Simply..
A friend pointed this site out, I believe, a long while ago and I recently re-discovered it and found a great performance by Bon Iver. You will also find performances from other artists as well, but not simply concerts but also special performances like this one from Bon Iver (click the image above to go to that one btw). There are some great videos and moments to be found there so take a few minutes and browse through. I suppose I should note that the site is written in French but sometimes the articles can be found in English as well.
All Things
So apparently this is somehow the story of my life. Most likely its also the story of many others lives depending on how you want to stretch the lyrics into metaphors. a bootleg recording of a song sang live by Sufjan Stevens and used in a home made video for the song which you can find here if you are curious. Otherwise, click below to hear it. Its been one of those songs that has managed to find its way on to infinite repeat. Maybe I’m being a bit personal here in this post but why not from time to time right?
I’m curious what different people would get from hearing this song because once you hear it you may be looking for what about it makes me believe its somehow the story of my life. I would prefer you just listen to it like I didn’t just say that. 
Otherwise, new desktops soon, I have a bunch ready to go, just have not gotten them posted just yet but soon, I promise.
(well, I tried to get a handy flash player here but cant make it work without messing with things so just click here to hear it or just watch the video. I would have just posted the video but its not really representative of the feeling I got from the song and thought it would be distracting to my point which after all this rambling seems rather dull)
Moth
I have another suggestion for your ears today. An album I recently found that has been available for a while now it seems. I have been a fan of this musician for a long time without even realizing it. Mick Turner is a guitarist that has worked with all sorts of various big names in the indie music world. Most directly and obviously is his involvement with the group The Dirty Three.
At any rate, I will skip the history as its already been written a million other places more accurately and with a more professional gloss than what I can manage anyhow. This is a beautiful album full of slow, calm, rambling guitar along with the occasional other instrumentation. Almost ambient in the end but in a smooth, relaxing sort of a way. A great album for times when your mind needs a break which mine often seems to need so I love coming across such albums as this.
So take a moment and listen on iTunes or Amazon or wherever you prefer… surely your mind could use such a calm moment as well..
Beep
I just came across a great compilation that I thought I would point out. It has been released by Ghostly International in conjunction with Adult Swim. An interesting mix really but somehow it works. It contains a lot of great tracks from Ghostly artists and more. A little dance, a little instrumental Hip-Hop, a little avant pop/rock but most importantly there really are some great tracks hiding there int he mix and best of all, ITS FREE. So you really have nothing to loose, just head over, hit download and enjoy.
Heres a Link to where you can grab the album.
On The Hi-Fi
I feel that lately I have been listening less to full albums and more opening iTunes and putting it on shuffle. Its nice this way because it gives me a chance to randomly listen to new music I find without even really knowing what it is I’m listening to. I will sometimes find myself stopping in the middle of whatever it is I’m doing and just staring off into space as I listen to a song that I’m not familiar with but somehow fall in love with on first listen. But even among all the random play there have been a few new albums in my life that I’ve enjoyed and so here we gooooooo….
First off there is a new Jason Anderson record out. A vinyl and digital only release, although when you buy the vinyl there is a cd copy of it inside with the record. On the first listen I really enjoyed it but overall I would have to admit I’m a little disappointed. The thing I always admired about his music was his songwriting. Always really well spoken songs about love, life, loss, the details sometimes that get lost between moments. His songs on his first couple of records seemed focused and honest and tight. But recently he seems to be stretching himself to thin somehow and hes started to ramble more and more in his songs. I think it works well in his live show but on this record some of his new songs seem to preachy almost. Now, this said, i still do really enjoy this record, and recommend it highly because its still a solid record and anyone familiar with his music Im sure will find something to enjoy in this record. jasons myspace page
Next up is a new album by pop minimalist Lullatone. With his first couple of records he was making really simple songs from hushed tones and gentle melodies but with his music after these, singing was introduced and the focus changed somewhat to find himself in this new quiet cute pop territory which i really enjoyed at times when thats all I really wanted to hear, something simple, light, easy to hear. Almost like your sitting in this room with the music while its being performed with toys and sounds and tiny instruments. So anyways, this new record is another vocal centered album full of cute simple pop songs with nearly every random home made and gentle sound sources you could imagine. The featured song being called The Bathtime Beat has a nice drum solo using water in a bathtub for percussion which should give you an idea of what to expect. If this sounds at all interesting to you then you should certainly check it out… band site
And onto the blues rock portion of this entry with a new album by an old favorite of mine The Black Keys. The thing I love about these guys is the way they have progressed as a band, starting off with their first records as pretty much strictly a two piece guitar and drums kind of a thing and as time goes on they are getting more and more fully produced but unlike many bands that do this they have done a great job of keeping there aesthetic while progressing musically. Highly recommended.. band site
So what about something in the world of electronic music, its been one of those stretches of time where I have not listened to quite as much lately but thats not to say there is not any around. Other than listening to random favorites I have been enjoying the new songs added to a new version of Mathew Dear’s album Asa Breed called simply, the black version. I think its kind of a strange idea to re release an album from a year ago and just add half a dozen songs to the end of it rather than releasing it as a new EP or something of the sort but I just bought the extra songs digitally rather than buying the album all over again. The new songs include a couple of new originals as well as a few remixes but ive enjoyed both of them. The originals on here separate him even more from his roots as a mostly dance music artist but its not a bad thing as I have really enjoyed his mixed up style of rock and electronic and whatever else you want to call it. If you are a fan of his, don’t miss these new songs.. band site
Thats all for now… till next time.
