Another week, another new music weekly.

This turned out to be a monster week, because we got a surprise release from The Sugarrush. I love this Finnish power pop band and together with The Posies and Teenage Fanclub they formed the backbone of my music taste and are one of the main reasons this website exists. Therefore I’m thrilled that the hardest rockin’ pop band released a wonderful new album. It was recorded a decade ago, but hey this music can’t get out of style because it was never in style. So if you are looking some fabulous loud guitar pop, listen to High Status by The Sugarrush. There’s also a few other Finnish beauties on the playlist. I’m especially fond of the new Lätsä single, but there’s also lovely new singles from Juha Mäki-Patola, Rohkeat kuvat, Joensuu 1685, Bad Sauna and an outtake from the brand new RULES album.

Moving on to the international album releases. There’s plenty to love this week. If you have followed the playlist over the past year, you’ve heard half of the songs from the Dolly Valentine album but now the album is out too. And because I’ve loved all singles, it’s no wonder that I love the album too. Then there’s new albums from new favorites like Juliet McConkey, Benchmarks, Evangeline Gentle, Maya Hawke, Bright Arcana, Trummors along with long time favourites like Guided By Voices, Old 97s, Hayward Williams and Steven Adams. Oh yeah and I somehow missed that El Goodo album a few weeks ago. Don’t know how I managed that because I follow them on social media and have all the older records. The only EP is from Rachel Angel, but it’s a really good one. Here’s the full list of international albums/EPs that were on my radar this week.

Benchmarks – Summer, Slowly
Dolly Valentine – How To Be Good (Holy Golden Music)
Juliet McConkey – Disappearing Girl
H.C. McEntire – Eno Axis (Merge Records)
Trummors – Dropout City (Ernest Jenning Record Co)
El Goodo – Zombie (Strangetown Records) <- released 7th of August
Bright Arcana – Bright Arcana in the Lowland Plains (Piasa Recordings)
Hayward Williams – Every Color Blue (Green Canoe Music)
Rachel Angel – Highway Songs EP (Public Works)
Maya Hawke – Blush (Mom+Pop)
Evangeline Gentle – Evangeline Gentle, Sonic Unyon Records)
Steven Adams and the French Drops – Keep It Light (Fika Recordings)
Guided By Voices – Mirrored Aztec
Old 97s – Twelfth (ATO Records)
Chuck Prophet – The Land That Time Forgot (Yep Roc)
Bright Eyes – Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was (Dead Oceans)
Jerry Joseph – The Beautiful Madness (Decor Records)
Pat Keen – Cells Remain (Birdwatcher Records)
Pop Filter – Banksia (Bobo Integral)
Siv Jacobsen – A Temporary Soothing
Eli Winter – Unbecoming (American Dreams)

And last but not least, the international should-be hits aka singles. A big favorite for me is the new Terry’s Paradise song. There’s also a song streaming from Ian Daniel Kehoe. He released three gorgeous albums on bandcamp a few weeks ago. I highly recommend buying them, but here’s an excellent taster. There’s also wonderful songs from Lydia Loveless, Bonnie Whitmore, I’m Kingfisher, VanWyck, War & Pierce, Matthew Ryan, Jeremy Ivey, Tomberlin, Lomelda, Victoria Bailey, Colter Wall. Just to name a few. These are all on this playlist, because they are all really good songs.

That’s it for this week. Love from a distance.

