Greg Ashley

Greg Ashley has poked into our lives around here numerous times, rearing up with his excellent garage pips The Mirrors and leveling the mid-2000s with The Gris Gris and his psych-pop littered solo efforts. It’s become so that the mere mention of Ashley's name almost instantaneously runs any subsequent dialog about him through a flange effect. So it's oddly refreshing to hear the man strip back the layers of psychedelic froth and pine for his inner Leonard Cohen and Lee Hazelwood moments on Another Generation of Slaves. Backed up by a cadre of seasoned session and jazz vets, his latest keeps things flush with ace playing but no flange to be found anywhere, just straightforward songs that let him play the part of the troubadour, bringing Ashley's songwriting and stark lyric portrayals to the forefront. Its one of the best, if not the best, set of songs that Ashley has ever put his name to. The production is bare bones, as if you can feel the room around you as the record takes shape. The cracked keys on the piano come through every note, Ashley's voice buzzes with just a hint of hiss in your ears and its hard not to lean in and try to listen for the click of the tape recorder to snap off at the end of each take. It’s always nice to see someone reach the next plateau and in this case its wonderful to hear it as well.

Listen:


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