The Woodlands

A month eh?, it's passed slowly at times in the living, yet quickly (some of it) in the looking back - outright painfully too, in part...

I clean missed any mention of The Woodlands when their self-released (and titled and recorded and produced) album came out in May this year - not surprising, haven't exactly had a digit on any kind of musical pulse in recent months... it's well worth seeking out though, the two tracks below are accompanied by another eight nicely differing, yet equally fine songs - all created by the wife & husband duo of Hannah & Samuel Robertson, who come from Portland, Oregon, and to my ears, have created some wonderful music together - charming, delicate & full of feeling; deceptively simple sounding production & arrangements, the sorta thing that sounds effortlessly good being joyful or otherwise.

Warmly recommended then, to umm, all my readers.


Bit bouncier here, and a fine showcase for the precise allure of Hannah's voice...
♫ Summerland

Ace strings & harmonies now, not that it's unique in that regard - but you can't hear all the tracks here.
♫ Can We Stay

The Woodlands (2009)
buy | myspace | last.fm

Bette Davis Eyes - by My Gold Mask

A new track from the wonderful My Gold Mask - two posts in one day?, I must be on something; just coffee & cigarettes actually, omg!.

Yep, it's a fine cover of the early eighties hit for Kim Carnes, written in 1974 by Donna Weiss and Jackie De Shannon, first recorded by De Shannon for her album - New Arrangement - which if you know me, you'll know I've tried to find so's I can post the original... but I haven't got it yet, maybe tomorrow on a less slothful connection?.

Fine it is then, though I might have left out the nods to Val Garay's production, myself - picky so & so, ain't I just.

♫ Bette Davis Eyes - My Gold Mask

website | myspace

The Library

Do bands ever surprise you by what they sound like after you've seen a photo? - or vice-versa?. I know, I know, books and covers, cameras & lies, but I just can't help observing...

The first track here is by far my favourite from The Life and Times of Rosa Lee - indeed, was this that made me go back & re-listen to the others with fresh ears. Does it scream The Only Ones at you? - does me, I can hear Peter Perrett, singing it, not that I'd cite The Library as sounding similar; oh I'm rambling now - just listen eh?.

♫ Nothing To Lose


♫ Club Amnesia


Wonderfully laid-back 70's slacker vibe going here, which I've a great deal of time for - suits the vocals much better, along with Nothing To Lose, than some of the other five tracks - they are growing on me mind you, think it's the tuning which got me at first, just a smidge lower than nicely low.
♫ Tomorrow Is Better

all from The Life and Times of Rosa Lee (2009)
free download | myspace

--------------

And just so you can rubbish, or at least understand my comparison above - here's a fine song from The Only Ones... 1978 - goodness, what a long time ago.

♫ It's The Truth - The Only Ones
The Only Ones (1978)
buy | website

Summer Rain

A lovely hot sunny day here it was, just wisps of white cloud in an otherwise blue sky - too nice to fret about soaking wet floors in my temporary home, yet fret I did, or rather at the indifference of a man who'd give slumlords a bad name. Could be much worse though - it could be winter with just a teeny gas fire, or I might be flat broke, rather than just passing a few sometimes disagreeable months between bricks & mortar.

90ºF and damp as hell, wasn't a whole lot of fun though, but blow this tip I will, and soon, all being well.


I've skipped the music, both playing and posting, lately - yet today, already improved from some numbingly frustrating phone calls & conversations, I did fancy some, and returned to a lovely numinous version of a song I already liked - Summer Rain by Anna Ternheim, from Leaving on a Mayday, which finally saw a US release this month - hurrah!.

♫ Summer Rain - Anna Ternheim
Leaving On a Mayday
buy


Here's the a cappella version that felt so elevating this evening - It's Anna, along with Nina Kinert, Ane Brun, First Aid Kit and Ellekari Larsson

♫ Summer Rain - Anna Ternheim

Thanks M~ for turning me onto it :) xx

Listen to more & see the video on Anna's myspace


and some yummy tour dates... very tempted by the Amsterdam gig I am... although Salisbury Arts Centre'd be much nearer, but she ain't playing there - next year maybe? - it's a lovely venue, pretty please?.

