Tag: 2020s
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Strange As Angels, Strange As Angels, 2021 on Kwaidan
Billed as “Strange as Angels” the hype sticker calls this “Marc Collin (Nouvelle Vague) presents Chrystabell Sings The Cure.” Marc Collin and Olivier Libaux were the masterminds behind Nouvelle Vague, which released bossa nova covers of new wave songs, playing off multiple meanings of Nouvelle Vague. (Nouvelle Vague means “new wave” in French, and Bossa…
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M. Ward, Migration Stories, 2020 on Anti-.
Tenth studio LP from Portland OR’s M. Ward, released on 2020 as his first on Anti-. (Think of Spring came out at the end of 2020; Migration Stories in April). Produced by Craig Silvey in Montreal with contributions by Richard Reed Parry and Tim Kingsbury of Arcade Fire (and others). There is a “migration story”…
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M. Ward, Supernatural Thing, 2023 on Anti-
M. Ward‘s 12th solo album and followup to his Billy Holiday covers album Think of Spring. He’s joined by First Aid Kit on “Too Young To Die” and “Engine 5,” by Jim James and Kelly Pratt on “For Good”, by Shovels & Rope on “Mr. Dixon,” and by Neko Case on “Dedication Hour.” Includes a…
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Maggie Rogers, Surrender, 2022 on Capitol / Debay
Rogers’ second studio album on a major label, Surrender was a component of her thesis at Harvard Divinity School. Kid Harpoon (aka Thomas Edward Percy Hull) produced along with Rogers and gets cowroting credit on most of the tracks, sometimes with others (Del Water Gap aka S. Holden Jaffe). My copy via the Worcester Record…
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Brandy Clark, Brandy Clark, 2023 on Slate Creek / Warner
Clark’s fourth studio album, self-titled, and produced by Brandi Carlile, who provides backing vocals, piano and guitar on a number of tracks and is featured on “Dear Insecurity,” which they performed live at the Grammys in 2024 – and for which she won a “Best Americana Performance” Grammy. She’s been a great songwriter for many…
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Tinsley Ellis, Naked Truth, 2024 on Alligator Records
Tinsley Ellis has put out over 20 albums between 1982 and 2024, including more than a dozen on Chicago’s Alligator Records, one of my favorite blues labels (founded in 1971). This, his latest, Includes “Grown Ass Man” (which I think should probably be “grown-ass man” since it’s really a compound adjective, isn’t it?) as well…
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Sturgill Simpson, Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 2: The Cowboy Arms Sessions, 2020 on High Top Mountain
Follow up to Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1, released a couple of months later. More bluegrass renditions of Simpson’s catalog. The band again includes many well known bluegrass musicians: Stuart Duncan, Sierra Hull, Miles Miller, Mark Howard, Tim O’Brien, Scott Vestal,and Mike Bub. Although there isn’t an explicit recorded-at credit, The Cowboy Arms is Jack Clement’s…
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Sturgill Simpson, Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1 (The Butcher Shoppe Sessions), 2020 on High Top Mountain Records
Sturgill Simpson is one of my favorite contemporary artists, who generally gets classified as a Country artist but here breaks out into bluegrass. The Butcher Shoppe is actually a studio in Nashville set up by David Ferguson and John Prine. (There’s also a Nashville studio called The Butcher Shop, operated by Butch Walker). The band…
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Various Artists, Everyone’s Getting Involved: A Tribute to Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense, 2024 on A24 Music
Tribute album on Amazon’s label timed with the release of the 40th anniversary restored film Stop Making Sense. Tracklist: It’s fair to say none of these are exactly revolutionary covers of fundamentally mind-blowing – but it is fun to hear an alternative version of a favorite album. My copy direct from Amazon.com
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Dessa, Bury the Lede, 2023 on Doomtree Records
Dessa is a part of the hip-hop collective Doomtree out of MInneapolis – great collection of artists and she is (for me) one of the standouts. She was also cohost of the Deeply Human podcast in 2021-2022. My copy is a signed red-vinyl “Collector’s Edition” via Waterloo Records in Austin TX. Unfortunately my copy did…
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Neil Young with Crazy Horse, World Record, 2022 on Reprise
Great to have Neil Young put out a new album in 2022, his fifteenth with Crazy Horse (including Nils Lofgren, Ralph Molina, and Billy Talbot). Neil Young Archives Official Release Series (NYA ORS) 52. Recorded at Shangri-La in Malibu (Rick Rubin’s studio), and produced by Rubin and Young. Recorded and mastered all analog, as you…
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Old Crow Medicine Show, Paint This Town, 2022 on ATO
Seventh full length studio album from Old Crow Medicine Show, recorded in their own studio (Hartland) in East Nashville, TN. Molly Tuttle guests on banjo on “Bombs Away.” My copy via Waterloo Records in Austin TX, is one with blue sky and yellow flowers – different versions exist with purple, blue, and red variations of…
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Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Weathervanes, 2023 on Southeastern Records
Ninth studio full-length from Isbell and sixth with the 400 Unit – won the 2024 Grammy for Best Americana Album 2024, and “Cast Iron Skillet” won Best American Roots Song. Isbell produced, with assistance from Matt Pence. Recorded at Blackbird in Nashville. The subtitle (on the hype sticker) is “Life And Death Songs Played For…
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Lucinda Williams, Bob’s Back Pages: A Night of Bob Dylan Songs, 2021 on Highway 20 Records
Hard to imagine how you could go wrong with Lucinda Williams covering Dylan, and this collection delivers exactly as expected. Volume three of the Lu’s Jukebox In Studio Concert Series (I’ve got the first three volumes of the seven). Side D is a etching of Williams, from the photo that was used for Runnin’ Down…
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Wilco, Cousin, 2023 on dBpm
Wilco’s 13th full length studio album, produced by Cate Le Bon, and recorded at the Loft in Chicago. The cover artwork is by Azuma Makoto – see Frozen Flowers 2023. Truly a fantastic Wilco album – if you’ve fallen off the Wilco train time to get back aboard. My copy via Waterloo Records in Austin…
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Eli Paperboy Reed, Down Every Road, 2022 on Yep Roc
Reed here covers Merle Haggard. Not exactly what you might expect from the blue-eyed soul singer, who I understand to be from Boston (graduated Brookline High in 2002) – but it is a wonderful set of versions. Liner notes by his dad, Howard Husock, pointing out that country music actually “grabbed ‘E’ first.” Produced by…
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St. Paul and the Broken Bones, The Alien Coast, 2022 on ATO Records
I’m a big fan of St. Paul and the Broken Bones since their debut album, Half the City, came out in 2014. On this record the 8-piece band is founders Paul Janeway and Jessie Phillips plus Al Gamble, Allen Bransetter, Amari Ansari, Browan Lollar, Chad Fisher, and Kevin Leon. This is their 4th studio full-length…
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Aqualung, Dead Letters, 2022 on Okey-Donkey
First studio album from Matt Hales (aka Aqualung) in ~7 years. You may remember Aqualung from “Brighter Than Sunshine” or “Strange and Beautiful.” Illustrations by T.S. Hales “when she was 3 and saw it all.” Beautiful album – a real return to form. My copy via Waterloo Records in Austin TX