Posts filed under 'Americana / Folk / Country'
Black Fiction
Ghost Ride
[Howells Transmitter; 2006; Psych-Pop / Folk]
So Devendra and Andy might prefer to call their music “naturalisimo” or some shit like that instead of freak-folk. Okay. And after hearing Black Fiction’s new record, I have to agree that they (along with Akron/Family) are more deserving of the freak tag than Banhart and Vetiver ever were. But unlike the raucous side of Akron/Family, Black Fiction swerves like a Microbus barreling from San Fran to Burning Man, picking up hitch-hikers of old school hip-hop, sunny 60s SoCal beach pop, vintage psychedelia and even some dub along the way.
There’s no easy comparison to be made of “sounds like ______” when no two songs sound alike on a record*. Which is a good thing, and that’s exactly what Black Fiction is good at. One minutes it’s a jangly, tamborine-shaking sing-a-long built around hand claps and a bassy dub groove and the next it’s swaying acoustic guitar picking, finger snapping and percussion that sounds like it’s in the next room. Not many bands can make a record that is this disjointed and this listenable. The only indescretion I see is the vocals on “I Spread The Disease”. Sounds like Jimmy Fallon singing that damn “Idiot Boyfriend” song he did.
If The Raconteurs record is “The Rustbelt’s Nevermind” (don’t know who said that, but somebody did), I’ll just go ahead and call this the new Pet Sounds.
Download I Spread The Disease** and Magic Hands
Buy it now:
Howells Transmitter
*It is fair to say fans of Akron/Family, early Beck, Animal Collective and Ariel Pink shouldn’t be disappointed
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July 24th, 2006
The Theater Fire
Everybody Has A Dark Side
[Undeniable Records; 2006; Pop/Alt-Country]
While DJ Jester was representing for San Antonio, the Undeniable crew is still holding it down for us here in the DFW and Denton area with the release of The Theater Fire’s new record. And it’s also strange that I would pick this up to listen to yesterday considering we had one helluva theater fire in Dallas the night before when the landmark Arcadia Theater went up in flames. The theater, built in 1927, had seen everything from vaudeville theater to The Cramps, operas to variety shows and even police raids over the screening of Deep Throat in 1973. So I’m sure from now on when Dallas heads hear “the theater fire”, they’ll think of the Arcadia instead of these guys, but no need to change your name fellas… just look at The Ruby Room and Lee Harvey’s.
Anyway, all hometown pride aside, these guys bring influences to their music that are as far reaching as bluegrass (and maybe even a little jug band), zydeco, mariachi, country, folk and rock. Their alt-country-ish sound lends a much needed variety (and a forlorn feeling) to modern pop music - not entirely unlike Lylas’ record that we talked about recently. It’s neither lo-fi nor glossy, but lands somewhere in the middle. Like a high quality live recording of campfire sing-a-longs that defy genres, or define them. Maybe post-country? Southern chamber pop? Nu-Americana? Regardless of what you call it, these tales of wanderers, lovers, soldiers and pals hold a restrained beauty full of horns, pedal steel, violin, accordion, mandolin, xylophone and banjo and should appeal to fans of everyone from Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen to The Decemberists* and Architecture In Helsinki*.
I need to get out and see these guys and if you’re around Dallas, I suggest you do the same.
tonight (6.26.06) at Sons of Hermann Hall for a Kinky Friedman benefit
6.25.06 - Fort Worth - at the Fort Worth Weekly Music Awards
6.29.06 - Dallas - at the DoubleWide with Peter and The Wolf
6.30.06 - Denton - at Dan’s Silverleaf with Peter and the Wolf
*if you add a fistful of country to the mix.
Download these now.
Kicking Up The Darkness
These Tears Could Rust A Train
Dark Side
and Ne’er Too Late from their 2003 self-titled debut
Buy it now:
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June 23rd, 2006
I’m sure almost everybody is familiar with The Internet Archive at this point. But if not, it’s a massive, ever-growing library of non-commercial and public domain media. If you’ve ever started digging through the live show recordings, you’ll know there is a lot to choose from. And if you get addicted, you’re going to need a bigger hard drive…
Some sets are audience recordings and some are from the soundboards so the quality ranges from pretty poor to quite excellent. And speaking of hard drives, I got a new 200 gig-er, so I’ve got some downloading to do! That brings me to a new feature coming your way from time to time when I come across an especially good show that I think you should hear. So let’s get on with our first show pick…
Silver Mt. Zion
Live at La Sala Rossa, Montreal
June 16, 2005
As a nice companion to the newest Silver Mt. Zion record we finally covered, this show from last summer is a very good audience recording and includes a mix of songs from Horses In The Sky and older material. So get to downloading this one and we’ll gradually sift through the rest of the SMZ shows and bring you some more choice picks down the road.
Download here (VBR mp3, 173M zipped folder)
If you want either lossless Flacs or smaller files, there are other format options available here
June 2nd, 2006
Silver Mt. Zion
Horses In The Sky
[Constellation; 2005; Post-Rock/Folk]
I know I said I was a little late on that Gregor Samsa record, but this one’s been out even longer. It’s one I really should have already been on top of, but it’s been in my rotation again so I need to show some love and respect to Silver Mt. Zion.
With this release, Godspeed! You Black Emperor guitarist Efrim and his band actually cross over into more primitive, dark and apocalyptic folk sounds with a heavy emphasis on vocals rather than the soaring instrumentals you normally associate with “Post-Rock”. But that’s not to say they’ve turned to traditionally structured, 3-minute songs. Not one of them is under 6 1/2 minutes which gives them all plenty of time to slowly swell or expand and contract multiple times throughout a track. Although the overall sound is more stripped down than previous releases, you’ll find layers of everything from violin and cello to distorted guitars and feedback.
Another release to satisfy fans of the extended GYBE family and further solidify my love for Constellation Records. Recommended if: You think a brand of folk that’s slower and heavier than Akron / Family sounds good.
Download Mountains Made of Steam
Buy it now:
Constellation Records
Insound
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June 2nd, 2006
The Darling Downs
How Can I Forget This Heart of Mine?
Rating: 8.1
[Carrot Top; 2006; Country / Folk]
After a long hectic day at work and one more staring you in the face before the weekend, this is the perfect record to throw on. It’s a soothing and back-to-basics sound, but it’s far from numbing or dull. And its blend of country and Appalachian folk comes from the most unlikely duo of Australian rockers Kim Salmon (The Scientists, Beasts of Bourbon, The Surrealists) and Ron Peno (Died Pretty). Whether Salmon’s lone acoustic guitar is being strummed or picked, it is beautiful and appropriately intense or refrained to compliment Peno’s honest and lonesome (and mostly lone) voice.
The amount of styles and emotions explored throughout the record makes you hope this “side project” has just begun and is not a lone release stemming from bar talk. From the alt-country-ish singer-songwriter standardness of opener “I’ll Be Always There” to the yelping mountain folk of “In That Jar” and on through the foot-stomping, smokey honky tonk bar bluesiness of “Let It Breathe” and swampy psych-folk of “In a Cold Place by a Lake”, these blokes have officially joined the ranks of extremely important Aussie musical exports that include The Drones recently and Nick Cave.
Download In That Jar
Buy it now:
Carrot Top Records
Amazon
April 28th, 2006
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