One more for tonight. Mama Bird Recording Co from Portland, Oregon is about to release a new album later in June and well we love Mama Bird here at the onechord.net headquarters so this is always a matter of great significance. They don’t release that many albums, but when they do release an album, you can count on it to be an awesome handpicked treasure. So it’s time to give an early shout out about their forthcoming release, The Lights Just Buzz by Birger Olsen that is due out on 17th of June. You might or might not know Birger from the country band Denver (that’s also on Mama Bird). He also sang a few songs on the last two Denver albums. The ones that sort of reminded me of Ted Lucas. Although that similarity is/was probably just in my head.

Birger Olsen has a really low singing voice and it might take a while to get used to that. However, give him a little bit of time and I’m fairly sure that the voice slowly turns into one of the biggest and most charming strengths of his music. This whole beautiful thing is set in the blues and country territory with light jazzy vibes and gospel bits adding another layer to the sound. I love that they’ve somehow managed to keep it sounding so small, subtle and warm even though there’s a lot of interesting things going on in the songs. This is the title track Lights Just Buzz and the only available song at this point time.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIy3U9BCS8I]

Birger Olsen Website

Then something a little bit different. The new and excellent Arliss Nancy album Greater Divides might not be a complete match with my music taste, but it’s not far off either. Every now and then I sure can use a bit of rock’n’roll that falls close to the same ball park as things like The Replacements, Gaslight Anthem, Two Cow Garage, Damn Seagulls etc. In fact I probably need that to keep functioning as a living soul. Arliss Nancy has also been my work day soundtrack lately, because it’s a good empathetic kick in the groin, if the physical labor tries to drag my mind or body down. Greater Divides is now out and available on Gunner Records. This is DuFresne from the album and below that you’ll find the music video for the song Bar Of The Century.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfzyA8WgXyU]

Arliss Nancy Website

The release of the PURSES album went without a mention in late April, because I was a little bit sick at the time. Actually Obsess Much by PURSES was the only proper medication I had for this severe case of man flu and eventually it did the trick and kicked the flu out of my system and replaced it with a high dose of marvellous indie rock. PURSES is an Athens, GA based collective that is build around the songs of Drew Beskin. His earlier groups The District Attorneys and Party Dolls are wonderful and the new band follow their lead by being nothing short of brilliant. This is a great tune called In And Over My Head from the album that is out and available on a new label called Laser Brains.

PURSES at Facebook

Canadian songwriter Matt Paxton might not be a household name (not yet anyway), but we love him here at the onechord.net headquarters. I’ve been eagerly waiting this new Aaron Goldstein produced material for a year or two and therefore this is major news for me. The new 5-song Matt Paxton release Let Me Rock N’ Roll Tonight came out on 3rd of June on the forever lovely label Other Songs Music Co. I set the bar unfairly high for this release, but still Matt and his songs easily go over it and land gently into my heart. You can listen to/buy the whole thing over at Bandcamp. This is the ending song Can’t Say Your Name of this beautiful treasure.

Matt Paxton at Facebook