The OG music blog Aquarium Drunkard has a cool longstanding series called Lagniappe Sessions in which artists perform a series of covers and they’re released as actual free downloadable MP3s, like in the good old days. The latest act to participate in this series is called Mountain Man — the reunited minimalist folk trio comprising Molly Sarlé, Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, and Sylvan Esso’s Amelia Meath, who just released their first album in eight years, Magic Ship.

Mountain Man’s choices of cover material are fairly unimpeachable. First up is “Slow Burn,” the opening track from Kacey Musgraves’ instant-classic Golden Hour. “We talk a lot about the importance of patience in love and this song explains it, simply and slowly,” the band says in a note accompanying the recording. Then comes Neil Young’s Zuma closer “Through My Sails” — “It’s a feeling translated into words, a quiet ending on a restless album.” Finally, they deliver an a cappella version of “Hot Knife,” the closing track from Fiona Apple’s The Idler Wheel Is Wiser Than The Driver Of The Screw And Whipping Cords Will Serve You More Than Ropes Will Ever Do. The band explains, “We wanted to learn this song as an exercise and it just stuck as something we wanted to sing together all the time.”

All three covers are worth your time. Listen and/or download them at Aquarium Drunkard, where you can also find more extensive commentary from the band on their choice of material.

TOUR DATES:
10/23 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Cafe Live
10/25 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
10/27 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
10/29 – Ann Arbor, MI @ The Ark
10/30 – Chicago, IL @ Old Town School of Folk Music
11/01 – Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
11/02 – Omaha, NE @ Waiting Room
11/03 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
11/05 – Seattle, WA @ St. Mark’s Cathedral
11/06 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
11/08 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
11/09 – Los Angeles, CA @ Masonic Lodge
11/17 – Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom