Episode 43
Stephen Sanchez – Evangeline
boygenius – Cool About It
Momma – Bang Bang
Valley – Good But Not Good Together
Cassandra Lewis – Six Stars
New Pornographers – Really Really Light
Rahul Sipligunj, Kala Bhairaa, M.M. Keeravani – Naatu Naatu
Ryuichi Sakamoto – Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (Electric Youth Remodel)
Begonia – Married by Elvis
Cassandra Lewis
I could listen to her voice all day. Maybe I’ll do that.
Something about her
Portland, Oregon-based singer-songwriter Cassandra Lewis played her first real show in a retirement home. As a child, she grew up loving music and “dissecting” the voices of other singers she listened to. By five years old, she hosted little concerts in her basement, singing to a little karaoke machine her grandparents had bought her.
“When people ask,” says Lewis, “I just tell them [I create] Cosmic Americana. Dolly Parton on acid. Janis Joplin on Jesus. I think people are starting to get what that means. I’ve gone through a lot of phases musically, but I’ve always been deeply rooted in classic country western, the blues, soul, and psychedelic rock.”
Hall of Fame DJ Marco Collins’ Top 10 PNW Artists He’d “Sign Right Now”
Historic DJ Marco Collins is one of two Seattle disc-jockeys honored in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Collins, who broke bands in the ‘90s like Beck and Pearl Jam on his now-infamous radio station 107.7 The End
His number 1 choice is Cassandra Lewis:
“Cassandra is hand’s down one of the most authentic and striking voices I’ve heard in decades. I first saw Cassandra play on the Willamette River in front of a tugboat, in her hometown of Portland, Oregon where she stunned and brought an unfamiliar audience to their feet for a standing ovation. Not many artists can bring me to tears, Cassandra does it within three songs. That’s how pure this shit is.”
again American Songwriter
Stephen Sanchez
Stephen Sanchez
With a dusty baritone as bright as an eternally lit jukebox and tattooed fingers around the fretboard of a rare guitar, Stephen Sanchez tunes into longing and love with the acuity of a triedand-tested troubadour—yet he’s only 19 years-old. Transcending eras, he writes the kind of songs that can play just as well from your parent’s vintage record player as they could from the main stages of festivals a la Bonnaroo. If somebody told you he just pulled up from the fifties in a gorgeous Caddy, you’d have a hard time disputing it.
From The Opera House (Toronto)
Just love this song. It is trending in Canada – on CBC’s Top Twenty this week, so I am a little late to this, but he has a great voice and the song has a unique sound (IMO).
Two videos featuring Stephen Sanchez – the second one is amazing – Unchained Melody!
He is ONLY 21 years old and his career seems to have started during COVID.
A bit from Wikipedia:
In June 2020, Sanchez posted a cover of Cage the Elephant‘s “Cigarette Daydreams” on TikTok and he built an audience through a steady stream of content, attracting over 122.1K followers on TikTok.[1]
After sharing a snippet of “Lady by the Sea”, singer-songwriter Jeremy Zucker reached out offering to produce the official version, which was released in July 2020; as a result Sanchez signed a deal with Republic Records. Sanchez worked with producer Ian Fitchuk on his debut EP What Was, Not Now which was released in October 2021.[1]
On November 4, 2022, he released a single with Ashe, titled “Missing You”.[2]
January 25, 2023, he then released a single titled “Evangeline” which kicked off his upcoming headline tour.
Sanchez appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to help promote the new song and his headline tour. Sanchez performed his song “Evangeline” on the show.
Rahul Sipligunj, Kala Bhairaa, M.M. Keeravani – Naatu Naatu
From Pitchfork:
RRR’s “Naatu Naatu” Wins Best Original Song at 2023 Golden Globes
M.M. Keeravani and Chandrabose have won Best Original Song at the 2023 Golden Globe Awards for “Naatu Naatu” from RRR.
“I’m very much overwhelmed with this great moment happening,” M.M. Keeravani said upon accepting the award. “It’s been an age-old practice to say that this award actually belongs to someone else. So I was planning to not say those words when I get an award like this, but I’m sorry to say I’m going to repeat the tradition because I mean my words.” Keeravani then went on to thank RRR’s director S.S. Rajamouli, actors N.T. Rama Rao Jr. and Ram Charan, and the song’s lyricist, co-composers, programmers, and scene animator.
