Not the doom country we were expecting seeing that this country rock outfit features one of the dudes (THEE dude in fact) from ambient doom drone lords Horseback on guitar. Probably best to forget that trivial tidbit as Mount Moriah sound miles away from Horseback's dirgey and blackened sonic miasma.
Instead, Mount Moriah mine a late eighties/early nineties female fronted alt-country sound like that of Lone Justice, Cowboy Junkies and a bit of early Mazzy Star. Fans of Neko Case will definitely dig this too. Like a modern Dolly Parton album with a hipper backing band. Pretty, well-written songs that smack of heartbreak and bitter regret.
We meant to list this awhile back, but at the time it seemed we had so many Espers related projects on the list, between Meg Baird's solo record, the Fern Knight record, the last Bonnie Prince Billy ep, and the Valerie Project, that listing the debut release on Espers' new record label, Language of Stone, then might have been unfair to the band Mountain Home. Comprised of Joshua Blatchley and Kristin Sherer, the music of Mountain Home fits into the same narcotic acid folk niche of current bands like Espers, Bright Black Morning Light, and Marissa Nadler, yet leaning on the traditional British folk side of things. They even cover "Nottamun Town". Not the biggest surprise coming from the Espers' camp, but a nice release all the same.
Record number three from Travis Graves aka Mt. Egypt, and we now find ourselves wondering how we never heard, or heard of, Mt. Egypt before now? Apparently he's toured with Band Of Horses, Cat Power, The Flaming Lips, hell, even Willie Nelson. And as we mentioned above, this is his THIRD record. We're definitely kicking ourselves for only just catching on, but we're doing our best to make up for lost time, listening to this like crazy...
The music of Mt Egypt is a darkly delicate, introspective folk, simple and spare, warm and languid, a hazy sun dappled back porch summer afternoon sound, ethereal steel string guitar shimmer, wrapped in warm tendrils of muted melody, all with a subtly psychedelic cast. The sound is mostly acoustic guitar and vocals, but really nothing else is needed. It's all about the songs, and the voice. The songs themselves are practically perfect, sparse and spacious and stripped down, delicate and hushed, mysteriously and subtly catchy, the hooks are there, but they're hazy and indistinct, and hover in the background, the catchiness an afterthought to the mood, and the emotions, a gentle classic poppiness that informs Mt Egypt's skeletal country folk, and Graves' voice is the perfect match, plaintive and keening, slipping from a weary whisper to a mournful croon, somewhere between Neil Young and Songs:Ohia's Jason Molina. Grave's vocals occasionally woven into angelic harmonies, draped over elegiac stretches of minimal strum and drift. Broken hearted, twang flecked introspective folk, that is simply lovely. And is most definitely recommended for fans of Palace Brothers / Will Oldham, Fleet Foxes, Band Of Horses, Iron & Wine, Mount Eerie, Songs:Ohia, Rocky Votolato, Vetiver, Bon Iver and other similarly dark and introspective folk...
LIMITED TO JUST 100 COPIES!!!!
Amazingly alchemic guitar compositions in the primitive / wooden / post-Appalachia vein. Lovely.
Omni has been kicking our asses with weird and wonderful outsider country reissues, one of our favorites so far was that awesome Plantation Gold collection we made a Record Of The Week, and if you remember, one of our favorite tracks on that double cd (and there were tons of contenders) was "I Am The Grass" by Dee Mullins, who we had never heard, nor even heard OF, before the release of that comp.
"I Am The Grass" did seem on the surface like a straightforward country classic, if it weren't for the strange percussion, the wah wah guitar, the haunting spoken word intro, the lyrics about literally being the grass - especially the part about being the grass over someones's grave, dark. And of course the weird super effected metallic buzz of the chorus. But this was no gimmick, Mullins had an incredible voice, and his songs were catchy, and fantastically arranged. Lush, and heartfelt and bittersweet. Listening to this collection, it seems criminal that he wasn't HUGE. "Texas Tea" sounds like it could have been a hit for Kris Kristofferson or Willie Nelson, "Guilt Box" is total classic honky tonk, with an awesome main riff, and some incredible vocals, "War Baby" is an intense anti war track which incorporates passages from "Wild Blue Yonder" (or whatever that song is called), as well as some cool processed E.L.O.-like background vocals. Then there's the slide guitar laced gospel of "The Next Face I See" about a prisoner facing death (the next face he sees will be the Lord's, get it?), and telling tales of how he got there (murder!). And that's the thing with Mullins, these songs on the surface are gorgeous, classic sounding country, slippery slide, shuffling drums, lots of twang, and Mullins' voice which is incredible, but these songs are dark, really dark sometimes, and a little bit twisted, but that's also what makes this stuff so special.
Mullins only had one hit, a sort of novelty track, "The Continuing Story Of Harper Valley P.T.A.", a response to the original, and it's a shame really, since almost ALL of the others could have and should have been even bigger hits.
Of all the Omni reissues, this might just be the best one so far, a perfect combo of twisted and dark, and total classic country, with some of the best and catchiest country songs we've heard, maybe ever.
As with all the Omni releases, tons of rare photos, and lots of liner notes in a big full color booklet.
