Lambchop’s first release in nearly four years, Mr. M (Merge) is a thoughtful interweaving of music, portraiture and feeling. With song titles such as “Gone Tomorrow” and “The Good Life (Is Wasted),” the 11-track album—dedicated to the late, great Vic Chesnutt—explores the messy-yet-universal emotions of love, loss and the minutiae of everyday life. The CD packaging is full of Wagner’s painted black-and-white portraits of young men dressed for formal occasions; he turned to portraiture as solace after Chesnutt’s 2009 overdose. Lambchop will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Check out our recent feature on the band.
Martin: I’ve really been into this Los Angeles-based label, Leaving Records. Matthew McQueen (a.k.a. Matthewdavid) was working at dublab when he had the idea to start his own small label as an outlet for various artists he had encountered. He asked his friend and favorite artist Jesselisa to take care of all the visual direction. The result is a collection of sound-collage/psychedelic releases with beautiful hand-made album artwork. Many of the releases are only available in small batches on cassette, a very hands-on medium, in my opinion. One of my favorites from Leaving is Dak’s Thisone. Be sure to download Matthewdavid’s new free release, Jewelry, which is available on the label’s homepage.
Video after the jump.
