BRENT COBB, SOUTHERN STAR

I have been a big fan of Brent Cobb's music since I first listened to his debut album, Shine On a Rainy Day in 2016. Over the past seven years, Cobb has continued to grace us with albums and songs that celebrate and spotlight his southern roots and the rich musical heritage of the south. Given all this, one would think that the naming of his latest album, Southern Star, is a kind of omage to those things that have been a guiding light for him and his music. They are in a way. But Southern Star is an actual place. 

Southern Star is a small,'seedy' little bar, as Cobb describes it, about 45 minutes outside of Nashville. It is here where Cobb would hang out with guitarist and mentor 'Rowdy', Jason Cope. Cope passed a way a few years ago, but he is always with Cobb. In an interview, Cobb said about his friend, "I often thought about my buddy as someone who sort of behind the scenes had a lot of influence on a lot of people, but they may not even be aware of it. He never got to be a superstar, but if nothing else he was a Southern star.....I miss him everyday." 

Southern Star is a kind of love letter to Cobb's home state of George which from the outside looking in might be a bit eye-brow raising given much of the state's history. But Cobb has a response to those raises. "Where I’m from, every school I went to, we’re all mixed in together down here. We’re living and praying and learning and working all together. It’s easy to be on the outside and look in, and go, ‘Man, the South, what a terrible place.’ And there are some terrible things that still happen to this day, and historically that are terrible, but for the most part we’re all living and working and eating and breathing together. You don’t hear about that side of the South so much. But I think that’s why the music from here is so influencing and so profound – it isn’t just one way. And you got people that obviously have had to struggle and people who still struggle to this day, but that’s where the good shit comes from. That’s where the great art comes from, for better or worse.

Cobb is a wonderful artist makes wonderful art and Southern Star is a wonderful addition to his ever growing and celebrated body of work. 

STEVEN WILSON, THE HARMONY CODEX

What can one say or write about Steven Wilson that has not been said or written about already? Guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist, composer, audio engineer, producer, Wilson is and has been one of the most prolific and influential musicians of his generation. With a scope and body of work spanning thirty years, his journey and career is really unparalleled. 

For many, Wilson's band Porcupine Tree has been the entry point to all things Wilson. From there, it was on to his other bands, collaborations, and solo projects. Each one occupying a unique musical space with its own sound and point of view. There is just so much to list and share here that I'm not even going to start. What I am going to do is jump to Wilson's new solo album,The Harmony Codex.

In Wilson's recently published autobiography, he includes a short story called...The Harmony Codex. It's a self-described piece of dystopian sci fi. Dystopian in the sense that it’s a science fiction story, but it takes place in a world that Wilson says is just about recognizable as our own yet it's very surreal. Like a lot of dystopian sci fi, Wilson says, its metaphor for the world we live in today. And in this case, the central metaphor is the never-ending staircase.

Wilson points to a direct relationship between his short story and his new album that shares the same name. While there are some songs that Wilson has drawn on from the story's characters and situations, there are others that are more 'obliquely related to the subject matter' in the sense that they relate to this idea of “it’s about the journey, it’s not about the destination.” But where does one start such a journey muscially speaking?

In an interview Wilson said that when he started writing this record he had nothing. No agenda. He just sat down and started making music for the sake and for the pleasure of experimenting with sound, and experimenting with songs in the context of experimental sound. That experimentation has augmented Wilson's musical DNA. While certainly still familiar to past albums and works, there is something different going on here. Spatially and sonically this is a newly formed space and soundscape and its next level. I could go on, but I will stop here as this is not a never-ending blog post. 

The Harmony Codex truly is about the journey and it's a journey that we should all be taking in its entirety...all at once. So my suggest is that you put on your headphones, sit back, and let yourself experience this remarkable album. You will be rewarded for it. 

WOODS, PERENNIAL

Are you a Woodsist? If you are not, you should be. For almost twenty years, Jeremy Early and Jarvis Taveniere have been making their own brand of psychedelic folk-rock that never ceases to surprise or put you into a state of relaxation. On their twelfth studio album, Perennial, nothing in this regard has changed, although their approach to songwriting has. The band has said that this album grew from a bed of guitar/keyboard/drum loops by Earl which was a form of winter night meditation. It eventually evolved into an unexplored mode of collaborative songwriting with the others in the band. With tape rolling, they began to build, jamming over the loops, switching instruments, and developing a few dozen building blocks that became their album. This new approach brings a freshness, looseness, and groove to their music that is hard to resist. Am I a Woodsist? I am indeed.

ON ROTATION

Lots of great music. Not enough time to write about it all...but here's what's on rotation for me right now. 

The Loving Paupers, Ladder

Cleo Sol, Heaven 

ON ROTATION

Lots of great music. Not enough time to write about it all...but here's what's on rotation for me right now. 

Night Flight, Songs From Echo Zoo 

Islands, And That's Why Dolphins Lost Their Legs 

This Day In History, Years Of Wear & Tear 

THE MOMMYHEADS, CONEY ISLAND KID

Every few years I 'discover' a band that seems to have been around for decades and I'm left scratching my head wondering how I'd never heard of them or heard their music. Such is the case with The Mommyheads. Reading reviews of the band's many albums, the common theme is that this is a band that has been getting better and better with time and age. I can't yet speak to that since I haven't listened to their back catalog of 14 albums that span 34 years going back to 1989. What I can say is that their 15th album, Coney Island Kid, is absolutely fantastic. 

Fusing pop, prog, indie and psychedelic rock, into a swirling kaleidoscope of curious and slightly idiosyncratic music, The Mommheads have similar underpinnings to XTC and Motorpycho (especially 2020's The All Is One). I was drawn into Coney Island Kid right from the ambient synth opening of title track which uses Coney Island as a backdrop to convey 'themes of desperation and soul-searching'. Honestly, it's been a minute since I was this intrigued with a band or album.