These Are The Days. Michaela Anne

Michaela Anne is helaas nog niet heel bekend, maar met haar vorige albums liet ze al horen dat ze in Nashville met de besten mee kan en dat doet ze ook met het in mei verschenen en wederom prachtige album These Are the Days.

Het is nog altijd dringen binnen de Amerikaanse rootsmuziek met wekelijks een flinke stapel nieuwe albums om uit te kiezen. Van de albums die in mei zijn verschenen zou ik These Are the Days van Michaela Anne zeker niet laten liggen. De muzikante uit Nashville omarmt op haar nieuwe album weer nadrukkelijk de Amerikaanse rootsmuziek en levert wederom een prachtalbum af. Het is een intiem album over het moederschap, maar het is ook een album met zeer aansprekende songs, een prachtig vol en warm klinkend rootsgeluid en de prachtige stem van Michaela Anne, die met These Are the Days nog wat meer overtuigt dan met haar vorige albums.

De mooie en zeker ook de minder mooie kanten van de liefde zijn dankbare onderwerpen voor veel singer-songwriters en hetzelfde geldt voor de dood en verlies. Ook nieuw leven is een inspiratiebron voor flink wat albums uit het verleden en in dezelfde week zijn er nog twee albums over het moederschap bijgekomen. Zo besprak ik het mooie nieuwe album van de Canadese singer-songwriter Abigail Lapell en is nu het de beurt aan de Amerikaanse muzikante Michaela Anne. 

Het is een muzikante die ik hoog heb zitten en dat dankt ze in eerste instantie aan het album Desert Dove uit 2019. Het was mijn eerste kennismaking met de muziek van Michaela Anne, die in 2011 nog wat anoniem debuteerde en ook in 2014 een album uitbracht, maar in 2016 met Bright Lights and the Fame ook al een bovengemiddeld goed album afleverde. 

Desert Dove vond ik in 2019 nog een stuk beter en het is een album dat sindsdien nog flink is doorgegroeid en wat mij betreft mag worden geschaard onder de beste country(pop) albums van de afgelopen jaren. Desert Dove maakt indruk met een veelkleurig geluid met zowel invloeden uit de country van weleer als uit de countrypop van de afgelopen jaren, maar ook de songs van Michaela Anne en haar stem dragen nadrukkelijk bij aan de kracht van haar derde album. 

Desert Dove werd in 2022 gevolgd door het eveneens uitstekende Oh to Be That Free. Het is een album dat wat opschuift richting countrypop, maar het is wel countrypop met meer country dan pop. Ik vergeleek de muziek op het album met die van Kacey Musgraves en veel warmer kan ik mijn aanbevelingen niet maken. 

Oh to Be That Free stond in het teken van de geboorte van het eerste kind van de singer-songwriter uit Nashville, Tennessee, en inmiddels is ze de moeder van twee kinderen. Ook These Are the Days staat in het teken van het moederschap, dat, zoals de cover van het album laat zien, nog veel tijd vraagt van Michaela Anne. 

De Amerikaanse muzikante had sinds de release van haar vorige album meer aan haar hoofd dan het moederschap, want haar nieuwe album kon pas tot stand komen na een geslaagde crowdfundingcampagne. These Are the Days is uitgebracht op het eigen label van Michaela Anne en werd uiteindelijk gemaakt met een heel behoorlijk budget. 

Dat is goed te horen, want het album klinkt prachtig. Het album werd gemaakt met een aantal prima muzikanten en multi-instrumentalist en producer Aaron Shafer-Haiss. Michaela Anne schoof op haar vorige album wat op richting countrypop, maar op These Are the Days gaat ze weer vol voor de rootsmuziek. Het nieuwe album van Michaela Anne is voorzien van een smaakvol en sfeervol geluid, waarvoor een hele batterij aan instrumenten is ingezet. 

Het album is hier en daar voorzien van een lekker stevig gitaargeluid en dat klinkt bijzonder aangenaam. Desondanks is er alle ruimte voor de mooie stem van de muzikante uit Nashville, die haar persoonlijke songs met veel gevoel vertolkt en de songs op het album een flink stuk optilt. These Are the Days kwam er zeker niet vanzelf, maar ook met dit album bewijst Michaela Anne weer dat ze behoort tot de grote talenten binnen de Amerikaanse rootsmuziek van het moment.

Erwin Zijleman

 

Je kunt These Are The Days hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://michaelaanne.bandcamp.com/album/these-are-the-days 

Regenesis. Girl With A Hawk

Girl With A Hawk is a band from Boston that I may well be following from the very first single onwards. Come 2026, here is its debut album and yes, it is as nice as I had hoped it would be. It does come with a surprise though. Based on e.g. recent single 'Wasn't It Just Yesterday', I had betted on a harder rocking album. It turns out it is more of a roots album than I had expected. An album that here and there brings Hazeldine to mind, and in a positive way, I'm more than o.k. with.

Let me start for that reason with the song 'The Fighter', the fourth on the album. When the guitar intro starts, my first thought was hey, a cover of 'Zombie' with an Oasis twist? Then the lead guitar joins and I'm back with guitarist Jeffrey Richards' lead melodies in my favourite Hazeldine song, 'Drive'. Girl With A Hawk manages to create this mix of rock and americana in a very successful way too. A twangy lead guitar, a fiddle and great harmonies. The band expands the song more and more, turning 'The Fighter' into an epic anthem by way of the long outro.

Overall, I notice how pleasant Regenesis sounds and can be listened to. Most likely the band sounds far smoother than in a live setting but as I'm not geolocated in the right place, chances are I will never know. The album allows for great listening and that is a very much worthwhile position to be in.

Girl With A Hawk formed during the pandemic and started to release singles quite soon after. Singer and songwriter Linda S. Viens (vocals, electric and acoustic guitar) was joined by Richard Lamphear (keyboards, backing vocals); Daniel Coughlin (guitars, backing vocals); Daniel George Bernfeld (bass, backing vocals); and Nancy Delaney (drums, percussion, backing vocals). Together they have created a sound that alternates between pop, rock and americana in a quite convincing way. All have a life in music and life itself behind them and decided to form a band anyway. The result is like it.

Regenesis is not the album of older musicians that have returned to music as just a hobby. For that the songs on this album are far too serious and well-crafted. These songs are the proof of their collective ability and dedication to create and arrange beautiful songs. Take the ballad 'Beautiful Today' with its bittersweet atmosphere. The music "simply" captured the mood singer Viens was in and turns it into beautiful music.

As I wrote before, I was surprised by the americana flavoured touch of the songs, but from the second spin of the record Girl With A Hawk onwards, the band totally convinced me to be listening to a good album worth exploring wider and deeper. I hope to have convinced the readers to dive in as well.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght 

I Miss You, I Do. Arny Margret

De IJslandse muzikante Arny Margret verrijkt de intieme folk van haar debuutalbum met een vleugje Americana en wat IJslandse sfeer, wat wederom een zeer sfeervol en bijzonder mooi album oplevert.

