I can't stand when people use the 'album of the year' label before the year is over. But shit, after listening to it for three days straight this might be the exception to the rule. Neko Case's new album (middle cyclone) flew under my radar in the light of other leaks that came out around the same time, swan lake - akron/family - etc.... I thought at first it was the lyrics which are everything lyrics should be and i wish i had written, then the music and voice, then the production (recorded in a barn), and so on, there is not a lot that does not resonate here (not mention a brilliant cover of a harry nilson song). Maybe its a time and a place thing for me, but this is one of those albums that will become a cardinal point, something authentic...
ok the actual cover is a horrid mess, but rather than that its all brilliant...
track listing:
1. This Tornado Loves You 2. The Next Time You Say Forever 3. People Got A Lotta Nerve 4. Polar Nettles 5. Vengeance Is Sleeping 6. Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth 7. Middle Cyclone 8. Fever 9. Magpie To The Morning 10. I’m An Animal 11. Prison Girls 12. Don’t Forget Me 13. The Pharaohs 14. Red Tide 15. Marais La Nuit
the illusion, more valuable than the truth a seal, a balm, for the heart there is no sovereignty to the cadence but a bruised memory you are minerva bereft of an owl what do you see after dusk? the residues of history or of rust?
the funny thing about sleep is we never know how we look. we dont know our idiosyncrasies, the way we toss and turn, the sighs, the twitches. it's something you can only give to someone else...
Hear it in my spirit I've seen heroin for myself On the street so young laying wasted Enough ain't it enough Crippled world I just can't bring myself to see it starting
Tell me how I fear it I buy prejudice for my health Is it worth so much when you taste it Enough there ain't enough hidden hurt A time to sell yourself A time for passing
Spirit
How long
-talk talk all images : http://waxandmilk.tumblr.com/
i decided to do another covers post, because i can't get my fucking act together to focus on work, but this time just a wide variety of covers i like. enjoy..
Kay Pettigrew - Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Theme (Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff)*
Klaxons - No Diggity (Blackstreet)
The Cay - Littlest Hobo Theme (CBC?)
Prince - A Case Of You (Joni Mitchell)
Dump - Raspberry Beret (Prince)
Diplo & Santogold - Icarus (ok, not really a cover but a sample of my favourite ArthurRussell track)*
The Acorn - Good Enough (Cyndi Lauper)
Bon Iver - Blue Tulip (Okkervil River)*
DumDum Girls - Baby Don't Go (Sonny and Cher)
First Aid Kit - Tiger Mountain Peasant Song (Fleet Foxes)
Handsome Furs - You Got Lucky (Tom Petty)
Tunng - The Pioneers (Bloc Party)
Howie Beck - Reptillia (The Strokes)
Iron & Wine - The Same Old Song (The Four Tops)*
Jim Guthrie - Nighttime/Anytime (The Constantines)
Virgin Of The Birds - Chemical Change (The Lovely Sparrows)*
Wilco/Fleet Foxes - I Shall Be Released (Bob Dylan)
Greek oneiros dream; akin to Armenian anurǰ dream
Date:
1859
: of or relating to dreams, dreamy
The hangover continue so I'll post a couple brief reviews of albums I've been enjoying because its been a good few weeks for music (I'll leave out the new Neko Case and Black Lips for another time). First, the new Akron/Family (Set Em' Wild, Set Em' Free) leaked and after numerous listens I can confidently this is their strongest album since the split with Angels of Light. Less hippy drum circle and with a more refined noise, three new tracks, two old:
Many Ghosts
Last Year
River
Before and Again
Running, Returning
The new Swan Lake (Enemy Mine) also leaked and being a huge destroyer and frog eyes fan-boy this one has been on heavy rotation. More together than Beast Moans its definitely palatable than I would of assumed (I'm not sure if this is a strength or a weakness). Again three new tracks, two old:
Heartswarm
Settle On Your Skin
Spanish Gold, 2044
Are You Swimming In Her Pools?
A Venue Called Rubella
also, this is gold: http://i-rock.wackiness.org/bejaromatic/
Moving on, after a long delay Edmonton's The Faunts have a new album out (Feel Love. Thinking Of.). I remember seeing this band in 2002 after the release of High Expectation/Low Results, which remains in my mind one of the most under rated albums in recent memory. While hushed lows are missing on the new album it strikes a nice balance between thier earlier work and the synth-heavy ep they released. Four new songs, three old songs:
It Hurts Me All The Time
Feeling Love Thinking Of
Alarmed Lights
Out On A Limb
Instantly Loved
Will You Tell Me Then
Memories Of Places We've Never Been
I randomly stumbled across Fanfarlo this week through their black cab session, and found out they just released a new album (Resevoir). With vocals that ocillate (between Clap You Hands Say Yeah! and at other times Beirut) chunky/catchy guitars, and pop melodies, its tough not to be a sucker for Fanfarlo. In the same vein, Throw Me The Statue have a new ep out (Purpleface) and while I can't find anywhere to download the entire thing the one track floating around, Ship, is enticing. Ok, so three Fanfarlo songs, one new Throw Me A Statue song and four old one:
Harold T. Wilkins or How To Wait For A Very Long Time
The Walls Are Coming Down
Drowning Man
Ships.
