Sunday, March 24, 2024

SCOTT BALLEW - RiO BRAVO

ROUTES & BRANCHES
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
March 24, 2024
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust 


This week's release date has brought us a ridiculous wealth of new stuff - possibly the best batch of the year to date. In parallel universes, we devoted this Episode's appreciation to deserving records by Waxahatchee, or Adrianne Lenker, Cody Jinks, Sierra Ferrell, or Rosali ... But here at R&B HQ, our attention is drawn towards the unexpected, the glittering gem beneath an overturned leaf. We can't ignore a gift. Scott Ballew's Rio Bravo (out March 29, La Honda) is simply too good to let pass without notice. 

Scott Ballew didn't grow up honing his songwriting chops. He didn't schlep his craft from bar to bar as a young man, hoping for a break. Ballew is primarily a filmmaker, and he decided to try his hand at songwriting while working on a short film about Texas legend Terry Allen during the pandemic. He's also created a documentary about Tom McGuane, Jim Harrison, Richard Brautigan, and Jimmy Buffett in 1970s Key West. Rio Bravo is Ballew's third full-length, following a 2021 debut and 2022's Leisure Rodeo, records that he created with the help of Erika Wennerstrom, Shane Renfro, Ryan Bingham, Jesse Woods, and other names that matter. 

The Rio Bravo sessions were produced with Michael Nau, and engineered by Will Patterson, played alongside a band featuring the suddenly ubiquitous Mat Davidson, Rob Barbato, Bukka Allen, and other essential contributors. As we remarked a number of Episodes ago in appreciation of Nau's own records, he generates such a lovely, loose, rambling setting for songs that arrangements themselves become as important as the instruments. One of the great victories on Rio Bravo is this perfect partnering of Nau's sounds with Scott Ballew's wise, worldly lyrics, songs that deliver such poetic truth wrapped in the leftover stuff of the everyday: 
Inside a truck stop
Or maybe AA
Or outside of Denver
I heard someone say
If you're lonely get a dog
If you're broke get a job
Find religion if you believe in hell
Find god if you've already been there
Amen and amen. Coupled with the fact that much of the session was recorded live, Rio Bravo bears a wonderful warmth, a purity and immediacy that brings to mind classic Texas country records from the 70s. Ballew himself has cited influences ranging from Townes Van Zandt and Blaze Foley to more contemporary auteurs like Bill Callahan and Joanna Newsome. He calls "Can You Hear Me Smile" his most Bill Callahan song, a beautiful chamber piece featuring only the playing of Ballew and Nau: With the first cigarette of winter / Everything is possible. Like his producer, Scott Ballew wields an outsider's voice, a rangy and untamed cry that might recall Matthew Houck or Bobby Bare Jr. He emotes with real soul on "Trouble Darling", a tune he attributes to a shared love of Ennio Morricone and Harry Nilsson, backed by a heavenly chorus and Nau's evocative mellotron. 

Just on this side of turning thirty, Ballew has already amassed enough lived experience from which to speak. On "Trouble": When I let go of the reins / There's no more suffering. Terry Allen's son Bukka launches "True Love Can't Surf" with a steady harmonium, leading to a slow crescendo with contributors joining piece by piece towards a glorious denouement: People, they don't change / It's like hugging a crashing wave / Expecting it not to break. "Old Fashioned" pinpoints salvation in surrender, as accompanied by a rambling piano: Lord I realize / We've yet to harmonize / But I've been humbled by the flame. Ballew calls "All That Is Sacred" a Leon Helm sort of gospel song, featuring Odessa Jorgensen's sweet violin: All that is sacred / Is between me and you. The songwriter demonstrates a genuinely impressive lyrical expression, a pure and unadorned perspective that is eloquent in its direct simplicity. 

Songs are presented patiently on this great sounding collection, never manic or hurried. "Impossible Smile" is typical in its use of tape drag to achieve its Motown swagger. The album's title track rides a labored, bluesy organ, Ballew reflecting on the powerless feeling of watching his father in the ICU and his friend in rehab: Rio Bravo playing again on the TV / So loud the whole world goes quiet. The song is adorned with a gospel backing chorus featuring Angela Miller and Lauren Cervantes from Black Pumas. Among the year's most worthy singles, "Suicide Squeeze" floats gracefully in its watery arrangement. Inspired by Ballew's experience watching Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza, the song is a fully satisfying whole composed of terrific parts: Ballew's yearning vocal, Davidson's fiddle and backing, Rob Barbato's electric guitar filigree, and remarkable lyrics: When you're seventeen you got so much left to see / But all I wanted was more

"Funny Masterpiece" is a nine-minute opus whose steady, repeated progress recalls Van Morrison in his mystical No Guru period: In my final gasp of glory days / Have I missed my window / To do something great / Or is being steady / A greater fate. It's a fitting wrap to Scott Ballew's humble but stunning statement, shimmering with surprise, rich with understated revelation. A contemporary renaissance artist (not unlike Terry Allen, it turns out), Ballew and his cohort have shared one of the year's most rewarding collections, an imminently listenable and endlessly quotable treasure: There's nothing as brave as surrendering ... And you learn how to live / As if you're someone to love

In the wake of this week's firehose release date, let's risk a look at A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster for what's next. Just in time for its 25th Anniversary, Shelby Lynne will be reissuing a long unavailable I Am Shelby Lynne. An idiosyncratic musical statement, the record will appear courtesy of the Monument label on April 5 (in advance of Lynne's all-new forthcoming collection). Following a rising buzz of attention, Wyatt Flores has finally announced the arrival of his second EP/short LP. Expect Half Life on April 19 (Island). After almost ten years of relative silence, we're happy to announce that Sarah Gayle Meech will return with her forthcoming record. Easin' On arrives courtesy of Good Timin' Woman Records on May 3. Expect something new from the Decemberists as we head into Summer. Titled As It Ever Was So It Will Be Again, the LP drops on June 14 (YABB). Finally,, having rebranded themselves under the Silverada moniker, Mike & the Moonpies have chosen a June 28 release date for their self-titled collection (Prairie Rose). 


