We'll run like we're awesome, totally genius...
First, the mandatory question. It's The Trash Can Sinatras or the plain & shorter Trashcan Sinatras? I discovered them as the first option, so that's why I'm sticking with it. When Internet & mp3 weren't so all over the place, and discovering music was quite a bit harder (but much more exciting), there were those sort of compilations folders in the computers made after too many hours of song-hunting. I had one (no kidding) named Scotland unknowns (work in progress) and my two standouts there were 'Obscurity Knocks' and 'Maybe I Should Drive' (I just tossed a coin to choose between the two!). It took me a while to properly listen to 'Cake', the majestic album that included the two gems. What a glorious record, still sounding as emotional and fresh as the first day I listened. Of course, there's the guitar lines, inviting and gently at first, more upbeat and anthemic as the chorus arrives, preparing the listener for the whole burst of pop adrenaline (the harmonies before the final rush, gosh!) arriving in its mesmerizing last minute. But there were also the lyrics, which I guess helped A LOT to make the difference back then... You know when you discover a song at the right age and seems is talking about you? That's 'Obscurity Knocks' for me, with the killer line "looking at my watch and i’m half-past caring". The bites behind the beauty, the knocks of light beneath the darkness or viceversa.. What a song, what a band!
My beloved Neil Finn is, of course, the one who "blame". I got so obsessed with his music (solo, Crowded House, with his brother Tim, with Splitz Enz that makes me remember he might have another well-deserved spot in this section) that it was "mandatory" for me to seek for likewise artists/bands. It wouldn't take too long (sorry about that) for Paul's tunes to conquer me... I mean, how many songs as instantly addictive as 'Before Too Long' or 'Leaps and Bounds' (choruses, choruses, choruses!) can you resist before converting yourself into a devoted fan. The surprise (same as what happened with Crowded House, and sadly very similar with all the stunning music coming from the Antipodes) was discovering Kelly was pretty huge in Australia while he was mostly unknown here. So there was plenty to hunt back and got in love with. 'Careless', 'Dumb Things', 'To Her Door', 'Deeper Water'. Besides, Paul is also a great storyteller (please listen to 'Bradman'!)... for God's sake, he even wrote a tune, 'Everything's Turning Into White', and named an entire album, 'So Much Water Close to Home', based on Raymond Carver stories, beat that! I could go on for days as, like Neil, Paul Kelly is simply one of pop finest craftsmen. So when the two gathered in 2012-2013 for that 'Goin' Your Way' tour/album together it was a true feast... and a natural "match", made in music heavens (and I'll blame myself forever for not living there, what a magic bunch of concerts must had been). A maestro "found" thanks to another maestro.
Danny de la Matyr. Born & raised in Dallas, Texas, and following the footsteps of his father, a country musician, Danny quickly blossomed into a gifted artist (he majored in painting and drawing) within the emergent scene around Denton. Aside playing in a renowned Beatles cover band, A Hard Night’s Day, he fronted The Days, a celebrated local power-pop combo who published one album 'The Mystery Of The Watched Pot' in 1996 before calling it a day. Then De La Matyr moved to L.A., making himself a name as in-demand guitarist/singer (playing for Rhett Miller, Jesse Malin or Lukas Haas), while he assembled another short-fated band, The Sheers, who recorded LP 'Goodbye World' in 2006. Next step for Danny was backing Luther Russell on several albums and tours, as well as contributing harmonies to the self-titled debut album by Those Pretty Wrongs, Luther’s project with Big Star's legend Jody Stephens. In return, Luther got in charge of production duties of De la Matyr's first solo album, which got an anticipated release with the 7" 'Lines b/w “How Can It Be' in late 2013. Now, since February 2017, and thanks to our beloved Pretty Olivia Records, 'Crybaby' has seen the light of day. I could remark Danny's masterful songcrafting, his arresting voice... but these would be understatements. Let me say it sounds as exciting, haunting and disarming as finding there was another amazing Big Star record "missing", waiting to be discovered. This Blog album of the year so far...
Blushing. And we remain in Austin for our last discoverer of the week, this promising dream-pop/shoegaze quartet (as a curiosity, formed by two married couples) formed in the summer of 2015, when Michelle Soto found the right music companion for her guitar compositions in Christina Carmona, quickly enlisting their respective husbands's talents on drums and lead guitar to assemble a proper band. Now we can enjoy their self-released debut EP 'Tether', out since January 13th, four tunes that are able to channel the eerie atmospheres of dream-pop, the most serene, ecstatic beauty of shoegaze, and the knack for pop melodies of, let's say, Lush or even The Sundays. A blissful beginning for a must-follow band. 
One thing is for certain. I’ll try to watch every film that Kelly Reichardt’s direct. In a time and age of an epidemy of movie superheroes (OK, some of them might not be that bad) and hipster movies as shallow as a perfume ad, she’s a real, refreshing, major hope. Subtle, heartfelt, not pleasing in a Hollywodesque (yeah, I mean simplistic) or Drivesque way (yeah, I mean fake, artificial), yet absorbing and, what’s even more important, enduring. ‘Certain Women’ is another example of Reichardt’s fascinating and commanding talents.
Once started, I couldn't help but keep the "hunting" among the music treasures awaiting me from the Antipodes. Can't remember exactly where or how (I'm pretty sure some lost text within the Internet) that was defining Look Blue Go Purple (LBGP) as the 'female Bats'. Of course, had to check them immediately. And yes, I did understand the comparison. But no, they deserved attention on their own, not because gender issues or a similitude to amazing bands. 'Bewitched', there has never been an EP name more appropriate to reflect its content. There's something chilling, mysterious (can I say otherworldly?) yet instantly melodic and catchy in the quintet's indiepop approach (hints of baroque pop as well as folk), a pretty short career with so many stunning pieces (at least, check their 'Compilation' album folks, you won't regret it). It's been a very close fight between 'As Does the Sun' versus 'Circumspect Penelope', with 'I Don't Want You Anyway' and 'Cactus Cat' ranking closely behind, but Norma O'Malley's flute makes the difference here, adding a sylphlike, intangible quality to a tune that flourishes thanks to their trademark Byrdesque guitar lines and the captivating echo that propels the vocal harmonies. I always think LBGP tunes would fit majestically in an adventure movie or book, when the hidden treasure is discovered, revealing itself as something antique and for sure, unique, but what's even more important, everlasting... like their music. 