Every Road Is A Good Road

LOCAL! Dark, dramatic Western folk with near-apocalyptic ambiance. By day Blaine works for the Berkeley experimental music nonprofit Other Minds, and that sense of experimentation carries over to this album, from the loose playing style to the unexpected uses of electronic textures and drones. If this music tells a story, it’s probably like Jim Jarmusch’s Dead Man, but with more sci-fi mindbending. In the words of Andrew Weathers, who released this, “He has a knack for writing songs that are carefree and terrifying at the same time.” RIYL Cormac McCarthy’s novels, 16 Horsepower/Wovenhand, Six Organs of Admittance, Mark Lanegan, Califone. Favorites: 2, 3, 7, 8. No FCCs.

1. (6:12)—Dark, droning, slow Western-noir. Long intro. Raspy vocals, Sparklehorse-like chorus, gnarly transistor radio guitar solo.
2. *(7:02)—Thick, bright drone. Feels like a rendition of an old country blues standard, but with thick bass and blasts of noise. Long drone finish with chimes. Quiet at -0:20.
3. *(3:50)—Psychedelic mid-tempo gallop. Woozy, half-awake feel. Fiddle, lots of vocal processing.
4. (3:48)—Slow. Slide guitar, clopping percussion, high keyboard drones, whispery singing.
5. (3:41)–Piano, drone, siren-like violin. Intense slow rhythmic build, very eerie.
6. (2:51)—Multiple layers of mid-tempo fingerpicking. Feels like a film theme. Auto-tune?
7. *(3:41)—Medium-fast fingerpicking and slide. Spacious, downcast, and gorgeous. The lyrics are taken from the poem Joe Hill left as his will!
8. *(10:00)—Grand, slow-building drone. Spoken word. Synth arpeggios. Epic.
9. (6:13)—Wind sounds, slow acoustic guitar strumming, handclaps. Kind of dubby. Singing and spoken word in the background.