Together for just over a year, bluegrass quintet Polecat still needs some introduction in most places outside of its Bellingham, Wash., homebase. But it's probably a good bet that they'll be starting up a storm soon enough.
I interviewed lead guitarist Jeremy Elliott in April for my local newspaper, just on the heels of the band's debut full-length album, Fire on the Hill, while they were touring with a series of CD release shows. Polecat plans to venture away from the West Coast later this year to promote their music nationwide.
Polecat maintains trust in the classic sounds of bluegrass, folk and blues, with a bit of Celtic flair from time to time thrown in by violinist Cayley Schmid. It's a solid formula that sounds fresh and new, even while feeding into those old-fashioned roots. Fire on the Hill gives people something to dance to, and something to sing to, and at times even something to chill out to. Most importantly, it's something that could just as easily appease Grandma as be something you'd want to pass along to your peers.
After such an impressive start and such skillful production, it's easy to think Polecat's probably going places. Which is not just good news for them, but for everyone else, too.
The Island of Misfit Toys are an indie rock writer's dream: young as fuck, scrappy as fuck, ambitious as fuck, midwest as fuck, with plenty of genetic touchstones to throw around for when you're feeling lazy. TIoMT is the brainchild of 19 year old brainchild Anthony Sanders. If you actively miss the heyday of Chicago's indie rock dominance (or were born in the 90's and pretend to), and/or just like well crafted songs chances are you'll find a lot to love here.
Like most prodigies, Sanders has been watching closely: he uses all the tricks in the book but they feel so intuitive and well-executed that it's still ultra exhilarating to watch. "Beginnings of a Beard," a song off their upcoming debut Bear Hair, starts off as a pretty straight indie rock homage to an Oaklandazulasylum era Why? song- distorted heavy backbeat, hallucinatory musings, not-really-sung but not-really-spoken vocals. Then at a certain point (SPOILER ALERT), the lingering organ dies out, and the guitars come to life. Sanders goes into young rock star mode, tumbling through an ecstatic monologue as the songs threatens to explode into some insane post-rock climax. Opting to hover tantalizingly instead, the song doesn't explode. Sanders cuts the cord, and puts the cards back in his deck.
Sanders' writing and delivery often sounds like that of a kid who used to be in emo punk bands who graduated to twee punk just as his horns began to sprout. The existence of Los Campesinos! makes this transition much easier: Sanders gets to keep all the naked emoting, sardonicism, and bleak romantics, but fused with more complicated songcraft and much lusher instrumentation. Maybe that's the natural order of things! It feels good!
TIoMT has all the elements and reach of a complete package. It's self-effacing, but it's not afraid to triumph. The songs focus on the little details, but while trying to change your life. If TIoMT kept it's current form, it would still be a excellent listen. But Sanders is so young and so clearly hungry, that it's as much what is already on the table as it what's being hinted at that makes this project so excting.
Self-recorded music is all the rage these days (much like happiness ... sorry, Davey von Bohlen reference). While some artists jump into recording without a clear picture of what they want to create, Austin's Love Inks' upcoming album, E.S.P., is a precise example of harnassing self-recordings with a vision. An old drum machine loops over dream pop electric guitar and bass, all as the lush yet serene voice of Sherry LeBlanc floats through you. The first single, "Blackeye," is a minimalist Best Coast, with Sherry's wonderful singing beckoning forth like a bird singing, then being freed from a stripped down cage of drum machine beats and bright, muffled guitar. Even though Love Inks uses a drum machine, it has a peculiar warmth through and through, emblematic of "Blackeye."
Keep your ears peeled for this Texas trio as the spring thaw leads to summer breezes. E.S.P. comes out May 10th. Already I've been taken, and am now forgetting the perils of this past winter thanks to this three-piece. Most importantly, they're starting to subconsciously convince me to move slowly towards more and more dream pop, unlike many of the predecessors.
One of the greatest bands of all time came and went in the course of a few years, and it’s more than likely that you completely missed it. New York indie-rock quartet Paper and Sand produced the kind of music that you’d shell out a kidney for if it came to that.
