Listening To This Week Playlist

An absolutely belting 30 songs on the first of 5 LTTWs this month. Never more so has the last listed been as great as the first  applied and you have plenty of time to listen to across the week. A reminder that the song order is not about song preference, but how the playlist flows. This weekly playlist is solely for submissions, not the usual stuff that we dig out ourselves. 

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 the artists who appear here. 

Nick Frater - My Heart's In Stereo

The Setting Son - Cul-De-Sac

The Swan Chorus - Blame On You

Ryan Allen - Anxious All The Time

Hooveriii - Westside Pavillion Of Dreams

Transistors - Seagull https://transistors.bandcamp.com/track/seagull

Joe Stilwell with Van Nes - Angel Bill

Graydons - High On The Richter Scale.

Soot Sprite - All My Friends Are Depressed

Cupid's Carnival - Life

The Hi-Sides - The Boy

Stella Matteoni - Imposter Syndrome

The Bret Tobias Set - It Begins With A Lean

Real Sickies - Should Have Seen It Coming

Maximillian Thanksalot - Enough

Star Aurora - 21st Century Love

The Real Flowerpots - Storm Shelter

The Real Flower Pots · Storm Shelter

The Open Flames - Drop A Coin

Pan Arcadia - Into The Glass

Forgotten Garden - Five Minutes

Fallenium - Don't Be A Man About It

The Two Seasons - Gallery

The Campbell Apartment - Grudge

Floral Image - Burning 305

Cloud House - Golden Hour

Nik Brinkman - Where Are You Now?

Last Good Thing - Wish You Were

Icarus Phoenix - Poor Sad Indie Everyhing

Dream Of A Man In A Top Hat - I'm Your Man

Keys - What Flavour?

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Transistors - Everything Will Never Happen Again

 

Transistors are from Canterbury. No not the Prog and Psych one here in England, but New Zealand's South Island. Just as as everything in Canterbury here is not just those two genres, all in New Zealand is not whimpering melancholic Indie and Dream Pop.

This is a trio that will wake up your neighbours. The trio deliver up and at 'em pacy sing along or maybe shout along UK New Wave, not million miles away from the UK New Wave that quite a few from the dying embers of Punk emerged from.

There's a lot in common with the current Power Pop scene. Much noisier than what went before, but just as riff driven, chorus led and catchy, this is not a new album, but the long lost third album from the band. It may sound a little current now, but imagine how it compared to what was around a decade ago.

Unreleased and largely not known about. it is masterly collection of 14 songs defined by attitude and energy. An outlier for what was around when recorded. I've selected my 3 favourite songs, but this is an album to be listened to from start to finish. Don't expect any ballads though.

The band are currently touring in New Zealand which makes us incredibly envious and frustrated at being so far away. These songs will sound even more glorious live. We are not nostalgic in any way, but this is an album that shouldn't have taken so long to release. It finally appeared on Friday.

You can listen to and buy the album here.  Pre-Sales sold the Vinyl out, hopefully Melted Ice Cream will do another batch. It is currently available as a download.

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Nick Frater - OH CONTRAIRE!

 

The Lord Of Pop is back and he's brought many many IDHAS faves to join his regular collaborators. Nick Frater is definitely an extraordinary solo artist, but after well over a decade, he continues to hoover up like minded peers.

There has never been a duff album along the way and as we reach 2025, Croydon's finest seems to have made the BIG sounding album that he has always threatened to unleash. There's always been memorable choruses, a massive melody and harmony count and hook after hook, but the sound here is panoramic.

Frater has never hidden away, but here he proves himself the showman. The vocal is bold and far more upfront, the arrangements are varied and include big string affairs, mellotron and some real rocked up Guitar solos. It does sound a little (wonderfully) 70s at times. There are also songs that you might expect from him if you are familiar with his past such as Seraphim Called and Steal Away.

He's also been great at Lounge Pop and Dreaming Of A Wonderland fits that bill. Goodnight, Goodbye has a string arrangement to die for, a big McCartney Pop closer. but what bursts out most is the joyous bouncing pacy pop and there is plenty of that.

You will have heard the single One Minute and that still sounds as great as it always has, but here it is joined by My Heart's In Stereo, a Jeff Lynne in the 80s sort of races out of the blocks. You'd be tempted to say it is the best Pop song that you will hear this year, but then you hear I Know You Know I Know.

There is certainly a lot of ringing Guitar riffs around, some very Glam Rock, others definitely 70s Pop Rock sounding. The guest list is awesome and I obviously can't list everyone with space restrictions, but you can note them all on the Bandcamp page.

What is most to applaud are that many don't appear on other people's albums so much. Texas's Spyderpop duo Lannie Flowers and Danny Wilkerson, Probyn Gregory, Michael Simmons and Lady Prog herself, Cary Grace. The results are amazing and remind all of the beauty of Melodic Pop. OH CONTRAIRE! is simply splendid.

You can listen to and buy the album here. The album is available on Vinyl, CD and as a download. The album is on the Think Like A Key label and so can be bought here as well as at all good record stores.

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