ROUTES & BRANCHES 
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
December 15, 2019
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Once we float our year-end lists, the second-guessing and self-doubt begins.  Yola and Brittany Howard flipped and flopped between numbers one and two.  I sought professional help for depression related to having to leave records by Joan Shelly, Bill Callahan and TK & the Holy Know Nothings off my list.  And I continued to plow the 'nets in search of lists from other bloggers to reinforce my feeling that it's all just relative anyway.  More than anything, I love the prospect of putting 2019 behind us and turning our gaze to whatever the New Year has to offer.

Last couple years we've spent an Episode asking some of our favorite artists what they've been spinning on their in-dash turntables this year.  As always, folks were generous and thoughtful in their respective responses, with some writing veritable reviews like I like.

Fernando Viciconte's Traitors Table landed near the top of my own list, an underappreciated volley across the proverbial bow of our socio-political establishment.  Fernando tagged a trio of records as among his favorites:

Those Pretty Wrongs-Zed for Zulu
Beautiful power pop with lovely melodies and personal lyrics from Jody Stephens of Big Star and my partner in crime Luther Russell. Recorded impeccably at the legendary Ardent Studios, the album captures the spirit of Big Star and The Beatles without aping them which is a hard line to walk.  

The Delines- The Imperial
Elegantly produced country soul record with impeccable lyrics from my longtime pals and touring mates was one my favorites. I  toured in the EU with The Delines to promote their Colfax release so I was fortunate enough to be able to hear the band work out a few the songs that would appear on this release and I think they were able to capture the intimacy of the songs very well on this recording. 

 Adam Faucett- It Took the Shape of a Bird
As the album title suggest, this a collection of songs that is full of mystery and unbridled passion. I was also fortunate enough to be able to tour with Adam a few years ago and I have been left humming his wonderful songs until the very present! One of my favorite young songwriters and in my opinion, he is at the peak of his powers with this collection of songs. 

Way back in May, we called Massy Ferguson's Great Divides, a terrific sounding collection that stays true to their pocket while assuring an alt.edge that sets the stage for subsequent projects.  Frontguy Ethan Anderson shared some high praise for a pair of his own favorite projects:

Ian Noe's record Between the Country was probably my favorite release of the year. I happened to rent a car this spring around the time of its release and it happened to have XM radio, that radio happened to be on the Outlaw Country station, that station happened to play "Barbara's Song". I was drawn in by the imagery and poetry of Noe's songwriting -- like, there's this line in the third verse of "Barbara's Song"  about a violin player playing a number while on a train that is off the rails and falling off a bridge -- lyrics that take risks and songs that remind you of something you've heard a long time ago -- in the best possible way.  That's probably the best way to describe Between the Country. So damn good.

Also, I might be biased because we did a little touring and even sat in on a couple songs with Peter Bruntnell but his new record King of Madrid was the record I probably bonded with the most. There's something to seeing an artist night after night and really having a chance to digest a song multiple times live. "Broken Wing" is my favorite track off that record. Pete knocked me out with his interesting alternate tunings, his phrasing, his ability to inhabit his own sonic space right from his first note. If I'm being honest, though, my favorite song he ever wrote was an older song called "Yuri Gagarin" and I had a chance this summer to sit in on bass on that song, which is about the first man in space. I'm waiting for him to write that song about the first dog in space too, which I assume will be equally as good (laughs).

Finally, M Lockwood Porter (^) unleashed his Communion in the Ashes back in March, a rabble-rousing collection that's challenged and comforted us throughout the year.  Max writes: I made more of an effort than usual to keep up with new music this year and, as a result, have a lot of favorite albums. Here is a list of 20 albums that I loved this year, in the order that they were released!

Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow
Steve Gunn - The Unseen In-Between
Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center
William Tyler - Goes West
hand habits - placeholder
Jenny Lewis - On The Line
Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising
Damien Jurado - In The Shape Of A Storm
Anna Tivel - The Question
Matthew Milia - Alone at St. Hugo
Caroline Spence - Mint Condition
Big Thief - U.F.O.F
Purple Mountains - Purple Mountains
Beth Bombara - Evergreen
Justin Peter Kinkel-Schuster - Take Heart, Take Care
Beau Jennings & The Tigers - The Thunderbird
Hiss Golden Messenger - Terms Of Surrender
Brittany Howard - Jaime
John Calvin Abney - Safe Passage
Wilco - Ode To Joy

We'll do our best to share a couple more of these lists as space and time permit (though we like to think of ourselves as impervious to those forces).  You'll also want to look this way the first week of 2020, as we share our favorite CDs of the past decade.

