featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
May 28, 2023
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT MAY?!!
I've been open to work for about six weeks. Perhaps this is the reason May has seemed interminable. I'm happy to report, however, that there has been no shortage of excellent songs for our month-end accounting. The floor of this coffee shop is littered with really good songs that couldn't make the cut. That's fine though. My schedule is pretty open ...
Following are our ten favorite songs from the month passed:
1. Lori Mckenna, "Killing Me (ft Hillary Lindsey)" 1988 (CN, Jul 21) ^ McKenna's Songwriter Tapes series with Luke Laird and Barry Dean reminded us of the songwriter's remarkable country music track record. As a solo artist, she continues to release music that matters like this first single from her forthcoming 1988. The terrific cowrite with Hillary Lindsey asks, Would it kill you to be happy, a sobering pop-country gem from the Dave Cobb-produced record.
2. David Wax Museum, "That Night in Richmond" You Must Change Your Life (Nine Mile, May 5)
I could've chosen from among a couple great songs from the duo's tenth project, but this song of a night of longing (I can feel your heat / Burning through the walls) ultimately came out on top. Its busy urban undercurrent and box-of-rocks percussion are darkly captivating and sound like nothing else in the DWM catalog.
3. Turnpike Troubadours, "Mean Old Sun" Cat in the Rain (Bossier City, Aug 25) Did Evan Felker & Co buy their place on our list simply by returning to the fray after a six-year recording hiatus? While more attention is being paid to the writer's struggles with the spotlight than with his music, this hard red dirt country rocker sets a promising note to the band's Shooter Jennings-produced full-length.
4. Cory Branan, "Gatlinburg" single (Blue Elan, 23) Originally a track on last year's When I Go I Ghost, this story of marital misgiving is as good as anything on that collection. The Texas country track celebrates Branan's left-of-here sense of self-deprecating humor, soundtracked to a satisfying piano and fiddle arrangement: I married a woman once upon eternity / Temporarily she was even married to me.
5. Tommy Prine, "Mirror and a Kitchen Sink" This Far South (Nameless Knight, Jun 23) The four pre-release singles from Prine's full-length debut speak to an eclectic artist whose talent can't be written off to mere genetics. An especially unexpected power-pop punch, "Mirror" is co-produced by Ruston Kelly, with a shout-along chorus and a youthful spirit.
6. Jess Williamson, "Chasing Spirits" Time Ain't Accidental (Mexican Summer, Jun 9) As one-half of Plains alongside Waxahatchee's Katie Crutchfield, Jess Williamson delivered one of 2022's strongest records. She sings, There's nothing in LA for me, even as she's let some of Plains' pedal steel and breezy California country rub off on her spirit-haunted solo stuff.
7. Jason Isbell & 400 Unit, "Cast Iron Skillet" Weathervanes (Southeastern, Jun 9) We'll set aside for a moment the fact that Mr Isbell is actually selling his own custom cast iron skillets and focus on this lovely, understated third single from his forthcoming LP. With refreshing simplicity and Amanda Shires' eloquent fiddle, "Cast Iron Skillet" - the song - speaks to a family's tragic response to an interracial relationship: She found love and it was simple as a weathervane / But her own family tried to kill it.
8. Jobi Riccio, "Whiplash" Whiplash (Yep Roc, Sep 8) The second single from Riccio's Yep Roc debut is a lovely and lilting, jazz-tinged number about the dizziness of young adulthood. Growing up in Colorado, the current Nashville resident has a terrific, almost Joni-esque delivery on the country-folk track.
9. John Baumann, "Gold El Camino" Border Radio (Terlingua Spring, Oct 6) Sometimes you just need a dumb song about cars. Baumann's last recording was alongside Josh Abbott, William Clark Green, and Cleto Cordero as The Panhandlers. Back to his fourth solo recording, "Gold El Camino" is a solid ode to a summer behind the wheel, speeding ahead as smoothly as the car itself (I'm assuming, since I own a Subaru Legacy).
10. Mikaela Davis, "Promise" And Southern Star (Kill Rock Stars, Aug 4) There's not an especially long line of artists waiting to be crowned Queen of the Pop Harp. With her Southern Star band, New York's Mikaela Davis is readying her second solo release. This introductory single floats on a memorable 70s AM country guitar line, what one site called Wilco meets Clairo.
Let's start our search for next month's best songs ever.
ROUTES-cast May 28, 2023
- RF Shannon, "Midnight Jewelry" Red Swan in Palmetto (Keeled Scales, 23)
- Buck Meek, "Haunted Mountain" Haunted Mountain (4AD, Aug 25) D
- Califone, "sweetly" Villagers (Jealous Butcher, 23)
- Cory Hanson, "Ghost Ship" Western Cum (Drag City, Jun 23)
- Bonnie Prince Billy, "Bananas" Keeping Secrets Will Destroy You (Drag City, Aug 11) D
- Kassi Valazza, "Room in the City" Kassi Valazza Knows Nothing (Fluff & Gravy, 23)
- David Dondero, "Recipe to Be Lonely" Immersion Therapy (Fluff & Gravy, Aug 25) D
- Adeem the Artist, "ICU" single (Four Quarters, 23) D
- Charlotte Cornfield, "In From the Rain" Could Have Done Anything (Double Double Whammy, 23)
- Tommy Prine, "Cash Carter Hill" This Far South (Nameless Knight, Jun 23)
- Amanda Shires & Bobbie Nelson, "Always On My Mind" Loving You (ATO, Jun 23)
- Caroline Spence, "Lighthouse (ft Sarah Jarosz)" True North (Deluxe) (Rounder, Jun 16)
- Nathan Mongol Wells, "Beulah Land" From a Dark Corner (State Fair, Aug 18) D
- Westelaken, "Ribcage" I Am Steaming Mushrooms (Westelaken, 23)
- Caitlin Rose, "Johnny Velvet" CAZIMI (Deluxe Edition) (Pearl Tower, Jun 23) D
- Gabe Lee, "Property Line" Drink the River (Torrez, Jul 14)
- Ags Connolly, "Change My Mind" Siempre (At the Helm, Jun 16)
- Laura Cantrell, "When the Roses Bloom Again (ft Steve Earle)" Just Like a Rose: Anniversary Sessions (Propeller, Jun 9)
- Rodney Rice, "Rabbit Ears Motel" Rodney Rice (Edgewater, 23)
- Whitney Rose, "Honky Tonk in Mexico" Rosie (MCG, 23)
- Stephen Wilson Jr, "American Gothic (ft Hailey Whitters)" bon aqua ep (Big Loud, 23) D
- Logan Halstead, "Mountain Queen" Dark Black Coal (Halstead, 23)
- Kyle Nix & the 38s, "Play Nice" After the Flood Vol 1 (Bossier City, Jul 28)
- Lucinda Williams, "Where the Song Will Find Me" Stories From a Rock N Roll Heart (Hwy 20, Jun 30)
- Jenny Lewis, "Cherry Baby" Joy'All (Blue Note, Jun 9)
- Jess Williamson, "Time Ain't Accidental" Time Ain't Accidental (Mexican Summer, Jun 9)
- M Ward, "new kerrang" Supernatural Thing (Anti, Jun 23)
- Johanna Samuels, "Golden Gate" Bystander (Jealous Butcher, Jun 23)
- Caitlin Canty, "Silver Sunset" Quiet Flame (Canty, Jun 23)
- Chris Staples, "Burnout Together" Cloud Souvenirs (Hot Tub, 23)
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