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Bill MacKay & Nathan Bowles – Joy Ride : Listen
Guitar and banjo virtuosos, respectively, Bill MacKay and Nathan Bowles have announced an album of duets, entitled Keys, out on Drag City on April 9th. Listen to the first single, “Joy Ride,” below. MacKay has been one of my favorite guitarists for the past few years, recording a slew of artful, interesting albums alone, and with an assortment of various instrumentalists, including fellow guitarist Ryley Walker, cellist Katinka Klejn, and…
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Mason Lindahl – Kissing Rosy in the Rain : Review
Kissing Rosy in the Rain by Mason Lindahl In the last year, Tompkins Square has put out some of my favorite guitar albums that share a warm, intimate vibe – Josh Kimbrough’s Slither, Soar, & Disappear, John Lee Shannon’s In & Of come to mind, records that feel like you’re sitting right next to the player, expressive and bright. Mason Lindahl’s Kissing Rosy in the Rain, while still retaining that…
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Ailsa Tully – Parasite : Listen
Let Ailsa Tully’s latest single, “Parasite,” be a warning. The biting song faces power dynamics and imbalances within the music industry head-on, and Ailsa’s voice makes it clear she isn’t one to be crossed. Ailsa unites the world of her Welsh choral music heritage with field recordings and folk. Her work echoes the experimentation of Julianna Barwick but carries the huge heart of songwriters like Rozi Plain. Writing her first songs…
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Jeff Frantom – Très rythmé
Jeff Frantom is one of my favorite guitarists, a true rising star in the LA scene. Somewhat of a child prodigy, his musical journey has traced quite an interesting arc – from slaying post-metal guitar solos as a tiny third grader, he grew up, went to USC and graduated with a Master’s degree in jazz guitar, started playing shows with more than a few local bands nearly every night up…
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Farmer Dave and the Wizards of the West – FDWOW
Ten years after Farmer Dave’s surf opus Flash Forward to the Good Times, he’s back with Wizards of the West, a collective and constantly-evolving collections of musicians focused on a singular goal of spreading love via music. Where Flash Forward represented water, the eponymous debut of this project is all air and space. That isn’t to say Farmer Dave hasn’t been plenty busy in between, collaborating with Cass McCombs, Jenny…
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Maria BC – Devil’s Rain
Late last year, we premiered the first single from Maria BC’s upcoming EP, Devil’s Rain. Today, they release the title track that sounds like a lost Cocteau Twins demo. Have a listen here. “When I was little, I would spend summer months with my grandparents in northern Ohio. My grandmother would sit with me on the porch during rainstorms and read me chapter books. While we sat on the porch…
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Cameron Knowler & Eli Winter – Strawberry Milk : Listen
What’s better than one acoustic guitarist? Two acoustic guitarists, interweaving and interloping, playing complementarily and conversationally, balancing classic folk guitar elements with modern experimentalism. Also, a fantastic rendition of Michael Chapman’s “Caddo Lake.” Longtime friends Cameron Knowler and Eli Winter offer all this and more on Anticipation, their upcoming record of duets, recorded on the tail of a long jaunt through the deserts and hills of Texas before landing in…
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Kishi Bashi – Early Morning Breeze : Listen
The extraordinarily talented Kishi Bashi has shared a tribute to Dolly Parton via Joyful Noise Recordings on the morning of her birthday from the album Coat of Many Colors, which is also having a birthday this year – 50 years, in fact. The cover introduces a subtly transformed sonic palette, including a short violin solo from the string extraordinaire. “I’ve always loved Dolly Parton,” he explains. “I think an artist’s…
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Sunstack Jones – Last Room at the Petal Motel : Playlist
Golden Repair by Sunstack Jones Liverpool’s Sunstack Jones released an amazing record on Mai 68 Records in 2020 called Golden Repair that I missed when I compiled my Albums of the Year. Had I listened to it in time, it would have surely topped the list. Upon hearing the opening notes of “Where You Gonna Go,” I was already floored. By the end of “Nowhere Near an Ocean”, I was…