For today's Episode, we've assembled thirty songs, most from albums that await us in the New Year.

- Clutch, "Fortunate Son" single  (Weathermaker, 19)  D
- Mountain Man, "You and I" single  (Nonesuch, 19)  D
- Khruangbin & Leon Bridges, "Texas Sun" Texas Sun EP  (Dead Oceans, Feb 7)  D
- Bill Fay, "Love Will Remain" Countless Branches  (Dead Oceans, Jan 17)
- Fruition, "Dawn" Broken at the Break of Day  (Fruition, Jan 17)  D
- Gill Landry, "I Love You Too" Skeleton at the Banquet  (Loose, Jan 22)  D
- Bart Budwig, "Sock Song" Another Burn on the Astroturf  (Fluff & Gravy, Jan 24)
- Possessed by Paul James, "Be At Rest" As We Go Wandering  (Wert, Jan 31)  D
- Son Little, "Mahalia" Aloha  (Anti, Jan 31)  D
- Cave Flowers, "Country Fan" Cave Flowers  (Hard Bark, Jan 31)  D
- John Moreland, "Harder Dreams" LP5  (Old Omens, Feb 7)
- John Prine, "Ways of a Woman in Love" single  (Oh Boy, 19)  D
- Mastersons, "No Time For Love Songs" No Time For Love Songs  (Red House, Mar 6)  D
- Railroad Earth, "It's So Good" All For the Song  (RRE, 20)
- Elijah Ocean, "Came Down From Denver" Back From the Lander  (New Wheel, 19)  D
- Katie Pruitt, "Expectations" Expectations  (Rounder, Feb 21)  D
- Sam Doores, "Let It Roll" Sam Doores  (New West, Mar 1)  D
- Sonny Landreth, "Blacktop Run" Blacktop Run  (Provogue, Feb 21)  D
- Steeldrivers, "Bad For You" Bad For You  (Rounder, Feb 7)  D
- Nathaniel Rateliff, "Sam Stone (feat. John Prine)" Magnolia Singles  (Stax, 19)  D
- Marcus King, "One Day She's Here" El Dorado  (Fantasy, Jan 17)
- David Dondero, "Laying At Your Feet" Filter Bubble Blues  (Fluff & Gravy, Jan 24)
- Terry Allen, "American Childhood 2: Bad Kiss" Just Like Moby Dick  (Paradise of Bachelors, Jan 24)
- Swamp Dogg, "Sleeping Without You Is a Drag" Sorry You Couldn't Make It  (Joyful Noise, Mar 6)  D
- Supersuckers, "Ain't Gonna Stop" Play That Rock-n-Roll  (Acetate, Feb 7)  D
- Califone, "Snow Angel Vol 2" Echo Mine  (Jealous Butcher, Feb 27)  D
- Trampled by Turtles, "Ooh La La" Sigourney Fever EP  (Banjodad, 19)
- M Ward, "Migration of Souls" Migration Stories  (Anti, Apr 3)  D
- Pinegrove, "Moment" Marigold  (Rough Trade, Jan 17)  D
- Twain, "Working" Adventure  (Keeled Scales, 19)

 All the above featuring a "D" mark records which are making their debut on our ROUTES-casts.  You'll find a full list of stuff on the horizon by clicking on A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster.  Over the past week or so we added an embarrassing wealth of new stuff, from Fruition's second CD in a couple months, Broken At the Break of Day (Jan 17) to a project M Ward created with members of Arcade Fire, Migration Stories (Anti, Apr 3).  In between, we've shoehorned a new solo effort by Sam Doores, who has worked with Deslondes and Hurray For the Riff Raff, a country-leaning CD from Swamp Dogg, featuring contributions by Bon Iver, John Prine, Jenny Lewis and others, and something from Trampled by Turtles and Dead Man Winter man Dave Simonett, Red Tail (Mar 13).  You'll hear stuff from many of these on this week's ROUTES-cast:

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