Here
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Kemialliset Ystavat- Lumottu Karkkipurkki (The Enchanted Candy Jar)
One of the best art stores in
Based on a children’s book of the same name (‘the enchanted candy jar’), the story is essentially an
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
This Little Sonic Iceberg
I just wanted to quote this from a particular little blog.
"Everytime i come back to this page i think to myself, "what can i say about what i'm listening to that lends any importance to an album that is likely already being reviewed by a thousand other embarrassingly amateur weblogs and music critic's websites?" Nothing. So unless i find myself with a lot more time on my hands, i'm not going to give number ratings and pretend to know more about an album than the artists that make them. I don't consider myself qualified. I'll keep this informal, which will let me write more. I hate to be so wishy washy, but i think i tried to do something that i really just can't bring myself to do. I was fooling. I visited The Silent Ballet today (once linked on this blog, now removed) and saw 3 things off the bat: They gave Mogwai's new album a 6.5. They gave Talkdemonic's new disc a 2.5 (what?!- is that even professional?). They gave my friend Jason's disc a 6. And it's not that they aren't entitled to their opinions. They are. It's just that, all of their reviews are by different writers, all varying in skill level, all varying in editing taste, all with very DIFFERENT opinions. What thousands of people are receiving in the form of a number score is just one pimple-faced college radio dj or aspiring "music journalist"s passing opinion. There is no cohesiveness. If i was the editor of that magazine, i'd never let anyone give a score as low as a 2.5, especially to such a great, creative, talented band like Talkdemonic. There seems to be no filter. Just a bunch of kids sitting in basements enjoying all the free promo cds in return for writing a shitty piece of paragraph once a month. I hate that website now, and i hate postrockxchange, for the same reason. They devour, not devote time to, music. Though they do pick good music to review, their reviews of them suck.It's as many new bands as you can learn, as obscure as you can get. Microwave fishsticks. Instant gratification. Why pay homage to a band like Mogwai- to whom you owe the whole reason your stupid website was started- when you can shuffle right on by to find the next "new" thrilling group. Somebody to impress your friends with by obscurity. "
Thankyou This Little Sonic Iceberg
"Everytime i come back to this page i think to myself, "what can i say about what i'm listening to that lends any importance to an album that is likely already being reviewed by a thousand other embarrassingly amateur weblogs and music critic's websites?" Nothing. So unless i find myself with a lot more time on my hands, i'm not going to give number ratings and pretend to know more about an album than the artists that make them. I don't consider myself qualified. I'll keep this informal, which will let me write more. I hate to be so wishy washy, but i think i tried to do something that i really just can't bring myself to do. I was fooling. I visited The Silent Ballet today (once linked on this blog, now removed) and saw 3 things off the bat: They gave Mogwai's new album a 6.5. They gave Talkdemonic's new disc a 2.5 (what?!- is that even professional?). They gave my friend Jason's disc a 6. And it's not that they aren't entitled to their opinions. They are. It's just that, all of their reviews are by different writers, all varying in skill level, all varying in editing taste, all with very DIFFERENT opinions. What thousands of people are receiving in the form of a number score is just one pimple-faced college radio dj or aspiring "music journalist"s passing opinion. There is no cohesiveness. If i was the editor of that magazine, i'd never let anyone give a score as low as a 2.5, especially to such a great, creative, talented band like Talkdemonic. There seems to be no filter. Just a bunch of kids sitting in basements enjoying all the free promo cds in return for writing a shitty piece of paragraph once a month. I hate that website now, and i hate postrockxchange, for the same reason. They devour, not devote time to, music. Though they do pick good music to review, their reviews of them suck.It's as many new bands as you can learn, as obscure as you can get. Microwave fishsticks. Instant gratification. Why pay homage to a band like Mogwai- to whom you owe the whole reason your stupid website was started- when you can shuffle right on by to find the next "new" thrilling group. Somebody to impress your friends with by obscurity. "
Thankyou This Little Sonic Iceberg
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Great Australian Albums
There is a show on at the moment on SBS called Great Australian albums. I'm really enjoying it. Unfortunately I've missed all the ones that I've actually really wanted to watch i.e. Nick Caves one and The Triffids. Anyway, for anyone watching the series too I've loaded up all the albums from series 1 and 2. I haven't listened to all of these. Powderfinger and H & C I've thankfully avoided but I might just give them a shot.
UPDATE: Im kind of pissed off that the only comments I get is probably on one of my least favourite posts, Hunters & Collectors. I've decided to take down H & C, Powderfinger and Silverchair posts. The password for anyone who downloaded H & C, it is: overhere. Everyone's been asking about that one bloody post. I actually really want people to look at the other way more interesting artists. Check out Francis Plagne, Emeralds and Space Cactus. Honestly, they're so much better, just take a little step into the dark please.
UPDATE: Im kind of pissed off that the only comments I get is probably on one of my least favourite posts, Hunters & Collectors. I've decided to take down H & C, Powderfinger and Silverchair posts. The password for anyone who downloaded H & C, it is: overhere. Everyone's been asking about that one bloody post. I actually really want people to look at the other way more interesting artists. Check out Francis Plagne, Emeralds and Space Cactus. Honestly, they're so much better, just take a little step into the dark please.
Francis Plagne- Francis Plagne
Review coming soon. An extremely good album that spurts, jitters and changes quicker than an 11 year old with a bottle of red cordial (in a good way, not a bad way) .
Tim Hecker- A collection of recordings
Hecker is almost my favouritest drone/ambient/person in the whole wide world. Here is a selection of his vast back catalogue. If anyone is interested I can load up some other recordings of his. I want Oren to bring him back to Melbourne again!
COH + Cosi Fanni Tutti- COH Plays Cosi
Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice. Glitch. Voice.
Space Cactus- Outside
This is a new release from Space Cactus. Beautiful, pensive and slow. More thoughts laters.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
The Shaggs- The Philosophy of the World
I’m always questioning my intentions for listening to music and what, personally I want to attain from the experience. Am I like so many others listening to this to be difficult and to try and extract meaning from what is not actually there or do we genuinely love what we are hearing? The Shaggs, like Johnston, put me on edge. Are we listening to this because someone we respect adores it and in trying to acknowledge them we acknowledge something we don’t like? Similar to Johnston is it fair to admire someone for a misfortune that they cannot control?
