Listen: Phil Cook - "The Jensens"

It seems like the spindly instrumental guitar folk of Megafaun's Phil Cook's first solo endeavor Phil Cook & His Feat might be a thing of the past. Teaming up with bassist Nick Sanborn and the Bowerbirds' Yan Westerlund on drums, the creaky porch floorboards that severed as Cook's sole accompaniment on Hungry Mother Blues are old news as the previously compact little album-ending ditty "The Jensens" expands almost twice its size. The soothing ending track instead becomes a pulsing rouser, filled with purring guitar solos and high flying counter melodies. Luckily it's spirit stays more or less the same; there's no words and all of the ax-action isn't too flashy. It remains an utterly transportive piece of guitar rock excellence that makes you silently applaud Cook's instrumental prowess.



Comparing the two different versions becomes like comparing apples and bananas. One thing is for sure, Phil Cook is endless talented and it'll be great to see what else he's whipped up on his upcoming EP This Side Up. Fortunately we don't have to have too long for that. This Side Up is out August 13th on Trekky Records.

Listen: William Tyler - "Cadillac Desert"

If you're anything like me, you like maybe even prefer absolute stunning instrumentals over clever lyricism atop rather simplistic arrangements. There's just something so incredibly great about the rather revealing quality of a song that needs to bring it all melodically. Ultimately that's what I'm most drawn to even when there's words attached. What's happening musically?

Well for those like me, you're in luck. Taking his place among instrumental acts like Delicate Steve, Collections of Colonies of Bees or Phil Cook & His Feat, William Tyler is releasing a brand new album with Merge and if idyllic scorcher "Cadillac Desert" is anything to go off off, it's going to be an absolutely amazing collection of melody-laden guitar rock. On it, Tyler goes more places thematically in it's mammoth open air sprawl than most albums do while maintaining a smooth, clear timeline. It's minimalistic without being laboriously so and Tyler's ability to recycle themes while still moving the track along is rather incredible. It's the kind of track that could go on forever and you wouldn't hear a single complaint. It's a wind-swept pastoral reverie without any need for words and you wouldn't have it any other way.

William Tyler's Impossible Truth is out March 19th on Merge Records. 

Now Streaming: Delicate Steve - Positive Force

It's a strange wonder that I haven't listened to New Jersey rock quintet Delicate Steve before today, the band has played shows with some of my absolute favorite artists/bands like Maps & Atlases, Buke & Gase, & tUnE-yArDs to name but a few that I'm undoubtedly missing. If you've paid any attention to the amount of praise I've given Collections of Colonies of Bees or Phil Cook & His Feat then you probably know instrumental albums are a definite favorite of mine - a favorite where few brilliant, shining works lie. Well Delicate Steve is about to change all that.

Featuring bright, exuberant melodies and fanciful instrumental songcraft, Delicate Steve's Positive Force is poised to become the soundtrack to my summer and might very well be yours if you let it. Each track is a veritable pop gem which puts a decidedly interesting and unique spin on world-influenced music. There's no playing make believe like you sometimes get but the influence funnels into their music alongside a sort of middle-end rock aesthetic and the result is an album you'll pretty much have to pry out of my hands. It's everything I didn't know I was looking for and then some.

You can stream Delicate Steve's Positive Force on NPR now until it's July 10th release date.

Phil Cook & His Feat - "Leaning On the Everlasting Arms"

Last year, Megafaun's Phil Cook made his solo debut under the moniker Phil Cook and His Feat with instrumental album Hungry Mother Blues and despite Megafaun's busy touring schedule in support of their self-titled fourth album, he's somehow had time to cut a spectacular cover of a traditional hymn "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" for a split digital 7" with Skylar Gudasz. Unlike Phil Cook's previous release though, his cover is packed to the brim with swelling spirited vocals alongside some rather jazzy piano and banjo.

Phil Cook & His Feat - Hungry Mother Blues (2011)

When he's not roaming around with experimental folk outfit Megafaun, indie rock supergroup GAYNGS, or helping fellow North Carolina musicians, Phil Cook writes peaceful down-home folk. Who'd have guessed? Not I. The release of his new album Hungry Mother Blues was a completely shock to me and if not for a tweet from one of his Megafaun bandmates, I wouldn't have even known the album existed.

Hungry Mother Blues is an all-star set of acoustic tunes played on a multitude of instruments like dobroe, guitar, and banjo inspired by the various genres of the American Heartland namely blues, folk, and country. The tunes are short but succinct, virtuosic but not flashy. With no vocals, nothing distracts from Phil Cook's talent and you can just sit back and enjoy what is no doubt a good instrumental album.

I never knew just a man and his guitar could sound so good but Phil Cook will make a true believer out of you with his simple, rural folk tales. It's music that not only conjures up images of a hot summer day on a shady porch but also of the various characters you can see from it. Give Phil Cook's album a listen via Bandcamp.