The band self-released two full-length albums: Wolf at My Door (2007) and Thick as Thieves (2009). Not long after they split up in 2009, guitarist/vocalist Wil Farr announced a new group called Hurrah! A Bolt of Light! and the world made sense once again.
Farr’s new ensemble indulges Paper and Sand fans with the expert level of songwriting we’ve come to expect, but subs in some alt-country charm for the barbed hooks of his former gig. What results is that familiar raw energy that erupts in your heart and sears through your veins with a burn that’ll last for days … stoked with the added benefit of keys and a little bit of banjo. If anyone has ever told you that the banjo can’t rock, Hurrah! proves them utterly wrong.
Farr's pulpy vocals are met with those of Bridget Buscemi on Hello!, Hurrah!’s full-length debut album, strutting upon the stunning drum work of Kenny Shaw. Doug Drewes draws a steady bass line across the track list, while keyboardist Jacob Pleakis and guitarist Adam Gould round out the radiant roster.
Some songs reappear from the band’s 2010 self-titled EP. “Devil on my Shoulder” gets a starring role, as Farr’s vocals rip through the ruckus like a tornado crashing a barn dance. He sings with an intensity that’s palpable, putting a vise grip on your soul until it bursts at the apex — a veritable coup of sonic elements coming together to blow you away. And that’s not even the best part of the album (I’ll save that for last).
Hello! opens solid with “See You at the Bottom” — an easy introduction to what’s in store — but pockets its sweetest moves until after the warm-up. Farr’s Alabama roots surface on “Heart is Like a River,” putting country rock guitar in the forefront. “I Don’t Know Why” teases with tempo changes, playing out drummy verses against sinuous choruses, followed by “Everything You’ve Left Behind,” a sunny anthem custom-made to rouse a crowd.
Of all the shining moments that grace the 12-song album, the penultimate number flares like a flamethrower in the night. “One Drink” is a balls-out bar brawler that’ll send you straight to the moon. Be advised to listen to this song in a big open space, or you may end up tearing down walls in an adrenaline-fueled frenzy. Even the piano shreds on this monster as Farr hollers out “One drink is never enough, when you’re down on your luck, when you’re stuck in a rut.” Don’t be surprised if you need a neck brace after this one.
It is an album of desire, composure and grace, as it tears at your heart strings, softly at times. Its melodically transitions accumulate like folds of luscious thick velvet layered upon a long winding wooden floor. There is simple imagery that in its essence is integral and lighthearted, though has peaks and valleys that bemuse you.
GreatLakeSwimmers former members branched off and patiently learned to record and create their debut self-titled album, which was released on Constellationin the Fall of 2010.
The band is a collaboration of Colin Huebert and Erik Arensen; Peter Carruthers and Shaunn Watt joined the band to play the songs live, but have since become institutions. The band name was inspired by the Northern California mountain range, Siskiyou.
Colin currently resides in Vancouver, which is where he was when I spoke with him over the phone (from, get this, his land-line! How about it?) on a cool Saturday afternoon.
http://siskiyouband.com/listen/
You can trust that Constellation Records will get it right, about over 100% of the time, and Siskiyou is an example - and, ahem, may I be so bold to say a testament to that? Colin himself enjoys the artists on the label; Pat Jordache, Godspeed You Black Emporer, Colin Stetson and Do Make Say Think ... just to name a few. Here is a video courtesy of Constellation, The Land by Siskiyou
1. Now for the safe word….(in case you don’t want to answer any questions, useful)
skate board
2. Favorite cheese?
Brie is my favorite
3. Robots or Dinosaurs?
Dinosaurs, stegosaurus is my favorite...
4. Strangest venue or gig you’ve ever played?
It was in Jackson, Mississippi, at a hot dog restaurant. It was infested with man-size cockroaches.
5. How did you begin your career and who were your influences?
Erik and I were (Erik still is) playing in Great Lake Swimmers until it became less enjoyable for me due to busy schedules. I learned how to record with two cheap microphones, recruited a few close friends, namely Erik Arnesen, and released the album onConstellation just recently. In the fall, we will release a new record.
