Oakley Hall | Gypsum Strings
This little gem of an album by Oakley Hall came out on Jagjaguwar last week. I got tipped off to it by Garrett on his post on the new Rhapsody staff blog. G says their songs are like "country-ish collective space rollers awash in fiddles, organs, guitars and vocal harmonies." I've been such a lame blogger lately that I've sunk to stealing blog posts from Rhapsody staff members. I guess it's not stealing if I turn music fans like you onto new music. From the picture he posted, they are what Fleetwood Mac would be if they were born 15 years earlier. It's part hippie sitar noodle groove, and half Neil Young-inspired indie rock with striking vocal efforts. In spite of it's underlying folkishness, the album is really quite good, I didn't want to turn it off at any point. I especially enjoyed the wailing guitars on "Lazy Susan." - TK