STACK September 2016 Issue 143

90 / 109

builds on the huge promise of his first two. Walker
wears his '70s influences – Buckley, Jansch, Martyn,
etc – openly and without apology, but he’s
no cheap imitator: Walker compares with any
veteran from rock’s mythic summers of love.
But if his new record conjures more pastoral
images, then the dappled meadow has its
darker corners, too. The immense growlings on
Sullen Mind and the moody shuffling of Age Old
Tale both lie under cloud cover. Sultry jazz notes
on Funny Thing She Said balance a bittersweet
lyric of separation. Set against this are the
cheery jangling riffs of The Halfwit In Me, tribal
shimmies on A Choir Apart and the plaintive
I Will Ask You Twice with its surreal image of
‘playing footsie with Jesus’. His melodies are
subtle – Walker doesn’t do the killer chorus thing
– but subtle woodwind and fabulous guitar work
underscore every low-key phrase. Golden Sings sees
Walker hit the ground running and the open road
beckons once more.
visit
12 SEPTEMBER 2016
MUSIC NEWS
hard to tell where
he’s coming from
(both in word and
music). It’s a weird
but compelling
demeanour. On
Mangy Love, it comes
out in Laughter Is
The Best Medicine, which has
the same smooth lounge saxes
of Beck’s Debra and a good
measure of its self-awareness –
but you’ll also find the speaking
voice of Louisiana icon Reverend
Goat Carson (“he’s a friend, a
teacher, a healer, and a medicine
man”) alongside panflute and the
boing of a jaw harp, played by
acclaimed multi-instrumentalist
Stuart Bogie. (The jaw harp, by
the way, looks like an instrument
of torture – it’s metal and you bite
down on it, and McCombs says
Cass McCombs sees the
creation of music
in three parts: writing,
recording and touring.
It’s that centre slice he’s
got a problem with. “Cut
out the middle part and
just go straight from
writing the song to the
stage,” he says irritably.
“The record’s the painful
part, really boring and
passionless. The tour is
the real music. I love to
tour. Lord knows I love to travel.
I like to make money, although
we never make any. There’s
something about live music that
can be horrible and trashy, but if
it all comes together in a magical
way, even for a few seconds,
it’s way more interesting and
unique than these elaborate
f-cking stage shows that people
have these days. They know all
their gestures and moves. It’s so
fake.”
McCombs is clever and stony,
with a wit is so dry it can be
it’s easy to chip your teeth. Have
a Google.)
The beautiful Opposite House,
featuring Angel Olsen, involves
romantic matinee strings and
several memorable electric guitar
licks. “She’s a musical assassin,”
McCombs says of his new friend.
“She reached inside my brain and
knew exactly what I wanted to
do.” He says she instantly picked
up on the “Philly sound” he’s
into, and refers to her part in the
track as “completely Gamble and
Huff.” The music video is, again,
another example of McCombs’
oddness. The label wanted a
clip, but he didn’t have one yet,
so he assembled a bunch of
stock images with extremely
lo-fi transitions. “It’s funny.
It’s humorous to me," he says,
deadpan. “I like it."
INTERVIEW
CASS
McCOMBS
RYLEY WALKER
Returning to Chicago after a lengthy tour, Ryley
Walker reconnected with instrumentalist LeRoy
Bach, best known for his Wilco session
work. Bach also hosted improv nights at the
city's Whistler arts venue, where the young
Walker had dared to jam with some notable
company.
The two teamed up last year to create this
month’s Golden Sings That Have Been Sung,
the singer/guitarist's third album, which
Mangy
Love by Cass
McCombs is out
now via ANTI/
Warner.
Golden
Sings That
Have Been
Sung by
Ryley Walker
is out now via
Inertia.
L.A.
SALAMI
Gather around the campfire,
friends, and let British poet/
crooner L.A. Salami drop some
wisdom bombs on you.
Lookman Adekunle Salami
certainly has something to say;
luckily for us, he was given his
first guitar only a few years
ago and hasn’t looked back
since. The world hasn’t heard
a storyteller like this since Neil
Young or Paul Simon – Salami’s
hypnotising lyrics pull on your
heartstrings through every twist
the album takes.
Dancing With Bad Grammar:
The Director's Cut blurs the
lines between blues, folk,
and beat poetry; a poignant
expression of empathy and
ambition. Lead single The City
Nowadays is a candid, politically
charged track of witty rebellion.
Like the comfortably relatable
Day To Day , much of the record
is simply Salami, his six string
and a harmonica – if you’re
imagining Bob Dylan’s setup,
you’ve nailed it. At just over
eight minutes, My Thoughts,
They Too Will Tire is a journey
of social commentary and the
self-reflection of a man with a
curious and wandering mind.
A modern day Banjo Paterson,
L.A. Salami has the answers
to questions I never knew I
needed answering until now.
continued
Dancing With
Bad Grammar:
The Director's Cut
by L.A. Salami is
out now via Sunday
Best/Liberator.
Words: Tim Lambert
TOURING
06/12 - 10/12
Words: Gareth Thompson