Rayland Baxter - '79 Shiny Revolvers'

Like most of my music discoveries of late, I stumbled upon '79 Shiny Revolvers' six years after its release.

The tune is penned by Rayland Baxter, a more grounded version of Mac DeMarco.  But he happens to hail from Nashville, as opposed to the Great White North.  Rayland's dad is Bucky, a guitarist in his own right, who passed away in 2020.  

'79 Shiny Revolvers' presents itself as a Jeff Buckley-meets-John Prine exegesis;  it is a wistfully plaintive ditty about America's great firearm obsession. (Think 'Pumped Up Kicks' by Foster the People, but without the electronica and reverb).  

I am honestly surprised that Rayland hasn't had more press or hype than I am aware of.  He seems to have a lot of potential.

While there is no official music video for this track, Rayland Baxter performed it live for Paste Magazine a few years ago.  You can stream that performance below:

Homeshake - 'Midnight Snack'

Awhile back I wrote a post on how enamored I was with Men I Trust. Since then, I have stumbled across another artist who captures the same diffident spirit.

The project is called Homeshake.  And its architect is another Quebec-based artist named Peter Sagar.  The kicker is that Homeshake recorded almost half a decade before Men I Trust’s Oncle Jazz, yet I only learned of it now.  It’s a shame I am late to the party, because Homeshake perfectly captures the aura of solitary indie rock.

The song I would like to feature today is ‘Midnight Snack,’ which is reminiscent of a Mac DeMarco production.  That is because Peter was Mac’s touring guitarist for some time before his solo breakout. 

The general vibe is flaccid, yet longing.  The instrumentation is thinly layered, with a proper sprinkling of despair.  In other words, it is the perfect jam for a pensive, introspective day.

Check out the video to ‘Midnight Snack’ by Homeshake below: