The expansion of the recently established Lost Highway Australia label seems to picking up pace of late with the announcement that Cory Branan and Lydia Loveless’ recent albums on Bloodshot Records will be released localy by LHA as well as the signing of Shane Nicholson as an artist and label producer. Now recent visitor Ryan … Continue reading
Just when you think you’ve got a handle on all the great Americana albums that have been released in 2014 another one shuffles up beside you and taps you on the shoulder. Thanks to a recommendation from Spreading The Seed and their best of the year list I’ve been made aware and fallen under the spell … Continue reading
Bernie Griffen won plenty of hearts and minds with the dark and emotive alt-country of his last album Everything So Far (2012), accompanied by his band The Grifters. Now he has replaced nearly all of them with a new line-up called The Thin Men and jumped tracks to a rockier (in its many different forms) … Continue reading
Press Release: One of the greatest rock and rollers of all time, the legendaryJerry Lee Lewis will be releasing his new album Rock & Roll Time on November 7 on Vanguard/Caroline Australia – his first for the label. Rock & Roll Time features a star–studded line up of guests including Keith Richards, Robbie Robertson, Ron Wood, Neil Young, Shelby Lynne, Nils Lofgren, Daniel Lanois … Continue reading
New Zealand (Lyttleton Harbour) band The Eastern, led by Adam McGrath, have a new album called The Territory out on October 31st. Here’s an excellent track from it called ‘The Stepping Razor’. They’ve toured with Steve Earle (twice), the Old Crow Medicine Show (twice) and the Lilʼ Band of Gold as well as opening for … Continue reading
The mercurial Ryan Adams is always chasing his muse in whatever direction it takes him and this time it is back to the electric guitar with strong rock trappings contrasting the acoustic Americana of Ashes & Fire. Heavily reverbed chords ring out (courtesy of his favourite Princeton amps) somewhere between Johnny Marr and Tom Petty … Continue reading
Sylvie Simmons is best known as a renowned music journalist both in magazines and books (Leonard’s Cohen’s ‘I’m Your Man’ biography) but she has also played music since her childhood though primarily for herself. Bow she is finally stepping out from behind her keyboard and pen to release her debut album Sylvie, a collection of ukelele-based … Continue reading
Vashti Bunyan will release her new album Heartleap on October 6th (her first in nine years and in her words, her last) and from the sound of the first single ‘Holy Smoke’ her music is still as ethereal and hypnotic as ever. Continue reading
Lucinda Williams has a new 2CD/3LP album called Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone coming out on Ocotober 3rd. We’been listening to it this week and it’s a superb album, her best in years in our opinion. She hits all the right Williams’ moods and styles, a swampy, often Dylan-esque vibe and some incredible players including … Continue reading
CW Stoneking is back with the single from his new album Gon’ Boogaloo, his first since Jungle Blues in 2008. ‘Get On The Floor’ finds him mixing up a glorious cacophony of swing, boogie, blues and rock ‘n’ roll. It’s infectious stuff with suitably lo-fi and raw production, recorded live over 2 days with 2 microphones to … Continue reading
My new discovery of the day is Mary Roth aka HT Heartache who has just released her new album Sundowner. This is what I terms country soul, laden with melancholic waltzes, hazy shimmering guitars and reverb-laden shuffling drums as the backdrop for Roth’s late night sultry voice. Check out the clip for the single ‘Cowboy Poetry’ … Continue reading
There was a whiff of novelty act when these Swedish sisters singing country-tinged folk music with a You Tube hits-heavy cover of a Fleet Foxes song first appeared in 2008 but any cynicism quickly evaporated when people heard their songs and fell in love with those voices and harmonies. Three albums down the track they … Continue reading
‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’ is one of Neil Young’s finest songs, a tear-jerking, heart-wrenching treatise on love and its glorious dangers. Here’s the version that appears on the new CSNY 1979 live boxset. With the added harmonies of CSN it is near perfect. Hit the link below to hear the song: STREAM: CSNY … Continue reading
Mia Dyson has a brand new album called Idyllwild out now. Here’s the clip for the first single ‘When We’re Older’ and it’s an excellent song built on a beautiful sentiment, rough and raw guitars with one of those heart-tugging vocal performances. Emotive and catchy as hell. http://rd.io/x/QUN9AiIb81Y/ Continue reading
Jeff Tweedy recently announced he’s releasing his debut solo album and now we have the first taste of the record with the song I’ll Sing It. He has also revealed the album is essentially a solo duo project with his son Spencer, under the name Tweedy. The album Sukierae will be out September 16 on … Continue reading
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