M.M. Keeravani and Chandrabose triumphed over Taylor Swift, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, and more – Pitchfork
“Naatu Naatu” (transl. Native, Local, Wild)[a] is an Indian Telugu-language song composed by M. M. Keeravani, with lyrics by Chandrabose and recorded by Rahul Sipligunj and Kaala Bhairava for the soundtrack album of the 2022 Indian film RRR.[7]
and you have to see this!
an additional interesting story – the Naatu Naatu dance scene was filmed in the Ukraine just before the Russian invasion – From Screen Daily
The search was on for a grand civic residence that might look as if it were in colonial India, but was actually in a part of Europe that was accessible to white western performers. The producers settled on Ukraine’s Mariinskyi Palace in Kyiv. In August 2021, just six months before the Russian invasion, Rajamouli’s team decamped to a setting that would soon be known by the wider world for very different reasons.
Momma
3 albums since 2019
- Interloper (2018)
- Two of Me (2020)
- Household Name (2022)
Momma consists of Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten, who have been friends with each other since meeting at Viewpoint School, as well as drummer Zach Capitti Fenton
again from Pitchfork:
The Brooklyn duo’s cheeky spin on Gen-X slacker rock asks: What does it take to become a 1990s alt-rock star right this minute?
Should Momma indeed become household names, it’s the hooks that will get them there: The beefy riffs and call-and-response chorus of single “Speeding 72”—their best shot at a true hit—just barely outweigh its cliché of a good old-fashioned joyride.
Pitchfork
Begonia
Begonia is the stage name of Alexa Dirks, a Canadian pop singer-songwriter from Winnipeg, Manitoba.[1] She is most noted for her 2019 album Fear, which was longlisted for the 2020 Polaris Music Prize[2] and shortlisted for the Juno Award for Adult Alternative Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2021.[3]
and from the Georgia Straight 2020
The singer isn’t new to the game; before going solo as Begonia she spent years kicking around the Winnipeg music scene, perhaps most notably as a member of the prog-folk unit Chic Gamine. With Fear, she decided to rip up her own playbook and push herself artistically, supported and guided by producers Matt Peters and Matt Schellenberg of ’Peg indie heroes Royal Canoe. Two-and-a-half years went into the writing and recording process, leading to Fear being hailed as an under-the-radar masterpiece by tastemakers (NPR, CBC, The Line of Best Fit) around the world.
A CBC video The Other Side
a little too serious, this works much better
Boygenius – Cool About It
Boygenius is a group formed in 2018 by Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus. If those names sound familiar, it’s because Dacus and Bridgers have been featured on Old Fellas in the past. This “indie supergroup” released their first full-length album simply called The Record, earlier this year. “Cool About It” seems to be the lead single
https://musictalkers.com/reviews/8786-review-boygenius-new-song-cool-about-it
Lucy Dacus explains that boygenius sardonically refers to “the archetype of the tortured genius, [a] specifically male artist who has been told since birth that their every thought is not only worthwhile but brilliant. The “boy genius” trope as boys and men we know who’ve been told that they are geniuses since they could hear”
Valley – “Good But Not Good Together”
This is the second or third Valley song featured on the Old Fellas podcast. The Juno-nominated band is about to embark on their first headliner North American Tour. See them if you can.
“ Good but not Good Together” is the latest single from the Toronto foursome.
A new album is forthcoming. Valley has developed a rabid fan base in Asia. Here’s a clip of the band performing last year in Seoul. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TotigJntc30
New Pornographers – “Really Really Light”
“Really Really Light” is the lead song from the New Pornographers 9th album Continue as a Guest. Pitchfork has described the band’s sound as “peppy, gleeful, headstrong guitar pop” and “Really Really Light” is no exception. The band welcomes back into the fold Dan Bejar (Destroyer).
The video is kinda fun and quirky too!
Ryuichi Sakamoto – “Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence” (Electric Youth Remodel)
Ryuichi Sakamoto passed away last week at the age of 71. Few people can claim to have made their mark on classical music, synth pop, dance music and hip-hop. His musical career began with the Japanese electronic music group Yellow Magic Orchestra, which he co-founded in 1978. The group’s fusion of pop, rock and electronic music helped to pave the way for the emergence of synthpop in the 1980s. Sakamoto composed scores for several films, including The Last Emperor (1987), The Revenant (2015) and, perhaps most famously, Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983). Canadian duo Electric Youth have reimagined the classic 80’s track for a new Sakamoto tribute album.
I can recall picking up a second hand copy of this single at Vortex records in the early eighties
Whole-Hearted 
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