2009-08-29 Popaganda, Stockholm (SE)
2009-09-13 Stadtgarden, Cologne (GER)
2009-09-14 Fabrik, Hamburg (GER)
2009-09-15 Frannz, Berlin (GER)
2009-09-16 E-Werk, Erlangen (GER)
2009-09-17 Ringlokschuppen, Bielefeld (GER)
2009-09-19 Volkshaus, Basel (CH)
2009-09-20 Fri-Son, Fribourg (CH)
2009-09-21 Jazzhaus, Freiburg (GER)
2009-09-22 de Duif, Amsterdam (NL)
2009-09-23 Alhambra, Paris (FR)


U.S. TOUR 2009
Special guest to Loney Dear / Asobi Seksu

2009-09-30 Casbah, San Diego, CA (US)
2009-10-01 Troubador, Los Angeles, CA (US)
2009-10-02 Slims, San Francisco, CA (US)
2009-10-03 Doug Fir Lounge, Portland, OR (US)
2009-10-04 Chop Suey, Seattle, WA (US)
2009-10-06 Biltmore Cabaret, Vancouver, BC (CA)
2009-10-09 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis, MN (US)
2009-10-10 Bottom Lounge, Chicago, IL (US)
2009-10-11 Grog Shop, Cleveland, OH (US)
2009-10-12 Horseshoe Tavern, Toronto, ON (CA)
2009-10-13 Il Motore, Montreal, QC (CA)
2009-10-14 Great Scott, Boston, MA (US)
2009-10-15 Maxwells, Hoboken, NJ (US)
2009-10-16 Bowery Ballroom, New York, NY (US)
2009-10-17 Johnny Brendas, Philadelphia, PA (US)

Lucinda Williams

You may remember my mentioning the KaiserCartel cover of Lucinda Williams' 'Something About What Happens When We Talk', and her being an artist I hadn't heard of before. Being me, I of course dug out the original, and here it is.

♫ Something About What Happens When We Talk - Lucinda Williams
Sweet Old World (1992)
buy it


I've not yet heard anything more than this album - Sweet Old World, but I'd venture to suggest it may not be her best, a bold supposition perhaps, based more on the sheer quality of some tracks, and yes, truthfully, on a few umm vocal notes not quite reached, which can be a very attractive sound, not always tho' eh - not exactly flat, as Noel Coward said, and certainly, very clearly, not enough to keep her off the stage, and yet my ears bristle a little at times.

Here's what's for me, the best track on Sweet Old World, and another much older song that immediately sprang to mind, in an ooh, country'ish songs about suicide kinda way. A bit obvious maybe, but it's interesting to compare the two different takes on the events & feelings following. Lucinda's is way more direct & descriptive (some very fine guitar & violin btw), set alongside Bobbie Gentry's almost circumspect telling, which wonderfully weaves the thread of everyday meals & remarks into the story, perhaps ultimately more revealing & realistic more than the "here's what happened" approach - reminds me of Reservoir Dogs & Pulp Fiction, in that respect.

♫ Pineola - Lucinda Williams
Sweet Old World (1992)
buy it

♫ Ode To Billy Joe - Bobbie Gentry
Ode to Billie Joe/Mississippi Delta (7" single - 1967)
buy

KaiserCartel - new EP: Rock Island

I'm hardly keeping up with keeping up, am I? - a post now & then, due to fruitless self-re-housing attempts, and the grind (yes) of silly bugger estate agents (realtors) who seem hell bent on making things as opaque and frustrating as possible... an unhappy knack, indeed.

It's far from doom & gloom though, goodness me no, and by way of a musical example, I've been enjoying the new EP - Rock Island - by KaiserCartel, who I regrettably missed when they played nearby in late June; what a bummer!, I'd have liked to see them live.

The Rock Island EP has five songs, including a cover of Lucinda Williams' "Something About What Happens When We Talk" from her 1992 release - Sweet Old World, which is excellent - I hadn't heard of her before, and definitely will be seeking out an album or two, you'll also find the songs - Carroll Street Station, Shira, Stella, and Memphis on Rock Island, that last one being my favourite of the five, although they're all very fine, make no mistake.

♫ Shira - Kaiser Cartel
Rock Island EP (September 1 2009 )
buy | myspace | website




Here's one of KaiserCartel's songs I posted a few months ago - check the others out here- you'll find more on their myspace of course.

♫ Favorite Song (Minneapolis Version)
Okay (And Other Things We Feel) (2008 - Bluhammock)
buy from amazon or KaiserCartel.com

Gemma Ray, Nancy Sinatra, and The Playmates...

What do these four have in common? - just my possibly odd connections, made on hearing the first - a lyric here & there, an opening chord sounding nicely reminiscent on the last one... and they're all rather good I think. Slightly surprisingly so, in the case of The Playmates; very much a novelty number, which has worn wery well.