Arny Margret was de twintig pas net voorbij toen ze in de herfst van 2022 haar bijzonder mooie debuutalbum afleverde. Touren en reizen hebben de wereld van de IJslandse muzikante een stuk groter gemaakt en dat hoor je op het deze week verschenen I Miss You, I Do. Arny Margret werkt op dit album met een aantal Americana producers van naam en faam waardoor de ingetogen folk van haar debuutalbum is verrijkt met invloeden uit de Americana. I Miss You, I Do heeft echter ook nog altijd iets karakteristieks IJslands, waardoor het album anders klinkt dan de meeste andere albums van het moment. De bijzonder mooie stem van Arny Margret doet ook dit keer de rest. Prachtig.

Een paar weken nadat ik in de herfst van 2022 vooral rode vlekken had gekregen van het op dat moment net verschenen nieuwe album van Björk, werd mijn vertrouwen in de IJslandse popmuziek gelukkig weer helemaal hersteld door het debuutalbum van Arny Margret. Met they only talk about the weather (geen hoofdletters) leverde de jonge muzikante uit Reykjavík een bijzonder intiem folkalbum af, dat door een aantal bijzondere details in de muziek toch nog een IJslands tintje kreeg.

Mijn liefde voor de IJslandse popmuziek werd vorig jaar verder aangewakkerd door een mooie reis over dit fascinerende eiland, waardoor ik het deze week verschenen tweede album van Arny Margret direct opschreef voor een recensie. Dat dit terecht was bleek voor mij eigenlijk al toen de openingstrack van I Miss You, I Do door de speakers kwam, want was is het weer mooi.

Ook op haar tweede album maakt Arny Margret, officieel Árný Margrét Sævarsdóttir, muziek die is te omschrijven als folk en het is ook nog altijd folk van het intieme soort. Vergeleken met haar debuutalbum heeft de muzikante haar geluid op haar tweede album wel wat voller ingekleurd. De IJslandse muzikante maakte na de tour die volgde op haar debuutalbum een reis door de Verenigde Staten en werd verliefd op de muziek die op Americana albums is te horen.

Arny Margret is pas 23, maar ze ging zeker niet lichtvoetig om met het opnemen van haar tweede album. De muzikante uit Reykjavík deed in de Verenigde Staten een beroep op topproducers Josh Kaufman, Andrew Berlin en Brad Cook, waarvan met name de eerste en de laatste de afgelopen jaren hebben bijgedragen aan een groot aantal albums die binnen de Amerikaanse rootsmuziek met de beste albums mee kunnen.

I Miss You, I Do klinkt hierdoor inderdaad wel wat Amerikaanser dan they only talk about the weather, dat invloeden uit de Britse folk vermengde met een IJslandse sfeer. Door het toevoegen van alle in de Americana gangbare snareninstrumenten is het tweede album van Arny Margret in muzikaal opzicht niet heel ver verwijderd van de albums van andere vrouwelijke singer-songwriters in het genre, maar ze is haar IJslandse identiteit zeker niet vergeten.

I Miss You, I Do werd afgemaakt op IJsland, waarbij producer “Kiddi” Kristinn Jónsson aanschoof. Het tweede album van Arny Margret heeft hierdoor niet alleen een Americana kant, maar heeft ook nog altijd het atmosferische en licht mysterieuze dat muziek uit IJsland heeft. Het wordt versterkt door de bijzondere mooie stem van Arny Margret die nog wat mooier en rijker klinkt dan op haar debuutalbum. De IJslandse muzikante is zoals gezegd pas 23 jaar oud, maar als zangeres klinkt ze verrassend gelouterd en laat ze opvallend veel gevoel en precisie horen.

Ik schrijf deze recensie op een zonnige zondagochtend en dat is een uitstekend moment voor de weldadige klanken en de prachtige stem op het tweede album van Arny Margret. De muzikante uit Reykjavík had van mij best een album mogen maken dat naadloos aansluit op haar debuutalbum, en dat doet I Miss You, I Do zeker een aantal keer, maar het siert haar dat ze ook nieuwe wegen verkent. Het pakt allemaal prachtig uit, want het vleugje Americana maakt haar folky songs met een IJslandse touch alleen maar mooier.

Erwin Zijleman

 

Je kunt I Miss You, I Do hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://arnymargret.bandcamp.com/album/i-miss-you-i-do

No Honey. Joshua Finsel

For the second time this week, we present three albums. This is the first, released two weeks ago. All are too good to ignore while all three would have missed out if I had stuck to three new albums this week. So all three get a shorter review today.

Joshua Finsel has led several musical lives in the past three decades. This month he released his first solo album, with the assistance of producer D. Patrick and former David Bowie associate musician Mark Pratt.

The result is an album that meanders between singer-songwriter, country and folk. There's even a hint of Bob Dylan's approach to his music on 'Desire', because of the way the violin is used. With a voice that has a nice little rough edge to it, Finsel is active in the right kind of music. No Honey is the kind of album that ought to attract several lovers of Americana and roots music. From an extremely slow ballad like 'The Drought', sang with his daughter Ada, there are more up tempo songs as well.

To me though, he makes the biggest impression with 'The Drought', as everything here seems so well thought out and every instrument that comes in and there are more than you'd expect in the beginning, is so well placed and has a direct impact on me as a listener.

The same goes for the opening song, 'Before The Snow'. It is the slow songs that really, really get to me and where Finsel's voice has the biggest impact. The way these songs are produced make them stand out of the pack. D. Patrick can take some of that credit by bringing in these musicians but things start with Joshua Finsel's songs.

True, a few of the songs are moving towards too country for me, as a whole though Joshua Finsel's No Honey works for me. The water may be rising to his lips, based on this album that ought to end soon. It deserves listening to.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order No Honey here:

https://joshuafinsel.bandcamp.com/album/no-honey

Kingdom Of Mine. Timo de Jong

Although Kingdom Of Mine was released in the spring of last year, I am saving a spot for it today, as tomorrow Timo de Jong is performing in our living room. We met Timo last year when he supported Hackensaw Boys in Haarlem's Patronaat. Together they made for a great live experience.

After the show he told us that it took him years to hone his voice, to become the nice, deep country voice he has today. It certainly is a major attraction while listening to Timo de Jong's album. On stage he manages to give the listeners the impression the venue is far smaller than it actually is. He converses with you as if at home.

Kingdom of Mine is an album that came about for a very specific reason. De Jong was asked to do a church tour in the countryside of Friesland. He visited each of the eight churches involved to get inspired by the places and to get inspiration from the stories told to him about the church. This led to the eight songs on Kingdom of Mine. The tour took place in April 2024, so a while behind him already.

The album is still worthwhile getting to know though. The basis is Timo de Jong's voice and acoustic guitar. From there a lot of things can happen, even a song with electric guitars, 'Ring Them Bells'. Yes, he can even sing deeper, but also surprise. Due to the rhythm, the instruments used but also because this is a fun song, a  little naughty even.  In every song instruments are added that make the album varied and the songs unpredictable. You can hear that for yourself when you take a listen.

Photo: Lennard Fopma

As said, Kingdom of Mine is a varied album. Country or Americana may be the genre of choice, nearly every song has another vantage point within that genre. There is a ballad, the traditional country and roots song, a more pop oriented song and even the modestly rocking 'Ring Them Bells'. In all the songs Timo de Jong's voice excels. It is the choice of instruments that adorn the songs that make the whole album a very pleasant listening experience. I am not going to go into examples, as I want you to discover the richness of the songs yourself. Let me suffice with the comment that a few times I was truly surprised by what I was hearing. There's more than you may expect from an Americana album.

Only a one day left to go before Timo de Jong is playing in our home. Something to really look forward to.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

The Purple Bird. Bonnie Prince Billy

For over 30 years Will Oldham is building a huge oeuvre in his own segment of country/folk/americana/roots music. First in combinations containing the word Palace and for a long time already under the alias Bonnie Prince Billy. His latest album is no exception to the rule. The music is, somewhat, though.

On The Purple Bird Oldham focuses more on his country side. Of course in most songs in his own unique way. The album opens with a beautiful country song. It contains all the elements that makes me like the genre. Not unlike David Sickmen's best songs for The Hackensaw Boys, 'Turned To Dust (Rollin On)' holds this bittersweet feel. without becoming despondent. The difference is the electricity and instruments. Oldman uses everything that was laying around or standing in the studio it seems. There's drums, an electric guitar, a Hammond organ, a violin, piano, bass, and percussion. However, when all is said and done, all instruments are used sparingly enough, to make 'Turned To Dust (Rollin On)' breath. On top of it all the song has a golden melody. While Will Oldham sings with a far softer toned, if not smoother voice than usual. He is often accompanied by a female and male voice. This is a tremendously beautiful song, perhaps the most beautiful of his whole career so far.

For The Purple Bird Oldham worked with a producer, in Nashville. And it shows. This is a Bonnie Prince Billy album and yet different. David "Ferg" Ferguson, who worked e.g. with Johnny Cash and Sturgill Simpson, has let all his producing skills loose on the album. The Purple Bird is so much smoother than the artist's regular albums. That may come as a shock to some of his fans, but to me it shows a different side of Will Oldham. A different side to his voice as well.

The overall feel of this album is just positive. 'Tonight With The Dogs I'm Sleeping', the third song, shows the musical looseness that is a trademark of Bonnie Prince Billy, yet in the studio all sorts of extras are added. Not just one but several, giving the track a country and blue grass feel. More traditional instruments like a banjo are added and almost a choir in the background.

A name that pops up because of the music, is Neil Young. Mind not the singing, as already explained above. That country feel that Young can have, is present on The Purple Bird. Another conclusion is, where I'd say that Bonnie Prince Billy usually makes music for men, this is his album for the ladies. Where men are welcome nonetheless. The Purple Bird is an album that wants to please and please. I am listening on my headset and the album is really coming across. Far better than through the speakers on my computer (that blew up listening to this soft album believe it or not).

Earlier this week, I was not sure whether I would buy this Bonnie Prince Billy album. I have a host of his albums already. Since then, I've changed my mind. Yes, another one will be added to my collection. "Come on in, the water's fine", as it were.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

You can listen to and order The Purple Bird here.

https://bonnieprincebilly.bandcamp.com/album/the-purple-bird

Garth Hudson (1937 - 2025)

With Garth Hudson, who died on 21 January the last living member of The Band left this world. Last year Robbie Robertson died and I had not written on it, so let's make amends today.

Hudson always came across as a bit of an oddity to me. He played in a famous band and was a unique part of The Band's sound but also how he looked: totally out of place. With his long beard and presence of an older man, he did not belong it seemed to me. He played everything that needed to be played, whatever the rest wasn't playing. No singing, as the only member of The Band.

He was born in Canada, like all the others bar Levon Helm. In 1937. That made Hudson years older than all the others. Reading his obituary, he already had a musical career of sorts in classical and jazz music before the others came on to the scene. His famous anecdote was that when joining Ronny Hawkins and the Hawks, see 'Who Do You Love', the start of 'The Last Waltz' Hudson was paid $10 a week extra as he could pretend to be the musical teacher of the other band members. To convince his parents he was in a paid position! It's more that I think how young the others were when they started as a Hawk.

The breakthrough came when Bob Dylan called on The Hawks to play as his backing band when he went electric. So they just called themselves The Band when they started recording in Woodstock when Bob Dylan had disappeared (there) after his motorcycle accident in 1966. That became 'The Basement Tapes' and 'Music From The Big Pink' and the rest is history. The former first led to a) a string of hit singles for other artists, like Manfred Mann, Julie Driscoll and The Band itself. b) a bootleg album and c) in 1975 to the famous double album. In 1968 the band's own career started with hit single 'The Weight' and the mentioned album.

Dylan and The Band recorded 'Planet Waves' together and went on a tour together. The double live album 'Before The Flood' has been expanded recently as a multi cd box containing all the shows they played together.

Garth Hudson always remained the man in the background, playing what needed to be played. Robbie Robertson became the songwriting genius but also the lesser band member, as it were the other three, Levon Helm, Rick Danko and Richard Manuel who had the better or more distinctive voices, like Manuel and Helm. Hudson hovered in the background on a keyboard, saxophone or whatever. Never in the limelight, always serving. I never read 'Across The Great Divide' the The Band biography. Somehow I can't imagine any debauchery on the side of Garth Hudson with his weird professor like image. That was the amazing part of the book, I read in a review: this band of serious musicians turned out to be total dopeheads. Danko died of it even. But Garth Hudson?

Garth Hudson turned into the archiver of the band. It was thanks to his collection of tapes that Bob Dylan was able to release the complete 'Basement Tapes Bootleg Series box set years ago. 10 or 11 cds filled with recordings from that basement and other locations around Woodstock, N.Y. where they recorded. He died in a nursing home there at the age of 87.

What remains of The Band is the music. No, I've never been a great fan of The Band. Somehow it's just not my music, exceptions permitted. 'The Last Waltz' remains a brilliant show though. The dvd comes out regularly.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

Cincinnati Ohio. Wussy

De Amerikaanse band Wussy is helaas nog altijd niet heel bekend, maar heeft inmiddels wel een stapel uitstekende albums op haar naam staan, waaraan het geweldige Cincinnati Ohio wordt toegevoegd.

Mijn eerste kennismaking met de muziek van Wussy is inmiddels bijna twintig jaar oud. In die twintig jaar heb ik ook een aantal albums van de band gemist, maar alle albums die ik wel heb opgepakt zijn van uitstekende kwaliteit. Het is de afgelopen zes jaar stil geweest rond de band uit Cincinnati, Ohio, maar met haar nieuwe album, het toepasselijk getitelde Cincinnati Ohio, is Wussy gelukkig weer helemaal terug. De band staat nog steeds garant voor geweldige gitaaralbums, al is het nieuwe album wel wat meer ingetogen dan een aantal van zijn voorgangers. Het is een geluid dat me wel bevalt en dat weer een fraai hoofdstuk toevoegt aan het prachtige en inmiddels imposante oeuvre van Wussy.

De Amerikaanse band Wussy maakte met Funeral Dress helemaal aan het eind van 2005 naar mijn mening een van de mooiste albums van het betreffende jaar. Het debuutalbum van de band uit Cincinnati, Ohio, had voor mij alles dat een eigenzinnig rockalbum moet hebben. Dat het eerste album van Wussy zo goed was kwam voor mij overigens niet als een verrassing, want Chuck Cleaver, de voorman van de Amerikaanse band, maakte met zijn vorige band Ass Ponys ook al een aantal uitstekende albums, met Lohio uit 2001 als uitschieter.

