It’s very rare that I will share a country album, but if the genre is ‘dark country’, I’m tempted to give it a listen. Oradell is a band out of New York who perform the aforementioned dark country music, and it’s a mellow, pensive listen. I’m happy to see the genre is expanding well, at least in terms of underground music.
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As Advent nears its finish and we prepare to celebrate the Nativity, we have a rather charming Protestant offering from Blacknall Arts which wouldn’t sound out of place to Fairport Convention fans.
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Many, many years ago I was a fan of the sludge-metal band Neurosis, who first came to my attention with a booming cover of Joy Division’s classic, Day Of The Lords. What I didn’t know until a week ago is that their guitarist, Steve Von Till released a gothic-Americana album in 2015 which has the power of old country with the brooding feeling of an acoustic Swans fronted by Johnny Cash.
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The Sound Of Shellac is a record label out of Norway which refurbishes old 78rpm discs, brightens their sound and releases these tracks into well-curated compilations. What’s more, they’re offered as pay-as-you-like releases, so purchasing these comps helps show support for such a fine label. This particular disc features artists John McCormack, Paul Robeson and Jelly Roll Morton, but the real charm of this release comes from relatively unknown or forgotten artists like Mrs. Texas Gladden and Tito Schipa.
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Unless one thinks of the ever-amusing singer Kinky Freidman, I can’t say I’m terribly familiar with Brooklyn Jewish people being heavily involved in country music. Enter charming Brooklynite Mimi Roman, whose voice was among the early pioneers of rockabilly. It’s a large collection at 35 tracks, but it’s worth every penny.
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In honor of Catholic and Protestant Good Friday, we won’t be posting today. Instead, we leave you today with appropriate music by an absolute legend, Johnny Cash.
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We have quite a treat tonight. The Lamplight Club was a six-piece band out of Essex, England who produce a sound that fits comfortably between 60’s garage-psych, gothic folk and touched with a noir country tinge to it. You can stream their songs via Spotify here. If there are more honorable streaming services to recommend, please do so.