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Psychedelic & folk music community
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| The Threads of Grass, Sun Tunnels |
[17 Nov 2009|09:12pm] |
Here's the new record from the Detroit/Portland band The Threads of Grass. Features members of His Name is Alive, Outrageous Cherry, Nomo, IOA, Inside Voices and Nest Material. Recommended for fans of: Incredible String Band, Crazy Horse, The Band, Jack Nitzsche, Judee Sill, Nick Drake. Recorded on 1/2" 8 track tape, handmade letter-pressed cover with Jill Bliss artwork. Available only as a download and limited vinyl (300). Vinyl can be ordered from a link off the download page.
Here to download the full quality audio and cover art for free (or whatever you'd like to pay):
http://thethreadsofgrass.bandcamp.com/
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| Sam Amidon tour? |
[16 Nov 2009|10:10pm] |
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Anyone know is Sam is touring, especially in the Northeast?
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| Vic Chesnutt - Skitter On Take-Off 2009 |
[10 Nov 2009|08:41am] |
Vic Chesnutt is a pretty remarkable musician. His distinctive voice and folk guitar styling is par none, and he is often accompanied by the most notable of artists no matter what the genre. Chesnutt recently released just such an album called At The Cut which featured Guy Picciotto (Fugazi) and members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. While that record may have garnered him a bit of press, he slipped in a sleeper for the die-hard folk fans. Yes, he also released Skitter To Take-Off.
Produced by Jonathan Richman and Tommy Larkin, Skitter To Take-Off is Chesnutt as his most soul-bearing. You can hear it in his voice on high points “Feast In The Time Of Plague”, “Rips In The Fabric” and “Society Sue”. The only accompaniment here is Richman (guitar, harmonium) and Larkin (drums), and their presence, too, is scarce. These somewhat minimal tunes were recorded as such, with no overdubs – yet the power behind them remains. If you thought Chesnutt was good with full accompaniment, just wait ’til you hear him on his own. It takes a true musician to captivate the listener in such an instance, and on Skitter On Take-Off Chesnutt more than succeeds at that.
http://rapidshare.com/files/304839904/vic_nutt.rar
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| ca329 - Viya - Greetings From The Land of Toys! |
[08 Nov 2009|08:33pm] |
Artist: Viya
Title: Greetings From The Land of Toys!
#ca329
Date: 2009-11-08
Keywords: folk; fusion; experimental; rock; other
(320 kbps)
Viya, the live performance band which frequently takes to the stage in clubs across Taksim / Istanbul and a lot of festivals in Turkey. Viya means 'body surfing' in the Laz language. Formed in june 2008 with Zeynep Türkmen on Violin; Özgür Çakır on Guitar and Sound effects; Barış Demirel on Bass Guitars, melodicas, vocals; Aydın Türkoğlu on Drums. The group is best known for its keenness for improvisation and utilizations with folk, jazz, rock sounds.
Contact:
http://wwww.myspace.com/viyaband
DL:
http://www.archive.org/details/ca329_v
http://www.clinicalarchives.spyw.com
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| The Joy of Nature / Novemthree - Auguries of Innocence / Meanderings in Streams of Reflection |
[28 Oct 2009|11:44pm] |
Fom Heathen Harvest's review: Small label Little Something Records has just issued a beautiful release with this Split Collaboration between The Joy of Nature and Novemthree, the package is so well crafted, comes with two buttons from each band and the two precious mini CDs inside a double folded mini cover (curiously each one representing a different natural polarity, Male vs Female or Animus Vs Anima) each side presenting their respective artwork. The whole set comes in a rustic envelope of linen tied with a delicate cord of wool. Awesome visual presentation!
Novemthree's myspace
The Joy of Nature's myspace
Enjoy!
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| ca325 - dmyra - Unpollution |
[29 Oct 2009|12:32am] |
Artist: dmyra
Title: Unpollution
#ca325
Date: 2009-10-28
Keywords: un folk; anti rock; alternative; rock; folk
(320 kbps)
Unpollution the connective [t]issue. Recurring themes include: Divine Apparition/Avatical Landings, Clean - Free Energy, the Mental source of apparent contradictions, conflict resolution analysis.