Michael M, on some other website wrote this interesting point of view:
‘The worst album ever recorded, but not for reasons that are entirely obvious at first.My reasoning behind this is that there is no purpose to the madness. Usually, so-bad-it's-good albums succeed because either the musician is in on the joke and plays up the utter horribleness of the work or because the musician is not in on the joke and truly believes they are creating good art. This leads to good art in a Dadaist sense of "expanding the boundaries" of what we can appreciate and even like, in a macabre sort of way since most of us will be snickering inside at the stupidity of the musician.The Shaggs have no opinion one way or the other. They don't even know what the joke is. The only reason they made this album at all was because of their fairly tyrannical father, who took a prediction of his mother's far too seriously and inflicted what I can only assume was a fair bit of psychological damage on these poor girls to try to make them into successful musicians. He even pulled them out of school so they could practice daily. The girls themselves just don't care, and it's painfully obvious in their work. I can think of no better example of a parent forcing their own desires on their children against their will.It's better to wrongly believe you're a good musician and fail at it than to make music but not have any investment whatsoever in the quality of what you're doing.This is child abuse set to music, and anyone who enjoys it has either been suckered into the myth created by Zappa* when he said they were "better than the Beatles" or is just so desperate to seem different and cool and (dirty word coming) indie that they will pretend to like whatever is necessary to accomplish this.I have nothing against most "deconstructivist" music. Anything that attempts to redefine art is fine by me; that's kind of the point of art. However, Philosophy of the World is not art, it's torture.* Zappa used every opportunity he could to take potshots at the Fab Four because he contended that Freak Out! is the first concept album, not Sgt. Pepper's. I am noncommittal about this. His obsession with degrading them is behind his famous proclamation that the Shaggs are better. Unfortunately, rabid fans took it too far and actually fooled themselves into liking it.’
I think he has a strong point. I do believe that some people listen music for the wrong reasons and some people will listen to this album for the wrong reasons but it is dangerous to say that everyone will. I concede that this album is not art, it was never intended as art and in this circumstance it shouldn’t be analysed artistically. The way it should be seen is as a record, in the literal sense as a record of events. As so many people had said it is incredible that this was ever created. From an almost sick voyeuristic position we can listen to the pain of three girls with a dominating father. To me this is one of the saddest records I’ve ever listened to. Not because they sing about terrible things but in fact the opposite and that is the reason why it is so mesmerising. The delusional joyousness of the album only serves to highlight the instability of the girl’s adolescent world. If the back story is true (which I’m almost certain of) this is a document of a destructive family dynamic that many people experience. The question is then should we enjoy it?
Michael M, on some other website wrote this interesting point of view:
‘The worst album ever recorded, but not for reasons that are entirely obvious at first.My reasoning behind this is that there is no purpose to the madness. Usually, so-bad-it's-good albums succeed because either the musician is in on the joke and plays up the utter horribleness of the work or because the musician is not in on the joke and truly believes they are creating good art. This leads to good art in a Dadaist sense of "expanding the boundaries" of what we can appreciate and even like, in a macabre sort of way since most of us will be snickering inside at the stupidity of the musician.The Shaggs have no opinion one way or the other. They don't even know what the joke is. The only reason they made this album at all was because of their fairly tyrannical father, who took a prediction of his mother's far too seriously and inflicted what I can only assume was a fair bit of psychological damage on these poor girls to try to make them into successful musicians. He even pulled them out of school so they could practice daily. The girls themselves just don't care, and it's painfully obvious in their work. I can think of no better example of a parent forcing their own desires on their children against their will.It's better to wrongly believe you're a good musician and fail at it than to make music but not have any investment whatsoever in the quality of what you're doing.This is child abuse set to music, and anyone who enjoys it has either been suckered into the myth created by Zappa* when he said they were "better than the Beatles" or is just so desperate to seem different and cool and (dirty word coming) indie that they will pretend to like whatever is necessary to accomplish this.I have nothing against most "deconstructivist" music. Anything that attempts to redefine art is fine by me; that's kind of the point of art. However, Philosophy of the World is not art, it's torture.* Zappa used every opportunity he could to take potshots at the Fab Four because he contended that Freak Out! is the first concept album, not Sgt. Pepper's. I am noncommittal about this. His obsession with degrading them is behind his famous proclamation that the Shaggs are better. Unfortunately, rabid fans took it too far and actually fooled themselves into liking it.’
I think he has a strong point. I do believe that some people listen music for the wrong reasons and some people will listen to this album for the wrong reasons but it is dangerous to say that everyone will. I concede that this album is not art, it was never intended as art and in this circumstance it shouldn’t be analysed artistically. The way it should be seen is as a record, in the literal sense as a record of events. As so many people had said it is incredible that this was ever created. From an almost sick voyeuristic position we can listen to the pain of three girls with a dominating father. To me this is one of the saddest records I’ve ever listened to. Not because they sing about terrible things but in fact the opposite and that is the reason why it is so mesmerising. The delusional joyousness of the album only serves to highlight the instability of the girl’s adolescent world. If the back story is true (which I’m almost certain of) this is a document of a destructive family dynamic that many people experience. The question is then should we enjoy it?
Dirty Projectors- Live at WVKR 10/7/06
On a lighter note, this is my favourite Dirty Projectors album. It was recorded at an American radio station just before the release of their album Rise Above. This collection of songs are from the album arranged in an acoustic fashion. It is easier to see the intricacy of the arrangements without the layers of instruments and complicated vocals that pepper the actual album. The song Rise Above is definitely my favourite.
Sibylle Baier- The Colour Green
Bayer has the same back story as Vashti Bunyan and if the planets were aligned differently it may have been her name and filled that niche. But as fate has put it she has received much less attention than Bunyan. I personally don’t really like either but I’m sure someone will. Here you go.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monks- Black Monk Time
An absolute gem from the 60’s. Black Monk Time was recorded in 1965 in Cologne, Germany by a bunch of disenchanted ext-GI’s from the American army. I’ve pretty much been listening to this exclusively for the past week and still can’t get enough of it.
There is a sense of freedom and willingness for experimentation on this album that is rare of 60’s rock n roll, the banjo of Dave Day is thrashed and abused, guitars are distorted and organs are mashed. Using standard rock song structure The Monks then introduce snippets of their own quirkiness. Gary Burger’s vocals are incredible. They are more wild and unhinged than any other lyricist I’ve heard from that era but at the same time they always sound controlled and never exasperated.
