Tag: 2020s
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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
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Angel Olsen, Whole New Mess, 2020 on Jagjaguwar
Whole New Mess presents new takes on the tracks from Angel Olsen‘s 2019 All Mirrors: though actually the Whole New Mess versions were recorded earlier, in 2018 at The Unknown, a studio in a former church in Anacortes Washington. (It is labeled as “the primer and precursor to All Mirrors“). It was produced by Michael…
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Grandaddy, Blu Wav, 2024 on Dangerbird
New record from 90s indie rock band Grandaddy – their first in ~6 years and the first since bassist Kevin Garcia died. Blu wav is meant to be a portmanteau of “Bluegrass” and “New Wave” but it makes me think of the blue wave we hoped to see in the last election. Tucker Martine did…
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David Porter, Chapter 1: Back in the Day, 2022 on MIME Records
David Porter is maybe best well-known as a songwriter and producer – the staff writer at Stax records who penned “Hold On, I’m Coming” and “Soul Man” among so many others, and who worked extensively with Isaac Hayes in the late sixties and early seventies. He’s also the found of The Consortium MMT in Memphis,…
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Various Artists, The Endless Coloured Ways: The Songs of Nick Drake, 2023 on Chrysalis
Tribute album full of covers of Nick Drake songs, by modern artists including: Fontaines D.C., David Gray, John Parish & Aldous Harding, Ben Harper, Joe Henry & Meshell Ndegeocello, Liz Phair, and John Grant (among many others). This pressing also includes a one-sided 7″ single of Nick Drake himself covering Dylan’s “Tomorrow is a Long…
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The Suburbs, Poets Party, 2021 on Suburbs Music (Self-Released)
Before there was The Tortured Poets Department, there was a Poets Party – the most recent release from reliable Minneapolis art-rock stalwarts The Suburbs. I’ve been a fan since the early 80s, and happy to say they keep making great albums. Recorded and mixed at Dream Hog, which is Steve Price’s studio, and produced by…
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S. Carey, Break Me Open, 2022 on Jagjaguwar
S. Carey (aka Sean Carey) is the drummer and backing vocalist from Bon Iver – he put out a solo album All We Grow back in 2010. Break Me Open is his fourth full length under the S. Carey moniker, all on Jagjaguwar – though he has put out some EPs as well. It’s a…
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Superchunk, Wild Loneliness, 2022 on Merge
Twelfth studio album from Superchunk on Merge, the label founded by McCaughan and Ballance back in 1989. Superchunk came out of Chapel Hill in the late 80s and were one of my favorite bands through the 90s. They’ve mellowed a bit but love this album. Guests include Norman Blake, Raymond McGinley, Andy Stack, Mike Mills,…
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Shovels & Rope, Busted Jukebox Volume 3, 2021 on Dualtone
The third in a series of cover albums by Shovels & Rope, this one focuses on kids songs or songs in lullaby style, thus the “Juicebox” joke in the cover. But these are great versions with contemporary artists, including Sharon Van Etten, John Paul White (formerly of The Civil Wars), Felice Brothers, Deertick, M. Ward,…
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Valerie June, Under Cover, 2022 on Fantasy
Valerie June’s a multi-instrumentalist and singer from Memphis and part of the Broken Strings Collective. She’s known broadly for her unique voice and range across Americana / Blues / Folk and put out this EP of cover songs in 2022. All the versions are wonderful, but I especially love her takes on “Pink Moon” and…
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The South Side Movement, The South Side Movement, 1973 on Wand.
Debut album from The South Side Movement (sometimes written as The Southside Movement) from Chicago. They put out only three albums, one on Wand records and two on 20th Century. My copy is the Vinyl Me Please exclusive pressing for the 50th anniversary in 2023, on brown vinyl, mastered at Sonic Vision by Mike Milchner…
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She & Him, Melt Away: A Tribute to Brian Wilson, 2022 on Fantasy
I love tribute albums and cover albums, and also both Brian Wilson and She & Him (the duo of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward), so this was right in my wheelhouse. It’s their seventh studio album. Nothing very unexpected or out of left field here – pretty straightforward what you’d expect from She & Him…
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Various Artists, Tommy Boy’s Baddest Beats, 2022 on Tommy Boy
I don’t normally chase special releases put out for Record Store Day, but this was an “RSD First” release in 2022, limited to 3500 copies. Great collection of songs from Tommy Boy: Two tracks each from Naughty By Nature and Coolio, otherwise a variety of artists. Some mixed opinions (on Discogs) about the pressing, which…