ROUTES-cast March 24, 2024

- Adrianne Lenker, "Free Treasure (ft Twain)" Bright Future  (4AD, 24)
- Erin, Mat & Paul, "Magic Please" single  (Tableaux, 24)  D
- Son of the Velvet Rat, "Southbound Plane" Ghost Ranch  (Fluff & Gravy, 24)
- Staves, "After School" All Now  (Nonesuch, 24)
- Waxahatchee, "Ice Cold" Tigers Blood  (Anti, 24)
- Lucy Rose, "Over When It's Over" This Ain' the Way You Go Out  (Communion, Apr 19)
- Pernice Brothers, "Purple Rain" Who Will You Believe  (New West, Apr 5)
- Rosali, "Hills On Fire" Bite Down  (Merge, 24)
- Nathan Kalish, "Ma Dude" Southern Poverty Guitar Center V2  (Yellow Canary, 24)
- Dr Dog, "Still Can't Believe" single  (We Buy Gold, 24)  D
- Wild Pink, "Unconscious Pilot" Strawberry Eraser EP  (Fire Talk, 24)  D
- Aaron West & Roaring Twenties, "Whiplash" In Lieu Of Flowers  (Hopeless, Apr 14)
- Jon Snodgrass, "Your First Rodeo" Barge At Will  (Thousand Islands, Mar 29)
- Bill Mackay, "Glow Drift" Locust Land  (Drag City, May 24)  D
- Thee Sinseers & Joey Quinones, "Hold On" Sinseerly Yours  (Colemine, 24)
- Pokey LaFarge, "One You Owe Me" Rhumba Country  (New West, May 10)
- Sam Evian, "Jacket" Plunge  (Flying Cloud, 24)
- Aoife O'Donovan, "Someone To Follow" All My Friends  (Yep Roc, 24)
- T Bone Burnett, "Sometimes I Wonder (ft Weyes Blood)" Other Side  (Verve, Apr 19)
- Ruston Kelly, "The Watcher" Weakness Etc EP  (Rounder, 24)
- Charlie Parr, "Little Sun" Little Sun  (Smithsonian, 24)
- Van Plating, "They're Gonna Kill You Anyway (ft Ritch Henderson)" single  (Singular, 24)  D
- Sierra Ferrell, "American Dreaming" Trail Of Flowers  (Rounder, 24)
- Wyatt Flores, "Wish I Could Stay" Half Life  (Island, Apr 19)  D
- Sarah Gayle Meech, "Easin' On" Easin' On  (Good Timin' Woman, May 3)  D
- Silverada, "Anywhere But Here" Silverada  (Prairie Rose, Jun 28)
- Cody Jinks, "Few More Ghosts" Change the Game  (Late August, 24)
- Magic Tuber Stringbard, "Dance On a Sunday Night" Needlefall  (Thrill Jockey, 24)
- Efterklang, "Getting Reminders (ft Beirut)" single  (City Slang, 24)  D
- Khruangbin, "Pon Pon" A LA SALA  (Dead Ocans, Apr 5)


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To enjoy our weekly Spotify ROUTES-cast, just open Spotify and search for "routesandbranches" to access this most recent playlist, as well as many others from past months.  Or click here for a preview:


Sunday, March 17, 2024

HANGiNG STARS - ON a GOLDEN SHORE


ROUTES & BRANCHES
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
March 17, 2024
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Returned from vacation abroad, where I was driving on the wrong side of the road and alarming the natives across the Scottish Highlands. As typically seems to be the case when visiting such rich cultures, we end up hearing a pale adaptation of American pop radio as opposed to more trad sounds from the immediate environs. 

As we've mentioned previously here at R&B HQ, americana music really has nothing to do with America, at least not in the sense that the country really owns the sounds that cobble together to make our kind of music. We pay regular visits to blogs that focus on roots music in the UK, in Finland, Norway, Canada, and Australia. 

When time came to create their fifth full-length record, The Hanging Stars departed their London home for a studio in northeast Scotland. There, the four-piece outfit, fronted by singer-guitarist Richard Olson, brought to life On a Golden Shore, a glimmering roots-pop gem with veins of psych and cool California folk. I got you under a cold, dark spell, Olson sings on the sessions which partner a bright ambiance with moody lyrics. 

With a recurring, good-natured acoustic guitar and flute (or pipe?), "Raindrop In a Hurricane" plays like the Kinks in their more pastoral moments, one of a couple of nods to Hanging Stars' UK influences. The song also establishes the sessions' habit of daydreaming: I've been dreaming of another country / A warm place where the lemons grow / And I've been thinking 'bout a girl so pretty / She doesn't want my loving no more. The album's closer, "Heart In a Box" adds horns and a bouncing bass for a shimmering, swaying anthem, Olson conceding: I guess I'm blessed with you. The Stars' British allegiance carries through as well on one of the LP's strongest tracks, the swaggering "Let Me Dream Of You". A chunky electric guitar and an understated glam sneer hone the song's Brit pop edge. 

Like Gary Louris' Jayhawks, a strong melodic streak speaks to Hanging Stars' dedication to pop expression. "Sweet Light" recalls a lazy lost afternoon, chiming guitars and the group's trademark harmonies deliver the tuneful chorus. Those harmonies are deployed throughout On a Golden Shore, playing to the record's psych sound and spirit. Longing is the greatest gift / Waiting is her evil twin, Olsen sings on "Happiness Is a Bird", bearing Jerry Garcia-inspired cascading guitar lines alongside those breezy vocals. It's a sound the band has evocatively termed cosmic heartbreak boogie

Pieces like "No Way Spell" bear a country stamp, with banjo added to the lush mix. Pedal steel, courtesy of special guest Joe Harvey-Whyte colors the proceedings throughout, an essential element to the overall vibe. On the overcast "Disbelieving", the instrument peals alongside chiming guitars and a rattling tambourine: Is it true that you're leaving / That you're gone / I have a hard time believing / That we're done. Elsewhere, "Silver Rings" encourages a beach vibe with a piano bossa, while "Golden Shore" meshes the band's flute and hand percussion with a perennial blues reference: Make me a pallet on your floor / Make it soft and make it pure

Frontman Richard Olsen can sound like the Church's Steve Kilbey at times, his measured baritone well-suited for the dreamy, downcast lyrics. With producer Sean Read, drummer Paulie Cobra, bassist Paul Milne, and multi-instrumentalist Patrick Ralla, Hanging Stars weave an intoxicating musical spell that matches the Sadies' instrumentalism with Woods' eclecticism. Like Brown Horse, reviewed a couple episodes ago, it's accomplished with a distinctly British sensibility, with daydreams of California beaches and expansive cosmic country horizons. 

