It’s remarkable just how much fantastic work Nashville musicians have released into the world during this wild and frequently hellacious year. Below, our writers recommend eight standout releases from recent months. Many are available on Bandcamp, and Dec. 4 is the final #BandcampFriday of the year — a promotion in which the music platform waives its cut of sales on the first Friday of the month. So there’s no time like the present to stock up.
See previous lists from March, April, May, plus two (first, second) from June, two (first, second) from July, two in September (first, second) and one in November, as well as our writers’ choices in music from Best of Nashville.
Bryant Taylorr, Rare (self-released)
Bryant Taylorr has lent features to some of Nashville’s best MCs, including a number of celebrated collaborations with rapper Tim Gent. But the R&B singer-songwriter serves up plenty more than just assists, as showcased on his newest project, Rare. Across seven tracks, Taylorr displays his knack for crafting melodies that are both catchy and unexpected, as well as his emotive songwriting and serious vocal chops. On single “Pretty Women,” produced by A.B. Eastwood, Taylorr glides effortlessly between a slow-jam croon and a rhythmic flow, following the complex emotional narrative at the track’s core. Nashville’s R&B talent is top-tier, and Taylorr is among the best. BRITTNEY McKENNA
Stream or buy Rare on your preferred service via this handy link.
The Watchman and tha Poet, Notes From Native Sons (Watchman Music Presents)
Jazz and R&B bassist-producer Greg Bryant and rapper Rashad tha Poet are veteran players, working together for the first time as The Watchman and tha Poet. There’s a lot about their EP Notes From Native Sons that feels very old-school, from the nods to their upbringings in Music City to the jazz and soul foundations of the head-nodding beats. But the looks to the past are about respecting the power of Black culture, communities and art, and the roles they’re playing in reckoning with the present and shaping a better future. STEPHEN TRAGESER
Meadownoise, Threeve (YK/Pets Musical Park)
On Threeve, the third LP from his project Meadownoise, MVP multi-instrumentalist Matt Glassmeyer also examines growing up in and around Nashville. The album evokes the way memories fade and distort over time in its subtly warped and sometimes jumbled soundscapes, with snippets of melody, found sound and insistent rhythms that feel like they’re traces of the same experience, even if you’re not always totally sure what it is. Most of us listen to music on headphones a lot these days, but this is an album that’s best experienced in that intimate stereoscopic environment. STEPHEN TRAGESER
Yours Truly Jai, Monarch (self-released)
Monarch, the debut EP that Yours Truly Jai released in September, is a succinct and expressive offering from Nashville’s underground hip-hop scene. It blends contemporary R&B styles from decades past with clean contemporary pop production. Yours Truly Jai’s mellifluous vocals flow seamlessly over ethereal beats and Southern soul guitar licks, accompanied by crisp layers of harmony. In Monarch’s six tracks, Yours Truly Jai contemplates love and spiritual wealth and establishes boundaries. A guest feature from rapper Chuck Indigo on closing track “One Day” makes this all-consuming, warm and richly textured listen even sweeter. OLIVIA LADD
Stream or buy Monarch on your preferred service via this handy link.
I Could Live in Hope, PSA, Not OK (Somewherecold)
Tape Deck Mountain main man Travis Trevisan’s self-described “political slowcore” side project doesn’t just draw on Low’s gentle-but-menacing signature sound — it also takes its name from the pride of Duluth’s first album. Trevisan even enlisted a Minnesotan to play drums, Ronnie Lee of Twin Cities psych-rockers The Cult of Lip. The bleakness of 2020 hangs heavy over the long-distance duo’s debut EP PSA, Not OK, released (during election week, naturally) via Kentucky label Somewherecold. Rather than scream into the void, however, Trevisan and Lee channel their indignation at the deadbeats in charge into a moody yet not unbearably morose sonic snapshot of the doom and gloom that surrounds us. Once this year is far enough in the rearview, PSA should prove useful for not losing sight of just how grim things got; for now, it’s a perfect stocking stuffer for fans of True Widow’s stoned Texan ’gaze and Trevisan’s chronically underrated Tape Deck Mountain — and the almighty Low, of course. CHARLIE ZAILLIAN
DE3RA, Old Scratch (self-released)
About the only thing that could make DE3RA’s debt to rock circa 1970 even more explicit on Old Scratch would be for the psych-rock quartet to have covered, say, Captain Beefheart’s 1972 track “Little Scratch”— itself a progenitor of the band’s style. I caught DE3RA at a 2019 Nashville show where they stomped through a post-Canned Heat boogie titled “Stump Juice.” The band has grown since then: Old Scratch runs 51 minutes, and it’s gratifyingly detailed throughout. The album’s “50 Bucks” evokes Taj Mahal, while “Pillow Gaze” updates psych folk. Like Beefheart, Black Sabbath and underrated English prog-folk-blues band Family, these guys know how to twist rock basics to their own devious ends. EDD HURT
Great Peacock, Forever Worse Better (Baldwin County Public Records/Soundly Music)
Americana is a Nashville-ized version of classic rock, with different hats than David Crosby wore. That process of transformation usually produces strange music — not to mention some questionable headgear choices — but Great Peacock exemplifies what can be great about Americana. Forever Worse Better is the group’s third full-length, and their latest batch of songs gives voice to the anxiety than runs through the genre. On tracks like the superb “Strange Position,” Great Peacock creates complex pop that recalls everyone from Gin Blossoms and The Band of Heathens to classic rockers like Blue Öyster Cult and R.E.M. These guys know how to write and sing, too — one song is titled “Dissatisfaction,” and they make you feel that emotion in a completely satisfying way. EDD HURT
Coyote Motel, Still Among the Living (Dolly Sez Woof)
Multitalented instrumentalist and journalist Ted Drozdowski’s Coyote Motel ensemble blends and mashes up idiomatic references and elements in dazzling, freewheeling fashion. Their latest release Still Among the Living offers eight sizzling selections that run the gamut from autobiographical reflection to fiery social protest, insightful probing and energetic declarations. Drozdowski is the central driving force with his exuberant vocals, jovial personality and sonically flamboyant guitar solos, which merge avant-garde jazz’s experimental edge with heavy metal’s equally unpredictable fireworks. Still, everything’s fortified by a lyrical foundation steeped in the blues sensibility of irony, resilience and response. All tracks but one were recorded live at The 5 Spot, and are vivid reminders of the joy and inspiration music fans have lost since the pandemic essentially shuttered live entertainment. Special guest guitarist Stan Lassiter adds guitar ferocity to the mix, while vocalist Luella pays homage to the riveting North Mississippi hill country sound of the late Jessie Mae Hemphill on her swirling version of “Homegoing.” RON WYNN
