Old Sea Brigade - Wash Me Away

Twenty years down the road
We'll grow old and say
That light of the day was ordinary

It's cold, I've been sick the last few days and as I write this I'm not super hopeful I'll come out from under the weather today. But hey, there is always soup, snuggles, warm blankets and some chill music to relax to. Nashville's Ben Cramer, known here, and I presume elsewhere, as Old Sea Brigade fits my energy and mood very well. He had a new single drop yesterday and here it is.

RIYL: Woodlock, Bon Iver, Pinegrove, Iron & Wine, Andrew Bird

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The Pogues & Kristy MacColl - Fairlytale of New York

They've got cars big as bars
They've got rivers of gold
But the wind goes right through you
It's no place for the old
When you first took my hand
On a cold Christmas Eve
You promised me
Broadway was waiting for me

If it's Christmas time it's prime time for The Pogues' "Fairytale of New York". Happy holidays y'all and have a happy, happy, happy new year.

RIYL: Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, The Dubliners

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Strand of Oaks - Radio Kids

So play it, play it loud on the radio
I've got my headphones on and my parents will never know
It's something that we had
Before we lost control
Of the radio

2014's Heal, the last album put out by Indiana-based songwriter Tim Showalter, aka Strand of Oaks, was terrific and had a solid run on my heavy rotation, so I was excited to get some new music from him. "Radio Kids" is the first release from his forthcoming album Hard Love, is solid and interesting, with a bit of a swing back to the more folksy end of the folk-rock he's known for. For me, it also had a bit of a Gaslight Anthem vibe, which I like. Good stuff.

It's also got a fun, brightly colored video, have a look.

RIYL: The Gaslight Anthem, Okkervil River, War on Drugs, My Morning Jacket

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Run River North - David Robinson

I do right by all I know
Images on the wall say the same
Spotlight or shadow
My life and my worth is my name

Take this farther
Makes me stronger
Make this harder
Makes me stronger
Feel the light inside me
Reaching beyond my failing
See the crowd surround me
Leave the ground, I feel higher

Run River North were one of the highlights of SXSW 2016 for me - even managed to see them twice! I was already hooked on "Run or Hide" via indie radio but had no clue about their unique instrumentation (two violinists) nor that they were a totally Korean-American (6 of them) band. Great live - the drummer alone is entertaining - I've continued to enjoy their sophomore album Drinking from a Salt Pond throughout the rest of this year. Perhaps overdue as a Most Important Song, here is the track that is named after my sweetheart, and (he swears it's just coincidentally) his favorite.

RIYL: Local Natives, Head and the Heart, Grizfolk, Ra Ra Riot

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Wintersleep - Santa Fe

So baby give me one more night
I will release you -- give me some time

I've been thinking about posting something from Wintersleep's latest album, The Great Detachment, for a while now. I decided upon "Santa Fe" as I feel like it captures the breadth of what they do well; a sort of understated and uplifting folksy rock with surprising and diverse twists. In this case, it's a fairly rockin' anthem with some killer sonic style.

For something a bit more straight-forward check out the video for the hit that first drew me to them, "Weighty Ghost".

RIYL: Mumford and Sons, Sloan, The New Pornographers, The Long Winters

Upcoming Shows