Dinner Music 131: The weekly lineup
folk, twang, songs about heartbreak
This week we’re slowing down and listening to some of my favorite folk and twang albums. Every few months, I get back into a groove with Townes Van Zandt and I’m in the middle of another love affair with him. I could listen to I’ll Be Here in the Morning every day until I die. I hope the devil will play it for me in hell (kidding).
Also, on Wednesday, I’ll be sending a newsletter full of new music to paid subscribers. If you’re looking for some new albums, don’t miss it.
We begin with Piper Oz the Hound by Art Lown, an album that always signals to me that summer is well on its way. In 2021, Anthology re-issued this playful, heart-wrenching record that tells the long journey of a broken heart, as most country albums do. “You made me blue / but there’s always something left to cling to” is the thesis lyric of Lown’s work. We move into Townes Van Zandt and what can I say about Townes that hasn’t been said? I’ll simply say: this is one of the best records of all time. Save this one for a long drive, preferably alone, or at dusk or dawn. Next, we have Time Ain’t Accidental by Jess Williamson, which I included in the best of 2023. I’d say it’s still a best-of, this record hasn’t aged a day, and I still listen to it all the time. Not only is the storytelling of the lyricism exquisite and laced with solitude and desire, the range of the music gives the album a sense of oceanic feeling, an ebb and flow of love and life and longing. She’s doing a short western US and Texas tour in May, don’t miss her. She’s incredible live, trust me. We return to a similar sound as Art Lown, though by Tucker Zimmerman, an American whose been living in Europe since the late 1960s. His first album, 10 Songs by Tucker Zimmerman, was a favorite of David Bowie’s, though Foot Tap is a favorite of mine. The album is entirely acoustic, just Zimmerman and his guitar, yet has a fullness that comes from the earnestness of the lyrics and the simple self-harmonization he layers into choruses. “Slowin’ Down Love” stops me every time I listen to it. We end with the enigma Connie Converse, who left home in 1974 to find a new kind of life and was never heard from again.
Enjoy.
Paid subscribers have access to the full Dinner Music archive (via Spotify and Apple Music), an after hours playlist, a “New York Grooves” playlist and more — hundreds of hours of groove, soul, jazz, folk, samba, hi-life, disco, electro, post-punk, funk and more, lovingly selected.
Plus, paid subscribers get a monthly playlist and albums recs for new music and access to the “for consideration” weekly playlists (2-5 hours of additional music!).