All right, now you can stop worrying -- we didn't forget about it, here's number 9 in the Jewelled Antler Library series of 3" cdrs. It's a disc from SF's Muons, not a Jewelled Antler band per se, but in those guys' orbit. There's five songs here, just under twenty minutes of fragile, psychedelic folk recorded live, where they really shine. Inspired by traditional British folk music, but made soooo minimal and spacey that they've been called the "Bernhard Gunter of space-folk", the Muons make forlorn lullabys for adults. For this performance, the Muons were just the duo of Greg Bianchini and Rickey Reneau. Greg, who has played with Jewelled Antler acts Franciscan Hobbies, Thuja and Blithe Sons, is an gifted instrument maker, and on this recording plays a home-built 14-string electric lute as well as sings. Rickey plays an electric dulcimer, probably also built by Greg. Greg's languid strumming and melancholic vocals seem to drift out of the smoke and mist of another era, and could be from a lost UK psych-folk comp, although this is so slow and sad and desolate that no hippy could have made it -- they'd be too bummed out. We're also reminded of some Galaxie 500, or old NZ stuff like the Chills. Certainly this is a bit different than much else in the Library series -- it's got to be the most 'composed' set of songs found on any of these 3" discs. But we think JA fans will like it, a lot. It has a 'flowers in the rain' vibe that's just lovely. And the loveliness extends to the paintings Greg did for the 3" cover. Very nice.
We were (and heck, still are) HUGE fans of avant abstract folk outfit The Tower Recordings. And we've tried desperately to keep up with Matt Valentine's post-TR output, but it's been tough as most of his recorded output has been relegated to ultra limited cd-r's and short run vinyl. So finally, we get a not so limited, and seriously hefty dose of Valentine's new psychedelic folk direction, with his long time musical partner Erika Elder and his new musical sidekicks the Bummer Road.
Two discs, jam packed with dreamy druggy OUT THERE free folk psychedelia. Hints of Tower Recordings past do surface here and there, but the sounds on Mother Of Thousands are way more dense and dizzy. Slippery spacey squiggles float like motes of dust over a warm whirling landscape of mumbled atonal guitar, stuttering alternate tuning strum, super-processed electric guitar whir, wheezing harmonica, lilting falsetto vocals, washed out distorted whirls of crumbling amp buzz, a gorgeously laid back, blissed out afternoon sunlight back porch drug drenched slow motion moonlight abstract folk jam.
The second disc takes all the same elements but weaves them into lengthy minimal buzz drenched ragas. Mysterious sounds swoop and swoon over slowly unfurling melodies, warm layers of harmonica and buzzing steel strings drift over a deconstructed free folk, with disembodied ghostlike voices, gurgling drones, reverb drenched female vocals, the final 20+ minute track is one slow burning meditation equal parts rumbling whir and gentle minor key strumming. Quite lovely.
Valentine and his fellow folkies, Mo' Jiggs, Sparrow Wildchild, Nemo Bidstrup, Tim Barnes and Samara Lubelski take a few moments out to reimagine some killer covers, Mississippi John Hurt, Charley Patton and Reverend Gary Davis, but soon return to their mesmerizingly freeform drift and drone and croon.
Packaged in a super deluxe, ultra thick gatefold, each cd in a woven Japanese style inner sleeve, the sleeve a mini lp style cd gatefold, with a metallic silver printed insert. LIMITED TO 1000 COPIES.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
We Offer You The Guru might be a folk record, in some other time, and some other world. Sure there are steel string guitars, harmonica, jews harp, even sruti box and electric dulcimer, and there is a melancholy strumminess, and dreamy twanginess to be sure, but Matt Valentine and Erika Elder (aka MV / EE) wrap their druggy spaced out folk in a dense cloud of thick reverb and smoky ambience, traditional folk melodies are stretched and twisted apart into creepy snippets and fuzzed out musical vignettes, the whole thing reminding us a little bit of the movie Gummo at times, very cinematic in a fucked up and back woods-y sort of way, damaged and not a little drug addled, but at the same time hauntingly beautiful. Elder's vocals are slurred and indistinct, intertwined with wheezing harmonicas and plinking plonking Jandek-ian guitars. Valentine's usual droney raga steel strings, aren't so droney here, instead they become lovingly lugubrious deconstructed strums and picked apart picking, textural and abstract, a rickety framework for the ghostly clouds of vocal / harmonica interplay drifting through these hazy shimmery soundscapes.
Here's a reissue of My Morning Jacket's Chocolate And Ice 6-song cdep! When it was originally released back in 2002, we had this to say...
Of the half dozen tracks, the standout is the unexpected 24-minute "Cobra". Although the rest of the songs do still retain My Morning Jacket's wonderful, shadowy, lonesome twang, this track is a refreshing change allowing the band to diverge from their usual path. With much less of a rootsy rock feel, it leans more heavily on a smoky blues guitar sound. From an almost funky groove, it dissolves into a lovely drone and returns to the more familiar somber country-folkish mood. Mainman Jim James subtly shifts his vocal delivery too, veering from his usual Neil Young-ish nasality to an almost Damo Suzuki (of Can) drowsy murmurred uttering. Quite effective. An added note, the items in the title made for a very cool textured cover image... although we'd bet someone was bummed that they spilled all that choco-syrup.
Not only do the Grey Daturas kick up a serious noiserock ruckus, they also run their own cd-r label, the mysteriously titled Diagnosis... Don't! There are three new releases, and we managed to get a handful of each.
This is a super limited tour only cd-r from the sweet voiced folk chanteuse Marissa Nadler and features not only a handful of live tracks featuring Nadler accompanied by organ, but also features unreleased 4 track recordings, as well as outtakes from her two brilliant full lengths, Ballads Of Living And Dying and The Saga Of Mayflower May.
All the tracks here are gorgeous (of course), especially the live tracks, soft tangled steel string guitar and Nadler's dreamy vocals, all hovering above a thick soft wash of droning organ. The four track recordings are lovely too, extra lo-fi but thus super intimate, tape hiss and recording crackle making Nadler's already timeless music sound even more from some lost and mysterious past.
Super limited, already out of print, we got a bunch but they won't last. Packaged in cool handmade sleeves, a little hole in the textured paper cover through which another layer of colored paper is visible. Includes a photocopied insert as well.
Now reissued again on vinyl, this former AQ Record Of The Week from back in 2004. This time, instead of Eclipse, it's on Kemado's vinyl-only imprint Mexican Summer (which is named after a Nadler song?), and they've added a bonus 7" of unreleased songs. It's limited to 1000 copies. Here's what we said about it before:
This is a dark and languorous trip through a sonic world of bleak skies, neverending sorrow, lost love, death and dying and all sorts of somber miserablism. The music itself is lush and rich, a warm rainy soundscape of muted finger picked guitars, augmented by occasional banjo, eukele, and autoharp, all lashed together into a modern melding of classic Appalachia, psych folk and classic songcraft.
But it's Nadler's voice that is the most mesmerizing part of Ballads Of The Dying, rich, velvety and throaty, completely captivating, and surprisingly reminiscent of Neko Case, but instead of the country wildcat Case, here's she's a rainsoaked and bedraggled innocent, seemingly beaten down but emanating an inner strength, a hidden power, that comes through in her powerful voice.
This is one of those records that seems pleasant enough on first listen, but as you dig deeper, the songs and stories unfold and you quickly find your self living and loving and crying and dying right along with Nadler and the characters she has populated her musical world with.
The fourth record from Boston's most enchanting female songstress has left us breathless and almost at a loss for words! Ms Nadler really hits the nail on the head with this effortless marriage of hauntingly rich vocal cascades and captivating song writing. Quite the magnificent album, Little Hells features Nadler joined by a full band whose rhythmic weight anchors each song as her reverb-shrouded vocals drift into the dawning sky. If you've a penchant for lonely country charm with a gothic twist, and melancholic hymns possessed by a familiar nostalgia, this is soooo for you! Conjures visions of Victorian churches on golden plains at midnight, flickering shadows in hallways of rickety old barns. As far as production goes, we've never heard Nadler sound so dense and layered with such an array of instrumentation embracing the core slide guitar, bass and drums. And yet for all the gothic folk elements at the heart of this record, Little Hells is perhaps Nadler's poppiest release to date. Stunning!
It feels like it's been awhile since we were graced with a proper new full length from Miss Nadler, and it's certainly welcome. Her haunting gothic folktales seem to get better and more fully realized with each release. Here, she is backed by a fuller sound courtesy of Philadelphia's Espers in full medieval chamber-folk mode making great use of reverberating Tibetan bells, harp and mandolin. But nothing overshadows her sophisticated fingerpicking and voice, which like an antiquated sparrow harkening from a time only experienced in past remembrances transports the listener through lovely gossamer shades of grey. The CD version includes a Leonard Cohen cover, a free sticker and a link to download 4 more unreleased tracks.
To cry out "holy shit!" would probably be far too boorish and loud when speaking of this album, so instead we'll whisper an impassioned "my goodness!" Yes, this is another wonderful, deeply moving work from Ms Nadler! For those of you adored her last album Ballads Of The Dying even a fraction as much as we did (it was an AQ Record Of The Week back in December), you'll surely welcome this new one. As with its predecessor, The Saga Of Mayflower May is imbued with a sedate earthy beauty rooted in classic Appalachian folk songcraft. It's hard to believe this is a current release. It's strikingly so very out of step with the times in its earnest, clear tone seemingly untouched by modern hustle'n'bustle. In turn, Nadler's vocals bear a striking resemblance to those of Hope Sandoval, Neko Case and Vashti Bunyan. And much like those women, you can imagine her singing these songs aloud whether there's an audience present or not. The music flows from her -- singing just as much to and for herself. Although there is a palpable sorrowful weight to each of the songs, her performance still seems liltingly effortless like autumnal leaves drifting down from an elderly oak tree. From start to finish, this Saga is hauntingly gorgeous. The closing song "Horses And Their Kin" just might leave you in tears. Keep in mind, this is not the record to be playing while you're multi-taskin' and distracted. No, please do yourself and this album a well-deserved favor and set aside some quiet time (oh, at least about 35 minutes or so), and enjoy. Need we say more? Recommended!
Hard to resist a record with a bloody teddy bear on the cover, its fuzzy arm torn off and laying in a pool of blood, bone and sinew and gristle exposed. The record simply titled Dismember. Even harder to resist when you realize it's actually a country band, covering songs by Swedish death metallers Dismember, and far from being a joke, it sounds amazing, grim and dark, twangy and catchy, the twang and shuffle offset by horns, which add a strange funeral vibe to the proceedings.�
Some of the song titles sound like they could very well actually be country songs, "I Saw Them Die", "In Death's Cold Embrace", "Dreaming In Red",�but others maybe not so much so: "Where Ironcrosses Grow", "Let The Napalm Rain"... The record begins with a brief whispery intro,�hushed female vocals, crooning all intimate right in your ear, before the band launches into a rollicking campfire stomp, all minor key twang, shuffling percussion, warbly Hammond organ,�insistently strummed steel string guitar, and a world weary�whiskey soaked drawl, culminating in a�soaring epic chorus with the repeated line "I tasted blood, now I want more". Sounds like it could be the Old '97's or Sixteen Horsepower. Even a little Decemberists. Elsewhere the band dip into truckstop honky tonk, old time folk, gorgeous languorous swampy blues, epic over the top super dramatic Godspeed bombast (that inexplicably gives way to a super strange electro country tinged new wave jam), Southern rock and shuffling rockabilly...
Our favorite track has to be the darkly doomy and twangy "In Death's Cold Embrace", with its loping rhythmic slither, it's mournful funereal horns, some seriously Woven Hand like vocals, a killer warbly trombone solo, the whole thing just steeped in gothic grandeur, even the lyrics, what little bits you can catch, add to the track's gorgeous creepiness.
It almost doesn't matter that these are covers, fans of Slim Cessna, Sixteen Horsepower and that sort of muddy woodsy gothic swamp blues will definitely dig, but it's sort of thrilling to realize these are bastardized death metal songs, and to realize that melodically, thematically and especially lyrically, country blues is not all that far removed from death metal...
