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Saturday, September 15, 2018

Whispering Tree, Smashing Pumpkins and other new sounds added to our big mix

We were recently introduced to The Whispering Tree, a duo based in New York's Hudson Valley that creates artful pop with folk, jazz, rock and other influences. Pianist/vocalist Eleanor Kleiner, who grew up in the New York area, and French multi-instrumentalist Elie Brangbour began their collaboration in 2007 after meeting at music school in London. They've just released their fourth collection, Invisible Forces, which they self-produced at their home and a nearby studio. The LP title comes from the song we're featuring in the New Music bin - "Heavy," a reflection on the passage from carefree childhood to the burdens of adulthood.

Trees may whisper, but pumpkins smash. Billy Corgan got most of the Smashing Pumpkins back together for a tour this summer and produced an album due out later this fall, with an unweildy title that we'll shorten to Shiny and Oh So Bright. We're picking up on the second single to spin out, "Silvery Sometimes (Ghosts)." Rolling Stone says its "guitar-driven, bright melodies and Corgan’s inflection recall early era Pumpkins with a 1979 vibe that should please longtime fans."

The story goes that Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall moved to Los Angeles a couple of years ago with the intention of writing music for movies and abandoning her solo career. As Billboard writes, her new surroundings "proved to be a well of inspiration -- just two years later, she’s already back with a roaring single and a new LP." The single, “The River,” is now in our New Music bin and the album, Wax, is due Oct. 5.

This week we're also dipping back into two albums released this summer.

We've previously featured the brooding "The Storm Won't Come" from Richard Thompson's latest collection, 13 Rivers. Now we're spinning "Bones Of Gilead," which is a faster-paced rocker but with a somewhat similar theme: "This is about an impending crisis, but it’s a good crisis," Thompson says of the track. "It’s an uncomfortable process to go through, one you may barely survive, but it brings knowledge and growth and love.”

And from American Child, the great new album by blues/soul artist Shemekia Copeland, we're adding "Great Rain," a duet with John Prine covering a song by ... John Prine, which appeared on his 1991 album The Missing Years. Copeland's LP is currently riding high on blues and Americana record charts. We've been playing the powerful "Ain't Got Time for Hate" and you'll occasionally hear us spin the joyful ode to diversity, "Americans."

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