Hey there Hoddlers. It’s Thursday!
Today’s Song of the Day is by an artist that came up randomly for me on a Pandora playlist last year. Steve Gunn was once a backup guitarist for Kurt Vile, who himself used to front The War on Drugs. The thing I like about Steve Gunn is that he’s an absolutely amazing guitarist who nevertheless doesn’t necessarily play in a virtuosic manner — his songs tend to be repetitive, but have a really groove-able vibe, and listening to his stuff after a while you get the sense that yeah, this guy can PLAY. I consider him one of the best singer-songwriters you’ve likely never heard of.
There are a number of songs I could play for you, but for this one instead I’m going to post a pared-down live concert from NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series. It’s just Steve, a bassist, and a dude with a pared-down drum kit. He plays two songs from his album Time Off — “Old Strange” and “Lurker.”
And now, the news...
Zinedine Zidane has left Real Madrid, effective immediately, which will send the coaching carousel into overdrive.
Leicester City, annoyingly, are close to signing a deal for the transfer of Lille midfielder Boubakare Soumare.
Marcus Rashford has been, again, racially abused on social media after Manchester United’s Europa League championship loss to Villarreal on Wednesday.
Someone actually did a deep dive into Ryan Mason’s tactics at Tottenham Hotspur.
In WSL news, Arsenal have snapped up Japanese international and free agent Mana Iwabuchi, while considering trading Vivianne Miedema to Lyon for England attacker Nikita Parris. Jill Roord has already left for Wolfsburg.