Might as well do my review of last week now:
Choctaw Ridge (compilation): I got a freebie of this at Green Man (a mate had two copies). It's the latest Bob Stanley compilation and focuses on late 60s to early 70s country (1968-1973) when, in the wake of 'Ode to Billie Joe', country artists started to write more story based songs. It's excellent!
Angel Olsen: her EP of 80s pop covers (you might have heard her version of Laura Brannigan's 'Gloria'). It's good. Everything's been given a gothic synth wash and turned into a bit of a ballad (if it wasn't already a ballad).
Orla Gartland: debut from the Irish singer-songwriter, who became popular via YouTube. It's pretty good, electronically tinged modern indiepop with folkish undertones.
Martha Wainwright: her divorce album. It's musically similar to her previous releases, really good mature songs. Excellent!
Villagers: possibly Conor O'Brien's best album. It's musically varied, songs always good. Well worth a listen.
James McMurtry: storytelling Americana. Reminds me at times of Drive By Truckers. His 10th album so I may need to dig back a bit if I get a chance.
@Mickdundee you'll like this.
Anderson East: a melange of soul, country and blues. Very cleanly produced but I find it a bit dull.
Azure Ray: the first album in over a decade from the dream pop duo. It's quite a mellow, pretty album. I don't do marks but this would be firmly in the 7/10 to 7.5/10 range.
Shannon and the Clams: garage rock type stuff, which branches out at times toward surf guitar and doo-wop. Enjoyable and good fun.
Nathan Salsburg: an album of musical interpretations of psalms. Don't run away though as it's lovely, recalling artists like Iron and Wine and Bill Callahan at times. Joan Shelley, Will Oldham and Steve Elkington are involved. High quality!
Tropical Fuck Storm: angry Australians as always. It's of the standard I've come to expect from Gareth Liddiard and Fiona Kitschin, both across The Drones and latterly TFS, which is a very high standard indeed.
BNNY: a very good album of psychedelic dream pop (I prefer that term to shoegazing) from Chicago. At its more mellow, it's a bit Mazzy Star.
Lorde: I'm enjoying this. Her newer Taylor Swift crossed with Screamadelica then cleaned up a bit vibe works really well. The title track is especially great.
Wanda Jackson: supposedly her retirement album. The original queen of rockabilly is bowing out in style with a cracking album (if a tad short at 25 mins).
Dot Allison: a low key but high quality folk album. Very pretty indeed. Possibly her best work since One Dove.
Sturgill Simpson: back to more traditional countryish fare from Sturgill after his two bluegrass based Cuttin' Grass comps. It's a concept album about the US civil war (distilled into 28 minutes). Very good. A little more rootsy than his last couple of pre-Cuttin' Grass albums.
Altin Gun: a second album of the year from the Turkish/Dutch psychedelic journeyers. As with the last one, this include more electronic instruments. It's really good. Think it's a surpise release to some degree.
Arushi Jain: she's an Indian classical composer who, here, incorporates drones and electronic sounds into more traditional forms. Really warm and beautiful.
Belated album of the week: on the basis that I shouldn't give it to a compilation (Choctaw Ridge is superb!), I'll say Nathan Salsburg.
