Tag: 2022
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Tinsley Ellis, Devil May Care, 2022 on Alligator Records
Blues traditionalist Tinsley Ellis continues to put out great records, this time (once again) on Alligator Records. This one is all originals, recorded at the Rock House in Nashville and produced by studio ower Kevin McKendree who also plays organ and piano. My signed copy on red vinyl direct from the artist at a show…
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Townes Van Zandt, At My Window, 1987 on Sugar Hill
Van Zandt’s eighth studio album and only one recorded in the 1980s, originally released on the bluegrass label Sugar Hill. I never miss a chance to pick up a Townes Van Zandt record in good shape. Recorded at Jack Clement’s studio in Nashville (“Cowboy Arms Hotel and Recording Spa”) and produced by Clement and Jim…
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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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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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Dexter Gordon, Daddy Plays the Horn, 1956 on Bethlehem Records
Wonderful mid-50s bop jazz record I’d have bought just for the cover illustration by Howard Stabin. Gordon is joined here by Kenny Drew on piano, Leroy Vinnegar on bass, and Lawreance Marable on drums. Liner notes by Joseph Muranyi. This was recorded just after Gordon got out of prison at Chino and before being incarcerated…
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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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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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Jens Lekman, The Cherry Trees Are Still in Blossom, 2022 on Secretly Canadian
“This is a reconstruction / reimagining / excavation of the album ‘Oh You’re So Silent Jens’ that originally came out in 2005″ Jens Lekman is a very intriguing independent Swedish musician who has put out a series of imaginative releases since 2004. This release is a revisit, 17 years later, of an earlier compilation which…
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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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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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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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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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Maria McKee, Peddlin’ Dreams, 2005 on Cooking Vinyl / Eleven Thirty
McKee was the front woman for Lone Justice, who put out two albums in the 80s, but has gone on to a solo career that has resurged in the new millenium. This is a really great and surprising record, including a cover of Neil Young’s “Barstool Blues” and “(You Don’t Know) How Glad I Am”…
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Nikki Lane, Denim & Diamonds, 2022 on New West Records
Nikki Lane’s fourth full length – her third on New West – produced by Josh Homme. My copy is the purple vinyl edition purportedly limited to 300 units per the hype sticker, which I got directly from New West. From the title track: My boss called me up, said if you don’t tow the line…