Les Ailes + My Friend Alan- 5 Songs
A few years ago, I stumbled on the work of Les Ailes, a (then) Nashville based artist that had just finished recording her debut record Tennessee with Mike McCarthy (Spoon, Trail of Dead). I think "Lately" was my first exposure to her work and the vocal performance has stuck with me ever since. Over the years since, her work has continued to be compelling and evolving (spend some time with her second LP, Lou Heron).

Given that evolution, I should not have been surprised by the somewhat transformative vibe of the new collaborative EP with My Friend Alan entitled 5 SONGS. Many of the tracks on the release showcase Les Ailes unique vocals within dancier arrangements; sometimes synth laden, sometimes accompanied by a wailing sax, sometimes in a hynpnotic chant but always in a new and compelling way.

I urge you to take the catalog deep dive with Les Ailes, starting with the first record back in 2021, listening through all of the various singles, and the second album from 2025. All that and this new EP make for a rather rewarding dose of time well spent.

I receive a pretty decent amount of marketing emails every month about new music releases. Many of them are not up my alley but, occasionally, you encounter something that is entirely unknown and quite the refreshing listen. Texas based indie musician Mitts is an excellent example of that phenomena.

More or Less is the undertakings debut record. Produced in part with the help of Bill Baird and Dillon Ocon, the record offers up a handful of absolute bangers, thoughtful introspections and one ode to an enchilada. The whole album is a good listen but the bookends - "Baby Brother" and "Here Everything's Better" - have a specific blend of indie rock, country croon and stumble-y pace that really showcases the project's strengths.

Record Store Day is typically a big deal here in Nashville. The last few years, the folks at Vinyl Tap have put on an all-day festival of performances, making for a giant celebration of all sorts of music to be enjoyed by all, even if you aren't looking to wait in line to buy some exclusive RSD drop.

During the 2026 activities, I watched as Ultrafrog setup on the small interior stage. A full drum kit emerged along with a bass rig, guitar amps, a synth, a table full of pedals, vocal mic, a xylophone, a bongo set, another keyboard and more wires interconnecting equipment than I could keep track of. It's a massive amount of stuff but once the group started playing, it was clear they were in full control of the hordes in front of them.

At its core, Ultrafrog is J. Childers and Brian Kotzur, two musicians well known from the Nashville music scene. They are crafting "Sonic Journeys through Percussion & Electronics," sprawling soundscapes that do an excellent job of creating a mesmerizing atmosphere. They collaborate with other talented Nashville folks as well - including Annie Williams improvising vocals as heard on UF04 (and William Tyler / Grant Gustafson on UF06).

The sheer volume of equipment at their shows is the result of knowing what tools are needed to create that mesmerizing and immersive atmosphere. They may not need a bongo set but when they put it to use, you'll appreciate that it's there. The attention to detail and texture is surely a pain for them to manuever but, as a listener, the results are worth it.

What if your weather report was expressed to you simply by showing you a mood-appropriate Rothko painting? That's the idea behind Current Rothko, a weather app from Joonas Virtanen. It's a simple but elegantly beautiful concept. I prefer it to my Apple weather app that's for damn sure.

For longtime readers, Jeremy Fetzer's name is likely immediately familiar from his work as one half of Steelism. That project has been in quiet hibernation for some time but both individual members remain highly active (and participate in each other's work). All that to say, you may know his name already and, if so, you know Fetzer's body of work is quite pleasing.

The record comes with a perfect introduction from Fetzer himself:

An Evening At The Fetzicon Lounge - the creation of my own soundtrack to a 1970s, vaguely European, B-movie. For one of those films where it appears that more time, energy, and resources were put into the soundtrack than the movie itself. Perhaps the film was just an excuse to make the music?

It's a record that evokes 70's movie soundtracks and psychedelic dance parties. The kind of music you imagine oozing through the speakers of your favorite bar, creating an atmosphere of high-flying optimism. This is one you put on your turntable and someone cranes their neck to desperately inquire.. What is this?

Fetzer's always been capable of setting a mood and An Evening At The Fetzicon Lounge is a great example of that. You're traveling through a specific style and genre but there's never a feeling that this is a by-the-numbers exercise. This is clearly born from an appreciation of the soundtracks and listening rooms that came before it, with his own special flair added to the recipie. It's an evening I look forward to having.

Some time ago I stumbled across the madebit record An Alien Among Us. It's a collection of synth-y dance party tunes that strikes a balance between upbeat melancholy and unfurling wild rave (see: "A Sound is Born (Evolution of Self)"). With the new track "blue screen," the vibes are similar with a slight shift in the production, often reminding me of the coy style of Crumb. This seems to be an artist finding their footing on their own (the track notes its the first time they've mixed and mastered their own work) and I'm excited to see where things progress for them.