Aside from music I do some tree-related work, and some urban farming. At the urban farm we mainly grow sprouts - sunflower sprouts, pea sprouts - in Vancouver. At the other farm (in the interior) there was much more land to grow every vegetable imaginable. Erik plays in Great Lake Swimmers and teaches ukulele to kids.
6. What is the most memorable show you’ve ever attended?
It would have to be The Flaming Lips performing Zaireeka in Austin, Texas. There were 40 boom boxes and they brought up 40 people from the audience.
7.What are a fewitems essential to your “tour survival kit”?
While I attended high school, I shared a piano teacher with Will Bennett, keyboardist of The White Ravens. Once, as I sat at my family’s black Wurlizter about to show off my practice progress, I recall her mentioning how she reconsidered her move from Michigan in order to instruct him longer because he was "something special." At the time, he had started to compose hybrid classical-rock pieces. My curiosity to hear his melodic musings quickly spiked.
One winter day, Amy Bennett, who had received bass instruction, tried collaborating with her pianist brother. As months progressed, I’d hear piano and drum sounds radiate from the family’s basement across the street. My mother would come in from gardening on a humid eighty-two degree Michigan summer day and say, “I hear the Bennetts practicing again!”
When I moved to downtown Ann Arbor from Saline, I lost touch with many of my old neighbors, including the Bennetts. A few years later, during my senior year of college, I began to notice the group’s fliers on lamp posts around Liberty Street. I quickly Googled their name and stumbled upon a YouTube video of The White Ravens performing the song, “In My Pocket,” at an Ypsilanti festival. I instantly noticed an intelligent, witty maturity beginning to mold Amy Bennett’s bright and throaty voice.
The siblings have collaborated with a few drummers throughout their existence, notably Liberty Devitto, who played with Billy Joel for thirty years. Vince Russo (also of The Appleseed Collective) currently plays drums.
Will Bennet’s zealous keyboard playing has been compared to Ben Folds. Moments arise when he nearly bangs the keyboard in exclamatory passion.
Billy Joel’s melodic style comprises a sizable part of the alkaline in The White Ravens’ sound battery. On that note, they perform a killer cover of “Crocodile Rock,” by Joel’s comrade, Elton John.
Amy Bennett, bassist and lead vocalist, derives humorous lyric ideas from just about anything and everything. From web-comics to Douglas Adams science fiction – if one can name it, she’ll write about it. A University of Michigan science student by day and musician by night, she iterates how the scientific method influences her songwriting because she learns “how things happen through analyzing the world,” and derives lyrical inspiration from this. She proudly highlights her vast experience working in a lab examining rat brains – perhaps inspiration for a future song?
A “School of Rock” type vibe seasons The White Ravens’ earlier musical essence. “Mr. Schonke,” for instance, describes the siblings’ frustrating experience with a manipulative and uptight teacher who would act condescending. “My teacher is a dragon/ yeah, he’s always nagging/for me to do his dirty work./ He’d set me on fire/ if I tried to think higher,” the lyrics go. Incidentally, my brother had this teacher in school at some point, which adds to the humor for me.
“Tick Tock” utilizes an image of a wind-up parrot to symbolize a relationship and the necessity of one partner to take his or her turn "winding it up." "The gears and springs/ and the pulleys and strings/ and the wind-up parrot who squawks and sings/ will sleep until you twist their copper wings," it laments.
In the basement of Double Door, I had the chance to sit down and ask The members of The Mutts a few questions twenty minutes before they went on stage...
So, The Mutts...
Mike: I have never really explained the band name before, this is an inaugural explanation... combination of liking dogs and making a living walking dogs.
First question... Most important, is, why?
Mike: Because it’s out there
Safe Word?
Chris: Booger
Favorite/least favorite cheese? (for the cheese-enthusiast)
Chris/Mike: Gouda Bob: Well, I am a vegan... so least favorite might be the cheese that smells kind of like feet.
Robots or Dinosaurs?
Dinosaurs (collectively)
Strangest venue or gig you’ve ever played?
All: The Mutiny... not that it was strange... more cool than strange
How did you begin your career and who were your influences?
Chris: I was in a few bands before the Mutts (i.e. The Hush Sound) and we all just sort of met up and rocked out.
What is the most memorable concert you’ve ever attended?
Chris: The Roots at Depaul, outdoors in the pouring rain. Mike: New Kids on the Block, my sister dragged me there when I was 8, my first concert I ever attended. Bob: My first concert was Filter. Also Cornelius.
Bob: The first record I remember digging on as a kid was Weather Report's Birdland. I was kind of obsessed with Jaco Pastorius' bass in the title track. I also really liked Joe Venuti and John Barnes live at the Concord Music Festival for some reason. I was 5 or 6. Who knows? Haha.
What is the worst advice you’ve ever been given?
Chris: When someone handed me some peanut butter and said “Eat this, you’re not allergic.”
If you were to communicate using one word, what would it be?
Chris: Aghhh (with some silent J’s) Mike: Meow Bob: Yum
How do you make those wicked guitar riffs, is it a gift or did you learn from some venerable teacher?
Mike: My piano teacher from age 7 to 13 was a 6'7", 300+ pound Hungarian man named Janus Zemzars. He had a booming voice and had to duck to get through the practice room doors at the Arts Center back in Ashtabula, OH. It was terrifying to imagine going to a lesson unprepared. But he was really a nice guy, who just happened to make a grand piano look like a toy (like a real-life Shroeder from Peanuts). I loved learning gypsy Tarantellas, Muzio Clementi sonatas, and heavy Tchaikovsky compositions. I accidentally lift riffs from that stuff on occasion.
Have you ever considered touring with some strange band whose sound is polaropposite of your own? if you had to choose what would it be? Mike: Yes - either Sigur Ros or Dream Theater. Or both!
Best part of the sandwich?
Mike: The Crust
Bob: The sandwich is all about the hot giardiniera, available only at the Subways in the Midwest. tastes like home.
The snow is covering up one third of my living room window. It makes it difficult to see what's going on in the real world. From what I can tell right now, the real world is being peppered by more snow. For some strange reason, I'm okay with this today. You see, I'm not living in the real world today. It bores me. Today I dwell in my realm of fantasy. Before I start my next paragraph, I’m going to pour two cups of coffee. One for myself and one for my imaginary guest: the wonderful Wisconsin songstress Anna Vogelzang. I’m out of creamer. I hope she doesn’t mind.
After we swap stories about Portsmouth, NH, a place I consider my weekend home and where she recorded the album Paper Boats, she begins to play me “Die Trying,” the first track of her most recent EP Secret Cedar Room. She sits on my couch, gently plucking the strings of her banjo. Her voice resonates beautifully through my apartment as a steady stream of her heart pours out through her throat as she laments “What if this is not my best? What If I could do better?” Her songs are an unspoiled intermingling of heartache, nature, innocence and metaphor. All these things invoke powerful imagery from her lyrics. “There's a secret cedar room locked inside my ribs. It houses all the guilt packed away in cardboard boxes,” she sings on "Wishbone." I know she’d probably be upset, but I want to unlock her ribs with a skeleton key right now. But I think that would be too "Pan’s Labyrinth" of me. She should keep singing.
We sip on our coffee as I show her my acoustic guitar. She asks me to play “Heart Beats Faster” with her. I say of course. It’s my daydream, so my fingers have no problem plucking away the intro to my favorite track on the EP. As we get lost in song, I can’t help myself from rattling off compliments in my head about her singing and songwriting. Her vocals seem to cut through the air like a lighthouse’s beam shining through thick night fog. Her voice seamlessly represents the type of person Anna is; resilient, assertive and revealing. At least that’s who she is in my daydream as our mugs steam away while we stay perfectly in tune for hours on end.
And seeing as it’s my daydream, we fall asleep watching "The Empire Strikes Back." The End.
It’s easy to recommend Anna Vogelzang to anyone looking for talented and charming folk-pop. Give her a listen or pick up her albums at her Bandcamp site. Or check out her tour dates on her website. You should also donate to her Kickstarter page to help her get her next full-length released. I’ll see you around, Anna. Next time, we can watch "Double Dare" and play Nintendo.
