Laura Marling | A Creature I Don't Know

The delicacy of precisely placed fingers on a guitar's nylon strings, words sung with care and clarity. A voice speaking from the past, or is it the future, or the spiraling present moment? "...me and time go way back when...", sings Laura Marling in the song "Don't Ask Me Why". The British singer-songwriter's third album "A Creature I Don't Know", recorded with all acoustic instruments in London by Ethan Johns wafts up like invisible smoke and infiltrates. It carries like the wind; there you were, here you are, changed.

At 21, Laura Marling is confident from years of listening and playing, at first with her parents and siblings in her home in Eversley, Hampshire, England. The youngest of three, she heard the music of Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez and James Taylor around the house. She stared playing guitar as a child, began performing as a teenager and was a member of England's Noah and The Whale. Marling set out on a solo career in 2007.

With literary references to John Steinbeck and Robertson Davies, and sonic nods to Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell, this collection of songs has great depth and power. The living thing that is the record album is all the more vibrant with questions unanswered, time undefined and an interior wanderlust. Thank you, Laura Marling.

James Vincent McMorrow | Early In The Morning

It feels like someone flipped a switch -a couple of weeks into the new year and here comes the new music!! My first excursion into the sound 0f 2011 came as I, happily, put my hands and ears on "Early In The Morning", the new cd by James Vincent McMorrow. The album actually was released last year in Ireland, but this is the year that many will hear the high and lonesome voice of the Irish singer-songwriter from Dublin. It's a smokey, reedy, and haunting voice. It's elusive and slippery, and it commands attention. I don't think I have heard a voice that got inside me so deeply so quickly since the first time I heard Jeff Buckley.

McMorrow found his way to an isolated house by the sea and made this record over the course of 5 months, recording and playing all the music himself. The cd will be released January 25th in the U.S. and Canada. A very impressive debut.

This video was shot in a Parisian park for Soul Sessions.

Brett Dennen | Sydney (I'll Come Running)

I think the first time we met Brett Dennen was during an mvyradio On The Road adventure in Louisville, KY in 2007. We already knew how unique his voice was. As soon as you hear it, it makes it's mark on your brain. He came to our hotel suite for an interview with PJ and we immediately discovered another thing about him-- he is very tall. What, maybe 6'5"? He towered over PJ and PJ isn't what you would call short. Well, it's all relative and I digress.

Upon my return to the mvy studios yesterday after some time off, PJ and I listened to some new music and Brett Dennen's new song "Sydney (I'll Come Running)" was one of the songs. It's a catchy, free-wheeling tune about standing by a childhood friend. Great lyrical run in the chorus -- "...Straight from the airport, (I'll come running), cutting through the customs' line (I'll come running), bust down the courthouse doors, (I'll come running) Sydney, I would testify..." Not sure, but the beginning bass line seems to be a reference to Van Morrison's "I'll Come Running" --nice nod.



Check out multiple Brett Dennen performances, and that interview he did with PJ in the mvyradio Archives Scroll to "Brett Dennen"

The Tallest Man On Earth | The Wild Hunt

So much of what we experience about another person is their presence. Presence --a great word for what it is that captures us about someone. Their ability to be be present, at ease, claim the space, or not. There are a lot of ways to make a lasting impression and often there's a certain je ne sais quoi, literally a "I don't know that" quality.

I can identify much of what impresses me about singer-songwriter Kristian Matsson, a.k.a. The Tallest Man On Earth on his new CD "The Wild Hunt". His confidence, his simple, potent guitar playing, his incisive lyrics. But what is most striking to me is his ability to command the energy of the album from start to finish. The way he carries the flow feels a little like a magic trick, and after each listen, I found myself captivated again. Maybe it's just his confidence, but it seems like more than that. Je ne sais quoi...

I'll feature some tracks from "The Wild Hunt" tonight on mvyradio's Uncharted Waters at 9PM ET. www.mvyradio.com

Listen...

Patty Larkin | 25

It really wasn't planned at all, that Patty Larkin's celebration of her twenty-five years of making records, would be so comprehensive, so expansive and so poignant. But that's what happened.

Patty's "25" is a collection of her songs, re-visited by her and re-fashioned by the personal crafting of twenty-five musicians that Patty has admired and worked with over the course of her career. She recorded the songs, unplugged and sent them out, and they came back, surprising musical gifts in every package.

The record is dedicated to her mother, Mary Jeanne, a painter and Patty's biggest fan, who passed away last September. Two weeks after her mother died, Patty started work on the record and she says that the emotions she was feeling opened her up "to the moment" and a raw and sometimes more mature vocal sound emerged.

The project has re-united her with many old musical friends like David Wilcox, Jonatha Brooke, Chris Smither and John Gorka. She is playing out on tour with many of them and will be at The Regent Theater in Arlington this Saturday, April 24Th with Birdsong at Morning.

Today on The Lunch Hour (about 12:15 PM ET) on www.mvyradio.com, I feature part of a conversation with Patty and give away some tickets to Saturday's Arlington show. Full interview with Patty will be posted later today in the mvyradio Archives.

Listen...

Ellis Paul | The Day After Everything Changed

I'm listening to Ellis Paul's new record "The Day After Everything Changed" and as each song reaches my ear, I'm thinking about the intimacy of songwriting and making records. Here I am on my computer at my kitchen table being invited into Ellis' heart. And he doesn't even know it!

Well, he might guess that I'd be enjoying what he does so well, based on the fact that 20,000 others, his fan base, and a legion of other singer-songwriters and music business types admire the songwriting and sensibility that has been over 20 years in the making. In fact, his fans funded his new album, and you can hear the evidence of their involvement. There is a cohesiveness and depth to this record that seems to be in part about this connection.

My favorite songs -"The Day After Everything Changed" -a soaring homage to love, beauty, revelation and the passage of time; "Rose Tattoo" -a story about a couple's love in tough economic times, with wonderful everyday references in the lyrics; and "Dragonfly" -simplicity and wonder fuel this love song, acoustic guitar weaving, high and lonesome vocals rising.

We're giving the CD away today as The Monday Free CD on www.mvyradio.com

Listen to clips of the new CD here: