As usual, I ran out of month long before I ran out of great music to review in January. So I’ve been putting together a few posts with all the great albums that didn’t get enough attention. You’ve got everything from rock, pop and jazz to Celtic blues, country-rock, hardcore and much more. Rather than blather on myself about them, I’m saving time by just including their press releases. But you can rest assured that they all get the official Tinnitist stamp of approval. Give them a spin before they get lost in the rearview:
Tall Tall Trees
A Wave of Golden Things
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Tall Tall Trees is songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Mike Savino. A Wave of Golden Things, his fourth studio album, opens with the distant crow of a rooster and takes off in a dust cloud of swirling banjo, drums, and bass, melding the influences of Pink Floyd and Cat Stevens with inspiration from banjo pioneers Earl Scruggs and Bela Fleck. Savino, who self-records and produces his music, abandoned the heavily-layered textures of 2017’s Freedays for a more organic, stripped-down approach on A Wave of Golden Things, leaving his distinct voice as the centerpiece and opting for an immersive experience — setting up residence and a mobile recording rig on a hemp farm in the Appalachian mountains. Reflective of the dark and challenging times of today, Savino’s message is ultimately one of hope and finding peace of mind in the chatter of the modern world. The last chorus reaches towards a transcendent beauty in the darkness, and makes a promise: “a wave of golden things, it waits for you.”
Therapy
Therapy EP
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Therapy synthesize influences from the breadth of hardcore history and present a clean, aggressive sound that leans on Japanese-style driving riffs, precise drumming and venomous high-pitched vocals along with some very creative guitar effects. There are nods to everything from Disclose to 9 Shocks Terror to Lipcream in the mix but the band’s sound as a whole is cohesive and very much their own.”
Thorbjørn Risager & the Black Tornado
Come On In
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Through more than 1,000 concerts in 21 different countries, the hard swinging and critically acclaimed ensemble Thorbjørn Risager & the Black Tornado has made people smile and dance. For that is what the blues is capable of: grooving away life’s problems. The front man knows this better than most, and on the 10th album – with the inviting title Come On In – he goes into clinch with everything from his own age to political reality. In this way, the title symbolizes everything that Thorbjørn Risager & The Black Tornado stand for. Thorbjørn explains: “Some people think the blues is sad because it’s named after the color of the melancholy and has its roots in music played by the slaves in the United States. But you have to remember that this was music that people gathered around when they were trying to relax from their hardships. It emerged in festive situations and was meant to be danced to. I would like to help lift that tradition: To try to ease your problems through music, and then go home with a smile on your lips.”
Thy Catafalque
Naiv
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Thy Catafalque, the breathtaking project of visionary composer Tamas Katai, returns with the exhilarating new album Naiv. The fourth Thy Catafalque album in five years from the prolific Katai, Naiv is yet another style-blending tapestry of progressive metallic rock. The record seamlessly weaves elements of Hungarian folk music, seductive female vocals, colorful horns, and synthwave into a potent cocktail of chimeric and unmissable hard rock splendor.”
Tré Burt
Caught It from the Rye
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Tré Burt is a singer-songwriter based in Sacramento, California. Caught It From The Rye is his debut album The album showcases Burt’s literary songwriting and lo-fi, rootsy aesthetic, which he honed busking on the streets of San Francisco and traveling the world in search of inspiration. Like his label mate and songwriting hero John Prine, Burt has a poet’s eye for detail, a surgeon’s sense of narrative precision and a folk singer’s natural knack for a timeless melody. Caught It From the Rye is an urgent missive from an important new voice in songwriting.”
The Wood Brothers
Kingdom in My Mind
THE PRESS RELEASE: “The Wood Brothers have announced the release of a new studio album Kingdom In My Mind. The 11-song collection represents a reckoning of sorts, examining circumstance, mortality and human nature. Finding strength in accepting what lies beyond our control, the material on Kingdom In My Mind hones in on the bittersweet beauty that underlies doubt and pain and sadness with vivid character studies and unflinching self-examination. While the lyrics dig deep, the trio draws from across a broad sonic spectrum to create a set of songs that although thoughtful and inward looking is ultimately transportive and effervescent.”
Xetas
The Cypher
THE PRESS RELEASE: “Xetas have been making wired, joyfully intense music ever since their first 7” in 2014. Their first two albums, The Redeemer and The Tower, are compact, high-voltage, furniture-throwing gems. With The Cypher, they emerge after a year of work as a one-minded beast. The songs blast off and burn, but carry a new depth and weight. Inside gusts of ferocious noise there are subtly sweet melodies that stick in your head; volume gets quiet, tempos charge, slow down, stutter, and implode. The sounds are of a deeper dimension, surprising glimpses of (what’s that?) and (huh wow!). It all creates a rich emotional dimension, which you feel even while the band is thrashing you around in its jaws like an alligator.”
