This Monday Morning Brew is 2-hour laid-back, carefree playlist, plus we explore a 1969 counterculture documentary, revisit Bill Callahan’s Dream River + have number of new album recommendations.

Blair Dunlop’s “What Still Survives” has many standout moments, one of the most impressive is the overall backbone of its sound, or what Bob Dylan described back in 1966 as ‘wild mercury’. It is an expansive, lyrically immersive album from an artist truly commanding and refining his expressive voice.

Mali Obomsawin’s “Automatic” is a stylistic left-turn made on her own terms. She stretches genre until it is practically unrecognisable and uses improvisation to move between tranquillity and chaos. Archival voices highlight the close relationship between her ancestral heritage and her current practice, dissolving the linear notion of time. A moving and masterful album that makes you want to go right back to the start.

In a special guest article, Darren Hayman discusses his artwork that runs alongside his songs, and how those two worlds relate to each other: “I am almost always singing about people…In my paintings, people don’t feature at all.” Painting now makes up more than half his income. “Drawing makes my heart rate slower, whilst music makes it go faster.”

This week’s Mixtape of all-new releases beautifully captures music from the margins: smallpipes, experimental ambient, Andean improvisational music, and lost 78rpm Indian records. Featuring Chuck Roth, Buck Curran, Colin Stetson & Brìghde Chaimbeul, Ibelisse Guardia Ferragutti & Frank Rosaly, Sheherazaad, Emily A. Sprague, Diket, Julio Lopez and more.

This Is The Kit shares “Safety Valve”, a new single from their upcoming album “Ghost Coat”, due January 15th, 2027 on Memphis Industries. Kate Stables dedicates the song for friends who come to your rescue. The album features several collaborators: “I was really keen to not only ask people to sing on the album, but to make sure that you can hear their individual voices.”

Viv & Riley share their new single and video “Sourwood”, a grounding song written by Viv that reflects on ageing, loss and life’s beauty. It was recorded live to tape in Frome with producer Dom Monks, just the two of them singing into the same mic, a few feet apart. Watch the accompanying video.

Jeffrey Silverstein’s understated elegance comes into full focus on “Doggone”, his fourth LP and first for Full Time Hobby. Recorded in Portland with local musicians and clocking in at just under half an hour, it’s as lean as it gets, and all the better for it. No notes are wasted.

American composer and theatre artist Sheherazaad has shared “Registaan”, from her debut album “Khudgarzi”, due November 20th on Erased Tapes. The live video was filmed and edited by Vincent Moon. In her words, the song is set in “a crass desertland wherein really lonely women emerge.”

Buck Curran’s “Illuminations” honours the poet Arthur Rimbaud. He plays slowly on a 2009 Stefan Sobell guitar and leaves plenty of space; each note oozes richness and resonance, while family and environment enter the sound, making the album feel like an homage to his Bergamo life and family as well. Stripped back and beautifully inviting, it is the purest, most honest expression of his music to date.

Dylan Thomas was born today, and we’re revisiting “The village of Llareggub Awakens”, a Mixtape to mark his birthday. It includes readings from “Under Milk Wood”, by Richard Burton, plus music from Nick Drake, Georgia Ruth, Julie Murphy, Huw M, The Gentle Good, Little Arrow, Cate Le Bon, John Renbourn and Wizz Jones, Michael Chapman and more.

Toronto-based cellist and songwriter Kyla Marlena has shared “In Paint”, the latest single from her forthcoming debut album “Hold Time”. The song is about “the tension between wanting to outgrow our ingrained patterns and fearing the loss of control that comes with that, as well as the added complexity of navigating that alongside another person.” Watch the accompanying video she co-directed with Jo Hirabayashi.

Chuck Roth’s “Texture Songs” is a highly accomplished album that expertly blends experimental guitar playing that Derek Bailey would be proud of with lyrics and singing that feel intrinsic and organic to the sound, adding a pulse, a beating heart. It’s an impressive balance, sounding both effortless and exciting.

Brìghde Chaimbeul’s first Tiny Desk Concert for NPR has already clocked over 340k views. Shahzad Ismaily joins her on synths, which lend the performance a stronger experimental feel. The set has tracks from “Sunwise” and “Carry Them with Us”. We look back at her time on KLOF since 2016, starting with the Radio 2 Young Folk Award.

A new playlist (and some recommendations) to ease you into the week featuring Blair Coron, Ballaké Sissoko, Buck Curran, Neil Young, Jeffrey Silverstein, Nicole Mitchell and Joe Westerlund and more.

For our latest “Off the Shelf” feature, Good Habits’ Bonnie Schwarz and Pete Shaw, whose new album “Better for Now” is a KLOF Mag Featured Album of the Month, choose ten objects from home. They include a stable door, a Mozart Mouse and a Beethoven Bear…there’s also a healthy discussion on whether art needs to have a story in order for it to make a connection.

With “Everything in Readiness”, Shovel Dance Collective have combined vision and virtuosity, intuitive gristle and scholastic rigour to create the best folk album of the year. This is folk music in its most potent form. By allowing itself to be hybridised and mongrelised by other influences, they are getting closer to what’s most vital and true about the form.

Dublin-based songwriter and poet Christian Wethered has released “The First Thing”, the opening track from his new album “From The Balustrade”, due in 2027 via LVP Records. His poetry takes centre stage, with dreamlike verses left open to interpretation. A playful, quirky arrangement flows through the lyrics, featuring, among others, Caimin Gilmore, one of Ireland’s finest double bassists. It feels like a big leap forward.