@BT, thanks for pointing me to Alticana, too. It's next up in the listening queue.
I also looked at that Common Folk blog you mentioned and found another band I didn't know about there - Jonathan Warren & the Billy Goats. They're releasing a new CD next month and the band is currently offering on their website a free download of one of the tracks on the new album. I see from the promotional video on Youtube that this is right up my alley.
Coming back to finish this long compilation after a meeting. I like Substrata/Dropsonde era Biosphere, and some of this compilation of obscure Biosphere tracks has that vibe. The whole comp is rather expensive though, and a bit uneven, and has album-only tracks. I decided to get tracks 2-5, 7 & 12 and that gives me a rather good 40 minute album that I would recommend to fans of Substrata for $2.98 at emusic prices.
NP:
Saw these guys open for Over the Rhine a week or so back. Quite pleasant. Those who like acoustic indie folk more than I do may well like it more than I do. Their first two albums are free to download from their site.
@GP, yes, "Retrospect" is quite nice. Pattengale & Ryan's later albums are under the name 'The Milk Carton Kids." I downloaded MCK's Prologue album free on Noisetrade and it is full of very beautiful harmonies.
@BT - Don't worry about loading me up! I want all the helpful suggestions you have. I really love The Tillers. Haven't got a chance to listen to Alticana yet. John Moreland - I have this album (In the Throes) and, IMO, is one of the best albums of 2013. Very, very excellent. I mean, v-e-r-y. I had in mind to maybe write an MIG piece on it if I ever get around to writing something. Rebecca Frazier has been on my list to check out, so glad to get feedback from you on that one, too.
Elizabeth Brown and Robert Carl, shakuhachi; Ryan Hare, bassoon; Aleksander Sternfeld-Dunn, laptop; Katie Kennedy, cello; Bill Solomon, vibraphone; Sayun Chang, percussion.
Robert Carl (b. 1954), - "Has long been interested in Japanese music and culture, and in the spring of 2007 he received a grant from the Asian Cultural Council to travel to Japan to interview Japanese composers between the ages of thirty and sixtyhis contemporaries, whom he describes as the post-Takemitsu generation. The complex interplay of history, culture, and memory has long occupied Carls thoughts, and forms the basis of his musical exploration of Japan.
Carls perspective of the relationship between American and Japanese musical cultures was sharpened by his interaction with the composers he met in Japan, and he identifies three main aesthetic differences, all of which characterize the works included on this recording. In Japan, Carl points out, there is a far greater emphasis on perfection of individual sounds and a greater understanding of the role of silence, how it frames and highlights sound. He also notes that Japanese composers tend to conceive of polyphony as an outgrowth of heterophony; hence there is one melodic line that generates both harmony and counterpoint. Another salient feature of Carls works on this recording is a general sense of suspended time, which from a musical standpoint results from temporal frameworks that are not based on a pulse or governed by regular metric divisions. Instead, within clearly demarcated structures, individual musical gestures are propelled by a different passage of time, one that might be better understood in relation to physiological patterns (such as the heartbeat or the breath) or psychological markers of time (such as the rate of changing thoughts or moods).
My goal, Carl explains, is to provide the listener with a sense of amplitude, a sort of opening up of the ear and spirit that suggest a place where one can breathe more deeply, sense a broader expanse in which one can listen, and resonate in tune with what one hears.
- New World Records
The Boats - Our Small Ideas
Music that sounds as if it hesitates to disturb the world with its presence and will collapse into a little heap of fragile components if you brush against it. Very nice.
@craig - Thanks for reminding me about AlunaGeorge. That album got lost in the shuffle and I never checked it out once it was actually released. And yes Jessie Ware's debut was flippin' great, too.
You have to ignore P4K on anything that is influenced in any way by folk, americana, etc. Big blind spot for them. Big blind spot for me too, though, so no issue for me.
Andrew Howie belongs in that small band of clever singer-songwriter who write sharp, beautiful songs (Ed Harcourt, David Ford, Tom Macrae to name a few) Mellow yet acid tipped opener Change This World and gossamer-like duet Retreat with Jo Mango show how good this young Scot is. 4/5?
