It’s been quite a year for live music, 2008; an emotional roller-coaster of euphoria and heady nostalgia and all sorts of superlatives you might reach for to try to describe a clenched throat that doesn’t know if it’s holding back ecstatic cheers or warm tears.
There was the 12 Bar last month, a fragile Edwyn Collins leaning into the protective, wiry shoulder of Roddy Frame, straining resistant limbs and lips into familiar old shapes for a tiny crowd of shiny-eyed Dundonians. There was the Roundhouse a few weeks before that, Kevin Shields’ mouth yawning wide and silent into the din, my skin rippling as though the waves that buffeted the front row were real and not mere sound. And there was the holy still air of St Giles church, in the balmy early days of June, when Justin Vernon raised a guitar to the heavens and 300 faithful erupted into triumphant thanksgiving. It’s pure luck to be granted one such fleeting, epiphanical moment a year, never mind two from one quiet Wisconsinite. Iconic performances seem to have littered the summer months like chewing-gum wrappers, and now another has just fallen at our feet and blown past, reminding me of Winnaretta Singer’s line about the rare and particular breed of music that reminds us that we have “a reason for living on this rock: to live in the beautiful kingdom of sounds.” Continue Reading
Beth Tacular, (Accordion, Bass Drum, Backing Vocals), Phil Moore, (Lead Vocals, Guitar, Tambourine), Mark Paulson (Violin, Pedal Keyboard, Bass Drum, Backing Vocals), are the three members of Raleigh, North Carolina’s Bowerbirds, a band that has crafted a brilliant album which could be called folk, but such a classification falls well short of truly giving justice to what they sound like. When listening to Hymns For A Dark Horse you get the feeling that these songs are physical objects as much as they are ephemeral waves of vibrations. Filled with ideas, imagery and metaphors in the lyrics, melodies, themes and rhythms in the instrumentation, songs seem so bursting with life that they are something you experience, something that you can walk around, prodding and peering at. Continue Reading
Jagjaguwar and Dead Oceans, the consistently fine spin off labels from Secretly Canadian have oodles of interested signings and new releases coming up - so, in a condensed form, heres everything in one bite sized-ish post. Here goes…
Bon Iver
Signed in the US to Jagjaguwar (4AD in the UK) Bon Iver appeared on New York radio station WMYC this week. You can stream the appearence below, which features mega performances of ‘Creature Fear’ and spine tingle inducing rendiditon of ‘Flume’. Plus a chat about the album, which to be fair doesn’t really reveal too much. Just the same old “so I hear you recorded this in your fathers log cabin” etc etc.. Still worth it for the songs though - listen below:
If mp3’s are more your bag, then you can still grab the A-M-A-Z-I-N-G live session from Daytrotter.
Also, watch this recent footage of Bon Iver and labelmates Bowerbirds perform Sarah Siskind’s ‘Lovin’s For Fools’ shot at the Bowery Ballroom in NYC. Hopefully they’ll perform it together at Shepherds Bush Empire next month - Bowerbirds are supporting Bon Iver at the sold out show on 11th September. Speaking of Bowerbirds, Brooklyn Vegan has some real nice shots of a recent show of theirs, here.
Women
Jagjaguwar will release Women’s self-titled debut full length on October 7th, 2008 throughout the world (January, 2009 release in the UK, and Canadian label Flemish Eye is releasing the record in Canada.) The band will tour the U.S., Canada and Europe in support of the album throughout 2008, and tour dates will be announced soon.
The band’s debut was recorded by Sub Pop and Flemish Eye artist Chad VanGaalen over 4 months on ghettoblasters and old tape machines in his basement, an outdoor culvert and a crawlspace. Sometimes light and spacious, at other times eerie and dense with an ominous weight, Women hint at the Velvet Underground, Swell Maps or This Heat; a lo-fi masterpiece cloaked in layers of vibrato and guitar wash.
After witnessing the chaos and energy of a These Are Powers live set, Dead Oceans were immediately enthralled with this band, and after a long courtship and some hot and heavy dating, they have finally announced the start of a long and fruitful union. First, Dead Oceans will re-release Taro Tarot and Terrific Seasons in October 2008, followed by an LP of new material in the first part of 2009. The band will support the re-releases with tours of both North America and Europe this autumn.
Secretly Canadian have a couple of decent releases coming up too.. David Vandervelde’s sophomore album Waiting For The Sunrise is released next week in the States (22nd Sept in the UK) - fairly decent easy listening fare. Look out for a review soon. Also, Damien Jurado is set to release his new LP Caught In The Trees on 9th September in the States (27th Oct in the UK) - judging by the lead track ‘Gillian Was A Horse’ we’re in for some what of a treat. I can never understand though why we have to wait so long for UK release dates..
Oh - and one last thing, Dead Oceans new signings The Donkeys will release their staggering self-titled debut on September 8th. It really is quite fantastic - download an mp3 below and see for yourselves. Country-rock at its very finest. Look out for a review nearer the time of release.