Though he was dubbed the "King of the Ukulele" and capitalized on that title throughout his career (touring extensively on the vaudeville circuit as a ukulele soloist), Bennie Nawahi was equally adept at guitar, steel guitar, mandolin and harmonica. In fact, it is his steel guitar playing that is a paramount focus on the 23 tracks found here. This cd is essentially a compilation of groups that featured Bennie as a musician or leader throughout the 20's and early 30's. Given the variety of ensembles presented here as well as Bennie's versatility with jazz, Hawaiian, ragtime, blues and country idioms the over-all tenor of this cd is of variegated unity. Recommended.
A fucking Muppets cover. How awesome is that? The only thing better would have been a Willie / Kermit duet. Willie Nelson is so cool.
In the liner notes for this new anthology of recordings by Willie Nelson, Kurt Wolff makes the apt point that Willie is loved by just about everyone. Not "everyone" as in every living person, but that people from myriad musical backgrounds and tastes tend to appreciate the cosmopolitan yet populist stylings of his singing and songwriting much more than his country contemporaries. As the bean counters and marketing execs might say, "he's got crossover appeal". Miles Davis was a big champion of Willie, and even though the man was alleged to have smoked a joint atop the White House during the Carter administration, he is still enjoyed by both "blue state" and "red state" types alike. His songwriting is simultaneously astutely profound and immediately appealing, as is strikingly evident in the first track on this disc "I Let My Mind Wander", with its quintessential country lyrics:
I let my mind wander,
And what did it do?
It just kept right on going,
Until it got back to you.
I let my mind wander.
Can't trust it one minute,
It's worse than a child.
Disobeys without conscience,
It's drivin' me wild,
When I let my mind wander.
But Nelson is also a master of melody and harmony and his songs are rife with jazz harmonies, blues progressions and even some South of the border swing (as on "Following Me Around"). An important caveat here is that his use of such esoteric, non-country, musical idioms is never forced, obvious, or self-conscious. Perhaps that's why such a broad swath of music lovers appreciate Willie. The 16 tracks -- mostly laid-back, leaning-over-the-bar tearjerkers -- here include both well known tracks and rarities taken from Nelson's career between the mid-sixties and mid-seventies. Highly recommended!
One of the more heartbreaking stories of the mid to late sixties Northern California music scene also contains a newly discovered trove of beautiful raga folk that has rarely been heard before now. The New Age were a trio of musicians, namely Susan Graubard (who also played in The Habibiyya, which we raved about a few lists back - on an apologetic side note, we're sorry we mistakenly thought she was a guy) on flutes, viola and tamboura and singer and guitarist Patrick Kilroy whose haunting three octave voice and love for indigenous musical forms and instrumentation, namely the Indian raga, gave the trio a majestic Eastern spiritual quality with an Appalachian folk edge (they had all studied under Ali Akbar Khan). Playing numerous shows, with many famous players of the time in Big Sur, Los Gatos, Berkeley, New York, San Francisco and even at the Human Be-In at Golden Gate Park, The New Age seemed destined to make a big impact on the West Coast folk scene. Yet, one album half-recorded with Elektra in New York (Light of Day) was never finished due to a falling out Kilroy had with the arranger. Even more tragically, these sessions they recorded with Warner Brothers (featuring Bruce Langhorne) were shelved when Kilroy suddenly took ill and died from Hodgkin's Disease at the end of 1967, before the album could be completed. Graubard, now a school teacher in Berkeley, saddened that The New Age never garnered even a footnote or mention in any written sixties musical history, held onto the tapes, in hopes of sometime releasing them. When Raymond Dumont of RD records heard lost tapes of Light of Day, he was pleasantly surprised to hear that more recordings existed and here we are. Great timing, too, that re-issues of The Habibiyya, Extradition, The Christ Tree, Malachi, Joakim Skogsberg along with The New Age are opening up a window into a little seen past where making music was as it should be, a human-spiritual-communal connection.
I spent a few moments (too many actually) pondering who the New Amsterdam's singer sounds like. I just couldn't put my finger on it. Then - p o o f ! - I remembered, "it IS the guy from Get Up Kids!" Anyway, two words for ya... "Emo Unplugged"! Get Up Kids
UK label Barl Fire has a darn near perfect record with kick ass releases from James Blackshaw, Rameses III, Robert Horton, Lamp Of The Universe, Floating World, United Bible Studies, The North Sea, Uton and more. Their focus seemingly on drone folk and free rock. Their last two releases however, this one, and the James Reid (reviewed elsewhere on this list) have begun to drift more toward straight ahead folk, or at least the sort of modern folk of New Weird America and similar minded hippies. Where as the James Reid channels the spirit of Nick Drake, the Nihil Project is more of a pagan ritual, a sort of Renaissance Wicker Man mystickal magickal folk. Sitars and zithers, tablas, harpischords, violins, along with more traditional acoustic guitars and flutes as well as some little more modern electronic flourishes. Crooning vocals, lilting melodies, occasionally dark and ominous, but just as often playful and festive. Definitely for fans of the Wicker Man, Pentangle, Incredible String Band, Fairport Convention, Forest, Comus, as well as the new breed of modern folk a la Devendra, Brightblack, Newsom and the like...
This is the third John Jacob Niles reissue in as many months, and for a man who has an extensive back catalog, we are left wondering if we will be drowning in Niles reissues by the end of the year. Now that surely would be a death worthy of a Niles ballad! This is the second Tradition Label release of John Jacob Niles from 1959 (The first being the amazing, I Wonder as I Wander reviewed a few lists ago). The songs range in theme from songs of devotion and animal fables, to the fate of false-hearted lovers and gamblers. While in the past we have made comparisons of Niles high "mountain tenor" voice to neo-folkies Devendra and Anthony, that comparison really shines true here on songs like "The Cuckoo" and "The Seven Joys of Mary". Wonderful!
