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Greg Loiacono – Mystic Traces
Whatever project Greg Loiacono’s involved with sounds quintessentially Californian. Mystic Traces is no different. Loungey and open with a laid-back sound, the album cruises and coasts like a drive down the 1. It’s easy listening in the best and truest sense of the phrase. Between his work with the Mother Hips, the Green Leaf Rustlers, and collaborating with countless other Bay Area musicians, it’s no wonder this album sounds so effortlessly cool. Mystic Traces nods to various genres, from bossa nova to country rock. Recorded in Ojai at Scott Hirsch’s (Hiss Golden Messenger) studio with friends like Kyle Field, Bary…
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The Hanging Stars – I Woke Up in July [EP] : Review
Simultaneously retro and innovative, the Hanging Stars are the best Americana band in the UK since Matthews’ Southern Comfort with their perfect blend of British dream pop and Californian country-rock, like the Stone Roses met Buffalo Springfield. The three-track EP gets its name from the opener “I Woke Up in July,” one of the strongest, most beautiful songs from their early 2020 release A New Kind of Sky. Lush production, the otherworldly quality of Richard Olson’s vocals, sweetness without twee- it’s the kind of song that has such quiet yet big, breathtaking presence that it could cause every person in…
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Pacific Range – High Upon the Mountain
High crested mountain peaks giving way to arid, sweeping, open horizons; lush, ancient forests; hurtling through a canyon before the road breaks open to a vast and sparkling sunlit surf – Pacific Range’s debut full-length LP High Upon the Mountain is Curation Records’ first official release. The album takes listeners on a sonic tour of West Coast sound, the array of landscapes and sensations California offers mirrored by the band’s broad scope of sounds and influences. The four-piece, consisting of singer/guitarist Seamus Turner, bassist Cameron Wehrle, drummer Nate Ward, and keyboardist and guitarist Stewart Forgey, is the latest thread in…
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Bonny Light Horseman at Rough Trade and Levon Helm Studio
It may be 2020 but the spirit of the 1800s is alive and well. I heard Wild Mountain Thyme three nights in a row this week, performed by two different bands. There’s no chance of traditional music being forgotten any time soon, if Anais Mitchell, Josh Kaufman, and Eric D. Johnson have anything to say (sing) about it. It’s an education. Bonny Light Horseman continues the long tradition of reinventing and reinterpreting classic folk music of various origins, from Scottish airs to 1960s Greenwich Village revivalist tunes. Their self-titled record ties a gorgeous knot on the long tangled threads of…
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The Blank Tapes – Look Into the Light : Album Review
The Blank Tapes released their second album of the year, available today on Bandcamp. A seasonal companion to the Superbloom EP, Look Into the Light is a heady, heavy autumnal record. The title track has a funky, tropical sound, a slight departure from their more summery, laid-back stoner jams. The Tapes’ characteristic lushness and fascinating, complex guitar work is present as always; but rather than their usual kaleidoscopic rainbow sound, Look Into the Light is more shadows and flashes of light, particularly songs like “Death” and “Pure Evil.” Sonically, these songs are light-hearted and winking, even with Matt Adams’ crazy…
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GospelbeacH – Let It Burn
“So the music helps, it’s everything. That’s why the album is called Let it Burn because you let those feelings burn. You don’t let the good stuff burn, you let the bad stuff burn.” When I interviewed GospelbeacH’s Brent Rademaker in July, he described Let it Burn as less PCH and more Sunset Boulevard. Let it Burn is the darker side of Hollywood – a drive after leaving a show late at night, past shady figures walking down the boulevard, but then up to Mulholland to watch the light break over the Santa Monica mountains – a beacon shining in…
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Eric D. Johnson with JRAD : Show Review
If you read my review of Gold Past Life, the shimmering, gorgeous early summer album from Fruit Bats, you know that it’s probably going to end up at the top of my albums of the year list. I missed him in Brooklyn last month and I’m going to miss him again in New York in a recently announced November date. Oh, the pains of being bi-coastal. When I’m here, he’s there, etc. I have honestly been wondering if I should use my credit card points to book a one night trip to Milwaukee or Omaha or some such place to…
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Steve Gunn at Industry City in Brooklyn
Every time I’ve seen Steve Gunn has been so special and unique. I’ve seen him four times this year, the first two with fellow guitar virtuosos William Tyler and Ryley Walker, respectively, and once more solo. I didn’t think anything could top the latter – the audience was rapt. You could have only heard a pin drop aside from his silvery vocals and intricate fingerpicking. This show may have done it! Accompanied by a full band this go-round, including fellow guitar master and lap steel Jim Elkington, the music that came from these musicians with talent that quickly proved to be…
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CRB’s New York run – the last American shows
I’ve written about the Chris Robinson Brotherhood many times before. I feel they’re one of the most unique bands I’ve ever heard, playing music like no one has ever made before, drawing inspiration from the Dead, Rolling Stones, the Byrds, and a whole lot of Bluesy stuff I’m only now becoming familiar with. I can’t believe this is it. About a month prior, the CRB announced that their spring/summer tour would be pretty much final, before a “hiatus” that would last throughout the rest of this year. We’ll see. Fans “know” it’s over, but you shouldn’t believe everything you read.…
