So much for a fresh clean start to 2025. Fires are rampaging all across Los Angeles, devastating families and friends, so if you’re one of the few people who check out this blog (thanks, BTW!) affected by that, my heart goes out to you. I’m still getting over a linger case of pneumonia, about the only thing I’ve been able to focus on besides YouTube shorts is the plethora of new music that’s come in over the last month. It’s almost stupidly massive, exacerbated by the holidays, so I guess it’s time for yet another round of “What’s come into my house” for (Un)Focused Definition. Let’s get to it.

• Muddy Waters – “Cold Weather Blues”
• Howlin’ Wolf – “Smokestack Lightnin'”
• Arrested Development – “Never Had Your Back”
• Ulver – “February MMX”
• Sonic Youth – “‘Cross The Breeze”

Starting with a double shot of classic blues. I first got into Muddy Waters as a kid when I found a cassette of 1974’s Unk in Funk at a used store and fell in love. I’ve mainly focused on his more electric years, but knew and heard songs off of the classic Folk Singer from 1964 and, yup…it’s all it’s cracked up to be…Howlin’ Wolf is more of a gap for me, only really knowing his collaborative London Sessions with Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood and others. Moanin’ in the Moonlight was a chance for me, and so far tracks like “Smokestack Lightnin’ (the one song I knew) and “Baby How Long” have the stuff, albeit in a very different vibe from the Muddy…

I didn’t follow Arrested Development back in the day, but came across their latest album in some mix and was completely floored at how vital they still sounded 35 years on from the debut. Their latest Bullets In The Chamber is phenomenal, but lately I’ve been grooving to 2021’s For The FKN Love which this track was taken from…I went on a massive Ulver kick over the last few weeks, grabbing vinyl copies of Blood Inside and their trip 60s cover album Childhood’s End. But over the holidays my mother of all people got me a copy of War Of The Roses, and the opening track exactly reflects my mood on this cold Saturday morning…Theres’s probably nothing much I can add to the Sonic Youth conversation; I plan to review everything I own, so for now I’ll just say I had Daydream Nation on a busted CD for decades, and finally had it replaced with the remastered vinyl.

• The Dirty Nil – “Nicer Guy”
• Kaipa – “Musiken är Ljuset”
• New York Dolls – “Looking For A Kiss”
• Massive Attack – “Teardrop”
• Bob Dylan – It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry”
• Steve Hackett – “Dancing With The Moonlit Knight (Live)”
• Beyoncé – “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) (Live)”

The Dirty Nil were one of those bands my friends and I all discovered at once, with 2021’s Fuck Art. Hands down one of the best pop/punk (HUGE emphasis on the punk) bands doing it right now, and I’ve been playing the shit out of Free Rein To Passions since getting it…If you thought you were getting away prog-free this week, you’re sadly mistaken. I’ve been sitting on Kaipa’s 1975 debut for a while, but didn’t open it until last week. So good, a Swedish response to what Yes and Genesis were doing at the time, and featuring a 19-year old Roine Stolt on guitar…The self-titled debut from The New York Dolls was another one of those “had the CD for decades and only now replaced it with a shiny vinyl” gifts. At some point in the near future I plan to review this back to back with the (to my mind) superior debut from Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers…

My son has recently become obsessed with clips of the show House, so when I told him the theme song he dug was from a cool band called Massive Attack he was immediately interested. So of course I had to get the album, right? I think I still prefer the debut and the excellent Protection, but there’s no denying the moody power of this classic…Hey, you guys hear about this cat Bob Dylan? Apparently Timothée Chalemet did a movie about him? I have no idea who he is, so someone recommended this album Highway 61 Revisited. It’s okay…

Finally ending on a double shot of live tracks: I’ve been on a huge Genesis kick since early 2024, and that extends to the live work of former guitarist Steve Hackett, who has been keeping the classic alive with live albums recreating the band’s classic works. They’re all amazing, but if you want an overview, the double album Live at the Royal Albert Hall is a great place to start (it also features….Roine Stolt)…and how could I NOT end this playlist with a track from the great Beyoncé? I got her Homecoming live boxset for Christmas and damn if “Single Ladies” doesn’t get me shaking my flat ass every single time.

Sorry for whatever image that might have put in your head.

Be safe, be good to each other. See you next week.