More beautiful and spooky "mountain tenor" from the one and only John Jacob Niles. We highlighted another great disc of his music, The Tradition Years: I Wonder As I Wander, a few lists back. Originally released in 1941, My Precarious Life in the Public Domain culls songs from The Child Ballads, a nineteenth century compendium of over 300 ballads originating in England and Scotland, collected by Francis James Childs, a Harvard University math professor. Most of these ballads had made their way into American folk traditions virtually unchanged and unaware of their European origins. Despite the name, these songs are not for children: Murder, hanging, adultery, unrequited love and suicide are the prevailing themes delivered hauntingly and simply through dulcimer and Niles astonishing voice. Incredible!
Rare American folk connoisseurs rejoice! Finally re-issued on CD are the long awaited Tradition label recordings of John Jacob Niles. If you saw the recent Dylan documentary by Martin Scorsese, you won't forget the clip of Niles singing Go Away From My Window. This is a CD of Carols and Love Songs recorded in 1957 (Rev-Ola will be re-issuing My Life in the Public Domain, ballads culled from older 78 rpm recordings later this month, which we'll list when we get it). Niles, old beyond his years, accompanied by handmade dulcimer, had an intense other-worldly fallen angel like voice that perfectly captures the hauntingly lonely and creepy hill country feel where the bulk of his catalog of songs originated. Niles, like Jean Ritchie, was a folk musicologist and performer from Kentucky who spent his time wandering through isolated American mountain communities collecting folk songs, or scraps of melodies and lyrics, embellishing them with his own inventive arrangements and often fleshing them out by writing additional verses. For example, his version of "Black Is the Colour of My True Love's Hair" has become the definitive arrangement for all versions following (from Nina Simone to Patty Waters), because while he loved the verse he disliked the original tune. This is why folk historians have had a famously difficult time classifying which songs in Niles repertoire are originals or reinventions of songs in the public domain. Some people may be turned off by Niles high-alto voice (At times he can look and sound like the evil preacher man in Poltergeist II), but don't let that hinder you from exploring the work of a true American folk original whose recordings have finally been made available to folks who cannot afford the hundreds of dollars his albums go for on eBay. Fans of Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsom, and Anthony & the Johnsons take note!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Jimmie Dale Gilmore on the cover, plus Beachwood Sparks, Neko Case, Chris Cacavas, Camper van Beethoven, etc.
It came as a bit of a surprise to realise that we've never listed the No Neck Blues Band before, especially considering how often we reference them in reviews, whenever we're trying to describe some sort of stumbling and stoned, improvised hippie tribal
After years of desperately tracking down bootlegs, of ordering low quality cd-r's on eBay, of watching grainy YouTube clips and lamenting the ridiculous dearth of proper recordings, we're so happy that Bear Family has finally stepped up to give this country shoulda-been-superstar his due. But before we get into it, and before all you country haters skip to the next review, give the samples below a listen, specifically "Psycho", which gives this collection its title, easily one of the best country songs EVER. Certainly the most twisted and misanthropic. The story of the song's singer, singing to his mama, about how he killed his ex, her new beau, the dog, their son, the little girl next door (with a wrench by the way!), the song culminating in the realization that the singer was singing the whole time to his dead mother, who we can only assume he also killed. WTF?? But beyond being creepy and a little bit demented, it's also a gorgeous song, the guitar playing understated and perfect, the vocals heartfelt and dramatic, the song laced with all manner of little sonic filigree, it's hard for us to envision a more perfect country song. Sure there were plenty of murder ballads before, but this one takes the cake. But then there's the follow up, "Dolores", which finds the singer crooning to his wife, suggesting that she stay in the house, because there's a killer wandering the streets murdering women, and apparently Dolores is just the sort of woman he preys on, and again, at the end of the song, the singer is called to identify the body, not realizing that he killed his wife, and ending with him chastising his deceased wife, if only she had stayed inside. Crazy stuff, even now, but back in the day, this stuff was even more shocking. And while the majority of Eddie Noack's music wasn't nearly so demented, those two songs, "Psycho" especially, ended up being the songs he was mostly remembered for.
Which is a shame too, cuz he could have / should have been a country superstar, he wrote hits for Hank Snow (whose Omni reissue we reviewed a while back), all sorts of big country names recorded his songs, Lefty Frizell, Bob Wills, Ernest Tubb, his songs are AMAZING, and heck, he didn't even actually write "Psycho", but his is most definitely THEE definitive version, sadly, like many of the country greats, Noack's story is a sad one, and one that is explored in great detail in the liner notes (like all Bear Family reissues, the booklet is massive, like reading a mini book!), besides the usual hard luck story of general bad luck, constantly being at the wrong place at the wrong time, and success so close he could taste it, constantly just outside his grasp, there was of course problems with alcohol, which eventually led to him drinking himself to death, not to mention that BOTH his fourth wife and his mother committed suicide by shooting themselves in the heart. Wow, heavy stuff. And yet, he persevered, working in the song-poem industry (can you imagine having had Eddie Noack turn your poem into a song?!?!), eventually recording tons of tracks for a succession of tiny labels, and amongst those in the know, becoming a country / honky tonk icon. There is another Bear Family collection released recently, that focuses on his early tracks (which we can order for you if you like, it's a triple cd so it's kinda extra pricey), but this is the one that collects our favorite songs, the ones he recorded for K-Ark and Allstar in the mid to late sixties, and which of course include both "Psycho" and "Dolores". Yet as much as we love those songs, and those two tracks are ABSOLUTELY worth the price of admission alone, there's so much other great stuff here. Folks who collect Omni reissues, this easily could have been one of the best Omni reissues, in fact, we meant to email Omni, and try to get them to do a Noack compilation, cuz again, this is some of the best country music EVER. Besides "Psycho" and "Dolores", there's "Invisible Stripes" which is a fantastic song, but was the B-side to "Psycho" and thus got a little overshadowed. There's "Barbara Joy" which is another gem, and another track with morbid lyrics, sung, we can only assume from a man on death row, accused of rape, asking his mistress to admit that she was a willing participant in their tryst, to save him from death. Wow. But on the surface, it's pure classic country. And so it goes, the Johnny Cash like "Cotton Mill", the mournful ballad "The End Of The Line", plus lots of drinking songs of course, "Sleeping Like A Baby (With A Bottle In My Mouth)", "Beer Drinkin' Blues", not to mention some early tracks that feature Noack's song poem work, and even the songs the liner notes admit to not being so good, are in fact pretty great. But really, come for the "Psycho", the "Dolores", the "Barbara Joy", and stay for the rest. We were SO excited that there was finally a proper Eddie Noack collection, and we've been listening to nothing but. And even if country's not your thing, know that over the years, "Psycho" has been covered by all sorts of folks, including Elvis Costello and the Cramps! Noack's songs (and his cover of "Psycho" especially) almost transcending genre, classic twisted songsmithery, that has made some of these songs obsessions of ours for years!
