James McMurtry

More storytelling from James McMurtry. A 2025 release. The illustration on the front cover was done in the 1960's by author, Ken Kesey while visiting James McMurtry's father, Larry. 

Singer/songwriter that I've followed since the early 1990's enjoying the stories I've heard along the way. All his recordings have been consistently great. 

I.G.Y. Playlist

Gotta be one of my all-time favorites. Wherever I am, I hear those notes and I never walk away until it's finished playing. I especially love the point where he croons: "Oooohhh Wahhhhh" ....

Since covid it's been my habit to get in and out of stores as quickly as possible. But this song comes over the store audio system, and I want to stay a while. 

I also associate it with a time long ago ..... a Sunday morning, lying in bed and it came on the radio. It's funny how you have these odd little moments .... you don't recall 99.9999-plus per cent of the individual minutes of your life but then you have two or three nondescript minutes that stand out clearly. Moments that have no real importance other that you remember and can visualize exactly where you were and what you heard at 7:22am on this random Sunday in 1982.

Making this into a mostly 80's playlist .....

• Steve Winwood - Arc of a Diver .... Another favorite to hear over the store audio system. 
• Tears For Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule the World .... I'm usually a pretty courteous driver when it comes to playing the radio too loud, but this song comes on and the volume's way up and I'm the only person on the road or in the world. When this song came out, it was the worst of times for me. When I hear it these days, I think I try to make up for the pleasure and joy that I couldn't feel back then. 
• General Public - Never You Done That
• Big Country - Restless Natives
• Jolene - Pensacola

• Bourgeois Tagg - I Don't Mind At All .... I love the obvious Beatles influence and inspiration.
• Peter Gabriel - Games Without Frontiers
• Peter Himmelman - Eleventh Confession ..... 'I needed to tell you I needed surrender. I never was good at playing pretender."
• Warren Zevon - Searching For a Heart .... Just inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. About damn time!! I love the line in this song: "They tell me love requires a little standing in line."

Rituals

Now playing on the turntable: New album titled 'Rituals' from Watchhouse, Americana group formerly known as Mandolin Orange. More great songs about life!! Maybe my favorite non-jazz related release of 2025. One of those records where you think you've decided on a favorite song ..... but then you hear what's next and have to reconsider all that you thought you knew.

The dominant themes in my world these days is that of growing older, looking back on life and loving someone far away. Whether intended or not when the songs were written, I hear much in the lyrics and the feel of the music that creates connections to my daily issues and life questions.

The songs often lead to reflection and are personally haunting in how old memories are revisited.

In the song, 'Endless Highway Pt. 2' there's a couple minutes of fiddle playing that transported me back fifty years .... so eerily similar to the fiddle of the late, great David Lindley on Jackson Browne albums. 

Tonight's Playlist

What I'm listening to tonight. A Sunday evening playlist if I must call it something. Roots stuff for me ....

• Josh White - What's Done is Done ..... A Portland, Oregon pastor. I've always thought that the majority of gospel/worship music was inane and poorly written. He changes that long help notion for me. Gives the word with intelligence.
• Todd Snider - Like a Force of Nature / While We Still Have a Chance
• The Youngbloods - Quicksand ..... Late 1960's. Feels like a song that should be played while the credits roll of a movie with a bittersweet ending.
• Joe Pug - Hymn #35 ..... How many more great singer/songwriters are out there awaiting their sound to be discovered by chance one day by an individual like myself?
• Waxahatchee - Right Back to It
• Watchhouse - House of Stone ..... Duo formerly known as Mandolin Orange.
• Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - If We Were Vampires .... For the past decade, I believe the greatest songwriter out there in this moment.
• Joe Pug - Unsophisticated Heart
• The Bats - Electric Sea View ..... A new album coming soon. 
• Richard Buckner - Beautiful Question ..... Been a fan for 15-20 years now. This is from a 4-song live recording I just found on Bandcamp. Where I find a great amount of new music these days.

Ancient Infinity Orchestra

'River of Light' from Ancient Infinity Orchestra on Gondwana Records, where a lot of great jazz from England is found. Released in 2023.

A 14-member ensemble. This is spiritual jazz and often has moments bringing to mind, John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders.

Discovered on vinyl.

Several great jazz or experimental orchestras out there and I love the creativity in their names .... Ancient Infinity Orchestra, Exploding Star Orchestra, Fire Orchestra, Ghost Funk Orchestra .... to name a few. 
 

Destination X

'Destination X' by Dead Moon. A 2022 mono reissue on Mississippi Records. I've seen their sound described as garage rock and punk. Well, it's certainly not punk. Originally released in 1999. 

Just discovered their music. Bought a couple records with the thought in mind that if I liked what I heard, I would dig deeper. I'll be digging deeper. Bonus points given for being an Oregon band. They recorded ten studio albums in their time. 

A trio .... two of their members passed away shortly after disbanding in 2016.

A little surprised that I never heard of them ..... that I can recall that is. 1990's? ....I still used to get out and about a little back then. And I used to peruse all the local small alternative press newspapers back then where they would review such things.

