New West

All Them Witches: Live on the internet [Digipack / 2 CD]

Som titeln antyder är nya plattan en hyllning till läromästaren och vännen Jerry Jeff Walker, som dog hösten 2020, 78 år gammal. <br/><br/>Med "Jerry Jeff" kompletterar Steve Earle den serie hyllningsplattor som inleddes med 2009 års "Townes" (Townes van Zandt), fortsatte med 2029 års "Guy" (Guy Clark) och som nu avslutas med "Jerry Jeff".<br/><br/>2021 gav Steve Earle dessutom ut "J.T.", en fin men smärtsam hyllningen till sonen Justin Townes Earle, som dog 2020, endast 38 år.<br/><br/>"The records were recorded and released in the order in which they left this world. But make no mistake - it was Jerry Jeff Walker who came first," says Earle.<br/> <br/>Earle was 14 when he first heard Walker. His high school drama teacher gave him a copy of "Mr. Bojangles," Walker's classic ballad about an unforgettable character he met in a New Orleans jail. After Earle moved to Nashville in the 1970s, he had the opportunity to get to know Walker, who enlisted him as his designated driver.<br/>"There's a tendency to think of Jerry Jeff around a relationship to one song," Earle says, referring to "Mr. Bojangles," which was covered by everyone from Bob Dylan to Sammy Davis Jr. "He was also such a great interpreter of other people's songs. But my main purpose in recording this album was to remind people that he wrote a lot of fucking great songs."

"They are the real deal - psychedelic blues-rock warriors who pray at the altar of Black Sabbath, space out like Pink Floyd and shred away their bummers like Blue Cheer." SPIN<br/><br/>Nashville-baserade psych-rockkvartetten All Them Witches är tillbaka med nya albumet "Sleeping Through The War". Plattan innehåller åtta nya låtar producerade av Grammyvinnaren Dave Cobb (Chris Stapleton, Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell) och följer upp fjolårets hyllade "Dying Surfer Meets His Maker"<br/><br/>Byggstenarna på "Sleeping Through The War" är de samma som gjort All Them Witches till kultfavoriter - mycket fuzz, tunga grooves och kosmiska visioner - men flera ur på vägarna på hemmaplan och i Europa (tre turnéer 2016!) och gjort bandet extremt tight och dynamiskt och även fördjupat låtskrivandet. <br/><br/>Soundet på "Sleeping Through The War" har inspirerats av vitt skilda favoriter som Dr. Johns "Gris-Gris", Sigur Ros, Kyuss och the East. "We wrote it in about six days", berättar gitarristen Ben McLeod. "Where in the past we would have just gone ahead and written and recorded in the studio, we were like nah we're going to do it with Dave, let's be prepared. It was real minimal, Dave didn't want us to get too crazy." Han tillägger, "We wanted a record you could crank. And we wanted girl backup singers." Alltså gästas plattan av Caitlin Rose, Erin Rae och Tristen.<br/><br/>Sångaren och basisten Charles Michael Parks sammanfattar: "We're trying to get to something better -- not necessarily just as musicians -- but as people. I've always said that as we change as people, our music changes, that's why we can never make the same records. I can't be in one of those bands. I hope you'll never hear 'another predictable album from All Them Witches.' There's no art in that."

All Them Witches: ATW [CD]

"How would you feel if you got the opportunity to make your favorite band's album?"<br/>-Brandi Carlile <br/><br/>The Secret Sisters album "Saturn Return" är producerat av Brandi Carlile, Tim Hanseroth och Phil Hanseroth.<br/><br/>På tidigare album och live har systrarna Laura och Lydia Rogers konsekvent sjungit tillsammans, i stämmor, och det har så klart i stor utsträckning präglat deras sound. Stämsången är självklart fortfarande en viktigt ingrediens på "Saturn Return", men för första gången sjunger systrarna även på egen hand, uppmuntrade av producenten Brandi Carlisle: "It's really uniquely unified and harmonious when they're in tandem and very tumultuous and deep when they're not in tandem and I think for a brief, beautiful moment on this album we caught The Secret Sisters not in tandem for the first time". Carlile fortsätter, "To be a harbinger for their honesty in these songs and to watch them work together to see the tension was one of the greatest gifts of my career because those are two very powerful people in a very interesting point in their lives".<br/><br/>"Saturn Return" skapades under en omtumlande period i systrarna Rogers liv. De förlorade både sina far- och morföräldrar samtidigt som både Lydia och Laura fick barn för första gången. Stora, omvälvande händelser som givetvis reflekteras i texterna till plattans tio låtar.<br/><br/>The Secret Sister kommenterar plattan så här:<br/>"As we age, we face obstacles that are beyond our control. Some forces are internal: insecurity, anxiety, fear. Some are external: the loss of loved ones, an unjust system and the fragility of time. Yet the mark of maturity is how you respond when you realize you're not in control. Where do you find your resilience? This album is a reflection of us coming to terms with how to find our power in the face of an unfair world. These songs lead listeners past 'where happy man searches, to a place only mad women know.' We question our purpose, our relationships, our faith. Trading the fears of our youth for the dread that rages within us as mature women. With Saturn Return, our hope is that women can feel less alone in their journey through the modern world. We need each other more than we ever have; the less competition and the more inclusiveness and understanding, the better. We are southern women in the 21st century, convicted by our beliefs".

Wallflowers: Exit wounds 2021 [Digipack / CD]

Rootshjälten Steve Earle's första album med enbart nytt material på fyra år. "I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive" är titeln på plattan och även på boken som kommer ut i USA samtidigt. Boken, som redan fått mycket bra kritik, handlar om en fiktiv läkare som inte får någon ro eftersom Hank Williams ande plågar honom. Till saken hör att läkaren var den som försåg Williams med tabletter under hans sista tid... " I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive" var titlen på den sista låten<br/>Hank Williams spelade in. <br/><br/>I vackra "Heaven Or Hell" gästar Earles fru Allison Morer. Som producent hittar vi ingen mindre än T Bone Burnett som bland mycket annat producerat kollaborationen mellan Alison Kraus & Robert Plant. Han har också producerat album med John Mellencamp, Elvis Costello och soundtracket till "Walk The Line".<br/><br/>Digipack.