The Bear Family packaging is fantastic, housed in a full color digipak, with a huge booklet affixed to the inside, tons of rare photos, interviews, lyrics, and creepy new artwork by artist Reinhard Kleist, on the cover, and inside, illustrating both "Psycho" and "Dolores". So totally and utterly recommended. Reissue of the year hands down!!!
Oh, and if you're a vinyl only type, well, this just on cd, but we do also have a tiny, tiny handful of the Eddie Noack 7" single that Bear Family put out along with this, featuring "Psycho" on the A side and "Dolores" on the flip, just FYI.
We've seen some pretty elaborate and unique packaging come through the store over the years, but this delicate and exquisitely hand made affair by local songstress Leyna Noel is really in a league of its own. She hand made each sleeve which comes in antique linen that she sewed individually and stitched shut, inside the lyrics and liner notes are printed on ledger paper from 1945. So much love and work went into making these lovely looking cd's that we almost didn't want to have to cut one open to listen to it. But luckily this is one of those great cases where the labor and visual aesthetic perfectly captures the warm and intimate songs contained inside.
From The Mouth of The Jar opens with the richest sounding Hammond organ and then Leyna takes the mic and matches that wave of warmth with her strong and gorgeous voice. With rich instrumentation throughout provided by Leyna and a cast of her comrades including members of Viking Moses, this is music that really is a step above most of the recent singer songwriter/folk sounds, never forgetting that it takes spirit and passion to make a song soar, and Leyna's songs ooze with so much genuine soul. Her delivery and arrangements conjure images of kindred spirits like Joanna Newsom, Edith Frost, Mira Billote (White Magic) and Cat Power. A record that really is like someone sharing with you an honest and thoughtful part of themselves, a feeling for you to cherish as you walk by their side, your spirit warmed by the true comfort they exude. The amount of time and work it took to construct these is baffling and needless to say there is a very small run of them so grab one while you can!
Imagine the Charlie Daniels Band jammin' with Emperor. Or rather, playing at the same time in adjoining practice rooms -- out in the forest. The ancient forests of the Ukraine, to be precise. That's where Nokturnal Mortum hail from. This is their third album. You may remember the big fuss we made over the amazing Mistigo Varggoth Darkestra disc last year? Well, Mr. Varggoth is the main guy in this band Nokturnal Mortum. With "NeChrist", he and his comrades have created a unique sound, one that combines a raw, roaring black metal attack with the pipes and fiddles and "yee-haws" of folk/country music, Ukrainian style. And, to make us AQ-ers enjoy this EVEN MORE, all of a sudden all the music will stop and the middle part of a track will be occupied by the croaking of frogs! And you know we like frogs and the noises they make. Similarily, the final song on the disc is preceded by 78 short (3 sec.) tracks of twittering birdsounds and forest ambience. Therefore, if you play the disc in "shuffle" mode, you get lots of cut-up bird calls mixed with the occasional actual fantastic Nokturnal Mortum song! The unanimous AQ black metal pick of this lunar month!! Brilliant. Yee-haw! (Recommended.)
A split release between like-minded, combat-folk minstrels Novy Svet and Spettro Family on the local imprint Black Horizons. Novy Svet hail from the Death In June / Der Blutharsch aesthetic of an elegant and bleak romanticism bathed in the pomp of militaristic chic and a fast-n-loose use of totalitarian imagery. This track marks the first recorded material from Novy Svet in close to five years. The band's ringleader Jurgen Weber has oft proclaimed his current release as Novy Svet's final statement; and the pronouncement in 2008 looked to be conclusive. But once again, Novy Svet return even if it is a brief exegesis in the form one half of a split seven inch. Here, the band delivers a quiet, dark, and impassioned ballad through an acoustically strummed dark folk laced with polyglot lyrics. Spettro Family delivers more of a cinematic prog-horror with the heavy synth arpeggiations channelled directly from John Carpenter and Goblin. With the single cut at 45 rpm, the tracks from both acts are teasingly short. The cover features a split portrait of Jarboe and Jessica Way of Worm Ouroboros, neither of whom have anything to do with the musical content within. Limited? You bet.