Well, with our world in a dire state, one hopes to add to the clarity of the subject without becoming a fascist too. And so we have a decided leaning towards personal transformation to achieve this end.
Contact:
http://www.metaforr.org
DL:
http://www.archive.org/details/ca325_d
http://www.clinicalarchives.spyw.com
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| Alasdair Roberts - The Wyrd Meme (2009) EP |
[26 Oct 2009|11:12am] |
Following hard on the heels of Spoils comes the second offering this year from Alasdair Roberts, an EP of four long tracks that brilliantly bears out the conjunction of ancient and modern, mythical and analytical, in the title The Wyrd Meme.
Set to guitar and mooning harmonium, and sung in Roberts' distinctive reedy brogue, "Coral And Tar" has the tainted fragility of a double-edged love song by Will Oldham, while "The Yarn Unraveller", with its imagery of "the ship unlaunchable, yet forever doomed to sailing", recalls The Incredible String Band's more elliptical myth songs – though they never paused a song midway for a passage of feedback whines. Mythic beasts appear in suitably serpentine rhymes in the apocalyptic account of "The Royal Road At The World's End", before being summarily dismissed
http://rapidshare.com/files/297941158/AlasWyrd_EP.rar
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| Vladimir Martynov-Night in Galicia 2000. |
[21 Oct 2009|05:04pm] |
This is perhaps one of the strangest albums I have in my collection.
An odd mixture of genres, (not quite classical, not quite folk, not quite avant-garde) Night in Galicia is an album which takes you deep into the Russian psyche and beyond. Alien upon the ears at first listen, the songs within demand your solitude and your attention and upon further examination, it seems there is something quite subliminal about it all, that the songs are merely an extension of Martynov's unconscious mind. There is very rarely a cantible melody, and most of the songs work on patterns, ostinati and poly-rhythms.
The vocal work is quite rough and raw, not what you would expect from something classed as classical. However, such singing gives the songs a more natural feel; that it's something anybody can readily associate with. Often the vocals bark and yell, or take on a more nasal quality. Suffice to say, I have never heard vocals quite like this before (except maybe on a Zappa record).
The first track is "A-A-A O-O-O EH-EH-EH EE-EE-EE OO-OO-OO" and probably the most out-there song on the album. The title states the songs only lyrics and is really an experiment into phonetic playfulness and rhythmic structuring. All other tracks are in Russian but don't let that put you off. There's always something about listening to music in a language you don't understand. The vocals move away from being a conduit of words and instead become a versatile and expressive instrument in their own right.
A folk ensemble supply the string work and is as raw and expressive as the singing. You don't have to be an expert on traditonal russian folk music to appreciate it relevancy. You can almost smell the earth and see the vast landscape of Mother Russia when listening to the string passages. Cellos grind and hack away percussively as the violins dance rudely on top.
Taking libretto from works by avant-garde poet Velimir Khlebnikov, it's a piece which will never be liked or understood upon first contact. And yes, there are moments when it feels it's being too clever for it's own good.
But for all it's cleverness and bizarre qualities, Night in Galicia is an interesting, musical island, just waiting to be explored by those who are prepared to push the boat out.
http://rapidshare.com/files/242558238/Vladimir_Martynov_-_Night_in_Galicia_K.rar
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| At Swim Two Birds - Before You Left |
[15 Oct 2009|11:25pm] |
It’s somewhat of a double-edged sword for anyone brave enough to be romantically entangled with Roger Quigley (who trades solo as At Swim Two Birds and also under a band umbrella as one of The Montgolfier Brothers). On the one hand, a Quigley relationship is pre-destined to end in an emotional cataclysm, to be deconstructed in painful detail just a few notches down from the indiscreetly lurid prose of Arab Strap’s Aidan Moffat. On the other hand, the resultant navel-gazing will be dressed in the tailored-threads of old-fashioned chivalry and beatifically saturnine moodscapes. It’s a dichotomous quiddity that gives British bedsit balladeers a good name, as this third At Swim Two Birds long-player attests.