Ondanks mijn liefde voor Funeral Dress verloor ik Wussy na het debuutalbum uit het oog, om pas in 2016 weer aan te haken. In dat jaar maakte de band uit Ohio met Forever Sounds wederom een onbetwist jaarlijstjesalbum. Forever Sounds imponeerde met een bijzondere cocktail van 60s psychedelica, 90s noiserock, 90s indierock en een vleugje Americana en zorgde ervoor dat ik Wussy vanaf dat moment niet meer uit het oog verloor.

De band leverde in 2018 met What Heaven Is Like weer een fantastische gitaarplaat af, waarna Chuck Cleaver een jaar later nog een prima soloalbum uitbracht. Sindsdien was het, mede door de coronapandemie, helaas stil rond de band, al verscheen nog wel het bericht dat gitarist en pedal steel speler John Erhardt was overleden. Deze week keert Wussy gelukkig terug met een nieuw album, het elfde album van de Amerikaanse band, en ook Cincinnati Ohio is weer een uitstekend album.

Heel veel veranderd is er niet. Ook op Cincinnati Ohio laat Wussy zich weer inspireren door een aantal decennia rockmuziek en is het niet heel kieskeurig wanneer het gaat om het verwerken van invloeden uit subgenres. Het zorgt er voor dat ook het nieuwe album het wat mij betreft unieke Wussy geluid laat horen, al neemt de band uit Cincinnati wel vaker gas terug dan op haar vroege albums.

Het Wussy geluid is een geluid dat gruizig en noisy is, maar ook zeer melodieus. Het is een geluid waarin de Amerikaanse band niet vies is van hier en daar wat steviger gitaarwerk, maar op hetzelfde moment de ene na de andere aanstekelijke popsong uit de mouw schudt. Vergeleken met een aantal vorige albums van de band klinkt het nieuwe album niet alleen wat minder stevig, maar ook wat melancholischer, wat gezien de zware jaren die de band heeft doorgemaakt ook niet zo gek ik.

Cincinnati Ohio voelde voor mij direct vertrouwd, waarna ik me pas besefte hoe ik de band de afgelopen jaren heb gemist. In muzikaal opzicht klinkt het album, zeker voor liefhebbers van gitaaralbums, onweerstaanbaar lekker en ook op de zang, waarin ook dit keer Chuck Cleaver en Lisa Walker afwisselend het voortouw nemen, heb ik niets aan te merken. Als ik luister naar Cincinnati Ohio hoor ik ook dit keer een album van een band die nooit wereldberoemd gaat worden, maar die wel meer aandacht verdient dan het tot dusver krijgt.

Het nieuwe album van Wussy laat zich, net als zijn voorgangers, beluisteren als een zoekplaatje vol invloeden van roemruchte bands, variërend van The Velvet Underground tot R.E.M. en van Mazzy Star tot The Mekons om zomaar wat namen te noemen, maar voor iedereen die het eerdere werk van de band uit Ohio kent is het ook een echt Wussy album met eigenlijk alleen maar goede songs. De muziek van Wussy is inmiddels al bijna twintig jaar een goed bewaard geheim, maar ook Cincinnati Ohio is weer een album dat je niet zal teleurstellen.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt Cincinnati Ohio hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://wussy.bandcamp.com/album/cincinnati-ohio

After All The Party Years. The Yearlings

The Yearlings released two albums and played numerous shows before its breakup in 2006. In 2025 the band is ready to release its second album since reforming in the second half of the 10s. With the addition of Martijn Vink the band has released its new album, After All The Party Years. Listening to the album, I'd say the party only just begun.

The Yearlings play music that must be linked to the U.S. It sounds like Ryan Adams, a countrified version of R.E.M, The Jayhawks. Alternative country rock, something like that. My inclination is to put rock first though. The Yearlings do not mind to put guitars first, propped up by a solid rhythm section. A warm Hammond escapes every once in a while adding a special sauce over the music. Over it all singer Olaf Koeneman wraps his melancholy voice. A minor key definitely is his favourite environment.

That is often where beauty is found in music. It is not hard to discover beauty on After All The Party Years. Take 'Live With Laughter'. A Beatlesque moment or two is graced with a slide guitar played by Bertram Mourits and the Rickenbacker guitar sound of Martijn Vink, who brings in that typical The Byrds sound into the song. With Niels Goudswaard also playing guitar, that makes four guitarists in the band. That is even more than the Southern rock bands of old. Yet, not for a second I get the impression they are in each others way.

If I have to use one word to describe the album, it's warmth. In that there is a kinship to formerly from Utrecht band The Maureens, where Vink used to play in until 2023. The Yearlings musically is a far more direct band. The band rocks more. Both dip their writing pen into the same well in the U.S. though, one where the water is warm and pleasant. Both play music that can be identified as anywhere between now and decades ago. Music for the ages as it were. Not what is popular in the mainstream, yet has fans all over the world. There will be people everywhere who will enjoy this album.

I had not heard any of the previous albums by The Yearlings as far as I can recall. I'm almost certain I saw The Gasoline Brothers, an in between The Yearlings band, play a support show in Utrecht, years ago. I'm near certain that if I had heard one of these albums, I would have written about them. In any case, After All The Party Years is a perfect introduction.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

You can listen to and order After All The Party Years here:

https://theyearlings.bandcamp.com/album/after-all-the-party-years

2025, week 4. 10 Singles

Grey skies, fog and no fog, "no" rain, lots of rain, wind and no wind, we are seeing it all this winter. Even very mild frost. In general its just dull outside with hardly a clear sky in sight. That spells the winter of 2025. Luckily we have the music, so let's go!

Drown! Soft Plastics

Soft Plastics debuted on this blog in May 2021 with its single 'Loozer'. A whole bunch followed and the album 'Saturn Return', nearly two years ago. Come 2025 and the New Zealanders present a new single, Drown!. It is a surprising one, for the following reason. Drown! is a perfect mix of the two sides of Soft Plastics. At times the band presents songs that are sometimes too soft for me, with too little happening to keep my attention. Drown! tends into that direction, before it becomes clear that the band builds up a whole truckload of tension. When it's released in the chorus and the following solo, the song gets a glorious sheen, bordering on magic. The ethereal backing vocals behind Sophie Scott-Maunder's lead vocal and over the spooky lead guitar does everything such an addition should. Soft Plastics wind the song down again before it ends, restoring the order of its universe. Drown! is a great single and to think I nearly scrapped it, as with so many singles going around decision are made fast.

Enemy. The Yets

The Yets debuted with the EP 'The Yets' in 2022. The South Carolina duo, guitarist-producer Craig Anderson Snook and vocalist Robin Wilson is on route to release its debut LP 'Pinup Girl' on 7 February. Enemy is the final single preceding the album. None of the previous made it to this blog but Enemy has. It is a gothic song with matching dark overtones. Singer Robin Wilson is a woman of a certain age and her voice matches this in an intriguing way. She has double tracked her vocals. The dark one matches her age, while the higher one lends her voice a dreamy quality providing Enemy with two distinct sides, where everything drops away. Underneath her voice Snook built layer after layer of dark sounds accompanied by a complex drum rhythm. My guess is from a machine. Musically the song matches some of goth rocks romanticism and brings a band like Para Lia to mind. Enemy is a song to study as well as listen to.

