On the Hi-Fi
It has been far too long since I have shared some music around here so why not get started up again. Part of the reason is when I decide to post something music related I have been trying to fill that gap with my You Disappear site but not every album I listen too is slow, sad music. So here is a rundown with a quick description of why I enjoy the album. Ill do my best to keep the amount under control, it has been a while though so I’m just going to pull my most listened to albums synced currently to my iPhone. (in alphabetical order) Links after the description will take you to the artists website or the closest thing to it that I can find.
Bibio – Ambivalence Avenue
I have followed Bibio for quite a while now and have always had sort of a mixed fondness of it. While I love the lo-fi approach to recording his songs I was never really able to connect with it in any way. With this newest release, his first on Warp, He has taken it up a notch or two and added some welcome warmth to his lo-fi aesthetic. This and added in a surprising amount of beat production into his typically acoustic, guitar driven music. It makes for a mixed bag of songs drifting between folk and hip hop. Lovers Cravings is still my favorite track on here but the rest has been slowly growing on me. Artist Site
Body Language – Speaks
While short, this EP has been great. fresh off the small Moodgadget label it brings a mix of danceable electronic with a healthy dose of soulful singing creating a really fascinating mix of influences that I can easily recommend. Artist Site
Cass McCombs – Catacombs
I noticed this pop up in Pitchforks best of whatever list and typically Pitchfork is hit or miss in my mind, always sort of trying to live up to the influential status that it stumbled into over time what with their cocky approach to being the kings of indie music reporting. I wont ramble on about them though, I picked this up on emusic this month on after enjoying the little previews they make available and I am glad I did because its really grown on me with its sort of swinging folk approach. It immediately felt familiar and warm and I keep coming back to it for its gentle sway that conjures up feelings of nicer days. Artist Site
The Cave Singers – Welcome Joy
Another folk album, I loved their first record and this picks up right where it left of with a foot stomping opening track that immediately let me know that I would love the album and I was right, the whole thing is full of their unique approach to folk that I cant get enough of. Artist Site
The Choir Of Young Believers – This Is For The White In Your Eyes
I follow Ghostly International (label) pretty closely because they always seem to release such an interesting, diverse set of music and there are not many another labels with such a cohesive aesthetic while still managing to be so diverse in style. The Choir Of Young Believers, from what I understand, is more the centralized efforts of one person yet the music comes across as a vaguely epic trip through the album. The music itself is hard to peg as far as style, sometimes you will find yourself in a quiet place while other moments you find yourself surrounded by a lush layered orchestration. Its as far as I can go to describe it… Artist Site
Clark – Totems Flare
Clark is an artist I have followed throughout his career and I have really enjoyed the progression of his music as he has experimented with many different approaches but always has managed to keep the grittiness of his sound in tact. Many talk of him as though he peaked with his somewhat more accessible album Body Riddle, which was brilliant sure, but it should not get in the way of appreciated his newer works which are a god bit heavier on the beat side. Warp seems to tout his newest material as dance floor friendly but not in the way you might expect. His rhythms here are always evolving and swinging in different directions from track to track which I really love and the sound design, as always with him, is exceptional. I even enjoy the tracks he added his own vocal too, took me a minute to get used to it but at this point I find I really enjoy it. Artist Site
Kurt Vile – God Is Saying This To You
I wrote about this album over on You Disappear and I had to include it here as well because it really is a recent favorite. The first pressing of these on vinyl sold out before I could grab one but I consider myself lucky when I wandered onto the labels online store at the right moment to pick up one of the 30 reissued copies they were selling straight form the label. Anyway, the music itself is something of a hushed folk blues almost in my mind, meandering through the songs with a seeming nonchalance that I love. Artist Site
Lusine – Two Dots
Lusine is another Ghostly International artist and one of my favorite electronic musicians, he is simply a great producer and this short EP is the first single off of his upcoming album that I am really looking forward to. I am curious what the lyrical content of this song cold possibly stand for (maybe im just dense) but melodically it is fantastic and gets stuck in my head whenever I hear it. Artist Site
MachineDrum – Want to 1 2?
