Move Along

That new Steve Gunn album sure is lovely, my amigos da musica. Solid songs that go pop, Gunn's trademark guitar work, lyrical yet groovy, backing vocals by the one and only Meg Baird: what more can one ask for? Definitely his best yet. For further reading: here's a fine recent profile on Philly's golden boy in the Guardian.

Steve Gunn - Vagabond

Keep Me Here

So far I pretty much liked everything Meg Baird came up with a lot, be it her work with neo-folkies Espers, her acoustic solo output, or her role as the singing drummer in Heron Oblivion. Not so sure  about her new collaboration with harpist Mary Lattimore yet though. Too ethereal perhaps? Too vague? Here's hoping it's a grower.

Meg Baird & Mary Lattimore - Painter Of Tygers

Floated Down

Attention banjo lovers, as we've got a lovely take on Child Ballad #10 here, the oft-covered, near-ancient Northumbrian murder ballad also known as The Two Sisters. Find it on last year's recommended I Wish I Were A Sparrow album by Meg's sister Laura.

Laura Baird - Dreadful Wind And Rain

Heavy Load

On a new live album called The Chapel, our beloved heavy folkrockers of Heron Oblivion surprisingly go wild with a Sir Doug classic. That's the lovely Meg Baird in the role of singing drummer, folks, doing her best Sandy impression. "And it sure does wig me out, when I think about what went down..." Indeed.

Heron Oblivion - Crossroads
Sir Douglas Quintet - At The Crossroads

At The Heron House

Pay attention, my followers of chaos. San Francisco's Heron Oblivion is a band to watch alright. All members, of which the lovely Meg Baird of Espers fame is probably best known, did their time in the underground already, so we're talking something like a true indie supergroup here. If out of control noise-folk sounds like your thing, lend them your ears.

Heron Oblivion - Your Hollows

Seventually

And here's that inevitable list again, mi amigos da musica. Presenting the toppermost of the poppermost of 2015: seven heavenly albums one shouldn't be without.

1. Phil Cook - Southland Mission
Phil Cook - Sitting On A Fence
2. Ryley Walker - Primrose Green
Ryley Walker - Love Can Be Cruel
3. Meg Baird - Don't Weigh Down The Light
Meg Baird - Mosquito Hawks
4. Giant Sand - Heartbreak Pass
Giant Sand - Heaventually
5. Calexico - Edge Of The Sun
Calexico - Tapping On The Line
6. Simon Joyner - Grass, Branch & Bone
Simon Joyner - In My Drinking Dream
7. Dave Rawlings Machine - Nashville Obsolete
Dave Rawlings Machine - The Last Pharaoh

Take Me Home

"River, you keep flowing, like you know just where you're going..." Presenting a Sunday six pack about them always magical waterways. "But river, will you ever take me home..."

David Allan Coe - River

Meg Baird - River Song

Cell - Cross The River

Fear Itself - Underground River

Versus - River

Augustus Pablo - East Of The River Nile (original version)