This week’s installment of the Lagniappe Sessions catches up with Welsh singer-songwriter Huw Evans who, under the guise of H. Hawkline, has released five records over the past thirteen years. Evans most recent effort, the excellent Cate Le Bon produced LP, Milk For Flowers, dropped earlier this year and the following session acts as a sort of companion set. Expect: unexpected covers of covers, hi-fi nods to Cleaners From Venus, and the majesty of Yoko Ono.
Category: Lagniappe Sessions
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Prairiewolf
Listen and you’ll hear it…the howl of the Prairiewolf. On their self-titled debut, guitarist Stefan Beck (Golden Brown), keyboardist and synthesist Jeremy Erwin (The Heat Warps), and bassist Tyler Wilcox (who Aquarium Drunkard and Doom and Gloom from the Tomb readers know well) explore kosmische drifts, nocturnal guitar tangles, and expressively jazzy passages. For their first-ever Lagniappe Session, they dive into selections by Yo La Tengo, Melvin Jackson and Eddie Harris.
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Hollow Hand + Aoife Nessa Frances
Returning with another Lagniappe Session, Irish singer-songwriter Aoife Nessa Frances and Hollow Hand’s Max Kinghorn-Mills collaborate today on the following pair of inspired covers, recorded with Aoife’s long time collaborator Brendan Jenkinson. First up, the majesty that is the Elvis Costello penned “Shipbuilding”, via Robert Wyatt’s 1982 single, followed by a spirited rendering of the 1992 Yo La Tengo gem, “Always Something”.
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Spencer Cullum’s Coin Collection | Second Session
Backed by a murderer’s row of local Nashville talent (Erin Rae, Rich Ruth, Sean Thompson, Adam Bednarik and Dominic Billett), Spencer Cullum returns to AD fold with the following encore Lagniappe Session. Not unlike his 2021 entry, the set of covers riffs on various portions of Cullum’s musical diet, from the ’70s avant pop of Slapp Happy to the ineffable magic that was Soft Machine’s second full-length.
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Emergency Group
Brooklyn’s Emergency Group emerged earlier in 2023 with Inspection of Cruelty, a radical cassette on Island House Recordings. Blending electric Miles adventurism with kraut-y psychedelia, it was an auspicious debut — and its two extended tracks left you hungry for more. Fortunately, the quintet is already in the planning stages for a second LP, this one in collaboration with Psychic Temple / Big Ego mastermind Chris Schlarb. While we wait for the fruits of those sessions, dig Emergency Group’s first Lagniappe Session — it’s a doozy.
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Sean Thompson’s Weird Ears
Embrace the choogle. As far as summer jammers go, Sean Thompson’s ‘Weird Ears’ LP from last August continues to pay dividends as it slides from country to cosmic in the blink of an eye. Presently woodshedding material for his next full-length, we caught up with Thompson and co. from his Nashville home, cutting four tracks for his inaugural Lagniappe Session. Come for the Funkadelic cover, stay for the Kernal.
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Sam Blasucci
If you’ve followed AD for a minute you’re likely aware of Sam Blasucci’s role as one half of the Los Angeles based Mapache. Whereas that project hones in on the sunny sonic alchemy of LA’s coast and canyons, Blasucci’s recent solo material works a slightly different thread, influenced both by his move from guitar to piano, and time spent in New Orleans over the pandemic. On heels of his debut long-player, Off My Stars, Blasucci’s Lagniappe Session digs into the work of Mexico’s Marco Antonio Solís Sosa, an old standard made popular by Jimmy Durante, and a nod to his own Italian roots.
The Lagniappe Sessions :: John Andrews & The Yawns
On the heels of their superb, hypnotically smooth fourth record, we bring you the inaugural Lagniappe Session from John Andrews & The Yawns. While Love for the Underdog examines the cinematic charms of the classic theater experience, this batch of covers expands upon the far reach of Andrews and his talented collective. From lo-fi takes on familiar influences like Arthur Russell and Vashti Bunyan, to the elusive single “Seabird” (also check the Peruvian yacht-rock version) by singer-songwriter duo The Alessi Brothers, there is a plethora of inspired takes to get lost in.
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Glyders
Consummate purveyors of ‘American weirdness’, Chicago’s Glyders returned to the fold earlier this year with the release of their latest LP, Maria’s Hunt, via hometown heroes Drag City. Buttressing the album, the band’s Lagniappe Session takes on southern fried Skynyrd, The Damned as chooglers, acoustic Scott Walker and Johnny Mathis by way of the Hoss.
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Dark Canyon
For his premiere Lagniappe Session, Mike Novak takes the cinematic reverberation of Dark Canyon and infuses it into the compositions of Lee Hazelwood – another musician who was no stranger to the spectral sounds of lonesome desert towns.
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Jon McKiel
Jon McKiel is responsible for one of our favorite records of 2020, the wildly hypnotic collection of songs that is Bobby Joe Hope. In anticipation of its follow-up, we caught up with the Canadian musician as he lays down his inaugural Lagniappe Session, paying tribute to both a ’70s childhood AM radio staple and what is sure to become a future classic.
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Taylor Zachry & Erin Rae
Erin Rae returns to AD with her third Lagniappe Session, this time as a duo with Taylor Zachry. A callback of sorts to her initial session from 2019, this installment once again finds the Nashville based singer-songwriter paying tribute to the enduring work of the late Gene Clark, covering “Out On The Side” and “Polly” – both tunes via Clark’s own late sixties collaboration with banjo player Doug Dillard.
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Elkhorn
With the remarkable On The Whole Universe In All Directions, Elkhorn continues its constant state of growth and mutation. Built on a solid foundation of drums, vibraphone, and booming 12-string guitar, it charts a path from American primitive folk-isms toward galactic, psychedelic cosmic vistas. The duo’s first Lagniappe Session offered a grab bag of interpretations of songs by the Dead, Sonic Youth, and Robbie Basho, but this one devotes itself fully to just one, epic-length composition: a cover of David Crosby’s “Guinnevere,” as played by Miles Davis.
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Healing Potpourri
Released last year, Healing Potpourri’s Paradise came across like an introspective deep dive, drawing upon all that inspired the band’s orchestral brew of infectious chamber pop. The recording project of Bay Area multi-instrumentalist Simi Sohota and collaborators, the group’s inaugural Lagniappe Session dives head first into these avant-pop sensibilities.
The Lagniappe Sessions :: Gabriel da Rosa
Shaping up to be one of our most played albums this spring, Gabriel da Rosa made his full-length debut in February with É O Que A Casa Oferece, courtesy of Stones Throw Records. Sounding like a lost seventies samba album, from the likes of Paulinho da Viola or Martinho da Vila, da Rosa makes his Lagniappe debut via a pair of Brazilian staples: Geraldo Pereira and Tom Jobim with Vinícius de Moraes.