Tim Presley's White Fence "I Have To Feed Larry’s Hawk (Drag City)"
If you aren’t already a massive White Fence fan, then I don’t know that there’s much I can do to change your mind. Seeing as I’ve been a huge fan of his pastoral psychedelic sounds for years now, news of I Have To Feed Larry’s Hawk (Drag City) was greeted by a grin on my face bigger than the one on Larry’s hawk when Tim stopped by Larry’s house with a shoebox filled with mice. A little like early Pink Floyd (heavy on the Syd), a bit like The Kinks, but mostly Tim Presley. Check out the disarming “Lorelei.”
William Tyler "Goes West (Merge)"
William Tyler’s new LP Goes West (Merge) is the opposite of Dylan going electric, and is just as illuminating. It’s not like William NEVER plays acoustic guitar on his albums or anything–his 2008 record Desert Canyon is mostly solo acoustic. But if you only know him from his widely heralded 2016 album Modern Country, then this record might come as a bit of a shock. But it’s not like there isn’t ANY electric guitar on the album, it’s just that he isn’t playing it. Who is? Oh, just Meg Duffy. Bill Frisell. NBD. A much more spacious album than his last, it would appear the “west” he has gone to in the album title is desert-heavy and wide open. As H.C. Taylor of Hiss Golden Messenger writes “it sounds as though he found a way to point himself directly towards the rich and bittersweet emotional center of his music without being distracted by side trips.” Check out the mesmerizing “Fail Safe.”
Palmer T. Lee "Winebringer (Team Love)"
As one half of The Lowest Pair, Palmer T. Lee has been releasing americana and folk leaning music for years now after falling in love with the medium as a young man. On Winebringer (Team Love), he takes advantage of the decision he made with his musical partner Kendl Winter to devote 2018 to solo projects. Featuring what sounds like every stringed instrument known to man (guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, others) and pouring his soul into every line delivered (in a way that is reminding me a bit of Tallest Man On Earth) this is surely the unfiltered mind of the sensitive soul of Palmer. Check out the twangy ballad “Rag.”
The Twilight Sad "IT WON/T BE LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME (Rock Action)"
It was obviously a very big deal for The Twilight Sad when The Cure’s Robert Smith hand picked them to open for his band on a string of dates because he loves TTS so very much. But the resulting friendship with the band might have been an even bigger deal. When it came time to record their new LP, IT WON/T BE LIKE THIS ALL THE TIME (Rock Action), they sent the demos to Bobby Cure (I’m assuming that’s what they call him. I would). He gave each song a numerical grade out of 10 and told them what they could change to make each song better in his opinion. I mean, if you make gloomy, emotive post-rock like TTS and Robert Smith has suggestions, you take them. It paid off, because I’d give every haunting track on here somewhere between a 9 and a 10 out of a possible 10! What a score! Scotland wins the blurb Olympics! Check out the chilly new wave bounce of the first single “Videograms.”