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Norman Blake – Day by Day : Review by Cameron Knowler
Petal Motel is pleased to publish this piece by musician/author/artist Cameron Knowler. We’re aware of Norman Blake’s relevance in the world of guitar and banjo music mainly through getting to know Cameron, and who better to discuss Norman’s latest release on Smithsonian Folkways than his #1 admirer? Day by Day, a collection of both originals and trad tunes, is out 10/22. Day By Day by Norman Blake Day By Day…
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Buffalo Nichols: An Introduction, and a Farewell
Carl Nichols’s soul-baring self-titled debut is out October 15th on Fat Possum (he’s the first solo blues act the label’s signed in 20 years, and, as we discussed, with great power comes great responsibility). I loved Nichols’s work as half of critical folk duo Nickel & Rose, and his tremendous vocals, powerful narrative lyricism, and outstanding playing shine through brighter than ever on this new album. I had a great…
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Shamir – “Gay Agenda”
Fuck. Yes. Philadelphia-based multi-disciplinary artist just released a gorgeous new video directed by Jenny He for his incredibly powerful new song, “Gay Agenda.” Shamir’s unique, melodic voice cuts through the fuzzy noise and layers of synths to condemn socially constructed illusions of reality and proudly rejects heteronormativity and embraces queerness. A true anti-assimilationist anthem. Love it. “Gay Agenda” is a song about radical acceptance internally and externally. We are only…
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Andrew Smith – “Magic Mess”
Today, NYC-based musician Andrew Smith releases a catchy, bubbly power pop late summer anthem. The song, like many of Andrew’s, is about getting in touch with your feelings, feeling them, and staying true to yourself in the midst of stressful situations (his latest EP was called To My Therapist and he says, “Many of my songs are born of reflections I have about my life, or discoveries made in therapy.”)…
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Sacred Bones announces Songs for Tres
On the birthday of the late Tres Warren, Sacred Bones has announced a tribute record of songs by Tres’s bandmates in Psychic Ills, collaborators, and other special guests. Various Artists "Songs for Tres" by Psychic Ills Tres passed in March of 2020. Unable to gather to mourn properly, the other constant half of Psychic Ills, and Tres’s musical other half Elizabeth Hart asked Adam Amram, Jon Catfish DeLorme and Brent Cordero, who’d been…
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Joe Harvey-Whyte on Flatland / Spaceland
Flatland / Spaceland by Joe Harvey-Whyte Joe is a producer, pedal steel player, composer, and visual artist whose work we came to love via his work with the Hanging Stars and on the 15th of October he’ll release his solo debut Flatland / Spaceland, an pair of sister soundscapes inspired by Edwin A. Abbott’s 1884 novel Flatland. Although Joe’s the latest pedal steel player to launch his pedal steel prowess…
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Falling Hard : An Autumn Playlist
It’s fall and that means it’s loner folk season. British folk too, although I really think dead of winter is when Lindisfarne sounds best. For me though, fall is really about classic Cosmic American Music. People like fall, right? I’m not too into the foliage thing, preferring sweeping snow-dusted desert vistas to foggy ochre mountains. Luckily, my falls tend to look like low light making chilly hills covered in yucca…
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Scott Hirsch – Windless Day
Windless Day by Scott Hirsch Scott Hirsch’s magical new album, Windless Day, is out today on his own Echo Magic label. Recorded mostly at Scott’s studio of the same name in the flourishing wilds of Ojai, a place (I imagine) to be filled with the spirits of the former owners of the vintage instruments and gear that give Scott’s music such a classic, polished vibe. “Much Too Late” has all…
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IKSRE – “Pobblebonk” (feat. Luminem)
Today, days away from musician Phoebe Dubar aka IKSRE’s new album, III, Petal Motel is pleased to premiere “Pobblebonk,” a shimmering, effervescent song featuring Luminem. I love the texture field recordings add to a song, especially when it makes me pause my music player to make sure it is actually a bird song and not a friend outside my window. The field recordings stem from the sounds of an elusive…
