January 2024: News, Views and Perspectives

* Nothing has changed in London.  Although many things have changed over the years, the city of London is not one of them.  To this day it remains exactly as it was in 1930.  At one point it seemed as if things there were going to change there but the change never materialized.  Now the city just stays the same forever, and this is just as it should be.  * Some motion pictures are good for a single view.  Some aren't worth watching at all.  But then some can be viewed dozens upon dozens of times and they never get old.  In the latter category are two wonderful movies from the past.  The first is The Party.  Featuring Peter Sellers with a thick Indian accent, this one is chock full of major league chuckles.  The characters in this movie are the best.  There's not much of a plot because there is no need for one.  Highly recommended.  The second movie worth multiple views is Welcome To The Dollhouse.  Perhaps the best and most accurate portrayal of what it's really like to be in Junior High School in the U.S.A. (spelled H-E-L-L), this motion picture is extremely hilarious.  And it also reveals a great deal about the ugly side of humanity.  For a good time check out The Party and/or Welcome To The Dollhouse.  Two often forgotten motion picture classics.  *  If you want to laugh yourself silly, get hold of the first (and unfortunately only) season of the British comedy show Come Fly With Me.  Created by and starring Matt Lucas and David Walliams of Little Britain fame starring in various roles, the show offers plenty of top notch absurd British humor.  It's a shame that both shows featuring these two brilliant fellows have now been deemed inappropriate for twenty-first century audiences.  But that, of course, is yet another reason to watch Lucas and Walliams' brilliantly-crafted comedy sketches.  The great news is that these two gents are apparently working on a new television show which will hopefully see the light of day this year.  *  Looking for the latest Taylor Swift news?  There will be news somewhere.  And the news will be forthcoming on various programs and websites as the year progresses.  The news will be precise and specific.  And the news will focus specifically on Taylor Swift.  *  Airplanes will no longer fly.  Beginning immediately, airplanes will no longer fly anywhere at any time.  This is long overdue as almost everyone stopped using them for travel years ago.  Airplanes are just so...'1997'...  *  How to identify a planet.  How can you tell if a celestial body is a genuine planet or not?  How can you tell for sure?  For years scientists and astronomers pondered this question with very little results.  Then, finally in 2022, they realized that all real planets are stamped on the underside with a string of characters and numbers in small diamond-sized purple letters.  Yes, the letters are surprisingly tiny and, for many, almost unreadable.  This is perhaps why this obvious identifying factor was overlooked for such a very long time.  *  Insects are fishes now.  During the course of the past few months insects have become fishes.  And we're not talking about just a few insects, we're talking about all insects.  Now that insects are fishes, some have been wondering what is to become of fishes.  We're happy to report that fishes will continue to be fishes.  There will just be more of them now.  *  Standing around is the new Big Thing.  Just when you think there won't be any more fads, a new fad pops up out of nowhere.  A few hugely popular celebrities were recently spotted standing around.  This was captured on video and spread across the internet like wildfire.  And now just about everyone is standing around just like their favorite celebrities.  In stores, on streets, at work, at home...just about anywhere.  What will they think of next?  *  Parent is the wrong word.  It has recently come to the attention of many that the word 'parent' may no longer be appropriate in our world.  Accordingly, the correct words are now 'Item A' and 'Item B'.  But this may also present a problem because one person may feel slighted or neglected when they are referred to as Item B rather than Item A.  So the search is on now to find words that will be acceptable to everyone at every time and in every place and in every situation.  *  It now costs $10,500 to buy a dozen eggs.  Egg prices have risen and risen without falling.  They continued to rise when there was no reason for them to rise.  But they kept rising anyway.  It now costs $10,500 to buy a dozen eggs...and that's when they're ON SALE.  The strange part is that the damn things are now selling more than ever.  People want their eggs.  People really really want their goddamn eggs.  *  Orange is IN.  Blue is OUT.  Orange is the new good color for 2024.  People who wear orange clothes and obtain orange things will fare far better than those who do not.  Blue is the new bad color for 2024.  People who wear blue clothes and obtain blue things will fare far worse than those who do not.  Orange is good.  Blue is bad.  Orange is good.  Blue is bad.  Orange is good.  Blue is bad.  Orange and blue are good.  Orange and blue are bad.  *  We're always blown away by the artists promoted by Five Roses Press.  The company's latest projects include Ni and C'mon Tigre.  Fol Nais is the third album from Ni and it presents compositions that are not easly categorized nor understood.  These unusual experimental recordings are threaded with some interesting artistic twists.  The fourth album from C'mon Tigre is entitled Habitat and it features Seun Kuti, Arto Lindsay, Xenia Franca and Giovanni Truppi.  This collection of recordings draws "inspiration from the concept of an ecosystem where various forms of life, both animal and vegetable, thrive and coexist" (quote taken directly from the press release).  Nine wildly creative tracks for discerning listeners.  *  Major oceans will be switching names in 2025.  Due to increased pressure and because of some specific maneuvering, two of the world's largest oceans will be switching names on January 1, 2025.  From that point forward, the Pacific Ocean will be known as the Atlantic Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean will be known as the Pacific Ocean.  The change will hopefully appease those who have been in favor of making the change for decades.  But those who oppose it already have the legal components steadily in place to challenge the change and have the names changed back in 2027.  *  Soap is dirty.  For centuries people have been using soap as a cleanser without realizing how unclean soap actually is.  Each ounce contains over fifty million active multi-germs that can be proactive when used in a declining state of perpetual cleanliness.  According to leading scientists, the dirtier the soap is the cleaner it becomes over time.  In the future soap will be completely clean and germ-free even though it was extraordinarily filthy for a very long time.  *  Snobs are apologizing.  It's happening everywhere.  Snobs of all ages and sizes are suddenly deciding that they feel guilty about themselves.  So don't be surprised if one of your snob friends apologizes to you soon because it has now become an astounding worldwide trend.  If a snob does apologize, just nod your head, look them in the eye and tell them you forgive them.  Give them a peanut putter cracker and a nice gentle scratch on the head.  Then send them on their way.  They will feel better and you will now have extra time to forgive additional snobs who may be seeking forgiveness.  *  Folks with the gift of knowledge know that almost all of the best recording artists and bands in the United States aren't very well known.  We've known for decades now that one of the very best bands in this country is Johnny Society.  The band is comprised of Kenny Siegal, Brian Geltner and Gwen Snyder.  Although they've yet to experience substantial commercial success (which is crazy), each and every one of the band's albums has been a top-notch critical success...and absolutely killer.  The great news here is that the band has a new album out on bandcamp entitled Johnny Society Sings Cheap Trick.  Fans of that band will no doubt love these groovy interpretations.  We're hoping these new recordings will encourage people to check out the band's previous albums because, in all honesty, bandleader Kenny Siegal's songs are even better than Cheap Trick.  And that's really saying something cuz we love Cheap Trick!  Mr. Siegal's voice has to be heard to be believed.  He is one of the all-time best pop/rock vocalists on earth.  We're hoping that someday the fine folks at Cherry Red Records will release a box set featuring the entire Johnny Society catalog.  *  Time references being updated.  Professional specialists have concluded that the way we reference time is far too limiting and prevents us from understanding time from a larger perspective.  As many already know, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years are absurd because everything is tied to how fast our single planet rotates and the sun.  The new idea is to refer to large blocks of time rather than all of these small chunks.  Words that are currently being tossed around include Globby Lump, Megaloop, Wiggy-3951 and Galaxy-Momot.  The chosen word will designate time in a much larger universal unit and will allow us to understand more about how time really works outside of our teeny tiny planet.  *  AND THE FINAL NEWS ITEM THIS MONTH IS... babysue Postcard #6 (2024) is available now and you can get some for free.  Just email your name and address to LMNOP@babysue.com.  We'll also throw in previous postcards, stickers, a magnet and who knows what.  This offer is, unfortunately, only for U.S.A. addresses due to astronomical shipping costs to other countries. 

