Every day of this summer we go back to the same summer date somewhere in history
21 June 2026
On June 21, the first summer day in 1969, the late musical virtuoso DAVID BOWIE recorded his timeless classic Space Oddity at Trident
Studios in London.
It peaked at #5 in the UK and #124 in the US. It was re-released several times.
The song launched the fictional astronaut named Major Tom. He would return later
in other songs ‘Ashes to Ashes’ (1980), ‘Hallo Spaceboy‘ (1995) and ‘Blackstar‘ (2016).
Boston-based folk pop trio TINY HABITS will have their
sophomore album, titled Keepers, out on August 28.
The newest single, called ANYTHING HE WAS,
is out now and features The 1975’s Matty Healy.
“The song speaks to a specific loneliness brought on by someone else’s discontent. They’re constantly using you to fill a space that can only be filled by someone else who is no longer there for them. You’ll never amount to them or the cherished moments they shared together.
To those who share this experience (current or past), may this song soothe that loneliness and be a little gift on your path to find the love that you deserve.”
The magazine brings all-new interviews with Mick, Keith, and Ronnie on the new record, “bad politics”, myth-busting, and the ties that bind: “It’s still a bit mind-boggling, even at this age.” Plus, Steve Winwood, Andrew Watt, Darryl Jones, and Robert Smith on the genius of the rock legends.
Also in this issue: Greg Allman, Siouxsie Sioux,
John Coltrane, The Kinks, Daniel Lanois, Mike D
and more.
Reviewed: Shearwater, The Durutti Column, Sari Lightman, Lenny Kaye, Eddy Current Supression Ring, Rodney Crowell, Mojave 3, The Waterboys, May Rainey, The Tokens,
Kraftwerk, Paul Simon, John Lennon: The Last Interview, Dub Revolution, and more.
This month’s Free CD, named Ambient Americana Volume 2, features 15 tracks
of pedal-steel transcendence and majestic drones from Daniel Lanois, William Tyler,
Jake Xerxes Fussell & James Elkington, Andrew Tuttle & Michael Chapman and others.
You can buy your copy and have it sent to your home. Info here.
Reputable guitarist NILS LOFGREN was born in Chicago on 21 June 1971.
Happy 75 to the man who played/recorded/performed with rock giants
such as Neil Young, Lou Reed, and (still does) with Bruce Springsteen (still does).
He also had lots of solo moments with Mountains, from 2023, as his most recent LP.
And his romantic 1979 pearl SHINE SILENTLY is, along with Keith Don’t Go, one of his
most famous songs.
The now 85-year-old singer-songwriter genius BOB DYLAN released one
of his solid gold masterpieces, double LP BLONDE ON BLONDE, today 60 yearsago, on 20 June 1966.
Combining the expertise of Nashville session musicians with a modernist literary sensibility, the album‘s songs have been described as operating on a grand scale
musically, while featuring lyrics one critic called “a unique mixture of the visionary
and the colloquial“. It was one of the first double albums in rock music.
It peaked at #9 in the US and #3 in the UK.
Rolling Stone Magazine called Blonde on Blonde: “the most mysterious, majestic
and seductive of Bob Dylan albums, not to mention the greatest. It remains the pinnacle
of Dylan’s genius. It’s his most expansive music, with nothing that resembles a folk song,
just the rock & roll laments of a vanishing American, the doomed outsider who’s given
up on ever belonging anywhere.” .
A compilation of pictures taken by Jerry Schatzberg (who also took the blurred photo for the front sleeve) were on the gatefold sleeve of the first vinyl pressing in 1966.
Band: WARNING Who: Notorious British
doom metal vets.
Album: RITUALS OF SHAME
Their brand new one
and first in 20 years.
Sputnikmusic says: “It’s absolutely insane how they can come back after 20 years and drop an album of this magnitude. Sit down, lay back and get lost in the darkness my friends.”
It’ll feature a extensive cast of big names such as U2, Primal Scream, Tom Waits,
The Libertines, Steve Earle, Kingfishr, Bob Geldof, Kate Moss, Johnny Depp, Bruce
Springsteen, The Jesus and Mary Chain and a ton more. Full tracklist here.
The album will be available in three physical formats, headlined by
a Limited Edition Deluxe Bookpack. This set includes 3LP, 2CD, and a
60-page book featuring rare memorabilia and liner notes.
Rolling Stone says: ‘The Body of an American’ is a masterpiece of contradictions. One of the realest songs ever written about immigration, also one of the best funeral songs, also one of the best drinking songs. But it’s also the realest song about leaving home and laughing it off, when you know in your heart you’ll never return and you’ll never get over the true love you left behind and you’ll never truly have a home again”.
