We’ve encountered J. Robbins before, with Jawbox and Office of Future Plans. Channels is yet another of his post-Jawbox projects, and occupies a very similar space. What all of his bands, from Jawbox on, share is a similar focus on the same fundamentals: tightly wound songs, melodic choruses, fantastic drumming, and a certain essential artiness. Personally, I love it, and a new album from him is always a treat.
[Read More]I think we’re on a streak here, with another strong collection of songs for this entry. Take a listen and see if you agree.
This is from Crazy: The Demo Sessions, a compilation of very early demos of Nelson performing a bunch of his songs, some of which ended up becoming very famous. “Crazy” as recorded by Patsy Cline, for instance. The songs on this album are all pretty spare arrangements, mostly just Nelson and his guitar. I’m far from a Nelson expert, so I have no real pointers on where to go with his discography, but this album is very good. Makes for a disorienting duet when you have two copies of the song going at once, though.
[Read More]