Saturday, August 9: Listen for selections from Close To the Edge, the 1972 album from British progressive rock band Yes. The album was the final to feature founding drummer Bill Bruford and is one of the group’s best-regarded releases. Plus selections from Dogs In The Daylight, the upcoming release from Portland, Oregon-based singer-songwriter Jeffrey Martin. Martin draws influence from songwriters such as Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, and Neil Young.
Monday, August 11: They Want My Soul is the eighth full-length album from the band Spoon and the group’s first since 2010. This new album finds the group returning to a familiar sound, though updating it with plenty of unexpected twists and turns. We’ll hear from this recording and from No Coast, the latest release from Braid.
Tuesday, August 12: Known as “Canada’s sweetheart,” singer-songwriter Jill Barber bridges a wide variety of influences that include classic jazz, Motown, and more. She’s just released the album Fools Gold. We’ll hear from that on this episode of Strange Currency as well as music from Time Is Over One Day Old, the new release by Bear In Heaven.
Wednesday, August 13: Sand and Silence is the latest release from the band The Rosebuds. The record ends a two-year hiatus from the bi-coastal band and sees the group collaborating with Justin Vernon of the musical project Bon Iver. We’ll also hear selections from Monster Movie, the latest recording from the Kansas City, Mo. group The Rainmakers. After recording a more acoustic-driven album a few years ago called 25 On the legendary group returns with a rough-edged set of rock songs that replicate the band’s live shows.
Thursday, August 14: Fantastic Guitars is the first-ever collaboration between Reeves Gabrels, guitarist for The Cure, and Bill Nelson (Be-Bop Deluxe). The guitarists have delivered a record that is strong on melody and great playing and serves as a conversation between two masters of the instrument. We’ll also hear Gabrels as a member of the band Tin Machine and from Nelson’s Be-Bop Deluxe.
Friday, August 15: Mozart’s Sister is the solo project by Montreal’s Caila Thompson-Hannant. According to one writer, “By marrying the accessible with the decidedly off-kilter, she displays a similar vigor and charisma to female contemporaries Grimes and tUnE-yArDs, both of whom too learned their trade among the same fertile hometown scene as her.” We’ll hear selections from her new release, Being, plus songs from Upright Behavior, the recent album from the group Landlady.
Saturday, August 16: In 1999 guitarist Ry Cooder teamed with trumpeter Jon Hassell for the album Fascinoma. The record marked the first time that Hassell had recorded compositions from outside writers and was a unique blending of Eastern and Western musical styles. We’ll hear from that recording as well as from Wonderland, the 1983 album from August featured artist Nils Lofgren.