 

NOTE:  We unfortunately lost some of our listings this past month due to a memory glitch.  If your release was supposed to be included here, send us an email and we'll include it in next month's Notable New Releases.  Apologies to all!

Emperor Penguin - Gentlemen Thieves (Kool Kat Musik).  Semisonic - Little Bit of Sun.  The Orion Experience - Cosmicandy: Deluxe Edition (Sweet! Records).  Ian M. Bailey - We Live In Strange Times (Kool Kat Musik).  Genus Ordinis Dei - The Beginning (Eclipse Records).  Ken Kase - Ken Kase EP.  Andrea England - Evidence of Love EP.  Oblomov - Standard Monstre.  wht.rbbt.obj - Whiskey Hotel Tango EP.  Siger - When We Fly (Trad Records).  Siger - Rodeland (Trad Records).  Mike Ruby - A Million You's EP.  Tom Hanley - Overnight.  Jiants - Tall Tales.  Ordahlia Nera - Mask of Broken Glass (Universal Music).  Wiesinger - Stuck In Your Head.  Norma MacDonald - In Waves.  Sydney Mae - Rhythm EP.  The Flower Bed Popples - Towers of Poppleheads (Dress Lupton).  The Bowling Cones - Out of Our Cones (Libby's Little Label for Lousy Loopers).  Jenner - Prove Them Wrong (Fighter Records).  Shawn Carter - Boston to Bristol (Blonde Medicine).  CatsMelvin -Seasick Circus.  Mipto Kick - Rinse (Wok).  Miss Lice - Nice Lice (Shower Potato).  The Upset People - House For Little Bobo (The Mouse Combo).  Coats For Coats - Lights For Lights (Nook).  Shower To The Pupil - Give Reece A Prance (Too Much Pants).  All The Dumb Dumb - Resist The Master Blink (Rowdy Puff).  Searching For Something New To Be Upset About - When There's Nothing To Cause Frustration We'll Just Have To Find Something Anyway (Row Row).  Pointless Polly - Give Polly Something Pointless (Less and Less).  Paul Cauthen - Room 41 (colored vinyl, Lightning Rod Records).  James McMurtry - Childish Things (colored vinyl, Lightning Rod Records).  Oak Ridge Boys - Front Porch Singin' (colored vinyl, Lightning Rod Records).  French TV - A Ghastly State of Affairs (Cuneiform Records).  Hannah Kaminer - Heavy On The Vine.  Puddle Dobber - Wink Wink Tug Tug (Brunchers).  Howlin' Jaws - Half Asleep Half Awake (Bellevue Music Recordings / Modulor).  Legendary Ten Seconds - The Acoustic Almanac (bandcamp).  Baby Jey - Crop Circles.  Will The Quadrangle Be Broke Up - Fifty Thirty Twenty Zero (5030200 Music).  Little Kitty Kat - Mighty Big Songs For Such An Itty Bitty Kitty (Ranch Dressing Music).  Nervous About Everything - That's The Way It Goes (Rick Rack).  The Silverbeets - Mr. Brown Goes To The Cabaret.

[This section only includes full-length releases and EPs.]

   

  ©2024 LMNOP aka dONW7