On the Hi-Fi
Time for an update on what has been passing through my ears as of late. As always, these are albums that have stuck in my head and been replayed a number of times. The music that has moved me along the last few weeks. Any links I provide are not affiliate links or anything, I usually try and link either to the artists site or somewhere where you can hear the music and buy it at a good price. I write these because I love music and I love to share it… Sorry, but no album artwork this time around. Let me know if you miss it though, I may add it later…
South San Gabriel (Will Johnson)
I found this artist while looking though the archive at daytrotter.com and quickly found that he has a ton of music out under a few different project names. After picking up a couple of his solo albums under his own name I found South San Gabriel which is easily my favorite as of now. ‘The Carlton Chronicles’ is what first drew me in. The music is not unlike Bon Iver with more of a full band sound just to give you an idea of what it sounds like based on my last music recommendation. It’s an album best suited to be heard as a whole which I really like. The songs seems to work so well together I could not recommended specific songs as favorites and rather just encourage you to hear it as a complete album. Hmm, just read back what I wrote and it seems a bit confusing. Breaking that down a bit, its good. Buy it. Listen. Smile. Artist page
Clark
Clark must be one of the most un-appreciated electronic musicians I know of. For whatever reason reviewers tend to pass him off as another Aphex Twin duplicate, those sorts of reviews really really bug me. It just shows me how little the reviewer knows about the genera. Clark has recently released an album called Turning Dragon that, from what I understand, was constructed from loose tracks and ideas that did not work on his last full length. While this new release has been marketed as though it would be great for the dance floor I personally dont see how its all that much more suited for it than any of his other albums. The beats themselves and the energy is just a little more straight forward on this release is all. I still see it as a finely tuned lot of songs. This music fits within the traditional crunchy feeling of his previous releases but as I said, pushes the beat more to the forefront of your attention than some of his previous albums and only slightly. I love his approach to his songwriting, it has a depth that you just don’t see much in electronic music and I cant get enough of it. So it goes without saying that I recommend this album for anyone who doesn’t mind a bit of a sharp edge to their dance tracks. Play it loud and sing along, and by sing along I don’t mean sing I mean… Artist Site (album preview tracks on that page)
Kelpe
While checking bleep.com for new releases I came across an artist called Kelpe and his new album Ex-Aquarium and quickly fell for his blend of live drums and acoustic sounds with a subtle funk vibe that left me wanting to dance along. I found a copy of it online to give it a go and fell for it even more prompting me to shell out the extra money it took to get it imported from the UK rather than just buy the digital release. I found this album to be danceable but not really in a way thats in your face. Its a great mesh of organic sounds and samples with thick synth bass lines and compositions that build up and always leave you somewhere different than where you started. I will go ahead and add the player from bleep.com below this one so you can listen here. Check out Shipwreck Glue, Skylla, and Silver Nutkin, and the masterful use of tremolo on Half Broken Harp. These are the songs that sucked me in at least… (also, artist site link here)
Vampire Weekend
I dont need to say much about these guys. I really did not expect much of this band and wrote them off as just a bunch or hyped up indie pop, that is until I caught myself humming along a song that I heard of theres and decided to listen closer and found myself getting hooked. Yes, you wont find a lot of depth here, just catchy simple pop but something about it cheers me up and only time will tell when I will get tired of it but I thought I would mention it here all the same because it is something that has frequented my players as of late. Artist Site
Death Is Nothing To Fear (Spectral Sound)
Filling in my straight forward dance music cravings as of late the Death is Nothing to Fear series from the Spectral Sound label (Ghostly International) has gotten me covered. Here you will find a collection of minimal techno that, if you can get into such things, will get you moving in no time. Label Site
Sleepingdog
A friend of mine saw this group open up the show for Iron and Wine in Brussels a few weeks ago and suggested I check them out and so I did and I found a great album of subtle songs nearly as minimal as the Daisuke Miyatani album I mentioned a couple of weeks ago here on 50ft only add singing to the mix. Here you will find sparse instrumentation and whispery singing gentle enough to lull you to sleep. Listening I was reminded of an old favorite, Corina Repp. The name of the album I have is Polar Life and I believe it is a fairly recent release and is worth checking out for those of you who love quiet minimal music as much as I do. Artist Site
Nick Jaina
