Sunday Spins:

Happy Mother's Day to me, since I can't call mom anymore.  I did nothing but play music and eat! My apartment is a mess, but who cares. The cat box is overflowing, ignorable since I don't use it. Sunday mornings are made for big breakfasts (French toast, fried potatoes, coffee with half a bottle of caramel International Delight), and of course Ray LaMontagne.


Both single disc 180 gram re-issues come with heavy printed inner sleeves. Both sound incredible. My only wish would be for gatefold jackets printed with the sleeve art, and audiophile quality inner sleeves.
Some Reviews:
Popmatters: Trouble
BBC: Trouble
StylusMagazine: 'Til The Sun Turns Black
AllMusic: 'Til The Sun Turns Black


Though never as sweet, nor as low, this Record Store Day purchase follows LaMontagne perfectly as the afternoon sun starts warming the place up: James Jackson Toth - Waiting In Vain.

I never heard of him before, but bought it because of the description on the sticker, and because the cover looks like a photo of, and by, a long-time online acquaintance/cutie named Mike.

The music more than lives up to the sticker: "Toth's scenarios are intriguingly tawdry with dreamlike harmonies and touches of blues, country, soul and punk swagger."

A beautiful glossy gatefold holds a double 180g disc set, and CD of 3 bonus tracks: acoustic Poison Oak, Currency Of Grievance, and Angel Face. a 3rd non-album track- Natural You- is available on the iTunes. A download card advertises year-long downloads from label Rykodisc- but for their 2008 25th anniversary. (I haven't checked the site to see if anything is still available)

James Jackson Toth @ CrawDaddy

And because I so love their recent Hazards of Love album, I picked up The Decemberists' 2006 album The Crane Wife. A pick-and-chose cuts record that at times mirrors the quality of Hazards, but lacks the overall haunt and beauty, though perhaps only because that's what I expected.

Review on pitchfork here.

RayLaMontagne.com

JamesJacksonToth.com

TheDecemberists.com