The Music Man. David Ramirez

In 2018 I saw David Ramirez play in Q-Bus in Leiden, a venue with nearly always perfect sound. It's so easy for an artist to make a great impression there. Before the show his album We're Not Going Anywhere was on the blog and in 2021 a single. Come 2025 and Ramirez returns with a piano ballad that brings to mind ballads from the 1970s, like Peter Skellern's 'You're A Lady', a song with power and melancholy in one. The Music Man is song of a grown man who looks back on his youth and how he grew into the music man who draws the crowds to hear his music. But not everything's alright judging by the mood of the song. The build up is beautiful though, but nothing like I had expected to hear from David Ramirez. That apart, The Music Man works and deserves to be heard.

On The Brink / Not Fooling Me. Brad Marino

Brad Marino is on this blog like forever my brain tells me. The first time was only 2019 though. Of course that is already close to six years. Since than he became a staple artist with singles and albums almost once a year. In 2025 Marino is cleaning out his closets and came across a bunch recordings he had recorded but not released. The album is called 'Rarities, Remixed & Unreleased' and On the Brink and Not Fooling Me are released as teasers. The former is a rocker in the finest Brad Marino tradition. Somewhere between The Ramones and The Romantics he manages to find another great melody that invites, well almost demands to be shouted along to. The song has a great riff and all the solo notes a good rock songs needs. The latter song is softer and slower, the kind of song I do not associate with Brad Marino. Without coercion I will always opt for On The Brink, let's rock, baby. The darker song and more 60s influences is alright. Marino gets away with this other side with ease, as the song has a great melody and sound. The kind that could get a The Kik treatment here in NL, as in a translated lyrics and make everything a tat poppier. Even Brad Marino leftovers sound great, but don't leftovers often taste better the next day?

A Moment. Kensington

For those from abroad. Kensington is most likely the biggest rock band from NL of the last decade, even ever, as I know no other that played so often for such huge audiences including the biggest stadium here. And then there singer left. The remaining three indicated to continue and found a new singer in American Jason Dowd. If anything, Kensington has become even more Kings of Leon than before. And more powerful than the American band even in its greatest success 'Sex On Fire'. No. I've never been a Kensington (nor Kings of Leon) fan and did not expect much from A Moment, but as these sort of rock songs come, A Moment is certainly powerful. Kensington returns with a bang and in such a way that catches the ear immediately. It must be stressful returning, as it is the question whether fans accept the change of singer. On the basis of this single, the answer for now should be yes and the benefit of the doubt, etc.

Stay For The Night. Pink Turns Blue

Pink Turns Blue is around since 1985 and managed to stay off my radar for 40 years! That could have been a record, were it not that this year I also discovered Mekons, from 1979. The band consists of Mic Jogwer (vocals, guitar), Paul Richter (drums) and Luca Sammuri (bass) and named itself after a Hüsker Dü song. Stay For The Night is a hypnotic song that repeats the same electric piano notes almost all through the song, with the exception of an instrumental interlude that brings together U2 and Pink Floyd, believe it or not. The single is a dark song, with Mic Jogwer singing with a dark voice. Because of this, I place the song in the 1980s immediately. The lead guitar part is more modern though and more optimistic in sound then most post punk, goth songs in the 80s ever were. The new album will be called 'Black Swan' and the band goes on an extended tour of Germany and the U.S. this spring and summer.

Extraordinary Wings. Heartworms

Heartworms is another new name on this blog. It is the project of singer-songwriter Jo Jo Orme from London. A lot of what you hear might come out of a box, yet Heartworms manages to build the song step by step and makes the tension higher with each step. Not that I'm hearing things that I haven't heard before. It's more that Orme sucks me into her song by the 10 seconds. Just like Stay For The Night right above here, Extraordinary Wings does not know a lot of variation. It is in what is added to the song that makes it so interesting and finally even exciting to listen to. Jo Jo Orme subtly changes the intonation of her voice and the music follows her. More than enough reason to write about the song here. There's an album coming up, 'Glutton For Punishment' and it's out on 7 February. (And then I run into another Heartworms, from Washington D.C. on the Internet, but I'm almost certain I'm writing about the right one here.)

T & A. Blondshell

Although it was only at the very start of 2023 that Blondshell debuted on this blog, Sabrina Teitelbaum's nom de plume can be found a lot here. Today, she returns with another song towards her second album, 'If You Asked For A Picture', slated for 2 May. T&A was a titled claimed by Keith Richards on The Rolling Stones' 'Tattoo You' album. In 2025 we get to hear it from a woman's perspective. I invite you to listen to the text and wonder like I do what kind of person Teitelbaum is singing about. I'd opt for dump now and not for wait and see, but that's me. Blondshell presents an alternative rock song with some pop overtones in the melody and vocals. The song rocks but is obviously more than just a rock song. It is darkish but strives to le in some light. T & A shows the rocking side of Blondshell in a pleasant way.

Downstream (feat. John Anderson). Bonnie Prince Billy

Will Oldman for decades now works under the name Bonnie Prince Billy. He's about to release a new album 'The Purple Bird' on 31 January. Based of what I'm hearing here it is an amalgam of his own version of Americana and Irish folk. To start with the first verse. Oldham sings like he always does with a soft-toned accompaniment, as sparingly orchestrated as possible without having no accompaniment. In the second verse a tin whistle comes in and slowly but surely the music is expanded with the Irish side, in the way it is played. In the third verse the contrast with John Anderson's voice (not to confuse with ex-Yes singer Jon Anderson) is created. His rough voice is so different from Oldham's it simply turns the song upside down.. Downstream is Bonnie Prince Billy's version of beauty, as that the song is.

Walk A Million Miles. Garret Vandermolen

With Walk A Million Miles American artist Garret Vandermolen puts his listeners into a musical time machine.set for the mid-1960s. The sound of the Rickenbacker guitar was made a staple sound by (then) Jim McGuinn of The Byrds, influencing many artists right up to George Harrison of The Beatles. The distinct sound can be heard through the decades, like R.E.M. and current Dutch perfect pop band The Maureens. VanderMolen does his own take on the sound, as he doesn't use the Rickenbacker to make his song shine brighter. Walk A Million Miles is a melancholy song and the Rickenbacker underscores the melancholy mood of the song. Everything in the song underscores the feeling of wanting or even having to move away as far as possible from where things currently stand. The muting quality of snow is used as a metaphor for sneaking off and not looking back. The 1960s remain a huge reservoir of inspiration. Even 60 years down the line..

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

The Land We Knew The Best. Chris Eckman

Chris Eckman was the songwriter and male singer of Seattle band The Walkabouts and is active in music since the late 80s. I discovered the band in 1993 with the album 'New West Motel' and followed most of Eckman's career since. With The Walkabouts at some time he reached the point where the next album would contain near to total silence, as each album became quieter and quieter. Since 2005 volume came back but the band broke up after 2012 and a final tour. By then his solo career had already started.

With The Land We Knew The Best Eckman releases a new solo album that has songs in a quite mode and in a moderate rock mode. Gone are the tough folk rockers of old, what remained is his songwriting skills and story telling. Love brought Chris Eckman to Ljubljana in Slovenia, where he lives with his family and recorded this album.