The song I Hate You is incredible.
http://rapidshare.com/files/123868750/Black_Monk_Time.zip.html
There is a sense of freedom and willingness for experimentation on this album that is rare of 60’s rock n roll, the banjo of Dave Day is thrashed and abused, guitars are distorted and organs are mashed. Using standard rock song structure The Monks then introduce snippets of their own quirkiness. Gary Burger’s vocals are incredible. They are more wild and unhinged than any other lyricist I’ve heard from that era but at the same time they always sound controlled and never exasperated.
The song I Hate You is incredible.
http://rapidshare.com/files/123868750/Black_Monk_Time.zip.html
Monopoly Child Star Searchers- Infant Spirituality Rates Coconut Percent
More madness from the Skaters. This is Spencer Clarke, with another (eye roll) side project. These guys have so many aliases that it is hard to keep track. I haven’t listened to enough of these guys to finds differences and similarities between each project but what I’m assuming is that this is the justification.
What I can notice though is a difference between Spencer Clarke and James Ferraro and recently I’m more receptive to Spencer’s synth laden, tribal psychedelic approach rather than James’ more abrasive, haunted sound.
http://sharebee.com/6bf0b637
What I can notice though is a difference between Spencer Clarke and James Ferraro and recently I’m more receptive to Spencer’s synth laden, tribal psychedelic approach rather than James’ more abrasive, haunted sound.
http://sharebee.com/6bf0b637
The Missing Links- Driving You Insane
The Missing Links were an Australian band from Sydney around the mid sixties. With their sound focussing around RnB, garage and rock ‘n’ roll they were one of the best representations of this movement within the country at the time.
This album is part of a forgotten history of Australian music. People may remember 60’s rock ‘n’ roll as the sounds of the Troggs and the Stones but many Australians may forget about the likes of the Missing Links, the Atlantics and the Throb.
The Missing Links were one of the first bands in Australia to use distortion and feedback willingly within their songs, listen to Mama, keep your big mouth shut for some buzz saw guitar The album genre hops from rock, to Stones RnB, to proto-psychedelica. The song H’tuom tuhs, released one whole year before the Beatles’ Revolver was using backwards tracks, is a killer song.
pw: posted_first_at_chocoreve
best blog ever that is
http://rapidshare.com/files/41734017/ne.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/41733813/ne.part2.rar
This album is part of a forgotten history of Australian music. People may remember 60’s rock ‘n’ roll as the sounds of the Troggs and the Stones but many Australians may forget about the likes of the Missing Links, the Atlantics and the Throb.
The Missing Links were one of the first bands in Australia to use distortion and feedback willingly within their songs, listen to Mama, keep your big mouth shut for some buzz saw guitar The album genre hops from rock, to Stones RnB, to proto-psychedelica. The song H’tuom tuhs, released one whole year before the Beatles’ Revolver was using backwards tracks, is a killer song.
pw: posted_first_at_chocoreve
best blog ever that is
http://rapidshare.com/files/41734017/ne.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/41733813/ne.part2.rar
Saturday, June 28, 2008
China, Bitch
I'm going to China for three weeks starting from tomorrow so there will be none, if any posts for the next three weeks.
Sorry
But I will be back hopefully with some foreign goodies to share around.
Sorry
But I will be back hopefully with some foreign goodies to share around.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Vodka Soap- Oceansion Island
Here is another release by Spencer Clarke which is probably even better than the one that I have posted below. Interviews and information is quite scattered. Some call it a scam, others call it beautiful noise. I'm quite obsessed though.
Here's an interesting interview on The Skaters too. http://www.sfbg.com/40/15/art_music_skaters.html
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Vodka Soap- Un Chand Pyramidelier
For the past week or so I’ve been falling to sleep to the sounds of James Ferraro and Spencer Clarke, most well known from a band called The Skaters. Vodka Soap is a side project of Spencer Clarke
Out of all the releases I chose probably some of the hardest recordings to listen to originally and was quite deterred but with some persistence I kept listening and have been rewarded innumerably.
I’ll say it now. This is really hard music to listen to but it’s incredible, maybe that’s an oxymoron for some.
The Skaters are their main alias but there are many different side projects that all have the same sound. Each album consists of relentless drone/bell/wood nymph twittering that is so encompassing that everything around is muted and dimmed. For me it creates a sense of unease and comfort simultaneously which is just so weird and bloody frustrating.
http://sharebee.com/87214dd3
Exuma- Exuma
Anthony Mckay originated from the Bahamas before moving to New York in the late 60’s to study Architecture but found himself making music instead. Eventually he named himself Exuma, and released his fist album in 1970. If you want to delve more into his history I’m not going to recite it, just go to wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exuma_%28musician%29
On this self titled release Exuma creates a world controlled by spirits, strange noises and sacrifice. Influenced heavily by his origins Exuma borrows from street music such as Junkanoo and calypso music and presents it for us Anglos in a language of ballads and folk tunes that we can more easily digest. But it is when the music is at its most detached and strangely possessed is the most rewarding. The sea shell shimmers and thunderous, sporadic drums of Séance in the Sixth Fret seem to call on some dark ghost to control the ebb and flow of the melodramatic rabble of noise. The perfect antidote follows in the form of a beautiful ballad about loss and confusion calling to some ethereal power.
This is a serious gem from a time dominated by what is better known as ‘psychedelic music’. That’s all I have to say.
http://link-protector.com/467048/
On this self titled release Exuma creates a world controlled by spirits, strange noises and sacrifice. Influenced heavily by his origins Exuma borrows from street music such as Junkanoo and calypso music and presents it for us Anglos in a language of ballads and folk tunes that we can more easily digest. But it is when the music is at its most detached and strangely possessed is the most rewarding. The sea shell shimmers and thunderous, sporadic drums of Séance in the Sixth Fret seem to call on some dark ghost to control the ebb and flow of the melodramatic rabble of noise. The perfect antidote follows in the form of a beautiful ballad about loss and confusion calling to some ethereal power.
This is a serious gem from a time dominated by what is better known as ‘psychedelic music’. That’s all I have to say.
http://link-protector.com/467048/
Redjayway- Two Songs
Redjayway is the lead singer from another small time band named John Columbus. His solo work is characterised by its extremely minimalistic, folky approach. Located in the heart of Sydney’s glitz and glam, they are a little beacon of light for real music.Very little has been released by either Red or John Columbus. John Columbus has one E.P released and Red has one in the works.
I’m personally a sucker for Australian folk. Paul Kelly, The Go-Betweens, the Lucksmiths and the like all send a warm tingle down my spine whenever I listen to them. So, with those comparisons Redjayway gets a big series of ticks.
