Morgan DELT -Phase Zero (limited coloured vinyl LP + MP3 download code)
Sub Pop US
Psychedelic serenades worthy of our attention can be tricky to track down in the here and now, yet it takes little time to work out that the work of Morgan Delt, a bedroom auteur with as much warped songcraft to offer as excursions into the wilderness. ‘Phase Zero’ maps out an interstellar constellation between the ’60s world of The Byrds, the ’70s bedlam of Jean-Pierre Massiera and the contemporary slant of recent Flaming Lips, yet at all times it boasts a widescreen sweep and wide-eyed wonderment to match its sonic playfulness and melodic sleight-of-hand, resulting in a gem for the third-eye and both ears alike.
Cass McCOMBS – Mangy Love
Released on Anti Records Now seven albums into a career as a celebrated yet understated singer-songwriter, Cass McCombs occupies a unique promontory – his music remains possessed of a uniquely laid-back charm, influenced by West Coast rock and funk and topped off by his easy-going falsetto, yet his lyrics bite hard, essaying the iniquities and inequalities of the modern era with pithy panache and even earning him comparisons to Samuel Beckett in the process. ‘Mangy Love’ is the clearest articulation of this dichotomy to date, so it’s no surprise that it’s also his darkest, most compelling and ambitious to date – the sound of a modern maverick comfortable with his own paradoxes, if not those of the wider world.
EZRA FURMAN -BIG FUGITIVE LIFE
THE VEILS-TOTAL DEPRAVITY
2LP – Double Vinyl, Gatefold, 2 Bonus Tracks and Download card.
ARC IRIS – MOON SALOON
Arc Iris return this summer with their second album ‘Moon Saloon’ on Bella Union. ‘Moon Saloon’ constitutes a natural progression from the first album’s whimsical explorations. Produced by the group and mixed by electronic producer David Wrench of FKA Twigs and Caribou fame, the album showcases beat-heavy melodies and textural, groove-riding rhythms. It developed from the band’s distillations of musical influences, combining traditional elements with percussive structures and dense, beguiling harmonies. In many ways this second album captures Arc Iris’ musical odyssey as a band. “It has a heavier sound, more intense,” says Arc Iris keyboardist Zach Tenorio-Miller, who makes liberal use of sampling in many of the songs. The group matches an unusual array of organic acoustic instruments with layered electronic sounds. Lead singer and lyricist Jocie Adams, Tenorio-Miller, and drummer Ray Belli form the core of Arc Iris, all virtuosic musicians in their own right. Adams spent eight years as a key member of indie darlings The Low Anthem, effortlessly zipping from hammer dulcimer to clarinet to bass to vocals, sometimes barely pausing to take a breath. As the band members see it, ‘Moon Saloon’ works like a song cycle that parallels the arc of Everyman’s passage through modern day dilemmas. According to Adams: “The album is meant to be cathartic. There’s an imbalance in everyone’s lives. When there’s often so much going on, we yearn for simplicity.” The album starts with ‘Kaleidoscope’, mimicking a kind of fanciful stroll down the street, and ends with the title track, a delicate soliloquy in a strange, desolate landscape. The album sometimes offers a sharp counterpoint to the mean-spirited nature of current American political discourse. One example is ‘Paint with the Sun,’ a paean to those who help others in need. Soaring over each song is Adams‘ ethereal voice, often joined in close harmonies with other members of the band. Adams wrote most of the songs during a songwriting retreat on an island in New Hampshire’s Lake Winnipesaukee several months before the recording session. For Adams, it was a week-long creative rush with no electricity, no running water, no cell phones–just a bed in a cabin and an acoustic guitar. She took her work back to Providence, where she and Tenorio-Miller worked on the songs, layering sounds, developing ideas, “transforming them into the world of Arc Iris,” Tenorio-Miller recalls.
LP – Blue Vinyl housed in Gatefold Sleeve with Download.
Dan Penn produced The Letter by the Box Tops and co-wrote classic soul hits with Chips Moman or Spooner Oldham like The Dark End Of The Street, Do Right Woman Do Right Man, I Met Her In Church, and Sweet Inspiration. Many consider him the greatest white Soul singer, ever!
Vinyl reissue of Country-Soul icon and ingenious songwriter Dan Penn’s debut album, originally released on Bell Records in 1973, a favorite of serious music lovers. Although not containing any of his popular 1960s trademark songs, ‘Nobody’s Fool’ presents a great deal of moving tunes like the hardcore honky tonk jewel Tearjoint, or the extra tough I Hate You. Mixed and produced by Dan Penn.
