Listening To This Week Playlist 31 August

As mentioned in last night's post. It is good to be back after a strange August. We've still managed to get 5 LTTW Playlists in and here is the 5th. 28 songs and a selection that explains perfectly what we are about. Obviously Guitar Pop, but other directions are explained by some of the songs here, the quirky and the genre diversions. As ever there is a great closer for your attention.

The song order is not about song preference, but how the playlist flows.  All embeds open in new windows to aid scrolling. Links to the artists will also appear on I Don't Hear A Single Social Media sites over the next 24 hours. This will help you to discover more about those who appear here. 

Amateur Ornithologist - Swing Around

Reserver - Heart Is A Bomb

Streek.b - Kickstart Awakening

Phenomenal Cat - Everything + Nothing

Blank Cheque - Only In The Movies

The Feeders - Congratulations By The Way

Dodgy - Summer Forever

The Goods - Sunday Morning Out Of The Blue

Shadow Flowers - Joy

Shadow Flowers · Joy

Summer Sleeves - Simple Matters

The Black Watch - Marie Bouzkova

Cold Shoulders - Break The Waves

Cold Shoulders · Break the waves - Digital master V1b @-10.1LUFS

Shopkeeper - Shorelines

Mr. Gentleman - Somewhere In The Darkness

Mr. Gentleman · Somewhere in the Darkness

James Brute - Turn You On If I Could Still

The Generation - When I Tell You

Wild Pink - Box Store

The Marches - The Habit

The Cuts - Fire With Fire

Beat Win The Lines - Home Beyond The Stars

Triptides - Past Lives

The Creepy Jingles - Against All Opps

Sundrast - Sleep Alone

Alternate Jane - Someday

Alternate Jane · Someday

Horizon Effect - SWAGGY P & MR SWAGSIDE

The Jimmy C - Are You Angry

Gareth Inkster - You Are Not Young Start Walking

Mars Accelerator - Formaldehyde (2026 Mix)

The Essence Of The Universe - Medicine Man

....................

What A Strange Month!

 

For the first time in I Don't Hear A Single's life, I felt drained and all the music listening sort of caught up with me. This combined with a heavy real life workload and an illness that just wouldn't budge took its toll. In my life here, August used to be a month that you could rest up a bit music wise, kids summer holidays etc, but the last couple of years have been like any other month, release wise.

I just sort of burnt out. It all became work and sleep and when I left space for music, the muse had deserted me. I finally feel back to normal and lessons have been learned. I need to take more mini breaks from stuff and maybe re-organise how I do things.

I love it here and the independence remains vital. But the constant moving on from one thing to another needs to be planned. The end of year Best Of Years are very popular here, but are a lot of work. So they need to be planned better and the preparation start earlier. 

There were already plans to change it slightly as I was always concerned about putting one album before another order wise and so the plan is to list the 100 albums alphabetically and then name an Album Of The Year.

The Listening To This Week Playlist has been surprisingly popular, it was only ever meant as a small thing to note great songs that weren't on EPs or Albums, but took on a life of its own, submission wise. Then again this place was only ever meant to be a smallish thing and grew and grew. In its 11th year, it is the longest that I've stuck at anything musically.

So maybe the playlist will have an occasional week's break as the compilation and listening takes up a lot of time. The LTTW has managed to get compiled and posted in August. The fifth appears tomorrow and that will be given the space of the full day.

That means Reviews will be restarted properly on Tuesday. There are currently almost 60 to catch up on, with more likely to come, but they will be approached gently on an as and when basis for the rest of September. That will lead into a 31 Reviews in 31 Days in October.

The amazing thing is that site views have remained as high in a much quieter posting month. Over 300,000 so far this month. A reflection of the popularity of the Playlist and listeners going into the Reviews Archive.

Sorry I've made this a bit about me. It is never intended to be. This place is about the musicians and the music. I am forever appreciative of the support that you give these artists in a world that makes it hard for any of them to get any attention.

....................

