featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
July 30, 2023
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
Last week I spent some time streaming Pitchfork's annual Chicago festival, with an impressive diversity of artists. I mention this specifically because of the remarkable sets from Big Thief and Bon Iver - one artist who we represent here on R&B, and another who we reallly haven't. But as I've noted, our own musical taste vastly overflows even the generous boundaries we've established for our ROUTES-casts. While I'm by no means a concertgoer, I loved watching these very different sets. The Big Thief quartet performed a captivatingly rickety set, Adrienne Lenker's tightrope walk across the artistic chasm balanced by the musicians' admirable efforts to follow/support her muse. Justin Vernon masterfully conducted the tight Bon Iver collective, injecting a great warmth and humanity to what can sometime seem alien and indulgent on disc. Both were transcendent.
As expected, July brought an overwhelming wealth of new stuff for us to sift through, songs that spoke to this passion and diversity that fuel us at R&B HQ. Once again, we compiled a list of twenty-six candidates, painstakingly paring them down to just ten tunes that ably represent the month passed. To quote Angie McMahon on a cut we had to cut: It's okay / It's okay / Make mistakes / Make mistakes. We call it:
WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT JULY?!!
1. Allison Russell, "Stay Right Here" The Returner (Fantasy, Sep 8) Russell's Outside Child (2021) earned terrific accolades, not the least of which was the very top spot on our own favorite albums list. This disco-adjacent single promises great things for her follow-up, a collection that seeks to celebrate the present, even while shouldering the heavy burdens of the past - what Russell calls survivor's joy. "Stay Right Here" sweeps us up on its strong wings, on the hallelujah of the chorus of voices and the sheer amen of its rhythmic rightness. Here is my song of the summer.
2. Chris Stapleton, "White Horse" Higher (Mercury, Nov 10) The intro single for Stapleton's next record is a killer, starting at eleven and lifting off from there with his throat-shredding vocal and louder guitars than we've heard from past efforts. It's Stapleton's Slippery When Wet moment, all bombast and bluster, and it works completely. While part of us wants to hear him try new things, the other part is fine just spinning "White Horse" on repeat.
3. Big Thief, "Vampire Empire" single (4AD, 23) Last year's sprawling double-disc collection landed atop our favorites list, where we called it simultaneously as trad as the Holy Modal Rounders and as contemporary as Wilco in its more organic moments. This self-standing single (so far) leans toward the latter pole of Big Thief's equation, with a trademark Adrienne Lenker lyrical flow: I walked into your dagger for the last time / It's like trying to start a fire with matches in the snow. In its shambling, sparking energy it's everything we could want from the quartet.
4. Mapache, "Ghosts" Swinging Stars (Innovative Leisure, Aug 18) Fresh off the June release of his unexpectedly strong Off My Stars solo record, Sam Blassuci rejoins Clay Finch for what's shaping up to be a fascinating next direction for the duo. "Ghosts" demonstrates a newfound confidence in its looseness, its unkempt piano and in Blassuci's impassioned delivery: It's not the same as it used to be / But it seems to me it will be alright ...
5. Cordovas, "High Roller" Rose of Aces (ATO, Aug 11) The band's fourth record is produced by Cory Hanson, whose recent Western Cum occupies a similar desert-alt.country territory. On "High Roller", frontman Joe Firstman recalls a lost weekend When we got pissed down at the casino / Closest thing there was to Vegas and Reno. The live-in-studio arrangement recalls the Dead at their most rambling, with barroom piano and a sweet purple cloud of pedal steel.
6. Jobi Riccio, "Sweet" Whiplash (Yep Roc, Sep 8) We included the title track for Riccio's debut full-length on May's What's So Great ... Where we noted that tune's jazz-tinged folk, Riccio's third single exhibits her bold country tendencies, with a deep guitar groove and complement of pedal steel. All the guys I meet / Just lead to dead ends / And all the girls I've wanted / Never had a clue / And probably don't bat for my team, she sings before dropping the admission: I'm just not that sweet.
7. Florry, "Drunk and High" Holey Bible (Dear Life, Aug 4) Under the wire at just the other side of two-minutes, "Drunk and High" reminds us of the punk spirit of early alt.country. From Philadelphia, Francie Medosch and friends waste no time in getting to the heart of matters: Pull the car over / I gotta puke / You're no good at driving high. Three promising songs into next week's full-length release, we're already thinking Mekons. We're thinking Freakwater. Meat Purveyors?
8. Briscoe, "The Well" West of It All (ATO, Sep 15) The respective Spotify playlists of Philip Lupton and Truett Heintzelman provide coordinates for the inspiration behind Briscoe, their band: Billy Strings, Ruston Kelly, Blue Mountain. Behind producer Brad Cook, "The Well" checks early-Avetts boxes, from the earnest, keening harmonies to their prominent banjo/acoustic guitar mix, or possibly Trampled by Turtles sans their fiery 'grass-ups.
