You have reached a quiet bamboo grove, where you will find an eclectic mix of nature, music, writing, and other creative arts. Tao-Talk is curated by a philosophical daoist who has thrown the net away.
Who knows how long this surfing Release Radar weekly playlists will last this time, but I am enjoying hearing new, old, and refashioned tracks of old and new musicians and musical collaborations. I will be including only music that strikes a chord with me in some way. Hope you enjoy one, some, or all of these tunes.
First is a song that is getting some good marketing. “Human Mind,” from Sad and Beautiful World (2025) by Mavis Staples.
Mavis Staples (b. 7/10/39) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer and civil rights activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family’s band the Staple Singers, of which she is the last surviving member. From Mavis’ website:
Grim days call for fierce love. And Mavis Staples, one of the most enduring figures in American music, is laying it down. Sad And Beautiful World is the latest solo album from a national treasure and multigenerational talent. On her new record, Mavis stands side by side with us in the face of dangers she knows all too well, at a time when more and more people have reason to wonder who and what could be lost.
Sad And Beautiful World was produced by Brad Cook, known for his work with Bon Iver, Waxahatchee, and Nathaniel Rateliff, among other artists. The record spans seven decades of the American songbook — a range nearly as vast as Mavis’ career — and includes reinventions of timeless songs as well as original music.
I was blessed enough to see Mavis perform this on Colbert last week (via YouTube of course):
“Are You Strong Enough,” by Trey Hensley is from a 2025 compilation, “Night of the Orphan Train Original Soundtrack, from the Musical Novel by Brent Maher,” which has 23 songs by various artists. Of course, I had to learn what The Orphan Train was about. From a website, I found out about it and a track listing as well:
This musical novel brings to life the untold story of over 250,000 homeless orphans who were swept off the streets of NY City and shipped off on boxcars to every state in the Union during the late 1800’s to the early 1920’s. The songs weave in and out of the saga and tell us the story of three of these children who we meet at the age of eleven years old and follow their life’s journey.
Also, I wrote about Trey Hensley last year. Read about him HERE.
“I’d Rather be High – Venetian Mix — Alt” by David Bowie, from, “I Can’t Give Everything Away,” a digital release EP, released on 10/24/25. The EP has 5 songs on it. Per The Bowie Bible, ‘I’d Rather Be High’ is the eighth song on The Next Day, David Bowie’s penultimate studio album, released March 2013. The song’s protagonist is a seventeen-year-old soldier, seeking mental escape from his service by dreaming of Berlin, London, and Cairo, and wishing to be anywhere but “training these guns on the men in the sand”.
“Exit,” by the Black Crowes is a single off of a 2025, 2-song release, with, “Bitter, Bitter You” being the other song on it. The cover it uses was on their Amorica album. If this doesn’t dig deep into your dirty rock and roll heart, I don’t know what will. The Robinson Boys got it going on. Doing a little more research about the cover, the photo was taken from the cover of the July 1976 issue of Hustler magazine. There was all kind of censorship going on with it when it showed up on their album back then.
“A Certain Girl,” (featuring Chryssie Hynde) is the 4th track on Ronnie Wood‘s 4-track EP, “Fearless,” released in September of this year. The author/composer is Naomi Neville. There is something so delicious about this song, I was instantly hooked by it. While at YouTube, I also saw Ronnie just released a “Fearless Anthology: 1965 – 2025” that includes the 4 songs from the EP.
“The Less I Know” by Julianna Riolino is another cut off of her new, “Echo in the Dust” album. I picked another song of hers on last week’s FFF. I like this one as much or better than last week’s choice. As a refresher, she is described as a Toronto alt-country artist. Prior to going solo, Riolino had been part of a band, the Outfit. She said her role in the band was largely vocals. In 2022, her debut solo album, All Blue, was released. Her 2nd studio album, Echo in the Dust, was released in October of this year. Find a full review of the album at Exclaim.com.
Last track this week is by a band that keeps popping up and grabbing my attention. The sound is different, kind of strange, but compelling. Per wikipedia, The Growlers is an American band from southern California. They began their career in the Orange County city of Dana Point, California in 2006. They are currently based in Costa Mesa. The band is currently composed of singer Brooks Nielsen and keyboard player/guitarist Kyle Straka. They have released seven albums, several EPs and a number of singles. The band’s sound has been described as “a trademark style of music that somehow combines surf, pop, rock and beat” which has been labeled “Beach Goth.” “One Million Lovers,” is from their 2013 album, “Hung at Heart.”
I did a story based on the Orphan train not too long ago. Trey kind of gives me hints of Randy Travis. Chryssie Hynde is a longstanding fav of mine- so I was thrilled to hear this track she sis with Ronnie Wood. As always thanks for the intros, Li.
Will you please give me the link for your story? I love Trey’s voice, and he is one heck of a good guitarist also. Just happened across with him when he was with the Taj Mahal Quartet (plus two, him and his duet partner Rob Ickes) on a live album they did last year. About Chryssie, I have learned a lot about her since starting this blog! She is a woman with a wonderful rock and roll history. You are welcome on the intros <3
Not particularly, but my boss was friends with Devo they went to highschool together and she was like mid thirties when I knew her and they were still friends. I was into heavier music then so that new wave sound wasn’t for me.
Mavis Staples…no one beats her in just pure soul. I saw her in 2016 opening for Dylan…wonder singer and full of cool stories.
Trey Hensley…I’ve heard of him….good song.
Bowie….thats a good track…I never heard that before….really good.
Black Crowes…probably my favorite band of the 90s…because they were such a throwback to the 70s Faces.
Chryssie Hynde…cool…I love the 60s feel on this song…and the backups.
Julianna Riolino…that is pure joyful power pop…love the jangle
The Growlers…love their name…and what a mix of music that is in one song. LOVE the video as well.
Max, thank you for giving them a chance and also commenting on each. I remember you sayin before that Mavis and Bob had a thing at one time? Or Mavis wanted a thing with him? Happy to introduce you to the Bowie song, brand new to me also, makes me want to seek out the original album it was on. Have you heard the new Black Crowes album? I heard one song off of it but want to hear the rest. Yes on Growlers video.
Yes they did and it was hilarious how she kept calling him Bobby. You think of Bob as this important person and she just treated him like I do my friends…I can’t explain it but it was odd but the crowd loved it.
No I haven’t heard the new Black Crowes album…or the new Alice Cooper album. I need to catch up on these…that Bowie song has an instant classic sound.
Wow Mavis sounds better than ever. Funny, I just pulled her CD You Are Not Alone off the shelf to play.
The other songs I really like are Trey Hensley and Chrissie/Ronnie.
The Orphan Train is just another example of history everyone should know that, if it was ever taught before, will certainly never be taught in the whitewash of MAGA. Sigh. (K)
K, I’ve watched/listened to the Mavis one multiple times in the last week. Agreed on Orphan Train, just learned about it looking up Trey’s song. I want to hear the whole album now.
Once again, you got a rich harvest out of your Spotify Release Radar. Thanks to you, I revisited “my” version of the playlist and decided to pick a song for my upcoming Sunday feature.
As already alluded, I like all of your picks here, but the standout has to be Mavis Staples. I featured the tile title track of her new album in my new music review last Saturday. Listening to (and how watching) her just gives me chills. There’s so much gospel and soul in her singing, and her at times slightly breaking voice only adds to her power – just incredibly compelling!
Tao Talk 
I did a story based on the Orphan train not too long ago. Trey kind of gives me hints of Randy Travis. Chryssie Hynde is a longstanding fav of mine- so I was thrilled to hear this track she sis with Ronnie Wood. As always thanks for the intros, Li.
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Will you please give me the link for your story? I love Trey’s voice, and he is one heck of a good guitarist also. Just happened across with him when he was with the Taj Mahal Quartet (plus two, him and his duet partner Rob Ickes) on a live album they did last year. About Chryssie, I have learned a lot about her since starting this blog! She is a woman with a wonderful rock and roll history. You are welcome on the intros <3
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https://violetslentz.home.blog/2025/07/16/dishwashin-time/ I spent a decade or so in the Akron OH area- which is where Chryssie Hynde is from- so I have been following her career since the early 80’s.
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Thanks for the link, V. I had a couple of Pretenders albums but didn’t know much about her. Are you a DEVO fan also? ( I think they are from Akron?)
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Not particularly, but my boss was friends with Devo they went to highschool together and she was like mid thirties when I knew her and they were still friends. I was into heavier music then so that new wave sound wasn’t for me.
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Thanks for the introductions here, Lisa. I enjoyed The Growlers video, which I thought created a cool vibe to match the song.
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You are welcome, Bruce. This song is representative of their music, and yes, that video is pretty neat.
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Mavis Staples…no one beats her in just pure soul. I saw her in 2016 opening for Dylan…wonder singer and full of cool stories.
Trey Hensley…I’ve heard of him….good song.
Bowie….thats a good track…I never heard that before….really good.
Black Crowes…probably my favorite band of the 90s…because they were such a throwback to the 70s Faces.
Chryssie Hynde…cool…I love the 60s feel on this song…and the backups.
Julianna Riolino…that is pure joyful power pop…love the jangle
The Growlers…love their name…and what a mix of music that is in one song. LOVE the video as well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Max, thank you for giving them a chance and also commenting on each. I remember you sayin before that Mavis and Bob had a thing at one time? Or Mavis wanted a thing with him? Happy to introduce you to the Bowie song, brand new to me also, makes me want to seek out the original album it was on. Have you heard the new Black Crowes album? I heard one song off of it but want to hear the rest. Yes on Growlers video.
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Yes they did and it was hilarious how she kept calling him Bobby. You think of Bob as this important person and she just treated him like I do my friends…I can’t explain it but it was odd but the crowd loved it.
No I haven’t heard the new Black Crowes album…or the new Alice Cooper album. I need to catch up on these…that Bowie song has an instant classic sound.
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Did you notice that the first 3 songs are anti-war songs?
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Yes I did! I noticed as I was going down it. You picked well Lisa…I liked all of them.
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Wow Mavis sounds better than ever. Funny, I just pulled her CD You Are Not Alone off the shelf to play.
The other songs I really like are Trey Hensley and Chrissie/Ronnie.
The Orphan Train is just another example of history everyone should know that, if it was ever taught before, will certainly never be taught in the whitewash of MAGA. Sigh. (K)
LikeLiked by 1 person
K, I’ve watched/listened to the Mavis one multiple times in the last week. Agreed on Orphan Train, just learned about it looking up Trey’s song. I want to hear the whole album now.
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I bet it’s great.
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Once again, you got a rich harvest out of your Spotify Release Radar. Thanks to you, I revisited “my” version of the playlist and decided to pick a song for my upcoming Sunday feature.
As already alluded, I like all of your picks here, but the standout has to be Mavis Staples. I featured the tile title track of her new album in my new music review last Saturday. Listening to (and how watching) her just gives me chills. There’s so much gospel and soul in her singing, and her at times slightly breaking voice only adds to her power – just incredibly compelling!
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Glad you liked the tunes and totally agree on Mavis.
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