We first heard Cian Nugent on the recent volume of Tompkin Square's Imaginational Anthem series. For such a young newcomer (he's still a teenager!) to the ever crowded solo acoustic scene, his track was a highlight among the more seasoned performers like Steffen Basho-Jungens and R. Keenan Lawler. Childhood, Christian Lies & Slaughter documents a live performance (his fourth ever!) in Nugent's home town of Dublin, Ireland. Released on Jozef Van Wissem's Incunabulum imprint, the performance showcases the talent that has folks turning heads. Sweetly beautiful melodies that swing and swirl into complex and melancholic knots. Of course the Takoma influences are ever-present but they lean toward Leo Kottke rather than John Fahey in using early American song-form structures. Yet Nugent's playing also draws from Davy Graham's folk-blues raga style as well as Balkan gypsy rhythms that offer something slightly different than we've heard before. Something wonderously ineffable that we can't quite put our fingers on, but makes us ever curious to hear more.
We first heard from Cian Nugent on the Robbie Basho tribute We Are All One In The Sun, but hadn't heard much since, which makes sense seeing that as far as we can tell, this is the first readily available full length from this Irish guitarist. Who, as you might imagine, just from having taken part in that Basho tribute, whether you actually heard it or not, is another purveyor of modern Appalachia, carrying on the tradition of Fahey, Basho and Kottke, a la James Blackshaw, Ilyas Ahmed, Jack Rose, Glenn Jones, Marisa Anderson, and the 20 minute opening track here positions Nugent well within that pantheon, with his own take on the sound, dark, and tense, clear and crystalline, with lots of droning notes, subtle overtones, less melodic than many of his contemporaries and more textural, although as the track progresses, Nugent's fingerpicking becomes more elaborate, and a more traditional Appalachia surfaces within his dark droney tones, his sound dynamic and varied, lots of ebb and flow, and then close to the end, the sound seems to expand a hundredfold, with an out of nowhere swarm of layered drones, which add a whole other dimension to the piece.
The second track starts out similarly, albeit a bit more traditionally, until the band kicks in, yep, the band, a full band, drums, strings, horns, with Nugent taking on organ duty as well, the sound blossoming into something more than old timey Appalachia worship, the sound spare and sparse, again very dynamic, until about three minutes in, when the song seems to coalesce into a sort of Appalachia flecked chamber pop, but only for a few minutes, the song, also quite epic at 24+ minutes takes lots of twists and turns, slipping back into something more skeletal and darkly brooding, then dark and cacophonous, droney and softly psychedelic, then hushed and barely there, before a bit more chamber pop, with a slow build to something intense and slightly cacophonous, and then finally, a slow, lush, horn flecked steel string final movement. So lovely, fans of modern guitar music and classic "American primitive" (especially both) would do well to check this out.
Wings, Strings, Meridians is the latest release of audio and visual art by aQ fave Tara Jane O'Neil. The book is filled with her paintings, photographs and drawings. In the back of the compact 6" square softcover is a cd -- her tenth solo album!
Open your (or someone dear's) eyes and ears to the wonders of TJO. The pages are filled with loose tangles of thin, rough black lines shaded in earthy hues blurred in spots as if by rain or tears. Sometimes stark, sometimes busy, the images are populated by furry and feathered critters, human figures and abstract forms. Likewise, her music is an impromptu comforter woven from thread bare dusky melodies. Pretty great!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
The sticker on the shrink-wrap for this Max Ochs cd says it all: Cousin of Phil Ochs. Poet. Schoolmate of John Fahey and Robbie Basho. Friend of Mississippi John Hurt and Skip James. Social Activist. Takoma and Fonotone Guitarist. Composer of "Imaginational Anthem". That last one seems to bear the most weight as it exemplifies Ochs influence on the Tompkins Square label as they have named three volumes of solo guitar anthologies after his song. But he is also a kind of poster boy for the label that has spent much of the last few years digging through the cracks of the solo guitar genre to find those who should have been more renowned. Hopefully this collection, most of it newly recorded, will shine a brighter light on this semi-obscure figure. Inspired by deep eastern ragas and dense open blues forms, Ochs was more of a writer and performer than a studio musician, so he doesn't have as deep a discography as his contemporaries, John Fahey and Robbie Basho. But the recordings here are stellar and on a par with the best of the genre. There are also a few examples of his poetry, including one about his cousin, folksinger Phil Ochs, who succumbed to drugs and suicide way too young, adding a tinge of heartbreak to this amazing collection.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Who would have thought that the man behind the club destroying thud rock of now defunct Pink And Brown, the sweaty, hyper chaotic garage stomp of the also now defunt Coachwhips, the minimal metallic crush of the long buried Dig That Body Up It's Alive and the no longer with us hardcore faux-homo-house of Zeigenbock Kopf actually had a soft and sensitive acoustic-y side?? Well, he does, or did, and chose to drop all the above mentioned musical endeavors to focus all of his musical energy on the mysteriously monickered OCS (which would later eventually transform into the fuzzier garage poppier Thee Oh Sees!)
The ubiquitous John Dwyer, for it is he, offers up two discs of home recorded madness, culled from random tapes/performances from way back when, and damn if this isn't an unexpected surprise. Vascillating wildy between introspective, spaced out downer folk and gritty, hissing free noise crunch, OCS is a massive and unpredicatable ride through one man's damaged musical psyche.
Disc One, 34 Reasons Why Life Goes On Without You, or the "acoustic disc" as we like to call it, is made up mostly of solo guitar, recorded in random locations around San Francisco, so the gentle strumming and dexterous fingerpicking is often barely obscuring passing cars, slamming doors, hollered instructions to other players, and noisy housemates, adding another sonic layer to the already thick brew. Think: a seriously fucked up Fahey, armed with a four track, a casio, and an old beat up guitar. Think: an old Folkways 45 being played on a Fisher Price turntable and run through a bank of cheap effects. Gorgeous and shambolic, meandering and lovely, dark and unpredictable. The acoustic passages are constantly doing battle with an array of sonic intrusions, random snippets of found sound, bursts of angry buzz, tape drop out, random ambient happenings, malfunctioning casios, and distorted crooning. Mysteriously compelling.