So, have a listen and I’m sure you will be hearing much more from Redjayway and Mr. Columbus.
http://rapidshare.com/files/123466617/Redjayway.rar.html
I’m personally a sucker for Australian folk. Paul Kelly, The Go-Betweens, the Lucksmiths and the like all send a warm tingle down my spine whenever I listen to them. So, with those comparisons Redjayway gets a big series of ticks.
So, have a listen and I’m sure you will be hearing much more from Redjayway and Mr. Columbus.
http://rapidshare.com/files/123466617/Redjayway.rar.html
Daniel Johnston- 1990
I just don’t get Daniel Johnston.
After listening to Retired Boxer about three years ago I was left stunned, dumbfounded and even frustrated. I’d leave the album for months in the vein hope that when I came back for another listen, maybe it had changed, maybe I wasn’t listening right and all that fuzz and static was just my mind playing trick on me, that these brutally simple lyrics where more cryptic than what I originally thought. But no, it just stayed the same.
What I realised is that it was this intrigue, that kept bringing me back, that someone was recording this ‘terrible’ music without inhibition or care and they were so convinced that what they were doing was beautiful and right that it was undeniably infectious.
Three years later my opinion hasn’t changed. It’s not that I love Daniel’s music nor loath it but there is something that always draws me back. Maybe partly it’s due to me being undecided on his authenticity. After watching The Devil and Daniel Johnston one thing that struck me was his determination to become ‘famous’ and be played on MTV. If I heard those statements coming from another’s mouth I would surely doubt their intentions for making music, but with Daniel it is almost excusable, and why? Is it because of his illness, his label as an obscure, unappreciated troubadour or something else?
Everybody loves an ‘unappreciated’ artist, somebody that they’ve found that nobody understands except the select few and maybe Johnston fills those boots for many, maybe even myself.
Do we like him because he is or was mentally unstable? Is his music just our dirty little window into his room of confusion and suffering? After the album has finished we can walk away with hands clean and a quaint image on what it’s like to be crazy. The theme that really struck a chord with me from The Devil and Daniel Johnston was not the music, the crazy antics or his flittering with the big names of the underground. For me, the movie highlighted the unconditional love that Daniel’s family held for their son and the fact that without they’re support he may not even exist let alone be an artist. It is the families of the mentally ill that have the hardest time and receives the least thanks.
End rant. To the album
1990 is the best way for someone new to be introduced to Daniel’s chaotic world. It is one of the most polished and clean recordings of Daniel’s career and one of the most direct. It is a collection of studio and live recordings capturing Johnston at his most angelic and most manic. Careless Soul and Funeral Home were recorded in New York in a small record store and shows Daniel almost at breaking point. At one stage during Careless Soul he holds back tears for reasons only known to him. The pearl of the album is my favourite Johnston song, Some Things Last a Long Time. It is just undeniably beautiful and honest. Honesty is something every artist struggles with but for Daniel it is indisputably natural and to his credit he is one of the most honest artists in the world.
http://www.divshare.com/download/2287884-7bc
After listening to Retired Boxer about three years ago I was left stunned, dumbfounded and even frustrated. I’d leave the album for months in the vein hope that when I came back for another listen, maybe it had changed, maybe I wasn’t listening right and all that fuzz and static was just my mind playing trick on me, that these brutally simple lyrics where more cryptic than what I originally thought. But no, it just stayed the same.
What I realised is that it was this intrigue, that kept bringing me back, that someone was recording this ‘terrible’ music without inhibition or care and they were so convinced that what they were doing was beautiful and right that it was undeniably infectious.
Three years later my opinion hasn’t changed. It’s not that I love Daniel’s music nor loath it but there is something that always draws me back. Maybe partly it’s due to me being undecided on his authenticity. After watching The Devil and Daniel Johnston one thing that struck me was his determination to become ‘famous’ and be played on MTV. If I heard those statements coming from another’s mouth I would surely doubt their intentions for making music, but with Daniel it is almost excusable, and why? Is it because of his illness, his label as an obscure, unappreciated troubadour or something else?
Everybody loves an ‘unappreciated’ artist, somebody that they’ve found that nobody understands except the select few and maybe Johnston fills those boots for many, maybe even myself.
Do we like him because he is or was mentally unstable? Is his music just our dirty little window into his room of confusion and suffering? After the album has finished we can walk away with hands clean and a quaint image on what it’s like to be crazy. The theme that really struck a chord with me from The Devil and Daniel Johnston was not the music, the crazy antics or his flittering with the big names of the underground. For me, the movie highlighted the unconditional love that Daniel’s family held for their son and the fact that without they’re support he may not even exist let alone be an artist. It is the families of the mentally ill that have the hardest time and receives the least thanks.
End rant. To the album
1990 is the best way for someone new to be introduced to Daniel’s chaotic world. It is one of the most polished and clean recordings of Daniel’s career and one of the most direct. It is a collection of studio and live recordings capturing Johnston at his most angelic and most manic. Careless Soul and Funeral Home were recorded in New York in a small record store and shows Daniel almost at breaking point. At one stage during Careless Soul he holds back tears for reasons only known to him. The pearl of the album is my favourite Johnston song, Some Things Last a Long Time. It is just undeniably beautiful and honest. Honesty is something every artist struggles with but for Daniel it is indisputably natural and to his credit he is one of the most honest artists in the world.
http://www.divshare.com/download/2287884-7bc
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Oren Ambarchi- Mort Aux Vaches
Meaning ‘Kill the Cows’ in French, which is a phrase which essentially means ‘kill the pigs (cops)’ Mort Aux Vaches is a series of ambient album curated by Staalplaat records in the Netherlands. The back catalouge from this series is incredible and im really trying hard to find some more releases. People such as Flying Saucer Attack, Merzbow, and Tim Hecker have all contributed to the series.
To the album… I don’t understand it. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not incessantly intrigued to find out what it means. Similar to releases from Stars of the Lid, the album reaches an aural level that very few other artists achieve. It is so sparce, so infrequent and unpredictable that the soft chiming, distorted notes dip in and out of ones consience. To grasp onto the music is as hard a task as catching a fish with ones bare hands.
Beautiful.
I wonder what it sounds like on vinyl.
http://rapidshare.com/files/119741426/Mort_Aux_Vaches_pt1.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/119730769/Mort_Aux_Vaches_pt2.rar.html
To the album… I don’t understand it. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not incessantly intrigued to find out what it means. Similar to releases from Stars of the Lid, the album reaches an aural level that very few other artists achieve. It is so sparce, so infrequent and unpredictable that the soft chiming, distorted notes dip in and out of ones consience. To grasp onto the music is as hard a task as catching a fish with ones bare hands.
Beautiful.
I wonder what it sounds like on vinyl.
http://rapidshare.com/files/119741426/Mort_Aux_Vaches_pt1.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/119730769/Mort_Aux_Vaches_pt2.rar.html
Sly Hats- Liquorice Nights
This is Geoff O’Connor from the Crayon Field’s first solo release. It is very similar to the Crayon Fields sound.
This record has a strong ‘bedroom’ feel to it. Small, quirky sounds circle around simple, beautiful songs. Along that theme, I particularly enjoy musing where and what these little sounds are and where he has collected these strange, tacky sleigh bells and maracas.
Help was administered by various people from around the Melbourne music community most notably Jarrod Zlatic and Nisa Venerosa of Fabulous Diamonds and Max Kohane from Agents of Abhorrence.
This is a really fun and relaxing album. Kill the Lights is a standout.
http://rapidshare.com/files/119730771/Liquorice_Night.rar.html
This record has a strong ‘bedroom’ feel to it. Small, quirky sounds circle around simple, beautiful songs. Along that theme, I particularly enjoy musing where and what these little sounds are and where he has collected these strange, tacky sleigh bells and maracas.
Help was administered by various people from around the Melbourne music community most notably Jarrod Zlatic and Nisa Venerosa of Fabulous Diamonds and Max Kohane from Agents of Abhorrence.
This is a really fun and relaxing album. Kill the Lights is a standout.
http://rapidshare.com/files/119730771/Liquorice_Night.rar.html
Eddy Current Suppression Ring- Primary Colours
When I hear the words ‘Australian Pub Rock’ I cringe and run away in the opposite direction as quickly as possible. Unfortunately when I was hearing about this band that how I was told they sounded. When I actually got around to hearing them for myself I was pleasantly surprised that they were quite different from what I assumed.
Primary colours is their second album after their debut self titled which included my favourite, goofy and bleatingly obvious stoner anthem ‘Get up morning’
There is a universal honesty to every release that this band puts out. No song is perfect, they’re all recorded within two or three takes and they’re all kept to one or two riffs. I know, age old formula, but once again it works a treat. There is a sense of urgency throughout the whole album and amazingly the tempo never slows nor becomes belated or old.
For those people experiencing this band for the first time, especially those who are not Australians the first thing that slaps you in the face is Brendan Suppression’s outright Australian spoken/shouted voice. It takes a while to get use to this but eventually it is impossible to think of the band without the vocals.
The highlight song for me is You Let Me Be Honest With You for no other reason that its just fucking awesome, which I’m sure ECSR intended, no strings, no gimmicks, no wank.
http://rapidshare.com/files/119721840/Primary_Colours.rar.html
13th Floor Elevators- Bull of the Woods
13th floor elevators were part of that whole 60s and 70s psychedelic music explosion…remember? I don’t have much to say about this album because I’m quite new to this whole genre. Even so, this is quite a good album.
Though this is a personal opinion, I think the sound on this album is extremely similar to some of the Silver Apples albums. I’m not sure exactly what it this similar; maybe the restricted choice of chords or possible the bands inkling to use strange ambient noises such as the ‘electric jug’
http://rapidshare.com/files/119672048/Bullofthewoods.rar.html
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Otis Redding- The Very Best of Otis
Well there not much to say here. If you listen to soul, you listen to Otis.This is a really good, comprehensive look at Otis' work. I usually hate best ofs and compilations but this is great as an introduction to this astounding artist.
I'm loading up one of the CDs now. I cant be bothered loading up the other. Let me know if you want the second CD.http://rapidshare.com/files/112147649/The_Very_Best_Of_Otis_Redding.rar.html
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
James Chance & The Contortions- Buy
One of the more beat driven and song focused bands of the No Wave genre James Chance & the Contortion and a dream. With this in tow they were one of the more accessible bands in the No-Wave era. Like Beefheart, Chance expected his band members to be musically competent. This was disjointed jazz at its best, handled by people fucking it up out of choice rather than necessity.
Paraphrasing Lydia Lunch, No Wave was a marker of the time, an allergic reaction to the pain, poverty and deprivation of that time in NYC. Bands that cite No Wave as a reference and more so those that a copying it directly have no idea of the ingredients that went to create this music. No Wave was sonically can never be recreated but can be emotionally created from similar social situations.
Anyway, listen to this. It’s lovely…
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XIDX0M7T
-Dot Eyes
Paraphrasing Lydia Lunch, No Wave was a marker of the time, an allergic reaction to the pain, poverty and deprivation of that time in NYC. Bands that cite No Wave as a reference and more so those that a copying it directly have no idea of the ingredients that went to create this music. No Wave was sonically can never be recreated but can be emotionally created from similar social situations.
Anyway, listen to this. It’s lovely…
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=XIDX0M7T
-Dot Eyes
Wolf Eyes- Human Animal
I don’t know much about Wolf Eyes but I do know one thing, they bloody dark. I bought this album a few weeks ago expecting ignorantly something more rocky and distorted and I realised that subconsciously I was linking this band to Wolf & Cub…Oh how I was mistaken.
Consisting of a mixture of foaming distortion, screams and shattered drum beats Wolf Eyes creates essentially a snuff film soundtrack. It is too beat driven to be ambient but too fucked to resemble any traditional song structure.
Essentially this is the bands fifth real album but each year brings on tens of releases. I’m not sure if all of the releases are similar to this album. The major fault for me with this album is that I’m not sure what this band is trying to achieve. I know its trying to be loud, and noisy, and abrasive but that’s it. The band might defend itself with titles such as Noise Not Music, but personally there must be something more for me. I can’t translate what else they mean, what is the need for all this feedback and massacred guitars? I get very little from the central tracks.
Though I have said that, ironically I do really enjoy the first and the last track on the album and more so the final track is Noise Not Music. The final track revolves around an oscillation of echoing drum beats. The initial track, A Million Years, is also enjoyable because it is one of the few tracks with direction.
I’m sure others will have opinions of their own. Give it a listen and tell me what you think. Intelligent discussion is welcome.
http://rapidshare.com/files/109417058/Human_Animal.rar.html
Consisting of a mixture of foaming distortion, screams and shattered drum beats Wolf Eyes creates essentially a snuff film soundtrack. It is too beat driven to be ambient but too fucked to resemble any traditional song structure.
