Several excellent albums came out this week. I think one could make a great top 5 year-end list in next december by just using records that came out on 24th of january. John K. Samson, Craig Finn, Bro. Stephen, Nada Surf and John Statz. That’s a giant dose of awesome new music for one day. I wrote a few words about the John Statz album a month ago, but wanted to remind you that the album has now been released by Yer Bird Records. John Statz is an excellent folk singer-songwriter from Madison, WI and he is just getting better all the time. Old Fashioned is the title of his new album and it is a really strong and captivating album. This beautiful song is Honest.

[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/30370598″ iframe=”true” /]
 
John Statz at Bandcamp
John Statz Website

JOHN K. SAMSON

I’ll take a small break from selecting the album of the year 2011 and focus on the album of the year 2012. John K. Samson is releasing his first solo album Provincial on january 24th, 2012. This guy is a poet, one of the best songwriters in the world and his band The Weakerthans has released some of the greatest indie rock albums of the past 10-15 years. The last three of them have been top 10 albums at onechord.net and I’m sure the solo album will be equally brilliant. Check out Epitaph’s album sampler below and start counting days. It looks like the Christmas might be a month late and this time it will arrive on the 24th of january.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfqLrWMMPZ4]

And why not post a couple The Weakerthans classics:

Tournament of Hearts (the greatest rock song ever written about curling.. ok the competition probably isn’t very high)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQF5xuLrjpY]

And here’s John K. Samson singing One Great City by The Weakerthans at Songwriting Panel. I recommend checking out other videos from that panel as well. I’ve watched them a few times over the years. Other great songwriters there as well.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK8x-77GqB0]

John K. Samson at Facebook
The Weakerthans Website

JOHN STATZ

It looks like the singer-songwriter Johns are taking over the world on the january 24th, because also John Statz is releasing a new album on that day. Mr. Statz might not be as household name as Mr. Samson is at this point, but he is also able to craft some really fine songs. I enjoyed the previous album Ghost Towns and really look forward to hearing this new one. It’s his first release on the great Yer Bird records and the label recently gave away the first single Distance as a free download. Sounds great to me. Check it out yourself below.

John Statz Website

John Statz: Ghost Towns

John Statz is a folk rocker and singer-songwriter from Madison, Wisconsin and Ghost Towns is his fourth album. I’ve been really enjoying this one. I think it’s a very fine album from the first note to the last word. Only thing that is lacking is that one killer song that would lift him up to the next league. Jackson Hole is already close. Certainly a name to keep an eye on, if you are into folk troubadours.

Listen to Jackson Hole:
[audio:http://onechord.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/04-jackson-hole.mp3]

John Statz Website

The Famous: Come Home To Me

The Famous from San Francisco are exploring the darker side of the country field, even though the album doesn’t often enter into such deep & dark waters as the video single Come Home To Me below. There’s actually a lot of versatility in here. There’s beautiful country songs, raw rock’n’roll entertainment and some brutal bluesy americana. I have rather mixed feelings about this one. I’m really into some of the songs like Without You or Moving On, but there’s also stuff I don’t like that much.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jyfqrPi7tY]

The Famous Website

Another Hundred Miles: Move The Fader

Another Hundred Miles is Douglas Holmes and Daniel Maynard from New Hampshire and Move The Fader is their debut album. Their folk rock has also a lot of pop sensitivity and lovely melodies, which I find thrilling. There’s plenty of really good songs, but unfortunately also several “just nice” tunes. The best stuff could have formed a really good EP, but as an album it’s a bit too uneven. But hey, it’s a debut and a really promising one.

Listen to Go On and Wake Up
[audio:http://onechord.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/03-go-on-and-wake-up.mp3]

Another Hundred Miles Website