Finally, a quick glance at A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster, our fully appointed new release calendar. Longtime producer and instrumentalist to the stars T Bone Burnett returns his attention to his solo career for the first time in twenty years. Due April 19 via Verve, The Other Side offers contributions from Lucius, Rosanne Cash, Weyes Blood and more. Adeem the Artist's 2022 White Trash Revelry brought the songwriter's essential work to a wider audience. The follow-up, Anniversary is scheduled for a May 3 release (Four Quarters). Heavy garage-blues duo Left Lane Cruiser are set for their first collection in five years. Alive Natural Sound has announced a June 7 date for Bayport BBQ Blues. That same date marks the return of Good Looks, whose Bummer Year drew a good amount of debut attention. Keeled Scales has landed on a June 7 date for Lived Here For a While. Avi Vinocur and Patrick Dyer Wolf have readied their next Goodnight Texas record. Signals drops July 19 on the 2 Cent Bank Check label. 


ROUTES-cast March 17, 2024

- Tennessee Freedom Singers, "Tennessee Rise" single  (TN Dawn, 24)  D
- Waxahatchee, "365" Tigers Blood  (Anti, Mar 22)
- Joe Kaplow, "Rock and Roll" Posh Poodle Krystal and Toe  (Fluff & Gravy, May 17)  D
- Eels, "Time" Eels Time!  (Eworks, Jun 7)  D
- Louisa Stancioff, "Cigarette" When We Were Looking  (Yep Roc, Apr 12)  D
- Scott Ballew, "Old Fashioned" Rio Bravo  (La Honda, Mar 29)
- Old 97s, "Magic" American Primitive  (ATO, Apr 5)
- Good Looks, "If It's Gone" Lived Here For a While  (Keeled Scales, Jun 7)  D
- Lostines, "Neon Lights" Meet the Lostines  (Gar Hole, ,Apr 26)  
- Kacey Musgraves, "Lonely Millionaire"  Deeper Well  (Interscope, 24)
- Emily Nenni, "Changes" Drive & Cry  (New West, May 3)
- Willie Nelson, "The Border" The Border  (Sony, May 31)  D
- Wonder Women Of Country, "I Have Met My Love Today" Wonder Women Of Country EP  (Bismeaux, 24)
- Katie Pruitt, "Worst Case Scenario" Mantras  (Rounder, Apr 5)
- Secret Sisters, "Paperweight" Mind Man Medicine  (New West, Mar 29)
- Tim Easton, "Everything You're Afraid Of" Find Your Way  (Black Mesa, May 17)
- Deep Dark Woods, "Spanish Is the Loving Tongue" Broadside Ballads Vol 3  (Victory Pool, May 1)  D
- Arlo McKinley, "Watching Vermont" single  (Oh Boy, 24)  D
- Dustin Kensrue, "High Scalers" Desert Dreaming  (Vagrant, Apr 5)
- Kyle Kimbrell, "Bar Rat" Easy Truths  (Cornelius Chapel, Apr 5)
- Hermanos Gutierrez, "Low Sun" Sonido Cosmico  (Easy Eye, Jun 14)
^ Hanging Stars, "Disbelieving" On a Golden Shore  (Loose, 24)
- Left Lane Cruiser, "Turkey Vulture" Bayport BBQ Blues  (Alive Natural Sound, Jun 7)  D
- Quinn Pilgrim, "Time Ain't Going Nowhere" A Few More EP  (6001, 24)
- James Elkington & Nathan Salsburg, "Buffalo Stance" All Gist  (Paradise Of Bachelors, Apr 12)  D
- Myriam Gendron, "Long Way Home" Mayday  (Thrill Jockey, May 10)  D
- Mitski, "Coyote My Little Brother" Spotify Singles  (Dead Oceans, 24)  D
- Brennan Wedl, "Fake Cowboy" single  (Kill Rock Stars, 24)  D
- Raelyn Nelson Band, "Which Jesus" Let's Go Dancing: Celebration Of Kevn Kinney  (Tasty Goody, 24)
- Glen Campbell, "Long Walk Home (ft Hope Sandoval)" Glen Campbell Duets: Ghost On the Canvas Sessions  (Big Machine, Apr 19)  D

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To enjoy our weekly Spotify ROUTES-cast, just open Spotify and search for "routesandbranches" to access this most recent playlist, as well as many others from past months.  Or click here for a preview:


Sunday, March 10, 2024

ROUTES-cast March 10, 2024


ROUTES & BRANCHES
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
March 10, 2024
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

ROUTES-cast March 10, 2024

- Phosphorescent, "Impossible House" Revelator  (Verve, Apr 5)
- Charlie Parr, "Bear Head Lake" Little Sun  (Smithsonian, Mar 22)
- Iron & Wine, "All In Good Time (ft Fiona Apple)" Light Verse  (Sub Pop, Apr 26)
- Loose Collars, "Toronto" single  (Sentimental Noises, 24) 
- Goodnight Texas, "Dry Heat" Signals  (2 Cent Bank Check, Jul 19)  D
- Black Keys, "This Is Nowhere" Ohio Players  (Nonesuch, Apr 5)
- Cedric Burnside, "Closer" Hill Country Love  (Mascot, Apr 5)
- Marcus King, "Hero" Mood Swings  (American, Apr 5)
- Leyla McCalla, "Love We Had" Sun Without the Heat  (Anti, Apr 12)
- Scott H Biram, "No Man's Land" The One & Only  (Bloodshot, Mar 29)
- Joe Pug, "Brother John (Charcoal On Paper)" Sketch Of a Promised Departure  (Nation Of Heat, 24)
- Ana Egge, "Where Berries Grow" Sharing In the Spirit  (StorySound, May 17)  D
- Adeem the Artist, "One Night Stand" Anniversary  (Four Quarters, May 3)  D
- Blitzen Trapper, "Hello Hallelujah" 100s of 1000s Millions Of Billions  (Yep Roc, May 17)
^ Hanging Stars, "Let Me Dream Of You" On a Golden Shore  (Loose, 24)
- Angus & Julia Stone, "Cape Forestier" Cape Forestier  (Nettwerk, May 10)
- Aoife O'Donovan, "Over the Finish Line (ft Anais Mitchell)" All My Friends  (Yep Roc, Mar 22)
- Sam Evian, "Stay" Plunge  (Flying Cloud, Mar 22)
- Sam Outlaw, "If You Still Want Me (ft Sarah Darling)" Terra Cotta  (Black Hills, 24)
- Mavericks, "Moon & Stars (ft Sierra Ferrell)" Moon & Stars  (Mono Mundo, May 17)  D
- Rachel Brooke, "You Ain't the Only One" single  (MAL, 24)  D
- Tyler Halverson, "Anybody But You" single  (Atlantic, 24)  D
- Charley Crockett, "Hard Luck & Circumstances" $10 Cowboy  (Son Of Davy, Apr 26)
- Morgan Wade, "2am In London" single  (Ladylike, 24)  D
- Swamp Dogg, "Mess Under That Dress" Blackgrass: From West Virginia To 125th St  (Oh Boy, May 31)  D
- Aaron Lee Tasjan, "Dylan Shades" Stellar Evolution  (Blue Elan, Apr 12)
- Buffalo Tom, "New Girl Singing" Jump Rope  (Scrawny, May 31)
- Donovan Woods, "Rosemary" Things Were Never Good If They're Not Good Now  (End Times, Jul 12)  D
- Rose Hotel, "Not Like That" A Pawn Surrender  (Strolling Bones, Jun 7)  D
- Quinn Pilgrim, "Pipe Dream" A Few More EP  (6001, 24)  D


