Timeless, brilliant avant pop psyche from Joanna Newsom – a flat out stunner and a triple album that's the most rewarding sprawl of an album to come out of the indie realm in years – an epic win for Newsom and the Drag City label! Newsom was unafraid of song length on the previous records, so you had to figure that if any of her peers were gonna pull of a triple album, she'd be the one, but this a holy s**t epiphany of an album. Where the previous one had these lush arrangements, made in collaboration with Van Dyke Parks, this one has a roomy intimacy in the arrangements, but does not lack for grandeur (how could it with harp, viola, violin and horns as central instrumentation), but her voice is so otherworldly and stirring here, and the songs so mysterious and beautiful. Titles include "Easy", "Have One On Me", "No Provenance", "On A Good Day", "Baby Birch", "In California", "Soft As Chalk", "Autumn", "Kingfisher", "Does Not Suffice" and more. (Rock, Folk/Country) CD

(Rock, Folk/Country) CD

Killer trucker country from the great Dick Curless! The set includes his classic "Tombstone Every Mile" – plus "Six Days On The Road", "Big Wheel Cannonball", "Hard Hard Traveling Man", "Long Lonesome Highway", "Drag Em Off The Interstate Sock It To Em JP Blues", and "Winter's Comin On Again". LP, Vinyl record album

Very dark sounds from John Fahey's later years – music that was likely recorded in the boardinghouse where he was spending his time, and done with a much moodier vibe than most of his earlier music! The set begins with a layered vocal number that's extremely foreboding – layered vocals that are almost a looser take on some sort of early Steve Reich territory – balanced by acoustic guitar instrumentals that are in that looser, more open later Fahey mode as well. There's a bit of electronics on the set at points, plenty of those 90s Fahey surprises along the way – and the whole thing was edited and mastered by Jim O'Rourke. Titles include "All The Rains", "F For Fake", "Untitled", "Evening Not Night", and "For LMC 2". LP, Vinyl record album

Joanna Newsom as richly lyrical, lushly arranged and weirdly beautiful as ever! Divers is the 5 years in the making follow up to her triple album Have One On Me, and if you found that one too thick a forest to take root in, this one's much easier to dive into – with 11 songs in 51 minutes – but it might be even greater in lyrical scope! As always, her distinctive voice is a very compelling instrument, and no other could convey the wordy brilliance of her songs. Recorded by Steve Albini and Noah Georgeson with clarity and immediacy, all the better for the diverse arrangements that range from light orchestal, to wispy folk, to anthemic, if largely acoustic art pop. At this point, if you've heard Joanna Newsom, you either "get it" or not. Our admiration grows with each effort, and we're pretty excited that an artist with a sound this far out of the ordinary can be as popular as she is. Includes "Anecdotes", "Sapokanikan", "Leaving The City", "Goose Eggs", "Waltz of The 101st Lightborne", "The Things I Say", "Divers", "Same Old Man", "You Will Not Take Heart Alive", "A Pin-Light Bent" and "Time, As A Symptom". (Rock, Folk/Country) CD

... LP, Vinyl record album

(Rock, Folk/Country) CD

(Rock, Folk/Country) LP, Vinyl record album

(Rock, Folk/Country) LP, Vinyl record album

(Rock, Folk/Country) LP, Vinyl record album

... LP, Vinyl record album

(Rock, Folk/Country) CD

A seminal album from Gary Stewart – one of those key 70s albums that helped establish him as a rising star on the bandstand and the barrooms – thanks in part to some very booze-oriented tracks on the set! The record's got two classics that really define Gary's sound – the seminal "Drinkin Thing" and "She's Actin Single (I'm Drinkin Doubles)" – which are a great update of older drinking themed country cuts, but with a much more vibrant 70s approach, one that shows the way that rock music was sliding in to influence crossover stars like Gary! The whole thing's great, though – and the record's filled with other great tracks that include "Sweet Country Red", "Back Slider's Wine", "Draggin Shackles", and "Out Of Hand". CD

A pair of country gems from the great Gary Stewart – back to back in a single set! First up is Out Of Hand, a seminal album from Gary Stewart – one of those key 70s records that helped establish him as a rising star on the bandstand and the barrooms – thanks in part to some very booze-oriented tracks on the set! The record's got two classics that really define Gary's sound – the seminal "Drinkin Thing" and "She's Actin Single (I'm Drinkin Doubles)" – which are a great update of older drinking themed country cuts, but with a much more vibrant 70s approach, one that shows the way that rock music was sliding in to influence crossover stars like Gary! The whole thing's great, though – and the record's filled with other great tracks that include "Sweet Country Red", "Back Slider's Wine", "Draggin Shackles", and "Out Of Hand". Brand New is a set that Gary Stewart cut away from some of his major label fame, and a record that maybe has him burning even more strongly in the setting – working with a leaner sort of production that puts him in the territory of some of the younger up-and-comers of the generation, and which also shows just how much his 70s material might have been an influence to them! Stewart's still got that incredible voice that few others can match – inflections that really send the tunes home – on titles that include "Son Of A Honky Tonk Woman", "Brand New Whiskey", "An Empty Glass", "Murdered By Love", "Romona", and "I Get Drunk". CD