so this new job has me off on thursday and friday, so with just one day off in the past 2 weeks, i’ve not been very motivated to sit in front of a computer for much longer than necessary. with that being said, the drive to and from work has afforded plenty of time to listen to some new stuff.
one of the best things i’ve heard lately is, not surprisingly, low skies. this band has been getting rave reviews on big and small sites alike, with both pitchfork and popmatters, among others, raving on about their new album all the love i could find. and sometimes, having a pile of music that i really haven’t paid the proper amount of attention to pays off when i can fish out a couple of older releases — 2003’s the bed and the 2004 ep i have been to beautiful places, both on flameshovel — to get an idea of what the fuss is about.
chris salveter’s vocals remind me a lot of what made early 80’s era bono worth listening to — remember that? remember how on the joshua tree or october, or war even how he sounded earthily desperate? that’s kind of what this reminds me of - i think it’s how his voice is kind of froggy at times, and sometimes breaks up in the wrong way at just the right time - although salveter has the ability to go jeff buckley as well, which adds a nice touch to the proceedings.
musically, this is going to fall under the slowcore stuff, and reminds me of another recently emerged band, catfish haven. although the low skies stuff is definitely based more on an overall feeling of dreariness, both bands have managed to capture the sounds of what is more or less southern rock and then reinvent it in their own mold.
flameshovel’s site has a few mp3s from all the love i could find:
low skies - levelling
low skies - you can’t help those people
and the band’s site has a few from the previous releases, as well:
low skies - betty (from 2000’s low skies ep)
low skies - should you come crawling (from 2000’s low skies ep)
low skies - down below him (from 2003’s the bed album)
low skies - palmyra (from 2003’s the bed album)
low skies - run beside the rhine (from 2003’s the bed album)
low skies - sad hymn (from 2003’s the bed album)
low skies - fives gone quiet (from 2004’s i have been to beautiful places ep)
low skies - ready to be done (from 2004’s i have been to beautiful places ep)
and they currently have a few dates lined up beginning in march. i was surprised to see two non-st louis missouri dates, but again, with the likes of catfish haven emanating from the springfield area, that one didn’t surprise me — but the warrensburg one did. warrensburg is a semi-small college town about 45 minutes east of kansas city. hopefully i can get some people out to that, as there’s nothing back in the pittsburgh area mentioned as of yet.
the dates:
Tuesday March 14, 2006
Springfield, MO - Randy Bacon Gallery
Wednesday March 15, 2006
Austin/SXSW - Lava Lounge Patio (flameshovel showcase) w/ Maratime, Bound Stems, Russian Circles, Lying in States
Saturday March 18, 2006
Austin, TX (SXSW Party) 12:30p.m. - Hole in the Wall w/ Horns of Happiness, Man MAn, Detholz!, Volcano!
Sunday March 19, 2006
Odessa, TX - Einstein’s Revenge w/ Lanterns
Tuesday March 21, 2006
Oklahoma City - The Conservatory
Wednesday March 22, 2006
Warrensburg, MO - The Set List
Thursday March 23, 2006
St. Louis, MO - The Hi-Pointe
Friday March 24, 2006
Chicago - Hideout (CD Release Party!!) w/ Megan Reilly
and i gotta say as well, as an aside — i really wonder how many bands come through kansas city on their way down to austin for sxsw. i don’t mean come through and play, i mean just travel through. i’m continually working on making my commitment to myself and the good people of kansas city to do something more proactive than online bitching when we move back there this fall.
for those using firefox, check out the down them all extension. this might very well end up being the nightmare of any webmaster or blogger out there who is hosting a bunch of mp3s, because this extension effectively kills the need to “save target as” and will process dozens of files on a page with just one or two clicks. although it does feature several filters to automatically select certain file types — images, video files, rar/zip, etc — it does NOT come with an audio file filter by default. Guess what — it’s pretty damn easy to set up in the options though, and probably didn’t come with one out of fear of retaliation from said hosts and webmasters for the massive amount of data transfer and bandwidth jacking that’s going to happen thanks to this awesome extension. a case in point — the neurot media page i mentioned awhile ago has a total of 41 mp3 files listed on it. I set my mp3 filter up, which automatically detected all the mp3 files on the page. one click later, and it’s automatically downloading, seven at a time, almost torrent-style. all 41 are done about 10 minutes later. no more right clicking on every damn file.