Owing to a current vacation, we haven't pointed at A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster in about two weeks. Of course, stuff has added up over that time - we'll mention just five. Kelsey Waldon's fifth record finds inspiration in old time songs and bluegrass music. With guest spots from SG Goodman, Amanda Shires, Margo Price and more, There's Always a Song bows in on May 10 (Oh Boy). Avett Brothers' last full-length dropped in 2019. Following last year's Americana Trailblazer award, they will present a self-titled collection on their longtime Ramseur label on May 17. Kim Richey announced a date for her tenth project. Courtesy of Yep Roc Records, Every New Beginning is slated for a May 24 release. Expect Margo Price, Justin Vernon, Jenny Lewis and more on Swamp Dogg's next sonic experiment. Blackgrass: From West Virginia To 125th Street celebrates the Black roots of the bluegrass genre (Oh Boy, May 31). Richard Thompson published a memoir since his last LP in 2013. The guitar legend returns on May 31 with Ship To Shore (New West). 

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To enjoy our weekly Spotify ROUTES-cast, just open Spotify and search for "routesandbranches" to access this most recent playlist, as well as many others from past months.  Or click here for a preview:


Sunday, March 03, 2024

GLASS HOURS - GLASS HOURS

ROUTES & BRANCHES
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
March 3, 2024
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Through the years, we've chased Brad Armstrong from his time with Dexateens back through his truly original music with 13ghosts, and forward into a trio of underappreciated solo projects (Empire in 2018, Got No Place Remembers Me in 2019, and 2020's Heart Like a Sigil). Those records under his own name sharpened and tamed his earlier unpredictable tendencies, while continuing to emphasize the creativity in his writing. All of this is well worth tracking down. 

Over the years, Armstrong has benefited from the vocal support of Maria Taylor (half of Azure Ray alongside Orinda Fink). He finds a new collaborator in Megan Barbera, beneath the moniker Glass Hours, and the duo has released a debut, self-titled album on the Cornelius Chapel label. A fellow Hudson Valley resident and an established songwriter in her own right. Barbera writes: Just over a year ago, I took a chance on writing some songs with a person I barely knew. Someone very different than me. At least on the surface. But our songwriter was strikingly familiar. Other than contributions from fiddler Sue Westcott, the product of their collaboration features only the instruments and vocals of Armstrong and Barbera in a warm, folk-based setting. 

Glass Hours isn't as sonically ambitious as Brad Armstrong's earlier work, though the greater ambition at play here might be simply opening oneself to the process of cowriting. Alexander and Barbera trade lead and support vocal throughout their project, their deliveries as complementary as those of Alexander and Taylor. "Hurricane" is a contemporary country number, benefiting from Westcott's fiddle and a prominent pedal steel: He had a stick and poke tattoo / Hole in his heart like an empty room Barbera sings. "Same Old You" maintains that twang with a gothic echo like a theme for a new season of True Crime: Same old you / Splitting your world in two / When it was on the mend. A storysong with a strong dark streak, "Silver For Mine Eyes" adds banjo and fiery strings. Armstrong's voice resounding like Nathaniel Rateliff or Sean Rowe. 

I was admittedly unfamiliar with Megan Barbera's songwriting prior to hearing Glass Hours. With a voice that shares qualities with both Natalie Merchant and Jolie Holland, she carries her breathy lead on the historically-inspired "Rattlesnake Springs": Ditch the high hopes and the heavy things / Til you're down to nothing but the dirt to blame. Barbera's work is especially resonant on "Covering Blue", its funereal pace and stamping drum introducing a lovely vocal and an unexpectedly untamed electric guitar solo. An almost dirgelike "Annie" is built from haunting piano and another terrific vocal: I'm the break, you're the storm / It's the way we get along

Glass Hours' most rewarding moments seem to bear the strong stamp of both songwriters, at the intersection of voices and strings. "Far Enough Away" leans beautifully into the blending of the pair's diverse styles: Hey did you know every road is a straightaway / And everything's a simple shape from far enough away. "Scarlet Tongues" chimes like a 60s folksong: I got canyons in my heartbeat and razors in my voice. There are few grand gestures on Glass Hours. Instead, Megan Barbera and Brad Armstrong succeed on the quiet strength of simplicity and sure songwriting. The sound of artists at work with shared intentions. 


