Rose City Band "Summerlong (Thrill Jockey)"
From Thrill Jockey:
Rose City Band started purely as a recording project, with Johnson’s role mostly obscured for the self-titled debut album. Released with no promotion, in the style of private press records, it was a liberating act, a focus on music without any expectations. Explaining it with a chuckle, Johnson elaborates, “I always would threaten to my friends that I’m gonna start a country rock band so I can retire and just play down at the pub every Thursday night during happy hour. I love being able to tour and travel, but I also like the idea of having a local band … more of a social music experience.” Freedom from expectation and obligation gave Johnson the space to experiment with new instrumentation and arrangements. The introduction of lap steel, mandolin, and jaw harp enhance Johnson’s lean guitar work with radiant overtones, placing Summerlong more overtly within the country tradition than its predecessor. Work on the album began at Johnson’s home studio in Portland during the summer, but, interrupted by touring, it would not be finished until the winter season. The dark isolation of winter and the pining for summer’s easier days can be felt in the album’s few quieter moments. Summerlong was mixed by John McEntire (Stereolab, Broken Social Scene, Tortoise) at his newly minted Portland Soma Studios and mastered by Amy Dragon at Telegraph Mastering, also based in Portland.
jim white and marisa anderson "The Quickening (Thrill Jockey)"
From Thrill Jockey:
White and Anderson are instrumentalists whose voices are unmistakable and spellbindingly lyrical. Anderson unravels guitar traditions from across the globe into atmospheres all their own through improvisations and melodic lines that transform with each iteration. White implements an array of sticks, brushes, and techniques that imbue each rhythmic passage with its own distinct personality. Together their melodic flourishes cascade and twist upon one another, at times trading conversational exchanges, and at others drifting in unison as if lost in the same train of thought. Ecstatic pieces like “Gathering” and “The Other Christmas Song” harken back to Anderson’s playing with the improv-heavy Evolutionary Jass Band and carry with them a sense of perpetual motion. That feeling of urgency and maximalism is in turn contrasted by the open spaces and quiet subtleties of “Unwritten” and “Diver”.
Built To Spill "Built To Spill Plays The Songs Of Daniel Johnson (Ernest Jenning Record Co.)"
From Ernest Jenning Record Co.:
In 2017 Built To Spill was invited to play a few shows as Daniel Johnston’s back up band. This is what those rehearsals sounded like. 11 tracks of Johnston’s fractured pop presented through the eyes of Built To Spill.
No Age "Goons Be Gone (Drag City)"
From Drag City:
Summer 2020, and No Age are back out on the street! Effortlessly raw and extravagantly indulgent in one practiced swoop, they set their live/bedroom internal clock and get out early into a glorious windtunnel of naked beats and sunbaked guitars, forming a wave from which they hang eleven tunes. A perfectly balanced set, ranging from their classic punk and indie to ever-evolving soundscapes, in their maybe their most direct statement yet.