The Useless Critic 2.0

Here's a nice breezy, almost sensual song from AM Higgins (the solo project of musician Annie Toth) to start your Tuesday off right.  Her debut album "Hymning" will be out November 5th on Victorialand Records. The album was mixed by Casey Foubert, a frequent collaborator of Sufjan Stevens. The album "captures the first years of moving from an American city to rural France." Sounds like "Hymning" will be a welcome escape from the world we live in right now, especially considering that Annie Toth counts poets Mary Oliver and Thomas Merton as influences.

Once in a while, Instagram actually proves useful for discovering new music. In the most recent case, I heard this song "Lost" by Phoenix-based gnarz while scrolling the other night - and wow, I was taken aback with how good it is. The production, the vocals, the overall feel of it. If there was any musical justice in the world, this song would be everywhere!  What do we need to do to make this song big?! Get it on Tik Tok? Anyway I sincerely hope you listen to this song, it's so good and it deserves to be played repeatedly and loudly.  I don't have much more to share about gnarz, but here are his social media platforms: YouTube Instagram Facebook

Photo Cred: Ian McNally I'm back today with some very catchy, harmless pop music (with a garage rock/punk touch) to share with the world. The band is My Son The Doctor, a name that is, well, interesting. But it's fun music - kind of goofy, but like I said before, ultimately harmless. It vaguely reminds me of some American riff on The Fratellis, but the band describes their music as a mix of Pavement and The Offspring. They also describe themselves as "like Spoon, but younger and hotter." Let's go with that!  The best part of this song is when they shout out seasonings. If my depressed ass can manage a laugh,  you can too. Enjoy: My Son The Doctor · Rubber Hands My Son The Doctor released their EP "Taste Those Dreams" this past Friday, mastered by Jeff Lipton, who has worked with the likes of Wilco, LCD Soundsystem, and yes, Stephen Malkmus.