New Music: MV & EE with the Bummer Road, Dead Meadow, Leaves

I'm putting the finishing touches on my Top 60 of 06; expect it very shortly. For now though, back to the reviews.




MV & EE with the Bummer Road - Canned Happiness (mp3) - Green Blues (Ecstatic Peace 2006)


MV & EE with the Bummer Road – Green Blues / Ecstatic Peace

Maybe it's because I haven't truly explored the genre to a full extent, but whenever I have come across an album dubbed 'acid-folk,' the resulting experience has never really lived up to what the name seems to apply. Sure the instrumentation is a bit more colorful and the song structures a little more obtuse, but rarely does it sound like the aural equivalent of an LSD trip. MV & EE with the Bummer Road on the other hand, truly sound as if they are making a go at pure acid-folk with Green Blues, the follow-up to the much heralded Mother of Thousands double LP. The band, which comes off as a backwoods/hippie rendition of Sun Ra's Arkestra (especially with instrumentation described as "Frontier & Lunar Drum Environments"), is composed of New England freak-folk stalwarts including Matt Valentine, a former Tower Recordings guitarist, vocalists/multi-instrumentalist Erika Elder, and a "revolving/evolving auxiliary of men, women, dogs and stars," which notably includes Quakebasket's prolific Tim Barnes. Their backporch, cosmo-reaching brand of music takes cues from traditional folk, head-hanging blues and exotic raga that while very much accessible in some instances, remains otherworldly throughout. Released on Thurston Moore's Ecstatic Peace label, Green Blues compiles a hypnotic arrangement of sounds that are intriguing sober but may only be truly decipherable while turning on and mentally dropping out. Don't automatically assume this is some hippie nonsense though; if anything really, it's the result of too much hippie nonsense, the painful descent back to Earth perhaps. Lines like "you can't pay the rent with love" from Canned Happiness is certainly not the trippy idealism our long-haired forefathers became known for 40 years back.





Dead Meadow - Sleepy Silver Door (mp3) - Dead Meadow (Xemu 2006)


Dead Meadow – Dead Meadow / Xemu

Originally released in 1999 on Fugazi bassist Joe Lally’s Tolotta Records, Dead Meadow’s eponymous debut introduced the music world to their simmering combination of stoner, psychedelic and classic rock basted lovingly with the influences of Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath and Led Zepplin. Re-released through NYC’s Xemu records with a fresh mix and rejuvenated spirit, the first recordings of the then D.C. trio (now expanded to a quartet with drummer Mark Laughlin replaced by Stephen McCarty and the addition of Cory Shane) quickly established the group as a welcomed escape from the abrasive punk outbursts that riddle the nation’s capitol. With the help of warm analog recording, Dead Meadow’s enchanting and hypnotic sound stems from Jason Simon’s patiently psychedelic guitar and ever-present wa-wa pedal, Steve Kille’s crunchy bass lines and the prog-leaning drumming of Mark Laughlin which is then doused in a syrup of wistful fuzz and Tolkien fantasy and then puffed out of a hookah the size of your refrigerator. Primed for seedy lofts garnished with bongs, beanbag chairs and blacklight posters, Dead Meadow is more than just a promising debut, it’s a chronologically misplaced album that is pleasing almost a decade after it’s actual conception while still sounding like it was conjured more than 30 years ago.






Leaves - Ash Wednesday (mp3) - Live at The Ice Factory (FP Records 2006)


Leaves – Live at The Ice Factory / Fresh Produce (FP)

Not to be mistaken with the grungy Icelandic indie-rock group by the same name, Leaves is a collaboration of four Chicago jazz/improv musicians weaving their individual sounds into a warm, autumnal blend of modern creative jazz, post-bop and the ambitious post-rock Chicago has become known for in the past decade. The focus of this album, recorded live during two spring 06 performances at Chicago's The Ice Factory, is the interplay of Tyler Beach's amazingly toned electric guitar and Charles Gorcyski's balmy saxophone. Beach echoes the likes of Bill Frisell, a jazz guitarist renown for the individual style he brought to a typically redundant instrument as far as tone goes, as well as a more restrained Jeff Parker of Tortoise fame, while Gorcyski's alto seems to descend from the school of Lee Konitz. They continually tease and dare each other in many directions over the slyly subdued and melodic drumming of Charles Rumback, the grounding bass of Dan Thatcher and garnishing electronic textures. Live at The Ice Factory rarely finds the talented musicians in a particular groove, but instead, themes and moods continually ebb and flow from melodic bop to restrained skronks with blaring technical prowess. They craft a sound that could as easily blend into the background of an art gallery, soundtrack an early, grey Sunday morning or provide welcomed ambiance to any knowing establishment.

