Pushin' Against a Stone

This is a great folk/soul album. I don’t think many people realize how much influence black folks have had on what we consider to be American folk music. Much of what AP Carter and Alan Lomax codified as American folk music was directly recorded from black people in the rural south. As someone who plays traditional American folk music, I care about the truth of where our music comes from and whose story is being left out. Valerie June is reclaiming that story and I’m glad she’s represented here. Thank you to whoever included her!

Wow just a delightful mix of Blues, R&B, gospel, and Bluegrass. Utterly unique and utterly American.

Something fully new to me, which is always nice. I sort of vacillated over whether I felt like the old timey vocal style was too much of an affectation. It seems like she probably came by it honestly and I ended up feeling like I generally liked it, but that it might wear thin at length. The instrumentation did the job but a lot of it felt fairly nondescript.

It's an unbelievably calm album, straddling a few different genres. It's old school, but with a new world feel. Interesting listen.

Dan Auberbach is the master of spending a small fortune to make something sound like it was authentically recorded badly in 1964, isn't he? Beautiful voice, lovely melodies, but the production left me very cold. I'll definitely listen to more from the artist, but I want to hear how she sounds when not forced to perform through pretentiously vintage kit!

Wow… this was a unique album! Sounded absolutely wonderful with that bluegrass-tinted vocal delivery. Wonderful addition to the list.

So lovely. A favorite of mine.

Super cool!!!

I just love getting an album I've never heard of that blows me away with its amazingness. This puts together so many wonderful things in its own distinctive blend. Yay Valerie June!

I really liked this a lot. Very unexpected, given that the genre listed is Soul. Sounds much more traditional folk/Americana to me, and I like it. 4 stars.

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Wanna be on your mind, You can’t be told, Somebody to love

Amazing voice. Very calming music. Loved it

Her vocal style really works for me and the bluesy and soulful arrangements are enjoyable. Wanna Be On Your Mind and Pushin' Against a Stone work best for me. Though there are a few tracks that are kinda 'meh', there is enough passion and power in the style that made it an enjoyable surprise.

Rootsy. Don’t really warm to her slightly whiny voice.

Really enjoyable 4 3

I like the more soulful songs, but I don't like the folky ones nearly as much, especially the sparer, slower ones.

Pleasant listen.

Liked this, listened to it multiple times already. it goes a bit too country at times but overall really nice music 3.4

Soul, alternative. Ni fu ni fa.

Interesting. Pretty nice

This was a pretty cool and unique of soul, R&B with a bit of rock and folk. It had a lot of different tempos. The j instrumentals were solid and June has a very nice voice. All in all it was pretty nice to hear something new and this good while still being modern. 7.0/10

Recording feels a bit awkward at times

This was an enjoyable surprise. It has an almost timeless quality due to all of the genres Valerie June plays in. Her vocal style grated on me a little bit, both too much and not enough for what she was trying to do with it. Fave Songs: Pushin' Against a Stone; Trials, Troubles, Tribulations; Workin' Woman Blues; Tennessee Time

Singer/songwriter is one of my least favorite genres. She has talent, for sure, but it's not my jam. Worth a listen though.

Chilled out, soulful, pleasant. Rating: 2.5 Playlist track: Wanna Be on Your Mind Date listened: 02/12/24

This LP had an uphill battle already as singer-songwriter is one of my least favorite genres, but it was so vapid and poorly constructed that it actually made me a little angry. June has little to offer in the way of original songwriting, with most of these being timid covers of greats gone by. Much worse, her take on these classics is the softest, most quavering vocal I’ve heard in a while - it’s almost as if she’s afraid to raise her voice above a whisper lest someone know she’s singing. I wanted to attribute this to bad mixing, but even on the very few tracks that have a tempo above a crawl her vocals barely rise above the instrumentals. Just an uninspired, insipid LP overall that brings nothing new to the table.

It bored me terribly, it's not for me. Even the stronger tracks didn't make a difference that excited me, I think it's for more niche tastes.

Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no...... no. End of album update: fuck, no. 1/5.