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Saturday, December 1, 2018

New music by Bryan Hansen Band, Crack the Sky, Keuning, Jeff Tweedy, Cat Dail added to our mix

New Jersey's Bryan Hansen Band has a distinctive sound that combines the funky rhythm section of bassist Will Blakey and drummer Cwan Merritt with Hansen's intricate lyrics and jazz/soul vocal stylings. They have been in our mix for a few years now, and they've just released a new single, "Diamonds," from an upcoming album called Gas Money. In the accompanying video, glimpses of the band playing the song are intercut with a short film in which they pull off a diamond-theft caper - but ultimately get played.

Veteran rockers Crack the Sky just released Living In Reverse, their 20th album (more or less) in a 33-year recording career. We have been playing the first single, "Talk Talk," and now we're featuring the title track. The influence of The Beatles and the progressive-rock era remain strong with this outfit, and John Palumbo's lyrics seem particularly self-reflective on this album. We're not alone in considering CTS one of the best bands that too few people know, but they have maintained a strong fan base in the Mid-Atlantic area of the U.S.

The name Keuning may not be familiar to many outside the fan base of The Killers, who know Dave Keuning as the lead guitarist of that band for the past 17 years. Although still a member, Keuning took a break from the band last year, opting to forego a tour in order to spend time with his family. He recorded his forthcoming solo album, Prismism, at his San Diego home studio. Now in our New Music bin is the latest single, "Boat Accident," which Clash Music calls "an instantly catchy, endlessly infectious piece of alt-pop with a crisp 80s vibe."

Jeff Tweedy's band Wilco is currently on hiatus, and he goes into singer-songwriter mode on his first true solo album. Rolling Stone writes that "the easygoing arrangements on Warm bely a much darker, conflicted undercurrent running through Tweedy’s writing," resulting in a "deeply moving" collection. We're picking up a track called "I Know What It's Like," a song of disconnection: "I know what it's like / to not feel love."

In a lighter vein, we're dipping back into the new album from New York singer-songwriter Cat Dail, Fight For Love. This time we're featuring a track called "Wonder Love" whose lyric also contains the album title. It's a clever twist on the Superman story: "I don't need Superman to save me / He could be my friend ... Me and the man of steel could spend hours / sitting around comparing our powers." On a recent episode of The Detour we put this song together with several other super-themed tunes. You can listen to that super-set any time - just go to our Mixcloud site and play The Detour - Ep. 18.)

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