LOOKBACK MACHiNE - HiSS GOLDEN MESSENGER

ROUTES & BRANCHES

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

November 6, 2024

Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Few artists have so firmly hit the proverbial sweet spot for our kind of music. MC Taylor and Hiss Golden Messenger have messed around in the mystic, sung to the sweet soul, and courted the muse, speaking to the range and depth of americana music. We could easily have incorporated some of Taylor's work with Scott Hirsch in Court and Spark as well. From that early point, Taylor's trajectory has followed a satisfyingly smooth evolution from old weird folk into Southern soul, embracing gospel and roots rock (with a seasonal album thrown in for good measure - Taylor called it a sort of cry from the depths of somewhere disguised as a holiday record). A degreed folklorist, and longtime North Carolina resident, he takes a very personal but literate approach in presenting the music of the South. Taylor summed it all up with the title of HGM's lovely box set of  the remastered early albums: Devotion - Songs About Rivers & Spirits & Children. In a worthy New Yorker profile from back in 2016, the songwriter put a very appropriate spin to his work:

As a white man, I am among those most protected from what Donald Trump threatens. But I align with those on the margins - people of color, the LGBT community, people who cannot speak as loudly. I sing for my kids, who have no say in what is happening to our country right now, but will inherit a world that is in danger of being badly maimed by current events. I am taking my work very seriously.

HiSS GOLDEN MESSENGER: thirty favorites

- "O Nathaniel" Country Hai East Cotton  (Heaven & Earth, May 09)

- "Row" Country Hai East Cotton

- "O Little Light" Bad Debt  (Blackmaps, Nov 10)

- "Blue Country Mystic" Poor Moon  (Paradise Of Bachelors, Apr 12)

- "Call Him Daylight" Poor Moon

- "A Working Man Can't Make It No Way" Poor Moon

- "Red Rose Nantahala" Haw  (Paradise Of Bachelors, Apr 13)

- "I've Got a Name For the Newborn Child" Haw

- "Sweet As John Hurt" Haw

- "Brother Do You Know the Road" single  (Merge, May 14)

- "Mahogany Dread" Lateness Of Dancers  (Merge, Sep 14)

- "I'm a Raven (Shake Children)" Lateness Of Dancers

- "Southern Grammar" Lateness Of Dancers

- "Biloxi" Heart Like a Levee/Vestapol  (Merge, Oct 16)

- "Heart Like a Levee" Heart Like a Levee/Vestapol

- "Cracked Windshield" Heart Like a Levee/Vestapol

- "Standing In the Doorway" single  (Merge, Jun 17)

- "Jenny Of the Roses" Hallelujah Anyway  (Merge, Sep 17)

- "Domino (Time Will Tell)" Hallelujah Anyway

- "Rock Holy" Virgo Fool  (Merge, Nov 18)

- "Hard Promises" Virgo Fool 

- "I Need a Teacher" Terms Of Surrender  (Merge, Sep 19)

- "Terms Of Surrender" Terms Of Surrender

- "Hardlytown" Quietly Blowing It  (Merge, Jun 21)

- "Sanctuary" Quietly Blowing It 

- "Grace" O Come All Ye Faithful  (Merge, Oct 21)

- "As Long As I Can See the Light" O Come All Ye Faithful

- "20 Years and a Nickel" Jump For Joy  (Merge, Aug 23)

- "Nu-Grape" Jump For Joy 

- "California King" Jump For Joy

--------------------------

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: