Kevin Bronson on March 19th, 2013

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Charlie Clark is known in the neighborhood as the scruffy, amiable host of the Thursday songwriter night in the lounge at Taix restaurant in Echo Park, but he compiled quite a resumé before moving to L.A. from his native Scotland a couple years ago. He co-founded the indie-pop outfit Astrid, was a regular in the Scottish supergroup the Reindeer Section (with members of Snow Patrol, Belle & Sebastian, Arab Strap and other luminaries) and played on recordings by Mogwai, Arab Strap, Snow Patrol and others. His solo debut “Feel Something” lives up its imperative; Clark’s songs feel molded by gentle hands and warmed by a big heart. His new work features Brandi Emma (who released a lovely album in 2007 under the name Emma Burgess), Isobel Campbell, Yohei Shikano (My Hawaii), Kaitlin Wolfberg (Fort King), Joe Luisi and Eric McCann (A House For Lions), who also produced the record. “Feel Something” will come out April 29 on the label AED, the imprint of Orange Juice’s Edwyn Collins, who produced Astrid’s debut back in ’99. Clark and Emma are the centerpieces of director’s Paul Orehovec’s video for the psych-pop meditation “Sunken Ships,” getting its U.S. premiere here. Gorgeous.

||| Live: Charlie Clark & Brandi Emma, joined by Hélène Renaut, Black Mandolin, the Ruthann Friedman Band and Fort King, play the Champagne Room at Taix on Saturday night.

Fort King