- Scott Ballew, "Mutiny" Rio Brava  (La Honda, Mar 29)
- Aaron West & the Roaring Twenties, "Alone At St Luke's"  In Lieu Of Flowers  (Hopeless, Apr 12)
- Jon Snodgrass, "Crunchin' the Numbers" Barge At Will  (Thousand, Mar 29)  D
- Vandoliers, "Together We Will Sink Or Swim" single  (Ted Hutt, 24)  D
- Lawrence Rothman, "LAX (ft Amanda Shires)" Plow That Broke the Plains  (KRO, Apr 26)
- LA Edwards, "Good Luck" single  (Bitchin', 24)  D
- Circles Around the Sun, "Gloaming Way (ft Mikaela Davis)" After Sunrise EP  (Kill Rock Stars, Apr 5)
- Trummors, "Cosmic Monster" 5  (Ernest Jenning, Apr 12)
- Will Hoge, "Good While It Lasted" Tenderhearted Boys  (EDLO, Apr 12)
- Kim Richey, "Floating On the Surface" Every New Beginning  (Yep Roc, May 24)  D
- Shane Smith & the Saints, "1,000 Wild Horses" Norther  (Geronimo West, 24)
- Kelsey Waldon, "Hello Stranger (ft SG Goodman)" There's Always a Song  (Oh Boy, May 10)  D
- Wonder Women Of Country, "Won't Be Worried Long" Wonder Women Of Country  (Bismeaux, Mar 15)
- Loose Collars, "Drunk" single  (Sentimental Noises, 24)  D
- Kacey Musgraves, "Too Good To Be True" Deeper Well  (Interscope, Mar 15)
- Corb Lund, "It Takes Practice" El Viejo  (New West, 24)
- Lost Dog Street Band, "If You Leave Me Now" Survived  (LDSB, Apr 26)
- Martha Scanlon & Jon Neufeld, "It's Not Supposed To Be That Way" Save It For Later  (Jealous Butcher, 24)
^ Glass Hours, "Far Enough Away" Glass Hours  (Cornelius Chapel, 24)
- T Bone Burnett, "Waiting For You (ft Lucius)" Other Side  (Verve, Apr 19)  D
- Richard Thompson, "Singapore Sadie" Ship To Shore  (New West, May 31)  D
- Rosali, "Bite Down" Bite Down  (Merge, Mar 22)
- Daniel Romano, "You Can Steal My Kiss" Too Hot To Sleep  (You've Changed, 24)
- Avett Brothers, "Love Of a Girl" Avett Brothers  (Ramseur, May 17)  D
- Lake Street Dive, "Good Together" Good Together  (Fantasy, Jun 21)  D
- Stephie James, "Steve McQueen" As Night Fades  (James, 24)
- Ophelias, "Black Ribbon" Ribbon EP  (Ophelias, Apr 14)  D
- Leslie Stevens, "The Dance" Leslie Stevens  (Stevens, 24)
- Hurray For the Riff Raff, "Ogallala" Past Is Still Alive  (Nonesuch, 24)
- Anna Tivel, "Disposable Camera" Living Thing  (Fluff & Gravy, May 31)  D

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To enjoy our weekly Spotify ROUTES-cast, just open Spotify and search for "routesandbranches" to access this most recent playlist, as well as many others from past months.  Or click here for a preview:




Sunday, February 25, 2024

WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT FEBRUARY?!!

ROUTES & BRANCHES
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
February 25, 2024
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Just a glimpse behind the curtain before we reach the important stuff. I'm out of the country for a couple weeks. This might or might not have repercussions on what's published here and when. For those who have planned your weeks around our regular Sunday Spotify ROUTES-cast and review, just keep the faith. At the very least, we'll keep on top of our playlists, and we'll get to those original reviews as time permits. As we understand it, time is different where we're going ...

As is our habit on the final Sunday of the month, we turn our restless attention to our ten favorite songs from the weeks passed. For our shortest month, February has delivered a diverse assortment from which to choose, even if it is absolutely dwarfed by the heaving mountain of stuff which awaits us in March.  Something something Spring something. In addition to offering the rewarding singles below, February debuted a few collections that will likely be in consideration for our year-end favorites: Frontier Ruckus? Tucker Riggleman & the Cheap Dates, Hurray For the Riff Raff, Leslie Stevens!! 


WHAT's SO GREAT ABOUT FEBRUARY?!!

1. Hurray For the Riff Raff, "Hawkmoon" Past Is Still Alive  (Nonesuch, Feb 23)  

2. Frontier Ruckus, "Mercury Sable" On the Northline  (Sitcom Universe, Feb 16)  

3. Bonny Light Horseman, "When I Was Younger" single  (Jagjaguwar, Feb 21)

4. Scott Ballew, "Suicide Squeeze" Rio Brava  (La Honda, Mar 29)

5. Laney Jones, "Stay At Home" single  (AHPO, Feb 7)

6. Britti, "Keep Running" Hello I'm Britti  (Easy Eye, Feb 2)

7. Phosphorescent, "Revelator" Revelator  (Verve, Apr 5)

8. Pernice Brothers, "I Don't Need That Anymore (ft Neko Case)" Who Will You Believe  (New West, Apr 5)

9. Blitzen Trapper, "Cosmic Backseat Education" 100s of 1000s Millions of Billions  (Yep Roc, May 17)

10. Blackberry Smoke, "Be So Lucky" Be Right Here  (3 Legged, Feb 16)


We invite you to turn your attention to the obsessively updated release calendar we lovingly call A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster. This week, we've added the long-rumored new collection from Old 97s. First accidentally revealed by Steven King, American Primitive is set for an April 5 release (ATO). California indie-folk artist Jessica Pratt announced a date for her fourth full-length. Here In the Pitch reportedly finds inspiration in the dark side of the California dream, landing on shelves May 3 (Mexican Summer). New West introduced singer-songwriter Emily Nenni via their Normaltown imprint in 2022. Now on New West proper, they've slated Drive & Cry for a May 3 release. While he was never especially embraced by the country community during his lifetime, a forthcoming album pays tribute to the music of Tom Petty in a big way. Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration Of Tom Petty (Big Machine, May 31) will feature contributions from Chris Stapleton, Margo Price, Luke Combs and more. Sorta surprise recipients of some strong americana attention for their 2022 Easy Eye collection, Hermanos Gutierrez have landed on a date for their follow-up. Also on Dan Auerbach's label and produced by the man, Sonido Cosmico will arrive on June 14. 


