Grace Cummings - Bloodhorse! - VINYL LP

Graciehorse weaves stories into her songs. On L.A. S**t, her new record and first with Wharf Cat, she takes us into the past half a decade of her life. We see her as a traveling nurse, living in big blue expanse of Wyoming, dancing with a man in a crisp white Stetson, eating chicken wings in a hazmat suit, commenting on how strange a place like Los Angeles can be, how loaded it is with wannabe cowboys and fast food restaurants. It's a record of immaculate country music, the kind of stuff you'd put on blast in your truck as you drive down empty stretches of highway. It's also a vulnerable record, full of lyrics about the intensity of being alive, all told with a sense of humor and self-awareness. While some of the songs on L.A. S**t are over a decade old, Gracie started writing the record in earnest during the pandemic. She's a nurse, injured her neck in the line of duty, and suddenly found herself out of work. She had a creative explosion, putting memories into words and melodies in her home studio that she shared with her husband. Particles of songs from years past became beautifully realized. Everything was clicking in the way that it should. She found herself able to express the sometimes inexpressible. She did what all good country music should do she created a patchwork of experiences in a way that is both deeply earnest and absolutely charming. All of this came not long after a period of time where Gracie felt a loss of creative control over her work. L.A. S**t is a statement about experiencing artistic ownership again. InchHollow Head,Inch is the oldest song on the record. InchI started writing it fifteen years ago,Inch she says, InchBut I never got the chance to really sit down and work on it as much as I wanted.Inch It's about the predator archetype, she shares. About being taken advantage of and trying to rise above it. InchCuz the wind will always find the

The more hopeful 'sunrise' to 2018's critically acclaimed Slow Sundown, Horse finds Tallinn, Estonia's Holy Motors acknowledging the Americana and rockabilly strands of their musical DNA without sacrificing any of the otherworldly mystique that keeps them from neatly conforming to the shoegaze and dreampop labels often applied to their music.From the album's opening moments, songs like InchCountry Church,Inch with it's major key and classic rhythm and blues guitarline, and InchMidnight Cowboy,Inch which sounds like a lost Buddy Holly 45 played at 33 rpm, make it clear that Horse - even if it may not accomplish the impossible task of demystifying this band of ex-Soviet cowboys - will at least show you that there's more to them than the near-impenetrable darkness of their work to date may suggest. While tracks like InchTroubleInch and InchEndless NightInch gravitate towards the ethereal production and existential subject matter of prior releases, repeat listens will reveal the same complex compositions and humanity that are much more a hallmark of Horse's eight songs.As a whole, Horse stands as a warmer, more human counterpoint to 2018's celestial Slow Sundown. As to which of the two entries better approximates Holy Motors' natural set point, only time will tell.

Keeley Forsyth - Photograph [VINYL LP] date 12/18/2020