Fred Neil song

Fred Neil, although one of the most overlooked American folk singers of the 1960s and 70s, is probably one of my favorite from the era. I first came across him after reading a Bill Callahan interview in which the man behind the Smog moniker cited Neil as a major influence, as well as one of his preferential American songwriters (over Dylan apparently). I may or may not agree with Bill Callahan. Regardless, if you are a Smog/Callahan fan, Fred Neil is a must listen.

"Ya don't miss your water 'til your well runs dry."
Fred Neil - Ya Don't Miss Your Water (live)

Townes Van Zandt talkin' blues song

I said, 'Yeah I got a dollar but don't be a smart-aleck, I ain't gonna spend it on no Indian relic.'
Townes Van Zandt - Talking Thunderbird Blues

listen to blithe field

What: Blithe Field, solo project of Spencer Radcliffe. Glitch, samples, sparse guitar lines, tape hiss, minimalist.
Where: Athens, Ohio, Appalachian Hills, river valleys, town.
Sounds like: Fridge, Hood, Bibio (at times).

Listen:
Blithe Field - Ghost Riding The Whip
Blithe Field - A Spin In A Spirit Car
Blithe Field - Crushing

ashes into the sky

Here are a few songs from Benoit Pioulard's Précis. This album came out in 2006, so you may have heard these before. Précis has kind of resurfaced in my music catalogue. I've been listening to "Ashes Into The Sky" on a loop for the past couple weeks--can't really get over how it unfolds about a minute and a half into the song. Enjoy, or re-enjoy.

Benoît Pioulard - Triggering Back
Benoît Pioulard - Ashes Into The Sky
Benoît Pioulard - Patter

thorn in yer grip

If it wasn't before, Ecstasy of Saint Theresa is your new favorite Czech shoegaze band. When I think of shoegaze as a genre or movement one sound always comes to mind; this is the swirling guitars, orchestral samples and drifting vocals of My Bloody Valentine's Loveless . In 1989 Kevin Shields set out to make his masterpiece. Two years, 19 recording studios and a handful of defunct sound engineers later, Shields emerged with Loveless, one of the best albums of the decade and the seminal "shoegaze" record.

Go back a few years in the My Bloody Valentine catalogue and you will find a much different sound. MBV's first LP was 1988's Isn't Anything . Although some of MBV's distinctive sound stands out on this early release (most notably Shields's shifting chords played with the tremelo bar), Isn't Anything is in many ways the anti-Loveless. Loveless was recorded over the span of two years; Isn't Anything was made in just two weeks. Where Loveless is ethereal, Isn't Anything is raw--the guitars are bone-crushing instead of shimmering, the drums aggressive. Hell, some of it kind of sounds like a band from the Czech Republic called Ecstasy of Saint Theresa.

On Susurrate (1992), Ecstasy of Saint Theresa lays down shoegaze in the same grain as some tracks from Isn't Anything--bruising guitars, aggressive drums, everything blaring and percussive. But while Isn't Anything sounds a bit unsure, capturing a band en route to its full potential and defining sound, Susurrate shows a band taking this bone-crushing style of shoegaze and running with it--the result is stunning. I guess what I'm trying to say is Susurrate sounds like a better, more focused version of Isn't Anything's driving shoegaze--a better version of the best shoegaze band's first album.

So in this post I have:
a) mentioned a lesser-known shoegaze band only to write about the most obvious shoegaze band ever for two paragraphs,
b) succumbed to shoegaze elitism by measuring every shoegaze album against Loveless, and
c) written seriously about a pseudogenre, making indiscriminate use of the term "shoegaze".

...to the gallows. But hey, if you worked the late shift at a desolate hotel front desk you might start thinking about these things too.

Here are a couple of tracks by Ecstasy of Saint Theresa, all of them but "What's" from the aforementioned album Susurrate. Thanks to youcantgohomeagain for suggesting this band.

Ecstasy of Saint Theresa - What's
Ecstasy of Saint Theresa - Thorn In Yer Grip
Ecstasy of Saint Theresa - Ice Cream Star
Ecstasy of Saint Theresa - To Alison

there's a place around the corner where your dead friends live

Einstürzende Neubauten is an industrial/experimental band from Berlin, Germany. I really don't know much about them. Apparently they are known for playing custom instruments built from scrap metal and industrial tools. Here is a song by them I lifted from a playlist from grancategoria, a great blog run by a friend in Granada, Spain.

