A ROUTES & BRANCHES GUiDE to FEEDiNG YOUR MONSTER (October 17, 2024)

A ROUTES & BRANCHES GUiDE to FEEDiNG YOUR MONSTER

good news about good noise

October 17, 2024

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

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Bon Iver's musical output has been eclectic to say the least. In advance of his four-song SABLE, EP, New Yorker interviews Justin Vernon.

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Now that Hard Quintet has released their record, we're ready for another supergroup. Silverlites features Joseph Arthur, Peter Buck, Rich Robinson, and Screaming Trees' Barrett Robinson. Read more at American Songwriter.  

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Next week marks the release of Chuck Prophet's Wake the Dead, a collaboration with cumbia ensemble Qiensave. By way of preparation, check out Glide's interview with the Bay Area legend. 

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In one of Americanafest's many notable shows, an ensemble of artists paid tribute to Mary Gauthier's essential Drag Queens In Limousines record. On Friday, Kill Rock Stars will celebrate the album's 25th anniversary with a vinyl reissue. Read more at Grateful Web. 

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We devoted some digital ink in recognition of the return of the Damnwells and their Bad At Beautiful project. Over at Twangville, they're interviewing songwriter Alex Dezen about the experience.

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We've been sharing info about Art Dealers, the Low Cut Connie documentary film (which is currently streaming here and there. Spin spills the beans. 

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Noeline Hofmann's Purple Gas EP will land on digital shelves on Friday. Holler talks to the Canadian songwriter about what's been a whirlwind year.

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Another way to send aid to the hard-hit residents of North Carolina. For the price of a contribution, you can stream Concert For Carolina, featuring regional acts such as Avett Brothers, Eric Church, Billy Strings, and more. 

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Tim Heidecker is best known as a comedian and podcast host, though he's leaning more into his musical side on his Friday release, Slipping Away. LA Times explores the evolution of the funnyman/songwriter. 

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Finally, let's shine some light on a few releases we've added to A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster (our fanatically updated calendar). In addition to the streaming doc mentioned above, Low Cut Connie have announced their first live record. Connie Live is set for a November 1 appearance (Contender). Also mentioned above, the Silverlites are a supergroup featuring Peter Buck, Joseph Arthur and more. They'll be unleashing their self-titled full-length on November 15 via the Sunyata label. Juanita Stein is best known as the frontperson of Howling Bells, though she's been releasing solo ventures for a number of years. She'll offer another on November 29, Weightless Hour courtesy of Agricultural Audio. Benjamin Booker's 2014 debut was a revelation. He's announced his first record in eight years, Lower, to land on shelves on January 24 (Fire Next Time). And Lilly Hiatt has finally settled on a release date for her next collection. Expect Forever on January 31 (New West). 

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LOOKBACK MACHiNE: NEKO CASE

ROUTES & BRANCHES

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

October 16, 2024

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

By the time Neko Case released Furnace Room Lullaby at the turn of the century, she was already dipping into the dark, wild musical frontier for which she would establish her reputation. Her debut as Neko Case & Her Boyfriends colored in the alt in alt.country nicely, though the album stands apart from the remainder of her oeuvre. A live set recorded with the Sadies as her backing outfit, Tigers Have Spoken included an excellent assortment of covers, most notably a memorable run through Dylan's "Buckets Of Rain" and a revved-up take on Buffy St Marie's "Soulful Shade Of Blue", neither of which landed on this list. We did include two other covers, however, in Case's take on Harry Nilsson's "Don't Forget Me" and a gorgeous duet with Eric Bachman on his "Sleep All Summer". We also flirted with the idea of incorporating something from her case/lang/veirs collaboration with kd lang and Laura Veirs, and even reached back to a duo with Carolyn Mark, the Corn Sisters (see also Case's longtime relationship with New Pornographers). As we eagerly await Neko Case's January memoir (The Harder I Fight the More I Love You), we're also curious about recent mention of forthcoming new music, as well as involvement in a Broadway musical, which might or might not be a stage production of Thelma and Louise. There are few voices as wild and as spirit-filled in our kind of music, as immediately identifiable and as uncompromised over the years. Like PJ Harvey or Fiona Apple, Neko Case has long existed in her own lane. 

