OCTA Weekly Playlist – Episode #4

Hey another week, another new weekly playlist. I’m really enjoying making this every week, which is nice. Especially because sometimes or even most of the times during the last few years the blog has been closer to a burden than something that I wholeheartedly enjoy. Don’t get me wrong, it’s dear to me and I’m somewhat proud of doing it for 17 years, but it’s also hard to keep it going and it can get emotionally draining. Especially because I always feel like that I want to feature everything that matters to me and I feel super bad because I’m not able to do that. Which is sort of a silly thought, because even the actual music journalists who write for a living don’t have to cover everything. Their publications have other writers too and I’m just one guy who does this as a hobby on his spare time. I hope this takes away a bit of that feeling, because this way I can at least share everything in some way and hopefully a large chunk of them later on a proper post too. Plus it’s just fun to listen to new music and compile this every week. I’m not even too worried about whether I can get listeners to this, because it’s fun to do and I enjoy listening to the mix myself on my way to work and back.

Another really strong release week. Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis put out their duo album and it is a great rock’n’roll meets country extravaganza. Bird Streets debut is a new exciting pop record from John Brodeur and it was produced by Jason Falkner. Dublin-born, NY-based folk singer-songwriter John Cathal O’Brien released a great new album, Riley Pinkerton finally released her debut full-length after a couple of marvellous EPs (one solo and one with Henry Black). The War and Treaty’s soul, gospel, americana melting pot is really good. Cordovas delivers some of the finest harmony-filled American folk rock these days. The Mountain Lions album that has been featured on the playlist a couple of times is also now out and available. Then there was also new ones from Kathryn Joseph, Jason Eady, Liz Cooper & The Stampede and Dawn Landes, but haven’t really had enough of time to listen to these more than little bit. Oh and on the EP front there was at least Taylor Janzen’s debut that might be your new favorite if you like artists like Phoebe Bridgers.

Then there are new singles from Adrianne Lenker, John Hiatt, Anna St. Louis, Marissa Nadler and some older singles that I missed when they came out. And of course another song from last week’s brilliant albums from Michael Nau, Amanda Shires and Juan Solorzano. The big completely new finds for me this week were Joel Henry Little and Hadley McCall Thackston. Joel Henry Little’s song somehow reminds me of Emitt Rhodes and other 70s pop/folk artists. album out on Life Is A Minestrone 24th of August. Yesterday I was blinded by the greatness of folk songwriter Hadley McCall Thackston’s Slow Burn (thanks to Adam Wilson’s Quiet Revolution for this find). My reaction was completely oppositive to slow burn, because I instantly fell in love with the song. That song is not on Spotify, but I will share it later. No worries though, because there are equally great songs on her self-titled album that came out in June on Wolfe Island. These two songs might be the ones that I was most passionate about during the week, because there’s just nothing like finding an artist/band for the first time. There’s some Finnish americana too, because the Tuomo & Markus album that came out here year or two ago will get an US release on Schoolkids Records in September. Good reason to drop the finest song of that lovely album on this list. Oh did I already mention pretty much every song. Sorry about that. I’ll stop now. Oh but not until I’ve said that there’s obviously a song from Clay Parker and Jodi James for the fourth time in a row. Ok, now it’s time to let Bird Streets kick this one off with a song from their new pop album.