Radio Show Playlist 12/13

So after doing a new release show for the last few months on WLUW-FM Chicago, I have decided to spin Music-versity into a radio show as well. For next four weeks it will be broadcast (you can stream through the WLUW website) on Mondays from 11a-2p (U.S. central standard time). Starting in the spring it will move to Wednesday mornings from 6a-8a, which will give you some fantastic music to wake up to or drive to work with (if you live in Chicago). I will post the playlist with links directly after each show to give you a chance to further your knowledge of the bands played. Of course, you can expect to hear a large number of the albums I review on here as well as much more spanning genres and decades. Today is my last day being on Wednesdays from 11a-Noon (cst), and here is the playlist from the show:

1. The Octopus Project & Black Moth Super Rainbow - Reunite Castles - The House of Apples and Eyeballs (Graveface 2006)
2. Jab Mica Och El - U.F.O. Tofu - ABC Hej I'm Cola (Ache 2006)
3. Daedelus - Sundown - Denies the Day's Demise (Mush 2006)
4. Selda - Yaylalar - Selda (originally 1976, rereleased B-Music/Finders Keepers 2006)
5. Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers - Chatterling Con Carne - Yaina (originally 1971, rereleased on Cubop 1997)
6. Ananda Shankar - Jumpin' Jack Flash - What It Is? Box Set (originally 1970, rereleaed Rhino 2006)
7. Ray Barretto - Slo Flo - Tomorrow: Barretto Live (Atlantic 1976)
8. Leaves - Bastille Day - Live at The Ice Factory (Fresh Produce 2006)
9. Sonic Youth - Kim's Chords - The Destroyed Rooms: B-Sides and Rarities (Geffen 2006)
10. Dark Meat - Three Eyes Open - Universal Indians (Orange Twin/Cloud Recordings 2006)

General Update

In case you haven't noticed, it's December. For us who spend our time meandering around the world of independent music, that typically means a few weeks of much needed down time to sit and reflect about the music we've absorbed over the last year (and giving our arthritic typing fingers a little time to recover). I will still be reviewing albums over the next few weeks, but there will most likely only be one or two posts a week at the most before the mail bins start filling again in early January. But don't fret, I'm staying busy and currently working on a list of 60 albums to hear from 06; just trying to fill in the gaps of your album acquiring over the last year. I hear it's impossible to hear everything, but that may just be a rumor.

Also, Hipcast is insanely slow and their message boards are filling up with not-very-nice comments about their service update for Blogger Beta. There is a small chance I may be one of those people leaving a message.

New Music: Sonic Youth, The Octopus Project & Black Moth Super Rainbow, Testbild!, Sparrow House

Sonic Youth - Kim's Chords (mp3) - The Destroyed Room (Geffen 2006)


Sonic Youth – The Destroyed Room / Geffen

As Sonic Youth has aged, their music certainly has not simmered down to the typical predictability or template rut that most ripened artists seem to find themselves in after years of writing music. Sure the NYC indie stalwarts have continually added the adjective ‘refined’ to most of their descriptions as the albums have progressed, but the noise experimentation and otherworldly tones that peaked so many brows in the 80s remains effervescing just below the surface. To further cement their unyielding passion to experiment (as if their foundation needed any more bolstering) comes The Destroyed Room, a collection of B-sides, rarities and other previous non-album releases dating from 1994 to 2004. Ranging from the gorgeous guitar meandering that has garnished their latter-day albums found on Kim’s Chord, a Sonic Nurse B-side, to the avant-garde plinking of Campfire, a 2000 compilation track, to the feedback-rock and tape experiments of Fire Engine Dream, a 2003 outtake, to the absolutely epic 25-minute rendition of The Diamond Sea from 1995, the tracks of The Destroyed Room are the unpredictably enchanting feedback-soaked and technically-skilled rock songs that have made Sonic Youth such an essential weave in the independent rock fabric. If you are a SY newcomer, I’d make my way to their proper releases first, but for long-time fans, this is an essential addition to your collection.





The Octopus Project & Black Moth Super Rainbow - All the Friends You Can Eat (mp3) - The House of Apples and Eyeballs (Graveface 2006)


The Octopus Project & Black Moth Super Rainbow - The House of Apples and Eyeballs / Graveface

The day after I heard The Octopus Project’s 2005 release, One Ten Hundred Thousand Million, the sun shined a little brighter, the sky blued a little bluer and, strangely enough, the squirrels seemed to smile just a bit more than they usually did. Maybe it was The OP’s brand of dismembered pop rubbing off on me, or maybe it was my new addiction to LSD, but either way, my new life outlook had the best soundtrack imaginable. Now nearly two years and a much dissolved high later, the Austin quartet is back and this time teaming with Black Moth Super Rainbow, a like-minded Pittsburgh outfit who lives in a world of cartoonish psychedelia, for a one-of-a-kind collaboration. Over a full year, the bands traded material back and forth with each group listening intently, deciding that they could skew a notch better, completely dismantling the track and rebuilding it with new vibrant sounds in structures so ridiculous that they would make a Doozer blush a reddish-green. Like power drills somehow making sweet love to colorful balloons, each song is constructed from poppy keyboard and theremin melodies, over-modulated blasts of guitar, stumbling, half-drunk rhythms and an assortment of other indiscernible sounds from either broken or mutated instruments. Over the course of the 15 ecstatically wound and wonderfully named songs (Lollipopsichord, Copying Soup onto Sexy Birdy) of The House of Apples & Eyeballs, my aforementioned high has rereached eyeball level and I’m much looking forward to my next walk through the park.





Testbild! - Phanopoeia (mp3) - Imagine a House (Friendly Noise 2006)


Testbild! – Imagine a House / Friendly Noise

After reading Testbild!’s lengthy bio on their website, I have learned a few key facts about the mysterious Swedish quartet: 1. multi-instrumentalist Petter Herbertsson is the core of the group; 2. the band/project/collaboration is named after a book-project written by a jaded Swedish chemist who decided to share his individual (and apparently intriguing) ideas on the world and the nature of reality; 3. the band has been pieced together over the last 10 years in a variety of unconnected circumstances and random occurrences. So, from this information, it makes sense that their music takes on the same mysterious and addled form that their bio does. But this is Sweden we’re talking about, the land of sugary, snowflake-laced indie-pop, so the foundation is cemented in melodic pop and folk. Testbild!’s innate sensibility to experiment is too strong though, and variations range from Reich-influenced loops to fragmented, jazzy song structures to plodding avant-folk to glitch-infused subtleties echoing Hood’s most serene songs. As a whole, Imagine a House is the perfect soundtrack for the hypnotic window-gazing of an urban public bus ride as your eyes trace the sweeping, unpredictable architecture of random passing neighborhoods.





Sparrow House - When I am Gone (mp3) - Falls EP (self-released 2006)


Sparrow House – Falls EP / self-released

In my Sparrow House research session, just about every review started with a statement that included a Voxtrot reference, the band in which Jared Van Fleet aka Sparrow House plays keyboards, the fact that both Voxtrot and Van Fleet play undeniably addictive indie-pop and a smarmy toned remark about Voxtrot being blogger darlings. Well I’ve never actually heard music by Voxtrot though I know the name, so there will be no comparisons from me, but it is pretty funny that I have actually dropped the name Voxtrot four… er… five times now and said nothing of Van Fleet’s sound. Ok then, for his first solo material, Van Fleet issues the Falls EP, the first in a 4-part season-themed series of releases. The obvious comparison for the Austin, TX-based singer/songwriter is Nick Drake, which is certainly appropriate, but there is a light dusting of modern technology bubbling underneath the thick, bedroom atmosphere reminiscent more of n. Lannon. His songwriting, deceptively complex layering and hushed tone are top-notch, think Smith(, Elliott) & Garfunkel, and the vulnerable intimacy verge on uncomfortable. So the bloggers (that are unhappy about the blogger buzz they created) are justified for the hype because Van Fleet has the talent and the Falls EP is worth your time if you are an indie-popper.

Renegade Craft Fair

So I just found out I will be DJing the first ever Renegade Craft Fair Holiday Sale this Saturday (12/9) from 12:30-2p. If you are in Chicago, you should definitely stop by because not only will there be tons and tons of fun and innovative home-made crafts that make amazing holiday gifts, but there will be quality tunes filling out the atmosphere thanks to my fellow WLUW DJs and myself. It's at Pulaski Park (1419 W. Blackhawk) just east of Wicker Park and I will be in the main auditorium looking nervous and unsure behind a laptop and turntables. I broadcast to thousands twice a week over the radio without an inch of hesitation, but put me in front of a crowd of live people and I quiver. Come say hello and I will try to stop lip-biting for a second and chat.

Bigger List to Come!

Quite unexpectedly, my top 10 list of 2006 is generating a lot of buzz (#4 on "Sites Making Buzz" today at Buzzfeed!!!!!!!!!(!!!!!)). So, I've decided to expanded it to top 50 in an epic post that will appear in the next week or two. This will be quite a bit of work, but who doesn't like lists and I'll toss in some mp3s as well. Remember though, this is a resource tool, so go out and support these bands by buying their amazing albums and attending their shows to reward them with supplying us with such great music to soundtrack our lives in the past year. Expect upcoming reviews of Sonic Youth's new B-sides and rarities disc, Sparrow House, Testbild! and a collection of amazing discs from Forced Exposure I am expecting soon, thanks for reading.

New Music: Proud to Swim Home, The Inner Banks, Dark Meat, Teeko

Potpie - Blues for the Lower 9 - Proud to Swim Home (Backporch Revolution 2006)


Various Artists – Proud to Swim Home / Backporch Revolution

New Orleans’ contribution to modern music is almost unfathomable at this point so far down the road of genre overlapping and style smearing. But the port city at the turn of the 20th century with its amazing barrage of cultures gave birth to jazz and blues which in turn led to the popularization of music as a business and a way of life outside the confines of classical. Sadly though, modern thought of New Orleans music seems to stretch no further than throwback, made-for-tourist novelty ragtime, marching band swing or that cheesy saxophone wail that seems to make it’s way into every muggy film noir soundtrack. The truth is that the New Orleans music scene continues to evolve in new, innovative ways that is very evident in this compilation of experimental electronica music from a burgeoning scene in the Crescent City. Somewhat the result of a sticker campaign which reads “Proud to Swim Home” conceived days after Hurricane Katrina hit that raised funds for Habitat for Humanity and the Humane Society, this album of the same name pays tribute to people who returned to the damaged city and gave their foremost effort to building it back in a soundtrack that probably is not unlike the immediate eerie sounds of post-hurricane New Orleans. From the tear-jerking ambient calm of Potpie to the sweltering, swirling audible fumes of Archipelago to the skittering poppy bounce of Buttons, Proud to Swim Home is an unconventional soundtrack for an unconventional city and the unconventional people that are giving their lives to rebuilding their broken home. And even the cheesy sax makes an appearance thanks to Chef Menteur, though, like most the city at this point, it has been heavily re-imagined (and processed). All proceeds from the sale of the compilation to benefit MusiCares.




The Inner Banks - Anthem - The Inner Banks (DAG! 2006)


The Inner Banks – The Inner Banks / DAG!

Curious about what New York-based Inner Banks might sound like? Take Tim Gane, Laetitia Sadier and the rest of the Stereolab gang circa their Dots and Loops phase and sternly rip their keyboards and synthesizers away from them (this won't be easy, but with a little pleading and struggling it can be done). Now replace their keys with banjo, lap steel, vibes, cello, French horn, trumpet and other chamber instruments, garnish their heads with cowboy hats, relocate their studio to some snowed-in cabin of the linking-log, bearskin rug sort preferably in a heavily wooded area, maybe grow a few beards and clothe in flannel, scatter friendly wildlife creatures and stand idly with a well-trained recording engineer. Combining American roots, chamber-pop and subtle electronica, The Inner Banks, whose core is married-couple David Gould of The Bootleg Remedy and Caroline Shutz of Folksongs for the Afterlife, craft textural layers of lush, swimming harmonies and cyclical melodies not unlike Stereolab minus the sci-fi bubbles. For a debut album, The Inner Banks sounds very confident and matured with a dramatic emphasis on warm atmosphere and finely structured arrangements aimed at an indie-rock audience.




Dark Meat - Assholes for Eyeballs - Universal Indians (Orange Twin/Cloud Recordings 2006)


Dark Meat – Universal Indians / Orange Twin/Cloud Recordings

The obvious comparison for Athen, GA’s Dark Meat is the like-minded Brooklyn 4-piece Akron/Family, but I feel that this is unfair for both groups. Both bands thrive off the clashing differences of two separate genres, one of which is free-jazz, but while the bearded boys of Akron/Family take advantage of the contradictory vibes of pastoral folk and avant-garde jazz, Dark Meat teams their raucous outbursts with more of a bluesy bar-rock. With a 20+ member band, including a backing female vocal ensemble who goes by The Subtweeters, the Athens genre-killers channel the likes of Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa as much as they do Archie Shepp or Albert Ayler (whose “Holy Ghost” the album is dedicated to). One second a riot-inducing marching band, the next an anthemic bar fight then in a quick successive manner: a Stooges punk-rock bout, a psychedelic guitar freak-out and a free-jazz mind-rout. To add to the flare, Universal Indians is released on Orange Twin Records, a label and web-site run by Elf Power which is raising funds for 150 acre eco-village in Athens; I’m in if Saturday nights are spent with colorful people at bonfire-clad keg parties soundtracked by the sky-filling sound of Dark Meat.




Teeko - Nice to Meet You Funk - My Sound Station (4onefunk 2006)


Teeko – My Sound Station / 4onefunk

For DJ/producer Teeko… well I guess we could actually add a few more backslashes that include musician, master turntablist, DJ battle demolisher, Berklee School of Music’s renown Milestones Innovative Producer Contest winner, party-starter and jack-of-all-trades (if that wasn’t already clear)… a proper solo full-length is the next step in his whirlwind of projects that have been piling up over the last few years. Co-founder of DJ collective 4onefunk and The Dollar Bin Quartet, the Puerto Rican producer ensembles a sound built from a soul-jazz foundation of rhythmic grooves and sparse fun in a very patient, uncluttered manner. Accompanying the drum/bass/organ core is his turntable scratching which emphasizes matured technique over flashy tricks. His arrangement of samples is much more akin to the Cut Chemist school, which resides in the more classic collage layering and structuring ready-made grooves, rather than the school of Madlib/Dilla, which relies more on flipping and manipulating samples into completely new sounds. Featuring live drums and horns, My Sound Station is a well thought-out collection of re-imagined soul-jazz and refined turntablism.

Better than Nothing

Ok, so it's December now and hipcast did not come through with their Blogger Beta update eta of the 1st of the month, so I am doing what I can to give you some audio samples. After some brainstorming and website meandering, I figured out I could publish the mp3s to LiveJournal, then copy the html on to here. The only problem is that it doesn't give you an option to download the actual mp3, which really sucks, but this is better than nothing. When the techs at hipcast recover from their turkey overdose and get their site updated, I will replace these alternatives with what I have been giving you. Sorry and thanks for continuing to read.

Top 10 of 2006

I may be jumping the gun a bit on this, but I had to submit my list to CMJ for them to publish and since I have a minute, might as well get it posted. Once December roles around anyways, most labels do very little releasing, especially big name acts. Looking at the release list, it appears the only likely canidate to make a push for the list would be Ghostface's More Fish (which I was tempted to throw on the list even before hearing it; i heart Ghostface). I would like to throw up an mp3 as well for each album, but Hipcast's Audioblogger update seems to be delayed. I was just double checking their news posts and some remarks on the comment section certainly signify that I am not alone being frustrated with this. Hopefully next week; at least the site is better looking. Okokokok, here's the list:

Michael's Top 10 of 2006 in no particular order

Juana Molina - Son / Domino


Juana Molina - Yo No - Son (Domino 2006)