With the opening almost a cappella eeriness of “Intro,” Quigley enunciates the core recurring lyrical refrain of Before You Left, as if it were a self-deluding manifesto commitment; “Before you left I told myself this is a good thing/The time and space to sort myself out.” From thereon in, Quigley steers the record through waves of epic intimacy, like a broken man staring ruefully through the condensation of a Salford greasy-spoon café window, daydreaming vividly of lost love(s).
Lyrically, Quigley draws diligently from the same wells as seminal break-up concept albums like Lee Hazlewood’s Requiem For An Almost Lady, Bob Dylan’s Blood On The Tracks, Smog’s The Doctor Came At Dawn and Elliott Smith’s XO; apportioning blame with a mixture of self-immolating regret and veiled-bitterness, as well as dwelling near-tearfully on the good times before the rot of irreversible bleakness set-in. Musically, Quigley glides his murmuring multi-tracked croon across a cohesively-fashioned surface that subtly cross-references a spectrum of those with similarly melancholic persuasions. Hence, the skeletal minimalism of “I Must Be Losing You” and the electronically-framed “Let Her Go” recall the cruelly-forgotten lush extremities of early lo-fi Baby Bird wares, such as I Was Born A Man and Bad Shave. The magisterial string-adorned “The March of The Kings” nods respectfully to both Scott Walker and Tindersticks, whereas the elegiac “No Fear” is painted with gentler shades of Piano Magic’s 4ADisms. Elsewhere, “Dead of Night” cops a sneaky-but-successful feel of Richard Hawley’s retro Sinatra-via-Sheffield evocations whilst the plaintive acoustics of “The Night We Ran Away” tip a hat to Leonard Cohen’s Songs From A Room.
Overall, Roger Quigley’s soul-baring may be a pain in the heart for him, but it’s a generous medicine to the ears for the rest of us. So although heavy with an omnipresent tristfulness, Before You Left is still a redemptive and uplifting affair for those looking to deeply drown their sorrows and then pick themselves up again, to find another person to fall in (and possibly out of) love with. Melancholia with healing powers in short then…
http://rapidshare.com/files/283158951/Plava_Budj.rar
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| Liz Durrett - Husk 2005 |
[15 Oct 2009|09:22pm] |
The world of sad singer/songwriters must be a pretty powerful one. How many times have you been in a perfectly content mood until you flipped on your favorite Internet radio station and discover Smog, Cat Power, or even Neil Young streaming through the airwaves? Did you then immediately drop everything, stare at the ceiling tiles, and existentially contemplate your role in the universe? For that particular breed of singer/songwriter previously mentioned, success generally depends on how close they can take the listener to the ledge (and not from boredom)… without going over. The great ones hold an almost god-like power. Liz Durrett’s debut CD Husk doesn’t really make you want to halt life altogether and start heading for the nearest tall story building. It’s more likely to give you the urge to hang out on your porch and smoke cigarettes or, if you’re a hippie, do yoga.
The Rome, GA-raised niece of acclaimed singer/songwriter Vic Chesnutt, Liz Durrett, has produced an album with enough dark moments to make for a good soundtrack to a 3 am bed-sitting, but she holds enough human warmth in her voice to keep you from scouring the internet in search of discount prices on Lexapro. Recorded between 1993 and 1996 when Liz was just a teenager, Husk is a solid, emotional record filled with nine soft, ethereal tracks that usually include the right combination of weepiness and hope. For the most part the songs are pretty interchangeable, but “Vine,” “Husk,” and “Lull” are standouts.
“Vine,” the nursery rhyme-tinged opener, provides a perfect introduction to Liz’s rural Georgia upbringing and fragile teenage psyche. While “Vine” doesn’t chronicle the metamorphosis of girl into woman as eloquently as Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret, lines like “navigate your life plan” and “knocked down in your head” indicate that Liz had more on her teenage mind than Saved by the Bell reruns.
