Reinvention is a decidedly tricky experience. Musically speaking, whenever an artist explores new aural territory they risk undermining expectations, which the Internet has confirmed to be a treacherous undertaking. If an artist is already known for consistent reinvention, lack of innovation may result in the same upheaval. Finding the balance of growth and inventive exploration has no tried and true equation, the danger is persistent. To add to the complexity, a listener must ask themselves; should this be listened to in the context of other releases? Or should this be appreciated entirely on its own? In all art forms, Context is King but at what point does the past inhibit the future; both from a creation standpoint and an appreciation outlook? Kurt Wagner’s Lambchop has, in one form or another, been attempting to answer those questions for the past twenty-five years.

For some time, Wagner’s reinvention was a slow roll. Listening to 1997’s Thriller to 2000’s Nixon to 2008’s OH (Ohio) to 2012’s Mr M reveals a band exploring fascinating blends of Country, R&B, Soul, Pop/Rock and even a dash of metered Ambient compositions. There’s no hard line in the sand where one influence bleeds through more distinctively than another; they simply ebb and flow between tracks and albums. That’s not a knock, it’s an impressive concoction. It’s not until 2016’s FLOTUS that a dramatic shift appears. Some may claim this to be the first reinvention of the band but the entire history of the band had been built on pursuing these curiosities, it was just somewhat more bold with FLOTUS.

With 2019’s This (is what I wanted to tell you), Lambchop builds on that FLOTUS sound with a collection of delicate, beat-driven, vocoder-heavy, crooning ruminations. These songs are immersive and contemplative; asking the listener to sit for a spell and take note not only of the lyrical laments but of the subtle flourishes and changes behind them. And just to keep you guessing, the album ends with the track “Flower”, which is almost entirely devoid of the elements used everywhere else on the record. Lambchop’s one consistent trait is their ability to switch it up, even within the course of a single record.

There’s no article on Lambchop that won’t mention the collaborative nature of the band. This is largely driven by Wagner working with producer and co-writer Matthew McCaughan (Bon Iver, Hiss Golden Messenger), and previous albums have been similar collaborative works with the likes of Ryan Norris, Roger Moutenot, William Tyler and a host of others. The shift in sonics is often attributed to these collaborators but without Wagner’s willingness to take the risk, it’s unlikely we’d ever have heard them.

Summing up the latest offering with no stake in the past is, presumably, how Lambchop would prefer you participate. Doing so would free you of the shackles of expectations but would rob you of the appreciation of variety. Even if this isn’t your favorite iteration of Lambchop, there’s no predicting what the next version will be like. Whatever it may be, we should all be so lucky that it’s as open to unpredictability.

Released as the final preview single from the forthcoming album Mend, “Hopelessness” from German Error Message presents an intriguing interplay between moods. As the title suggests, the lyrics carry a particular weight to them. There’s not many of them, so let’s have a look.

I woke up wrong
Hopelessness pacing the room
Will worry forever destroy me
Early night is familiar
It’s buried in my body
Beneath the leaves
on my forest floor
nothing’s as it should be

The idea of being haunted by hopelessness is hefty sentiment if ever there was one and if you’ve ever felt depression or anxiety, these words aren’t unfamiliar. The track plays into this with the DIY bedroom recording style and contemplative acoustic guitar but there’s also a particularly optimistic tone to the accompaniment around that. Maybe that’s a hefty bit of armchair psychology coming into play but the warm, uplifting, second half of the song seems to function as a story of itself; leaving that hopelessness behind you.

That’s a grandiose review but German Error Message just invokes those kinds of contemplative feelings! Looking forward to Mend when it is released in full on March 29th, 2019.

There’s no shortage of 7″ releases from Third Man Records and sorting through it all can be difficult. Fortunately, they do a great job of selecting Nashville artists that fit within their Third Man model of being a little bit country, a little bit something else (see Margo Price, Joshua Hedley, Loretta Lynn, et al). Case in point, the new 7″ from Teddy and the Rough Riders is full of Classic Country elements but breezily integrates plenty of other familiar styles; making for a rather fresh new thing.

The downside to a 7″ is that there’s not a lot of actual music to really dive into. The upside is that if you like what you hear, there’s absolutely no filler. “I Found Something” manages to integrate plenty of accenting slide guitar, piano strikes, choral gang vocals, a touch of rasp in the verse and a head swirling, dueling solo that pays homage to the R&B tradition of a round robin showcase among the players.

“Neon Cowboy” takes a gentler approach, like a literal cowboy ambling on down the road but with a touch of the psychedelic, like a cowboy blissed out on mushrooms ambling on down the road.

All and all, a very promising release from a band that’s already been up to interesting things this year. Here’s to more coming our way.

Makeup and Vanity Set has been busy lately providing the score for the latest seasons of the podcasts Up and Vanished and Monster, as well as multiple subscriber exclusive releases to his Bandcamp fans. Somehow, on top of all that, he has released the original soundtrack to the short film Mather.

The film is unique as it was created by a deaf director, using a deaf crew, a largely deaf cast and largely contains a lack of dialogue. Makeup and Vanity Set provides some insight as to how the director was able to review the music and iterate on it:

“chase would explain that he could ‘listen’ to my music by feeling it physically. i spent time studying two incredible Deaf musicians, evelyn glennie and christine sun kim. i also spent time studying methods like demonstrating rhythm and music through ASL (American Sign Language), how words can be similar but are defined and distinguished by handshape, location, movement, orientation and facial expression; that so much information is contained in simple hand motions and movements and that together they form intense and emotional contexts.

the result was a score written with basic sources- with sine waves and human voices and strings. chase’s work is deeply personal…”

The work itself invokes some of the same ominous feelings that MAVS has perfected over the years but the style of execution is completely different. Songs are slower, drawn out and creating suspense through the ambience. It’s not entirely different for him but it’s close. All and all, it’s a sign that MAVS is willing to stretch and explore his sound, which results in both an enjoyable score and an alluring promise for future releases.