Scottish Sunday Express
The dreamy Change This World gently hooks you in, then it moves to the soaring, pop infused Banoffee. Delicate, stripped-back duet Retreat with Jo Mango is a real stand out. 4/5?
Sunday Mail
like some of the best singer-songwriters Calamateur really knows how to express his emotions on paper and transform it into music quite sumptous.
Entertainment Focus
Each Dirty Letter is packed with anthems in waiting, and given a push (or some suitable TV soundtracking), Calamateur will be very very big indeed Andrew Howie injects his music with a whole lot of heart which puts him head and shoulders above a lot of the competition in the field.
Americana UK
Then
Lincoln Durham - The Shovel vs. The Howling Bones (I gave this a plug on the blues-rock thread - very, very excellent!)
followed by
Shadows, Greys & Evil Ways by The White Buffalo (newly released on Sept. 10)
I only recently discovered The White Buffalo. What attracted me to him was the voice (it's often been compared to Pearl Jam's lead singer, but The White Buffalo's stuff is in the americana vein). I don't watch much TV, but lots of people have said they first discovered him from watching Sons of Anarchy. Seven of his songs have been featured on SOA episodes. I have purchased his first album and a couple of EPs that I am still digesting, but one thing for sure - The White Buffalo is an impressive artist. This latest album is a concept album that tells a story of Joe and Jolene who meet, fall in love, get married, Joe joins the Army, comes back all messed up and consequently there's trouble in paradise, they get back together, etc. The album includes quite a lot of profanity, but the music is very good. I streamed the entire album on Paste.
Comments
Another wonderful cd from the Public Guilt sale.
Between Lorde, Icona Pop, Charli XCX, Sky Ferreira, etc. is it time I just admit that I'm a 14 year old girl at heart?
But seriously, this is an excellent album. "Royals" may be the big radio hit, but it's not necessarily the best track.
Thoughtful Alt-Country. Drenched in reverb with just the right amount of twang and a little Byrdsiness. NYOP
(Kes, you should check out this one.)
Earlier it was Haim. Also don't forget Jessie Ware.
Robert Wyatt was in between Haim and AlunaGeorge, though.
Craig
I also looked at that Common Folk blog you mentioned and found another band I didn't know about there - Jonathan Warren & the Billy Goats. They're releasing a new CD next month and the band is currently offering on their website a free download of one of the tracks on the new album. I see from the promotional video on Youtube that this is right up my alley.
Earthy, weary country-folk. The dude sounds like Springsteen. It's been recommended by a whole slew of blogs.
Just finished:
Strong debut from a Bluegrass guitarist. Some interesting songs about the pains of motherhood, but lots of fancy picking.
Coming back to finish this long compilation after a meeting. I like Substrata/Dropsonde era Biosphere, and some of this compilation of obscure Biosphere tracks has that vibe. The whole comp is rather expensive though, and a bit uneven, and has album-only tracks. I decided to get tracks 2-5, 7 & 12 and that gives me a rather good 40 minute album that I would recommend to fans of Substrata for $2.98 at emusic prices.
NP:
Saw these guys open for Over the Rhine a week or so back. Quite pleasant. Those who like acoustic indie folk more than I do may well like it more than I do. Their first two albums are free to download from their site.
@BT - Don't worry about loading me up! I want all the helpful suggestions you have. I really love The Tillers. Haven't got a chance to listen to Alticana yet. John Moreland - I have this album (In the Throes) and, IMO, is one of the best albums of 2013. Very, very excellent. I mean, v-e-r-y. I had in mind to maybe write an MIG piece on it if I ever get around to writing something. Rebecca Frazier has been on my list to check out, so glad to get feedback from you on that one, too.
From Makounuchi Bento thread.
Elizabeth Brown and Robert Carl, shakuhachi; Ryan Hare, bassoon; Aleksander Sternfeld-Dunn, laptop; Katie Kennedy, cello; Bill Solomon, vibraphone; Sayun Chang, percussion.
Robert Carl (b. 1954),
- "Has long been interested in Japanese music and culture, and in the spring of 2007 he received a grant from the Asian Cultural Council to travel to Japan to interview Japanese composers between the ages of thirty and sixtyhis contemporaries, whom he describes as the post-Takemitsu generation. The complex interplay of history, culture, and memory has long occupied Carls thoughts, and forms the basis of his musical exploration of Japan.
Carls perspective of the relationship between American and Japanese musical cultures was sharpened by his interaction with the composers he met in Japan, and he identifies three main aesthetic differences, all of which characterize the works included on this recording. In Japan, Carl points out, there is a far greater emphasis on perfection of individual sounds and a greater understanding of the role of silence, how it frames and highlights sound. He also notes that Japanese composers tend to conceive of polyphony as an outgrowth of heterophony; hence there is one melodic line that generates both harmony and counterpoint. Another salient feature of Carls works on this recording is a general sense of suspended time, which from a musical standpoint results from temporal frameworks that are not based on a pulse or governed by regular metric divisions. Instead, within clearly demarcated structures, individual musical gestures are propelled by a different passage of time, one that might be better understood in relation to physiological patterns (such as the heartbeat or the breath) or psychological markers of time (such as the rate of changing thoughts or moods).
My goal, Carl explains, is to provide the listener with a sense of amplitude, a sort of opening up of the ear and spirit that suggest a place where one can breathe more deeply, sense a broader expanse in which one can listen, and resonate in tune with what one hears.
- New World Records
http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/CARL/
The Boats - Our Small Ideas
Music that sounds as if it hesitates to disturb the world with its presence and will collapse into a little heap of fragile components if you brush against it. Very nice.
Hunters - s/t
That cover art is mind bending.
Craig
BC-NYOP
Screw Pitchfork, I always end up really enjoying these guys.
Craig
Andrew Howie belongs in that small band of clever singer-songwriter who write sharp, beautiful songs (Ed Harcourt, David Ford, Tom Macrae to name a few) Mellow yet acid tipped opener Change This World and gossamer-like duet Retreat with Jo Mango show how good this young Scot is. 4/5?
Scottish Sunday Express
The dreamy Change This World gently hooks you in, then it moves to the soaring, pop infused Banoffee. Delicate, stripped-back duet Retreat with Jo Mango is a real stand out. 4/5?
Sunday Mail
like some of the best singer-songwriters Calamateur really knows how to express his emotions on paper and transform it into music quite sumptous.
Entertainment Focus
Each Dirty Letter is packed with anthems in waiting, and given a push (or some suitable TV soundtracking), Calamateur will be very very big indeed Andrew Howie injects his music with a whole lot of heart which puts him head and shoulders above a lot of the competition in the field.
Americana UK
One of my fave Bandcamp finds NYOP
Since it was mentioned upthread.
Pretty nice - thanks, BT.
Then
Lincoln Durham - The Shovel vs. The Howling Bones (I gave this a plug on the blues-rock thread - very, very excellent!)
followed by
Shadows, Greys & Evil Ways by The White Buffalo (newly released on Sept. 10)
I only recently discovered The White Buffalo. What attracted me to him was the voice (it's often been compared to Pearl Jam's lead singer, but The White Buffalo's stuff is in the americana vein). I don't watch much TV, but lots of people have said they first discovered him from watching Sons of Anarchy. Seven of his songs have been featured on SOA episodes. I have purchased his first album and a couple of EPs that I am still digesting, but one thing for sure - The White Buffalo is an impressive artist. This latest album is a concept album that tells a story of Joe and Jolene who meet, fall in love, get married, Joe joins the Army, comes back all messed up and consequently there's trouble in paradise, they get back together, etc. The album includes quite a lot of profanity, but the music is very good. I streamed the entire album on Paste.
Now playing
Very enjoyable British folk. Bandcamp
- Oh Yes !
Thanks BT, this is great
Thanks, BT