The Land We Knew Best tells stories of his adopted country. Where of old he was inspired by stories he heard on the road and the dusty towns along the American high and byways, now it is the Slovenian country side where he walks in the mountains and the countryside. Except for former Londoner Alastair McNeil who produced this album and the previous one 'Where The Spirit Rest' (2021) and who plays a host of instruments, all musicians are from the Ljubljana scene. Not that you notice that. This is a Chris Eckman album alright.

This has to do in part with his voice. That gravelly voice determines a large part of this being his album. Yet it is also in the atmosphere he creates with his songs. There's always a dreamy quality involved where his ballads are concerned. Just listen to 'Haunted Nights' to hear what I mean. It's on the one hand as if he's reaching for a place he just can't reach (yet) but on the other pointing me to that spot beyond the horizon where I can't go to. It creates a dream state where it is pleasant to be despite not being able to get to the destination. Longing to be there is enough listening to 'Haunted Nights'. It is one of the best songs on The Land We Knew Best. And that from the man who loves listening to 'Old Crow Lied' and 'Jack Candy'. To be fully truthful, 'Finlay's Motel' is another of my all time The Walkabouts favourite. That one is more in line with 'Haunted Nights'.

We are both getting on in life. 32 years is a long time since I discovered Chris Eckman's music and I'm still gladly following his career. With The Land We Knew The Best he adds another fine album to his oeuvre. Yes, it's introspective for the most part but that makes it the more intriguing. With 'Last Train Home' he ends the album with an ultimate ballad. The song is so slow but sucks you in completely. You;re waiting for that last train home with him. Slow piano notes and slow strums is all this beautiful song need to excel. And that gravelly voice of course. That is Chris Eckman's signature.

I'm glad that it has not taken close to a decade for Chris Eckman to be able to release a new solo album. Yes, there were collaborations in between, but they are different from this. This is just him and after a slight hesitation during the first listening session, I dare to state: great album!

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

You can listen to and order The Land We Knew The Best here:

https://chriseckman.bandcamp.com/album/the-land-we-knew-the-best

Oh, Smokey. Clem Snide

Het oeuvre van de Amerikaanse band Clem Snide is redelijk onbekend, maar de band heeft een respectabel aantal prachtalbums op haar naam staan, waar deze week het echt wonderschone Oh Smokey aan wordt toegevoegd.

Ruim 25 jaar geleden maakte ik voor het eerst kennis met de muziek van de Amerikaanse band Clem Snide en het was liefde op het eerste gehoor. De band uit Boston leverde in een paar jaar tijd een handvol fantastische albums af, waarna het licht helaas langzaam maar zeker uit ging. De band rond Eef Barzelay begon een paar jaar geleden aan haar tweede jeugd en die krijgt deze week een vervolg. Eef Barzelay maakte Oh Smokey samen met de gerenommeerde muzikant en producer Josh Kaufman, die het nieuwe album van Clem Snide heeft voorzien van een redelijk sober geluid. Het is een setting waarin de melancholische songs van Eef Barzelay uitstekend tot zijn recht komen.

De Amerikaanse band Clem Snide dook aan het eind van de jaren 90 op en maakte met name in de eerste jaren van haar bestaan een aantal geweldige albums. You Were A Diamond uit 1998, Your Favorite Music uit 2000, The Ghost Of Fashion uit 2001, Soft Spot uit 2003 en End Of Love uit 2005 zijn stuk voor stuk geweldige albums, die dan ook volkomen terecht de hemel in werden geprezen. Dat gebeurde helaas slechts in zeer kleine kring, waardoor Clem Snide toch vooral een cultband bleef.

Op haar albums verwerkt de band uit Boston, Massachusetts, vooral invloeden uit de alt-country en een beetje indierock en zeker Your Favourite Music en The Ghost Of Fashion zijn albums die ik schaar onder de allerbeste albums van de jaren 00. Na 2005 werden de albums van Clem Snide langzaam maar zeker wat minder en in 2010 leek het doek definitief te vallen voor de zo onderschatte Amerikaanse band. Voorman Eef Barzelay bracht nog wel wat soloalbums uit, al dan niet onder de naam Clem Snide, maar na 2015 werd een aantal jaren niets meer van de band vernomen.

In 2020 keerde Clem Snide echter terug in de spotlights en leverde het met het samen met Scott Avett gemaakte Forever Just Beyond een album af dat niet onder deed voor de beste albums van de band. Een recente opmerking die bij dit album werd geplaatst op het muziekforum Musicmeter.nl zette me op het spoor van het nieuwe album van de band, dat vorige week is verschenen en dat ik in geen enkele releaselijst ben tegen gekomen.

Dat is best bijzonder, want zo groot is het aanbod op het moment niet. Oh Smokey is ook nog eens een geweldig album, dat zich net als voorganger Forever Just Beyond kan meten met de beste albums van Clem Snide en dat zegt wat. Alles draait nog altijd om singer-songwriter Eef Barzelay, maar op Oh Smokey koos hij voor de samenwerking met muzikant en producer Josh Kaufman, die we kennen van Bonny Light Horseman en van zijn werk voor onder andere Cassandra Jenkins, Taylor Swift, The Hold Steady en This Is The Kit.

Josh Kaufman was verantwoordelijk voor het grootste deel van de muziek op het album en tekende voor de productie. Hij heeft Oh Smokey voorzien van een mooi en vaak wat stemmig klinkend geluid, waarin invloeden uit de Amerikaanse rootsmuziek centraal staan. Het is een sfeervol maar ook wat weemoedig klinkend geluid, dat uitstekend past bij de stem en de songs van Eef Barzelay.

De muzikant uit Boston is nooit vies geweest van flink wat melancholie in zijn songs en heeft een stem die goed past bij wat donkerdere songs. Vergeleken met het vroege werk van Clem Snide klinkt Oh Smokey wat soberder en wat meer ingetogen en dat vergroot wat mij betreft de impact van de songs en de stem van Eef Barzelay. Oh Smokey klinkt misschien vrij sober, maar Josh Kaufman heeft veel mooie details verstopt in de muziek, die vooral aan de oppervlakte komen wanneer je het album met de koptelefoon beluistert.

De naam Clem Snide zal heel veel mensen echt niets zeggen, maar de Amerikaanse band heeft inmiddels een respectabele stapel vijfsterrenalbums op haar naam staan en hoeveel bands kunnen dat zeggen? Ruim 25 jaar na het debuutalbum van de band laat Clem Snide met Oh Smokey horen dat het nog altijd albums kan maken die niet onder doen voor het allerbeste werk van de band en dat is knap. Ik had Oh Smokey zomaar kunnen missen door de beperkte aandacht voor het album, maar dit is er een voor de jaarlijstjes.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt Oh, Smokey hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://clem-snide.bandcamp.com/album/oh-smokey

Medium Raw. Early James

Early James is a 31 year old musician from the south of the U.S. who came into this world as Fredrick James Mullis Jr. Medium Raw is his third album, produced and released by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach.

