This Is The River by Fair Oaks

I am so over the Polar Vortex. Temperatures in the teens are far too cold for this mild-weather-loving Seattle girl to handle. Hell, I'd almost take back DC Summer of 2012, with it's one-hundred-degrees, can't walk two blocks outside without keeling over, miserable, heat and humidity. Can spring be here already? This weekend was an unfair tease, especially while being sick inside.

Currently, I'm away from the frigidness with a cup of coffee and the album, This Is The River by Fair Oaks. Recently released in mid-January, this was an undertaking that was three years in the making and by golly does it sound that way. Taking inspiration from the Mississippi River, This Is The River, hinges the gap between the seasons and is a perfect segway into the spring. I can't help but reminiscence about past warmer weather adventures too: patio brunches, street festivals, outdoor markets, bookstore hops, and picnics. Add in a little vintage charm and I've done as good as I can describing the appeal of this album.

With a twee pop folk sound, accompanied by the occasional trumpet and french horn, led by dueling male and female vocals, the best two comparisons to Fair Oaks I could offer up would be Del Water Gap or Aiden Knight. However, there's a little bit of Radiation City with the retro glam, some Typhoon when I hear the trumpet blare, The Research when songs are especially twee and a lot of other folk and/or alternative influences that strike me at short, random instances.  I haven't enjoyed an album so multidimensional and so full of pleasant surprises in a long time.

The album starts out with a rolling folk sound, with See What the Sun Gave. If there's anything that can persevere through the cold, this song is likely it. The piano and harmonies from both the male and female vocalists, create the sunny feeling one would find from a Slow Club track. Coming Through gives off a much more old-time blues vibe at first but flows into lush harmonies and trumpet backings. This Is The River (I, II, III) is seven minutes long and is an enchanting love letter to the Mississippi.

Duluth (Pull Me Into Your Soul) and Omaha (You Give Me The Feelings), are also love letters to their respective midwest cities. With Omaha, there's this light happiness that reminds me of some of Cataldo's work on Prison Boxing, a very high praise in my book. I like the comparisons the lyrics put forth: Omaha gives the feelings to help get along but alcohol kicks in the shins and chases down the hall. What are they saying? Is Omaha a better drug for releasing that carefree attitude that comes with drinking or does Omaha inspire the foolish drunken tendencies in the first place? I may never know but I always smile (and dance a bit) when I play this track.

Listen to This Is The River on bandcamp and while you're there, purchase the album. For a hard copy, the album is available in the band's store. While it is early on in the year, I already have my first contender for album of the year.
 

[Weekend Video] Island by Wyatt Overman (Live Basement)

This album was recorded over the span of two winters. In basements & bedrooms.

Go fifty miles from the nearest city and step outdoors. Whether the terrain is mountainous, a desert wasteland, covered in trees, or sprawling with flat country, the effect remains the same. A breath of fresh air, a step away from civilization and all of a sudden we're confronted with our clearest thoughts and greatest demons. With certain songs and certain albums, I can recreate this feeling just by pressing play. Two Winters, by Wyatt Overman is one of those albums.

As much as I've tried to find the right words to pair with Two Winters, words that could convey even the slightest brilliance the album brings to listeners, I've given up beyond what I've written above.

In a dark basement, fitting to the album's tagline, Overman performs Island with a raw passion and beauty that I didn't think could be more memorizing than the original song. With cuts to picturesque scenes of nature, juxtaposed with the dimly lit basement cave, the video presents this trapped-in-the-open feeling that pairs perfectly with Island's lyrics.

Stream Two Winters on Overman's bandcamp page.