NEKO CASE: thirty favorites

- "Timber" The Virginian  (Mint, Jul 97)

- "Bowling Green" The Virginian

- "Lonely Old Lies" The Virginian

- "Thanks a Lot" The Virginian

- "Porchlight" Furnace Room Lullaby  (Mint, Feb 00)

- "Thrice All America" Furnace Room Lullaby

- "Furnace Room Lullaby" Furnace Room Lullaby

- "Things That Scare Me" Blacklisted  (Mint, Aug 02)

- "Deep Red Bells" Blacklisted

- "I Wish I Was the Moon" Blacklisted

- "If You Knew" Tigers Have Spoken  (Anti, Nov 04)

- "Favorite" Tigers Have Spoken

- "Margaret vs Pauline" Fox Confessor Brings the Flood  (Anti, Mar 06)

- "Star Witness" Fox Confessor Brings the Flood  

- "Hold On Hold On" Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

- "That Teenage Feeling" Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

- "John Saw That Number" Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

- "This Tornado Loves You" Middle Cyclone  (Anti, Mar 09)

- "People Got a Lotta Nerve" Middle Cyclone

- "Magpie To the Morning" Middle Cyclone

- "Don't Forget Me (Harry Nilsson)" Middle Cyclone

- "Night Still Comes" The Worse Things Get ...  (Anti, Sep 13)

- "Man" The Worse Things Get ...

- "Calling Cards" The Worse Things Get ...

- "Hell-On" Hell-On  (Anti, Jun 18)

- "Last Lion Of Albion" Hell-On

- "Halls Of Sarah" Hell-On

- "Bad Luck" Hell-On

- "Sleep All Summer (Eric Bachman)" Hell-On

- "Oh Shadowless" Wild Creatures  (Anti, Apr 22)

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To enjoy any Spotify ROUTES-cast, just open Spotify and search for "routesandbranches" to access this most recent playlist, as well as many others from past months.  Or click here for a preview:

CHRiS ACKER - FAMOUS LUNCH

ROUTES & BRANCHES

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

October 15, 2024

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Writing humorous songs isn't all fun and games. If a songwriter can't balance that whimsy with some degree of authenticity, it's just shtick. The best americana humorists like John Prine or Townes Van Zandt or Bob Dylan (Guy Clark, Jerry Jeff Walker, Todd Snider, Blaze Foley, David Dondero) can deliver a clever lyric or a funny story, then turn on a dime and break your heart. New Orleanian Chris Acker has been honing those chops since relocating from his Seattle home. His 2021 "Nick and Joe" is one of the most lovely songs you'll hear. On his Odd Ordinary & Otherwise, it rubs shoulders with songs about watching the clothes go 'round and sunbathing alongside a satellite dish. 

Acker has released his fourth record on friend Nick Shoulders' Gar Hole label, a collection that delivers more of these frankensteined songs (Acker's term), assembling gathered lyrics and thoughts that juxtapose absurdity with sentiment. Famous Lunch is a primarily acoustic project that rides on the track linking folk, country and old blues, with Acker delivering his songs in an affable, nasal twang. His supporting band, branded the Growing Boys, twine their warm tones through and around one another, supported by the light-handed production of Acker and percussionist Sam Gelband. 

Chris Acker's tunes linger on details, noting particulars either lovingly or as a goof. Yes, "Swimming In My Calvins" is actually about repurposing underwear for a dip, but the song also imagines bodies coming together, Quiet as putting in a bookmark / Softer than thinking about new socks. With its subtly intricate electric guitar figures, the Prine-esque "Stubborn Eyes" builds on parental expectations, suggesting the image: Now he eats Saltines watching tv / Peanut butter on his wedding ring. There's adoring romantic detail on "Eyelash", blending acoustic and electric guitars: There's an eyelash on her left cheek / Big long dog laying cross her legs. Acker's attention isn't precious or self-important, not as much poetic as it is writerly. 

