Weekly RecommNeds | Steve Gunn and The Monks Kitchen
By Aaron Stein Jan 29, 2014 • 6:15 am PST
Continuing through some late, too-good-to-leave-behind late 2013 releases…
Steve Gunn: Time Off
Steve Gunn has a variety of bands and collaborators in his recent music history, but the most relevant is his playing guitar on tour with Kurt Vile in the Violators. Gunn’s new album, Time Off, is like a gorgeous, standalone spin-off from Vile’s sound (captured on his Pretty Daze album). Gunn mixes delicious acoustic guitar chunks and swirls with a dreamy, hypnotic folk base for an addictive 6-song set of tracks. As the album goes on, the music finds more and more layers and twists and launching points, letting your mind wander off just far enough. A real keeper.
Spotify: Steve Gunn: Time Off
MOG: Steve Gunn: Time Off
Rhapsody: Steve Gunn: Time Off
The Monks Kitchen: Music from the Monks Kitchen
Sometimes I wonder if there’s a bottom to the pit of great new music left to be discovered… and then, somehow little gems like The Monks Kitchen pop up on my radar. I was grabbed on first listen, and the further I delved, the deeper I got sucked into their gorgeous, haunting folk. Hailing from London, their album, simply titled Music from the Monks Kitchen, transports you to somewhere much more far flung and mysterious. The album summons a range of emotions with combinations of acoustic (and occasionally electric) instruments and dreamlike melodies (the words “dark,” “melancholy” and “black” appear prominently in the song titles). One track takes Poe’s “The Raven” as lyrics and turns it into something unexpectedly catchy and touching. With some really beautiful instrumentals filling in between top notch songwriting, I was happily surprised with this one.
Spotify: The Monks Kitchen: Music from the Monks Kitchen
MOG: The Monks Kitchen: Music from the Monks Kitchen
Rhapsody: The Monks Kitchen: Music from the Monks Kitchen