Extra Golden - Ok-Oyot System / Thrill Jockey


Extra Golden - Ok-Oyot System - Ok-Oyot System (Thrill Jockey 2006)



Grizzly Bear - Yellow House / Domino


Grizzly Bear - Knife - Yellow House (Domino 2006)



Dosh - The Lost Take / Anticon


Dosh - Um, Circles and Squares - The Lost Take (Anticon 2006)



Georgia Anne Muldrow - Worthnothings EP / Stones Throw


Georgia Anne Muldrow - Lo Mein - Worthnothings EP (Stones Throw 2006)



Low Skies - All the Love I Could Find / Flameshovel


Low Skies - You Can't Help Those People - All the Love I Could Find (Flameshovel 2006)



Ghostface Killah - Fishscale / Def Jam


Ghostface Killah - The Champ - FishScale (Def Jam 2006)



Sao Paulo Underground - Sauna: Um, Dois, Tres / Aesthetics


Sao Paulo Underground - Olhossss.... - Sauna: Um, Dois, Tres (Aesthetics 2006)



Nomo - New Tones / Ubiquity


Nomo - New Song - New Tones (Ubiquity 2006)



The Brown Party - The Brown Party / self-released


The Brown Party - Three Plus Four Equals Fun - The Brown Party (self-released 2006)





There you have it. I strongly recommend all these albums and artists. If Hipcast ever gets on the ball, I'll attempt to throw some mp3s up there as well. Here's to an as-productive 2007 in the independent music world (er... and Def Jam as well).

New Music: Antimc, The Winks, Bracken

Still no mp3s due to Audioblog... here, I'll help: sighhhhhh. Ok, stay patient, as soon as I can, I will update.



Antimc - The Nogoodnick feat. Fog - It's Free, but Not Cheap (Mush 2006)


Antimc – It’s Free, But Not Cheap / Mush

Antimc (think Anti-MC aka Matthew Alsberg) is a producer with a great love for his synthesizers. He doesn’t love them in the ‘utilizes a lot’ kinda way (though he does), but he actually cares for them in the deepest meaning of the word. Within an Antimc song, you can hear Alsberg caressing, teasing and giving those playful little spanks (you know, the ones that keep a relationship interesting) to his wide array of synthesizers and keyboards, and his music responds with sexy grins to each loving touch. As well as contributing live instrumentation and exotic samples to his sound, the L.A. producer crafts a well realized and polished combination of electro-pop, post-rock and dancefloor-ready hip-hop. For mic duties, Antimc has enlisted scatter-brained indie-hop emcee Busdriver, hyped Canadian rapper Cadence Weapon and Bay Area true-hop mic-smith Saafir as well as Anthony Anzalone of the Mean Reds, Andrew Broder of Fog and Mark Mitchell of Clue to Kalo with mixed results. Busdriver and Broder fit the sound the best and are highlights of the album. Personally, I dig Antimc’s solo tracks the most (which goes as well for his previous work with Radioinactive), which easily show the promising producer and musician’s keen ear for catchy melodies, head-nodding beats and welcomed playfulness.




The Winks - Woolongong - Birthday Party (Ache 2006)


The Winks – Birthday Party / Ache

After listening to The Winks’ eighth full-length release (which includes 5 self-released CD-Rs), Birthday Party, I’ve come to the conclusion that Canadians snack quite regularly on snowflakes dipped in maple syrup. It makes sense really, other than creative indie-pop, those are their two major exports, and most everything else is coated in some kind of sweet before it leaves the country. Take Todd MacDonald and Tyr Jami for example: beginning as an improvised instrumental duo, MacDonald on mandolin, Jami on cello, their sound has become increasingly structured and poppier as their exposure has grown. And now they are hitting the states for their first official LP on Ache and their music is now a swirling blend of sugarcoated indie-pop fleshed out with memorable melodies through woodwinds, strings and percussion. Jami’s young Bjork meets Pit er Pat’s Fay Davis-Jeffers vocals clash with MacDonald’s more generic voice giving their music a good dose of unpredictability as the two trade verses on just about every song. Birthday Party does a good job of mixing up the sound on a regular occasion while remaining true to the current indie-pop blueprint; I wouldn’t be surprised if The Winks get doused in bucket full of hype (or maple syrup).




Bracken - Heathens - Heathens EP (Anticon 2006)


Bracken – Heathens EP / Anticon

Meandering away from the pastoral foothills of Leeds, England, Chris Adams suddenly found himself among the many brick stoops of Oakland rather than the wooden porches of his hometown. No worries though, the Hood co-founder has taken sanctuary in the Anticon collective where he is releasing his first solo material under the moniker Bracken. Expanding from the hypnotic fuzz of Hood’s experimental shoegaze-folk, Adams is taping together tattered loops, borrowing Alias’ cluttered hip-hop punch and laying down his trademark ethereal voice for his first release, the Heathens EP. The title track sounds like vintage Anticon, pairing lo-fi hip-hop with otherworldly pop, while We Cut the Tapes and Scatter builds from short, overlapping violin samples and avant-garde noises while Adams’ reverb-soaked croon washes in and out of your ears. You also get a reworking of Heathens by Why? and Alias that strips away some of the fuzz while Yoni Wolf contributes his catchy phrasing and charming nasal tone. This is a promising EP that should easily please both latter-day Anticon and Hood fans alike.

New Music: Langhorne Slim, Vietnam, Amiina, Forro in the Dark

Now that the buffet of new releases and tours that is the fall season is over, labels are putting out more EPs and singles to tease the upcoming spring feast, hence what you see here. Also, Audioblog has not yet updated their program to work with Blogger Beta, but hopefully not too long after the holiday break. Once they get that up and running, I will post all of the mp3s that were missed. Also also, the Columbia, SC (where i went to school) CBS affiliate is syndicating my reviews for their website thanks to my good friend Dennis. I'm pretty sure I am going to be exposing the regular readers of that site to some very unusual music (for them), which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.



Langhorne Slim - Honey Pie - Engine EP (V2 2006)



Langhorne Slim – Engine EP / V2

I’ll be honest, I don’t get down to backwoods Americana and bluegrass nearly enough, but then again, how many artists are really making that kind of music nowadays? But then of course, Langhorne Slim is not really your typical contemporary artist; he actually sounds as if he accidentally time warped about 80 years into the future and embraced his new surroundings with open arms and boyish charm. Taking the major label plunge after his amazing 2005 album, When the Sun Goes Down (which was pretty high on my end of year best of list), the twenty-something singer/songwriter builds upon his enthusiastic combination of bluegrass, stomping blues and mischievous folk, but for the first two tracks of the 4-song EP are a bit slower than I want to hear. Honey Pie on the other hand is a classic Slim get-up-and-dance track which relentlessly plows forward with punk drumming, wailing organs, guitar solos and shouts of “ain’t no girl gonna tell me, she don’t wanna be my honey pieeeee.” Rounding out the set is Sweet Olive Tree, the kind of slightly humorous, slightly worrisome campfire ballad that makes Langhorne so endearing. A brand-new full-length is due in 2007 and I for one will be eagerly waiting its release date.





Vietnam - Welcome to My Room - Welcome to My Room EP (Kemado 2006)



Vietnam – Welcome to My Room EP / Kemado

Two springs ago, I was joyfully (ahem, drunkenly) stumbling around pre-hurricaned Bourbon Street on a hot, muggy and very New Orleans, New Orleans evening. For most of the afternoon, I waded through the sea of camera-clad tourists seeking out street musicians, cheaply priced drinks and muffulettas when the space-time continuum ripped open before my bloodshot eyes and four dingy looking vagabonds seemingly from the 70s stepped out and crossed the street in front of me. Luckily I recognized Joshua Garrett, Michael William and gang instantaneously because I had just happened to be obsessing over their bohemian stained debut EP as Vietnam. Now two years later, they are finally releasing a full-length album of their brooding Velvet Underground meets Dylan meets Smog rock and roll. Now a fleshed-out quartet, Vietnam fill this teaser EP with the lively, fuzzed-out hippy-soul of Welcome to My Room, the smoke-stained drawl and lyrical electric guitar led Hotel Riverview and a live rendition of the non-album Goodbye which wrenches both the heart and the ears in it’s rawness. Their timeless sound hasn’t… well aged a bit in the last two years and I for one am very excited to hear an actual LP from the band.





Amiina - Seoul - Seoul EP (The Worker's Institute 2006)



Amiina – Seoul EP / The Worker’s Institute

Iceland has become renown for their very melodic music scene as of late, and after hearing Amiina, four lovely ladies from Reykjavik, I’m pretty sure that no one on that wintry wonderland of an island has ever heard a discordant sound in their entire life. The former string section of Sigur Ros continues to move out on their own with their second EP under the moniker. Like Sigur Ros, their sound is almost otherworldly in it’s intertwining of so many gorgeous melodies, but unlike Sigur Ros, their music isn’t dragged down by over-dramatization. I think if the bright Icelandic sun ever decided to make music by refracting light through a glacier then translating the resulting light waves into sine waves, it would sound pretty close to Amiina. During Seoul, xylophones twinkle over quiet synth nods, glockenspiels glimmer over theremin woos, and tightly wound strings pluck delightfully in between light drum patterns like an intricately designed kaleidoscope pointed directly at the sun on a crystal clear day. If fairies, elves and unicorns exist, they call Reykjavik their home and more than likely on a sugarplum farm run very lovingly by the ladies of Amiina.




Forro in the Dark - Indios Do Norte - Bonfires of the Sao Joao (Nublu 2006)



Forro in the Dark – Bonfires of São João / Nublu

Picture this: it’s an exceptionally hot, muggy night in the heart of Northeast Brazil. While the ambient forest and wildlife sounds engulf most of the region, a bright rhythmic pulse beats out of a large, illuminated dance club. A sweaty group of men and women, who should be exhausted after a long week’s work, dance exuberantly pelvis-to-pelvis in a waltz-meets-salsa like motion to a colorful vibrant band effortlessly performing a style of music centered around the bass-like thump of a zabumba, the awkward wail of an accordion and a large metal triangle rattled so quickly, you’d think the musician was having a seizure. Well ok, Forro in the Dark is not quite that type of traditional forró band, instead they are bringing an updated style of the music to the hipsters and club-goers of NYC, but the sweaty, excitable vibe is still undeniable. Supplementing the traditional instrumentation with electric guitars, an array of flutes, modern percussion and other contemporary instruments, along with the help of David Byrne, Bebel Gilberto and Miho Hatori, Forro in the Dark capture the immediate, pleasure-craving core of forró for modern audiences to relieve their stress on the dance floor just like the Brazilian workers of the early 1900s.

