Kat Edmonson "Old Fashioned Gal (Dunvagen)"
Back in my “wild” dating days I dated this lady who wore fun, full skirts, played the accordion and liked to watch only b&w movies. I was a jerk and that one ended but I’d like to find her now and play her Kat Edmonson(if only some sort of social media platform run by the Russians could be helpful). A super fun mixture of Cole Porter and at times indie folk (you could say SHE without HIM if you must). Now only if she would sing in Yiddish I could get her on the The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. So spin ”Please Consider Me”, “If” and the title track and enjoy the best Sunday brunch record since Yo La Tengo’s Fakebook.
Clint Michigan "Centuries (Kiam)"
Oh my, poor Clint Michigan, I had no idea…..What a traumatic life he has led, and none of that “oh my subway was late”, “why is this guy yelling at me while I’m eating a slice” stuff, real-life problems, which has lead to him being sober for 5 years and also producing this beautiful album Centuries. Imagine Elliott Smith and Sufjan Stevens hanging out – maybe not the most fun hang, but maybe they would come out with some beautiful sounding songs. Clint uses the term “trauma core” to describe his music, but nothing this beautiful could sound that traumatic. Check out “Knickerbocker Street”.
Dylan Carlson "Conquistador (Sargent House)"
The mighty Dylan Carlson of the oh so mighty band Earth has given us a solo electric guitar album in its purest form. One guitar (ok… at times two) – distorted – loud, with no other accompaniment – just guitars. A wall of sound that would make Phil Spector’s wig cry as all it takes is one man slowly playing his way around the frets with chords that ring out as slowly as the tumbleweeds blow across the desert. This record is a study in zen – just focus on the guitar and let Dylan take you to an awesome place. Check out “When the Horses Were Shorn of Their Hooves” and don’t forget to turn it up even louder then you know you should.
Drinks "Drinks (Drag City)"
In 2015 at least one of my dreams came true (maybe more, but who can remember that far back at this point?). The second coming of Captain Beefheart (according to me at least) Cate Le Bon teamed up with psych-folk auteur Tim Presley to form Drinks. I love both of their catalogs separately, and I adored the sound of them teaming up on Hermits on Holiday. Now I… I mean we, have the sounds of Hippo Lite (Drag City) to bring me… I mean us, joy. The patented skronk-y Cate Le Bon guitar sound mixed with Tim’s pastoral folk sounds are such a perfect match, you’d think they were chocolate and peanut butter. They locked themselves in a house in the South of France with no internet and no entertainment save copies of Jurassic Park 1-3 on DVD (not a joke, direct from the press for this album.) My only disappointment is that there aren’t more dino references on this LP, but I think I’ll survive. For evidence of this perfect pairing, check out the shimmering “Real Outside.”