Hollie Kenniff – We All Have Places That We Miss: This is, by far, the record I listened to most this week. It’s a gentle record with a sense of hope. It makes me imagine a quieter and more subtle Explosions in the Sky. I’m a sucker for songs that build around a repeated motif, and I absolutely love the… Read more »
Grateful Dead – Dick’s Picks 8 (5/2/70): Last week, I listened to the first set from this show, an acoustic set that is absolutely amazing. I dug into the second set this week and was struck by both its highs and lows, sometimes in the same song. “Dancin’ in the Street” is so dull that it feels more like shuffling… Read more »
Laurel Halo – Atlas: I wrote some useless comments about this record last week, so I committed to spending some more time with it. It’s far more intricate than I realized, and the first analogy that comes to mind is a story that is written so superbly it works for multiple audiences on multiple levels. Yes, the record can easily… Read more »
I took a break for a few months, mostly because making the thumbnails and spam comments became a barrier. I’m going to see if skipping the thumbnails makes it easier to post these weekly. Moderat – Moderat II: These guys are contenders for my “10 favorite electronic artists” list, but I rarely listen to them and this is the only… Read more »
Grateful Dead – St. Louis 12/10/71; Baltimore 9/17/72; NYC 3/9/81: It’s been a couple of months since I stumbled back down the rabbit hole of the Dead. In the process, I’ve uncovered a few of my own misconceptions about the Godcheaux and Mydland eras, and I have a new appreciation for those years. These three concerts are fun to hear… Read more »
Grateful Dead – Fox Theatre, St. Louis, MO, December 10, 1971 and Madison Square Garden, New York, March 9, 1981: My go-to era for the Dead is the Pigpen years, so I picked the St. Louis show to kick off a recent road trip from Baltimore to Long Island. While it was everything I like about early ‘70s Dead, it… Read more »
John Coltrane – The John Coltrane Quartet Plays: I had a dream about listening to Coltrane, and it was so powerful that I woke up at 3am, got out of bed, and started listening. This was always one of my favorite records and it’s even better than I remember. John Coltrane – John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman: Unlike Plays, I… Read more »
All Hands_Make Light – Darling the Dawn: After eating what were arguably the most delicious donuts ever, I asked the two women working at General Porpoise in Seattle’s Pioneer Square for recommendations on record stores. One of them suggested Sonic Boom in Ballard because she not only found an obscure album from one of her favorite singers there, but it… Read more »
Rich Ruth – I Survived, It’s Over: This is creeping into my thoughts so I pulled it out again this week. The thing that stands out most is the way Ruth and his band touch on so many feels—jam bands, ‘60s free jazz, ‘80s dodgy jazz, IDM, new age—yet never land squarely in any of them, instead forging their own… Read more »
Lazy Dog and Buzzin’ Fly mixes: I dug out Ben Watt’s post-EBTG mixes this week and they’ve been keeping me constant company. Lazy Dog relies more on classic soul and funk style basslines, and that’s been scratching a big itch. Noah Kahan – Stick Season: It hasn’t grabbed me but I’d like to listen more. Killer Mike – Michael: Pretty… Read more »