New Music: Xela, Blake Miller, Dave Fischoff

Xela - Wet Bones - The Dead Sea (Type 2006)



Xela – The Dead Sea / Type

John Twells’ Type imprint is somewhat of an enigma in that the music released by the U.K. label ranges from the dark, minimal electronica of Logreybeam to the bright kaleidoscope folk of Mountaineer. So really, it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that Twells, who records under the moniker Xela, crafts music that reaches for both sides of that spectrum. The Dead Sea, one of his two albums released in 2006, is a somber concept album tracing a sea voyage ultimately doomed by an abrupt attack of malignant zombies. Twells soundtrack is composed from gusts of dismal frequencies, tattered rhythms and eerie synths as well as glittering bells, tingling guitar picking and the occasional hopeful melody “murdered and re-animated” into twelve visceral instrumentals. The contrast within the songs brings the album to life evoking an array of dramatic emotions in the listener from desperate hope to bleak acceptance. Equally influenced by the druggy drone of Odd Nosdam, the omniscient clatter of John Cage, the hypnotic doom of Wolf Eyes and the cerebral folk of John Fahey, The Dead Sea is truly an intriguing listen, animating the ghostly cover art provided by illustrator Matthew Woodson.




Blake Miller - Rain and Sunrise - Together with Cats (Exit Stencil 2006)



Blake Miller – Together with Cats / Exit Stencil

Scraping up potential left and right, the underrated Exit Stencil label (home of This Moment in Black History, Home and Garden, The New Lou Reeds) have wisely snagged burgeoning singer/songwriter Blake Miller by compiling twelve self-recorded songs straight from his tattered, doodle-lined notebook. Reminiscent of the equally promising Julie Sokolow album (Western Vinyl Records), Miller’s lo-fi recordings are perfectly imperfect as multi-layered vocals drift in and out of harmony, acoustic guitar strums strive to resonate in the thin frequency bandwidth and consistent rhythms are nowhere to be found. Which you would assume equals a bad album, but Miller’s immensely strong songwriting and innate musical ability translates the imperfections into engaging bedroom folk echoing early recordings from Iron and Wine, Will Oldham and that lost Nashville charm. The 19-year-old upstart is currently in the studio recording a proper full-length though it seems like that was the request of label; as he puts it in Rain and Sunrise, “I want to be a superstar, but only in the bedroom.”




Dave Fischoff - In This Air - The Crawl (Secretly Canadian 2006)



Dave Fischoff – The Crawl / Secretly Canadian

The cover art for The Crawl is made up of a rush-hour crowd of simple, snuggly dressed, hand-drawn people with arching noses and quaint, masking half-smiles making their way in front of a silhouetted skyline. You can only assume that hidden behind their yarn-like hair are small, white earbuds pumping in the triumphant, cut-and-paste orchestra conducted by Dave Fischoff and causing their pencil-line mouths to curve slightly upwards. The Bloomington, IN native and Chicago-based musician recreates the cheery orchestra pop of The Beach Boys and Burt Bacharach with an array of synthesizers and keyboards, then intertwines shuffling drum machines and strings it all together with Her Space Holiday-like vocals and sentimental storytelling. Fischoff’s bedroom indie-pop will be classified with electro-pop groups like The Postal Service, but his music tends to shamble rather than bounce and has a very wintry holiday like vibe throughout separating it slightly from the pack for better or worse. The Crawl will not instantaneously grab your attention, but if it finds its way into your earbuds, you very well could crack that same small smile.

FYI

"We are currently working on supporting Blogger's new beta system. We are hoping within the month to launch."

I take back any bad things I may have said about the people at Audioblog.

Sincerly,
Me.

New Music: Josef K, Swan Lake, White Magic, Women and Children, Andrew Bird

Well this is incredibly frustrating. I was quite excited to switch to Blogger Beta, give the site a new design and let the snowball continue to gain momentum, but apparently Audioblog, the site I use to publish my mp3s, has not updated their program to work with Beta. Sigh. So, here are my new reviews, but you'll have to wait for the sample mp3s... or just buy the album. In fact, you really should support these amazing artists and be buying the albums anyways. I promise as soon as Audioblogger gets on the ball, as well as responds to my bitching emails, I will get the mp3s posted.




Josef K - Chance Meeting - Entomology (Domino 2006)



Josef K – Entomology / Domino

In line with Domino’s current re-release schedule comes Josef K, an anti-career quartet whose jangling post-punk came to define the Scottish underground scene along with Orange Juice in the 80s. Inspired by the artsy, anti-pop rock of 70s New York scene along with obvious like-minded names of Bowie, Ferry, Reed, Cale, Eno, Byrne and Verlaine, the Edinburgh lads detuned their chiming guitars, recorded with the concentration on the rhythm section and wrote detached pop songs with an emotionally monotone frontman. In 1981, they recorded an album then scrapped it; went back in the studio and returned with The Only Fun in Town, both Josef K’s and their label, Orange Juice’s imprint Postcard, only release. With the enigmatic, jerky rhythms and tinny guitars that defined 80’s post-punk, the album went to #1 on the U.K. indie charts, and then the band promptly disbanded. In their defining of the “Scottish Sound,” frontman Paul Haig determined there was nothing left to prove and the members split up joining groups like OJ, Aztec Camera, The Happy Family and Cabaret Voltaire among others. Compiling Only Fun with aborted tracks and 7” singles as well as a Peel Session track, Entomology finally introduces the influential, short-lived Josef K to the U.S.