ROUTES-cast February 25, 2024

- Bonny Light Horseman, "When I Was Younger" single  (Jagjaguwar, 24)  D
- Adrianne Lenker, "Fool" Bright Future  (4AD, Mar 22)
- Staves, "I'll Never Leave You Alone" All Now  (Nonesuch, Mar 22)
- Magic Tuber Stringband, "Twelfth House" Needlefall  (Thrill Jockey, Mar 22)
- Rhiannon Giddens, "Ballad Of Sally Anne" My Black Country: Songs Of Alice Randall  (Oh Boy, Apr 12)
^ Hurray For the Riff Raff, "Hawkmoon" Past Is Still Alive  (Nonesuch, 24)
- Pernice Brothers, "I Don't Need That Anymore (ft Neko Case)" Who Will You Believe  (New West, Apr 5)
- Glass Hours, "Hurricane" Glass Hours  (Cornelius Chapel, Mar 1)
- Teddy & the Rough Riders, "Scratch a Liar Catch a Thief" single  (Rough Rider, 24)  D
- Corb Lund, "Girl With the Stratocaster" El Viejo  (New West, 24)
- Emily Nenni, "Get To Know Ya" Drive & Cry  (New West, May 3)  D
- Katie Pruitt, "All My Friends" Mantras  (Rounder, Apr 5)
- JJ Grey & Mofro, "Waiting" Olustee  (Alligator, 24)
- Khruangbin, "May Ninth" A LA SALA  (Dead Oceans, Apr 5)
- Billy Allen + the Pollies, "I Thought You Wanted Him" single  (Single Lock, 24)  D
- Kaia Kater, "Fedon (ft Taj Mahal)" Strange Medicine  (Free Dirt, May 17)  D
- Leslie Stevens, "Taken" Leslie Stevens  (Stevens, 24)
- Rachel Baiman, "Equine Elvis (ft Pony Bradshaw)" single  (Signature Sounds, 24)  D
- Alejandro Escovedo, "Castanuelas" Echo Dancing  (Yep Roc, Mar 29)
- Ken Pomeroy, "Cicadas" single  (Pomeroy, 24)  D
- Matthew Logan Vasquez, "Bushwick Blues" Frank's Full Moon Saloon  (Vasquez, 24)
- Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, "Motherfucker" Revelations  (Abeyance, Mar 29)
- Old 97s, "Where the Road Goes" American Primitive  (ATO, Apr 5)  D
- Nicolette & the Nobodies, "Show Up" Long Way  (ArtHaus, Apr 12)  D
- Tucker Riggleman & Cheap Dates, "Paradise" Restless Spirit  (WarHen, 24)
- Daniel Romano, "Where's Paradise" Too Hot To Sleep  (You've Changed, Mar 1)
- Nathan Kalish, "Nepo Baby" Southern Poverty Guitar Center Vol 2  (Yellow Canary, Mar 22)
- Lucy Rose, "Whatever You Want" This Ain't the Way You Go Out  (Communion, Apr 19)
- Mama Zu, "Four Leaf Clover" Quilt Floor  (Cosmic Twin, 24)
- Hour, "Hallmark" Ease the Work  (Dear Life, Apr 12)  D

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To enjoy our weekly Spotify ROUTES-cast, just open Spotify and search for "routesandbranches" to access this most recent playlist, as well as many others from past months.  Or click here for a preview:


Sunday, February 18, 2024

TUCKER RiGGLEMAN & the CHEAP DATES - RESTLESS SPiRiT

ROUTES & BRANCHES
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
February 18, 2024
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust

Prison Book Club. Not a household name (unless you count R&B among your household), but a band we've mentioned at least a handful of times. Specifically, we've dropped the name in connection with reviews of albums by John R Miller and William Matheny, a pair of former members. Prison Book Club also included Adam Meisterhans (most recently busy with Slaughter Beach Dog) and Tucker Riggleman, the focus of this week's Episode. While the four members of PBC have moved forward with very different sounds, each is creating their own strain of superb, roots-adjacent music. 

For his part, Tucker Riggleman & the Cheap Dates (his trio, alongside drummer M Tivis Clark and multi-instrumentalist Mason Fanning) are releasing their second full-length album, Restless Spirit on the mighty WarHen record label. It follows behind a phenomenal debut (2021's Alive and Dying Fast), both produced by Duane Lundy, trading in a stage-born expression of diy punk, country, and rock. Riggleman himself likens it to, Jason Molina, a twangier Lemonheads, The Cure if they wrote country songs, redneck Replacements ... 

On the physical map, Riggleman places the pin most recently in an off-the-grid location near West Virginia's Monongahela National Forest, where he prepared most of Restless Spirits. The new sessions are more garage than front porch, decidedly aggressive rather than laid back. The tension erupts on "Telecaster", a number that first appeared on a 2020 EP: I can play 300 shows / Back to back in a fucking row / And it ain't gonna get me a deal, Riggleman drawls in his unadorned tone. With its prominent drums and Lee Carroll's supporting organ riffs, the song addresses one of the record's recurring themes in the artist's balance of artistic integrity with larger success: I just want my songs to stand / At least somewhat of a chance. "Paradise" speaks to the Molina influence, with its chunky guitar and a darker spirit: Spilled my guts in a million shitty bars

The great appeal of Restless Spirit dwells in the trio's tipsy balance between the punk and roots elements of their mix, a blend that can be edgier than alt.country, but more organic than their garage rock peers. The riff-driven "Shotgun" recalls Country Westerns in its buzz and its touch of jangle. "Virtue" delivers a refreshing swagger alongside Clark's energetic drumming. I'm just working on my downfall, Riggleman spits, Like it's another tractor in my barn

Cheap Dates lean more into their country side on this second long-player, even as they never abandon the tension and electricity that binds them. "Queen Of Diamonds" is a sad bastard stroll with an appropriate degree of self-deprecation: She's a blooming lily / And I'm just an old sticker bush. Riggleman's approach to country is as left-of-center as Stephen Malkmus or Paul Westerberg, but lands nearer the target than those earlier acts. "Familiar Bridge" adds a low-slung baritone guitar and a loose sway, while the loping "Educated" finds Riggleman weaving personal colors into his story: I was born in the backwoods / Tried to change the way I pronounce my words / A failed attempt to sound educated

Tucker Riggleman and co. create a pleasing racket on Restless Spirit, with Lundy favoring a raw, in-studio electric guitar-and-drum approach that emphasizes the appeal of the band's trio vibe, even when the producer is adding the occasional organ fill from Lee Carroll. On the resigned ballad, "Silver Tongue", a mosquito guitar line carries throughout: What kind of shit you been reading / Made you think you'd be enough. "Bucket and the Boot" is an admirably sharp, simple rocker, like Alejandro Escovedo in his earlier incarnation: Half my life I drank to die. As a whole, the project is an expression of the both/and, but neither/nor artistry that fuels our oily machine at R&B, the hungry ghost / You don't dare to feed.  While the results might frustrate purists, Riggleman & the Cheap Dates are just the thing for Restless Spirits like ours. 

