Son Volt‘s new album, Okemah and the Melody of Riot, comes out July 12. There’s also a retrospective out if you need to get caught up on Son Volt’s greatness.

Old Crow Medecine Show‘s Wagonwheel track continues to give me goosebumps. See prior post. When will these guys come out with another album?

I’ve really fallen down on the blog lately. I usually try to update my Music category with recent purchases but I’ve been too busy. So here are some a acquired a while back. At least I’ll be able to comment on the “staying power” of each release.

Blood of the Ram, The Gourds. This could be my favorite Gourds album yet. Too many favorite tracks to mention. Still too difficult to categorize. Medium-high on the staying power meter.

Buttermilk & Rifles, Kev Russell’s Junker. Russell is the front man for the Gourds. This is a side-project of his and includes folks from the Gourds as well as others. It’s at least as obscure as any Gourds release and equally entertaining. Again, medium-high on repeat listens.

Kimi Ga Suki * Raifu, Matthew Sweet. Back in the 90’s I was a hardcore Matthew Sweet fan. Then at some point (maybe Son of Altered Beast) I dropped him. When he reappeared on the Jayhawks’ Rainy Day Music release I started wondering what he’s been up to so I bought this album. It was originally only released to his Japanese fan club. It is outstanding. I’m so glad I got it. The guitarist from Girlfriend (one of the greatest pop albums ever) is back on this album but only a couple of tracks remind me strongly of Girlfriend. Medium staying power.

Welcome Interstate Managers, Fountains of Wayne. I got hooked on Fountains of Wayne back in the 90’s when I saw them open for someone who’s name I no longer recall. Like Matthew Sweet, Fountains of Wayne is pure pop but I can’t get enough of them. With their intelligent (sometimes corny) lyrics I tend to lump them into the Weazer/Ben Folds bucket. I had to send Bright Future in Sales to all of the folks in Business Development at Navigator because I thought they might find it motivational. High repeat plays. I went for a week straight listening to nothing but this album.

The Dirty South, Drive-By Truckers. This is my most favorite recent addition. My friend, Dave, had been recommending these guys to me for a while and I just never got around to pulling the trigger. I’d call it a hard-driving “southern rock” album. If I had a pick-up truck I’d throw a keg in the back and drive to the nearest lake with this album playing full blast. If that doesn’t sound appealing you might want to skip this one. Off-the-chart on repeat listens. Co-workers are getting a bit tired of this as I “always” have it in the changer. “Oh yeah, these are the Lynyrd Skynyrd guys…” 

Broke Down, Slaid Cleaves. This is a follow-up purchase to Wish Bones. As I mentioned this is another Dave recommendation confirmed by hearing Meredith Miller’s cover. I like the album–I’m just not crazy about it. I just can’t get into Slaid for some reason. Out of this batch, this is definitely the one with the least number of re-plays.