County Tracks

The Best Vermont Albums of 2021

Dec 232021

20. Narrow Shoulders – Now Be Here

<a href="https://narrows-houlders.bandcamp.com/album/now-be-here">Now Be Here by Narrow Shoulders</a>Spare and haunting, the debut release from Narrow Shoulders’ Zach Pollakoff does a lot with a little. Ambient noise, synth tones, the occasional pluck of guitar string, or a simple drum beat get layered just so to create an immersive instrumental world. The fact that Pollakoff works for A-list pop producer Ariel Rechtshaid (Haim, Vampire Weekend, etc) in his day job is no surprise. Though the genres couldn’t be more different, Pollakoff clearly knows to to construct a soundscape.

19. Jack O’ the Clock – Leaving California

<a href="https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/leaving-california">Leaving California by Jack O’ the Clock</a>
The only progressive rock I have much use for is Jethro Tull and Jack O’ the Clock’s new record scratches that folksy itch nicely (the band name even evokes a Tull song). No, there’s no flute solos, but a whole host of other instruments make appearances, from violin to harp to sudden bursts of choir – and that’s just in one track! Then the next song opens with a clarinet solo. It’s not a flute, but close enough. Continue reading »

The Best Vermont Songs of 2021

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Dec 222021

25. Jade Relics – With You

My main gig is covering cover songs, so I appreciate a song that shouts out “Nina Simone covering Bee Gees” (that’s the 11th Best Bee Gees Cover Ever, in case you were wondering). A new production trio from three veterans of Vermont’s hip-hop scene – Elder Orange, IAME, Rico James – “With You” brings some freak-funk vibes, like some old Stevie Wonder sample. Maybe someone will cover this soon. Continue reading »

The Best Vermont EPs of 2021

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Dec 202021

10. Lavenderlux – Nest Inertia

<a href="https://lavenderlux.bandcamp.com/album/nest-inertia">Nest Inertia by Lavenderlux</a>
A remote collaboration between Vermont singer Amelia Wilcox and Washington musician Joseph Human, Lavenderlux arrives fully formed on their debut EP Nest Inertia. “Itching” touches on depression and boredom with phase-shifting guitars and Wilcox’s buttery vocals, while “Hold Out” features chiming instrumentation and a catchy slow-burn melody. Continue reading »

The Best New Songs of October

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Oct 292021

Abby Sherman – The Weight

<a href="https://abbyshermanband.bandcamp.com/track/the-weight">The Weight by Abby Sherman</a>
Take a load off, Abby… Wait, wrong “Weight,” sorry. This “The Weight” is an original song by Vermont singer-songwriter Abby Sherman, a heartfelt acoustic ballad with nary an appearance from Miss Moses or Crazy Chester. Sherman’s been dropping another killer single every few months for a while now, presumably (hopefully!) leading up to another record. Continue reading »

The Best New Songs of August-September

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Sep 302021

Alice Damon – Treetop Winds

<a href="https://alicedamon.bandcamp.com/album/windsong">Windsong by Alice Damon</a>
In 2013, revered reissue label Light in the Attic dug up an obscure artist named Alice Damon for their compilation I Am The Center: Private Issue New Age In America 1950-1990. They drew the track “Waterfall Winds” from an album she’d recorded in the early ’80s in northern Vermont and, apparently, never released. She died several years ago, but her album, Windsong, is finally getting its four-decades-delayed release next month. The breathy, wordless vocals sound like Juliana Barwick long before her time. Continue reading »

What Does a Trumpet Sound Like Underwater?

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Sep 282021

One of my favorite albums of 2019 was titled I Am A Mountain. Despite it being an entirely instrumental album, Tom Pearo’s ambient guitar-driven odyssey came with a rich storyline, a mythical quest of light and darkness. Pearo’s first release since that Tolkien-esque epic is a three-and-a-half-minute single, “Love Wave.” Despite its more modest size, though, “Love Wave” is no less ambitious; he went from from a Mountain high above sea level to recording literally underwater. Continue reading »

The Best New Songs of July

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Jul 302021

Abby Sherman – I’ll Be There

<a href="https://abbyshermanband.bandcamp.com/track/ill-be-there">I’ll Be There by Abby Sherman</a>
Abby Sherman’s “I’ll Be There” is not a Jackson 5 cover, but the sentiment is much the same. It rocks a lot harder though, with some punchy swagger in the instrumentation and a killer guitar solo. The sound underpins Sherman’s bluesy belt in the Susan Tedeschi vein, which she really unleashes near the end. [Update: I must be prescient – a few days after I drafted this blurb, Susan actually sat in with Abby on this exact song!]

Adam Rabin – Maiden Voyage of the Acrolite

<a href="https://mailbox.bandcamp.com/album/the-ones-you-chose">The Ones You Chose by Adam Rabin</a>
The slide guitar on “Maiden Voyage of the Acrolite” at first sounds like early Fleetwood Mac, but over the course of the two minutes the song morphs entirely, to a electro-prog-funk mash. It’s weird, but all those genres packed into such a small package works far better than you’d expect. Continue reading »

The Best New Songs of June

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Jun 302021

Bull’s Head – When He Speaks

<a href="https://bullshead.bandcamp.com/album/when-he-speaks-first-things-2">When He Speaks/First Things by Bull’s Head</a>
No idea what the opening verse means, but I dig this creepy David Lynch energy: “When he speaks it’s all poetry / And he claims that his words are free / But under the table he’s / Got a gut and it’s full of bees” Continue reading »

Remi Russin Explores Mental Health Through Dream Pop

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Jun 112021

“Keep it opaque,” goes the refrain of Remi Russin’s new single “Most People Kill Plants,” and, for the most part, Russin does. But there’s a deep backstory behind the song, beginning with the couplet: “I gave notice / I did my mourning on the front end.“ That notice-giving is literal. Russin works in social services and, a while back, they quit their job. But the process grew drawn out and…well, I’ll let Russin tell it. You’ll see where the “mourning on the front end” bit comes in too. Continue reading »

The Best New Songs of May

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Jun 012021

Babehoven – Bad Week

<a href="https://babehoven.bandcamp.com/album/nastavi-calliope">Nastavi, Calliope by BABEHOVEN</a>
No, indie-pop duo Babehoven “Bad Week” isn’t a play on R.E.M.’s “Bad Day.” “Bad Week” is a moving electro-shoegaze dirge about fighting through depression. As singer Maya Bon sings, “It’s hard to talk about it being a bad week / When it’s been a bad week / For so many weeks now.” She elaborated: Continue reading »

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