Steve (my fiancée, for those not in the know) walks in the door with one of those familiar skinny white boxes from Vinyl Collective, and my tastes are expanded once again thanks to the acumen of Suburban Home Records. Suburban Home is a hard-working, small label with a lot of grit and damn good taste; they’re responsible for the unearthing of bands like Two Cow Garage and Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground, as well as for releasing the solo efforts of Lagwagon’s Joey Cape and Drag The River’s Jon Snodgrass. One of the guys’ most recent acquisitions is none other than the fetching little sis of Kay Kay’s Kirk Huffman, Lizzie Huffman.
I’m fuzzy on Huffman’s back story beyond the obvious fact that her parents deserve a lifetime of high fives for deciding to bear offspring, but what I do know about her is that she is a Seattle-based singer-songwriter with one solo album on her resume: 2010’s Lizzie Huffman and Her Brother Band. That’s right, Kay Kay fans – brother Kirk plays and records with Huffman.
Huffman’s southern-fried folk-pop is perhaps a bit counterintuitive to her West Coast roots, and so well contrived you’d expect to find her kicking up her boots in Nashville. The first moment the record player needle spun over Huffman’s voice, I was honestly blown away. She soulfully and magnetically vocalizes woebegone tales of passion, nerves and infatuation that are plaintive yet conversely empowering. Huffman’s Etta James-esque delivery is laid down amongst a mix of folksy instrumentation like a pair of misfit lovers, but the genre-bending seems genuine and even contemporary.
I tentatively considered submitting this piece on Huffman to RFC’s Love for the Ladies column instead, seeing as Miss Lizzie is such a looker. She is doe-eyed and petite, yet her short black hair, sleeve of tattoos and air of being one of the guys lend a certain kind of alluring edginess. Fellow RFC-er Matthew Voracek claimed in an earlier post that the male writers have a soft spot for ladies with “steely confidence, a gale-wind musical force and all attitude” and who appear on stage “sweaty with an unattainability.” Well boys, I think I have a candidate for you.
There’s so very much to love about Huffman’s lyricism, as well. Admissions of lust (“And every time you come around, your pants get tighter and tattoos just a bit brighter, I’m a mess again, ‘Cause I just want you all over me”) sidle into deeper confessions of longing and personal drama, and the kinds of tunes I wish I knew the story behind (“I’m sure that when her face hit the stairs you weren’t thinking of how much you love me, I’m sure that when her blood ran like tears you weren’t thinking of me like you should”) on “A Night in the Country” and “Heavy Hearts,” respectively.
There’s little more of Huffman to be easily found out in the internet universe as of yet, though she can also be found in some widely viewed YouTube videos alongside Forgiving Durden and in older recordings from her former work in the band Man in the Blue Van. One can only hope she’ll churn out more in the near future, but I deeply encourage you to pick up her release from Suburban Home in the meantime.
I feel like it is safe to say that we all have our so-called “guilty pleasures”. It could be a musician that you don’t necessarily like to admit to listening to, or a game of some sort maybe, or if you’re Amber Valentine, it’s booze! While I am a big fan of awful music, games, and booze, my guilty pleasure comes in the form of a television series by the name of The OC. For those of you don’t know, The OC was one of those awful teen dramas that Fox airs every so often. Although the show ended a few years ago, I still absolutely love it. How much, you ask? Let’s just say that I have all four seasons on DVD and a couple of posters still on my walls. All of my sickening obsessions aside, The OC had more to offer than just a riveting story line and a bunch of good looking actors. The OC Soundtracks (which I HIGHLY recommend downloading) are awesome, to say the least and they introduced me to a whole new variety of musicians including a Mr. Patrick Park.
I usually like to get my adjectives in order before I begin discussing an artist, and, while shuffling through the thesaurus in my head, the best I could manage to describe Matt Jones was "lithe." True, it's a term heaped more often on strippers than indie folksters, but it seems oddly fitting to describe Jones' nimble, carefully orchestrated tunes. An Ann Arbor/Ypsi folk stalwart with an impending Daytrotter session, Matt Jones sings sly, beautiful songs in a sharp, controlled voice that at times is reminiscent of the Weakerthans, of Jeff Buckley, but with a slightly more theatrical bent.
