Tag: 2020s
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Keb’ Mo’, Good to Be . . . , 2022 on Rounder
Fifteenth studio album from Keb’ Mo’ whose career I’ve followed for a long time, since his self-titled debut (as Keb’ Mo’) in 1994. He’s joined by Darius Rucker, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Kristin Chenoweth (yes, that Kristin Chenoweth) on specific tracks. Nominated for a Grammy for best Americana album in 2023. I was super…
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Dr. John, Things Happen That Way, 2022 on Rounder
Dr. John’s final studio LP, posthumously released by Rounder after he passed in 2019. Guest appearances by Aaron Neville (“End of the Line”), Willie Nelson (“Gimme That Old Time Religion”), and Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real (“I Walk on Guilded Splinters”). Great covers here: Willie Nelson’s “Funny How Time Slips Away,” Hank Williams…
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Sarah Jarosz, Polaroid Lovers, 2024 on Rounder Records
Seventh studio album from Jarosz (who is also part of I’m With Her), produced by Daniel Tashian and recorded at Sound Emporium in Nashville TN. Tashian, Natalie Hemby, Ruston Kelly and others share co-writing credits on different tracks. My copy—direct from Rounder Records’ Store—is a Memphis Record Pressing issue on “purple translucent marble” vinyl.
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Indigo Girls, Look Long, 2020 on Rounder Records
15th album from Amy Ray and Emily Saliers, with guests including Lucy Wainwright Roche, Lucy Jules, and producer John Reynolds. Recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios in Bath and Reynolds’ own New Aer Studios in Kilburn. Loved seeing the Lilith Fair documentary Building a Mystery and the role Indigo Girls seemed to play in…
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Black Pumas, Chronicles of a Diamond, 2023 on ATO
Sophomore album from Black Pumas – following up the giant success of their self-titled debut in 2019 with “Colors” which was a bit inescapable (and brilliant). Doesn’t get as much attention as the debut – the dreaded sophomore slump – but I think it is every bit as good an album. My copy, via Barnes…
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Sturgill Simpson, The Ballad of Dood & Juanita, 2021 on High Top Mountain Records
The seventh studio album from Sturgill Simpson with guest Willie Nelson on “Juanita.” A concept album set in Kentucky during the Civil War, this may be the last album under his own name. I just love Simpson’s approach to music and composition as well as the whole band here, which includes: Sierra Hull, Stuart Duncan,…
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Sir Douglas Quintet, Texas Tornado Live, 2023 on Liberation Hall
Recorded Sept 1971 at the Troubadour in LA, but released in 2023 as part of Record Store Day. The Sir Douglas Quintet, led by Doug Sahm, out of San Antonio TX via San Francisco CA. Great collection including probably their best known song “She’s About a Mover” and “Dynamite Woman.” My copy via a private…
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The James Hunter Six, Nick of Time, 2020 on Daptone
James Hunter puts out records under his own name and as leader of the James Hunter Six, as well as his first band Howlin’ Wilf and the Vee-Jays. Consistent with being on Daptone, it’s a roots/revival R&B Soul sound – his breakout People Gonna Talk came out in 2006 on Rounder. I got a chance…
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Dead & Company, Aces Back to Back, 2024 on Rhino
Series of cuts from the summer 2023 tour of Dead & Company, with Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti, and Jay Lane. Recorded in multiple venues, including the Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington, Folsom Field in Boulder Colorado, and Oracle Park in San Francisco, CA. Sad to hear of Bob Weir’s passing…
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The Mountain Goats, Getting Into Knives, 2020 on Merge
Nineteenth studio LP from John Darnielle and crew, recorded at Sam Phillips Recording in Memphis, and produced by Matt Ross-Spang. Similar crew to Dark in Here which was recorded shortly after this LP. Love the liner notes credits for Ross-Spang: “the man himself, the dude with the heater in the basement, the fellow you know…
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Echo & The Bunnymen, With Our Best Suits On, 2024 on Dear Boss.
Said to have been recorded live in Gothenburg, Sweden on April 24th, 1985 and purportedly broadcast on FM radio., though Setlist.fm has them in Gothenburg on the 25th of April. Dear Boss. (with the period included) is a label focused on putting out radio broadcasts from the EU based on EU copyright law (and sometimes…
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The Mountain Goats, Dark in Here, 2021 on Merge
Twentieth studio LP from The Mountain Goats, recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals and produced by Matt Ross-Spang. THe Mountain Goats this time include John Darnielle with Peter Hughes, Jon Wurster, and Matt Douglas, supported by Spooner Oldham, Will McFarlane, Susan Marshall, and Reba Russell. Darnielle is such an amazing and interesting songwriter. The…
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May The Circle Remain Unbroken: A Stribute to Roky Erickson, 2021 on LIght In The Attic
Posthumous tribute album for Roky Erickson by the same producer who assembled Where the Pyramid Meets the Eye, which was a 1990 tribute album that introduced my to many of his songs (though I also knew the 13th Floor Elevators LPs). Tracklist and participants: Plus a “Record Store Day only” 7″ flexi-disc single with Erickson…
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Chet Baker, Sings Again, 1986 on Timeless
Recorded in October 1985 in Monster Holland, this was released on the Timeless label. Baker is joined by Michel Graillier (piano), Ricardo Del Fra (bass), and John Engels (drums). That means it was recorded after Baker’s “re-emergence” at the Free Jazz Festival in Rio in September 1985. The dedication is “Thanks to Peter Huijts, without…
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David Bowie, A Divine Symmetry, 2022 on Parlophone
Divine Symmetry was first available as a box set in 2022, with 4 CDs and a Blu-Ray disc (or a 72 track digital download). This single LP vinyl edition, with the subtitle An Alternative Journey Through Hunky Dory was released in February 2023. Hunky Dory is one of my all time favorite albums, so getting…
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Freddie Hubbard and Art Blakey, Feel The Wind, 1989/2023 on Tidal Waves Music
Originally issued in 1989 on Timeless Records out of the Netherlands, this was reissued by Tidal Waves music in 2023. Hubbard and Blakey are joined by Leon Dorsey (bass), Benny Green (piano), and Javon Jackson (tenor sax). The last track swaps Lonnie Plaxico for Dorsey and Mulgrew Miller for Green. Blakey died in 1990 so…
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The Robert Cray Band, That’s What I Heard, 2020 on Nozzle Records
Robert Cray (often attributed as The Robert Cray Band) has been making great electric blues albums since 1980’s Who’s Been Talkin’. This is their most recent studio album and won the Soul Blues Award at the Blues Music Awards from the Blues Foundation in 2021. I’m a huge fan of Cray’s approach to the blues…
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Cowboy Junkies, Songs of the Recollection, 2022 on Proper Records
Margo, Michael, and Peter Timmins plus Alan Anton make up Toronto Canada’s Cowboy Junkies. This 2022 album is a collection of covers reflecting their formative influences: Bowie, Gram Parsons, Rolling Stones, Neil Young, Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot, Vic Chesnutt, and The Cure. Some of these songs are previously released on b-sides or other compilations but it…