Credit Where It's Due

[mp3] Sonya Cotton: "Red River"

Some of the most interesting music we've come across in the past few days has come (of course) from some of our favorite music blogs. Vince hates these double posts, but deal with it buddy. Thanks to Some Velvet Blog and Aquarium Drunkard for the below.

First, we have the delicate and gorgeous folk stylings of San Francisco's Sonya Cotton. Finding solace in simple and pleasing traditional sounding melodies, Cotton weaves her way through most songs with only finger picked guitar; yet at times the mood is broken by tasteful drums, a violin or horns. Cotton certainly fits well with Stark favorites Alela Diane and Marissa Nadler, but as SVB points out, her voice also bares resemblance to Natalie Merchant, at her least annoying. We're only beginning to dig into Cotton's self-released Red River, but so far, it's extremely satisfying. Cotton is heading East in the middle of May and you can buy Red River HERE.

[mp3] Family Band: "Fantasy"
[mp3] Family Band: "Hatred"

The lay person would probably lump both the above artist Sonya Cotton, and this artist, Brooklyn's Family Band, into the all-encompassing folk category and move on -- yet, these two artists are markedly different. Family Band channel a warmer, more organic sound - autumnal and melancholy but still with a hint of brightness. Their record Miller Path comes out April 15 and there are 500 (make that 499) limited edition vinyls available HERE. Check them out, now.