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Trevor Beld Jimenez – Faces in the Crowd : Listen
The highly anticipated first single from Trevor Beld Jimenez upcoming solo debut I Like It Here is streaming on all platforms today. I wrote “Faces” on my mom’s piano in a flurry of songs that were coming out and it was the first one from that batch where [my wife] Tania said, “This one is special.”It was when I realized I could make a record. Trevor is a prolific songwriter…
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WL – Water’s On My Side : Listen
Portland’s WL is releasing a new album, ADHD on November 13th on the Beacon Sound record label. The first single, “Water’s On My Side” is out today. “Fusing spacious electronic minimalism, shimmering guitars, and the empyrean voice of Misty Mary, Portland’s WL (pronounced ‘well’) arrive at the end of 2020 with an album of lustrous, crystalline Left Coast pop that is destined to be a trusted companion during the long…
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Return In Kind
This review is part of a series in which I review Neal’s solo records one by one chronologically, and chat with various friends and bandmates who were part of the making of each record. Neal Casal’s 2005 covers album Return In Kind showcases what an absolute head Neal was – the song choices display the wide array of genres he loved. Neal was a perpetual student – he was obsessed…
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Danielle Durack – Broken Wings: Listen
Arizona singer and songwriter Danielle Durack has announced a new album and released the first single, “Broken Wings.” Durack co-directed and conceptualized the winking video herself. The song is “a kind of wry take on my questionable taste in men,” Danielle explains. “The song is pretty self critical, like, ‘why do you keep doing this to yourself?’ But also pretty jab-y towards the men in question. It’s about wanting something…
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Adeline Hotel – Ordinary Things : Playlist
Earlier this year, Adeline Hotel released an album called Solid Love, a really tender, sophisticated piece of art with Brigid Mae Powers adding her heavenly harmonies. The instrumentalism is intricate but understated, resulting in a record of subdued, elegant beauty. As the air becomes crisper, it’s become a go-to. Dan Knishkowy, singer and song-writer for the band made us this lovely mix. Please dig in, and be sure to check…
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Now They’re Ghosts (Autumn Mix) : Playlist
Named after a line from “In The Garden,” the haunting Elvis Perkins song written for his brother’s incredibly beautiful and terrifying film The Blackcoat’s Daughter, this mix has a lot of timely new releases, vicissitudes hopefully interwoven with more uplifting, reassuring familiar favorites. Many of these new releases are staggeringly gorgeous and thoroughly autumnal, to me- quiet, spacious, pensive. Spotify sucks but I don’t know how to make a Mixcloud.…
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Gwenifer Raymond – Hell For Certain : Listen
The Welsh guitar phenomenon has released the second single and video from her forthcoming album, Strange Lights Over Garth Mountain. Her playing is intense, intricate, and absolutely enrapturing. Not a song for soft background noises – this song’s enough to rouse some spirits, clearly. The album is composed of 8 tracks Raymond recorded herself in a basement apartment. Raymond says “I tried to take something of Welsh folk horror to…
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Gunn-Truscinski Duo – Soundkeeper : Review
Soundkeeper is a 72-minute suite of swirling guitar, gentle and decided drums, a cascading sound odyssey. It’s instrumental, but far from ambient- engaging, pulsating, building tension that culminates in staggering climaxes, crashing and oscillating, waves of sound. One song flows seamlessly into the next, only the sounds of cheers from the audience in the midst of “Pyramid Merchandise” rouses you from deep hypnosis to remind you that the sound is…
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Ran On Pure Lightning
This review is part of a series in which I review Neal’s solo records one by one chronologically, and chat with various friends and bandmates who were part of the making of each record. This short and sweet collection of songs released in 2002 came to be after Neal finished a tour as a part of Beachwood Sparks and joined the incredible Shannon McNally’s touring band, along with Neal’s friends…
