TRAiPSiNG THRU the AiSLES: add these to your basket
November 18, 2024
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust
These are blogs that publish yearly lists of their favorite EPs. I don't get that. We don't understand separating EPs from LPs simply for the number of songs. That said, while we'd happily consider EPs for our year-end records list, we'd never include a single. While we yammer away here, the point is that EPs deserve the same consideration as fuller collections. It just so happens that for this week's Episode of Traisping Thru the Aisles, we're focusing on a trio of EPs ...
AmandaGrace Schiano performs as Clover County, a stage name she selected to represent the itinerant nature of her youth, a quest for greener grass. Presently settled in Athens, Georgia, her six-song debut is a great example of the coming together of a terrific artist, quality songs, and perfect production. Clover County's music achieves an equilibrium of pop and country that flatters her voice and makes the most of her songs. "Ultraviolet" chimes, its heartbeat percussion and fresh arrangement sounding contemporary and relevant: Ink stains inside my mind / I'm a victim of my own design. "Glass Coke Bottle" simmers with the singer's patter and a touch of pedal steel, Clover County casting her own role: I'm Chuck Taylors in a cotton dress. Production duties are handed from one well-credentialed producer to another, but the overall vibe of Porch Lights remains consistent. Ian Fitchuk oversees "Under These Conditions", encouraging the same roots pop balance he created with Kacey Musgraves. Even with smart, dynamic arrangements, there is no sense that Clover County is being dragged along behind her production. An online voice and piano video of "Uncharted" from an earlier time demonstrates that nothing has been sacrificed in the appeal of both the singer and the song, even with guitar atmospherics underlying a tasteful strum: Love me til I'm not so black and blue / Til I'm just as clean as you. There's a real charm to Clover County in these six tunes, an original voice and musical integrity that exceeds expectations for a debut. On "Limbo", she sings: Father tell me, when I get to the gates / Can I get a plus one for me and my dates / 'Cause I've been praying for them every night and day.
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Sean Barna's last LP, 2023's An Evening At Macri Park, was a glam-adjacent ode to queer New York nightlife, a heartfelt and dramatic document that rivals Low Cut Connie for full-body commitment. This new EP was birthed two-thousand miles away, beneath the big sky vistas of Western Colorado. With instrumental backing by the folk trio Hawktail, Internal Trembling's change of venue is reflected in the intimate acoustic spirit of the five new tracks. Comprised of Paul Kowert, Brittany Haas, and Jordan Tice with guest Dominick Leslie, Barna's accompaniment proves a lovely if unlikely setting for his stark, impassioned vocal style. The songs on Internal Trembling juxtapose the disciplined string playing of the ensemble with the singer's ecstatic approach, strings swelling with intensity on "Jack Rabbit Hill". "Firefly" replaces Hawktail with the fingerpicked guitar of producer Kyle Joseph, with breathy backing vocals by Mirah adding a subtle but haunting spirit throughout the project. Among the year's most worthy singles, "Wallflower" is a powerful acoustic march, Barna intoning the names of the five victims of a 2022 shooting at a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs. Jesus we are tired / These spaces are sacred, he cries, weighing our rights and our responsibilities: Today I need peace / Not another memory. To date, Sean Barna's singles, EPs and two LPs have been exemplary, a strikingly passionate testimony of the queer story. The dramatic change of venue for his new EP attests to Barna's versatility. But even surrounded by a stellar folk ensemble, the singer's work remains at heart fiery and uncompromising: Do I have your attention / Would you like to hear my point of view / Can I make you feel better / Would you like to read my old love letters?
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Our favorite serial collaborator has spent the last couple years as a touring member of Jason Isbell's 400 Unit. In creating his 2023 No Ordinary Crown, Johnson sent bare demos for his new songs to his band, and giving them free reign to add their own accompaniment. Sleuthed/Full Cuts features three of those initial demos, in addition to a pair of unheard full band tracks from the No Ordinary Crown sessions. Where "Swine" and "Along the Runner" became cloaked in drone and electric feedback, stripping them back lends a vulnerability to Johnson's lyrics and exposes the beautiful grain to his acoustic demos. Of the new cuts, "Frame It" is as melodic as anything on Crown, colored with beautiful streaks of pedal steel "Sleuthed/Full Cuts" is an evocative, panoramic instrumental. He has named his band of frequent collaborators Wire Mountain, and they will come together for an Austin festival show next month. Also on the horizon for Will Johnson, his Centro-Matic will be joining Isbell and the 400 Unit for a January show in Mexico City. Even more promising, there are rumors of a new record on the horizon for 2025.
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