A low autumn sun and long shadows are a fitting backdrop for “Sleeping With Headphones” by Melanie MacLaren and Lorkin O’Reilly. It’s a lovely, sparse number documenting a relationship in peril with each singer playing one side of the conflict. She wants a simple commitment, he feels like such a request is suffocating. Dudes, amiright? Both sides are told beautifully with imagery that finds poetry in the common, which as we all know is the finest kind of poetry, and lovely voices to match. Great song, just wouldn’t listen to it with your partner unless you’re really, really sure everything between you is cool.
August 8, 2022
Week Starter – Odie Leigh
Fuck dude. This song is so good, it’s just like “fuuuuuuuck.” You know? “A Month Or Two” by Odie Leigh is like if Nico kicked heroin, stayed away from bicycles and after 40 years in hiding dropped an unreleased song to blow your mind and heal your soul. Sublime and poetic without being pretentious, orchestral folk without feeling gimmicky, this is just a perfect song done perfectly and is the kind of swear words inducing beauty we want to send you into the week with.
August 5, 2022
Friday 5×5
Today we keep it brief with new releases that don’t need all our jibber jabber. Check out the latest from MAYA LUCIA, Lunavela, Colyn Cameron, State of The Secretary and The Recombinants after the jump.
.
.
read more »
June 9, 2022
The B-Side: Ryan Cassata w/ Hello Noon
Happy Pride Month to all who celebrate, which really should be everyone when you think about it. What kind of person wouldn’t celebrate people celebrating all the things that make them beautiful? Of course the answer is quite a few right wing politicians, who have once again mounted a hate filled push to strip some of their fellow Americans of rights, safety and dignity. So what better time than now for singer-songwriter and long time LGBTQ rights activist Ryan Cassata (with assistance from Hello Noon) to drop a modern day anthem in “Hold On, You Belong (People Like Us).” Like Baez, Seeger, Ferrick and Bragg before them; Cassata recognizes the best protest song is one with a chorus designed for an impassioned sing along, and one that acts not so much like a molotov cocktail to the powers that be (although those are always good too) as an uplifting mantra. Like “We Shall Overcome” and “Blowin In The Wind” the focus of “Hold On” is on the strength and resilience of the oppressed and the assurance that no one is alone in the fight.
June 8, 2022
Wordless Wednesdays
Short and sweet, slinky and sublime, “Movement 2” by Paul Cortese finds his viola dancing through the space where traditional folk melodies meet the sophistication of classical. A piece that would be just as natural on the stage of a concert hall as it would be in village pub, it does what all great art should do; scratches a previously unknown itch and leaves you wanting more.
April 12, 2022
Tuesday Tip-Off: The Lied To’s
Fun fact for you gentle reader, Postcard Editor loves the Tom Waits song “Time” so much he has one of the lines tattooed on his body. “Time” by Pink Floyd? Another all time classic. We can now add to that short list of Time songs that are in their own stubbornly contradictory way timeless the song “Time” by The Lied To’s. Despite it sounding like the name of a political hardcore band, The Lied To’s is actually singer-songwriters Susan Levine and Doug Kwartler and with this one they lay it down with the utmost tastefulness. That restrained tasteful approach puts the entire focus on the song’s narrative which balances a simple poetic lyricism and a wistful understanding on the back of Levine’s divine vocals for stellar results. A lot of time songs like this can be too straight forward, too on the nose, but The Lied To’s have created something here that is both plainspoken and profound, and that’s what makes this a new classic.
February 7, 2022
Mike’s Monday Muse – Jess Sah Bi & Peter One
Originally released in 1985, Jess Sah Bi and Peter One’s sweet debut album of Ivory Coast-West African-country-soul-folk-reggae tunes Our Garden Needs Its Flowers was reissued 33 years later by Awesome Tapes From Africa. It’s stunning and worth reminding everyone to get yourself these jams.
June 1, 2021
Play Listy For Me – Americana, Folk & Roots Vol. 5
Back from our vacation in the Smoky Mountains, but still feeling that vibe, so here’s a playlist to get you on our level.
May 4, 2021
Play Listy For Me – Americana, Folk & Roots Vol. 4
Oh, look, it’s another grouping of the best Americana and Americana related songs we could find for you, lover of music and appreciator of a nice grouping.
May 3, 2021
We Never Asked For This
Today we have new music from Simone Istwa, Vypera, Disturbios, Karaboudjan, Ari B. Ingber, ameliarose, NATL PARK SRVC, Plaster of Paris, the HVNZ and seasonal.
read more »