Record Collecting Notes, Autumn 2025

I once thought that I outgrew my John Fahey / Leo Kottke / American Primitive Guitar period several years ago .... But I apparently was wrong. Been discovering of late, all kinds of (new to me) musicians and recordings that I'm finding great enjoyment in, and appreciation for. 

Bandcamp is the greatest (online) record store for discovery of little known and obscure recordings, greatly enhancing my collection. 

The things one finds on small independent record labels are generally far more interesting than what's found on the major labels. Both musically and in the presentation of the package, where you often find some fascinating artwork and bonus materials like inserts, stickers, postcards, etc..

Some odd or different choices? Well maybe. But over the past year or two, I've become drawn in more by combinations of sounds and tones than standard musical melodies. It all started with listening to late night jazz radio which led to the search for different directions in jazz and has morphed and extended into other varied and undefined places .... including drone.

Someone once laughed at me when I mentioned listening to the radio in these times .... like it was so unhip and out of style. But to me it's exciting because you never know what's next. You're always potentially seconds away from a new find, something never heard before.

Is there such a thing as the perfectly flat vinyl LP? I always seem to see a 'flaw.' Usually not affecting the playback but it still bothers me. 

I see all these youtubers showing off their vinyl finds and collections and my immediate reaction is jealousy. I tend to think that everyone has a cooler collection than I and why do I never come across these things? But then I sit back and realize that I've put together a collection that I'm proud of .... and occasionally wonder, is this kind of pride a sin?

Deep Sleep in Seattle

'Deep Sleep' by Sleeping Bag. Indie Rock from 2014. A Seattle band. Came across the vinyl record at a great price in 2020 as my local record store was attempting to liquidate much of their inventory when closing down their store due to the owners opting for retirement during covid and opening up a space in an antique mall and keeping their longtime local shop alive.

The record had a limited printing of 500 copies. I have number 334. Always a bonus to discover great music from my home, the great Pacific Northwest.

Abbey Road

Saw a record store new arrivals flip video where the vinyl was pulled from the sleeve.

I'm not a huge fan of color vinyl. I mean, it's ok occasionally and some variants and designs actually wow me.

But The Beatles on color vinyl .... well that feels like a sin of unparalleled gravity.

Maybe it should be an amendment to the ten commandments.

          11. Thou shall not put The Beatles on color vinyl.

 

With that visual bouncing around in my mind and the fact that it's been many years since I've listened to this record, I pulled out 'Abbey Road' this morning ... on black vinyl and also the remastered compact disc, The Beatles on cd concept seems mildly acceptable to me. 

There were flashbacks to long gone days of youth and the hours spent listening to my vinyl mentors record collection.

Confessing

'The Confessional Tapes' by Aidan Baker. On vinyl from 2015. Ambient, electronic, experimental sounds.

Perfectly placed buzz, fuzz, clicks, ticks, pops and drone amidst sparse piano and vocals slightly above whispers. Sounds like perfection when listened to with the volume turned up at 1:00am and in a dimly lit room. Maybe appreciation takes hearing it while in a certain mood or frame-of-mind, while needing sleep and at a specific time of the late evening with particular atmospheric conditions, but I rate it a 10/10. These are the sounds that I've been transitioning to in my senior years.

Enjoyed it enough that I have two additional Aidan Baker recordings ordered and arriving soon. 

This Week

A Monday (May 26th) evening playlist .....

• The Bats - Electric Sea View / I Go Wild
• Phil Cook - Miles Away ..... Had been seeing him in videos playing with Hiss Golden Messenger and he always looks like he's getting so much enjoyment from what he's playing. Then discovered that he has his own albums.
• Warren Zevon - Desperadoes Under the Eaves
• Sarah Jarosz - Jealous Moon
• The Jayhawks - This Forgotten Town / Society Pages
• Son Volt - Bandages and Scars

And a few more from a few days later. Not sure if it qualifies as a playlist but it's a list of songs that I took time to listen to ......

• The Church - Under the Milky Way / Metropolis
• Donald Fagan - I.G.Y. ..... Heard in the store while grocery shopping and having to hear it again, played it while at work.
• Van Morrison - Wavelength ..... I didn't really become a Van fan until I heard this. I think, (though I may be in error), that it was on SNL all those years ago.
• Poco - I Can See Everything
• Terence Boylan - Trains
• Counting Crows - Children In Bloom / Walkaways
• Matthew Ryan - Return to Me
• Richard Buckner - Progress ..... A demo from his 'Extractions' email. Not sure if it's on any of his records.

These Wilder Things

 

'These Wilder Things' by Ruth Moody. From 2013 on the Red House Records label. Americana and Appalachia sounds. Even a little Newgrass. Mark Knopfler plays guitar on one tune. And there's a beautiful cover of Bruce Springsteen's, 'Dancing In the Dark'. Other than that, it's all Ruth Moody originals. The highlight being her song, 'One Light Shining'.