Lahire — Faded West

When Andrija Tokic takes on a project, I take that as a surefire stamp of quality. Tokic is the master behind the Bomb Shelter in East Nashville and gave the world the Alabama Shakes, Langhorne Slim, Hurray for the Riff…

Lydia Loveless — Boy Crazy & Single(s)

I wish I could hand out awards for album design because it is difficult to create a more pitch-perfect jacket than this. (I’m also dying to know the context of this photo.) Boy Crazy is a reissue of Loveless’ 2013…

The Final Playlist (For Now)

In an effort to focus more on longform posts, this’ll be the last playlist for the time being. Thanks for following along! Granz — “Winter Street” hits too many sweet spots to resist. This is just a great acoustic pop…

Dori Freeman — Letters Never Read

For some reason my memory of Dori Freeman’s first album was a collection of gentle beautifully executed folk songs, showcasing Freeman’s unparalleled voice. After listening to Letters Never Read, I went back to get a better understanding of just how…

Faith Evans Ruch — Lessons in Falling

Faith Evans Ruch has a voice that’s thick and fortified enough to bottle and drink. Whether or not you know it, she’s already conquered country and blues — After It’s Said and Done was one of my favorite albums of…

Penultimate Playlist

I made the mistake of queuing up song after song for these playlists and it caught up with me really quickly. This is the tail end of the queue and I don’t plan on doing any more playlists for a…

Mike Wheeler — Sunbeams All Twisted

Mike Wheeler’s Sunbeams All Twisted gives us a unique look into his process. While several musicians join Wheeler on the recordings, the EP is a loose collection of off-the-cuff recordings. Well beyond a sketch but clearly not the final draft,…