From artists going back to their early roots to a look at a seminal roots reggae album, Fresh Picks sprouts again so you can dig into new music today (insert, or should I say plant the joke? *takes one creative writing class*).
For albums: The Black Keys leave behind the big rock production on Peaches!, Kacey Musgraves is happy to be in Middle of Nowhere, and Mikaela Davis shows you what harp-heavy country sounds like on Graceland Way.
For songs: a posthumous release from Lee "Scratch" Perry with German duo Mouse on Mars in "To The Rescue," Minnesotan jeremy messersmith wonders what if we were all "Billionaires," Satya brings the velvet and honey on "Project 10," a jangling trip in "That's Where The Money Goes (Seen From The Celestial Realm)" from White Fence, and the "Tollbooth" operator is high but John R. Miller doesn't question why.
Check out this week's suggestions from Music Director Kari Hedlund, Asst. Music Director Malachy Koons and Volunteer Coordinator Dan Gannon.
Albums
Album of the Week: The Black Keys - Peaches!
For the duo’s 18th album, Peaches!, The Black Keys find their way back to the raw blues sound that first defined them.
Featuring reinterpretations of songs by artists like Junior Kimbrough, R.L. Burnside, and Wilko Johnson, the album reconnected the band with some of their deepest musical influences.
Recorded live with minimal overdubs, the sessions brought together Patrick Carney and Dan Auerbach alongside slide guitarist Kenny Brown, bassist Eric Deaton, and multi-instrumentalist Jimbo Mathus. Brown and Deaton both are deeply embedded in the blues genre, sharing long histories with Kimbrough and Burnside as players and mentors.
The album came out of informal sessions Carney started as a way to give Auerbach a creative refuge while his father was terminally ill. While The Black Keys have often leaned into a heavier rock sound with more production over the years, Peaches! ultimately brings the band back to where they began: with the blues. -KH
Kacey Musgraves - Middle of Nowhere
Using wry humor, personal perspective and classic country storytelling, it’s clear Musgraves has been on her own pathway back to the roots of her music origins with her seventh album, Middle of Nowhere.
While she has incredible powerhouse guests on the album like Gregory Alan Isakov, Billy Strings, Willie Nelson and Miranda Lambert, it’s Musgraves who is centerstage from start to finish. It’s pedal steel heaven on “Back on the Wagon” and “Rhinestoned,” kicked up cowboy boots on “Abilene” and “Uncertain, TX” and dreamy Americana on “Everybody Wants to be a Cowboy” and “Mexico Honey.” There are no misses on the album, all wins. -KH
Mikaela Davis - Graceland Way
I assume that most of you think of a beautifully plucked harp as integral to the country music genre as a red solo cup. No? Yeah, me neither. Well, you should check out this album by singer-songwriter Mikaela Davis, who is a classically trained harpist, yet imbues her songs with enough slide guitar and twang to make you wonder what exactly you are listening to. "Nothin's On the Radio" is a slow-burning roots rocker as Davis keeps her sound diversified and choogling right along. On the ballad "Wild Flower," she brings her harp to the forefront, and the calming sound creates space for her wonderful voice to soar. Graceland Way is a unique record by a unique artist. -DG
Singles
Lee "Scratch" Perry & Mouse on Mars - "To The Rescue"
The late Jamaican reggae and dub icon, Lee “Scratch” Perry’s musical work is not finished. From an upcoming album out Friday, June 5, with German electronic pioneers Mouse on Mars, this comes from a session recorded in Berlin during 2019. This is Perry’s last known musical project before he died in 2021.
Perry’s classic verbal callouts are over a subdued and surprisingly sparse beat from the electronic duo. A release about the song noted that Perry transformed the studio into a space of chants, singing and mumbling, with Mouse on Mars recording it all over the course of three days. The upcoming collaboration is sure to have lots of surprises along the way, in the way that Lee “Scratch” Perry did best. -KH
jeremy messersmith - "Billionaires"
With a groovy backbeat, sparse production and dreamy vocals, jeremy messersmith kicks off his new record Fox/Coyote by wondering aloud what if we were all billionaires? The Minnesota musician sings not of purchases or other monetary things but of love, sleeping in the woods and utopian desires. Catchy and engaging stuff! -DG
Satya - "Project 10"
"Project 10" is one of three sweet-as-honey singles from Oakland musician Satya's upcoming debut album, Yellow House. Produced by Colin Linden, it showcases the singer's velvety voice and laid-back style over a steady drum beat and swirling guitars. The album will explore her difficult upbringing and recovery from childhood trauma, and the singer's voice floats above the music in way that is almost dissociative. -MK
White Fence - "That's Where The Money Goes (Seen From The Celestial Realm)"
Jangly guitar pop is the latest from the Tim Presley project, with help from musician-producer Ty Segall. The Kinks, The Byrds and The Bangles are three references from the past that can give the listener a bit of guidance to the style and sound of White Fence. This song is an earworm for sure as it assuredly makes its way along a trail of "la la la la la's." -DG
John R. Miller - "Tollbooth"
Miller just announced a new album, The Great Unknowing, due out Friday, June 6, alongside this track, and the gruff-voiced country singer-songwriter's third single is the pick of the bunch. "Tollbooth" paints a vivid picture of forlorn landscapes full of turnpike plazas, cold fluorescents and overflowing toilets. Places where you should be paid to have to drive through, where the tollbooth operators are high and Miller doesn't question why. -MK
Pick From '76
Burning Spear - Man In The Hills
Up next in our Picks From '76 series is Man in the Hills from Burning Spear.
Following the groundbreaking and revolutionary Marcus Garvey from '75, the roots reggae vocalist once again teamed up with producer Jack Ruby and his all-star session band, The Black Disciples. But where the prior release had presented Garvey’s ideas of pan-Africanism and Black nationalism in a fervent and revolutionary sound, Man in the Hills is more subdued, quieter and contemplative, with a spacious mix that allowed plenty of room for Aston "Family Man" Barrett and Robbie Shakespeare's thick basslines, guitar licks from Earl “Chinna” Smith, and producer Ruby's trademark horns, unique in reggae at the time.
Despite the tonal shift, Burning Spear remained at the forefront of reggae’s socially-conscious and explicitly black roots genre, especially on songs like “No More War,” “Black Soul” and “People Get Ready.”
The album’s title is a nod to lead vocalist Winston Rodney's home of St. Ann in Jamaica, known for its hills and natural beauty, as well as a reference to the role of rural communities in both the spread of Rastafarianism and as a starting point for revolutionary movements on the island.
Tracks like "Children," "Mother," "Lion" and "Man In The Hills" are full of references to Rodney's family and childhood in the region.
While less acclaimed than Marcus Garvey, which had catapulted Burning Spear into reggae stardom, Man In The Hills is an equally rewarding listen from the vocalist's golden era, and one of the definitive albums of the roots reggae genre. -MK
