Hiss Golden Messenger’s Quietly Blowing It was written and arranged by M.C. Taylor in his home studio—his 8’ × 10’ sanctuary packed floor to ceiling with books, records, and old guitars—as he watched the chaotic world spin outside his window. Between March and June 2020, Taylor wrote and recorded upwards of two dozen songs—in most cases playing all of the instruments himself—before winnowing the collection down and bringing them to the Hiss band. In July, the group of musicians, with Taylor in the production seat, went into Overdub Lane in Durham, NC, for a week, where they recorded Quietly Blowing It as an organic unit honed to a fine edge from their years together on the road.

Today, five previously unreleased demos and outtakes from the album are available as part of a digital EP called Blue 50 (Demos & Outtakes). These songs will also be included on Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 2: The Reprise Years (1968-1971), a compilation coming out in October that will document the period leading up to Blue. Blue 50 (Demos & Outtakes) includes early demos of “A Case Of You” and “California,” an alternate version of “River” that features French horns, an early take of “Urge For Going,” a song that was intended for Blue but didn’t see a proper release until a 1996 greatest hits compilation, and a studio recording of “Hunter,” which Mitchell played live but never officially put out.

Lillebjørn Nilsen and Andy Irvine had known each other for about 17 years when they met at the Telemark Festival back in 1994, what they both had dreamt about became a reality. Their collaboration resulted in an exhilarating concert. The live recording is finally released as an album in June 2021.

Peter and I started playing music together in grade school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in a blues trio called Soup, and by 1978 we found ourselves in New York playing in a new band, called the dB’s. After two records together, Stands For deciBels and Repercussion, we went our separate ways for a while—Peter continuing on with the dB’s, then playing keys and guitars on tours with R.E.M., and myself off to make some solo records and produce other artists.

“Nothing ever really disappears,” Cassandra Jenkins says. “It just changes shape.” Over the past few years, she’s seen relationships altered, travelled three continents, wandered through museums and parks, and recorded free-associative guided tours of her New York haunts. Her observations capture the humanity and nature around her, as well as thought patterns, memories, and attempts to be present while dealing with pain and loss. With a singular voice, Jenkins siphons these ideas into the ambient folk of her new album.

"I first heard Lady In Satin in a mega-shopping mall somewhere in San Francisco. I was about 20 years old and didn't know much about Billie's records or her life or how her voice changed over the years. Anyway, the sound was coming from the other side of the mall and I remember mistaking her voice for a beautiful perfectly distorted electric guitar - some other-world thing floating there on this strange mournful ocean of strings and I was hooked for life. Ten years later in 2006 I recorded an electric guitar instrumental version of "I'm A Fool To Want You" for my album Post-War."

Art is often informed by the life experiences of the artist, and what happens to them can impact their work in any number of ways. In November 2018, the singer and songwriter Joe Henry was diagnosed with prostate cancer, and as he wrestled with the prospect of mortality and the physically and emotionally taxing process of treatment, he practiced his own form of self-care – he wrote songs, a bunch of them, and then set about recording them at the home studio of a friend and collaborator, recording engineer S. Husky Höskulds. The product of these sessions, 2019's The Gospel According to Water, in many respects sounds like an ordinary Joe Henry album, with his rich voice and smartly crafted lyrics front and center, but the feel is decidedly different.

Lindemann, the now-defunct Rammstein side project named for frontman Till Lindemann and featuring multi-instrumentalist and producer Peter Tägtgren, are bringing their upcoming Live In Moscow film to the cinema.
Live In Moscow was shot on March 20 last year at Moscow’s VTB Arena, and is described by the distributors as "the great party before the global shutdown." The film will be shown in cinemas in the UK, USA, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Australia on March 20, with ongoing screenings taking place in Germany and Austria over the summer. Venue details are available by registering at lindemann.film.

Mary Chapin Carpenter - One Night Lonely (2021) {2CD Set, Lambent Light Records LLR004 rec 2020}
XLD rip (secure mode) | FLAC (tracks)+CUE+LOG -> 662 Mb | MP3 @320 -> 293 Mb | Cover | 5% repair rar
© 2021 Lambent Light Records | LLR004
Contemporary Singer-Songwriter / Country / Country-Folk / Contemporary Country

One Night Lonely: a rare solo performance from Mary Chapin Carpenter, recorded with no audience at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap, in Vienna, VA. Of the performance, Carpenter shared, “Strange yet magical, those are my words to describe this feeling of being alone on this hometown stage at Wolf Trap. I am struck by the stillness of the empty seats and the lonely echo of all this space. While I miss seeing the audience and feeling that connection, I am grateful for the opportunity to play a solo show, which I haven’t done for a very long time.

Leonard Cohen seems singularly determined to document his adventures in live performances which began when he returned to the concert stage in 2008, and Live in Dublin is the third live album Cohen has released in just five years. Given how satisfying 2009's Live in London was, one might reasonably wonder how badly one would need another concert souvenir, especially in such a short period of time, but comparing Live in Dublin with Live in London and 2010's Songs from the Road, one can readily see how Cohen's live show has seasoned since he returned to duty…