OCTA MUSIC WEEKLY – EPISODE #101

1. The Sugarrush – Yeah (High Status, Nature Sucks Anyway Records, 2020)
2. Benchmarks – The Good Fight (Summer, Slowly, 2020)
3. Dolly Valentine – Hard to Miss (How To Be Good, Holy Golden Music, 2020)
4. Juliet McConkey – River Run (Disappearing Girl, 2020)
5. H.C. McEntire – River’s Jaw (Eno Axis, Merge Records, 2020)
6. Trummors – Peacock Angel (Dropout City, Ernest Jenning Record Co, 2020)
7. El Goodo – I Can’t Leave (Zombie, Strangetown Records, 2020)
8. Bright Arcana feat Anna Tivel – Hard Times (Bright Arcana in the Lowland Plains, Piasa Recordings, 2020)
9. Hayward Williams – Put Down the Fight (Every Color Blue, Green Canoe Music, 2020)
10. Rachel Angel – Mexico (Highway Songs EP, Public Works, 2020)
11. Maya Hawke – Generous Heart (Blush, Mom+Pop, 2020)
12. Evangeline Gentle – Neither of Us (Evangeline Gentle, Sonic Unyon Records, 2020)
13. Terry’s Paradise – Dotted Line (single, 2020)
14. Ian Daniel Kehoe – There With You (single, Tin Angel Records, 2020)
15. Steven Adams and the French Drops – Going to Everglades (Keep It Light, Fika Recordings, 2020)
16. Guided By Voices – Thank You Jane (Mirrored Aztec, 2020)
17. Lydia Loveless – Wringer (single, Honey, You’re Gonna Be Late, 2020)
18. Bonnie Whitmore – Last Will & Testament (single, 2020)
19. Old 97s – I Like You Better (Twelfth, ATO Records, 2020)
20. Chuck Prophet – Willie and Nilly (The Land That Time Forgot, Yep Roc, 2020)
21. I’m Kingfisher – Children’s Atom Bomb (single, Fading Trail Records, 2020)
22. VanWyck – Your Favorite Tune (single, Maiden Name Records, 2020)
23. War & Pierce – The Map (single, War & Pierce Records, 2020)
24. Matthew Ryan – Rivers (single, Hearts & Smarts, 2020)
25. Victoria Bailey – Spent My Dime on the White Wine (single, Rock Ridge Music, 2020)
26. Colter Wall – High & Mighty (single, La Honda Records, 2020)
27. Jerry Joseph – Full Body Echo (The Beautiful Madness, Decor Records, 2020)
28. Jon Snodgrass – Don’t Break Her Heart (single, A-F Records, 2020)
29. Jeremy Ivey – Someone Else’s Problem (single, ANTI, 2020)
30. Bright Eyes – Stairwell song (Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was, Dead Oceans, 2020)
31. Briston Maroney – Deep Sea Diver (single, Atlantic, 2020)
32. Lätsä – Aja vaan (single, Helmi Levyt, 2020)
33. Bad Sauna – Niin kuin se ennen oli (single, All That Plazz, 2020)
34. Rohkeat kuvat – Lilja (single, Soit Se Silti, 2020)
35. RULES – Susie (Rules, Soliti, 2020)
36. Joensuu 1685 – The Most Luckiest Man (single, Svart Records, 2020)
37. Juha Mäki-Patola – Aurora (single, Hush Hush Records, 2020)
38. Pat Keen – Lost and Found (Cells Remain, Birdwatcher Records, 2020)
39. Tomberlin – Wasted (single, Saddle Creek, 2020)
40. Lomelda – Hannah Sun (single, Double Double Whammy, 2020)
41. Adam Wright – Darlene (single, De Casa, 2020)
42. Oliver Wood – Soul of This Town (single, Honey Jar Reords, 2020)
43. Stephanie Lambring – Fine (single, 2020)
44. Giulia Millanta – Tomorrow is a Bird (single, 2020)
45. Juanita Stein – The Mavericks (single, Nude Music, 2020)
46. Tough Boy – Sweetness (single, 2020)
47. Babe Club – Need a Girl (single, 2020)
48. Pop Filter – Romance at the Petrol Station (Banksia, 2020)
49. The Woolen Men – Outta Reach (single, Dog’s Table, 2020)
50. Michael Robert Murphy – Hollow World (single, 2020)
51. Songs 4 Nature – Foolish Man’s Mistake (single, nature Forever Records, 2020)
52. Angel Olsen – Waving, Smiling (single, Jagjaguwar, 2020)
53. Siv Jacobsen – Anywhere Else (A Temporary Soothing, U OK, 2020)
54. The Great Park – A Carrion Call (single, Woodland Recordings, 2020)
55. Selah Broderick – Every Bush and Tree (single, Western Vinyl, 2020)
56. Sylvie Simmons – Nothing (Blue on Blue, Compass Records, 2020)
57. Kath Bloom – Let’s Get Going (Bye Bye These Are the Days, Dear Life Records, 2020)
58. Will Johnson – Trouble (El Capitan, Keeled Scales, 2020)
59. Arlo McKinley – We Were Alright (Die Midwestern, Oh Boy Records, 2020)
60. Eli Winter – Maroon (Unbecoming, American Dreams, 2020)

Playlist link

Playlist Archive

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

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 a) if someone wants to follow it, they can just follow that one list and will get a new set of songs each Sunday b) so that I don’t have a trillion of different playlists on my Spotify account.