A rather loping along, Spanishy Western feel to this, good for driving along to, a great guitar & backing vocals break round 1:45, cool strings too. Gemma Ray's from England, as it happens, but darned if I can find out much more from her myspace or record label, nor have I heard a great deal of the album - Lights Out, Zoltar! . Lazy so & so, that's me.
♫ 100 Mph (In 2nd Gear) - Gemma Ray
Lights Out, Zoltar! (2009)
buy | myspace

Here comes Lightning down the street, while you stand there just talkin'
If I were you I'd start to move, and tell my story walkin'....
and you can guess how fast, right?
♫ Lightning's Girl - Nancy Sinatra
Lightning's Girl b/w Until It's Time for You to Go (1967 - Reprise Records)
buy

Too young to hear this first time out, it was a popular comic turn on kiddies radio programmes; although the BBC seemingly insisted on a re-recorded version, which lacked the words identifying the vehicles involved - saving us from subliminal advertising eh - those were the days.
♫ Beep Beep - The Playmates
7" single (1958 - Roulette Records)
buy

♫ Palimend - Benoit Pioulard
Précis (2006 - Kranky Records)
buy | myspace

Willoughby

It's really nice to come across one artist you like, do some digging, (or in this case, get a welcome promo tip) & find more really delightful music from someone closely involved with the first... extra rewarding somehow, as it is with Willoughby, performed and produced by Gus Seyffert, who also produced the EP by Charlie Wadhams, that I liked a whole lot recently. Truly, there's some marvellous talent & music out there, no matter how dispiriting the charts & gloomy local gigs might seem to be, and how chuffing cool it is to discover it.

Willoughby are hard to pin down, which I like, and the album as a whole is a marvellous confection, musically and lyrically. Mostly fairly gentle, even introspective, a country feel here on Frankenstein, a little rockier there on Dust Bunnies, quite Beatley on 'I'm Losing You'; at least things seem pretty soothing, until the wonderfully even more calming & love-filled title track - I Know What You're Up To - and near a cappella charms of 'You Don't Love'.
The sublimely beautiful 'Wonder', with its lovely harmonies, also deserves a mention here

I've a feeling that I might quite like the album - I Know What You're Up To - having played it over & over these last few days, singing along... I'd have happily picked any or all of the songs to include here - but have a couple to whet your appetite.

♫ Intentions - Willoughby

♫ I Know What You're Up To - Willoughby

from 'I Know What You're Up To' (2008 - Sargent Records)
buy | myspace | last.fm | amazon | facebook

Turns out I've heard Gus's voice before now - he's worked with The Bird and The Bee, in particular, on this cover of Tonight You Belong To Me, one of umm, far too many I featured back in February.

♫ Tonight You Belong To Me - The Bird & The Bee
One Too Many Hearts EP (2008)
iTunes | myspace


Should you be lucky enough to be in southern California (never rains, you know) late this month & next - you'd do well to catch Willoughby at one of these two gigs:

28 Jul 2009 21:00 Bootleg Theater Los Angeles, California
29 Aug 2009 20:00 Fox Theatre Pomona, California

and definitely check out the splendidly Beatley 'I'm Losing You' in the player below

Giuseppe

The problem (one of 'em) with a whole bunch of free music sitting there, is you tend to skip skip skip through it, waiting & hoping for some toned-down Archimedes moment, or some days, even just a "mm, this is ok". The thirty seconds to impress me movie script guys have it easy, I reckon, compared to the hours of musical effort & creativity that gets pre-judged in a few blinks of an eye. So it nearly was with the latest free EP from Astor Bell, skip, skip, not my thing; skip skip; you get the idea... so I almost chanced upon the last track, a splendid elctroniccy waltz, and loved it to bits - really.


♫ From Going to Going - Giuseppe
Lamu (2009 - Astor Bell)
free download | myspace

A Soundtrack Mind

I've mentioned this before, as wegular weaders will wealise (sorry, Elmer - couldn't help myself), but d'you get days when most everything suggests a song or piece of music to accompany it?, just a word might prompt a whole tune, or it could be a mood or theme that goes along with things rather nicely.
...or as below, something far, far more obvious, ha!

Yes indeed, it's Sunday, it's Sunny after an 'orrible rainy evening and night, and hoo-ray - it's umm washing day chez Marvellous, courtesy of my Dad's machine & dryer... but noo, that's not it up the top there - shame eh?.


♫ Washing Maschine - Iris waves
The Non Exclusive EP (2008)
buy | myspace

♫ Washing Machine - No And The Maybes
No And The Maybes (2008)
buy | myspace

♫ Laundry - The Voluntary Butler Scheme
Trading Things In (2008)
buy | myspace

♫ Wash in the Rain - The Bees
Free The Bees (2004)
buy | myspace

♫ Coney Island Washboard - The Roulette Sisters
Nerve Medicine (2005)
buy | myspace