Sunday, October 30, 2022

JULiANNA RiOLiNO - ALL BLUE

ROUTES & BRANCHES
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
October 30, 2022
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

It certainly won't be easy to compile a playlist of our thirty favorite songs from 2022. there are nearly 170 candidates for this vaunted honor. As we trundle into the eleventh month, sounds like we have some listening to do. Going to need to put on more tea water. For the time being, we have the following review of our favorite ten songs from the month coming to a close. We call it: 

WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT OCTOBER?!!
1. Delines, "Golden State" Lost Duets  (Jealous Butcher, Oct 6)
2. John Fullbright, "Stars" The Liar  (Blue Dirt, Sep 30)
3. Pony Bradshaw, "Safe In the Arms of the Vernacular" North Georgia Rounder  (Pony, Jan 27)
4. Lucero, "One Last FU" Should've Learned By Now  (Liberty & Lament, Feb 24)
5. Ashley McBryde, "Bonfire at Tina's" Lindeville  (Warner, Sep 30)
6. Bad Ends, "All Your Friends Are Dying" Power and the Glory  (New West, Jan 20)
7. Truth & Salvage Co, "Silver Lining" Atoms Form  (Blackbird, Oct 7)
8. Gold Dust, "Larks Swarm a Hawk" Late Great Gold Dust  (Centripetal Force, Nov 4)
9. Tommy Alexander, "Feelings" Feelings  (Fluff & Gravy, Oct 28)
10. HC McEntire, "Soft Crook" single  (Merge, Oct 4)

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There might not be a more eclectic and unpredictable artist in our kind of music than Daniel Romano. The Canadian artist is so capricious that even when aiming for straight country, his results have been well left of center (in all the best ways). A genuine collaborator, Romano has released at least a couple records per year lately, a restless output that wanders through psych, rock, country, prog and folk. Some of his best work has been alongside his Outfit, a true collective whose members have been known to share the mic here and there. Among the constants in the Outfit is singer-guitarist Julianna Riolino, who has just unleashed All Blue, her debut solo record on Daniel Romano's You've Changed label. 

While not as stylistically fidgety as her work with Romano, Riolino's solo material is by no means stodgy. All Blue trades in country, with shades of pop, folk and early rock, as often electric as acoustic, with Romano himself complimenting the sessions on guitar. All Blue is not merely a distraction from a sideperson, but the collection presents Julianna Riolino as a complete artist. 

Recorded largely live in studio with producer Aaron Goldstein, songs like "Why Do I Miss You" leap from the speakers, even as layered backing vocals and other post-production work ensure a more full sound. Stabs of "Bang a Gong"-style guitar give the piece an early rock edge, enforced by the spit and attitude of Riolino's vocal, rising to a shout before dismissing her unresponsive beau with a mumbled Get lost! These songs are well-rooted in guitar, though there is a significant charm added by Thomas Hammerton's keys and Anthony Ronaldi's skronky baritone sax. A steady organ sings below "If I Knew Now", a midtempo number that flares unexpectedly into a greasy guitar break: If I die before I wake /  I'll go out knowing that loving you was a mistake

Lyrically, Riolino's songs are more resentful than they are pining, targeting relationships that fail to satisfy, or paramours who are noncommittal. Everyone is fine until they're drowning in someone, she sings on the wonderful "You". A chugging shuffle worthy of Nikki Lane, the song adds girl-group backing vocals and the charming simplicity of pounding drums and a one-word chorus. With Goldstein's pedal steel, "Queen of Spades" commits 100% to the country side of All Blue's equation. May I call a spade a spade / May I tell it like it is, Riolino sings, her open-throated voice leaving no doubt that she'll step into that space without invitation. The bratty alt.country of "Lone Ranger" adds a chorus of call-and-response backing vocalists, contributing their own commentary to the verses: Stab me in the back, put a nail in my coffin