Listening To This Week Playlist 24 August

Whilst well on the way in recovering from a recent illness, I didn't want to miss out on offering up the latest LTTW Playlist. It is a cracker. 26 Songs. Very much what we are known for with a few surprises and as always, an exceptional closer. One observation and that is how far Facebook has fallen from the platform that musicians wanted to be on.

The song order is not about song preference, but how the playlist flows.  All embeds open in new windows to aid scrolling. Links to the artists will also appear on I Don't Hear A Single Social Media sites over the next 24 hours. This will help you to discover more about those who appear here. 

Bleu - Scootch

2nd Grade - Cellophane Girls

The Escape Society - Useless Machine

First Prize - Goodbye To The Day

Moon Construction Kit - Right Across The USA

Next Week's Washing - Where Did I Go Wrong

Duncan Maitland - Dummy (Single Edit)

Punch Drunk - Harmonium

Punch Drunk · Harmonium

Girl For Samson - Ogress

Helicopter Leaves - Feeling Nothing Is Worse

The Gershwin Brothers - Mr Happiness

Silk Cut - Curiouss Tripp

TMYGN - Simple Things

Illuminated Sidewalks - A Rough Approximation Of Life

Illuminated Sidewalks · A Rough Approximation of Life

The Generation - Don't Know About You

REDD. - Better

D.L. Forrest - Can't Sleep (feat : runner)

Pintandwefall - Mustang

The Pierce Kingans - Onlyfans Detected

Timothy Ivan - Moving Day

The Grogans - Reasons

The Wheel Workers - One More Thing To Say

Chateau - Man Of The Country

SP's - Ripper

Bad Bad Luck - Super Ego

King Black Acid - I Want To Join You

....................

31 In 31 Update

 

Good Intentions mean little. But the 31 Reviews In 31 Days Extra in August hasn't worked out. Largely, because of my recent recovery led to a strange writer's block. No idea why, but the illness had took a lot out of me. All is fine and Reviews will be back in earnest and there are a lot awaiting my Parker Pen work.

The aim now is to get as many up as possible at the back end of this month and all through September before we hit the traditional 31 In 31 in October. I'd just run out of steam a little. I did think of putting IDHAS on a sabbatical for a couple of weeks, but preferred to just step out for a short while.

I'm listening a lot at last and I will tell you all about what I heard onwards. Thanks for your patience. It has been a blast seeing old Reviews feature heavily in Popular Posts over the last few weeks. It was what was intended here, but the Blogger format and sheer number of reviews doesn't make that easy for readers / listeners. Thankfully, you have taken up the challenge.

....................

Listening To This Week Playlist 17 August

Welcome to the latest Listening To This Week. 23 songs. As usual, a mix of the Guitar Pop you might expect with some left field surprises and returning heroes. A new single from Colin Moulding with accompanying video from our old friend Thomas Walsh. Plus the return of New Radicals who continue from where they left off.

The song order is not about song preference, but how the playlist flows.  All embeds open in new windows to aid scrolling. Links to the artists will also appear on I Don't Hear A Single Social Media sites over the next 24 hours. This will help you to discover more about those who appear here. 

The Feeders - Back To Indiana

Western Union Hall - No More Feelings

Colin Moulding - Want It Bad

Mock Media - Mock City Rock

Bagful Of Beez - Keep Up With The Joneses

Dropkick - Side Note

The Low Prioriies - Ruler Of Venice

Shredded Sun - ifihadahifi

The New Radicals - One Night Only

Adult Magic - Sore Eyes

Oddysses - Cerbie

Smug Brothers - Extra All The Time

Librarians With Hickeys - 1972

Exploding Flowers - Spinning Carousel

Fantastic Shams - Fresh Start

The Allwells - Greta

Das Phaedrus - Confidence Is High

The Schwa - Madison Crybaby

Benny J Ward - Fear Of Going Out

The Jet Black Berries - Rocketfire Sex66

Eaten By Trees - Sensational

Mopar Stars - Everyone Wants What I Got

Ceylon Sailor - Love Is A Detour

....................

Sparks - Live On The Moon

 

Where do I begin with Sparks? Now over half way into their 6th Recording decade. The few bands that have this longevity tend to tour with Greatest Hits sets, yet the Mael Brothers promote a new album on each tour and are able to incorporate a phenomenal back catalogue amidst the more recent songs. They tour a lot now, when normal practice for a long time was to rarely play Live. I am a fan since buying Propaganda on release and they toured then, but the audience was more screaming girls in a Bay City Rollers type of affair.

They are as popular as ever with an audience spanning generations and it is amazing how someone so quirky can become so popular. The Facebook groups show the age range and there can be an irritation from older fans thinking they were first and so most important. Sparks have always moved on, through Glam Rock, Synth Pop, hardcore dance to the now where they do what they want to across more of a soundscape. As an 11 year old, I knew every word of Propaganda and I still do and I have been a completist ever since.

One thing that many long term fans fail to do is admit that not every album is ace. Personally, I think the 80s after Whomp That Sucker and Angst In My Pants was a bit of a nadir in their career, Pulling Rabbits Out Of A Hat anyone? But even in that period, there was some gold, Music That You Can Dance To is a fantastic album and gets a welcome Deluxe Reissue this year. It is nice to hear the title track here. But, the creativity remains in abundance and as well as Grandparents, Parents and Grandkids are in the audience, there are many who discovered them under their own steam. Fans who only slightly remembered This Town Ain't Big Enough.

The fact that they have worked with the likes of Visconti and Moroder is ace, but they are a band of the now. Live albums can be a reminder of being there and generally are something that you listen to once and file. But Sparks are different. Live, they are a band and the soundscapes are replaced by a slightly more Rock sound that provides different interpretations of the new and the old. It is of course, wonderful to hear the classics such as This Town and When Do I Get To Sing My Way, but now the anthems are also more recent. The opener, So May We Start sets the scene perfectly. The closer, All That, has taken on a magnificent life of its own to become a major piece in their catalogue.

It is amazing to hear the likes of Reinforcements and Goofing Off join the later stuff. No1 In Heaven is perhaps overrepresented with half of the album here. Maybe, Academy Award Performance could have been replaced with something older. The MAD! material seems to translate less well and I did think that that most recent album was a little light in places. But these are minor quibbles. Just enjoy how a band so left field can be celebrated so much in 2026. Since you ask, my favourite album is Indiscreet, an album that has been in my Top 10 Albums forever, fighting XTC's Oranges And Lemons for first place.

You can listen to and buy the album here. It is available everywhere on Vinyl, CD and as a download.

..................

Professor And The Madman - Dreamworld

 

We've previewed this by the lead singles, patiently awaiting the release date. The US / Anglo quartet are back after six long years. Sean Elliott and Alfie Agnew are from California, whilst Rat Scabies and Paul Gray are from the UK.

Scabies and Gray are well known in these parts from their days in The Damned and what a rhythm section they are. A great counter balance for the songs of Elliott and Agnew, who share vocals, which adds even greater variety to proceedings.

On first listen, Dreamworld sounds like a great Pop Rock album, but repeated listens unravel the layers and reveal a great variety. Very 60s led, but moving across that decade and as soon as anyone heard the single, 12 Strings And Tambourines, would soon realise that they are listening to something special.

If you liked that, then you are gonna love Adams Street, one of the best things that you will hear all year, part Brit Pop, part Big Rock. The changes song by song are remarkable. Nuclear Boy is great UK Wave, Mental Tape is smooth Bossa Nova that breaks out.

The Light is 1965 UK Beat, Merseybeat even. Brand New World starts all 60s McCartney Pop before moving into something slightly Music Hall with its Ob La Di barrel piano. Temple Of Madness is a big production, classic 70s Pop Rock.

The title track which opens and closes the album is great fun, a real let's do the show right here, march through the street affair. The scope and range of the album is so impressive, a ton of ideas are brought to conclusion on a beautifully arranged and produced offering.

You can listen to and buy the album here. It is available on Vinyl, CD and limited edition 8 Track as well as a download.

..............