True West

Hot on the heels of Steve Gunn, his pal William Tyler delivers the goods as well. The Nashville native recently upped and left for sunny California, and said move gave this Brad Cook-produced record its title of course. With his deceptively simple style of picking Tyler never ceases to amaze, and featured  track Rebecca even reminded me of brother Duane's Little Martha a bit. Yup, that lovely.

William Tyler - Rebecca

Tower Of Song

The golden sings of 2016? Look no further, my amigos da musica. You want it darker? Shine on.

1. Heron Oblivion - Heron Oblivion
Heron Oblivion - The Desert
2. David Bowie - Blackstar
3. Hiss Golden Messenger - Heart Like A Levee/Vestapol
4. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree
5. Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker
6. Brent Cobb - Shine On Rainy Day
Brent Cobb - Black Crow
7. Cian Nugent - Night Fiction
8. William Tyler - Modern Country
9. Ryley Walker - Golden Sings That Have Been Sung
10. Kikagaku Moyo - House In The Tall Grass
Kikagaku Moyo - Trad

In The Garden

Taking a trip with master picker William Tyler at the wheel. Meandering instrumentals through backwoods America a specialty. The aptly titled Modern Country, a sure contender for the end-of-year lists, will be out next week on the Merge label. An ideal soundtrack to a hopefully long hot summer.

William Tyler - Sunken Garden

Hey Hey Dude

High time for some recent stuff, amigos. Let's start off with the New Bums, who bring us understated neo-psychedelica that sounds remarkably close to the Kramer productions from the days of old. Which is another way of saying it's way cool of course.

New Bums - Black Bough

Next up, the esteemed mr. Tyler surprisingly covers krautrock great Michael Rother (of Neu! fame) on his brand new Lost Colony ep, and that sure is an excellent choice. Motorik beat for now people? You've got it.

William Tyler - Karussell

And we're signing off with Ryley Walker, a young cat from the Windy City who's got that pentangling early seventies folkrock sound down pat. The jazzy Clear The Sky could even be a long lost Tim Buckley outtake. Chapeau, dude.

Ryley Walker - Clear The Sky