"There's a place around the corner...where your dead friends live." This song makes the hairs stand up on my neck. Must get more Einstürzende Neubauten.

Einstürzende Neubauten - Dead Friends (Around The Corner)

don't fall in love

Well, it must be Ghostly Female Songstress Dream Pop Month of March out in the tobacco barn. Meet Still Corners, a London-based group that has recently signed to Sub Pop. Why is it that this dreamy brand of pop with haunting female vocals has been so prevalent in the month of March? The newly spring air is swirling, the world around us is burgeoning with green, blossoming with color; it can really be a powerful, emotional time...And I've got really bad spring allergies so it looks like I'm crying most of the time anyway. Yes, Still Corners is the perfect soundtrack.

"Don't Fall In Love" is about as ominous as music this poppy can get. The dark, two-chord sequence will chug along, you will hear Tessay Murray's voice, but you will not heed her warning. "Endless Summer" has changes reminiscent of Portishead's Third, and at 1:10 and 2:20 you might just lose it. "History Of Love" is flashing before your eyes. Yes, this is the good stuff. Listen and run along to your local record store and buy it.

Still Corners - Don't Fall In Love
Still Corners - Endless Summer
Still Corners - History Of Love

"Want to take you outside, want to show you the sky,"

After reading tweet after tweet about what was going on at SXSW I noticed one reoccurring theme, people were absolutely losing it over Sharon Van Etten. Having recently purchased my ticket to see Ms. Van Etten and the National at MusicNow, I threw on her most recent record Epic, grilled out and watched the super moon. No offense to the celestial occurrence or my ability to cook pork on the grill but giving Epic another listen was the highlight of the night.

Her songwriting is unapologetic in its honesty and vulnerability but nothing about the delivery makes her a victim.

Sharon Van Etten Don’t Do It

"But there's no love letters, waiting in my mailbox today,"

Gross Ghost Wicked Game

Out of my four entries on this blog, this is the second about Gross Ghost and the third about a band from North Carolina. There is a damn fine music scene going on down there and Gross Ghost is at the forefront of it. The last time I wrote about Gross Ghost I was writing based on other blogs and tweets from the band. This time I just called Mike Dillon and Tre Acklin and got the word straight from the ghost’s mouth.

Mike and Tre are roommates in Raleigh, NC and have had Gross Ghost going in some form or the other since 2008. In the past they had toured somewhat frequently with a former lineup, but have recently been focused on recording songs and immediately getting them out for free.

The bands associated with this North Carolina triangle scene are an incestuous bunch, but not in the catch a felony kind of way. Matt and Tre have played in Old Bricks and Americans in France and are contemporaries and friends with Wild Wild Geese, Veelee, Spiderbags, Last Year’s Men, Love Language and the Dirty Little Heaters. These are bands that reader(s) of this blog will be familiar with in the near future. The record labels responsible for supporting these bands are Odessa, Grip Tapes, Churchkey and Merge. And of course, the record store at the epicenter of spreading the word of North Carolina music is Gravity Records. Matt and Eric at Gravity have mastered the art of Internet promotion and are the reason I know about these bands, and therefore the reason you are reading about them. So go give thanks by buying records from them or at least go over to their facebook and show them some love.

Gross Ghost recently put out Wicked Game their second EP on Grip Tapes and it’s available for free at the bottom of this post. Grooving bass lines have as much do with Wicked Game as the beach drenched guitars and the percussion has taken a psychadelic jazz foot stomping turn and the end product is thriving because of it. The full length LP due out this summer is going to contain some of the tracks of these two EP’s plus some new tunes.

The band is going to switch its focus from recording when the new LP is done and hit the road this summer. There is talk of a Maysville, KY gig and the band is definitely doing Hopscotch in September.

“We are coming to rock, we’re coming to hang out, we’re coming to drink your beer and we are coming for your couch,” Mike, I know one town that is more than ready.

You Tell Me

Lazy Little Walk

Soft Focus

Tenements

Thanks to Jheri at Get off the Coast for giving me these to begin with

"you're a vast sky, you're a dead star"

Tamaryn

A ghostly female voice backed by walls of guitars drenched in reverb singing songs about cities, rain and unrequited love. I’ll take it. If Shakespeare were listening to music when he wrote Hamlet, it could have been Tamaryn. This is perfect music to drown to.

Tamaryn is going to be at the Southgate House in Newport, Kentucky on April 5, 2011 with the Raveonettes.

Tamaryn “Dawning”