The music of Michael Nau sounds effortless. For the past eight years, Nau has written songs with his wife Whitney McGraw under the name Cotton Jones. Along with their rotating cast of auxiliary members, Nau and McGraw kept a busy schedule of releasing records, rehearsing, and touring. Along the way, Nau would track song ideas. There was a stockpile of these recordings—little sonic experiments, layering exercises, the occasional fully-formed song—nestled away in the Cotton Jones compound in the tiny Appalachian city of Cumberland, Maryland, waiting to be pulled from the shelf and ushered into the sunlight. So with the help of a few musician friends, Nau sifted through those recordings. Given the sporadic formation of the songs off of Mowing there is a surprising continuity and timbre in mood. Album opener “While You Stand” kicks things off with little more than a delicate acoustic guitar line and a modestly hummed chorus, the song creates the inviting aura of sunlight coming through the kitchen window on an early Saturday morning. Like so many classics in the Cotton Jones canon, songs like “Your Jewel," “So, So Long," and “Unwound” conjure the sounds that linger on lonely stretches of the radio dial, where Cat Stevens, Harry Chapin, and Randy Vanwarmer crackle on with their infinite humble appeal. Elsewhere on Mowing, you can hear Nau’s beguiling experiments—the bossa nova cadence of “Smooth Aisles," the woozy chaise lounge instrumental “Mow," the baroque pop of “Winter Beat.”
This is one of my favorite albums of all time. I found it in 2018 and I’ve been consistently coming back to it (and others of Michael’s works) ever since. Although each track holds a special place in my heart, my favorite has to be Some Strange Rain. So happy to finally get a vinyl of this record + a CD for my car. Thank you for all the great music. veggieloop
Pairing lo-fi indie rock with silvery folk instrumentation, the self-described "bedroom pop wizard" casts a cozy, poignant spell. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 11, 2024
My god, what an absolutely incredible Suite. I'll admit, I've struggled to get into Pharoah Sanders due to diving headfirst into some of his most challenging catalogue and that never worked. This is the perfect place to restart. Floating Points is new for me and I can honestly say I've never heard synthesizer music this lush and organic before. the LSO is just perfect. This is one of those albums that any serious music fan needs in their life. The perfect swan song for the great Pharaoh! 5/5 ClassyMusicSnob