“It’s the end of the world as we know it,” trail-blazing rock band R.E.M. once sang on their Document record. Little would they know that the world would go up in flames 30 years later ? in near post-apocalyptic proportions. A president clings to his Twitter page with all he’s got, and California is on the brink of burning to the ground completely. Ash clouds grow thicker by the day. But we continue to soldier on, turning to art and music to make us feel as fine as we can possibly be. Americana singer-songwriter James Houlahan drifts in and out of smothering smoke storms and fiery flakes that lick his heels with his brand new record, The Wheel Still in Spin, a deftly-constructed collection which glides between states of being with surprising ease.
Around the release, and as an exclusive to B-Sides & Badlands, Houlahan drafts a playlist of songs ripe for the end of the world, the very last state of being for all of us, you could say. From Leonard Cohen and Father John Misty to Wilco and Lucinda Williams, he touches on the breadth of Americana music and the sturdy, but tragic, American way of living with a playlist to get us through the tough times of this so-called life. The playlist also features Jolie Holland, The Low Anthem and Sunny War, among others….READ MORE