Essentially this is the bands fifth real album but each year brings on tens of releases. I’m not sure if all of the releases are similar to this album. The major fault for me with this album is that I’m not sure what this band is trying to achieve. I know its trying to be loud, and noisy, and abrasive but that’s it. The band might defend itself with titles such as Noise Not Music, but personally there must be something more for me. I can’t translate what else they mean, what is the need for all this feedback and massacred guitars? I get very little from the central tracks.
Though I have said that, ironically I do really enjoy the first and the last track on the album and more so the final track is Noise Not Music. The final track revolves around an oscillation of echoing drum beats. The initial track, A Million Years, is also enjoyable because it is one of the few tracks with direction.
I’m sure others will have opinions of their own. Give it a listen and tell me what you think. Intelligent discussion is welcome.
http://rapidshare.com/files/109417058/Human_Animal.rar.html
Back From The Grave- Vol 1
This is a fantastic compilation to introduce people into some of the less heralded garage bands of the early to mid 60’s. Thankfully bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Stooges and The Sonics have been overlooked here so to make way for little anomalies such as The Rats and The Banshees. Many of these songs are just what one would expect from 60’s garage, major chords, lyrics about girls and guys and break ups. It all sound a bit boring but its not. There is an eternal authenticity within these songs that is impossible to recreate today. Also, because of the comparably insular musical environment in those days artists that stood out as unique, really stood out. Unlike today where every band is borrowing from the past and each other via the extremely accessible internet, bands in the past did not have this pleasure. It is then understandable that bands that were forward thinking and experimental really were trying to create something new rather than just ripping of a source that most people had never heard.
A few of these song were surprisingly different to what I though was traditionally garage rock, and what perforates throughout most of the album. One track that stands out especially is The Novas track, The Crusher, which is a strange ode to the American pro wrestler Reginald Lisowski. The song is a strange mixture of early 60’s surfer guitar mixed with pre-Beefheart gravely vocals and lyrical obscurity akin to The Cramps, though they existed 20 years before the latter even began.
Give it a listen. And once you’ve chewed through this set. There are seven more Back from the Grave instalments to work through if you crave it enough. Please be patient and download both files from rapidshare. I know it takes ages. But it’s worth it.
Thankyou chocoreve for the post. Check out chocoreve.blogspot.com too it’s great.
Pw: posted_first_at_chocoreve
http://rapidshare.de/files/5917310/l._1.part1.rar
http://rapidshare.de/files/5917336/l._1.part2.rar
-Dot Eyes
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Baseball- Animal Kingdom
Another band from Melbourne. Lead by front man/violinist Deep Passage, Baseball leads the listener through middle eastern tinged, Melbourne underground rock barrage. In a way this is a Melbourne supergroup, Pikelet and Monika Fikerele from Love of Diagrams are also in the band.
This is a solid listen, takes a while to get used to though. It also helps to know the environment in which this band was formed. Contemporaries include Love of Diagrams and Dirty Three. If you give these two a listen, the latter I’m sure most have already, Baseball will make a lot more sense.
http://rapidshare.com/files/104738911/Animal_Kingdom.rar.html
This is a solid listen, takes a while to get used to though. It also helps to know the environment in which this band was formed. Contemporaries include Love of Diagrams and Dirty Three. If you give these two a listen, the latter I’m sure most have already, Baseball will make a lot more sense.
http://rapidshare.com/files/104738911/Animal_Kingdom.rar.html
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
By- Dot Eyes (Night Tuff)
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Pleasureboaters- !Gross!
This is a great recent release from Seattle punk group Pleasureboaters. There's a everpresent, urgent energy to this band as they scream and shatter their way through this selection of songs. The singers voice sounds similar to Cedric Bixler-Zavala from the Mars Volta. This may be a double edged sword in some respects because it will both entice and deter listeners. In saying that Pleasureboaters sound nothing like the Mars Volta. They constantly balance between No-Wave destruction of instuments and voices and more recent New York dance punk trends.
This link is to a streaming of their new album. Its well worth a listen.
http://www.fanaticpromotion.com/projects/pleasureboaters/ecard/card.html
This link is to a streaming of their new album. Its well worth a listen.
http://www.fanaticpromotion.com/projects/pleasureboaters/ecard/card.html
Monday, March 10, 2008
Witch Hats- Cellulite Soul
Drawing inspiration from a long linage of great Australian swampy punks Witch Hats explode onto the scene with their first full length album Cellulite Soul. This group have been slowly burning away, pacing and preying for their rightful turn in the limelight. The traditional Australian mixture of bone crunching bass guitar and a screeching lead combined with dry, dark and often humorous lyrics show their musical and cultural upbringing.
The band often compared to the Birthday Party and the Scientists but only for their link to early Australian punk rock. Their sound is too sludgy and not as angular and their lyrics are young and upstart.
Key track: Helhole
More later….maybe
http://rapidshare.com/files/98291932/Cellulite_Soul.rar.html
The band often compared to the Birthday Party and the Scientists but only for their link to early Australian punk rock. Their sound is too sludgy and not as angular and their lyrics are young and upstart.
Key track: Helhole
More later….maybe
http://rapidshare.com/files/98291932/Cellulite_Soul.rar.html
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
My Disco- Paradise
Progressively over the years My Disco has scraped, stripped and screeched their way into a sound of their own. The beginnings of the band spawned from the rubble of Clann Zu, a much loved Melbourne band led by Declan De Barra. When Declan left back to Europe brothers Liam and Ben Andrews took My Disco to full time status. Starting as a typical punk band the two, with the help of Rohan Rebiero, explored as many ideas as possible. From this initial pool of ideas the band slowly whittled their music down to a skeletal, minimalistic punk sound. This transition has been developed over 2 albums and several EPs.
