Saturday, July 06, 2013

Weekend Roundup.

Instead of the usual pair of featured albums, today we'll look at 5 discs in quick-hitting fashion:

Happy Ashtray-Seventy Miles. This Chicago band features a melodic, lo-fi style in the vein of Guided by Voices but with a slight touch of Americana and heartland rock. The title track and "I Don't Know What Her Mind is Made Of" also recall Being There-era Wilco.

CD Baby | iTunes



Readymade Breakup-Classic Single. Here's the latest EP from the New Jersey band we've featured here before. If you enjoyed their previous releases, you'll want this 4-track rocking EP. "Convince Me" is the top track here, sounding like it could have been a big hit in the 80s.

Bandcamp

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Ballard-Bucky. Ballard (real name: Darren Riley) is a singer-songwriter from Bolton, England who's been quite prolific of late, releasing several EPs and singles of his fine 60s-style lo-fi guitar pop, and Bucky is the full-length culmination of these releases. There's a Ray Davies/Kinks feel to Ballard's tunes, complete with character sketches and a song about Buckminster Fuller. Good stuff.

Bandcamp



Dan Miraldi-The Freewheelin' Dan Miraldi. The album title and the cover are an obvious homage to the Bob Dylan classic, and here Miraldi goes Dylan-in-reverse by trading in his electric guitar for an acoustic one. Despite the acoustic shift, he retains the rock-and-roll arrangements on these tracks so they still have a bite to them. There are two new tracks here, with 4 acoustic versions of his previous tunes, including my personal favorite "The Holy Roller Stone Revival". A must if you liked his previous releases.

CD Baby | iTunes



David Ellis-The Boy Who Cried Wolf. This UK singer-songwriter has crafted an enjoyable and melodic collection of 10 tracks that recall Elliott Smith at times. Top tracks here are "Smoke", "Down" and the true standout, "Wake Up Smiling", which recalls XO-era Smith.

CD Baby | iTunes



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