We track new and forthcoming releases on A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster. This week, that includes something called Wonder Women Of Country. Set for a March 15 street date, the EP posits the pairing of Kelly Willis, Melissa Carper, and Brennen Leigh (Bismeaux). Following a solo project and a holiday record from Julia, Angus & Julia Stone return as a duo. The Australian siblings have planned a May 10 due date for Cape Forestier (Nettwerk). That same date marks the next full-length for Pokey LaFarge. Rhumba Country (New West) promises to capture the sound of pure joy. May 17 marks the scheduled appearance of Tim Easton's forthcoming collection. Boasting an all-Canadian backing band, Find Your Way is presented by the Black Mesa label. Finally, we're buzzed to hear that Anna Tivel is preparing her next album. Living Thing will happen May 31 with some help from the fine folk at Fluff & Gravy. 


ROUTES-cast February 18, 2024

- Blackberry Smoke, "Be So Lucky"  Be Right Here  (3 Legged, 24)
- Wonder Women of Country, "Another Broken Heart" Wonder Women of Country EP  (Bismeaux, Mar 15)  D
- Lostines, "Full Moon Night" Meet the Lostines  (Gar Hole, Apr 26)  D
- Charlie Parr, "Portland Avenue" Little Sun  (Smithsonian, Mar 22)
- Pokey LaFarge, "Sister Andre" Rhumba Country  (New West, May 10)  D
- Cody Jinks, "Change the Game" Change the Game  (Late August, Mar 22)
- Sierra Ferrell, "I Could Drive You Crazy" Trail of Flowers  (Rounder, Mar 22)
- Dead South, "Place I Hardly Know" Chains & Stakes  (Six Shooter, 24)
- Matthew Logan Vasquez, "Vivian" Frank's Full Moon Saloon  (Vasquez, 24)
^ Tucker Riggleman & Cheap Dates, "Familiar Bridge" Restless Spirit  (WarHen, 24)
- Elizabeth Moen, "What's the Rush (ft Squirrel Flower)" single  (Moen, 24)  D
- Secret Sisters, "All the Ways (ft Ray Lamontagne)" Mind Man Medicine  (New West, Mar 29)
- Elliott BROOD, "Wind and Snow" Country  (Six Shooter, Apr 12)  D
- Kyle Kimbrell, "Holy Bombs" Easy Truths  (Cornelius Chapel, Apr 5)
- Stephie James, "Party Doll" As Night Fades  (James, Mar 1)
- Scott H Biram, "Inside a Bar" The One & Only  (Bloodshot, Mar 29)
- Hermanos Gutierrez, "Sonido Cosmico" Sonido Cosmico  (Easy Eye, Jun 14)  D
- GospelbeacH, "Droupouts (Pt 1)" Wiggle Your Fingers  (Curation, Apr 26)
- Britti, "Save Me" Hello I'm Britti  (Easy Eye, 24)
- Six Parts Seven & Goodmorning Valentine, "Red Lights" Kissing Distance  (Suicide Squeeze, 24)
- Son of the Velvet Rat, "Deeper Shade of Blue (ft Jolie Holland)" Ghost Ranch  (Fluff & Gravy, Mar 22)
- David Nance, "Credit Line" & Mowed Sound  (Third Man, 24)
- Slaughter Beach Dog, "I'm In Love" single  (Lame-O, 24)  D
- Itasca, "Tears On Sky Mountain" Imitation of War  (Paradise of Bachelors, 24)
- Jessica Pratt, "Life Is" Here In the Pitch  (Mexican Summer, May 3)  D
- Frontier Ruckus, "Mercury Sable" On the Northline  (Loose, 24)
- Waxahatchee, "Bored" Tigers Blood  (Anti, Mar 22)
- Sam Evian, "Rollin' In" Plunge  (Flying Cloud, Mar 22)
- Aaron Lee Tasjan, "Drugs Did Me" Stellar Evolution  (Blue Elan, Apr 12)
- Lilly Hiatt, "Hidden Day" single  (New West, 24)  D

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To enjoy our weekly Spotify ROUTES-cast, just open Spotify and search for "routesandbranches" to access this most recent playlist, as well as many others from past months.  Or click here for a preview:


Sunday, February 11, 2024

FRONTiER RUCKUS - ON the NORTHLiNE


ROUTES & BRANCHES
featuring the very best of americana, alt.country and roots music
February 11, 2024
Scott Foley, purveyor of dust


Under the guise of Frontier Ruckus, Matthew Milia is the unofficial Poet Laureate of suburban Michigan. He is the documenter of minutiae, the Patron Saint of Humiliation. And he does it to the tune of a banjo, trumpet, and the occasional musical saw. Milia's trio returns from a seven-year break with On the Northline, a collection that plots Frontier Ruckus at the artistic naivete of their 2008 debut. 

The four LPs released in the ensuing years remained admirably consistent for Frontier Ruckus, even as their decidedly Michigan-focused pop-folk engaged Milia's love for power pop or his nostalgia for 90s rock. The songwriter never wandered far from the hyper local lyrics, the hopeless romantic spirit, or the intimate arrangements which have always characterized Frontier Ruckus. 

