Waxahatchee –
‘Saint Cloud’. Katie Crutchfield just gets better and better, changing themes, transforming, shining brighter, becoming brilliant. While far from country, it is an album in the grip of the genre, produced with warmth, texture and subtlety.
‘Lilacs’ uses a guitar sound reminiscent of Reggie Young on
‘Suspicious Minds’. ‘Can’t Do Much’, possibly the standout track, sounds like The Cranberries one moment and gentle Creedence in presence the next. Great voice, great tunes and the record
Waxahatchee will always have to try to beat.
S.G. Goodman – ‘Old Time Feeling’. The warmest reverb guitar opens
‘Space in Time’ before Goodman’s bold voice bursts out introducing this debut album. Three songs in and we’ve heard doo wop, rock n roll and country. It’s alt country at its core, but explores so much more. Learning to sing in church, she turned to Jim James to produce and proclaims – from a left wing, gay perspective – the social i
Close runner-up: Who are You by Joel Ross.
Here are the others that I consider keepers for the long haul, listed alphabetically by album title: The Art of Intimacy, Vol 1 by Jeremy Pelt Artemis by Artemis The Color of Noize by Derrick Hodge Cri$el Gems by Paul Bryant Dinner Party by Terrace Martin The Dockside Sessions by Brad Walker Fly Moon Die Soon by Takuya Kuroda Happenings: Live at the Village Vanguard by Gerald Clayton Kindred Spirits by Charles Lloyd King Butch by Butcher Brown Life Goes On by Carla Bley Meeting in Progress by Nutria Night Dreamer by Gary Bartz and Maisha