Sound Cloud Sunday – March 24, 2019
Sound Cloud Sunday March 24, 2019
We’re back….what were we thinking? We were so busy listening to all this music we forgot to tell y’all about it….Well here’s the latest episode and there will be more to come!
Adam Wakefield – Dry Days
Hometown: Nashville, TN
Album: “Gods And Ghosts” was released
November 18 on Average Joe’s Entertainment.
Review Snippet: Gods & Ghosts, Memphis soul meets New Orleans funk. Think crisp air, crystal blue lakes and a guitar by a fireplace. Wakefield’s songs are laced with irony and heartache. His robust vocals jolt his lyrics to life, and he’s got you right where he wants you. The swooning instrumentals in the background mixed with his melodic voice will have you envisioning Gods & Ghosts.
Website: http://www.adamwakefieldmusic.com/
Pure Bathing Culture – Devotion
Hometown: Portland, OR
Album: “Night Pass” comes out April 26
on Infinite Companion Records.
Review Snippet: Take into account Versprille’s dreamcatcher lyrics, which namedrop pentacles and wizened wanderers and push the 60s Laurel Canyon pop they’ve explored as part of Vetiver into the cocaine 70s. But Moon Tides is also rife with 80s signifiers that range from Cocteau Twins to Benny Mardones.
Next Time In LA: June 5 at the Bootleg Theatre.
Website: https://www.purebathingculture.com/
Jared and The Mill – Soul In Mind
Hometown: Phoenix, AZ
Album: “This Story Is No Longer
Available” was released February 15 on Tone Tree.
Review Snippet: People who truly dive deep and embrace every part of themselves are to be commended. That’s doubly true for people who are willing to share the wisdom they find with the world. Jared & The Mill frontman Jared Kolesar is one of those people, and he alongside his bandmates Michael Carter, Larry Gast, Chuck Morriss, and Josh Morin are bringing heaps of wisdom to the people with their Americana-tinged rock sound. Their new album This Story Is No Longer Available finds Jared & The Mill at their most open, emotional, and wise, serving as a testament to the soul-searching they’ve gone through.
Next Time in LA: March 22 at the Moroccan Lounge
Website: https://jaredandthemill.com/
JS Ondara American Dream/Saying Goodbye
Hometown: Minneapolis, via Kenya
Album: “Tales of America” was released
in February on Verve/Forecast.
Review Snippet: t started with a bad teenage bet and it ended with a debut record that captures the heart, the imagination, and the essence of American music.
Kenya-born, Minneapolis-based J.S. Ondara’s debut album, Tales of America, is his personal story of moving from Nairobi with nothing and chasing the American dream. The bet that started it all was whether or not “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” was written by Guns ’n’ Roses. From the moment he lost and learnt about Bob Dylan, nothing else mattered; Ondara started skipping school to go to the internet cafe and find Dylan deep cuts, diving far into the history of American folk music in the process. Despite being too poor to own an instrument, his obsession with Nirvana, Van Morrison, and Canadian Neil Young influenced the lyrics he started to write as a child. As an early teen, he vowed to move to the US and become a musician. This came true in 2013 after he won a green-card lottery and—in a move paralleling Bob Dylan moving to New York because of Woody Guthrie—he went to live with his aunt in Dylan’s home state of Minnesota.
But that was just the start of his journey.
Not knowing a soul, his dream of forming a band seemed more distant than the continent he left behind. So like any millennial he started a YouTube channel, taught himself guitar, and hit up some open mics, turning those childhood lyrics into moving, melodic acoustic music.
Tales of America – J.S. Ondara
Fast forward five years and all this angst, sweat and tears has culminated in Tales of America. It’s equal parts a critique of modern-day America and an outsider’s interpretation of the possibility of the American dream — filtered through a 26 year old African’s understanding of decades of American music. And this is where it’s alluring beauty lies. Since it doesn’t sound like any one particular artist it takes on the quality of representing American music as a whole: It’s as much Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, and Neil Young’s Harvest as it is Beck’s Mellow Gold, Etta James’ At Last!, and Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged. By sounding like no-one, he’s channelling everyone.
But don’t mistake this for a boring, regurgitation of the past. Rather, Ondara has breathed new life into these classic artists, in the process making himself a defining voice of modern American folk. Not dissimilar to Leon Bridges four years ago, Ondara has used his powerful, emotion-filled voice and modern take on a classic sound to make his own lane.
Thematically, Tales of America resonates very well in 2019 America. As an immigrant making a living doing what he loves, Ondara can see both sides of the American dream: Both joy at the opportunity to live this life, but also sorrow at the fact that he’s one of the few able to experience it. Tales of America exists at the meeting point of these two emotions, and nowhere is this clearer than on the album’s closer, “God Bless America“:
Next Time in LA: April 9 at the Moroccan Lounge (sold out)
Website: https://www.jsondara.com/
Yola – Ride Out In The Country
Hometown: Bristol, UK
Album: “Walk Through Fire” was released
in November on Easy Eye Sound/Nonesuch.
Review Snippet: “Discovered” by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach after he viewed a video of her performing in a Nashville bar, he produced British singer and musician Yola‘s debut record Walk Through Fire for his Easy Eye Sound label. Auerbach and a team of musician’s compliment and back-up Yola’s endearing vocals and the beauty is clearly written and performed on each track. Sincerity and care are present in her vocals and the connection they deliver for the listener, resulting in an album that grows in strength in an engaging manner as it progresses. Each track is unique and offers a particular emotional and musical feel that blends its overt soul and country styles seamlessly.
Website: https://www.iamyola.com/
Albin Lee Meldau – The Weight Is Gone
Hometown: Gothenberg, Sweden
Album: “The Purgatory Sessions” EP (his
second release) is out on Virgin EU.
Review Snippet: Out of all the various words we use to describe music, no genre description is more accurate and on-the-nose than soul. From Otis Redding to Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye to Aretha Franklin and beyond, the titans of soul made their mark with songs that came from an ethereal, intimate place of truth: They gave themselves over to the music, and it glowed with their presence.
Though the stories, names and faces have changed, today’s soul music still comes from that deep and special place, and nowhere is that more evident than with Gothenburg, Sweden’s Albin Lee Meldau. “The Weight Is Gone,” Meldau’s latest single (released 2/9/2018 via Astralwerks/Caroline International) finds the emerging artist overcome with hearbreak, internal tension and emotional strain as he confronts his unfaithful partner.
Website: https://www.albinleemeldau.com/
Crosstalk – Cheyenne
Hometown:
Album: “Broken Love” is
self-released.
Review Snippet:
Website:
Isbells – Push You Away
Hometown: Leuven, Belgium
Album: From their 5th album
“Sosci” released in March on Zeal Records. B
Review Snippet: Belgian stereotypes are mostly culinary-centric. The dudes have got sweet, rich beer, powdered sugary waffles, and some lovely fries. And let’s be honest, all of these things are great, but they don’t exactly speak to sound. So-knowing that it was the work of Belgian Gaëtan Vandewoude-when I picked up Isbells‘ self-titled debut with beer-drenched waffles on my mind, I didn’t really know what to expect sonically. Though, I guess on a subconscious level I had a perfect hypothesis, because by some strange associative mind trick, the thing sounds exactly like powdered sugar washed down with some wheat ale-if that makes any sense, which it probably doesn’t.
It boils down to the syrupy sweet sound of Vandewoude’s delicate, wispy coo harmonizing with itself and washing over almost afro-tinged folk guitar work that finds itself somewhere in the strange space between frantic and subtle, all hooked up to ethereal atmospherics. Upbeat, fluttering hammers and pulls alternate with slower, blossoming finger picking and lush strumming to build a solid folk base for the rest of the vaporous sounds that pile up. Though it comes across as a light affair at first, this is both a lyrically woeful and instrumentally dense record, with a lot of subtlety sneaking by.
Website: http://www.isbells.be/
Jennah Bell – Candied Daylight
Hometown: Oakland, CA
Album: From her second album “Anchors
And Elephants” self-released in February.
Review Snippet: One of the more exciting roots releases slated for 2019 is Jennah Bell’s full-length debut Anchors And Elephants, due out February 22. The Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter explores her folk, soul, indie and R&B roots across the LP, using her kaleidoscopic influences to chronicle love, heartbreak, identity and personal growth with precision and dimension. Bell recorded Anchors And Elephants with producer James Poyser, a member of the Roots who is also known for his work with Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill, among other artists.
Website: http://www.jennahbell.com/
Owen Stroud – All The Way To Austin
Hometown: Nashville via Austin
Album: “If There Are Other Places” was
self-released in February.
Review Snippet: If you know me at all, you know music is the air I breathe. Even before my fingers ever touched a piano, I was hearing melodies in my head. From my 9th birthday up until the end of high school, I was classically trained as a pianist — which taught me two important things: I love to perform, and I’m especially hardwired to create.
Website: https://www.owenstroudmusic.com/
Spencer Burton – Old Grey Stone
Hometown: Ontario, Canada
Album: This album was recently released
from 2017 on Dine Alone.
Review
Snippet: Southern
Ontario singer/songwriter Spencer Burton has had a rather chameleonic career to
date. He first made a mark in rockers Attack In Black, then went the folk-rock
route under the moniker Grey Kingdom, as well as writing and performing live in
City and Colour.
Burton assumed his own name for 2014’s well-received Don’t Let the World See Your Love, and he now ups the ante on the highly compelling Songs Of. Choosing to record in Nashville with name producer Andrija
Tokic (Alabama Shakes, Hurray For the Riff Raff), and members of Margo Price’s
band was presumably an expensive gamble, but one that paid off. The
musicianship and production values are of a high level, yet they avoid seeming
slick and glossy.
Website: https://www.spencerburtonmusic.com/
Ryan Farmer – She Can Do Everything But Fall In Love With Me
Hometown: Nottingham, UK
Album: Just Another Night (self-released
in February)
Review Snippet: He has made old style traditional country music sound up-to-date and modern. Authentic and very easy on the ear. Superb guitar picking and musicianship throughout.
You can hear that Ryan has taken influences from other genres closely related to country music and blended them to create this collection of songs. Americana, Blues and Roots work very well together as you will hear.
Website: http://www.ryanfarmermusic.com/
Eric Brent West – California
Hometown: Alberta, Canada
Album: From his debut EP “Can’t Got Home
This Way” self-released March 1.
Review Snippet:
Website: https://www.ericbrentwest.com/
Lady Cannon – Drinking In The Morning
Hometown: Milwaukee, WI
Album: Their second album “Fortune’s
Darling” was self released March 8
Review Snippet: Fortune’s Darling, which was recorded and completed about two years ago, is the long awaited follow up to 2012’s Whiskey Dear. The record exhibits that same kind of folk with fervid intensity heard in the band’s debut, as Cannon delves deep into tales of yearning and heartache.
Website: http://www.ladycannon.com/
