Lots of new joy to flag up this week: expansive live sets from Steve Gunn, Ryley Walker and their amazing bands; Rhiannon Giddens covering the Staples; the tremendously Funkadelic Childish Gambino album; Loscil reconfiguring in High Plains; the Willie Lane album, much raved about by guitar soli cognoscenti this past month, turning up on Bandcamp; the Horse Lords chopping and screwing Macca and the Dead; the return of Alasdair Roberts; another great Ethiopian find from Awesome Tapes; Natalie Prassā€™ Christmas song; and Joan Shelley covering Leonard Cohen, which feels like a necessary and beautiful thing to hear in December 2016: ā€œThrough the days of shame that are coming, through the nights of wild distress/Though your promise count for nothing, you must keep it nonetheless.ā€

Also, Scissor Tailā€™s amazing Bruce Langhorne tribute album has landed on Bandcamp: great cause, great primer involving many of the most interesting and exploratory guitar players out there at the moment ā€“ please check it out. The Leonard Cohen and Bootsy Collins version of ā€œ1999ā€, on the other hand, is not quite so strongly recommended. Approach with cautionā€¦

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1 William Basinski – A Shadow In Time (Temporary Residence)

2 Hurray For The Riff Raff ā€“ The Navigator (ATO)

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3 Laura Marling ā€“ Semper Femina (More Alarming/Kobalt)

4 Brokeback – Illinois River Valley Blues (Thrill Jockey)

5 Steve Gunn ā€“ Bell House, Brooklyn 09/12/16 (nyctaper.com)

6 Ā Rhiannon Giddens – Freedom Highway (Nonesuch)

7 Nikki Lane ā€“ Highway Queen (New West)

8 High Plains ā€“ Cinderland (Kranky)

9 Childish Gambino ā€“ Awaken My Love (Glassnote)

10 Frank Ocean ā€“ Blonde (Boys Donā€™t Cry)

11 Tim Darcy – Saturday Night (Jagjaguwar)

12 Brian Eno ā€“ Reflection (Warp)

13 Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band – Live At Union Pool, New York 03/12/2016 (nyctaper.com)

14 Willie Lane – A Pine Tree Shilling’s Worth Of Willie Lane (Bandcamp.com)

15 Horse Lords – T***kin’ – DJ P4UL & L0RD 1NF4M0U$ Feat B0B W3IR/Itā€™s Gonna Snow (Soundcloud)

 

 

16 Ryley Walker – Live At Copenhagen Jazzhouse 2016-12-06 (archive.org)

17 Cherry Glazerr ā€“ Apocalipstick (Secretly Canadian)

18 Black Flower ā€“ Artifacts (Sdban Ultra)

19 Eric Arn – Orphic Resonance (Feeding Tube)

20 Natalie Prass – Everybodyā€™s Having Fun (Itā€™s Christmas Time) (Spacebomb)

21 Various Artists ā€“ The Hired Hands: A Tribute To Bruce Langhorne (Scissor Tail/Bandcamp)

22 Alasdair Roberts – The Downward Road (Drag City)

23 Gary Byrd & The GB Experience ā€“ The Crown (Motown)

24 Wilson Pickett ā€“ Hey Jude/Right On (Edsel)

25 Joan Shelley ā€“ Heart With No Companion (Soundcloud)

26 Roha Band ā€” Instrumental Music (awesometapes.com)

27 Paul Shaffer And The Party Boys Of Rockā€™nā€™Roll ā€“ 1999 (Featuring Leonard Cohen And Bootsy Collins) (SBK)