On Medium Raw Early James plays an (acoustic) form of country music in the style of Johnny Cash in the 1950s with an attack that comes closer to rock and roll. Call it Americana or roots or folk, either way the notes roll from his fingers and guitar strings. His voice sounds like a whole bourbon distillery went through his throat first, after which it was tarred over by highway maintenance. In other words do not expect any subtlety in that department. The more authentic James sounds because of it in the twelve songs on his latest album.

With titles like 'Upside Down Umbrella', 'Go Down Swinging', 'I Could Die Right Now', 'Gravy Train' and 'I Got A Problem', you can surmise that he sings stories somewhere between hope and despair. And they sound like it. Because of his voice he sounds like he means it as well. This is some tough singing alright.

All this is matched by the music. Early James is not baking soft cookies here. A mean slide guitar, a dirty sounding lead guitar and a rhythm section that is pounding on the door. Just listen to 'Tinfoil Hat' and things will become clear to you. Things are muddy and dirty in James' world.

Promo photo

Other songs are led by an acoustic (dobro) guitar and bass. The combintion tones down the song in volume but not intensity. His voice is only a part of my conclusion. Somehow things are dirty, muddy, mingled with the sweat on his brow leading to dark streaks on his face. Medium Raw contains songs that can be played to a work force straight in from the steel mill relaxing at the local bar with a beer and a shot in front of them.

What surprised me most, is that I expected after the first two songs I would tire fast of the music and the opposite happened. Medium Raw draw me in more and more. With an album like this the new year starts off at the right musical pace alright.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

You can listen to and order Medium Raw here:

https://earlyjamesandthelatest.bandcamp.com/album/medium-raw

Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild (2). Merce Lemon

Late last year I was attracted to one of Erwin Zijleman's reviews. Our musical tastes do not always coincide. Sometimes when I read one over before publication, something tells me to take a listen. On even rarer occasions, I go over to the Bandcamp website advertised and buy the download to throw it on a self-burned disc. Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild is one such album.

Merce Lemon is a singer and songwriter from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who is active musically somewhere between country, rock, roots and indie. The kind of music I have been buying records of for about 30 years. It all started with the likes of The Walkabouts, Slobberbone and Hazeldine in the 1990s. Merce Lemon fits right in there with her music. She's not afraid to rock out, while throwing a wailing pedal steel guitar into the mix, nor to throw the mood right down, presenting a darker version of a singer-songwriter song. On Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild it happens and from the first to the last second I'm caught by Ms. Lemon's musical magic.

What attracts me most to Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild is the way her voice is offset against the music. The production is deliberately dirty, matching the way Merce Lemon sings. She's not out to please sensitive ears with her voices (or music), at least for the main part of the album. It has a take it or leave it quality. I'm taking, thank you. The dense sound gives the album a tough appearance and the singer is thriving in and because of it. Even in the ballads that mood remains, with the difference that the songs are kept far smaller.

Erwin's December post explained everything around the album and Ms. Lemon's career so far, so I can be far briefer and will. I wanted to write anyway, because Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild really impressed me and would have made my 2024 year list, had I had the time to listen to it but simply ran out of time, because of work and travel abroad the whole week before Christmas and the rollercoaster the last week of the year is usually, not to mention the task I undertook to look into my 100 favourite albums of 2000 - 2024.

In between I kept listening and decided to play the album somewhere along the line since my return and was convinced I heard right during that first listening session in December. Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild is an album to drive its listeners wild as well.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

You can listen to and order Watch Me Drive Them Dogs Wild here:

https://mercelemon.bandcamp.com/album/watch-me-drive-them-dogs-wild

Sent Through The Ceiling. Ashtyn Barbaree

Ashtyn Barbaree debuteerde in 2022 zeer veelbelovend met Better Luck Next Time, maar laat op het deze week verschenen Sent Through The Ceiling op indrukwekkende wijze horen dat ze nog veel beter kan.

Sinds ik het nieuwe album van de Amerikaanse muzikante Ashtyn Barbaree in handen kreeg, liet het album me niet meer los. Alles op Sent Through The Ceiling is immers even mooi. Het prachtige pianospel, het fraaie gitaarwerk, de tijdloze songs, de warme productie en natuurlijk de bijzondere maar ook prachtige stem van de jonge muzikante uit Fayetteville, Arkansas. Het debuutalbum van Ashtyn Barbaree vond ik al bovengemiddeld goed, maar Sent Through The Ceiling is nog veel beter. Het debuutalbum van de Amerikaanse muzikante ontdekte ik pas na ruim een jaar, maar dit keer ben ik gelukkig onmiddellijk bij de les. Voor mij onbetwist jaarlijstjesmateriaal.

Better Luck Next Time, het in de zomer van 2022 verschenen debuutalbum van de Amerikaanse muzikante Ashtyn Barbaree, ontdekte ik helaas pas in de herfst van 2023, maar ik was zo onder de indruk van het album dat ik alsnog een zeer positieve recensie schreef. Op haar debuutalbum, dat ook in de Verenigde Staten uiteindelijk goed werd ontvangen, trok de singer-songwriter uit Fayetteville, Arkansas, direct de aandacht met haar stem. Het is een karakteristiek stemgeluid waarvan je moet houden, maar als je er van houdt is Better Luck Next Time een album dat direct een onuitwisbare indruk maakt.

Het met een aantal topmuzikanten uit Nashville gemaakte album kon ook in muzikaal opzicht de concurrentie met al die andere albums in het genre makkelijk aan en Ashtyn Barbaree bleek ook nog eens een getalenteerd songwriter. Alle reden dus om de Amerikaanse muzikante in de gaten te blijven houden. Ashtyn Barbaree keert in oktober terug met haar tweede album en ook Sent Through The Ceiling is een uitstekend album.

Voor het opnemen van haar tweede album koos Ashtyn Barbaree niet voor Nashville, maar bleef ze in Arkansas, waar ze werd omringd door een aantal zeer competente muzikanten, van wie een aantal ook was te horen op haar debuutalbum. Ze koos er bovendien voor om haar tweede album zelf te produceren, wat altijd een gewaagde keuze is. Het pakt allemaal goed uit, want Sent Through The Ceiling is in alle opzichten een prima album, dat zeker niet onder doet voor haar debuutalbum. Ashtyn Barbaree is nog een twintiger, maar ze maakt op haar tweede album een gelouterde indruk. Haar eigen productie klinkt feilloos en ook de zang op het album is van grote klasse.

De Amerikaanse muzikante beschikt nog altijd over een karakteristiek stemgeluid, maar waar ik bij beluistering van haar debuut moest wennen aan de zang vond ik die op Sent Through The Ceiling eigenlijk direct prachtig. In muzikaal opzicht ligt het nieuwe album in het verlengde van zijn voorganger, wat betekent dat Ashtyn Barbaree oorspronkelijke klinkende Amerikaanse rootsmuziek maakt, maar het is ook dit keer rootsmuziek die fris en eigentijds klinkt. Het is bovendien veelzijdige rootsmuziek, want Ashtyn Barbaree kan in meerdere genres uit de voeten, al staan folk en country in veel songs centraal. Sent Through The Ceiling klinkt op het hetzelfde moment als een tijdloos singer-songwriter album uit de jaren 70.