Conquering Kids
About to Walk
Groundswell
Young Sensualists
Finally, two bangers, because I gotz to keep it real. Amidst rumours of death, crack smoking, etc. there is Madvillian/MF Doom album floating around. Also, not new but new to me, there is a Kayne produced remix of Santogold's Brooklyn Go Hard with Jay-Z which is surprisingly great.
i have a massive headache, working is out of the question for now. anyway, two bands i've been listening to a lot lately are fever ray and bat for lashes. instead of posting their tracks i'm going to post some of their videos. while reality t.v. has taken over the music channels and mitigated mainstream videos to the dust bin, i think this has opened up some space for videos to once again be artistic expressions... judge for yourself
I had a really visceral dream last night that I was running through a frozen snow covered field with summer fallow rising up. Then I found a bluff of trees, when I entered it was summer, humid, all was green, and there were swans everywhere. I have no clue what this means, but this would be my soundtrack for that dream.
one of my earliest memories is sitting in my grandfathers quonset surrounded miles of saskatchewan wheat and canola fields listening to my uncles play country and bluegress music. perhaps it's nostalgia, or the swoon of past innocence, but there is something incredibly authentic for me about this music; there is an intricate simplicity, like rows of powerlines, that leave you in a comfortable paralysis. the latitudes of my summer youth, wandering aimlessly in wheat fields, eating fresh garden peas, farm dogs and howling coyotes at night, holding my grandfather's enveloping hand, and building teepees behind the dugout, there was no entropy there.
part of my impetus for this post is to draw attention to two bands (Slow Down, Molasses and The Deep Dark Wood) from back home who are not only good friends of mine, but make wonderful music that speaks to something real, something tangible. please make a point to check them out and support them if they are playing in your area.
and now for some music:
skygreen leopards - belle of the woodsman's autumn ball
the avett brothers - kind of in love
vetiver - on the otherside
califone - don't let me die nervous
paulduncan - the lake pt. 2 (*** this song is perfect in every way***)
last photo: http://www.ausgang.com/shelf/gif/recipe/meat/chicken.jpg
the rest of the photos are by the lovely and talented patrickschmidt ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/p_tumbleweed/ ) member of slow down molasses, banjo savant, plaid addict, amazing photographer, and all around good guy.
I can't sleep, nor can I focus on work, this really needs to stop. Anyway, I've been listening a lot to Blk Jks (black jacks I assume), they are from South Africa, they are signed to Secretly Canadian, they will probably get a lot of 'indie hype', they will probably say blk jks sound like tv on the radio or yeasayer, but they are really good in their own right.
Casiotone For The Painfully Alone just released a new album (Advance Base Battery Life) which has two Springsteen covers on it, one which is good and one which is bad. I started looking at all the other Springsteen covers I have and it seems the same dualism is present. So, I figured I would up some of the better covers I have, why? Because Sean and I belt out Springsteen at the bar after too many drinks, because Bernita and I drink awful absinthe and share laughs while listening to him, because Lise and I eat curry on barely and discuss philosophy. Moral of the story, Springsteen's music is for every occasion.
Cassiotone For The Painfully Alone (W/Concern) - Street of Philadelphia
The National - Mansion on The Hill
Electrelane - I'm On Fire
Harry Manx & Kevin Breit - I'm On Fire
Junip & Jose Gonzalez - Ghost of Tom Joad***
Bat For Lashes - I'm On Fire***
Josh Ritter - The River
Tom Waits - Jersey Girl (ok this is a tom waits song but bruce made it 'popular')***
The Veil - State Trooper
Stars - Hungery Heart (if not for amymilan this cover would be nothing)
Bonnie Prince Billy and Tortoise - Thunder Road***
i want the cliches, the shadows that only have depth by the campfire - it is all pale fires rebuilding with smooth stones - embrace our parhelion but who is reflecting who - am i bison or bear in your history's sunder, the relentless inland empire - have you placed carbon paper under this concussion - stillness and deeper stillness there are no shepherds for bears - you want the solutions of a french billiard table - projections and metaphor glow false candour - is this why your sparrows call me hunter?
Grizzly Bear Rarities:
Fine For Now (Live: Boston 08.14.08)
2 Hud (Live: Boston 08.14.08)
While You Wait For The Others (Live: KCRW Morning Becomes Electric)
".'reality' is neither the subject nor the object of true art which creates its own special reality having nothing to do with the average 'reality' perceived by the communal eye." -Vladimir Nabokov
"The moon's an arrant thief, / And her pale fire she snatches from the sun" (Act IV, scene 3) -Timon of Athens
"'Gins to pale his uneffectual fire" (Act I, scene 5) -Hamlet
"Waxwings: knocking themselves out in full flight against the reflected world of our picture window. Leaving a little gray fluff on the pane." ... "I was the shadow of the waxwing slain By the false azure in the window pane " - Vladimir Nabokov
Also, I normally despise collage art as it seems to be the medium every sub-par pseudo artist seems to work in, but the work of Julien Pacaud continues to blow me away. So go have a look.
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