Scissor Tail Editions Novedades

Kurt Vile once sang that he had a freeway in mind, but Matt Kivel (Vile’s former Woodsist labelmate) literally has a freeway mind. Kivel grew up in Santa Monica, California, getting shuttled up and down the 10, the 101, PCH, and all the other freeways Angelenos lovingly affix definite articles to. He started out in music as part of the buzzy, Eagle Rock-based indie band Princeton, toured the country relentlessly, burned out, and then resurfaced with a series of bleak, hauntingly spare solo albums that garnered widespread critical acclaim.

Over the ensuing decade, Kivel collaborated closely with a growing set of brilliant, and varied musicians from across the globe, including Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Alasdair Roberts, Madi Diaz, Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes, Jana Horn, and Satomimagae. He moved to Austin, Texas then left for New York City for a spell and then returned to Austin where he settled down. In 2017, he started writing the songs for what would become his eighth solo album, Escape From L.A. Escape From L.A. is an autobiographical song cycle that chronicles the first thirty-three years of Kivel’s life in the City of Angels. The material was labored over, rewritten, rearranged, and rerecorded numerous times, between LA, New York, and Austin. Kivel self-effacingly refers to it as his “bootleg as hell Blood On The Tracks” with myriad alternate sequences, tempos and arrangements that will never see the light of day. It involved over twenty collaborators, a string section, pedal steel guitars, and a renewed lyrical and vocal clarity that allows the narrative vignettes to unspool in vivid detail. It’s a beautiful, grounded statement and one of Kivel’s best.

The songwriter Joseph Allred is always prolific, but breaks up their string of solo releases for one of the most orchestrated offerings since the excellent Branches And Trees. Allred’s often monastic guitar works are fleshed out here on Old Time Fantasias, turning them towards ensemble visions of country, Americana, and Appalachia. Album opener, “The Groundhog,” features the distinctive piano of Hans Chew, with bass from Daniel Kimbro and brass from Mikey Allred. Elsewhere the new album features Kelby Clark, Courtney Werner (Magic Tuber String Band), Evan Morgan (Magic Tuber String Band), Lydian Bramblia, and Jack Bird in the mix. “I started recording this album in Spring ‘23, thinking I might be making a mostly solo acoustic album with a couple of duets thrown in for good measure. I met Hans Chew at a Nashville show a few months earlier and sent him a few tracks to see if he wanted to add anything to them. Before long the ‘solo acoustic album’ had given way to what’s probably the most involved and densely orchestrated album I’ve made to date. “I enjoyed following some threads of influence that aren’t as easily discernible in my solo playing—I hear some classic country and psychedelic flourishes, baroque pop glockenspiel and horns, percussion ideas that may be cribbed from Danny Elfman and Tom Waits albums, nods to post-rock-filtered western guitar twang, and a little Cocteau Twins dreaminess. “All in all this was a satisfying record to make. I’m especially grateful to the collaborators for adding their touches and making it a less solipsistic affair than it would have been otherwise. The political climate has changed so much over the last two years that I find it hard to imagine I could make a record with this kind of fantastic mood if I started now. I hope that it can maybe re-enchant those of us who are felling disillusioned.” —Joseph Allred

Tobacco City is a Chicago-based band that blends cosmic country with a mix of psychedelic rock and honky-tonk soul. Their sound captures the essence of small-town nostalgia while embracing modern-day themes, exploring heartache, longing, and the bittersweet nature of life. With their uplifting energy and authentic songwriting, Tobacco City continues to carve out a unique space in the countrytinged Americana scene. On Horses, the highly anticipated follow-up to their critically acclaimed debut, Tobacco City, USA, the band takes listeners on a nostalgic journey through the haze of youth, where time feels suspended and plans are nonexistent. The album’s lyrics conjure vivid images of small-town life—smoking schwag behind the grocery store, drinking cream from a gas station with your first love—capturing that carefree, uncertain time when the future felt distant. The music channels the spirit of ’70s country with influences from legends like Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris, bringing a timeless, uplifting energy to each track. At the same time, the lyrics intersect with modern-day themes, blending the beauty and innocence of youth with the harsh realities of life. Horses feels like a contemporary take on classic country, merging a nostalgic past with the complex world of today, all while remaining undeniably authentic and heartfelt. This follow-up to Tobacco City, USA—which received high praise from NPR and Rolling Stone— cements the band’s place at the forefront of a new wave of countrytinged Americana. “...Like the Chicago band’s namesake, a slow smoke hangs in the air, heavy with heartbreak and feather-blue eyeshadow, but puts a brave face on. Lexi Goddard sings with a far-away look over a pedal-steel cry, a melody that sways to country songs on jukeboxes of yore...” —NPR “Chicago’s Tobacco City do more with less... spacious grooves as pedal steel wafts through like a gentle breeze. Vocalist Lexi Goddard and Chris Coleslaw sounds simultaneously wistful and playful throughout...” —Rolling Stone