Chris Acker and his Growing Boys apply a simple and plainspoken accompaniment to Famous Lunch, playing off one another for a welcoming bed of 70s country-folk. "Bunn Machine" adds a bit of electric guitar to the otherwise acoustic blend, with Nikolai Shveitser's pedal steel setting the tone throughout. "Shit Surprise" shuffles along with Howe Pearson's piano and Gelband's drums, featuring group harmonies and the singer noting, I feel her like a pulse in the cut on my thumb. A soft folk-rock track, "Wouldn't Do For You (Buddy)" adds Shveitser's dobro, and "Cursive Proverbs" showcases a strolling piano: I was pumping gas in the August air / Smells like the underside of a fingernail. 

Much of the appeal of Acker's album lies in the ease and looseness with which songs like "Don't You Know (Who I Think I Am)" ramble by in a barroom stream-of-consciousness. But none of Famous Lunch is lazy or throwaway. It might only be after closer listening that the quality of instrumental interplay is heard, or that the smarts behind Chris Acker's seemingly slacker country-folk becomes evident. On "Game 6 Of '86", he delivers one of the year's notable baseball songs, the story of Bill Buckner's fabled fielding error: Known not for his great success / Only for that ball he missed. The album closes with a spoken piece, "11/8/23" that ends with It's November 8th and like every other day / It's unlike any other one. Like Willi Carlisle or Willy Tea Taylor, there is beauty in the burl, and poetry in the plainspoken. It takes skill to sound as effortless as Chris Acker does on Famous Lunch. 

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ROUTES-cast October 13, 2024

ROUTES & BRANCHES

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

October 13, 2024

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

ROUTES-cast October 13, 2024

- Hayes & the Heathens, "Water From the Holy Grail" Hayes & the Heathens  (BoH, 24)

- JD Clayton, "Let You Down" single  (Rounder, 24)  D

- Kasey Chambers, "Something To Believe In" Backbone  (Essence, 24)

- Johnny Irion, "Madman's Scrawl" single  (Blackwing, 24)

- Loose Cattle, "Shoals (ft Patterson Hood)" Someone's Monster  (Single Lock, Nov 1)

- Ric Robertson, "Choices and Chains (ft Sierra Ferrell)" Choices and Chains  (Mandocrope, Oct 18)

- Teddy & the Rough Riders, "Love After Life" Down Home  (Appalachia, 24)

- Wyatt Flores, "Little Town" Welcome To the Plains  (Island, Oct 18)

- Dwight Yoakam, "Wide Open Heart" Brighter Days  (Via, Nov 15)

^ Flatland Cavalry, "Three Car Garage" Flatland Forever  (Interscope, Nov 8)  D

- Bailey Bigger, "Witches and Warlocks" Resurrection Fern  (Madjack, Oct 25)

- Taylor Hollingsworth, "Tommy Was a Rich Kid" Yahola  (Dial Back Sound, 24)

- William Harries Graham, "Philadelphia" Annie's House  (Strolling Bones, Oct 25)

- Chris Acker, "Bunn Machine" Famous Lunch  (Gar Hole, 24)

- Hearts Of Oak, "Exile On Repeat" Valley Of Dark Hills  (Deer Lodge, 224)

- White Denim, "Second Dimension" 12  (Bella Union, Dec 6)

- Current Joys, "California Rain" Easy My Love  (Secretly Canadian, 24)

- Rose City Band, "Lights On the Way" Sol y Sombra  (Thrill Jockey, Jan 24)  D

- Silverlites, "Don't Go Don't Stay" Silverlites  (Sunyata, Nov 15)  D

- Hard Quartet, "Heel Highway" Hard Quartet  (Matador, 24)

- Coward Brothers, "Always" Coward Brothers  (New West, Nov 21)  D

- Shovel Dance Collective, "Rolling Wave" Shovel Dance Collective  (American Dreams, 24)