Thad Kopec may not be a name you've heard but it is absolutely a name you should know. His list of credits as a producer, writer, arranger, engineer, whathaveyou appears across a variety of music that should be investigated and enjoyed. His body of work under his own name is criminally underrated. In 2024, he paused releasing music under his own name and pivoted to the moniker Fealty, a new name that would allow him the freedom to explore different styles and sounds without the expectations of his previous work. The 2025 Fealty EP has all the high quality production of a Kopec undertaking but different instrumentation and a somewhat darker vibe. Once you're done with that, listen to the latest singles and also give a follow to Omnipleasant, a separate Kopec undertaking. Man of many talents, many projects.

Over the years writing for We Own This Town I became familiar with a lot of Nashville hip-hop. As a city, Nashville isn't exactly associated with any musicality outside of Country or Singer Songwriters. Memphis? Sure. Atlanta? New Orleans? Absolutely known for distinctive hip-hop styles. Not so much Nashville. But there's a healthy amount of talent here, albeit not a particular sound.

Qualls album The Gray Area is a solid example of Nashville hip-hop - great production, engaging flows and personal storytelling. All genres benefit from that last bit but you don't always hear it hip-hop.. Qualls lets it flow and it really works. Start with "HARDBODY" (featuring Chuck Indigo, one of many great features on the record). I'd be remiss if I did not point out that the last thee tracks of the record take on a different vibe from the rest and it's a very compelling coda.

I have never played a Halo game. I am familiar with the primary character because I live in the (nerdy) world but that's the extent of my familiarity. So, when I recently learned about I Love Bees, I was quite entertained. Apparently, way back in 2004, when Halo 2 was gearing up to be released, Microsoft launched an extensive Alternate Reality Game to promote it. This involved players receiving literal bottles of honey with secret messages inside, fake hacked websites, and a ton of players traveling to random pay phones to interact with characters from the story. This DEEP CUTS episode does a nice job of walking through the details of it all. If you only have 2 minutes of brain space for this topic, watch this instead.

Alternate Reality Games maybe seem less exciting in 2026 because we have YouTube, social media and hyper online personalities that will unravel any little idea as quickly as possible. But in 2004, pre-Youtube, this was not the case. Looking through Wikipedia, the I Love Bees phenomena is one of the earlier examples of using the Internet in this way (at least, to that scale and for marketing purposes.. I suspect there were a number of previous examples not funded by Microsoft).

Back in 2018, I started helping to produce a podcast called Hott Minute - conceptually a show that is "two smart women discuss who is hot, and why." In reality, hosts Jamie Bradley and Ashley Spurgeon just discuss whatever they'd like and make it fantastic. It ran for a few years and then fell off at the end of 2020 (it happens). After a short five year hiatus, they've returned with a new episode. I don't think the show is back regularly but a bonus 90 minute episode is a bonus 90 minute episode!

The two discuss NASCAR; a topic that I have had zero interest in historically but was quite amused with for the full duration of the episode. I suggest tuning in here and enjoying the accompanying gallery but it's available on all your standard podcast platforms. Wherever you like!

I don't know how I encountered it but I somehow stumbled upon BEST OF LUCK, an EP from Seattle band DANG. It's a fascinating listen, with some stellar art. Turns out the project is the pseudonym of illustrator, animator, designer and all around compelling fun guy, Alex Benson. Cruise on over to that website, watch the design reel, dive into the illustrations but, really, just enjoy the whole vibe of the site. Don't let anyone tell you the web isn't alive and delightful.

Several years ago I pondered what Blippo+ might be. At the time, it was a yet-to-be-announced project from Panic for the Playdate. In the years since, it's clear what Blippo+ is... sort of!

If you've never watched the proper trailer, I suggest you do so now. Maybe even make the effort to do so inside the context of the official site, which is quite nice. If it didn't click, Blippo+ is a series of TV stations. Not on demand content, just streaming content that you can tune into. Funny that in 2026, linear programming is novel and interesting.

But it's clearly not just any ole content. Tho I've never watched a frame of any of the shows, I am fascinated by what they've put together. I watched this behind the scenes mini-doc about the project and am completely fascinated by it. The creators describe it as "a TV station beaming into Earth for the time being," "a rip in the time-space continuum", "a six hour science fiction movie disguised as a television network, disguised as a video game." I've been sleeping on getting Blippo+ into my life but I think it's high time I change that.

If you're familiar with Makeup and Vanity Set and familiar with a certain very popular show on Netflix, you can probably put the pieces together here. The latest release from MAVS is entitled i made these songs for the final season of that huge streaming series but they didn't use any of them., a pretty straightforward explanation of the history of these songs. Their loss is our gain. In a world where these songs were used for that particular series, it's unlikely they would have ever been released in this way. That said, I am sure it is frustrating to make work - especially good, appropriate work - and not see it reach its destination.

Congrats to MAVS for even being considered and for making such an enjoyable batch of songs. When you're done with that, go enjoy "Bomberstage" - done with his Sferro collab project, WAVEFINDER.