For the first time this century, two missed masterpieces are coming available on vinyl. The band Souled American formed in Chicago in 1986 and recorded a total of sixty-six songs between 1988 and 1996. Though not ever popular themselves, their evolving hybrid of roots / rock music heavily influenced many more popular bands to come, among them Wilco, The Jayhawks, The Feelies, Califone, Counting Crows, The Mountain Goats, and Cracker. Their records became legendary, unavailable for decades. Some got to the Internet in 2023. Their last two albums Frozen and Notes Campfire will now be re-issued in limited, hand-crafted, 30th Anniversary Editions with a fresh abundance of stories, technical information, musician credits, and cartoons that detail the unexpected origins surrounding these two early classics of “ambient Americana.” These records sound at once both old and new with brilliant melodies and profound performances stacked in unusual patterns like soft-hued bricks.

“The first full length LP by Joshua Massad and Dylan Aycock. Massad is a tabla player living in India and studying under Zakir Hussain. Massad and Aycock came together in Tulsa to record live at the legendary Church Studio which was founded by Leon Russell in the ’70s. Over a few nights they captured some moments in the studio before it came under new ownership and just before Joshua moved to India. “Aycock improvising on 12-string with Massad accompanying tabla and sitar. A flowing river of sound, a meeting of the minds. The little touches that Dylan’s brother Jesse Aycock adds (bits of synth) really sweeten the deal as well. Track two recorded in Leon Russell’s legendary Church Studio.” —Aquarium Drunkyard “Track one is an improvisation recorded at the home of Joshua Massad’s friend who he was house sitting for and invited me to come play. When I showed up the door was open and he was deep in practice so no words were spoken. I set up a mic and just started playing. We played for fortyfive minutes straight and the twenty mins of the first track was culled from that moment. We clicked immediately and that was the first time we ever played together. Joshua is studying and teaching in India now where he’s been since 2019.” —Dylan Golden Aycock

“Talk West is the project of Dylan Aycock. Aycock has forged a small series of intriguing and beautiful missives through the cassette underground with his explorations on guitar and pedal steel. On Black Coral Sprig, Aycock negotiates the terrain between stately and homely by stretching a ringing country tone into an all-encompassing atmosphere, much like the ambient realms of Stars Of The Lid. His unhurried, gentle playing style comes to reveal understated textures that weave into a whole alternately spirited, warming and often haunting.” —Preservation

Scissor Tail presents the first vinyl issue of Marc Barreca’s
1986 album The Sleeper Wakes, originally only released on
cassette by the Seattle electronic ambient label Intrepid.
Marc Barreca has been creating and performing electronic
music since the mid-1970s. His 1980 album, Twilight,
reissued on vinyl in 2016, was one of the earliest releases
on Palace Of Lights. Recent releases include Shadow
Aesthetics (2018) and three collaborations with K. Leimer.
Previous reissues include work on the acclaimed VOD box
set American Cassette Culture, the Cherry Red compilation
of seminal U.S. electronic music and the 1983 cassette
Music Works For Industry. His work is also included in the
collection of The British Library.”
The Sleeper Wakes has been out of print for many years
and Scissor Tail is very happy to remaster and reissue this
great work that was ahead of it’s time, employing analog
treatments of sampled sounds arranged in a very interesting
and intuitive way.

Marc Barreca's 1986 album "The Sleeper Wakes". Originally released on cassette by the Seattle electronic ambient label, Intrepid.

Marc Barreca has been creating and performing electronic music since the mid-1970s. His 1980 album, Twilight, reissued on vinyl in 2016, was one of the earliest releases on Palace Of Lights. Recent releases include Shadow Aesthetics (2018) and three collaborations with K. Leimer. Previous reissues include work on the acclaimed VOD box set American Cassette Culture, the Cherry Red compilation of seminal U.S. electronic music and the 1983 cassette, Music Works For Industry. His work is also included in the collection of The British Library."

The Sleeper Wakes has been out of print for many years and we are very happy to remaster and reissue this great work that was ahead of it's time, employing analog treatments of sampled sounds arranged in a very interesting and intuitive way.