New Music 2018 - Part 26 - Kendel Carson - The Lost Tapes of Suzanna Hamilton & The Calgary Sessions

To paraphrase Oscar Wilde in a horrid way: To miss one new release by an artist you like might count as misfortune. To miss two in six months is just careless. I am however totally guilty as charged.
So how did I come to find about them both at once on an otherwise unremarkable Thursday evening? 

I can thank Spotify for that. I decided to listen to an album (that wasn't 'Rearview Mirror Tears') by Canadian singer and fiddle player Kendel Carson but I had forgotten the title of it for some reason - it was 'Alright Dynamite' (2009) but that is by-the-by. I was presented with two LPs that I was completely unaware of, based on music for a possible film project that never made it to the screen, or at least not so far and that changed this evening's listening completely.
I have a word of warning here and I think it only fair to mention it now. If you don't like Kendel's previous albums then this might well not change your mind, but please try if you like. I just felt like I was diving right back into familiar territory and that is sometimes a very comforting place to be. 

It seems to be available as 2-on-1, of which this is the illustration, or as two releases.

I'm writing this pretty much on the fly whilst listening to it all again, it's on repeat, so expect some updates on this! Spotify, at least in the UK, regards these as two distinct releases, as detailed below. Either way all are released on Train Wreck Records:

Kendel Carson - The Lost Tapes of Suzanna Hamilton:

• Paint Me a Cowboy
• The Burning of Suzanna
• Chicago Man
• Crazy Moon
• Lilly
• Make Me a Microphone
• Paint Me a Cowboy (Ballad)
• Yankee Boy
• Fighting Soldier
• That's the Way It Is About True Love

Kendel Carson - The Calgary Sessions:

• Waiting for Dreams
• Find a Way
• Anyway the Wind Blows
• Woke up Missing You so Bad
• Mexican Standoff
• Hot Iron Waltz
• Find a Way (Long Version)

I suspect that, as this was still completely unknown to me 2½ hours ago, I shall be back with some more comment, if not tonight then tomorrow. On the other hand if I wasn't liking the hell out of this there would be nothing here to read as of now! 

New Music 2018 - Part 25 - Carson Mchone - Carousel

Listening to embargoed new music, not yet available to the public for some weeks, is a privilege and somewhat scary at the same time. It feels to me like driving a vehicle that I have no previous experience with but which I feel confident about being able to handle. This is the forthcoming LP by Carson Mchone, based in Austin TX. I think this to be a particularly apt analogy given the rather oblique nature of the album artwork. Let's start with that because it's the only visual clue you get. No words; nothing but a couple of film negatives.

Carson Mchone - Carousel (Nine Mile Records, 26 October 2018).

On the face of it this might seem like deliberate alienation. On further investigation it isn't like that in my opinion. It is a case of deliberate differentiation, born out of feelings of not wishing to flow with the wider crowd. Some of the songs on this record are reworkings of those that appeared on her 2015 LP Goodluck Man. I wrote about that here. She was keeping fine company then and I have no doubt that this trend is set to continue. This is the playlist for the new LP:

Carson Mchone - Carousel:

• Sad
• Drugs
• Lucky
• Good Time Daddy Blues
• Dram Shop Gal
• Intro Gentle
• Gentle
• Maybe They're Just Really Good Friends
• How 'Bout It
• Spider

This is alt-country crafted on pretty much her own terms. The new versions of the songs from the earlier release, and I decided not to say which they are as you can easily find out if you wish, are sometimes rather different to the earlier ones and even slightly upbeat. There's very much a bluesy, honky tonk vibe going on in a lot of this but she is no slave to a particular trope. That said the version of Dram Shop Gal on this release is beautifully wistful in its new incarnation and a particular highlight for me. 

It's hard to tell where she might turn next, but that's really exciting and exactly why I want to see her play live at the earliest opportunity. She's something of a wild card I think; to that end I tried to retro-engineer one of the photos on the album cover. I think that it says a certain something about her approach.

What's the carousel worth if you ride to the fairground bareback on a gray steed?

She is wilfully different. I hope she stays that way, just howsoever that may work out.

Note added 30 October 2018:
Carson Mchone has signed to Loose Records for the UK and Europe. Carousel will be released on vinyl, CD and digital on 25 January 2019. She will be crossing the pond to tour it including an Americana UK festival date.

New Music 2018 - Part 24 - Fara - Times From Times Fall

Times From Times Fall is the second full length release by Scottish folk four-piece Fara, all of whom are from Orkney, and is the follow-up to 'Cross the Line' (2016) that I mentioned here.
All the music on this record is composed by the band, sometimes co-writing at others individually, and many are tunes. The final track 'Maxwell's Light' is a tribute to Scottish scientist James Clerk Maxwell, arguably most famous for his unifying theory of electromagnetic radiation published in 1861-2. A true Victorian polymath he was also a fine engineer and the inventor of light-fast colour photography.
Three of the four songs are poems by Orcadian writers set to new tunes by the band. The fourth is a tribute to a lost relative.

Fara - Times From Times Fall (Fara Music, FARA002, 19 October 2018).

Fara - Times From Times Fall

• The Port Polka / Rognvald Ritch, The Little / The Shore
• Speir Thoo The Wast Wind
• At The Ebb
• 7, 8, Nein / I'll Do It Last Friday
• Song (Love Gathers All)
• Miss Rosa Sermanni Holmes / Vintage Pals / Upside Down Under
• Frances' Day
• See It All
• The Depliction / My Favourite Cow / Farewell To The Prid
• Simple Dirt / The Fighter
• The Road Home
• Maxwell's Light

In my opinion absolutely everything on this album is well worth listening to. The lead release taken from it is 'Speir Thoo The Wast Wind', a poem by Christina Costie set to music by Fara. It is available to listen on Spotify here.