- Tucker Zimmerman, "They Don't Say (But It's True) (ft Big Thief)" Dance Of Love  (4AD, 24)

- Yasmin Williams, "Cliffwalk (ft Dom Flemons)" Acadia  (Nonesuch, 24)

- Marcus King, "8am (live)" Live From the Bluebird Cafe EP  (American, 24)  D

- Erisy Watt, "Rest" neither either or but everything  (Watt, 24)

- Caroline Says, "Dust" The Lucky One  (Western Vinyl, 24)  D

- Penny & Sparrow, "Cheers To Good Friends" Lefty  (I Love You, Jan 31)

- Ron Pope, "Mama Drove a Mustang" American Man American Music (Brooklyn Basement, Feb 14)  D

- Hayes Carll & Allison Moorer, "Sing Me Back Home" Better Than Prison  (Believe, 24)

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To enjoy any Spotify ROUTES-cast, just open Spotify and search for "routesandbranches" to access this most recent playlist, as well as many others from past months.  Or click here for a preview:

A ROUTES & BRANCHES GUiDE to FEEDiNG YOUR MONSTER (October 10, 2024)

A ROUTES & BRANCHES GUiDE to FEEDiNG YOUR MONSTER

good news about good noise

October 10, 2024

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Just a note of orientation to start things off. We'll be off the proverbial grid for a couple days going forward, so will likely not be publishing our usual Friday or Monday Episode. We'll be prioritizing our ROUTES-cast, which will hit newsstands on Sunday like always. And we'll be back with a full-length review on Tuesday, October 15. 

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If you've been keeping your hurricane scorecard up-to-date, you're aware of the recent devastation in parts of the American Southeast. A lot of artists have found ways of donating proceeds from concerts and albums to the recovery cause. We'd like to point out a new 136-sound collection available thru Bandcamp called Cardinals At the Window: A Benefit For Flood Relief In Western North Carolina. In addition to serving a higher purpose, the compilation features new stuff from folks like Lydia Loveless, Water Liars, MJ Lenderman and so very (very) many more. 

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Wild Pink's new Dulling the Horns has been among our favorite recent releases. Frontguy John Ross has appeared here and there by way of promoting the project. Check out Beats Per Minute for an interview, and Brooklyn Vegan for an interesting report on 10 Songs He's Listened To Over 100 Times. 

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World Cafe checks in with American Aquarium singer and songwriter BJ Barham for a couple songs and some meaningful chat about the band's Fear Of Standing Still. 

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Tim Heidecker's Slipping Away will be coming our way next Friday. In the event you were wondering about his feelings about concept albums, swing by Consequence Of Sound as he recommends ten worthy concept albums. 

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Acadia, the new album from guitarist Yasmin Williams, has received copious praise since its release last week. Case in point, the Guardian devotes some digital ink to a story about how she honed her craft by devoting valuable time to Guitar Hero. 

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We recently announced plans for a generous reissue package for Elvis Costello's classic King Of America record, produced by T Bone Burnett. Never one to rest on good enough, Costello has announced a new TV and recording project with Burnett beneath their Coward Brothers moniker. Please find out more at Variety. 

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We started sharing songs on our last ROUTES-cast from the Better Than Jail compilation, a benefit for criminal justice reform (Specifically thru Equal Justice USA and Free Hearts). The collection features artists covering iconic prison songs, including stuff from Steve Earle, Margo Price, Bonnie Raitt and more. Check out the piece published by Relix for more info, as well as links to the charities. 

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We don't link to enough People magazine articles. By way of rectifying that error, follow the link for a quick piece focusing on the newly released project from Hayes & the Heathens. 

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Holler Country debuts a new song from singer-songwriter Ron Pope, and announces plans for a February album release.