One of my favorite small labels that I have enjoyed since their early days as a label is Hush Records based out of the North West US and always seems to find a unique batch or artists holding a similar gentle aesthetic that I usually enjoy a lot. I recently checked there site to see what was new and came across an album called Wool by Nick Jaina and after hearing the free mp3 they had on their site I went ahead and took a chance and ordered the album from them. Although I have only had it a few days I find that I really enjoy it. A piano heavy album that feels almost like watching a movie to hear. It has a theatrical sort of a feel to it not unlike Tom Waits only not as gritty. It has a nice swing that does a good job of calming me down somehow. Label Site
(Random update: Noticed I was quoted on Hush’s website which prompted me to re read what I had written here about this album and laughed to myself as I wish I had been a bit more clearly spoken on this post, ha. At any rate, a follow up to my thoughts on the record after hearing it more, still a frequent player in my ears and I stand by my comments of its theatrical elements, I find its the perfect album to put on a good pair of headphone, close your eyes, and experience. Seriously though..)
__________________________
Well this list is starting to stretch a bit long and I think I have covered most of what I wanted to for now at least. For those of you who read these posts I hope you find something new to check out and enjoy it! There is one other odd song I will mention which is on Nine Inch Nails new self released 36 song instrumental album Called Ghosts. Overall the album drags often but I came across this one song that I really loved which is a really quiet piano piece that has a really nice feel to it. Although it is an instrumental I find myself singing along to it and making up words to go along with it as I hear it. So if you feel like taking a chance on it and have $5 to spend you can pick up all 36 songs in digital format on his site.Thats all for now, as usual, all the best and I will see you next time…
Is it crowded in here?
About a week ago (sorry, I’ve been losing track of my days recently) I had the chance to see Bon Iver perform live and finally pick up an actual copy of his album which was released the day after the show so technically I was among the first to purchase it which I like to think is pretty nice. On a side note, of all of the people crammed into the venue that seemed to already know all of these songs that were technically only released in an edition of 200 copies so I hear I only noticed a small handful of people buy the album after the show. It got me thinking about the way music works these days with internet sharing and whatnot. I wondered to myself weather or not these people were going to buy digital versions of the album or maybe they did not really like it or or or. I was just surprised I suppose that more people did not buy a copy…
Anyways, I can now sit down in the dark of the night and put on my fresh vinyl copy of the album. Seeing this show kind of reminded me that sometimes I think that I prefer to just hear music on an album rather than see it live. I do love to see musicians perform and support them by going to shows whenever possible but when it is music like this that it so intimate and quiet I find that I prefer listening at home in the peace of my own home. I heard the songs he performed countless times at night lying in bed with my eyes closed or in my own time and listening to music this way connects you with it on such a personal level and when you go see them performed live there are all of these people crowded around you drinking and talking and pressed up against you and you have to fight your way to see the stage well and hope that you found a good sounding spot in the club and it separates you from the music to a certain extent you know? I did get used to the people and did manage to get lost in the music at times and there was one song where he pulled of a sing along that added to the feel of the song and made the people around me feel less like intruders within this music I knew so well and more like part of the experience.
I think it depends a lot on the type of music as well, with electronic music I love there to be a ton of people there or with rock music or anything with more of an upbeat vibe to it but when it comes to quiet acoustic songs that I usually listen to in the comfort of my own company the audience can sometimes get in the way. I think it is part of the reason I love my job so much as a live sound engineer because I get my own personal space at the show which is more often than not one of the best seats in the house and I get complete control over the sound so I have that personal connection with the artist and the music. Its a bit overwhelming at times to be honest and when the circumstances are just right I feel somehow emotionally involved in my work and chills may run down my spine.
That reminds me of one of my favorite days as an engineer when I was the guest engineer at a live, in studio, radio station performance by Damien Jurado. It was pretty much just me in the control room with the mixer and him sitting in the room adjacent with his guitar. It was like my own personal concert of songs that I loved.
Working back to my main topic here, Bon Iver, I highly suggest you check out his album ‘For Emma, Forever Ago.’ It really is a great record and was one of my favorite discoveries of music last year. Ironically enough (is ironic the right word here?) the person who introduced me to it was a girl named Emmanuelle. Yap.
