LISTEN: Wooden Wand - Wither Thou Goest

I'll Start Living

The Fly

The prolific James Toth reissues his super-limited CD-R (which came mounted on a block of woodn and was originally released in April) on slightly less limited (300 copies) vinyl via the Blackest Rainbow label. This might be thought of as a warm-up release for Wooden Wand's forthcoming Young God album ('Death Seat'), due in a few weeks' time. For all Toth's dalliances with bigger indie labels (e.g. career highs like Second Attention on KRS or James & The Quiet on Ecstatic Peace) he always seems ready to turn out a new batch of songs under far more lo-fi and unassuming circumstances, often resulting in some of Toth's most interesting writing. The outsider country and desiccated acoustics of this set reveal a selection of real gems and hopefully the bigger budget of that forthcoming Young God album won't detract from the bareness and openness of songwriting as featured here. Recommended.

(text via. bookmat)

(mp3s via RSTB)

Devendra Banhart

After reading a few mixed reviews, I finally got around to listening to Devendra's new album this past week. I pretty much love everything he's ever released and this album has slowly grown on me after 3/4 listens and it's a perfect album to chill too. I don't why people are going so overboard with all the "He's changed so much! Where's the old Devendra?!" He still sounds like Devendra, but has just grown into a more varied sound. Recent songs like Seahorse (off Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon) and Rats (off What Will Be Will Be) are as good as anything else he ever did. Give his new one a listen on Spotify and you won't be disappointed!