. Ferguson – Never in my Life (single, Country Fair Records)
62. Will Fox – Meatl in the Microwave (single, Second Wind Records)
63. Kris Delmhorst – Not the Only One (single)
64. Ryan Necci and the Buffalo Gospel – The Letting Go (single)
65. Charles Wesley Godwin – It’s the Little Things (single, Big Loud Records)
66. Silverada – Texas 42 (single, Prairie Rose Records)
67. Mojohand – Santa Fe (single, Mojohand Records)
68. Scott Ballew – Middle Aged Lazy (single, Leisure Rodeo)
69. David Dondero – My Funny Valentine (single, Double D Records)
70. Cameron Knowler – Felicity (single)
71. Bonnie Prince Billy – Is My Living in Vain? (Purple Bird, Domino Recording Co)
72. Lily Talmers – Nothing Is Spiritual John (It Is Cyclical, Missing You, El Tee Records)
73. Renny Conti – Looking at the Geese (Renny Conti)
74. Hell Cat – Cactus (Pipa Jones Must Die)
75. Ullalintulampi – Alan hommiin (Kannattelen, Panama-levyt)
76. Topi Saha – Unten mailla (Öitä, Soit Se Silti)

Spotify Playlist

Tidal Playlist

YouTube Playlist

A few Bandcamp cuts for the lovely non-streamers:





Oh and do buy the vinyl/cd/download. Spotify and other streaming services are perfect for these introductory purposes, but try to buy at least the music that matter the most to you

I’ll make the playlist on Spotify and then transfer it to other platforms. This means a few tracks might be missing from the from the other platforms, if they are not available there. Oh and there’s a bunch of older episodes on my Spotify profile, if you miss an episode or want to revisit.

If you are looking this after a week has gone, the embedded Spotify will show the latest playlist. I’ll just update the same playlist because if someone wants to follow it, they can just follow that one list and will get a new set of songs each weekend.

Continue Reading
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