Their latest release, Paradise, sees the band at their most stripped back to date. The exploration of minimalism, especially in a punk context is extremely exciting and it will be intriguing how far the band can push this. Most of the songs barely move to a second note. In writing this may sound terrible. What one must remember though is that the process to reach this sound can only be achieved through countless hours of aural exploration. The fact that Steve Albini produced the album strengthens their sound considering Albini is sympathetic to the bands aspirations and desires not to mention his undeniable skill as a producer.
http://rapidshare.com/files/96865086/Paradise.rar.html
Their latest release, Paradise, sees the band at their most stripped back to date. The exploration of minimalism, especially in a punk context is extremely exciting and it will be intriguing how far the band can push this. Most of the songs barely move to a second note. In writing this may sound terrible. What one must remember though is that the process to reach this sound can only be achieved through countless hours of aural exploration. The fact that Steve Albini produced the album strengthens their sound considering Albini is sympathetic to the bands aspirations and desires not to mention his undeniable skill as a producer.
http://rapidshare.com/files/96865086/Paradise.rar.html
Monday, March 3, 2008
Bowerbirds- Hymns for a Dark Horse
Bowerbirds are a folk music from North Carolina. Their debut album Hymns for a Dark Horse was released last year. I thought the name was interesting considering there is a Melbourne band with the same name. The Melbourne birds are a rock band while these three are gypsy-folk and all with surreal lyrics, marching band beats and accordions.
This is a new band and it can be heard clearly on the record. The takes are raw and it genuinely sounds like three people playing in a room…which is a good thing. Highlights are Bur Oak and Olive Hearts.
This is a new band and it can be heard clearly on the record. The takes are raw and it genuinely sounds like three people playing in a room…which is a good thing. Highlights are Bur Oak and Olive Hearts.
Yellow Swans- Bring the Neon War Home
This is the debut album (2003) from Portland band Yellow Swans. Based around electronic experimentation and manipulation of guitar feedback and distortion the band creates a dense backdrop peppered with click and glitches. The opener, Police eternity, immediately jumps into dark thrashing guitars mixed with dumpster lid drums.
One thing I was surprised about this album is the variation from song to song. Beginning with hollow screams mixed with synthetic beats the album also explores sparser, extensive terrain with (Untitled). It is common for experimental noise groups to forget rhythmic beat in the hope to achieve a unique sound.. The highlight of the album is Neon War. The song is driven by a constant rhythm that does not restrict its development instead guiding it into ever darker and heavier territory.
http://rapidshare.com/files/94147514/Yellowswans.rar.html
One thing I was surprised about this album is the variation from song to song. Beginning with hollow screams mixed with synthetic beats the album also explores sparser, extensive terrain with (Untitled). It is common for experimental noise groups to forget rhythmic beat in the hope to achieve a unique sound.. The highlight of the album is Neon War. The song is driven by a constant rhythm that does not restrict its development instead guiding it into ever darker and heavier territory.
http://rapidshare.com/files/94147514/Yellowswans.rar.html
The Future
Hey,
Today was the first day back at university and reality has hit. My time for crapping on about music has drastically diminished. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with the posts but there will be much less writing.
-Dot eyes
Today was the first day back at university and reality has hit. My time for crapping on about music has drastically diminished. Hopefully I will be able to keep up with the posts but there will be much less writing.
-Dot eyes
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Wzt Hearts- Heat Chief and Thread Rope Spell Making Your Bones
Baltimore’s experimental noise group Wzt Hearts now have two challenging, expansive and encapsulating records to their name. Bloody Baltimore, new bands are erupting from that city everyday that would put so many cities to shame. Over the course of two albums Wzt Hearts have travelled far in their journey through their apocalyptic soundscapes. Both albums follow a deeply experimental and coarse path that arrests the ears. The method of creation is quite similar between the two but the presentation of their ideas is quite different.
In the creation of the two albums the band recorded hours of improvisational material. By setting no time limit to the construction of their music a looseness is ever present. If one saw these tracks being laid they may have come across as aimless, button fiddling, self absorption but thankfully the listener is entitles only to a handful of glimpses of something to large for us to probably comprehend.
Heat Chief is essentially constructed as a double sided LP. There are four tracks with 1 and 3 being large and slowly progressional and 2 and 4 being smaller and more intense. 2 and 4 are like antidotes, a quick ambient fix after an intense ride through an abrasive, volatile world. The larger two are dark trance demons that rely on high frequency glitches and body quaking bass.
Thread Rope Spell Making Your Bones sees the editing process taken even further and with greater success. These seven tracks seem almost premeditated in their sound. Instead of dense walls of twittering and deep groaning bass these tracks can be isolated and listeners can relate with analogies and comparisons between the music and themselves much more easily. Jeep Uzi is reminiscent of a boat harbour at night, the hulls of boats calmly nudging each other while they croon with chimes and bells through the morning sea mist. Spells on the other hand shocks one right to the bone as they spelunk through dark echoing caves that are possessed by a seething, overwhelming force.
It is this contrast between tracks that gives TRSMYB its longevity. What it lacks is continuity between these very isolated worlds. Heat Chief, in that respect, is a perfect companion to the second release because it relies on its continuity to create a singular brooding voyage. Listening to these two albums in succession really highlights the bands deep desire for experimentation. They are still a band without a ‘sound’ but they are going about it the right way, trying every possibility and every instrument. They may not have a sound but they sure do make beautiful noise.
Heat Chief: http://rapidshare.com/files/63928897/wzt.rar Password: trunk
Freya Hollick- 2007 (When Madness Overcame the Deer)
Freya Hollick is a singer/songwriter from Ballarat and occasionally Melbourne, Victoria. Over the past few years she has been pumping gem after gem from her humble home studio while slowly building a dedicated fan base via word of mouth. With no official releases to her name, the quality of demo material is only tempting listeners of what is to come.The deceptively simple guitar echoes throughout a quiet house, never to clustered, never to sparse. Coupled with a ghostly, spider webbed voice sometimes clear like the day and other times intangible as smoke rising from a still room the musical beauty resonates just long enough to tantalise. Around this floorboards creak, ceilings crack and distant voices bounce through hallways and living rooms. These two elements are nothing without direction and it is the position as a story teller that solidifies them. With unassuming charm Freya takes us through lo-fi stories of love lost, childhood fantasies, forests and the quiet lives of animals. For me it is the theme of challenging childhood innocence that is most enduring. Costume follows the story of how family turmoil can affect a child. When scared he is cloaked in ‘costume’, a blanket of security that protects him from the outside world. It is this idea of emotional protection from something as simple as clothing that reminds me of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. Before the sobering realities of the world are yet to take hold escapism for a child can be as simple as wearing their favourite costume and turning in to somebody else. Ophelia also gives the impression of life through the perception of a child. The song follows an obsessive love story of a boy infatuated by a woman/a girl/a dream. This is an omniscient love from the perception of the child. Ophelia is commanding, controlling but it seems this way only because of his innocence and ignorance. It is not necessary to anthropomorphise Ophelia, she is an emotion, a state of mind, uncontrollable anomaly that is typical within the blamelessness of childhood.