To call the man and his music folk would be to do him a bit of a disservice: His album "The Black Path" (recorded with another AA music notable, Drunken Barn Dance's Jim Roll) is a stumbling, beautiful waltz through Americana as its only real genre. From opening rag/vaudeville of "Threadlines" to the evocative dustbowl instrumental "Antietam" (only lacking the Ken Burns narration to be convincingly antique) Jones is very much a graduate of School of Indie Anachronism.
Still, there's a a diversity to the approach that is refreshing: the dusty cowboy anthem "Jugulars, Bones and Blisters" is broken up by an unexpected synthesizer solo. "Waltzing With Lady Dawn" has a challenging, odd melody throwing touches of dissonance into it, held together by Jones' dancing voice.
From what I’ve realized, if you don’t live in or near Seattle, you haven’t been exposed to the significant hype over indie-folk sextet The Head and the Heart. Well, to fill you in on what you’ve missed, this group was one of the biggest deals in the Emerald City in 2010, and are now only a bigger deal since they signed to the Sub Pop label in early January.
Formed in 2009, the band has made a quick rise to the scene, releasing its self-titled debut album in June 2010. Since joining Sub Pop, that album has been re-released for digital sales, and is scheduled to be available on CD and vinyl on April 16.
If you love folk music (and since you’re reading RFC, you probably do) The Head and the Heart may be right up your alley. The album carries on with sunny Americana sounds that occasionally merge onto pop or alt-country back roads. Led by guitarists/vocalists Josiah Johnson and Jonathan Russell, the band is made complete with bassist Chris Zasche, pianist Kenny Hensley, violinist Charity Thielen and drummer Tyler Williams. The male vocals layer like carbon paper while Thielen textures the harmonies with her own throaty notes.
It’s a common issue, that heads and hearts don’t tend to agree, so I’m almost inclined to call the group a misnomer. Of all 10 songs on their record, there’s not a conflict to be found. Every musical element threads together like straw into gold. It’s probably not appropriate to call it “easy listening,” but it sure is easy to listen to.
The album opens with “Cats and Dogs” (its shortest song at just under two minutes), introducing the band’s affection for percussion and padded with supple drum thuds. “Coeur d’Alene” pulls up behind it as though hitched to the rear, the final piano chord of “Cats and Dogs” blending finely with the first of its successor. Clocking in at 5 minutes and 40 seconds (the album’s longest song), “Heaven Go Easy on Me” closes the set, rivaling the Moondoggies for Seattle’s current best vocal stack.
The Head and the Heart doesn’t break any new ground with its debut, but holds its own within an already beloved genre. Folk music needn’t stray too far from its own neighborhood to reach the whole community. All it takes is strong songwriting, which the band displays throughout the album. “Rivers and Roads” sits as its centerpiece, a soft acoustic piece that swells magnificently into a billowing compound of all its parts. All 10 tunes are good enough to stick with you for a while, but “Ghosts” is the one that’s left the most residue on my eardrums. Maybe I am a sucker for some rollicking saloon piano, but it’s just a damn fine song with solid energy. “One day we’ll all be ghosts,” sing the voices, “tripping around in someone else’s home.”
Overall, The Head and the Heart is an album about changing, including the past we leave behind and the future to which we look forward, not to mention how one feels from point A to point B. As if they weren’t already speaking the universal language of folk, their lyrics have nearly limitless application. If you’ve ever left someone or something behind, if you’ve ever found yourself in places and situations you’ve never been before, or if you think you ever will, the Head and the Heart is singing for you.
An Exclusive Interview with the Multi-talented, well-versed 7 piece band from Nashville, TN.
Sitting in the basement of Schuba's eating Chipotle and chatting it up with the seven members of The Kopecky Family Band.
Their safe word:
BANANA
Robots or Dinosaurs
(Discussing amongst each other...)
'Are they fighting each other?
You could program a robot to be a dinosaur...'
What is the strangest venue you have ever played?
Kelsey: Oh, definitely a wedding, where we played Butterfly Kisses. (Gabe follows with a lovely sample...)
