Songs I Love Right Now | June 2026

Ted Lucas melodies, Joe Boyd explorations, John Cale, more Indonesian soul, Bahamian gospel, South African Swing.

This month, I went deep on song selections by Thee Marloes and studied some of Joe Boyd’s productions. I especially like Bye Bye Baby, with vocals by Janis Joplin, and the John Cale instrumental, King Harry, which is strange and wonderful. I'll Find a Way to Carry it All sounds like nothing else and I'm particularly fond of the vocal octave shift around 0:45. What is the unusual instrument playing counterpoint to the vocals?

Thumbnail: Japanese artist Yoshida Chizuko, Flower Field, 1975.

Shame on Netflix • Chicken Fried Steak • Chocolate Controversy • Perceptual Ripening • Contagious Laughter • Melbourne Zeitgeist • Trombones

Chicken Fried Steak is not chicken, nor is it steak, as commonly recognized. If you are visiting an American diner, you are likely to find this distinctive dish. Order it. It’s a lightly breaded beefsteak cutlet fried on a flat-top grill. Similar to schnitzel in many ways. The

A Dignified Lake • Trail Running with Kids • Cheese curds and Whitefish Dip • Freshwater Cliff Jumping • Sheboygan is Extremely Underrated • Cleanest Gas Station Ever • Lucky Strike Cigarettes

The world’s largest body of fresh water (by surface area) flanks the shores of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (affectionately known as the “U.P.” in the local vernacular). Due to the extreme northern latitude, the water shimmers from the sun’s sharply angled raking light. The lake is magnificent,

Questionable Bloodletting • Learning highlife guitar • Ketchup etymology • Designer Dreams • Brazilian Hand Lettering • Epic Knowledge Transfer • Paul McCartney’s Sweater Vest

Dream engineers, you have my attention. This start up (Dust Systems) is hacking your dreams with the intention of improving your life. Here’s a page about their work designing dreams for creative joy. One staff person is listed as a “Anesthesia Dreaming Pioneer.” Notably, you can try this yourself.

James Bond and Chicago • This is Really Bad • World’s Best Runner and God • Radical Bench Activism • Furniture Liquidators • Brazilian Gospel

James Bond and Chicago. In the late 1950s, author Ian Fleming traveled the world and compiled his notes into a book called, Thrilling Cities. As an outsider's take on Chicago, and the States more generally, I found some of his passages to be revealing of the time. The

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Shame on Netflix • Chicken Fried Steak • Chocolate Controversy • Perceptual Ripening • Contagious Laughter • Melbourne Zeitgeist • Trombones

A Dignified Lake • Trail Running with Kids • Cheese curds and Whitefish Dip • Freshwater Cliff Jumping • Sheboygan is Extremely Underrated • Cleanest Gas Station Ever • Lucky Strike Cigarettes

Questionable Bloodletting • Learning highlife guitar • Ketchup etymology • Designer Dreams • Brazilian Hand Lettering • Epic Knowledge Transfer • Paul McCartney’s Sweater Vest

James Bond and Chicago • This is Really Bad • World’s Best Runner and God • Radical Bench Activism • Furniture Liquidators • Brazilian Gospel