Disc two, 18 Reasons To Love Your Hater To Death, or the "noise disc" as we like to call it, is a much more challenging affair, channelling the spirts of Borbetamagus, Skullflower, Albert Ayler, Throbbing Gristle and 100 years of NOISE into a shifting sonic noisescape of harsh squealing feedback, gorgeously gauzy and shimmery drones, ear piercing sine waves, distorted low end rumbles, huge washes of effected guitars, rhythmic pulses, darkly muted ambience, subtle barely-there melodies, inhuman vocalisations, massive Merzbow-ian walls of pummel, hyper minimal music concrete, alien lullabies and dreamy stretches of stygian gloom punctuated by bursts of hiss and hum. Intensely beautiful and challenging.
Ah, the many moods of John Dwyer, stepping outside the realm of costume rock and drunken sweaty swagger to lay bare a sensitive, if still sometimes quite noisy, soul.
Much has been made of Jakob Olausson being a beet farmer, heck even in our review of his last record, our whole review revolves around that somewhat salient fact, and while that is indeed an odd personal fact, it shouldn't distract attention from his formidable musical talent, record number two finds this Swedish outsider psychedelic folk troubadour crafting a fantastic record of hazy, washed out, psych folk that while remaining as idiosyncratic as his debut, has managed to up the production, and add a little polish, but it's all relative, the sound is still elegantly raw and warmly home brewed, the guitars rich and lustrous, Olausson weaving a lush backdrop for his smoldering psychedelic leads and his rough raspy croon, which reminds us quite a bit of aQ pal Cayce Lindner (R.I.P.) and his group Flying Canyon, the same sort of achingly plaintive countrified folk, a sort of acoustic slowcore, that creeps and drifts, everything wreathed in tape hiss, and swaddled in billows of echo and delay, the sound minimal, and stripped down, but at the same time, still impossibly lush, the various tracks obviously recorded at different times and on different equipment, some are loud and lustrous, others are more lo-fi and brittle, but all of them are hushed and dreamy and darkly divine.
Those Old 97s have always kicked butt live -- ever on the verge of losing control of their musical pickup truck careening down those rural roads, narrowly missin' a chicken, clippin' a roadside mailbox, topplin' some jugs o' moonshine along the way (not that they nor we are condoning drinkin'n'drivin'!). And here's a great document of the band in all their unbound Texan glory! A whopping thirty songs! A rambunctious country rock delight! For fans of Uncle Tupelo, Bottle Rockets, the country moments of Mekons, and maybe even ol' Lynyrd Skynyrd too.
The Old 97's Too Far To Care was one of our favorite records ever. When that came out in 1997 there was a good chance that no matter when you came into the store, it would be blasting on the stereo. And why the hell not?! It was a perfect rollicking rambunctious blast of super hooky, super catchy No Depression pop. Every song on that record was a classic. But much to our horror, the band plunged into vapid MTV fodder before our very eyes. Putting out a handful of totally lame, faceless records, including an awful solo record from 97's frontman Rhett Miller. We kept waiting, and hoping, that they would bounce back and kick our asses again. Well, after years of waiting, they finally have. Pretty much. Drag It Up while not quite as good as Too Far To Care, is a vast improvement and a darn good record. Catchy and twangy, with wry lyrics and some wicked playing. We knew they had it in them. Our only complaints this time around are the recycled melodies, lots of these songs sound remarkable like old Old 97's tunes (which is maybe why suddenly they sound so good) and the weirdly muddy production. That said though, this is still a pretty darn good record, if only they hadn't set the bar so high.
Long awaited record from the country rockers that brought us the much loved Too Far To Care (yes, a year is a long wait for a follow-up to that great record, believe you me!). Perhaps not as immediate as Too Far, but still delightful, Fight Songs again shows the Old 97's making some of the best twang pop around!!
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
Alt-country faves' first full-length, a sometimes hard-to-find release on an small indie label. Fans of their more recent albums should pick this up, as you'll be treated to some of the Old 97's best songs (including some re-recorded for later albums, along with others exclusive to this). If you saw them play on their last tour, a bunch of live faves are culled from this record, like "If My Heart Was A Car".
When this first came out way back in 1997, Andee and former aQ staffer Byram played this constantly, at least three times a day. Literally. It was and still is easily one of THEE best No Depression style records, and even now, 15 years later, it sounds as good as ever. With hook laden, lyrically shrewd song-writing, and serious kick ass rocking, the Old 97's are probably the only band of the No Depression movement to capture the intensity of early Uncle Tupelo without losing the earnestness or twang. The first song alone, "Timebomb," will get stuck in your head forever. And hearing it again after all these years, had us wishing the rest of the Old 97's records were this good. And it just doesn't let up, not a single dud in the bunch, "Big Brown Eyes" is another stone cold classic, not to mention the final track on the album proper, a singularly kick-ass number, features a duet with Exene from X, the sound an even balance between earnest twang flecked classic country balladry and wild rollicking punk infused country rock, with some of the catchiest songs EVER.
This deluxe edition features fancy new packaging with extensive liner notes from Old 97's frontman Rhett Miller, but more importantly, a BUNCH of bonus tracks, including four outtakes from the Too Far To Care sessions, and a whole disc of previously unreleased demos, including a handful of never before heard songs!!
When this came out in 1997 Andee and Byram played this at least three times a day. With hook laden, lyrically shrewd song-writing, the Old 97's are the only band of the "no depression" movement to capture the intensity of early Uncle Tupelo without losing the earnestness or twang. The first song alone, "Timebomb," will get stuck in your head forever. Plus, the final track on the album, a singularly kick-ass number, features a duet with Exene from X.
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
SORRY.
