Quick Hits, Vol. 151 (Neil Young, Jane Ellen Bryant, Ty Richards, J. Roddy Walston & the Business)

Neil Young - Hitchhiker.  This is an old, previously unreleased album that boasts several tracks that were later released, like the excellent "Powderfinger" and "Pocahontas."  I found this one because Rolling Stone was breathlessly trumpeting that this entire album was recorded in one night in the 70's.  One magical night.  The sound on the whole album is imperfect, and kind of cool for it, with flubbed guitar strums left in or studio chatter.  Cool.  For whatever reason, the album was shelved at the time and only released now, but it really is a beauty.  This is the best Neil Young, the stripped-down lyricist.  Well, what am I saying, I also love the Crazy Horse version of Neil Young.  Whatever.  The title track is the most listened to, although nothing on this album has cracked Young's top ten on Spotify.  Just over 500k streams.

The whole album is like this, just sparse guitar and Young's wavering voice telling stories.  "Powderfinger" is a great tune, although if I'm being honest I like the electric version more than this acoustic one.  It is a good album.

Jane Ellen Bryant - Hourglass.  On HAAM day this year, I managed to get out to see music at breakfast, lunch, and happy hour, which was a fantastic use of my time.  If you don't know what HAAM day is, then you need to go do some researching.  HAAM is an Austin group that helps musicians with healthcare access and expenses, which is a great way to help keep Austin musicians doing their thing and maintaining the Austin cool.  The theory being that if a musician has to quit playing music to go get a job with benefits, then the city misses out on their music and cool factor.  Good group of folks.
Anyhoo, I went to Whole Foods downtown and grabbed a terrible taco, but got to see Bryant perform from a few feet away.  Her voice is stunning.  Especially in that close of a setting, it was just her voice and a guitar and she sounded like a million bucks.  So I came back to the office and added her album to the Q, and it has been in there for a few months, she really sounds good.  Not getting many listens on Spotify, most of her songs are under five digits, but two tracks are up over 100k.  But I can't find those on YouTube, so you get this one instead, "Make That Call," which doesn't appear to be on this album.  Whatever.

The tunes on this album are quite a bit better than that song, but you get the general idea of her sound.  She's not quite so swampy bluesy on the album as that tune would have you believe.  But you can hear the voice.  The voice is the thing here.  I like the album.

Ty Richards - Zillion.  Here is the music that I saw on HAAM day at lunchtime.  This dude and his little band cranked up on the plaza out in front of City Hall, and they were awesome.  This is kind of psych rock with an odd flair, like Beck with more guitar.  No one is listening to these tunes, only one song cracks the 10,000 mark ("Spaceman" at 14k), but I dig this stuff.

I'm not much for the "Naked Girls" track, but most of this album is pretty solid stuff.  "Baby, Baby, Baby, etc" is another standout.  I'd like to go see him play live again.

J. Roddy Walston & the Business - Destroyers of the Soft Life.  This album is freaking awesome.  No two ways about it.  These dudes came to ACL a few years ago and I recall enjoying them and their 2010 album.  This one is some more pure rock and roll and I'm in for it.  The top track is "The Wanting," which clocks in at 1.2 million streams.

Man, the YouTube comments get savage on this one, accusing them of selling out and going pop.  This tune is definitely cleaner than some of the other tunes, but screw people for thinking that is a negative.  Listen to the rest of the album and you'll get other sounds too.  I also agree about the Kings of Leon sound-alike comments on that track.  And Moon Taxi.  Clean sounding rock track.  But go listen to "You Know Me Better" and you'll get back the feedback-y rock where the vocals crack and rough up the track.  I don't know, people are weird about music, man.  (says the guy who writes like 5,000 words a week about music right now)...  This is a great disc that I'll keep on jamming.  Hope I can see these guys play live sometime soon.