In a live context Hollick is an incarnation of her songs. I was privileged enough to watch her play at Glitch Bar, one of her first gigs in Melbourne, where she presented material she had written over the past 2 years. It was something really special. Here are 8 demos from 2007 which is but the start of her back catalogue.
http://rapidshare.com/files/91678957/2007.rar.html
Fionn Regan- The End of History
Fionn’s 2006 debut The End of History for me was one of the most simple and astoundingly gorgeous releases of that year. For a musician to strip away the security blanket of loop pedals, drums, bass, post production etc. can be a daunting and ruthless ordeal. Songs of acoustic nature almost always serve as a sobering rendition that challenges the core structure and integrity of a song. To rely on one instrument to create unique song after unique song doesn’t necessarily show outstanding musicianship rather it is more telling of ones vision as an artist and lyricist. Mind you, this is not a ‘perfect’ album in the sense that every song is a single or that there is one narrative created, formed and finalised in to one grand vision. It is an album of hopes and near misses, occasionally verbosity and humbled voices but most importantly when the elements are aligned it is an album of poetic brilliance.
Thankfully Fionn is a great guitarist. His deceptively simple finger plucking grows on you with every listen. It lays down the path for Fionn’s hypnotised meditations on past events, objects people and emotions. As a lyricist he is extremely unique, seemingly unrelated phrases are whittled and moulded into beautiful melodies until they attain an ethereal association. They are poetic mixture of traditional heartbroken prose and everyday normalities such as:
I read to you on Saturdays
Museum has closed down
Sell all your things
At the end of the drive
Be good or be gone
For me the highlights of the album are when Fionn is at his most simple and direct. Put a Penny in the Slot is written like a stream on conscious thought sung over some of his most simple guitar work. There is no hint of rhyme, instead the words compliment each other on a more enunciated level. Others that follow in a similar vein are Snowy Atlas Mountains and Abacus. On the strength of this debut Fionn’s follow up is already highly anticipated even considering that there has been no word of any in the near future.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/usau9u
Thankfully Fionn is a great guitarist. His deceptively simple finger plucking grows on you with every listen. It lays down the path for Fionn’s hypnotised meditations on past events, objects people and emotions. As a lyricist he is extremely unique, seemingly unrelated phrases are whittled and moulded into beautiful melodies until they attain an ethereal association. They are poetic mixture of traditional heartbroken prose and everyday normalities such as:
I read to you on Saturdays
Museum has closed down
Sell all your things
At the end of the drive
Be good or be gone
For me the highlights of the album are when Fionn is at his most simple and direct. Put a Penny in the Slot is written like a stream on conscious thought sung over some of his most simple guitar work. There is no hint of rhyme, instead the words compliment each other on a more enunciated level. Others that follow in a similar vein are Snowy Atlas Mountains and Abacus. On the strength of this debut Fionn’s follow up is already highly anticipated even considering that there has been no word of any in the near future.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/usau9u
Jackie-O Motherfucker- Candyland
Jackie-O Motherfucker are well renowned for genre-hopping but they do more than just borrow from history. Unlike many bands, when JOMF loan from the past they use the basic theories, moods and connotations and use this as a platform for their own distorted reaction to the present. They enlarge these familiar sounds then transform and manipulate the genres into a religiously and culturally transcendental plethoric mutant of a song. What results are sprawling soundscapes littered with distant voices, offbeat experimental jazz backings, field recordings and so on and so on.
There is no point listing the different influences or subgenres that this band includes because it would make for a futile description. Improvisation is an important factor in the creation of JOMF music. With this ingredient there songs have a great space and freedom that allows ample time for transition of genres and gestation of form and ideas.
Candyland is a collection of live recordings and unreleased tracks. I’ve read very little on where it has come from and it is often left out of discographies that I have seen. It includes a selection of shorter tracks with a popular song format. Corn Pan Bean Pan plays out a murder of a little girl and is shockingly unnerving.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/o45lrm
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Fionn Regan- Singles/EP Offcuts
Irish Singer/Songwriter Fionn Regan materialize from nowhere with his debut album The End of History. Before this he had 3 marginally successful EPs called Hotel Room, Campaign Button and Reservoir. Looking through these older releases further strengthens the elusive and romantic nature of Fionn’s public character. This is because the dramatic progression as a songwriter and producer occurred so quickly between the EPs and the Album. To use a clique, looking at his catalogue as a whole suggests a ‘devil at the crossroads’ epiphany at some point in his musical career though in reality this phrase is probably far from the truth. When one looks back into Fionn’s history we nostalgically cannot resist the though of his album springing fully formed from his deep subconscious as his lyrics and natural musicianship would suggest.
This selection of offcuts from the slightly better parts of Fionn’s EPs are meant as a glimpse of his origins as a songwriter. Many of these have been re-worked into better arrangements and others have benefited from years of familiarity and increasing confidence. Special mentions go to Ice Cap Lullaby at just over a minute long is a glimmer of beauty. Perfectly constructed and surprisingly unsoothing, not because of disturbing lyrics or brooding guitars, but because of its fleeting presence ever tantalising the listener for more. Ballad of the Toad Eaters is an example of a extremely well written song but poorly executed. I have included it as a comparison for those that have heard it live. I heard it 2 years after it was released and in that time the spirit of the song has been unlocked and is coming in to its own.
For those that are always searching for more Fionn it’s a hard task. His live shows include many beauties that have either not been released or never recorded. It may suggest a new album is on the way.
p.s. Please contact me if you know of any rare tracks and where to get them
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ppuq2r
This selection of offcuts from the slightly better parts of Fionn’s EPs are meant as a glimpse of his origins as a songwriter. Many of these have been re-worked into better arrangements and others have benefited from years of familiarity and increasing confidence. Special mentions go to Ice Cap Lullaby at just over a minute long is a glimmer of beauty. Perfectly constructed and surprisingly unsoothing, not because of disturbing lyrics or brooding guitars, but because of its fleeting presence ever tantalising the listener for more. Ballad of the Toad Eaters is an example of a extremely well written song but poorly executed. I have included it as a comparison for those that have heard it live. I heard it 2 years after it was released and in that time the spirit of the song has been unlocked and is coming in to its own.
For those that are always searching for more Fionn it’s a hard task. His live shows include many beauties that have either not been released or never recorded. It may suggest a new album is on the way.
p.s. Please contact me if you know of any rare tracks and where to get them
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ppuq2r
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