Below you can see my view of the show which was pretty bad really, as the place filled up I kind of got pushed further and further into the corner and the audio at this club has always been pretty bad and was made worse by the fact that all of the high frequency in the sound system was totally missing my position leaving me with a booming mess of low/mid sound… but they are photos all the same. Nothing to write home about but enough to remember the evening. Enjoy!
On the Hi-Fi
Lately my music has been all over the place. The gentle, minimal music still holds the top spot in what I have been listening to but I have broken away from that with a couple of exceptions. I think I will hi-light a few albums that have been keeping my ears busy in the last week or so, some old some new…
I will start off with an older album that is one of my very favorites and over time is one that I come back to time and time again when I need something like a lullaby. The album is called Heart and Crime by Julie Doiron. Her music on this release and many others by her is like a whisper, she has a deep calming breathy voice that always manages to calm me down when I get worked up about something. She sings of things I’m not much in the mood to talk about but ends up being a perfect match to the subtle music. Highly recommended. link
Next I think I will talk about the new Autechre release, Quaristice. For those of you who may not know, this duo is kind of the default experimental IDM masters and I have a funny feeling that fans would like just about anything they release. I have been listening to them as long as I have been listening to electronic music and with this new release I find I am having more trouble than usual getting into it. As usual they are taking an interesting new approach to what they release and more than ever I feel that they are letting things hang a little looser with this album. I feel like I made this music 5 years ago which is such a pompous thing to say but its true. I love this artist and the music they create but the simplicity of it can not be denied. I am tired of other musicians making music that sounds anything at all like it be immediately compared to them. Wow, I must be in a grumpy mood or something. At ay rate, it is a great album. I still like the first song on it the most which is a really simple ambient song. Head over to bleep to hear it and make up your own mind. link
Back to the singer songwriter genera I’ve been listening to a good bit of Damien Jurado as of late. Mostly his album Where Shall You Take Me which I really love. Its another one I have had around for quite some time now but one I often come back to. He always seems to like to tell stories with his songs which I like. Its nice to listen to music and be told a story all at the same time. I had the opportunity to mix the audio for him at a little radio station on air sort of a thing a few months ago which was great. Anyways, Im not sure what else to say about him at the moment, these are more suggestions than anything. Link
For those of you who enjoyed my last suggestion of the super minimal Daisuke Miyatani album Id like to suggest you check out a compilation album called schole compilation vol.1. Which contains a song by Daisuke as well as a bunch of other equally amazing music that will leave you with no choice but to meditate while you listen. Music that is just enough to fill your ears and mind with feeling but not so much that you feel distracted by it. Really wonderful compilation and is highly recommended. Link
Also, I somehow became hooked on the LCD Soundsystem song, All My Friend’s and I have no idea why other than the fact that it makes me feel both claustrophobic and energetic and completely depressed all at the same time which is an impressive feat. I think its a song that needs to be listened to really loudly…Thats all for this edition. Thanks for reading, and please, for your own sake, close your eyes and listen.
Its about time…
Finally, some news from Jamie Lidell… according to the Warp Records site this is rehearsal for the live show and this is a song from the upcoming album. I for one can not wait…
Almost
I have been in a somewhat slow mood these past few days for reasons I wont get into here, but in this time I have found myself falling in love with music that is just barely music. Music so fragile, simple, and organic that it drifts in and out of my listening seamlessly. It gives my mind a place to sit while I work. I guess you could say I’ve had trouble focusing which is why this music has been so great to have around. I think the buzzword for this genera at the moment is folktronica, which I remember first hearing used with the release of a Greg Davis album. In essence, its electronic music made using more acoustic sounds like guitar or piano but using the computer to compose and sequence the songs. I never put much validity into the idea of these countless amounts of sub-genera’s these days but I’m telling you all of this simply as a reference as what to expect.
At any rate, the album that has really sucked me in this past week is an album by Daisuke Miyatani called Diario. It is one of the most subtle things I have heard in a long time and the more I listen to it the more it fades into me in some way that I cant explain. Full of lo-fi sampling and loose, quiet plucked guitars. At times songs will trail off and disappear suddenly which I didn’t really like at first but the more I listen the more I like these sudden endings on a few of the songs, it helps bring you back to the present after getting lost in the song.
So anyone in the need of some great thinking music should check out this album. Here is a link to the amazon mp3 page (not an affiliate link) and a link to the labels page. I think I may discuss more artists from this genera in the future as I have taken a liking to many of them…
amazon mp3
label link (which has a few free mp3s i think)