Don't Miss a Trip on Ryan Baine's 'Morning Flight'

Plus, Taylor Swift is eating up the top 10 spots on the charts. Why not listen to something else?

If you’re a Swiftie, that’s all well and good, but today's news that she became the first artist to occupy all of the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart is highly depressing. I say this not as a criticism of Taylor Swift but more on the sad state of this country’s music industry, which is lost in algorithms and sends all of the cash and publicity to a small group of artists and labels. It’s not like Billboard hasn’t floundered for thirty years, but most of Midnights is in the Top 20, and the rest is full of stale turds like Post Malone and OneRepublic (oh, and the “canceled” Morgan Wallen).

Moments like this, when being force-fed an endless factory line of homogenous auditory junk is the norm, is why I started this newsletter. Everything on today’s playlist is from 2022, with most of it releasing in the last few weeks, save for Sky Ferreira’s comeback single, “Don’t Forget,” from earlier this year, and an unreleased gem of a Dennis Wilson-led Beach Boys song from fifty years ago.

You won’t find Gold Tides, Pearl Charles, Ryan Baine, Pastel, TOPS, King Tuff, Aoife Nessa Frances, Hagpop Tchaparian, The Men, or The Soft Pink Truth anywhere near the charts, but I hope you find a new loved song here.

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Los Angeles-based Curation Records’ track record is so reliably spectacular at this point that if you’re a fan of their brand of hazy AOR throwbacks, each release is a must-hear feast. They’ve fruitfully raced through the second half of 2022, with Triptides, Sean Thompson’s Weird Ears, and Uni Boys being some of the year’s favorites featured here on Check This Out.

The “California Curated Cool” label was back at it last week with Morning Flight, the full-length debut from Ryan Baine. Inspired by the singer-songwriter’s surroundings in the surfside town of San Clemente, Morning Flight is the auditory equivalent of spending the day shooting the curl with a night of beers by the campfire. Helping Baine realize this sound is a murderer’s row of musicians from the scene, including members of Mapache, GospelbeacH, Howlin’ Rain, and the skull and roses stylings of Grateful Shred.

The instrumental Tropicália of “Desta” sets quite the easygoing mood before “Moonlight Ma” sounds like David Gilmour trading the English countryside for a tranquil Pacific cove. “Don’t Lose Your Soul” treads welcomed new territory in the Curation Records catalog with a refreshing hint of early 00s indie rock. Between Justin Smith’s shuffling drums and Baine’s vocals buried under echoey layers, it’s closer to Portland legends The Helio Sequence’s early era than the 70s Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter flair the label gravitates towards with their releases. Greg Marino’s saxophone work is also a driving factor in what makes Morning Flight such an exceptional record, with “Independent Lady” and “Shooting Stars” teasing soulful Stones circa Sticky Fingers.

Produced by Jason Soda (who also provides some tremendous six-string jams on songs like “Lily Pad” and “Mystic Woman”) and recorded to analog at Palamino Sound, Morning Flight pulses with a warm glow, enveloping the listener like a well-worn drug rug. The sessions are from 2019, an equivalency these days to two lifetimes ago, but thanks to new mastering from JJ Golden and distribution by Curation Records, we can now join Ryan Baine on his chilled-out journey through the tides.

Morning Flight is available now on Curation Records.