“Husk,” with its creepy Wurlitzer keyboard playing, paints a mysterious picture of her youth that describes in great detail her rustic southern United States surroundings. Lines like “it’s a virus that swells in the grass” and “there’s the ghost of a beast in the woods” delivered in her aching voice make the songsimilar in spirit to the Throwing Muses’ “Delicate Cutters.” While the subject matter of “Husk” isn’t quite as dark as the Kristen Hersh-penned classic (which was about self-mutilation), it’s pretty clear Liz is meditating on a troubled scene from her childhood… or she could just be referring to a Bigfoot attack.
“Captive,” the finest song of Husk (and one that features the backing vocals of her uncle, Vic Chesnutt), resonates with seductive harmonies and sweet country-folk underpinnings. The charming phrasings “celestial peak,” “under in the sun,” and “you never know what the power a particle will cost” sung in a tender 70s singer/songwriter-styled voice, enhance a truly moving song.
While Husk isn’t quite a dark masterpiece that will get you searching for a quality sliding-scale therapist, it is an impressive debut and one that illuminates a promising young talent.
http://rapidshare.com/files/226205333/Ujkino_dete.rar
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| MV & EE - Barn Nova (2009) |
[14 Oct 2009|05:02pm] |
Since their inception, Matt Valentine and Erika Elder have been consistently grouped and filed away. Each critical analysis since their Ecstatic Peace debut, Green Blues, is sure to parallel MV’s lazy nasal drawl to Neil Young’s, of which MV is unarguably guilty. And though they were initially pigeonholed with the awkward freak-folkers of the early aughts, the increasingly prevalent rock side of their sound has shifted the filing to the retro-psych clans of
Black Mountain and Sunburned Hand of the Man. These comparisons aren’t without merit, but as their discography has lengthened, MV & EE are slowly approaching the derivative threshold.
Their third release for Ecstatic Peace, Barn Nova pretty much picks up the progression Gettin’ Gone hinted at. The electrified country ragas are a bit more reigned in and the anyone-can-join-us hippie mentality skewed toward a more exacting band. Pedal guitarist Doc Dunn and Dinosaur Jr. stalwart J Mascis have returned to the fold, while guitarist Mike Smith, percussionist Justin Pizzoferrato and Woodsist mastermind Jeremy Earl have joined the festivities. With eight songs in just over forty minutes, Nova is not exactly a monolith, but it does feature some of the duo’s strongest material.
Barn Nova really finds its groove through the belly of the album, culminating in the eleven-minute “Bedroom Eyes.” The arc begins with “Snapperhead,” a mixture of awkward Valentine-sung verses and a catchy, glistening chorus. It’s a framework better worked by Earl’s Woods outfit, though the hazy psychedelics add a nice depth to the mix. “Summer Magic” continues the descent from the half-baked country tunes into the depths of heavy electric guitar swirls and Sonic Youth-like walls of sound. In fact, as the song progresses, it’s hard not to think of it as a SY jam session with less of an obsession for dissonance and complex chords.
As with the previous Ecstatic Peace albums, the Mascis presence is eventually felt. “Wandering Nomad” is the most prevalent on Barn Nova. Suddenly, the guitars aren’t as much shimmering above as they are crashing into the drums, and the vocals slowly get enveloped into the mix. A big guitar solo confirms the suspicions and the tune concludes with a big fadeout of feedback.
By the time “Bedroom Eyes” saunters in, any hope of proper song-structure is lost. A thick cloud of electric psychedelics is at fault, burying the already forgettable lyrics and letting the guitars take turns modeling the melodic motif. Despite such jam sessions repeatedly taking place -- not only in the MV & EE discography but as well in the redundant world of psychedelic rock -- the band pulls it off well. It’s just enough for the drugs to take effect without letting you completely doze off.