Ran across an interesting film called Dying to Live Now doing some fundraising. The documentary is setting out to tell the story of RamDev Dale Borglum, an SF resident that's head of the Living/Dying Project, an organization that helps people navigate the difficulties of facing death and discussing death.

I am sure my summary here won't do it justice, so please watch the trailer. There's a moment about 2 minutes in, clipped from the Duncan Trussell Family Hour where Borglum seems to summarize his philosophy on death quite succintly; a respectable and meaningful take on it.

The fundraising project also notes that if 100 new backers join by May 22nd, they'll get a $5K matching sponsorship.. so that's double reasons to consider backing it. Great topic and a bit more assurance that it'll actually come to fruition.

I'm a big fan of the Poprock Record blog. Author Dennis Pilon regularly posts about new music, old favorites and the occasional special essay. The latest post is in the latter category, a musing called A Man Called E returns. In it, he pontificates the work of Mark Oliver Everett, aka E, aka the guy behind the band Eels.

For a good chunk of time, I was a diehard Eels fan. I loved the pre-Eels work - aka A Man Called E and Broken Toy Shop - but really loved the early Dreamworks records. I stand by the opinion that Electro-Shock Blues is one of the most crushing and, yet, optimstic records around.

Anyway, all this is to say that Poprock Record put together a great list of songs from Eels that sound like the early works as E. But there was no actual playlist! I'm here to solve that. Enjoy A Man Called E Returns.

I recently received beta access to BANDBAND.TV; a new "human-curated music video network." I am quite impressed with the undertaking! It's an immersive experience that can be enjoyed ambiently or if you wanna dive in more. I won't go as far as to say its what MTV should have evolved into it but it certainly seems like it's getting into that realm. I'm excited to see future iterations on the project.

Oh, and the curation is great! That's really the most important part! Tons of really superb videos. Go apply for your own beta access to see for yourself.

Been enjoying a deep dive through the work of Manuel Cetina. It's a nice combination of glitch, 90s interfaces, Manga, and American Traditional. It's a real mish mash of influences and it works very well. The animated pieces take things up a notch but all of the glitched illustrations are perfectly up my alley. Love it!

I have an inordinate amount of Open Tabs (not to be confused with Today in Tabs). I have every intention of spending time with these tabs but my good intentions often fall flat. So, why not let them free by sharing them with you! Maybe they'll become neglected open tabs in your browser? This is me paying it forward.

• Jack Dorsey: Every Company Can Now Be a Mini-AGI - an hour long chat with ex-Twitter CEO and safety-pin earring technologist, Jack Dorsey. I do not put this man on a pedestal by any means but I am curiously intrigued to listen to this. It will now linger in my "Watch Later" queue.
• Jimmy Iovine on building Interscope Records & Beats by Dre - a two hour interview with the infamous music industry figurehead. His resume is undeniable but.. is he an asshole? Is he insightful? Both? I've watch maybe 15 minutes of this and have enjoyed but just haven't made time for the rest. Maybe you will!
• Scientists Discover Pee Planet - I'd love to read more about this ammonia ridden atmosphere. Also, if I ever start a band I claim Piss Planet as album title.
• Touch Glass: A Declaration to Remain in Cyberspace - a very interesting manifesto that positions that the Internet isn't as bad as they're making it out to be. Would like to learn more about this movement but, for now, I'm satisfied with the phrase "Touch Glass."

You are undoubtedly familiar with some amount of Horror Movie Hosts. Specifically, Elvira and The CryptKeeper seem like ubiquitous characters in pop culture. Joe Bob Briggs is probably the more well known contemporary host but he's not enough of a character for my taste.

Beyond those three, there are tons of these hosts! Dr. Lucifur, Sir Cecil Creape, Humphrey the Hunchback, Dr. Gangrene and many more. Most are probably not known to you but all those I just listed all hail from Nashville from the last 60 years. Dr. Gangrene himself wrote a book called Master of Terrormonies that captures the history of these ghouls from 1957 to modern times. We got our copy the other day and I'm excited to dive in.

Along I-65S at the border of Tennessee and Alabama, there was a Gentleman's Club right off Exit 6. It was next to a motel and a gas station. No town nearby. No civilization. Literally a corn field across the street. I never stepped foot inside but I will never forget it. The name? "Boobie Bungalow."

Thanks to the power of Google Maps time rewinding, you can see the establishment right here. Spin that camera around, it's unbelievably desolate.

As I was trying to find out more info about the place, I stumbled on this Bandcamp song paying tribute to it. Honestly, perfect song: I also ran across this Heather Hopkins piece about working at the place for a short stint - "Stripping away my naiveté at the Bungalow Club. As you might have guessed, the gentleman's club off the interstate in the middle of nowhere was not always a pleasant place. Hopkins piece is quite entertaining and enjoyable tho - well worth the read.

The club is gone now. Google Maps shows barely a husk of the prior establishment. I'm sure that's for the best.

But still.. helluva name.