MachineDrum is a producer, electronic musician I have followed for years and years it seems and this is the first album from him in a number of years, one I had been waiting to hear ever since hearing a few early versions of tracks years ago. Its all done and available now and its amazing and well worth the time that was put into its creation. While primarily hip hop in its influence it is ripe for the dance floor and all of the guest vocals are spot on. Not one to pass up. Artist Site
Miachu & The Shapes – Jewellery
I cant remember where I came across Miachu but I am glad that I did. Her music is absolutely strange and wonderful pop music that I cant get enough of. I would say more but really, I should let the music stand for itself so have a listen! Artist Site
Noah & The Whale – The First Day Of Spring
This just might end up being my favorite album of the year. It was created in junction with a movie that they made to accompany the music that I have yet to see. In fact the album is not out yet. It was passed onto me from who knows where and its one of those rare albums that when I put on the first time I had to stop what I was doing and listen all the way through. I’ll just say this album will tug at your heart. Its a story about life, love, and music and its perfect. I cant wait to get my hands on the film when its released stateside in October. Artist Site
On – Your Naked Ghost Comes Back at Night
Close your eyes, play at a low volume and let this fill the cracks of your life with a beautiful ambience thats both organic and haunting in its subtle approach. On is a collaboration between Sylvian Chauveau and Steven Hess. Hopefully enough of a description to let you know what to expect, my favorite recently discovered ambient album. Artist Site
Peter Broderick – 4 Track Songs
I cant get enough of this guys music, after two great piano based instrumental albums, a more acoustic songwriter sort of an album and a cassette tape release full of wonderful Duets varying greatly in their conceptual nature, I jump at the chance to hear more from this talented songwriter and this release is no exception. Trading fancy production for a more basic almost lo-fi style these songs drift all over the place but all hold together with a common feel that is beautiful throughout. Artist Site
School Of Seven Bells – My cabal
Yet another Ghostly release, this time from The School Of Seven Bells, a group I am pretty sure I have mentioned before around here. This is the latest single from their album Alpinisms, its the last song on the album actually and its one of my favorites from it. The other songs on here are what stand out in my mind and make it worth mentioning here. The peaceful feeling of My Camarilla is a fantastic b-side that brings the feeling of peace to mind and the remixes are spot on and fit with their style perfectly and manage to pull of a rarity in remixes and I find myself enjoying the remix versions more than the originals. A perfect compliment to their growing catalogue of eps… Artist Site
Yashica Mat 124 Pt.2
This time in color, nearly a whole roll of 120 here really. These are not really highly compressed jpgs so I split the post into a “read more” to keep it from eating up the loading time too much so be sure to click the read more link for all of the shots if your curious. The model is my brother.
Yashica Mat 124
I introduced one of these shots already in my last post but wanted to go ahead and continue sharing more. These are more from the black and white roll I had loaded in the Yashica, the rest of the ones I liked at least. I will post some color soon but until then, I hope you find something nice for your eyes in these.
Simply This
I will have a proper post with all sorts of new film work soon. I have slowly been posting over on flickr as well and may use this new work as an excuse to get my portfolio type site off the ground finally but for now, I simply wanted to post something for those of you following here. Feel free to comment, its been nice hearing from readers both through email and the comments recently. See you again soon with more…
Film
I was about to start taking these negatives out of their protective sleeves and cut them up to examine, scan, and store them when I noticed how nice they all looked there bundled together on the light table so I did the only logical thing, pulled out my 5D and shot a few images. After posting one to flickr I realized they would probably make for good desktop fodder so here they are all trimmed up to desktop size and ready for consumption by all of my fine readers out there in the world. Also, you can expect a couple of posts in the future with a number of film images from these rolls, got some really wonderful shots among these.
To Download the desktop size versions of all three of these simply CLICK OR RIGHT CLICK HERE to download a zip file with the jpgs hiding inside along with my terms for use. Please, no commercial use and if you share them somewhere just let me know because its fun/nice to know where they end up sometimes. Thanks for reading and enjoy!
Tumble
Some of you may already be aware of it but I thought I would mention here that I do keep a Tumblr blog going where I post images, videos, and quotes from around the web or other bits of life. I have always tried to figure out exactly what it is I want to accomplish with the page but really it has always just stood as a visual inspiration point for me. A place to keep things I enjoy and to share them with others. At one point I was posting a lot more to it so as you dig through deeper into the archives it gets a little more broad but lately I have tried to be more focused in what I post as to keep it all pretty high quality and only post things that really strike me on some level. It could give you a tiny peak into some of the imagery that inspires me in some ways. You can find the page at fiftyfootshadows.tumblr.com so click through if you have a couple of minutes and enjoy.