When Burlington singer-songwriter Greg Freeman quietly dropped I Looked Out, his first record released under his own name, there was little fanfare. Looking back at it two years later, with this new vinyl reissue and a follow-up record seemingly imminent, it stands as a showcase of an exciting songwriter who came out of the gate with a fully realized musical vision and unique lyrical style, and nowhere to go but up.
Going into her third studio album, Hannah Frances sought to create something that could be healing both to herself and to the listener. The result is Keeper of the Shepherd, a record overflowing with generosity and ambition, with Frances delving into the darkest parts of her psyche and past to try and learn to reclaim herself.
The Pilgrim, Their God, and The King of My Decrepit Mountain is a fantastically listenable record whose somewhat cryptic narrative never distracts from the truly great songs and detailed arrangements, and instead only increases the intriguing nature of it all. It's both digestible and obtuse, and in that contradiction the album finds its magic.
After dropping Ceres & Calypso in the Deep Time, the members of Candy Claws were ready to move on to other endeavors. However, online fanatics couldn’t seem to stay away. This third and final album from the group, while generally well received on release, has garnered cult-classic status throughout the past decade.
On last year’s excellent Danger Mouse collaboration Cheat Codes, the Philadelphia native cemented his place among the great MCs. Now with Glorious Game, a collaboration with Brooklyn soul artist and producer Leon Michel (aka El Michels Affair), he’s able to step back and take a look back at what got him there in the first place.
Furling is a work of pure artistry; A no gimmicks, straight-up gorgeous folk record that’s perfect for keeping you company on a long, contemplative drive. Meg Baird has always been a great artist, but this feels like a big leap forward for her sound. Her addicting style of psychedelic folk will have you constantly coming back for more.
On their fourth record, they continue to do things nobody else's way but their own, continuing to refine their unique style of oddball shoegaze with an uncompromising vision of noisiness and weirdness. Through its all too brief runtime, Lucky Styles ranges from the crushingly loud to the stunningly serene, never settling on the easy choice.