Swan Lake - All Fires - Beast Moans (Jagjaguwar 2006)



Swan Lake – Beast Moans / Jagjaguwar

When the Planeteers found themselves in an environmentally hazardous pickle, they combined the spirit of their magical rings to call upon the majestic powers of Captain Planet to save the day. When the cream of the Canadian avant-indie crop find themselves in a musical pickle, they combine the powers of their songwriting pencils to call upon the imposing sound of Swan Lake to save the day. Made up of Daniel Bejar (Destroyer, New Pornographers), Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes) and Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown), three immensely creative and renown Canadian songwriters and musicians, Swan Lake paints a skewed, oddly colored creature not wholly unlikable, but attractively weird in the same way… well Destroyer, Frog Eyes and Sunset Rubdown are. At the same time what you’d expect and surprising, Beast Moans gurgles, hiccups and purrs through 13 songs of fractured indie-rock both brittle and confident, detached and sentimental, anxious and reflective… you get the point. Obviously fans of the members’ other bands will be ecstatic to hear a new record from… well all of them, without the burden of paying for separate albums or choosing which to listen to first.




White Magic - All the World Went - Dat Rosa Mel Apibus (Drag City 2006)



White Magic – Dat Rosa Mel Apibus / Drag City

The much talked about Brooklyn goth-folk group finally presents a full-length to add a little substance to the buzz around their live show and eclectic EP. After a slew of line-up changes behind singer/guitarist/pianist/focus Mira Billotte, White Magic’s core has settled into a duo with guitarist ‘Sleepy’ Doug Shaw joining Billotte as principle songwriters. Dat Rosa Mel Apibus, Latin for “the rose gives honey to the bees,” features a gaggle of contributing artists as well, including Dirty Three’s Jim White, Gang Gang Dance’s Tim DeWit, Silver Jews sometimes drummer Tim Barnes, among others. Though grouped in with the new wave of artists classified as freak-folk, they, along with the like-minded Joanna Newsom, have a more Renaissance, gothic feel thanks to the haunting vibe and classical instruments involved. Billotte’s Nico-meets-Eleanor Friedberger alto is the center-piece of their sound, typically surrounded by simple, canonic piano melodies, meandering guitar picking and resonant, almost-tribal drums. The album is hit-or-miss throughout; All the World Went is a hypnotic, raga-leaning puff of hookah smoke, but it’s followed by the redundant, boring-until-the-last-45-seconds title track, and so the album progresses. Like their previous EP, DRMA is promising but wavering, but then again, it’s only their first full-length.




Women and Children - Mary Blues - Paralyzed Dance, Tonight (Narnack 2006)



Women and Children – Paralyzed Dance, Tonight / Narnack

Adding to the already borderless genre boundaries of Narnack’s wholly enjoyable discography is Women and Children’s sophomore effort, Paralyzed Dance, Tonight. The multinational quartet have dug up an eclectic style of folk-pop not completely unlike the random-thought-utopia you achieve from lying spread eagle in an open field on a ridiculously starry night. A soft guitar strum circles lazily, a woman’s delicate croon let’s you know that you’ve fucked up once again (but she still can’t really live without you), drums lazily plod through the damp grass, a tinkling piano plays the part of scurrying field mice and reverb settles all around you in a light mist. The trading male/female vocals and loose arrangements reminisce of The Velvet Underground and Nico sessions while some spots sound like the charming music made when a talented artist attempts to imitate a foreign style, but sounds just barely off-center. You may not fall face-first into Paralyzed Dance, Tonight, but you can’t really dismiss it either… it just kind of lingers, lovingly.




Andrew Bird - Dear Dirty - Fingerlings 2 (self-issued 2006)



Andrew Bird – Fingerlings 3 / Self-Issued

For the third edition of the self-issued Fingerlings comp, Chicago’s darling singer/songwriter, Andrew Bird, shakes things up a bit and offers a slew of new and old songs recorded in a variety of locations. Obviously his endearing mix of gypsy, folk and rock are still the basis for his sound, and his honey-soaked voice and amiable violin are in top form throughout. The traditional live cuts presented here are The Happy Birthday Song and A Nervous Tic from 2005’s Mysterious Production and Dark Matter and Scythian Empire from the upcoming 2007 release, Armchair Apocrypha. The Water Jet Cilice and Ethiobirds are solo outings recorded live in his home studio for a “few hundred interested insects” while Measuring Cups was taken from his Lollapalooza set. Live covers of Son House’s Grinnin’ and The Handsome Family’s Tin Foil are also included. To round it out, Bird also includes Dear Dirty, a studio track that never made it to an official album. Also, multi-instrumentalist, Anticon recording artist and good friend Dosh appears on five tracks.