Dear 23 – OCTA Weekly Playlist Episode #4

1. Bird Streets – Betting On The Sun (Bird Streets, Omnivore Recordings, 2018)
2. Amanda Shires – White Feather (To The Sunset, Silver Knife Records, 2018)
3. John Cathal O’Brien Cures (These Borders, 2018)
4. Michael Nau – Funny In Real Life (Michael Nau & The Mighty Thread, Full Time Hobby, 2018)
5. Hadley McCall Thackston – Devil or Angel (Hadley McCall Thackston, Wolfe Island, 2018)
6. Joel Henry Little – Arms Akimbo (single, Life is a Minestrone, 2018)
7. Riley Pinkerton – Like The Lady Waiting By Her Phone (Nothing Ever Is, 2018)
8. Jason Eady – Always a Woman (I Travel On, Old Guitar Records, 2018)
9. Clay Parker and Jodi James – I Remember It All (The Lonesomest Sound That Can Sound, 2018)
10. Juan Solorzano – Time Machine (Time Machine, Tone Tree Music, 2018)
11. Dawn Landes – Traveling (Meet Me At The River, Yep Roc, 2018)
12. William Elliot Whitmore – Fear of Trains (single, Bloodshot Records, 2018)
13. Tuomo & Markus – Vanity Blinds (single, Schoolkids Records, 2018)
14. Anna St.Louis – Understand (single, Woodsist/Mare, 2018)
15. Adrianne Lenker – cradle (single, Saddle Creek, 2018)
16. Jason Bemis Lawrence – How Fast Can You Pack? (single, 2018)
17. Taylor Janzen – The Waiting Room (Interpersonal EP, 2mm, 2018)
18. Young Readers – Dancing (single, 2018)
19. John Hiatt – Cry To Me (single, New West Records, 2018)
20. Cordovas – Selfish Loner (That Santa Fe Chanel, ATO Records, 2018)
21. Marissa Nadler – Blue Vapor (single, Bella Union, 2018)
22. The War and Treaty – It’s Not Over Yet (Healing Tide, Strong World Entertainment/Thirty Tigers, 2018)
23. Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis – Hardluck, Louisiana (Wild! Wild! Wild!, Bloodshot Records, 2018)

Oh and do buy the vinyl/cd/download. Spotify and other streaming services are perfect for introductory purposes, but try to buy at least the ones that matter the most to you.

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Robbie Fulks & Linda Gail Lewis – Wild! Wild! Wild!

Robbie Fulks and Linda Gail Lewis made a record together and it’s a glorious rock’n’roll meets country extravaganza. It’s a pure joy to listen to their fierce and fun album Wild! Wild! Wild! that came out on Bloodshot Records on the 10th of August. Hey, a couple of days with this one and I may fall behind in the most miserable man without any reason contest. Even though this record is a bliss, it also has the ability to move your soul and not just the body. Especially on the beautiful last song, Hardluck, Louisiana, Linda Gail Lewis delivers a vocal performance that will keep on holding you tightly long after the last note has faded away. Hardluck, Louisiana and Robbie’s I Just Lived a Country Song are the biggest highlights for me, but the whole record is gorgeous. Hardluck, Louisiana will end the weekly playlist that I’ll post tomorrow, so the lyric video of I Just Lived a Country Song can end this little blog entry about this lovely album.

Ok, here’s the title track too, because a) it’s wonderful b) it shows another side of this genre hopping blast of a record.

Robbie Fulks Website
Linda Gail Lewis

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Clay Parker and Jodi James – The Lonesomest Sound That Can Sound

A few weeks of just those weekly playlist posts, but I try to return back into writing regular blog entries from now on and at least until the end of the year. The best way to start that is to feature the album that I’ve loved by far the most during this insanely hot summer. The album in question is the new Clay Parker and Jodi James album The Lonesomest Sound That Can Sound that came out on the 20th of July.

The Louisiana duo of Clay Parker and Jodi James have written a timeless and endlessly beautiful folk album. Sure there’s also darkness in the stories, but the way they perform the songs is full of warmness and down-to-earth beauty. The Lonesomest Sound That Can Sound is a perfect antidote against the everyday stress that is continuously lurking in the back of my head. There’s no space left for stress, when Jodi and Clay start singing together in perfect harmony and gently wrap my heart in the sweetest acoustic americana sounds and captivating folk stories. There’s absolute no way I could overemphasize my love for the singing on this album. The singing and the harmonies are pure gold throughout the record and I could listen to them singing together all day long. Check out a couple of personal favorites from the album below. Although, to be honest, every song is a favorite and The Lonesomest Sound That Can Sound is also my favorite album of the year.

Clay Parker and Jodi James Website

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