When Kurt Baker relocated from Maine to Madrid, he embarked on a very important musical journey. Not only did the formation of The Kurt Baker Combo allow him to experiment with a slightly rougher garage rock sound compared to his US based KB Band, but he also stretched out further, collaborating with power poppers Bullet Proof Lovers, sharing some excellent punk as a member of the K7s, and even appearing on recordings by Spanish punks Neuvo Catecismo Católico. In all, it was a massively prolific time.
Tag Archives: wicked cool records
DONNIE VIE – Beautiful Things
For power pop fans, singer songwriter Donnie Vie will need no introduction. With Enuff Z’Nuff, he lent his vocal and songwriting chops to a string of great albums, released at a time when a blend of Cheap Trick obsessions crossed with a 60s inspired, flower power cool was decidedly uncool. Their first three albums (‘Enuff Z’Nuff’, ‘Strength’ and ‘Animals With Human Intelligence’) are cast iron classics which still play brilliantly, decades after the fact. During the second half of the nineties and beyond, the band’s tendency to take a cut ‘n’ paste approach to making albums could be frustrating, but for the more patient fan, there was always a little more gold to be mined, and an on-form Vie continued to show his very natural melodic gifts on tracks like ‘There Goes My Heart’, ‘Believe In Love’ and ‘What Can I Do?’
THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #159
Over the past week or two, the amount of submissions for the Singles Bar column has gone through the roof! That’s made it harder than usual to pick the highlights. Regular visitors to the SB will certainly recognise a couple of names this time around as we explore some of the recent offerings from a variety of genres, but That doesn’t mean the selection is predictable. By jumping between power pop, post rock, Irish music, and even something that’s in almost an ambient mood, our choices really highlight some great sounds filling the underground as we head into the summer. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!
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THE REAL GONE SINGLES BAR #149
Welcome back to the Singles Bar, the place where we explore some of the more interesting individual tracks that have landed in our inbox over the past few weeks. This time around, there’s an amazing ballad from a veteran singer-songwriter, some really cool retro vibes from a brand new rock act, a slab of almost perfect shoegaze, and a metal oriented number that flaunts a massive 90s riff with an industrial edge. You’ll also find a piece of Americana tinged pop-rock that shows massive promise, and more besides. As always, we hope you find something new to enjoy!
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RYAN HAMILTON – The Come To Jesus Moment / You May Be Right
In a just world, the name Ryan Hamilton would be one of those dropped into musical conversations often, but over the years, the US singer-songwriter has had to settle for achieving a Marshall Crenshaw-like cult status. Whether as a solo performer or as frontman of the Harlequin Ghosts, of course, he’ll be more than familiar to fans of retro sounding college rock, power pop and indie infused country rock.