Album of the Week

In 2001, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings purchased Nashville’s famed Woodland Sound Studio—where Neil Young Comes a Time and Linda Ronstadt recorded Silk Purse —after a tornado destroyed the roof and left the building in danger of falling into disrepair. Nineteen years later, mid-pandemic, another tornado struck—this time while Welch and Rawlings were working. They spent an entire night trying, sometimes unsuccessfully, to salvage their vast collection of instruments and recordings from the water and wind. Then, once again, they began rebuilding.

You can understand why the new album by the acclaimed Americana duo is called Woodland . The tornado clearly made them realize the preciousness of life, each other and music. This is the most concentrated, determined album by the two in years. Songs like 'The Day The Mississippi Died' and 'North Country' (vintage Welch, in the spirit of Time (The Revelator) ) feel like classics in the genre after three listens. Songs that people will still dig up and rediscover many years and many tornadoes later. CD / LP

New in

	'After a decade being born, Josh Tillman is finally busy dying'. Father John Misty is already looking forward to his cremation on Mahashmashana , his ego is more than ever forgotten on his sixth album. Instead, the epic orchestral pop shines - in the extension of Chloë and the Next 20th Century , but this time with even more influence from his great idols Scott Walker and Tim Buckley. CD / LP
	Kanye West the person was always an idiot savant , but in recent years he has become an idiot. His first of three collaborations with Ty Dolla Sign , Vultures 1 , came as something of a surprise. Gone are the religious themes, back are the swear words and themes like money, sex and fame. It is, like most albums since The Life of Pablo , a bit of a mess. But what an immensely fascinating mess this time. LP
	It took Opeth five years to get there, but they're back to the essence of their prog metal sound. The Last Will and Testament is a concept album about a conservative patriarch in the interbellum; a story about polio, orphans and death. Of course, death growls are part of that - for the first time on an Opeth album since 2008. It's the most melancholic work the Swedes have made in years. CD / LP

Of course there's more out today: a series of reissues from British post-punk veterans The Sound , including All Fall Down ( LP ), Jeopardy ( LP ) and From The Lion's Mouth ( LP ); and a mammoth coverage of Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2023 featuring the likes of John Mayer, Marcus King and Joe Bonamassa ( 6CD / 6LP ).

Pre-orders

	Out of nowhere, there's GNX (February 28, 2025), a straight-up G-funk record from the Best Rapper Alive (because that's settled by now, right?), Kendrick Lamar . CD / LP
	It turns out there was actually another posthumous Mac Miller album in the archives, called Balloonerism (January 17, 2025). CD / LP