No one does just one thing nowadays, and neither does Sally Anne Morgan. The Asheville NC resident is both a musician and a graphic artist. She sings and plays fiddle, banjo, and guitar in a myriad of settings. On her own, she calls square dances. Her duos Sally & Scott (with fiddler Scott Prouty) and House and Land (with singer/guitarist Sarah Louise dig deep into the roots of old time music. For the last five years she has been a member of the loose confederation known as the Black Twig Pickers, which also includes Isak Howell, Mike Gangloff and Nathan Bowles. Thrill Jockey Records has just released House And Land’s debut LP on Thrill Jockey.
Shirley and Doll — Anthems in Eden
This suite instantly transports me to a medieval fairytale woodland. We both love Shirley Collins, her new record, her memoir, everything. Midcentury British folk rock has been a recent obsession of mine, but surprisingly few bands that I know of brought in the period instruments that are featured in this recording by early music historian David Munrow. I think this suite is a masterpiece and absolutely love it.
Pharoah Sanders — Thembi
From peaceful transcendence on the astral plane to dissonant chaos and a six-minute bass solo, this album has everything you could wish for. Even jazz violin. I love the transportive flow of this album. I’m only starting to wade into the deep territories of spiritual and free jazz, but I am hooked.
Midori Takada — Through the Looking Glass
Sarah and I are both really into this record. I first heard this on YouTube and didn't know much about it, and then it was recently re-issued on vinyl where the liner notes filled me in. Midori went alone into the studio with a limited knowledge of recording but came out with a multi-layering recording technique that was as much a product of her creativity as her limitations. I love the world music influences, and her take on minimalism as described in the liner notes is right on. I like how each piece in this album is so different, too.
Mr. Fox — Salisbury Plain
Haunting and droning and homespun. I love the simple fiddle, the drums, the sparseness of it all. I would like to be in a folk rock band like this some day.
Selda Bagcan — Selda
Ripping Turkish psychedelica with probably the most emotional and compelling voice I've heard. Selda is a political activist and has gone to prison several times for her political views. A true badass!
Van Morrison — Common One
This album from 1980 is frequently overlooked, and apparently was blasted by the critics. But this is probably my favorite Van album after Astral Weeks and Veedon Fleece. It ventures into the realms of free jazz, and I love the sax playing of Pee Wee Ellis. Some of the lyrics are maybe a bit on the nose, but I love them still. When I’m feeling down, I literally will put on the song Spirit, it’s so uplifting!
Pete Steele — Coal Creek March
Pete Steele plays the banjo beautifully, which is a rare compliment. I aspire to play two finger like him (but much slower). He was recorded in the1930s by Alan Lomax and again for the Smithsonian Folkways in the1950s. His wife, Lillie Steele, sings on some songs too with some striking harmonies. Pete Steele wrote the “Coal Creek March” about a mining disaster.
Michaelangelo — One Voice Many
I work at a record store and get to check out random records with cool covers when it's slow and found this infectious psychedelic gem. I think the universe is telling me to get an auto harp.
Solange — Seat at the Table
This album is beautiful and righteous. Sarah and I listened to this about 50times in a row on our last tour. The Song Exploder podcast on Cranes in the Sky is compelling too — the process behind contemporary music like R&B can feel unknowable, but hearing Solange describe how she wrote the song and created those layers of vocal harmonies opened this album up for me. I also love how much space there is in this — I can hear all the elements going on.
Jim and Jesse
I have a love/hate relationship with bluegrass. But I do like a good brother harmony (even if it’s something along the lines of the Louvin Brother’s “The Word Broad Minded is Spelled S-I-N”!) The harmonies on this song are wild. I also love a song with staggered singing like this, which I find very satisfying to listen to and to sing myself. I sing this song with my partner Andrew, who is responsible for getting me into Jim and Jesse, Skaggs and Rice, J.D. Crowe and Larry Sparks, among others.
Maddy Prior and June Tabor
This is such a masterful example of harmony singing to me — switching who is singing melodies, sliding into unisons, switching high and low. Spare and powerful and effortless. I love the first Silly Sisters album and it's great to know Maddy and June are still killing it. Plus bonus points for a song that mentions eating nettles.
Weems String Band — Greenback Dollar
I first heard this on a compilation called Wink the Other Eye: Old Time Fiddle Band Music From Kentucky. Recently a copy of the prewar 78 came into the record shop I work at! The full band take on this song is so strange and woozily beautiful; and a small window into the world of sounds that were never recorded. I don’t think I’ll ever get into collecting 78s but I sure do appreciate some of the amazing people and labels issuing compilations of songs that would otherwise only ever be heard by a very few.