This balance may be MV & EE’s greatest talent, a successfully-crafted sound for the post-millennium hippie. The herb and the everyone’s-an-artist spirit remain, but -- thankfully -- it’s encapsulated in an appreciation for the last 40 years of rebellious music
http://rapidshare.com/files/292930493/BarnNova_K.rar
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| Gary Higgins - Seconds 2009. |
[12 Oct 2009|05:29pm] |
When singer/songwriter Gary Higgins' obscure 1973 folk masterpiece Red Hash was reissued by Drag City in 2005, it caused quite a stir in indie circles. The back-story on the reissue: Ben Chasny of Six Organs of Admittance had been deeply influenced by the record and turned everybody he cared about on to it. One of those people was D.C.'s Zach Cowie, who called and wrote every Gary Higgins he could find until he found the right one and reissued the album. It's a gorgeous record, a collection of beautifully but simply articulated psychedelic folk songs that reflect the time period; it's timeless and still resonates. Anyone who hasn't heard Seconds would understandably greet it with trepidation. After all, it has been 26 years since Red Hash and the man is much older; add to this the fact that second-chance efforts are just as likely to be flameouts as they are blessings. Seconds is definitely the latter. Higgins -- who performs with some of the same musicians who appeared on Red Hash -- is in excellent voice and his guitar-playing skills are sharp, too; but more than this, his songwriting skills haven't gone down a notch. He understands what went into the songs on Red Hash and retains that here. His is a non-judgmental, personal look at life that, while full of self-examination, also had a sense of humor as the balance of tragedy. His articulation of it all is gentle and tender but unflinching -- as evidenced by some of the song titles.
The set opens with "Demons," a song that is nakedly confessional even though it is dedicated to a friend. Higgins is singing about the toll of substance abuse, particularly alcohol and its self-deceptive qualities. Three acoustic guitars playing in different cadences, a bass, and keyboards (sounding alternately like an organ and a harpsichord) carry Higgins' delicate, slightly raspy baritone in waves to the listener. There is an incredible sense of vulnerability in his lyric lines, alternating between himself and others in his narrative. By contrast, "Little Squirrel," fueled by two layers of keyboards and Terry Fenton's flute, is almost a darkly humorous nursery rhyme. The keyboard sounds can be slightly cheesy, but it's because they are inexpensive instruments -- this is not a high-production recording, but it is an immediate, raw, and arresting one -- and are therefore endearing. "Ten-Speed" and "Mr. Blew" are among the recording's most poetic songs. They are different in subject: the former a folk poem that reflects love, nature, and the force of change; the latter a hardcore bit of self-reflection that can also be considered a cautionary tale. There is real melancholy in all this beauty, but at the same time there is a sense of wisdom and gratitude and, most of all, acceptance. That all said, it is the nearly 13-minute psychedelic folk suite "5 A.M. Trilogy" that is the greatest proof that Higgins not only still has it, but has it in spades. Compositionally, lyrically, and poetically, his writing here is a strange look into a window of timelessness -- past, present, and future; for all the travails in his life, Higgins has come out unbowed, with a view of the world as a difficult, often tragic, but magical place. His elegant sense of melody is the underlying factor in his utterly understated but captivating approach to songwriting. Seconds is a worthy successor to the classic Red Hash, but more than this, it is hopefully a new beginning for Higgins; god knows we need more songs like this in the world.
http://rapidshare.com/files/291739302/Beg_iz_zaborava.rar
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| Valet Discography |
[11 Oct 2009|01:10am] |
| [ |
music |
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Valet - North |
] |
2006 - Blood Is Clean CDR
2007 - Blood Is Clean
2007 - Fire 7'
2008 - Naked Acid LP
2009 - False Face Society 12'
Others
( ~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v~v )
http://www.myspace.com/honeyowens
музыка, полная всяких разных шумов, щелчков, гудений и прочего прочего, мягкий перебор струн сменяется, если так можно сказать, запилами, женский вокал: теплый, тихий, несмелый - все это дает воистину волшебную звуковую смесь.
я уже 10 мин думаю как бы описать valet, но нихрена не выходит. скажу, что это одна из групп, входящих в список лучшего из того, что я слышал.
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[10 Oct 2009|10:40am] |
A collection of songs influenced by John Martyn, Smog, Sparklehorse. Enjoy!
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psych_folk
