Quarantined in the sleepy San Pedro neighborhood of Vinegar Hill, on the same harbor-adjacent street where Charles Bukowski lived out his final years, David-Ivar Herman Dune, visual artist and founding anchor of French antifolk stalwarts Herman Dune, turned those Covid-induced anxieties inward and emerged from his home studio with the new full-length LP Notes From Vinegar Hill. There's something for everyone on this record-folksy rockers, Bakersfield twang, Big Pink-style Americana, 70s AM Gold, and rough-hewn Cold Turkey guitar stomps. The songs speak of the suffocating claustrophobia of isolation and fear, the anguish of being an immigrant in a country where policies harden by the moment, but also of the beauty of California, the ocean, and a quiet life with three black cats that turned the heart of a Scorpio toward felines. This album is dedicated to David Berman.
