Toronto experimental jazz outfit Badge Époque Ensemble is back with “Self Help”. Just like in their 2019 debut, the collective has channeled selected vocalists to voice some of the tracks – one of them one of our favorite Canadian singer-songwriters, Jennifer Castle.
Katie Von Schleicher’s “Consummation” is not only our album of the week, It’s one of our top albums of the year so far, too. There are 27 other songs on this week’s playlist, but if I were you I’d go explore that treatise on indie rock — and the rest of her discography, while you’re at it. New tracks by Jason Molina, Natalie Jane Hill, Soccer Mommy, Good Dog, A.O. Gerber, Becca Mancari, Matt Berninger, Camille Delean, Roadside Graves, Owen Pallett, TALsounds, Neil Young, Steve Earle, M. Lockwood Porter, Country Westerns, Jeff Rosenstock, IDLES, Shilpa Ray, Combo Qazam, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Angel Bat Dawid, Nidia, Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids, Mulatu Astatke, Purling Hiss‘ Mike Polizze, Woods, and Okey Dokey.
Fourteen LPs into her career, Lucinda Williams is roots music’s biggest treasure. Not sure how she hasn’t crossed over enough into an ocean of indie reverence. Their loss. “Good Souls Better Angels” is yet another gem from the Louisiana singer-songwriter. Plus: new tracks by Angelo De Augustine, John Paul White, Lizanne Knott, Hazel English, Katie Von Schleicher, Jennie Lawless, Jenny O., Jaime Wyatt, Whitney Rose, Israel Nash, The Texas Gentlemen, Garrett T. Capps, Lithics, No Age, Built to Spill, Sammy Brue, Okey Dokey, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, John K. Samson, Chuck Prophet Official, Zachary Cale, Modern Nature, Blake Mills, Sam Prekop, and Khruangbin.
The world might have changed a lot since we’ve started doing this playlist. But there’s one thing that doesn’t: every time Nap Eyes releases an album it goes straight to our playlist as our top pick of the week. Go get your literate guitar pop fix. Plus: new tracks by Lola Kirke, Craig Finn, Dawes, Damien Jurado, Low Cut Connie, Roger Eno & Brian Eno, Maria McKee, Margaret Glaspy, Katie Von Schleicher, Waxahatchee, Lilly Hiatt, Say Sue Me, Chuck Prophet, Lewsberg, Mush, Egyptian Blue, We Versus the Shark, Melt Yourself Down, Hailu Mergia, Tony Allen, Noveller, and Bob Dylan.
It’s been ten years since Sarah Harmer last released a record. The Canadian singer-songwriter spent the last decade advocating for environmental rights, but she’s now back on track with an album that feels like a successor of her 2000 breakthrough, “You Were Here”. Folk-rock folks, please gather around here. Plus: new tracks by Willie Nelson, Samantha Crain, Jay Som, Ada Lea, Katie Von Schleicher, Lilly Hiatt, Trace Mountains, Real Estate, Spinning Coin, King Tuff, Six Organs of Admittance, Lee Ranaldo & Raül Refree, Califone, Oiseaux-Tempête, Agnes Obel, Katie Gately, Jessy Lanza, Grimes, Beatrice Dillon, Yves Tumor, Bib, No Age, Guided By Voices, and Josh Ritter.