How did you all begin? Influences:
Gabe: Kelsey and I started the band. We played our first show at a school sponsored clothing store.
Kelsey: Gabe and I met through mutual friends in college, I invited a group of people over for game night; I heard Gabe play the guitar and I was like, I want to play music with this guy. We started writing together on Halloween, and finished our first EP in a week.
Gabe: Influences: Cake, Menomena, Pedro the Lion, James Taylor, Radiohead...
Corey: When I was in middle school I was into hard core music. Now I am more into Modest Mouse, anything with mice in the name.
Ben: Anathallo
Most memorable concert you have ever attended?
Gabe: Radiohead, Steve and I share a birthday, and we went to see them live.
Steve: Yeah, that had to be one of the best shows I have seen.
Some tour Guide Essentials:
Gabe: Well we had our trailer stolen, so we can't bring a whole lot, so now it is basically two buckets and two benches, so it is all ass to ankles right now.
Worst advice you have ever been given?
Markus: We were told to get rid of three or four of our members, because we would never make it with seven.
If you could say only one word, what would it be?
(Collectively at first there were many beeps, boops and finally they decided upon a clever form of communication. SOS.)
All: Morse Code...
Can you dance? Any hidden talents:
Gabe: (motioning to Corey) Can this guy dance!? I spun him on gravel, he is a trooper though, for being so delicate, we call him Baby spoon and Bread crumb, two of the many nicknames Corey has acquired.
Corey: I like Bread Crumb the best I think.
Gabe: Hidden talents? I can pack the van really well. And Marcus can smoke A LOT of cigarettes.
(Marcus sort of shrugs, I ask him what kind he smokes, Marlboro Menthol Mediums)
What can we expect from you guys in the future?
A lot more music, We have a split seven inch coming out February fourth, and we are doing SXSW. We'll be around as long as we are playing music and being friends.
Have a listen and FALL IN LOVE with their melodies.
Do you want to know what one of my favorite things in the whole world is? Awesome people who play awesome music. I mean, don’t get me wrong, awesome music on its own is great too, but when you actually get to know the person playing it you start to actually learn some of the stories behind the awesome music that they play. Such is the case with Josh LaMore. I’ve actually known who Josh was for quite some time, but we just recently started talking on a semi regular basis.
I was first introduced to Josh when he was still performing with his first band, Feature Presentation. I’ll admit that I do not remember a lot about this particular band’s shows apart from a room full of people singing the lyrics “So sorry love, I should have quit” at the top of their lungs for at least five minutes after the song had ended. Those were the days.
Unfortunately, Feature Presentation played their final show in the summer of 2008 at the Cornerstone festival in Bushnell, Illinois. However, this was far from the end of Josh’s music career. Shortly after things with Feature Presentation ended, he began to prepare his first solo album, Dramatics. Dramatics provides Josh’s fans with a musical style different from all the rest. This EP is not only fun to listen to, but it also shows off just how talented Josh LaMore really is. Recorded and produced by Enoch Jensen, Dramatics incorporates a wide variety of musical styles and ultimately offers something that pretty much anyone can enjoy.
Shortly after recording Dramatics, Josh teamed up with a band by the name of Goodbye Fate. Although Goodbye Fate is still together, Josh decided to go in a different direction. He began touring the country, playing acoustic in living rooms, parks, stores, and pretty much anywhere else that would have him with the intention of “learn[ing] from the people [he met] and experienc[ing] something from everyone in a much more intimate way.” It was this idea that prompted Josh to record his second solo album, The Time is Now.
The Time is Now is a very raw, real, EP featuring just Josh and his guitar in a bathroom at McWhoa’s Recording Studio. The entire EP was tracked in just three short hours and does not include a single song that Josh actually intended on tracking. While for many artists this sort of approach would probably not work out too well, for Josh LaMore it works. The Time is Now allows listeners to gain some insight into what Josh was really feeling at the time it was recorded, and I think that’s pretty neat!
Both Dramatics and The Time is Now are available to download for free at this link right here and I highly suggest you grab them both. Seriously, you won’t regret it and if you do, then you probably smell bad. Like, really bad. Just sayin’. So just to be on the safe side, (which coincidentally is also the side that smells like flowers and cupcakes and other…nice smelling things), go ahead and give Josh LaMore a chance. I am fairly certain that you will not be disappointed in the slightest.