Like Nicole Atkins or Jenny Lewis, Julianna Riolino sidesteps convenient categorization, applying her brash vocals to the record's broad stylistic reach. The breezy "Isn't It a Pity" and the watery keys of "Memory of Blue" allow her to demonstrate that range. The album's closer, the atypically acoustic "Thistle and Thorned", features Riolino's most lovely and surprising delivery, as well as her most impressionistic lyric: Holy stemmed brethren spewing love between my thighs. Like her bandmate Daniel Romano, her work can be elusive at second glance, a lyrical riddle or unexpected vocal turn making All Blue much more than just another fun, country-leaning romp. 

- Honey Harper, "Reflections" Honey Harper & the Infinite Sky  (ATO, 22)
^ Julianna Riolino, "Thistle and Thorned" All Blue  (You've Changed, 22)
- Pony Bradshaw, "North Georgia Rounder" North Georgia Rounder  (Pony, Jan 27)
- Brit Taylor, "Kentucky Blue" Kentucky Blue  (Cut A Shine, Feb 3)  D
- Alabama Shakes, "Always Alright (Live at KCRW)" Boys & Girls (Deluxe Edition)  (ATO, Dec 9)  D
- Tommy Alexander, "If I Only Knew" Feelings  (Fluff & Gravy, 22)
- Flatland Cavalry, "Parallel (ft Ashley Monroe)" Songs To Keep You Warm EP  (Flatland, 22)  D
- Trampled by Turtles, "All the Good Times Are Gone" Alpenglow  (Banjodad, 22)
- Great Divide, "Until We Cross" Providence  (Great Divide, 22)
- Alex Williams, "Best Thing" Waging Peace  (Lightning Rod, 22)
- Angela Easterling, "Halfway Down" Witness  (Easterling, 22)  D
- Nick Shoulders, "Heart of Glass" Heart of Night EP  (Gar Hole, Dec 2)  D
- Hermanos Gutierrez, "Tres Hermanos (ft Dan Auerbach)" El Bueno y El Malo  (Easy Eye, 22)
- Drugdealer, "New Fascination" Hiding In Plain Sight  (Mexican Summer, 22)
- Gold Dust, "Mountain Laurel" Late Great Gold Dust  (Centripetal Force, Nov 4)
- Caroline Rose, "Love/Lover/Friend" single  (New West, 22)  D
- Andrew Bird, "I Felt a Funeral In My Brain (ft Phoebe Bridgers)" single  (Wegawam, 22)  D
- Fran, "So Long" Leaving  (Fire Talk, Jan 20)  D
- Scott Hirsch, "Le Grand K" Ghost of Windless Day  (Echo Magic, 22)  D
- Sunny War, "No Reason" Anarchist Gospel  (New West, Feb 3)  D
- Gabe Lee, "Lucky Stars" Hometown Kid  (Torrez, 22)
- JD Clayton, "American Millionaire" Long Way From Home  (Mulberry, Jan 27)
- Elizabeth Cook, "Everybody Wants To Rule the World" 3Sirens Presents: With Love Part 2 EP  (3Sirens, Dec 2)  D
- Brody Price, "Love I Hope You Stay" Win a Trip to Palm Springs  (Niles City, 22)
- Elizabeth Moen, "Wherever You Aren't" Wherever You Aren't  (Moen, Nov 11)  D
- Micah P Hinson, "Carelessly" I Lie To You  (Phony Graph, Dec 9)
- Emily Scott Robinson, "Men and Moons" Built On Bones EP  (Oh Boy, 22)
- Whitehorse, "If the Loneliness Don't Kill Me" I'm Not Crying You're Crying  (Six Shooter, Jan 13)
- Wilco, "One More Hour" Dig Me In: Dig Me Out Covers Album  (S-K, 22)
- Charlotte Cornfield, "Thought I'd See You Again" Eleventh Hour: Songs For Climate Justice  (Sub Pop, 22)  D

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