In het geluid op Sent Through The Ceiling spelen wonderschone pianoklanken en fraai gitaarwerk de hoofdrol, maar er is altijd wel een bijzonder accent in de instrumentatie dat de songs wat extra laat schitteren, waarvan ik de strijkers zeker wil noemen. Het combineert allemaal wonderschoon met de stem van de muzikante uit Arkansas, die zomaar kan uitgroeien tot een van mijn favoriete zangeressen.

Ashtyn Barbaree is zoals gezegd nog een twintiger, maar ook als songwriter doet ze wat mij betreft niet onder voor de ouwe rotten in het genre. De songs op Sent Through The Ceiling zijn stuk voor stuk aansprekend en het aantal songs op het album dat me zeer dierbaar is blijft maar groeien. Het zijn songs met persoonlijke teksten waarin verlies, liefde en het najagen van dromen centraal staan, wat de songs op Sent Through The Ceiling voorziet van extra zeggingskracht.

Alles bij elkaar heeft Ashtyn Barbaree een album gemaakt dat wat mij betreft mee kan met de beste rootsalbums van het moment en het album is voor mij nog lang niet uitgegroeid. Haar debuutalbum noemde ik een album van een grote belofte, maar met het nog wat betere Sent Through The Ceiling is Ashtyn Barbaree de belofte wat mij betreft al lang voorbij.

Erwin Zijleman

Je kunt Sent Through The Ceiling hier luisteren en bestellen:

https://ashtynbarbaree.bandcamp.com/album/sent-through-the-ceiling

The best albums 2000 - 2024, 4 of 10

Today we go from number 40 to number 31 with half of the albums being not from the U.K. or the U.S. which may be quite unique for this list.

40. Hoofdkaas. De Kift (2008)

And then you find that one of your favourite albums by De Kift is already sixteen years old. What stage decoration was Hoofdkaas presented in? The water organ, the percussion vehicle that drove up to the stage with the band as a marching band behind it? Fact is that musically Hoofdkaas was another step forward for the band originally from Oost-Knollendam. An ever evolving collective that continues right up to today. The band is never afraid to experiment and collaborate. With the title song and the way it is presented live by drummer Wim ter Weele, De Kift added one of its most beautiful songs to its oeuvre. It is certainly one of the most beautiful songs of the century so far.

39. A Certain Trigger. Maxïmo Park (2005)

Another band that never lived up to the promise it made with its debut album. Everything after simply wasn't as good as this. Maxïmo Park followed into the shoes of bands like Franz Ferdinand and Dogs Die In Hot Cars and played up tempo post punk. This album contains some classic songs the band produced. On top of these is 'Apply Some Pressure', without a doubt the song it will end shows with until the day it calls it quits. The energy, weirdness and spunk of just this song is sufficient to deserve a spot on this list. The rest of the songs assures this position.

38. Jump Rope Gazers. The Beths (2020)

So many bands and artists from New Zealand crossed my path since I discovered the newsletter of Auckland's Flying Nun record store. Though not on the store's record label, Flying Nun Records, the band came to me that way. Alternative rock with a twist like they only seem capable of in New Zealand. As I wrote a few times, there's something in the water there that everyone else in the world misses out on. The band around singer and songwriter Elizabeth Stokes blows up her songs to giant proportions without losing sight of what is important, the song and the singer. Guitarist and producer Jonathan Pearce can play solos as if he flies totally of the rails only to land on his feet within the song once again. And then the album contains 'I'm Not Getting Excited', one of the best songs of the past years, as a bonus.

37. Where The Spirit Rests. Chris Eckman (2021)

Chris Eckman had released some solo albums through the years, but they never made a real impression on me. And then came Where The Spirit Rests. I was once again swept off my feet by the power of his songs and voice. It had been close to ten years, collaborations aside, that he released new solo work. It was well worth the wait, because Where The Spirit Rests is great and beautiful album. Eckman's voice resonates deeply into my brain. The accompaniment is sober. There's nothing more than strictly necessary and it is enough. This album was a great return to form.

36. Always Ascending. Franz Ferdinand (2018)

To this day Always Ascending is Franz Ferdinand's latest studio album. The title and opening song is so incredibly strong. It was a return to the band's best songs from the first years of its career. The rest of the album is almost just as good, until the final few songs. Otherwise it would have been a Fra Fer classic. I went to see the band for the second time live, which was great fun. The band delivers new songs in a slow fashion but when it does, it delivers the right kind. The fact that only 'Tonight: Franz Ferdinand' is missing in this list, tells all, doesn't it? FraFer is always ascending/delivering alright.

35. Koper. De Kift (2001)

And once more De Kift. The album Koper has a song called 'Nauwe Mijter' on it, a song that is so extremely good that it deserves a spot even if the rest was not up to par. The rest is, rest assured. Again with art work that is different from everything regular bands make. It is not even complete. You could order extra cards to complete it. (I never did.) Koper was the first De Kift album, I liked as a whole. Its predecessor 'Vlaskoorts' contains a few of the band's most beautiful songs, but is not a great album as a whole. Koper is. Several things seemed to get together for the band at the time. although it would be a few years before ti became this good again..

Nice to know. Coincidentally Franz Ferdinand and De Kift are underneath each other in this list. Do you know they released a single together? Both bands play a song of each other on this single. You may still be able to order it on De Kift's website.

34. Adelantando. Jarabe de Palo (2007)

I was shocked when I saw Pau Dones in a new video just before Jarabe de Palo released what turned out to be its final album. A few weeks later he had succumbed to cancer. That was 2020. Let's go back to happier times when the Barcelona band released its 2007 album Adelantando with its happy and energetic songs bringing together Spanish, Latin, rap and rock music in its own perfect blend. Jarabe de Palo was on the top of its game and playing live in my country every once in a while. I love all of the band's albums but some are far better than others and Adelantando is one of them.

33. From A Basement On The Hill. Elliot Smith (2004)

Another artist who is dead. Elliot Smith died under circumstances that will never be totally cleared. Although many people will point to his late 90s album as his best, for me it is From A Basement On The Hill. Admitted, the album last two, three songs too long, but before that moment, there is so much ear candy. On top of it all the album contains his best song: 'Pretty (Ugly Before)'. At a certain period in my life it spoke volumes to me. It all came out well though, but my heartstrings are still touched every single time I hear this song.

32. Did You Know That There's A Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd. Lana del Rey (2023)

Ms. del Rey's latest album and as far as I'm concerned her best to date. The spoken word interludes aside, she has never sounded so good over a whole album. She seems to bare it all in a few of the songs. They are not just mysterious but full of emotions and that combination is one she hadn't presented before. The cool, calm and collected Lana del Rey was left behind in that tunnel. Cracks appeared in the facade she always kept between herself and us. We are all better because of it. This is sheer beauty from a superstar, one of the biggest of the past fourteen years.

31. Veggie Patch In The Desert. Elenne May (2016)

Elenne May came into my life with an email asking me if I wanted to listen to the band's new EP, one of three that would make up this album over time. It turned out to be its the final album, as what should have been its last album was never recorded and left behind as a live performance an five digitally released songs. Veggie Patch In The Desert is an album that takes the listener through a host of emotions with songs that are all very much worthwhile listening to. I have seen the band live several times, including twice in my living room and this album came alive every single time. And then it was all over two years ago. A real shame as there was so much talent combined here. Unfortunately, too little people took notice.

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