20-year old
Will Stratton's MySpace says that he's from "wandering," which, by rule, is where the best folk songs are written. These are no exception. There is a rare warmth to his fingerpicking, strumming, and piano playing, and his voice has that clear, somber quality that you find in Sufjan Stevens and Nick Drake. The arrangements, full with violins, cello, harpsichord, piano, mellotron, and ump organ, are lush, but retain a close intimacy - you hear every acoustic hammer-on, bend, and whisper. His writing is personal and self-searching, and if such wandering makes for better songwriting, then there's a part of me that hopes Will Stratton doesn't find himself for many years.
Will Stratton - mp3s from
What the Night Said,
out July 24th.
SonnetI'd Hate To Leave YouSunolAlso highly recommended:
Katydid, which you can stream on his
MySpace.
is still one of my favorite albums.
is universally acclaimed. WFMU aired a recent performance by the band on the Cherry Blossom Clinic - a total of five consecutive songs. If that's not a record, it's certainly a gleaming rarity.
is out next Tuesday. Listen to Still Your Ghost, best played while dancing with little circles of light reflecting off a disco ball, and Houston, a beautiful piano tune where the ghosts really reside.
, a collection of rare, heavy, in-your-face funk and soul from central Ohio in the early 70's.
.
, which is a celebration of adolescence, rather than a condemnation of the perceived world surrounding it.
and Poor Aim: Love Songs.
