This week’s show opens to Marina Allen, our Artist of the Month for July. Sleeper Train is taken from her debut album ‘Candlepower’ which Billy Rough reviewed here. This reflective track sets the tone for much of what follows.
Taken from his forthcoming new album is the title from Steve Gunn‘s new album Other You. The new album sees Steve tapping into new approaches, techniques and emotional reservoirs for his most life-affirming work to date and features contributions from artists and friends including Juliana Barwick, Mary Lattimore, Bridget St. John, Jeff Parker, Bill MacKay, Ben Bertrand, drummer Ryan Sawyer (TV On The Radio, Thurston Moore, Gang Gang Dance) and others.
Los Angeles singer/songwriter Joe Bourdet has released his debut album Meadow Rock. The album, which is out now, is a nine-song set inspired by his natural surroundings of California – including the mountain ranges throughout. Amongst The Pines was written on an evening drive up Mount Baldy in the San Gabriel Mountains.
Sweet Misery is the first taster of Sacramento songwriter Tré Burt’s sophomore album, You, Yeah, You, which is out August 27th on Oh Boy Records which we wrote about here.
Jake Xerxes Fussell‘s Copper Kettle was released as a single earlier this year and features Jake on vocals and guitar, Casey Toll on bass, Nathan Bowles on drums, Libby Rodenbough on vocals and Nathan Golub on steel guitar.
Taken from Cameron Knowler‘s first full-length solo album Places of Consequence (reviewed here) is Don Bishop…in his review, Glenn Kimpton mentions how the unassuming nature of Cameron’s playing gives the music a certain charm and undeniable power…this tune sits perfectly here, adding that sense of journey and movement.
From their 2016 album Until You Find Your Green is a gorgeous track from The Baird Sisters which I often revisit.
The Reflection Box is the name of the musical act created by songwriter; session musician and multi-instrumentalist Sarah Cullen whose eclectic range of styles from traditional Irish, through classical, and contemporary, to blues, folk and Americana make her a fascinating listen. Her album Notes from the Wonderground is out now.
Yasmin Williams is another Folk Radio favourite whose sophomore album Urban Driftwood left a big impression on many. You can read Erika’s review of her album here. “She is a guitarist that does uniquely her own thing, free from tradition, geography, and time – a storyteller that makes the audience lean in to listen.”
Featured earlier today as our Song of the Day is the new single from Estonian singer, violinist, experimental electronic artist and composer Maarja Nuut. Taken from her forthcoming new album ‘Hinged’, ‘Kutse tantsule’ is a kind invitation to join her for a little dance.
Yamawarau (山笑う) is the third in a four-part album cycle from quartet Chris Jusell, Chaz Prymek, Matthew Sage, and Patrick Shiroishi. Released on Chicago’s cachedmedia: “What has been said before about this quartet remains true: they collectively cultivate a tenderness when playing together. That tenderness comes from patience, from foregrounding a sense of play, from leaving space and from finding joy in the act of creation as a group. Yamawarau is just that, a joy in cultivation, a smile full of new blossoms.”
From Los Angeles duo North Americans and taken from ‘Roped In‘ (out now on Third man Records), is Furniture in the Valley…the album is aptly described as a gorgeous, intimate, and often spare album that pulls back from the collaborative nature established on Going Steady for a collection of fragile drone pieces anchored by McDermott’s intricate but direct guitar playing and haunting pedal steel work from Portland, Oregon’s Barry Walker. Featuring contributions from William Tyler on guitar and Mary Lattimore on harp.
Born in Brussels in 2018, Sage Alyte is the brainchild of Roxane Métayer (Disques du chevet, Morc, Krut) and David Jarrín Zabala (Disposición Asoleada, Lexi Disques). Araignée incolore is taken from their album Paume de Pierre – This debut album by Sage Alyte marks an interest in collaborations and sound worlds that draw their inspiration from clay and dust and spiral upwards to connect with the realms of the cosmic and epic.
Enjoy the trip…
Music Played
Marina Allen – Sleeper Train
Steve Gunn – Other You
Joe Bourdet – Amongst The Pines
Tré Burt – Sweet Misery
Jake Xerxes Fussell – Copper Kettle
Cameron Knowler – Don Bishop
The Baird Sisters – Towpath Drill
The Reflection Box – On Lying
Yasmin Williams – I Wonder
Maarja Nuut – kutse tantsule
Jusell, Prymek, Sage, Shiroishi – Good Morning Patrick
North Americans – Furniture in the Valley
Sage Alyte – Araignée incolore
Photo Credit: Stefan Widua