Small Talk - A Soothing Songbook From Forager Records
When you look up the term ‘forager’, it should say something like “a person or animal that searches widely for food or provisions.” Provisions are exactly what the LA-based label Forager Records has been peacefully providing since the release of their brilliant 2021 comp “Belong To The Wind.” Securing a sonic legacy in atmospheric archiving of underground songwriters, bands, and artists of the like, the label’s taste for tonal triumph is nothing to overlook in the rich and complicated world of bringing music back from the dead, or to the soothing surface for the first time since its cosmic conception. Like Indiana Jones, Rick O’Connell, or some 17th-century pirate obsessed with poetic pearls buried deep in the ocean’s salty soul, excavating from the endless vault of selected volume, and precious performances from the past is something many of us take seriously. There’s just as much, if not more, artistic real estate in the previous years that still needs to be activated by those who see its value as undeniably priceless, and too exciting to unearth as it continues its sophisticated sleep in the lyrical layers of days gone by. From the Michigan-based folk duo Flight and their lone masterpiece “I’m Coming Home,” to 2022’s compelling compilations “Sky Dust Drifter” and “Vacation From My Mind,” and last year’s harmonious heater “Forever Gamblin’ On You,” Forager Records compiled another catatonic collections of sights, and sounds entitled “Small Talk.”
Charmer: Bill Johnson, Bob Smith, Dudley-Brian Smith, Jan Smith, and Joel Smith.
Compiled by Arizona-based online archivist Brandon McMahon, the album captures the eager essence of romance, cosmic communication between counterparts, and the overall arc from one end of the heart to the other. Exploring the elements of loneliness, age, community comfort, and good times to be had, “Small Talk” offers a unique balance of bronchial ballads that tell tales from the chest of celestial captivation. Compiling AOR/Soul/Folk-friendly artists such as Allan Mackey, Gasper & Dukes, Greg Boehme, who first appeared on the 1978 compilation “KYYX•FM Seattle Grown,” Rick Steffen, among others, on this sailing ship into singing seas of space and time, these artists were on a melodic mission to secure the vibe from those who selfishly volunteered their generation into a fight, or flight hellscape in the years prior. It was now time to sit back and enjoy the fruits of their lyrical labor. From lands of lush liberation and tender troves of fiery passion, lurks a bountiful body of work just waiting to be found in all its meditative mastery.