one note though — at least as far as i’ve figured out, the mp3 file has to be linked right on the site — if something like a file archive service (yousendit, etc), or a flash player, etc is used, it won’t be recognized.
on the psych/drone tip, ethereal planes indian is one bc smith, from austin texas. this one’s for fans of the core jewelled antler stuff — imagine a more mid-western, more sparsely wooded take on thuja and friends. in fact, for me it brings to mind images of indigenous people doing their daily activities 800 years ago - hence ethereal plains indian, i suppose - it’s always nice when people name their acts appropriately. his newest, smoke signals, is out now on twilight flight sound, which is also home to two of smith’s related projects, the iron kite and the friday group. he’s got a few tracks up on his myspace to check out:
ethereal planes indian - dog star barking
ethereal planes indian - green scene
ethereal planes indian - off with your scalp
ethereal planes indian - smoke signals
some more stunning slowcore, this time coming from portland, maine-based seekonk. shana berry’s vocals float perfectly between layers of guitars that softly chime and swirl against each other. the drums keep the pace patiently while everything else fills up around the rhythm. some parts of this actually kind of remind me of the better parts of veruca salt’s american thighs album. it appears that the band has also recently made a change in vocalists, with sarah ramey now manning the mic for the band. the band’s site has a few songs up from the for barbara lee ep, which feature berry on vocals:
seekonk - tiny lustre
seekonk - the delivery
seekonk - move
i’ve been working my way through the zatoichi catalogue on netflix. i’ve got 17, 18 , and 19 here now, but have only watched through 12. need to get on it there, eh.
i’m also working on implementing a calendar function for the sidebar over there to keep track of what’s going on around town.
lastly, the Colonel over at tien an min has let me know that season, who i mentioned here, have broken up after eight years together. sad, indeed — but they’ve made several releases available for download on their site, including their planned march 2006 release static. of course, instant gratification being what it is:
season - static:
season - berlin
season - within without
season - words for lost
season - head 2 head with jesus
although static clocks in at about 20 minutes, it’s an epic 20 minutes and well worth your time. there’s a couple of other releases available over there, so check ‘em out.
Friday, February 17, 2006
Andy Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh, PA)
With the Zincs and Emily Rodgers
edith frost. just say it a few times, and you might be able to get a good idea of what her music sounds like.
if you’re getting visions of leather-clad dwarves swinging maces down on hapless gnomes while orcs and wyverns battle beneath the blood red tri-moon, well — you’re fairly off the mark, but it’s understandable. at least, i hope i’m not alone in understanding why it’s understandable, but regardless . . .
this is music that straddles the well-worn wooden bar between the have-nots and the have-another-ones. the word “chanteuse” has been used, and fittingly so - the richness of her deep, enchanting voice helps to convey the half-open-eyed story-moments she allows us to experience - experiences that the listener feels drawn into and an active participant in, for better or for worse. this isn’t music for the eternally hopeless, nor is it meant to buoy your best day — it’s grounded in the type of reality that a million years of prime-time tv lineups will never capture.
sure, in this day of the stadium-sized group cry-alongs and made-for-tv emotional outbursts, it’s kind of easy to question an artist’s sincerety. with frost, though, just heading over to her site and reading around a little bit gives you a real feel for her voice as a person — salt of the earth, ineed. check out her mp3 page while you’re over there for some great music from her career.
after a bit of a hiatus - 4 years as a matter of fact - let’s all hope the accolades ms frost’s drag city return it’s a game has been gathering are enough to convince this amazing songwriter to continue to grace us with her presence.
by the way, she’s also got a nice collection of demos on one of my favorite netlabels, comfortstand. head over here to download it in full for free - this is a great example of an artist whose demos alone are more polished and crafted than most all of the so-called “finished” products trotted out by the big labels.
also, i should mention that opener and pittsbugh native emily rodgers has some very nice streaming versions of songs on her recent release emily rodgers & her majesty’s stars available on her site here. her myspace indicates that she and kevin finn, who she’s recently split an ep with titled in spring alchemy, will be opening for mi and l’au at the garfield artworks on march 8th — the same night as the rob dickinson show at club cafe . . . i might have to pull a cross-town double bill on that one.
