Lots of new joy to flag up this week: expansive live sets from Steve Gunn, Ryley Walker and their amazing bands; Rhiannon Giddens covering the Staples; the tremendously Funkadelic Childish Gambino album; Loscil reconfiguring in High Plains; the Willie Lane album, much raved about by guitar soli cognoscenti this past month, turning up on Bandcamp; the Horse Lords chopping and screwing Macca and the Dead; the return of Alasdair Roberts; another great Ethiopian find from Awesome Tapes; Natalie Prass’ Christmas song; and Joan Shelley covering Leonard Cohen, which feels like a necessary and beautiful thing to hear in December 2016: “Through the days of shame that are coming, through the nights of wild distress/Though your promise count for nothing, you must keep it nonetheless.”
Also, Scissor Tail’s amazing Bruce Langhorne tribute album has landed on Bandcamp: great cause, great primer involving many of the most interesting and exploratory guitar players out there at the moment – please check it out. The Leonard Cohen and Bootsy Collins version of “1999”, on the other hand, is not quite so strongly recommended. Approach with caution…
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1 William Basinski – A Shadow In Time (Temporary Residence)
2 Hurray For The Riff Raff – The Navigator (ATO)
3 Laura Marling – Semper Femina (More Alarming/Kobalt)
4 Brokeback – Illinois River Valley Blues (Thrill Jockey)
5 Steve Gunn – Bell House, Brooklyn 09/12/16 (nyctaper.com)
6 Rhiannon Giddens – Freedom Highway (Nonesuch)
7 Nikki Lane – Highway Queen (New West)
8 High Plains – Cinderland (Kranky)
9 Childish Gambino – Awaken My Love (Glassnote)
10 Frank Ocean – Blonde (Boys Don’t Cry)
11 Tim Darcy – Saturday Night (Jagjaguwar)
12 Brian Eno – Reflection (Warp)
13 Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band – Live At Union Pool, New York 03/12/2016 (nyctaper.com)
14 Willie Lane – A Pine Tree Shilling’s Worth Of Willie Lane (Bandcamp.com)
15 Horse Lords – T***kin’ – DJ P4UL & L0RD 1NF4M0U$ Feat B0B W3IR/It’s Gonna Snow (Soundcloud)
16 Ryley Walker – Live At Copenhagen Jazzhouse 2016-12-06 (archive.org)
17 Cherry Glazerr – Apocalipstick (Secretly Canadian)
18 Black Flower – Artifacts (Sdban Ultra)
19 Eric Arn – Orphic Resonance (Feeding Tube)
20 Natalie Prass – Everybody’s Having Fun (It’s Christmas Time) (Spacebomb)
21 Various Artists – The Hired Hands: A Tribute To Bruce Langhorne (Scissor Tail/Bandcamp)
22 Alasdair Roberts – The Downward Road (Drag City)
23 Gary Byrd & The GB Experience – The Crown (Motown)
24 Wilson Pickett – Hey Jude/Right On (Edsel)
25 Joan Shelley – Heart With No Companion (Soundcloud)
26 Roha Band — Instrumental Music (awesometapes.com)
27 Paul Shaffer And The Party Boys Of Rock’n’Roll – 1999 (Featuring Leonard Cohen And Bootsy Collins) (SBK)