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Wrapping things up for this Episode, we'll mention a couple forthcoming records we've added to A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster, our neurotically-updated release calendar. Flatland Cavalry are celebrating their tenth anniversary with a retrospective. Flatland Forever will offer the hits, some rarities, and at least one new studio cut (Nov 8). Per our mention above, Elvis Costello and T Bone Burnett will be sharing a new project under their Coward Brothers alias. Coward Brothers will be available for your Thanksgiving listening via New West (Nov 21). John R Miller and Rounder Records are celebrating the one-year anniversary of Miller's Heat Comes Down with a new seven-inch vinyl. Wayward Wind will feature two new songs from the sessions (Rounder, Dec 13). The prolific Rose City Band will herald the New Year with another new LP. Thrill Jockey has announced the forthcoming Sol y Sombra for a January 24 release. Finally, also as mentioned above, Ron Pope has plans of his own for 2025. American Man American Music will drop February 14 on his own Brooklyn Basement label. 

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LOOKBACK MACHiNE: RECKLESS KELLY

ROUTES & BRANCHES

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

October 9, 2024

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Reckless Kelly has served as a pillar for our kind of music for nearly thirty years, since brothers Willy and Cody Braun made their way from Idaho to Bend, Oregon, and down to Austin where they settled. With contributions to americana, country, and Texas/red dirt rock, they have maintained a constant presence, and have continued to create consistently excellent music, up to and including last month's ominously titled Last Frontier. As a couple excellent live records have documented, they are notoriously strong performers, though the band's website promises Reckless Kelly will step down from traditional touring by the end of next year. During their time, the Brauns have also earned a reputation for delivering some of the most melodic roots music available, as attested by our playlist below which is riddled with hooks. Like Old 97s on whom we focused our Lookback Machine a couple weeks ago, Reckless Kelly remind listeners of the real potential for popular appeal in roots music. 

RECKLESS KELLY: thirty favorites

- "Walton Love" Millican  (Cold Spring, Jul 98)

- "Back Around" Millican

- "I Still Do" Millican

- "Hey Say May" Millican

- "Drink Your Whiskey Down" Millican

- "Baby's Gone Blues" Millican

- "Wild Western Windblown Band" Millican (20th Anniversary)

- "Eight More Miles" Acoustic: Live At Stubbs  (Valley, Jun 00)

- "Lonely All the Time" The Day  (Valley, Oct 00)

- "Walk Out Now" The Day

- "Crazy Eddie's Last Hurrah" The Day

- "Let's Just Fall" Under the Table and Above the Sun  (Sugar Hill, May 03)

- "Nobody's Girl" Under the Table and Above the Sun

- "Desolation Angels" Under the Table and Above the Sun

- "Vancouver" Under the Table and Above the Sun

- "Wicked Twisted Road" Wicked Twisted Road  (Sugar Hill, Feb 05)

- "Motel Cowboy Show" Wicked Twisted Road

- "Ragged As the Road" Bulletproof  (Yep Roc, Jun 08)

- "Love In Her Eyes" Bulletproof

- "American Blood" Bulletproof

- "Weatherbeaten Soul" Good Luck & True Love  (No Big Deal, Sep 11)

- "Good Luck & True Love" Good Luck & True Love

- "Idaho" Long Night Moon  (No Big Deal, Sep 13)

- "How Can You Love Him (You Don't Even Like Him)" Sunset Motel  (No Big Deal, Sep 16)

- "Moment In the Sun" Sunset Motel

- "Thinkin' 'Bout You All Night" American Jackpot/American Girls  (No Big Deal, May 20)

- "I Only See You With My Eyes Closed" American Jackpot/American Girls  

- "Lonesome On My Own" American Jackpot/American Girls 

- "Keep Lookin' Down the Road" Last Frontier  (No Big Deal, Sep 24)

- "Last Frontier (ft Kelly Willis)" Last Frontier 

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To enjoy any Spotify ROUTES-cast, just open Spotify and search for "routesandbranches" to access this most recent playlist, as well as many others from past months.  Or click here for a preview:

HEARTS of OAK - VALLEY of DARK HiLLS

ROUTES & BRANCHES

featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music

October 8, 2024

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Maybe you're looking for a twelve-minute instrumental to soundtrack your next walk through the fog-shrouded fall forests of the Pacific Northwest. Perhaps you'd prefer something appropriately ambient, maybe with pedal steel, droning keyboards, with distantly thundering percussion. Three-quarters of the way through Hearts Of Oak's sprawling Valley Of Dark Hills, the loose ensemble features just the thing, a shambling piece that might soundtrack a scene from a yet-unmade Cormac McCarthy film. The synth on "Infinite Horizon" is wielded by Aron Christenson, the Portland outfit's usual bassist. In a dark turn of events, Christenson was found nearby a Washington forest trail, alongside his dog, both with bullet wounds. While some details have been gathered since the episode, the murder remains troublingly unresolved by local authorities. 

That's the unsettling setting for Valley Of Dark Hills, the fifth project from Portland's Hearts Of Oak, an affiliation of players gathered by singer-songwriter Nate Wallace, guitarist Ezra Meredith and associates. The sessions began during the pandemic, recorded live on reel-to-reel tape with members and contributors coming and going. While the eventual double-album doesn't directly tell the story of Christenson's homicide, the songs were largely created in the wake of the event, bearing an appropriate weight and spirit, from a punk-roots cover of a song from Portland's legendary Dead Moon to these more atmospheric alt.country pieces. 

More than ten years ago, we wrote in praise of Hearts Of Oak's New England collection, the third in their five releases of outsider shoegaze country, characterized by Ezra Meredith's thick-set electric guitar, Barry Walker Jr's dusty pedal steel, and Nate Wallace's creaking vocal delivery. Of course, we found the whole noisy package wonderful, the sort of truly alt stuff that has been tough to track down since the early days of the loosely-defined subgenre. The act's seventy-five monthly Spotify listeners can probably attest to both the authenticity and the acquired nature of Hearts Of Oak's oeuvre, but they'd/we'd undoubtedly swear by it as well. 

Valley is introduced with the Exile-inspired "A River Why", with slippery guitars and the rare inclusion of horns. Nate Wallace recites his lyrics in a half-spoken, half-sun style, with the simple guitar line intoning behind him. Another of the collection's most engaging songs, "Oklahoma" includes organ and slide guitar for a terrifically sloppy 70s country-rocker. Both "Bandits" and "Boat" favor sharp twin guitars, alternately murmuring, chiming, and fuzzing. 

Over sixteen tracks and two LPs, Hearts Of Oak include a handful of carefully chosen covers, none of which would be familiar to most listeners. With Meredith's muscular lead, "Spectacle", their Dark Moon tribute, is a perfect punk-forward garage nugget. "Dearly Departed", a little-known cut from the late Mike 'Reno' Lund's Drugstore Cowboy outfit, launches an extended guitar barrage and sorrowful synth strings. Valley Of Dark Hills closes with a live two-song recitation from a rare Meredith Brothers Band record, landing like another early alt.country throwback from a day when punk and country weren't as disparate. 

Amidst all the weightiness and the noise, Nate Wallace drops a handful of beautifully fractured folk cuts, songs that emphasize the Dylan in his delivery. "Wearisome Traveler" recalls Time Out Of Mind-era Dylan in its nod to 60s folk and spare piano accompaniment. Backing vocalist Sarah Gwen trades lead on "We're Both Wild", and "Exile On Repeat" is another quieter number featuring Walker's steel. See also "Nothing To Do But Plow", which leans into 70s country-soul. 

On Valley Of Dark Hills, Hearts Of Oak have created a stormy album in the wake of unimaginable circumstances. While the band cleaves closer to their country roots, their overcast spirit resembles Jason Molina's Crazy Horse-inspired records with Magnolia Electric Co. Released on Portland's Deer Lodge, a selective label run by Ezra Meredith, they face an uphill battle to disseminate their worthy music far beyond their immediate Northwest environs. That said, Hearts Of Oak fulfill a need for a strain of alt.country that is hinted at by Trummors, SUSS, or the late Richmond Fontaine, something that merits listening from a wider audience that surely exists. We'll accept the challenge of raising Hearts' Spotify listener base into triple digits. 

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