9. Jerry Joseph, "The War I Finally Won" Baby You're the Man Who Would Be King (Cosmo Sex School, Sep 29) Joseph is yet another year-end favorites alum, with his 2020 Drive-by Truckers collab landing in our top spot. This first taste of the veteran's follow-up offers strummed guitars and harmonica, pairing the Portland resident with producer and fellow roots-rocker Eric Ambel for an anthemic stomper reportedly inspired by Springsteen's Devils & Dust.
10. Buddy & Julie Miller, "In the Throes" In the Throes (New West, Sep 22) This angular rocker from the duo's first record together in four years showcases what they do best. With an innate sense of harmony, and her barbed songwriting, Julie adds immediate edge to Buddy's already wide range, sounding here like an updated take on X's early work.
Peering deeper into our collective future, let's take a look at what's been added recently to A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster. There's a tribute on the horizon to the great, underappreciated Leon Russell. Song For Leon features contributions from Nathaniel Rateliff, Orville Peck, Hiss Golden Messenger, and more (Primary Wave, Sep 8). Tyler Childers seems to be back on track after his three-record experiment. Just one record (seven tracks), Rustin' In the Rain is due September 8 (Hickman Holler). Shakey Graves has scheduled his next full-length for a September 15 release. The songs on Movie of the Week were initially written as part of a soundtrack, though never actually used (Dualtone). Jerry Joseph has collaborated with Eric Ambel on his next collection. A follow-up to Beautiful Madness, Baby You're the Man Who Would Be King will appear on the Cosmo Sex School label on September 29. Finally, Chris Stapleton has cleared a space on his mantle for his next round of awards. Expect Higher via Mercury on November 10.
ROUTES-cast JULY 30, 2023
- Lori McKenna, "Days Are Honey" 1988 (CN, 23)
- Tyler Childers, "In Your Love" Rustin' In the Rain (Hickman Holler, Sep 8) D
- Teddy Thompson, "I Don't Love You Anymore" My Love of Country (Chalky Sounds, Aug 18)
- Hailey Whitters, "Mellencamp" I'm in Love EP (Pigasus, 23)
- Steel Woods, "Devil In This Holler" On Your Time (Woods, Oct 6)
- Kyle Nix & the 38s, "5ft and Bulletproof" After the Flood (Bossier City, 23)
- Harvest Thieves, "Cadillacs In the Sky" As the Sparks Fly Upward (Harvest Thieves, Oct 20) D
- Courtney Patton & Jamie Lin Wilson, "Cheer Up" single (Patton Wilson, 23) D
- Jason Eady, "Burn It Down" Mississippi (Old Guitar, Aug 11)
- Rhiannon Giddens, "Yet to Be (ft Jason Isbell)" You're the One (Nonesuch, Aug 18)
- Lillie Mae, "Cold June" Festival Eyes (s||c, Sep 8) D
- Phoebe Hunt, "Walls" Nothing Else Matters (Popped Corn, 23)
- Anna Tivel, "Invisible Man (Acoustic)" Outsiders (Live In a Living Room) (Mama Bird, Aug 18)
- Grahams, "Glory Bound" The Grahams (Three Sirens, Sep 8)
- Daniel Donato, "Lose Your Mind" Reflector (Retrace, Nov 10) D
- Ryan Bingham, "River Of Love" Watch Out For the Wolf (Bingham, Aug 11)
- Charlie Mars, "Country Home" Times Have Changed (Foxgate, Oct 6) D
- Becca Mancari, "Homesick Honeybee" Left Hand (Captured Tracks, Aug 25)
- William the Conqueror, "Shots Fired From Heaven" Excuse Me While I Vanish (Chrysalis, 23)
- SUSTO, "Optimum Artist" My Entire Life (New West, 23)
- Mapache, "Encinal Canyon" Swinging Stars (Innovative Leisure, Aug 18)
- Lydia Loveless, "Runaway" Nothing's Gonna Stand In My Way Again (Bloodshot, Sep 22)
- GospelbeacH, "York Blvd" single (Curation, 23)
- Noah Gundersen, "Swim" single (808BPM, 23) D
- Woods, "Another Side' Perennial (Woodsist, Sep 15)
- Bethany Cosentino, "Real Life" Natural Disaster (Concord, 23)
- Jenny Owen Youngs, "Knife Went In" Avalanche (Yep Roc, Sep 22)
- Buck Meek, "Cyclades" Haunted Mountain (4AD, Aug 25)
- Elizabeth Moen, "Words of Love" For Arthur EP (Moen, 23)
- Brother Marshall & Choir of Fire, "All the Gold in California" single (Rough House, 23) D
--------------------------
Earlier ROUTES-casts have been removed; subscribe to our Spotify page to keep up with all our new playlists!
No comments:
Post a Comment