Another San Francisco-based female rock trio, although they won't stand to be type-cast as the prototypical angry girl group furious at the world and the men who wronged them. It is not a revolt rather it is a celebration of their collective passion for playing music.
"We acknowledge that movements of the past created by or affecting women in the art and music worlds are hugely influential, but there is potential for the original sentiments to lose potency if the meaning is misinterpreted or not redesigned for a modern context. Even the riot grrl movement is kind of antiquated. You never really hear people talk about that 'new riot grrl' band. We owe a great deal to that lineage but it's time for something new. We want to be portrayed as the responsible, thoughtful people that we are."
Impulsivity, intuition and heavily influenced by some greats, namely Black Sabbath, Hannah Lew and Raven Mahon, former members of Shitstorm, joined Lillian Maring and became Grass Widow. Their second album was recently released on Kill Rock Stars.
Colin Huebert of Siskiyou: The Interview
It is an album of desire, composure and grace, as it tears at your heart strings, softly at times. Its melodically transitions accumulate like folds of luscious thick velvet layered upon a long winding wooden floor. There is simple imagery that in its essence is integral and lighthearted, though has peaks and valleys that bemuse you.
Great Lake Swimmers former members branched off and patiently learned to record and create their debut self-titled album, which was released on Constellation in the Fall of 2010.
Colin currently resides in Vancouver, which is where he was when I spoke with him over the phone (from, get this, his land-line! How about it?) on a cool Saturday afternoon.
http://siskiyouband.com/listen/
You can trust that Constellation Records will get it right, about over 100% of the time, and Siskiyou is an example - and, ahem, may I be so bold to say a testament to that? Colin himself enjoys the artists on the label; Pat Jordache, Godspeed You Black Emporer, Colin Stetson and Do Make Say Think ... just to name a few. Here is a video courtesy of Constellation, The Land by Siskiyou
This Land - Siskiyou from Constellation Records on Vimeo.
1. Now for the safe word….(in case you don’t want to answer any questions, useful)
skate board
2. Favorite cheese?
Brie is my favorite
3. Robots or Dinosaurs?
Dinosaurs, stegosaurus is my favorite...
4. Strangest venue or gig you’ve ever played?
It was in Jackson, Mississippi, at a hot dog restaurant. It was infested with man-size cockroaches.
5. How did you begin your career and who were your influences?
Erik and I were (Erik still is) playing in Great Lake Swimmers until it became less enjoyable for me due to busy schedules. I learned how to record with two cheap microphones, recruited a few close friends, namely Erik Arnesen, and released the album on Constellation just recently. In the fall, we will release a new record.
Aside from music I do some tree-related work, and some urban farming. At the urban farm we mainly grow sprouts - sunflower sprouts, pea sprouts - in Vancouver. At the other farm (in the interior) there was much more land to grow every vegetable imaginable. Erik plays in Great Lake Swimmers and teaches ukulele to kids.
6. What is the most memorable show you’ve ever attended?
It would have to be The Flaming Lips performing Zaireeka in Austin, Texas. There were 40 boom boxes and they brought up 40 people from the audience.
7. What are a few items essential to your “tour survival kit”?
Sleeping pills.
8. What are you listening to now?
Damien Jurado. St Bartlett, his latest release.
9. What is the worst advice you’ve ever been given?
If you avoid something it will go away.
10. If you were to communicate using one word what would it be?
Motherfucker. Two guys communicated using just that word on “The Wire”. It was quite successful.
11. Can you dance?
Yes. Mmmhmmm (Matter of Fact tone).
12. Anything else you want the people to know?
Our cat Pixie is an aspiring accountant. She is currently doing our taxes.
Please note: This is not an actual picture of Pixie, she preferred not to be photographed.
Posted at 09:00 AM in Album Reviews, Commentary, Downloads, Interviews, New Sincerity, RFC Thinks You Should Know | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Tags: Constellation Records, Rachel Angres, Siskiyou
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