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Mountain Music
Soon I will go to the mountains.. these are the songs I’m excited to listen to there. Last week I watched Without Getting Killed or Caught and was struck again at how the songwriters who write these stories of immense sadness and joy have such a lore that surrounds them which makes these stories even more vivid and compelling, and all the more heart-rending. Often the real-life stories are even…
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Bill Callahan – Cowboy
When it comes to songwriting, few compare to Bill Callahan. He has a rare gift for telling the truth without much fanfare, gut-punching tenderness and understated depth, prismatic stories of vivid characters sometimes in the guise of objects or animals. Bill captured my attention when I was just a teenager with his brilliant A River Ain’t Too Much Love when he was recording as (Smog) and every release has just…
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marine eyes – idyll
idyll by marine eyes idyll is the debut record from Los Angeles-based Cynthia Bernard, aka marine eyes. Cynthia is also half of the electronic ambient duo awakened souls. She worked on this album while her children were sleeping or attending virtual school to create this collection of songs that signify the coming of the spring. idyll is a collection of organic materials coming together – field recordings, synthesizers, guitars, and…
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The Howard Hughs Suite & Geir Sundstøl – Afterglow
Portuguese label The Slow Music Movement rounded up 13 songs by artists (some already Petal Motel faves, some soon to be Petal Motel faves) to make songs that explore their respective folk roots but simultaneously look ahead and incorporate fresh, musical innovations to carve out the Future of Folk. Longtime Petal Motel favorite The Howard Hughes Suite teamed up with Geir Sundstøl to create this illuminated first single from the…
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Trevor Beld Jimenez – Get Ready to Fly
Petal Motel is pleased to premiere the brand new video for one of our very favorite songs from Trevor Beld Jimenez’s solo album I Like It Here, which came out last November on Curation Records. Back in the early pan days, Trevor did a lot of live streaming and this was one of the first songs we heard and it became an instant classic, in our eyes. The video is…
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Tan Cologne
Tan Cologne is Lauren Green and Marissa Macias, two interdisciplinary artists living in Taos, New Mexico. Last year they released their debut album, Cave Vaults on the Moon in New Mexico on Labrador Records, followed by a single “Heretic Porcelain” last October. With their sweeping, kaleidoscopic soundscapes that emulate the New Mexico horizon, Tan Cologne’s music has an intoxicating, visual quality. Lyrics work to invoke sensations, vocals becoming another instrument…
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Thanya Iyer – I Like These : Guest Mix
Canadian musician Thayna Iyer’s 2020 album KIND made our albums of the year list and I enjoy it more and hear new things with every listen. KIND goes beyond exploring interconnectivity, sense of place and identity and invokes the need for community care and support. It’s a reminder of what can be achieved with nurturance. Sonically, Thanya’s voice is honeyed and unclouded, an eclectic blend of indie folk, jazz, orchestral…
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Jeffrey Silverstein : Trip Sitter
Today, Petal Motel favorite Jeffrey Silverstein unveils a new track and accompanying video for “Trip Sitter” from his upcoming EP Torii Gates, out 4/16 on Arrowhawk Records. Replete with a heavy layer of acidy, fuzzed-out guitar work, layered with Barry Walker Jr.’s cinematic pedal steel work, this song is a perfect sampling of what to expect from the heady, robust EP – and the video a promise that it will…
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Nashville Ambient Ensemble : Interview
The Nashville Ambient Ensemble, one of the most exciting new projects of Nashville’s continuously burgeoning experimental scene, is releasing their debut tomorrow on Centripetal Force Records. Layers of otherworldly vocal, synth, guitar, steel, delicately mingle and merge into celestial, cinematic soundscapes. The seven-piece ensemble, spearheaded by composer Michael Hix and featuring many of the stars of the scene in their own rite, like Kim Rueger (Belly Full of Stars), Jack…
