On the night before their headlining show at Philadelphia's Union Transfer, Strand Of Oaks' frontman Tim Showalter stopped by The Philly Local Show on WXPN to guest DJ for an hour. He and host John Vettesse collaborated to create a setlist and dubbed the theme "cosmic folk." Listen to the entire set above.
The first two songs of the show were written by Big Star guitarist Chris Bell, and set in stone the cosmic theme, "I Am The Cosmos" was performed by Bell himself, and "You and Your Sister" was covered by British experimental folk band This Mortal Coil. Both songs have an ethereal, spacey effect to them.
The playlist was also brought together through songs that generated a deep emotional response in Showalter, and featured many artists that greatly influenced his music or changed his life. The fourth song of the show was "Two Blue Lights" by Songs: Ohia, the project of singer/songwriter Jason Molina, off his 2002 album Didn't It Rain. Strand of Oaks' "JM" is written about Showalter's connection to Molina's music. Showalter talked about the effect of Didn't It Rain, saying “It was a game changer, I bought every one of his records but it was so wild to hear.”
He also chose a song off Ryan Adams' recently released self titled album called "Am I Safe." Showalter spoke highly of Adams' new album during the show:
I had my top 10 list in cement of like my favorite records, and I never put them in order, I have this weird grouping of 10 records I love and then it wasn’t until august when I got ahold of the Ryan Adams record and I was like wait, the whole list changes now. I’ve never had a record I instantly loved more.
The show ended with an unreleased Jeff Buckley song that he recorded with Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins, called “All Flowers In Time Bend Toward the Sun.” The song is raw and devastating, filled with emotion and outstanding harmonies. It was a fitting and very strong end to an extremely cohesive, fun and powerful hour of radio.
Strand of Oaks' album Heal is sure to make many "Best Of 2014" lists. You can pick it up on Amazon (Vinyl, CD, MP3) and iTunes. You can also listen right here on Zumic, via Spotify.
For more on Strand Of Oaks, including news, music, and tour dates, head over to their Zumic artist page.
Source: WXPN SoundCloud
