Doug Tuttle - Keeping Alive

 

I am a big admirer of what Doug Tuttle does. He writes and performs wonderfully atmospheric albums. His lazy vocal suits the material, laidback with the ability to stretch out if needed. He offers up great Pop Rock that would have been at home in both the 60s and the 70s. 

I suppose you might call his material Classic Rock, but that would be too simplistic. It is much more than that. Songs take you gently into a poppier direction, but it wasn't always such. When I first got into Tuttle, he was much more of a DIY Lo-Fi Psych Pop artist. 

But 2017's Peace Potato (IDHAS Review here) changed all that. The production went bigger and although the Psych Pop was still around, but there was more Jangle with more of a concentration om melody and harmony. 

2019's Dream Road headed even further into Guitar Pop and is a crackerjack of an album. So much so that it hit the I Don't Hear A Single Best Of Year. You can read that review here. So it was interesting to discover the developments four years on with this follow up.

There seems less of the Jangle Pop here, but it when it does appear, it is very welcoming. Something In The Sky is a great song and underlines the fact that Jangling doesn't necessarily need pace. Ratchet even sounds like something on a Ward White album.

There are also songs that you could imagine being recorded in a big 60s Studio setting. Parting Gifts is one such song, which is also a song that you can imagine Bernard Butler soloing on. Mutineers is another big 60s sounding affair, this time a little more ballad like and a cracking hypnotic keyboard riff.

For Tomorrow even heads into West Coast, almost Country, Rock. Enough Enough even puts one foot in the 80s and includes a great solo. The real stand out though is Planting Weeds which has a Traveling Wilburys' production feel, similar to a Petty solo, although the vocal is nearer Harrison. It all contains a great Psych Pop-ish Guitar solo that reminds you of past Tuttle Glories.

You can listen to and buy the album here. You can by the Vinyl Version here.

........................................

I Don't Hear A Single Albums Of The Year 2019 : 61- 70

It's been difficult to get these choices down to 100. I'm also not a believer in saying one album is better than another. Most of the time you are comparing Apples To Oranges. I'm not a List person, I just think what's the point.

However, for the last couple of years I have compiled Best Of 2019, normally I just said what my favourite album of the year is. I've done it again, because these posts seem so popular and the aim of this Blog is to get exposure (and Sales) for the artists.

There is no meaning or judgement on an album that is Number 1, Number 100 or not on the list. Anything that I review on here, mention on Social Media or play on the Radio Show is as highly recommended.

I would also add that the Top 100 includes albums available as Download Only. To suggest that they are anything less than equal to a Physical release is patently nonsense and omits many wonderful albums.

I will compile a Top 20 of Reissues and Compilations combined after all this is complete. For each album, I've posted a song from it and a link to the review, where you can find further details on how to listen or buy the album.



61 Traffik Island - Nature Strip      IDHAS Review








62 Rainbow Danger Club - Treehouse Empire       IDHAS Review








63 Mannequin Pussy - Patience       IDHAS Review








64 Doug Tuttle - Dream Road       IDHAS Review








65 The Gold Needles - Through A Window       IDHAS Review

66 Big Eyes - Streets Of The Lost       IDHAS Review

67 Bottlecap Mountain - Dismayland      IDHAS Review 

68 Fangclub - Vulture Culture       IDHAS Review

69 The Greek Theatre - When Seasons Change       IDHAS Review

70 The Needs - You Need The Needs      IDHAS Review 








.....

Doug Tuttle - Dream Road

Oh how I love Boston's Doug Tuttle. His brand of Jangle Psych Pop is really affecting, at times almost Canterbury light. Burger Records release his fourth album and although pleasing to report that there is no major change in direction, it does feel as though the Pop is Poppier.

You can read the IDHAS review of his last album, Peace Potato here. That album was a tad fragmented, some songs not fully formed, none of that applies to Dream Road. The focus is spot on, probably aided by the tighter ten song playlist.






Tuttle is a one man soundscape, the gentleness and laid back Vocals, adding to the laid back feel. There is that tendency to Jangle which allows comparisons with The Byrds and Teenage Fanclub's quieter mode. But the influences are really further spread.

There are Country Tinges, the odd Tyrannosaurus Rex feel, even a Stealers Wheel vibe, but largely this sounds more like a traditional West Coast American album. Albeit, there's a real gentleness and tone to the proceedings.






Is This World Alone is a perfect example of what Tuttle does so well, it reminds you of so many, but is essentially him. The arrangement on Can You Feel It is achingly melancholic and All Alone is fantastically sleepy more modern Psych Pop.


Opener, I'll Throw It All Away is Nashville Pop from a bygone age, it has a splendid hook. It is Long Day To Your Home that grabbed me most with its sonic overtones to The Outlaws without the bombast. Dream Road is a superb "relax and listen" offering. An ideal way to spend 30 minutes away from the madness.






You can listen to and buy the album here.


....

Doug Tuttle - Peace Potato

After listening to plenty of noise lately, it's nice to be back in the more mellow territory of Doug Tuttle. His third album is beautifully played, it's great melodic pop with plenty of jangle but firmly in the Psych Pop land of The Orgone Box and such.

That Byrds like Jangle bookends the album with Bait The Sun and You Have Begun and there are hints of George Harrison solo stuff. However in between it's that laid back Psych Pop that shines through. We aren't talking backward guitars and unexpected keyboards, we are talking about how harmonic it all is.




Tuttle is a fine guitarist, both as a straight ahead player and with effects and that talent shines. It makes it more than a lot of what else is around. I hear so many samey or fake Psych Pop that it's noticeable when you hear something done properly and Peace Potato does that.

The album is wonderfully quaint, you can hear the tape being turned off at times and it's as though so many ideas are encompassed that it can give the impression of being a bit under cooked, the songs sometimes feel slightly unfinished, but that's it's charm.





15 songs in 33 minutes might cement that thought, but this is such a great listen that it really doesn't matter. I'd much rather have that than the opposite with three minute ideas extended to six of boredom. The gentleness is really soothing.

By far the stand out is the magnificent Only In A Dream, but there is something for everyone. All You See aches splendidly, Can It Be is very Gerry Rafferty and there are plenty of hints of West Coast Pop.  All in all, Peace Potato is a most welcome offering. Tune In and Chill Out.






You can listen to and buy the album here.