This has been a busy week and a half for me. I quite literally traveled from one corner of the continental US to another and then made a few stops in the middle. Throughout the ten days, I passed through 6 airports on a total of 9 flights and slept in 5 states. Now that I’m back, here are The Wheel’s Still In Spin’s suggested new releases for this week, albeit a bit late. As always, feel free to leave a comment with your suggestions.
Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs – God Willin’ & The River Will Rise | CD
Download “For the Summer” (mp3)
Ray LaMontagne’s voice is warm and sonorous with the ability to sound both rustic and mainstream. The songs on this album, his fourth, have countrified accompaniments, but the folk singer’s songwriting skills are still prevalent.
John Mellencamp – No Better Than This | CD
Download “No Better Than This” (mp3)
This album came as a surprise to me. I’m not a big Mellencamp fan, but producer T-Bone Burnett put together a great band for this one. These songs were recorded with a single microphone in three very symbolic locations: The First African Baptist Church in Savannah, GA, the first Black church in North America; Sun Studios in Memphis, TN, where Elvis, Johnny Cash, and others recorded their earliest tracks; and Room 414 of the Gunter Hotel in San Antonia, TX, where Robert Johnson was first recorded. The result is an intimate album of strong songs.
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Let It Sway | CD
Download “Sink/Let It Sway” (mp3)
Download “Banned (By the Man)” (mp3)
The third album from Someone Still Love You Boris Yeltsin is produced by Chris Walla (of Death Cab for Cutie) and Beau Sorenson (who has worked on album by Death Cab, Tegan and Sara, and Sparklehorse). These twelve songs are the perfect indie pop combination of SSLYBY’s songs with the effortless production qualities of the producers.
After the jump, there is a list of more new releases from this week.
Other releases from 17 August 2010:
Trace Adkins – Cowboy’s Back in Town | CD
American Hi-Fi – Fight the Frequency | CD
Baby Eagle – Dog Weather | CD
Boris & Ian Astbury – BXI [EP] | CD
Chief – Modern Rituals | CD
D-Loc – Made for Kings | CD
Darker My Love – Alive As You Are | CD
Matthew Dear – Black City | CD
The Dollyrots – Little Messed Up | CD
Drivan – Disko | CD
Eight Two – You’re Too Wonderful [EP] | CD
Filter – The Trouble with Angels | CD
Colin Gilmore – Goodnight Lane | CD
David Gray – Foundling | CD
Hey Monday – Beneath It All [EP] | CD
Hostage Calm – Hostage Calm | CD
Iron Maiden – The Final Frontier | CD
Kem – Intimacy | CD
Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs – God Willin’ & The River Will Rise | Recommended above
Le Vice – Le Vice | CD
Like Pioneers – Piecemeal | MP3
Jon Lindsay – Escape from Plaza-Midwood | CD
Lissie – Catching a Tiger | CD
Megan McCormick – Honest Words | CD
Doug McCurry – Seven Songs About Leaving [EP] | CD
John Mellencamp – No Better Than This | Recommended above
The Mountains & The Trees – I Made This For You | MP3
NOFX – The Longest EP | CD
The Polyamorous Affair – Strange Bedfellows | MP3
Red Line Chemistry – Dying for a Living | CD
Tim Reynolds – The Limbic System | CD
The Secret Handshake – Night & Day | CD
Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin – Let It Sway | Recommended above
Soundcarriers – Celeste | CD
Esperanza Spalding – Chamber Music Society | CD
Rae Spoon – Love is a Hunter | MP3
Peter Stampfel & Baby Gramps – Outertainment | CD
Leslie Stevens and the Badgers – Roomful of Smoke | CD
Taking Back Sunday – Live from Orensanz [Live] | CD
Camu Tao – King of Hearts | CD
Tea Leaf Green – Looking West | CD
Thee Sgt. Major III – The Idea Factory | CD
Toadies – Feeler | CD
Various Artists – Live at KEXP, Volume Six | CD
Shannon Whitworth – Water Bound | CD
Brian Wilson – Reimagines Gershwin | CD
I picked up the SSLYBY and the Ray Lamontagne this week. We're on the same page. Good stuff, so far...
Posted by: Damon | 20 August 2010 at 05:56 AM
check out my article on Ray's 8/18/10 performance at Jones Beach NY at
http://newsroom.mtv.com/2010/08/20/ray-lamontagne-and-the-pariah-dogs-let-music-speak-for-itself-at-jones-beach/
Posted by: peter dsp | 20 August 2010 at 11:03 AM