Gord Downie, Adrianne Lenker and more

It’s Friday so that means we’ve got some new releases to talk about.

Gord Downie’s final solo recording “Away Is Mine” has arrived. It was recorded at The Tragically Hip’s studio in Bath, Ontario, in July 2017. The 20-track collection highlights Gord’s poetic mastery with vibrant yet haunting production by Nyles Spencer that casts each song in different otherworldly light.

Adrianne Lenker’s (from Big Thief) “Songs and Instrumentals” are two distinct collections, both written and recorded in April after Big Thief’s March tour was abruptly cut short due to coronavirus.

Finally, if you missed out on the Record Store Day version (like everyone did), the Dune soundtrack has been issued on black vinyl.

Here’s all the details on the new releases.

Gord Downie – Away Is Mine

Away Is Mine is Gord Downie’s final solo recording, recorded at The Tragically Hip’s studio in Bath, Ontario, in July 2017. A questing and idiosyncratic work steered to life by “my oldest Toronto friend,” guitarist and co-writer Josh Finlayson, the last ten songs Gord wrote hold fast to his unwavering artistic spirit, deft hand with words and forever inscrutable sense of humour as he locks eyes head-on with the Great Inevitability. Away Is Mine is a contemplation on Gord’s life – a document of an artist disappearing into his art, essentially becoming his art through that process. Presented as a double album with Electric and Acoustic versions, the 20-track collection highlights Gord’s poetic mastery with vibrant yet haunting production by Nyles Spencer that casts each song in different otherworldly light. Downie and Finlayson recorded in a burst of live takes over three days with Travis Good of The Sadies on fiddle, mandolin, and guitars, and drum parts shared by Dave “Billy Ray” Koster and Lou Downie (Gord’s son). Like all of the music and poetry and the memories and the genius that Gord gifted us during his 53 years on our planet, it is immortal – and yet it took a fearless reckoning with his own mortality to get us here.

Adrianne Lenker – Songs And Instrumentals

Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker’s “songs and instrumentals” are two distinct collections, both written and recorded in April after Big Thief’s March tour was abruptly cut short due to coronavirus. After returning to the states from Europe, Lenker decamped to a one room cabin in the mountains of western Massachusetts. With a hankering to capture the feel of the space, Lenker enlisted the help of engineer Philip Weinrobe, gathering a mass of tape machines, a binaural head, and a pile of XLR cables. Nine of these songs were written freshly during the recording session. Lenker and Phil began and closed each day with an improvised acoustic guitar instrumental, later making a collage of their favorite pieces, which became the first side of the instrumentals album. This recording is 100% analog-analog-analog (AAA). No digital process was used in the production of this sound recording. The album’s stunning artwork are watercolor paintings done by Adrianne’s grandmother, Diane Lee.

Dune Soundtrack

Soundtrack to David Lynch’s 1984 cult film. Composed by TOTO and Brian Eno. Sourced from the original master tapes. Audiophile Pressing at RTI.

Prologue, Main Title, Robot Fight, Leto’s Theme, The Box, The Floating Fat Man (The Baron), Trip to Arrakis, First Attack, Prophecy Theme, Dune (Desert Theme), Paul Meets Chani, Prelude (Take My Hand), Paul Takes The Water Of Life, Big Battle, Paul Kills Feyd, Final Dream, Take My Hand

See ya real soon!