Tag: 2020s
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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…
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Willie Nelson, I Don’t Know A Thing About Love, 2023 on Legacy
The missing subtitle here is “the songs of Harlan Howard” – the primary songwriter on all these tracks. It’s a great collection, released on the 23rd anniversary of Howard’s death in 2002. Artwork is by Micah Nelson (aka Particle Kid). My copy is the VMP vinyl edition (which also seems to be the only vinyl…
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Justin Townes Earle, Single Mothers & Absent Fathers, 2022 on Vagrant Records
Combination of two previously released Justin Townes Earle LPs: 2014’s Single Mothers and 2015’s Absent Fathers, issued as a 2xLP release in celebration of Vagrant’s 25th Anniversary on yellow/black splatter vinyl. Putting these two together isn’t crazy, of course – the recording sessions were originally intended to be a double album but turned into two…
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Mose Allison, Live 1978, 2022 on Liberation Hall
Although this was recorded (at the Showboat Lounge in Silver Spring Maryland) in 1978, it was unreleased until 2022 when it was put out as a Record Store Day release. Allison is accompanied by Tom Rutley on bass and Jerry Ganelli on drums. As the liner notes put it: Most of the material is fairly…
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St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Angels in Science Fiction, 2023 on ATO Records
This is the fifth full length album from Alabama’s St. Paul & The Broken Bones, and their second on ATO. Beautiful packing with a lovely lyrics booklet. It’s also a great record, with its origins reportedly in letters Paul Janeway wrote to his (at the time) not yet born child. It’s the kind of album,…
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Mary Gauthier, Dark Enough to See The Stars, 2022 on In The Black Records
I’ve posted a number of Mary Gauthier records before – been following her career from the beginnings as she transitioned from chef/owner of Dixie Kitchen on Mass Ave by Berkeley to singer/songwriter at the Mews in Provincetown in the off-season. The title track is a co-write with Beth Nielsen Chapman: In an ocean black and…
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The Dropkick Murphys, Turn Up That Dial, 2021 on Born & Bred Records
The Dropkick Murphys formed in Quincy Massachusetts in the mid 90s, with Ken Casey, Rick Barton and Mike McColgan – Casey’s the only one still involved as of this recent LP. They created Born & Bred as an imprint to release their own music through the Independent Label Group / Alternative Distribution Alliance. My copy…