For On the Northline, Matthew Milia, David Jones, and Zachary Nichols gathered in producer Ben Collins' Ypsilanti studios, recording much of the sessions live in studio with few extraneous enhancements. It's a setting that perfectly suits Milia's typically warm and intimately, excruciatingly personal work. The songs are almost exclusively acoustic, "I'm Not the Boy" is characteristic with its strummed acoustic guitar, enhanced here with Jones' spritely banjo break, Nichols' lone trumpet and his abiding musical saw. The song cruises easily between time signature changes like chapters in Milia's novella: When the stickiest answer / Is a Jolly Rancher / Passed between mouths in the night. The collection's title track adds Connor Dodson's drums on an evocative drive into the city's outskirts: The municipal golf course is strewn in October leaves

You had the physique of a youth travel soccer coach, the writer remarks. Matthew Milia is the rare suburban lyricist who won't romanticize place, or whose songs won't restlessly obsess with looking for a way out. "Everywhere But Beside You" evokes the image of Elliott Smith set to banjo: I hit the northern suburb / Where the cashiers at Home Depot know my name. "Broomfield Marriot" suggests an expansive vista from the titular locale: Looking out over the kingdom. While his lyrics are commonly praised as literate, they skew more heartfelt than cerebral, never simply name dropping as a parlor game. His reputation as unfailingly melancholy, though not unearned, is not indulgent or wearing, even leaving space for a couple lovesongs about coming together with his wife: Nothing will ever scare me / Like the chance of something good, Milia sings on the brief, bare bones "First Song For Lauren". 

As a stalwart fixture in the narrow pop-folk lane, Frontier Ruckus have been filed alongside acts like Decemberists, Blitzen Trapper, or Have Gun Will Travel. While these aren't misleading signposts, the band is distinguished by Milia's lyrical precision, as well as by the trio's truly unique instrumentation. On this return to the roots project, there remain moments of power pop and other components of the band's audio stamp. "Machines Of Summer" is a rare country ramble, adding Pete Ballard's pedal steel solo to the mix. Milia's distinct vocal delivery naturally lends itself to the pop strains of "Clarkston Pasture", with its winter verses and summer chorus: You called me the master / Of petty sad-bastardism / But that day all-in-all was not bad. "Mercury Sable" might be Northline's masterpiece, a sublimely paced lovesong that achieves an appealing instrumental and artistic balance between all these pieces of Frontier Ruckus: All the neighbors saw me laughing so hysterically / All that I could do to keep from crying ... I can't make sense / Of something so completely / Intense

Matthew Milia has spoken of mapping emotional landscapes onto the objective surface of the physical map. Even if we've never had the privilege of spending time in Michigan, On the Northline trades in universal truths, mining personal philosophy for universal meaning in the quotidian. After a pair of engaging solo projects during the pandemic, it's a great vista from which to overlook the valuable work of Frontier Ruckus. 

We continue apace, adding promising numbers of forthcoming releases to A Routes & Branches Guide To Feeding Your Monster. This week, that includes the return of Kacey Musgraves. Again alongside producer Daniel Tashian, she has given a March 15 release date for their next project, Deeper Well (Interscope). Following a very promising first single, Marcus King has shared the title cut for his next LP. Expect Mood Swings to land on April 5, via American Music. Iron & Wine returns after a too-long hiatus. Sam Beam and his cohort will share Light Verse on April 26 (Sub Pop). May 17 is the scheduled appearance for Blitzen Trapper's next full-length. 100s of 1,000s Millions of Billions will land courtesy of their Yep Roc home. Finally, we've always harbored a fondness for former Massive Attack vocalist Beth Gibbons. She has published plans for her first proper solo record, Lives Outgrown (Domino, May 17). 


ROUTES-cast February 11, 2024

- Brittany Howard, "Patience" What Now  (Island, 24)
- Tyler Ramsey, "We Were a Small Town" New Lost Ages  (Ramsey, 24)  D
- Scott Ballew, "Suicide Squeeze" Rio Bravo  (La Honda, Mar 29)  D
- David Nance, "Side Eyed Sam" & Mowed Sound  (Third Man, 24)
- Little Wings, "Bubbles Go Pop" High On the Glade  (Perpetual Doom, Apr 1)  D
- Marcus King, "Mood Swings" Mood Swings  (American, Apr 5)  D
- Black Keys, "I Forgot To Be Your Lover" Ohio Players  (Nonesuch, Apr 5)
- A Savage, "Black Holes the Stars and You" single  (Rough Trade, 24)  D
- Blitzen Trapper, "Cosmic Backseat Education" 100s of 1000s Millions of Billions  (Yep Roc, May 17)  D
- Hanging Stars, "Sweet Light" On a Golden Shore  (Loose, Mar 8)  D
- Laney Jones, "Stay At Home" single  (AHPO, 24)  D
- Madi Diaz, "Obsessive Thoughts" Weird Faith  (Anti, 24)
- Britti, "Keep Running" Hello I'm Britti  (Easy Eye, 24)
- Rachel Baiman, "Dominoes (ft Pony Bradshaw)" single  (Signature Sounds, 24)  D
- Becca Mancari, "Short and Sweet" single  (Captured Tracks, 24)  D
- Amigo the Devil, "Once Upon a Time At Texaco Pt 1" Yours Until the War Is Over  (Liars Club, Feb 23)
- Dustin Kensrue, "Death Valley Honeymoon (ft Cat Clyde)" Desert Dreaming  (Vagrant, Apr 5)  D
- Shane Smith & the Saints, "It's Been a While" Norther  (Geronimo West, Mar 1)
- Sam Outlaw, "Someone Quite Like You" Terra Cotta  (Black Hills, Mar 7)  D
- Dead South, "20 Mile Jump" Chains & Stakes  (Six Shooter, 24)
- Will Hoge, "I'd Be Lying" Tenderhearted Boys  (EDLO, Apr 12)
- Aoife O'Donovan, "Daughters" All My Friends  (Yep Roc, Mar 22)
- Itasca, "Under Gates Of Cobalt Blue" Imitation Of War  (Paradise of Bachelors, 24)
- Decemberists, "Burial Ground (ft James Mercer)" single  (YABB, 24)  D
- Rosali, "On Tonight" Bite Down  (Merge, Mar 22)
- Iron & Wine, "You Never Know" Light Verse  (Sub Pop, Apr 26)  D
- Beth Gibbons, "Floating On a Moment" Lives Outgrown  (Domino, May 17)  D
- Angus & Julia Stone, "Wedding Song" Cape Forestier  (Nettwerk, May 10)  D
- Kacey Musgraves, "Deeper Well" Deeper Well  (Interscope, Mar 15)  D
- Kevin Coleman, "Mammut Americanum" Imaginary Conversations  (Centripetal Force, Mar 19)  D

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To enjoy our weekly Spotify ROUTES-cast, just open Spotify and search for "routesandbranches" to access this most recent playlist, as well as many others from past months.  Or click here for a preview: