Now that our 2012 year-end lists are compiled (my list here), it is the season for discovering the great 2012 music we missed. And near the top of that list is Feel, by Dunedin, New Zealand's The Shifting Sands. The album began as a solo project of Mike McLeod, formerly of the band Alpha State. However, the project drew notable collaborators such as Dave Kilgour (The Clean and solo work), Robert Scott (The Bats, The Clean), Robbie Yeats (The Verlaines) and others. The result is a psychedelic pop album that honors, but does not mimic, the great Dudedin bands of the past. And if you are a fan of that sound, I suggest that this is an essential album for your collection.
To my ears, the songs on Feel fall into one of two styles. The first is the more urgent guitar pop similar to that of The Bats. Opening track "Pixies, "Tonight" (which sounds like a long lost track from The Bats and is a free download) and "Worth Our While" are representative of this style. And the video for the "Pixies" is pretty damn good as well) --
The other style is a dreamy psychedelic pop that reminds me of Syd Barrett in his more disciplined moments, or the folk-psych that helped make Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow so special.
The Facebook page for The Shifting Sands lists Tom Bell and Jake Langley as members, in addition to Macleod.
Feel was released in April 2012 on Fishrider Records. You can stream the entire album here at the Bandcamp link below.
We've recently featured the music of Wake Owl and it seems to be popping up elsewhere, too. It's exquisitely-played folk pop and Colyn Cameron's got a great voice, as well as a way with a chorus. The band consists of Cameron (vocals, guitar, keys), Aiden Briscall (violin, electric guitar - he also directed the video below), Josh Daignault (bass, clarinet), and Andy Shauf (drums, clarinet).
Check out the video for lead track "Gold":
The EP Wild Country will be available Jan 29 via Vagrant Records. It consists of six songs, including both the finished and demo versions of "Gold".
They'll be touring to support the EP:
FEB. 8 SEATTLE, WA SUNSET TAVERN
FEB. 9 PORTLAND, OR BUNK BAR
FEB. 14 MINNEAPOLIS, MN 7th STREET ENTRY
FEB. 17 CHICAGO, IL OLD TOWN SCHOOL OF FOLK
FEB. 20 BOSTON, MA CAFÉ 939
FEB. 22 NEW YORK, NY ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL (Stage 2)
Edinburgh radio show (with an associated label) Dogs Got A Bone asked their listeners to list favorite songs from 2012. With the cooperation of the various bands and labels, Dog Got A Bone compiled a digital album of 12 of the top 20 tracks, and has made it available for free download. Several of the bands have featured on these pages, and there are some real gems here. So have fun.
Water Liars is a Mississippi duo, Andrew Bryant and Justin Kinkel-Schuster, whose sophomore LP Wyoming will be out 3/5 on Big Legal Mess/Fat Possum.
"Fake Heat" is the first track off Wyoming, and they've made it available for free download as a preview.
This is recommended if you like well-sung folk rock like Richard Buckner or the recently-featured Joshua James - a good strong, evocative voice over fairly delicate instrumentation.
Most bands would be quite satisfied with a initial career stage that resulted in a nomination for a Mercury Prize for their debut album, but most bands aren't going to achieve that kind of success. London-based Django Django isn't like most bands. Their self-titled debut album was nominated for a Mercury, after great success in the UK. Then it was licensed for release in the US and has been enjoying success on this side of the Atlantic. Then, in an embarrassment of riches, the album earned a coveted spot in my top 50 albums for 2012 (my list here).
What makes Django Django stand out, in addition to the excellent performances, is the distinctive sound. The tracks marry various degrees of krautrock, post-rock, psychedelia, dance pop and, at times, country western guitars to make an album that is energetic and has a genuine sense of fun. While the album's core is undeniably percussion and rhythm, the distinctive hooks, frills, effects and melodies hold their own. And thematically, there is no self-imposed constraint to be conventional. The boys are on an adventure, and we're along for the ride. The deadpan vocals might remind you of The Talking Heads or the Beta Band, but the sense of wide scope and wry humor remind me more of the work of the Welsh band Super Furry Animals.
Try out the great sound on "Default", in which you may hear a nod to Bo Diddley's guitar riff.
Django Django has been called a Scottish band because the members met and began playing music while at Edinburgh College of Art. But they now are based in London and the members -- David Maclean (drummer and producer), Vincent Neff (vocals and guitar), Jimmy Dixon (bass), and Tommy Grace (synths) -- hail from England and Ireland, as well as Scotland.
And here is a favorite of mine, in which the band builds a psychedelic stomp on a timeless rockabilly base --
Today's introduction is to Males, a garage pop/surf band from the fertile Dunedin, New Zealand scene. The band is Richard Ley-Hamilton, Sam Valentine, and Ben Madden. They released the four-track EP Males Males Males in July 2012. Although the physical copies are sold out, the tracks are available on Bandcamp for "name your price". You can stream them here:
The "So High" single was released in November 2012, and also is a "name your price" download --
You never know where your next recommendation is going to come from, which is why it pays to be open to nearly everything... for instance, who'd have predicted that I would become aware of outrageous garage punk from Mexican/Australian party animals, out now on a French record label (Casbah Records)? And yet, here we are:
There's not a lot to say about this record - good luck understanding, much less analyzing, the lyrics... It's as lo-fi and breakneck as any garage punk you are likely to hear this year, and features distorted guitars, undecipherable Spanish/English lyrics, and also distorted guitars.
In other words, it's fantastic. My favorite tracks are the nearly 4:00 "Los Perros" - a guitar distortion workout of epic proportions, and the 1:55 "Hijo Del Mal" - which reminds me of Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers played through the amp that fell off the back of Jackie Brenston's Rocket 88.
We are starting a new Friday feature at WYMA: Friday Nuggets, featuring a garage rock classic. Nuggets of course being the title of the absolute must own Lenny Kaye and Jac Holzman compilation of 60's psychedelia and garage rock. We will at times be broader than those CDs but in that era and vein.
Many of the new bands that Rocksteady and John in particular feature here at WYMA are direct descendants of this great lineage.
We will lead with one of my all-time favorite songs, a certified classic and prototypical garage rocker, "Psychotic Reaction" by the Count Five, from 1965.
The Count Five were from San Jose, CA. "Psychotic Reaction" was a top 5 single, as big in its day as say a Taylor Swift or Maroon 5 hit today.
If you have ideas for songs you'd like to see in this feature, please feel free to include them in comments.
From Italy by way of the UK comes Turnpike Glow, whose 4-song EP Inflatable Optimism will be released in the US January 15.
Their sound is upbeat, catchy and guitar-centric and the record was produced by Dave Newfeld, whose credits also include Broken Social Scene and Los Campesinos.
Video for "1986":
And here's a video for "The Turn, The Pike and The Glow", another cut on the record - my favorite, mainly because of the guitar work:
That's 50% of their output, but there's more to come. This has been out in Europe since mid-2012, and they've been working with Newfeld on another release. You can stream the whole EP at Bandcamp:
Brooklyn's Sacred Bones Records is announcing that Brooklyn noise polyglots The Men have an album being released on 5 March, and have begun streaming the first single, "Electric", which you are welcome to listen to right here:
The Men have a rugged sound, hard-to-heavy guitars and all the stuff that goes with that, but they're tough to categorize because they do so many different and cool things within that framework . The new album is called New Moon, and will be the band's third with Sacred Bones. My first experience with the band was last year's Open Your Heart, which I liked so much I immediately bought their second one, Leave Home. Buy them, crank them up, and be happy. Go check out the Sacred Bones website and listen to more songs by Men and the label's other bands.
The Men blog -- go here for tour schedule, merch, guaranteed personality.
If it is Wednesday, it is a new playlist Reverberation Radio. Something new, something old, and more often than not, something blue. . The Golliwogs changed their name to Credence Clearwater Revival. Raul Seixas was the father of Brazilian RnR. Mose Allison a major jazz icon and songwriting contributor to the lexicon of modern pop music (Young Man Blues - The Who) throws his spin on Willie Dixon's "Seventh Son." Joe Bataan created salsoul and is the self-monikered "King of Latin Soul." Something blue is provide by the 60's British Blues Invaders The Pretty Things. A great soundtrack to start your day.
Ragged, weird, fantastic and a bit feral are some of the descriptions applied to Opposite Sex (yes, I understand they also are applied to one's exes of the opposite sex generally, but you don't really expect me to tackle that subject, do you?). Lucy Hunter (bass, vocals, trumpet, piano, keys), Tim Player (drums, vocals, keys) and Fergus Taylor (guitar) are college students currently residing in Dunedin on New Zealand's south island. Their self-titled debut LP was recorded in eight hours over two days at the Fishrider Records studio. Its original release on Fishrider was in 2011 and sold out quickly, probably largely to an eager New Zealand audience. But Fishrider re-released in 2012 and it was licensed to Occultation for distribution in the UK and Europe, giving the band renewed exposure. I first heard the album two weeks ago, and after multiple plays concluded that it was in my top group of recommended albums for 2012 (My 2012 list here).
The songs on Opposite Sex vary among somewhat scruffy folk rock, post-punk, alt rock, cabaret pop, and other, somewhat more adventuresome approaches including carnival waltzes. At times it seems like the trio is performing free form poetry to a lo-fi accompaniment. The vocals -- mostly Lucy but some from Tim as well -- are unassuming but effective. Imaginative, twisted pop such is this has an immediate magic, as well as a broader effect in subverting the boundaries of what to expect in a pop song. By the way, currently four of the tracks on the album are available for free download at the Bandcamp link below, although I recommend the entire album.
Finland's Paperfangs are a three-piece electro-pop band. Their debut LP, Past Perfect, will be released by Soliti Music in February, but track "Bathe In Glory" has been released as a single. If this track is representative of the quality on the album, I think it Past Perfect will be one of the early pop gems of the year.
OK you nervous and excited Irish fans. Here's one that will help you get pumped up.
We don't do much hip hop here, but this is worthy.
Macklemore, real name Ben Haggerty, is from Seattle. The track is produced by Macklemore's frequent collaborator Ryan Lewis.
Now I have to go headbutt my Irish Terrier. His name is Renny, but today he's Clashmore Renny.
This year had as much great music as any year I can remember. A ton of it was loud. Maybe I should have written more about it.
25. Red Collar - Welcome Home (Tiny Engines)
Jason and Beth Kutchma came to Durham from Pennsylvania in the mid-aughts, formed Red Collar, and have been embraced by the rock and roll scene in these parts like only a handful of bands over the past 10 or 20 years. To be sure, there's a ton to like about a straight ahead American rock band finding a voice in a crowded musical space without feeling a need to do cheap, genre-bending stunts. Here's a live video of the album opener, "Orphanage", performed at one of the best places anywhere to see a show -- Durham's Motorco Music Hall.
24. The Sword - Apocryphon (Razor & Tie)
There was a time, a time when the artisans of metal forged their weapons from the deepest veins beneath the mountains, with concussive rhythms, tribal drums, primordial riffage, nouns like "demiurge", and dwarves and goddesses and such shit as that. My last, misty recollection of such a time was the last time I played this album.
I think it should go without saying that 2012 was a great year for music fans - the four of us who write about music we like on When You Motor Away have each come up with a list of our favorite records, and there is not a lot of overlap. To me, that's evidence that there is more good music available than there's ever been. However you discover it - YouTube, XMU, podcasts, or even little old music blogs like this - you had to be thrilled with the quantity and quality. I know I was. Here are the 50 records that hit me hardest in 2012. By no means is this considered comprehensive - there is no way I heard everything, or even everything that I might actually enjoy. I suspect I will still be discovering good 2012 music in, say, 2015. But we wanted to try to give you a sense of what we liked, and while hard to cull, these lists are fun to assemble. So here you go - top 25 in order, next 25 alphabetical...
1.Guided by Voices - The Bears for Lunch. This was the best record of the year – it had plenty of competition from within Robert Pollard’s 2012 body of work, including Class Clown Spots A UFO and Let’s Go Eat The Factory as well as Robert Pollard solo releases Jack Sells The Cow and Mouseman Cloud, but The Bears For Lunch was the fullest, best-sounding and most fun of the five. Four Tobin Sprout songs on one GbV record? As always, GbV and Pollard are characterized by generosity – you know, more is more. WYMA reviewhere.
2.Dwight Yoakam - 3 Pears. As good as Yoakam’s been for over 25 years (and when he’s hitting his stride, there is not a better country singer, songwriter or showman), 3 Pears might be his best. He’s never been afraid to blur the lines between country, rock, pop and rockabilly and this record was no exception. He also combined forces with Beck, Kid Rock, Jason Falkner (he always has a great guitarist on hand) and created one of the best records of 2012 in any genre. If you like country, you’ll love it. If you don’t think you like country, it’s still probably worth a try. WYMA review here.
3.Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires - There Is A Bomb In Gilead. Out of Alabama comes a dynamo, a hard-rocking force of nature who manages to combine punk, country and R&B to great effect. The Dexateens were really good, but Bains has upped the ante here – he’s a great shouter who can switch gears and sing straight-up soul music, backed by a great southern rock band. WYMA review here.
4.Dinosaur Jr. - I Bet On Sky. Well worth the wait, I Bet On Sky is already among my favorite Dinosaur Jr. albums. Sure, J Mascis does the same thing over and over, but when that thing is THIS kind of great guitar with J’s plaintive vocals, who can complain? WYMA review here.
5.Neil Young And Crazy Horse - Psychedelic Pill. We didn’t review this record – why would anyone need a recommendation from US to pick up the latest from Neil Young and Crazy Horse? But just in case you do, please don’t hold Americana against them… Psychedelic Pill is a tour de force, a return to great, great form. I remember the resurgence evident in 90’s Crazy Horse output like Sleeps With Angels with its 14:30 “Change Your Mind” – and I realize I should never have doubted these guys. For good measure, they have included two songs with over 15:00 of Young and Sampedro on guitar… at their best, they are as good as guitar rock gets. On this record, they are at their best. Since I don’t have a review, here’s a video:
6.Brian Olive - Two Of Everything. Olive is a former member of the Greenhornes and Soledad Brothers, and co-conspirator with Dan Auerbach on Dr. John’s lauded 2012 release Locked Down. But more importantly, he’s a heck of a songwriter and arranger who made one of my favorite records of 2012 – soulful and psychedelic, the Sly Stone and John Lennon comparisons I read both make sense to me. Check out WYMA review here.
7.Tame Impala – Lonerism. Speaking of psychedelic rock, while I have you on a bit of a psychic tangent with Olive, let me launch you into space on the wings of Kevin Parker’s Tame Impala. Long songs, plenty of reverb, and great guitars make this a record you can really get lost in. WYMA review here.
8.Strange Hands - Dead Flowers. This was my favorite of a very good lot of garage rock records I heard in 2012. Rocksteady really tapped into the garage rock resurgence with a lot of his reviews this year, but I got a few – Nashville citizens like Pujol and Turbo Fruits, and also from overseas. This Italian import had it all, from the retro “Every Picture Tells A Story” intro of “First Poem“ to the head-bobbing, foot-tapping racer “Acid Vision“ and the Johnny Thunders-style hard punk rock of “Anxious Pictures“. There’s not a weak cut on the record – far and away my most pleasant out-of-nowhere surprise of 2012. WYMA review here.
9.Trainwreck Riders - Ghost Yards. Terrific punk-influenced country jams – another of my favorite discoveries of 2012… songs like “Gypsy Stealin’” kind of make a case for the claim that The Meat Puppets, Pixies, Nirvana, Drive-by Truckers and Whiskeytown arose from pretty similar impuses. Okay, I’m the only one making that claim… check this out, if for no other reason than the gorgeous guitars on “House Upon The Hill”. WYMA review here.
10.Patterson Hood - Heat Lightning Rumbles In The Distance. I consider this record a minor masterpiece. I’m not sure Hood’s ambitions with this record were all that grandiose – some of the interviews I have seen seem to indicate he just felt he had to get some of these songs out. But sometimes the man, the material and the timing all come together perfectly. I think that’s what happened here. WYMA review here.
Yes, it is the time of year when the When You Motor Away staff publishes their highly anticipated, limited edition (sorry, all physical copies were snapped up in the unadvertised pre-order stage) lists of recommended music for the past year. For my part, I've decided not to make myself crazy by trying to rank individual albums from 1 to whatever. Individual rankings take a ridiculous amount of time and are too subjective to meaningfully improve the reader's knowledge. And what's the point? There is very little payola flowing into the coffers these days. We had to downsize our offices and make the hard choice between the conference table where we work or our pool table. Now we trip over coffee cups and stacks of paper while we play pool.
Alright, now for the ground rules. I have no conceit that this list is "the best music of 2012, no arguments allowed". This is a collection of the music that I most enjoyed in 2012 and will continue to enjoy. It reflects my taste, and what I've heard. And to a great extent, what I've heard reflects what I was looking for. Even the casual music fan will have to concede that I haven't paid much attention to the "best of" lists compiled elsewhere in the industry. The albums are grouped into two pods for your browsing convenience. The pods are ranked. but the albums are listed alphabetically within their assigned pods. There are 51 albums in all, but I'm pretending that there are 50 because I had imposed a 50 album limit and I hate to disappoint myself.
By the way, a post about notable singles, EPs and labels will follow next week.
scottPod 1 (my 20 favorites, in alphabetical order) Allah-Las, Allah-Las (Innovative Leisure) - This is a perfect distillation of British Invasion and California rock, supporting well-written (perhaps surprisingly dark) songs. It is one of those albums I just want to keep listening to. So I do. Our review here.
Being There, Breaking Away (Young and Lost Club) - A happy meeting of '90s indie guitar rock and the modern fuzz pop of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Veronica Falls. An unknown gem of an album from some guys with loads of promise. I don't want to overburden them with expectations, but I hear a bit of Teenage Fanclub. Our review here.
The Blakes, Art of Losses - The Blakes glide convincingly through various rock and pop styles while creating excellent songs of personal loss. I remain perpetually puzzled that these guys aren't famous. Our review here.
I can't with any credibility call this a "best of" list as my new music listening was down this year. I had a crazy year at work, plus my family moved not once but twice because our new house wasn't ready when our old one sold (this approach not recommended for families with children). I appreciate that my brothers here carried the load at WYMA while I was AWOL.
Of course, the philosophy here has always been that we don't pretend to be critics - we write about stuff we like at WYMA. Period. So all I have here is 20 CDs from 2012 that I like a great deal and will keep listening to long after 2012 is past.
It made me happy to get such high quality new work this year from some of my all time favorite artists - Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, the dBs, and Graham Parker and the Rumour. All four are major touchstones in my lifelong love of music, so to find them creating such important and urgent work at this point in their lives resonates deeply.
And I should also note that my list is ecumenical. As our regular readers know, all of us here at WYMA are graduates of the University of Notre Dame whose football team had a heroic year worthy of Bruce Springsteen. However, my top 10 list includes 3 bands with deep ties to the state of Alabama whose Crimson Tide will battle the Fighting Irish on January 7 for the national championship in a showdown of the two most storied and beloved teams in college football.
The Muscle Shoals (Alabama) sound combining rock and Southern soul is another major touchstone in my life. I so appreciate that Muscle Shoals ethos - always a groove with emphasis on the sound of a real live band of tight musicians, great songwriting, and singers who can mine the emotions of a song. Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires, the Alabama Shakes and Patterson Hood all have deep roots in Alabama and in their own varied ways each honored that rich Muscle Shoals tradition by making music in 2012 that struck deep. All three are more than welcome anytime in this neighborhood pub of ours at WYMA. They'll find plenty of Muscle Shoals music on our jukebox, right next to the Clash, Bruce Springsteen, the MC5 and Fighting Irishman Van Morrison.
And I should mention that I caught Patterson Hood's tour in support of the solo record and it brought me to my knees, hands down the best live show I saw this year. So we tip our Irish cap to our friends down South.
My number one favorite CD of 2012, and for pure joy the record I came back to time and time again is The dB's Falling Off the Sky. It is remarkable that a band could get back together after 30 years and make a record that not only stands up to their storied past, but start to finish is the best CD of their career. Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple are unusually talented songwriters and master craftsmen. They put their lifetime of knowledge into this blueprint for soulful power pop and how to make a great record. Listen to "That Time is Gone" - killer chorus, tasty guitar riffs, big bridge at end, swirling organ sounds, tambourines, vocal harmonies, clean and direct production sound - kids this is how you do it: http://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/song_13103476.
And Falling Off the Sky has song after song that hits the mark. I have and will always love their power pop sound. Big Star, R.E.M. and the Replacements are all gone, but thank god we have The dBs to make outstanding new music and carry the flag.
The remainder of my top 10 in alpha order:
Alabama Shakes.Boys and Girls. Brittany Howard opens the record singing "Bless my heart, bless my soul, didn't think I'd make it to 22 years old," and with that a career was launched. "Hold On" was one of the most irresistible radio singles of the year in an era where radio singles don't come from unknown artists like this, don't sound like old soul songs, and aren't made down home on a low budget.
But the press went crazy for this record, and against all odds and trends suddenly "Hold On" and the Alabama Shakes were everywhere. This all happened for one reason - Brittany Howard has an amazing voice and is the genuine article. In a prefab pop era, Howard sings her heart out without the benefit of Auto-tune, a stable of writers, wardrobe changes or any gimmicks. And she's backed by the right band. Here's our full review. And let me point out that our own John Hyland was one of the very first people out of Alabama to write about this band, here at WYMA on October 18, 2011, long before the record was released.
Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires. There is a Bomb in Gilead."Say a prayer for punk rock and say a prayer for me!" Lee Bains III is my new favorite guy - a rock and soul powerhouse who could just as easily be from Detroit as Alabama, and I mean that as the highest possible compliment. The combination of a great voice, good taste and the right musical ingredients make this band and record a complete triumph. Another artist I might have missed had it not been for WYMA, where John Hyland has been shouting from the rooftops about these guys for quite awhile. The approach here isn't revolutionary, but it is remarkably well done - great guitar sounds, pounding drums, fantastic bar band vibe, singing songs about the Southland, the gravitational pull of home, growing up, and old girlfriends - you know, rock and roll. And who can't love a band that name drops Fugazi, Walker Percy and The Ramones? Ladies and gentlemen, Lee Bains III and the Glory Fires, "Ain't No Stranger":
Bob Dylan. Tempest.You ever taken a long car ride with a friend going through something in his life that he has to get off his chest, and it's full of life's complications, so he unloads on you his trusted friend a long and not at all linear narrative? Listening to Tempest feels like that to me. This is Bob Dylan's 35th record but perhaps his most direct and honest. Engineer Scott Litt brilliantly mixes the vocals way up so it is as if Dylan is speaking directly to you. And it seems he is wound up, urgently trying to get all his thoughts out. Meanwhile, Dylan continues to tap even deeper into the rick history of American blues, folk and R&B that has inspired and haunted him for decades, as here on "Duquesne Whistle":
But while Dylan's words and cultural importance will always be a big part of the context for his work, what continues to floor me is his sense of melody and song structure. Here's my favorite track from Tempest, "Pay In Blood", an equally beautiful and disturbing song, and maybe my very favorite of 2012, propelled by an impossibly perfect tune: listen to "Pay in Blood" here.
File under better late than never. This CD was released last February but I only recently discovered it when it started popping up on Best of 2012 lists. Not a surprise that I would like it as I was a huge fan of Michael Rank's notorious Snatches of Pink who ruled the roost in Chapel Hill NC when I moved there in 1988. In fact, Snatches of Pink were one of the very first bands I ever wrote about way back when I first started writing for a weekly there. They continued to play and make records intermittently from then on until recently. Kin, while Rank's first solo record, isn't a radical departure from Snatches of Pink, unless you consider "Country Honk" or "Dead Flowers" a huge detour for the Stones. Rank has a great feel for the swagger and grease of the best rock'n'roll and it's all here.
This is my favorite from the record, "On the Bleed":
Stag is an all star cast of Tar Heels musicians - including two of my favorite drummers John Howie Jr. (Two Dollar Pistols) and Sara Romweber (Flat Duo Jets). And as with anything Rank has ever done, there is a lot of guitar and drums here, but also fiddle and lap steel and some real nice country rock vibe.
The emotional vibe is not nice. The songs bleed with bitterness over the end of a relationship, again the stuff of great country rock. There is an immediacy to the writing and playing here that serves the songs well - it just spills out on the floor and grabs you by the collar demanding that you listen.
The title track:
Really good stuff. If you don't know of Michael Rank, but are a fan of Keith Richards or WYMA favorites Kurt Vile or The War on Drugs, you'll like it.
Psssst! Hey, big boy, do you want to meet Stephanie from Seattle? Stephanie aims to please, and a lot of Stephanie's stuff is free. My less than rigorous research indicates that Stephanie is Ian Judd (bass), Matt Lawson (keys), Andrew McKibben (guitar), Wil Adams (vocals), and Robert Wolfe (drums). They are part of a Seattle music scene called 'the Cairo scene'. After a couple of demos in recent years (check out Bandcamp for free downloads), they recorded the One Glove EP with local production guru Erik Blood at the controls.
The band terms its distinctive sound "swirl" and it wouldn't have surprised me if I'd been told that the music was recorded in the UK in the '80s.
Stream from the One Glove EP below. If you click on over to the band's Tumblr site, most of the tracks can be downloaded free.
Norwegian Arms is a Philly-based duo (Brendan Mulvihill, Eric Slick) playing some intriguing, exotic folk rock along the lines of Vampire Weekend, Walkmen and Arcade Fire (to my ears, anyway). This debut album, Wolf Like A Stray Dog, is the result of lyrical and musical reflections on a year spent in Siberia by vocalist/mandolin Mulvihill, shaped into an album upon his return to the states with Slick (who is also a member of Dr. Dog.), in Dr. Dog's studio in Philadelphia.
The album integrates Eastern influences in a slightly different way than the afro-pop of Vampire Weekend, but it's not dissimilar, which raises all kinds of questions about the commonality of rhythms and musical approaches the world over...
The record is intriguing and pretty charming - and you have every incentive to check it out, since you can stream (and currently download for name-your-price) at Bandcamp:
It's on Big School Records and you can pre-order vinyl, physical cd's and other merchandise at this link.
Safe Houses is the new project of Dave Richards and Paul from the now defunct Scottish band Fiction Faction. While the former band played energetic electro-rock, Safe Houses drives further into the synth pop realm. Dave and Paul have made three tracks available for "name your price" download. I think they show a lot of promise -- give them a try.
This week we feature one of our all time favorite soul singers, performing earlier this month. At age 66, Bettye LaVette still runs circles around just about any singer of any genre you can name. Her ability to throw herself into a song, dig deep into the writing and her life, her emotions, is the very essence of soul music.
Her story is a wild one, nearly tragic, but after decades of disappointments, misfires, bad choices, scoundrels, broken promises and broken dreams, Ms. LaVette never quit performing and recently finally found some measure of success. Her remarkable story is told in an unflinching manner in her new autobiography A Woman Like Me, which I highly recommend.
"Let Me Down Easy" was released in 1965 as Bettye's second single and charted at #20 on the R&B charts. But there was no follow up and so the song, like LaVette herself, faded until her resurgence in the last 10 years. It is now a cornerstone of her live performances, a monster, as seen here in London a few weeks ago:
Here she is singing the song on the Shindig! TV show in 1965:
This will be our final Soul Corner as an every Friday feature, though if we stumble into a great soul song video, we will post as a bonus Soul Corner. We will start a new feature every Friday in 2013, so continue to look for some choice old nuggets right here each week.
I must confess that I'm one of the music fans that is welcoming the resurgence of psychedelic music. It is coming from Texas, California, Australia, New Zealand, France, Finland, Denmark, England and of course, Scotland. Today's introduction is a fine Edinburgh band with a psychedelic/shoegaze bent -- Frantic Chant. They give you a generous dose of what they do well on their new single, Colour, which is released today, December 27, on Dog Got A Bone Records. It is a two track record with the title track providing nearly eight minutes of a, well, colorful musical trip. The B-side, "With All Our Friends" lowers the pace and volume, but takes us further down the rabbit hole. As a collector has been through more than a couple editions of psychedelic music, I assure you that Frantic Chant could slip into a '60s soundtrack with no challenge to their credentials. And I mean that as a high compliment. I can only hope that a new album is in the works.
The band is listed as O'Hara on bass, Stazy on voice and guitar, Nick on guitar, and Col McGregor on drums.
"Colour" is available as a download and a limited edition CD from this Bandcamp link.
Frantic Chant released a full length entitled The 51st Best Band in Edinburgh in June 2012. You can stream it below, and download it from Bandcamp.
We've been listening to these great Alive/Naturalsound artists all of 2012 - each album has its own pleasures, but what unites them, in my mind, are a joy in playing and the serious chops that are hallmarks of great blues and rock and roll. Back in the summer, seven members of Alive's roster joined 19 other bands for a summer BBQ festival in Bayport, MN and the results were recorded and, fortunately, produced into an album by Jim Diamond. Here's the tracklist:
River Water - Buffalo Killers It's a Shame - Buffalo Killers There is a Bomb in Gilead - Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires The Red, Red Dirt of Home - Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires Traveling - Brian Olive Bonelle - Brian Olive Hold On Me - Radio Moscow Little Eyes - Radio Moscow 24 Hour Blues - Left Lane Cruiser Rambling on My Mind - Left Lane Cruiser Three More - John The Conqueror Be your own Invention/Stranger Dig - Henry's Funeral Shoe Henry's Funeral Shoe - Henry's Funeral Shoe
From the psychedelia of Buffalo Killers (expansive, sweet-sounding) and Radio Moscow (heavy, raging), to Bains' roaring gospel/blues-based Southern rock, to Olive's mix of blues and sweet SoCal pop, Alive embraces variety. Here's Brian Olive:
Left Lane Cruiser, John The Conqueror and Henry's Funeral Shoe are playing hard blues, and it really shines through in a live setting. Here is the Welsh brother duo Henry's Funeral Shoe:
This is a record that happily does double duty: It's a great document of what sounds like one of the best summer music festivals I've ever heard of, but it's also a really good label sampler. If you're still looking for a way to spend that iTunes or Amazon gift card, this record is a good option, and it will open up seven other worthy possibilities...
Here is a free download of a live version of The Buffalo Killers' "It's A Shame" from the Fest:
From Summersteps Records, home of Kid Icarus and Eww Yaboo(whose combination of garage and grunge we extolled last year), comes a very generous Christmas music compilation/label sampler.
A combination of originals and standards, it's got a little something for everyone - and definitely a few cuts you will want on your Christmas mix. Favorites on first listen include "2000 Miles" by straws, a well-played shoegaze with resonant female vocals, Kid Icarus' "On Boxing Day" - which really just rocks, and the sweet power-pop of Langor's "Yantsor, the Candy Cane Maker"... but you may favor other tracks on here, including a spare, acoustic version of "Last Christmas" by Geez Louise which restores the plaintiveness that you'd think the song ought to have, if you did ever think about it. By the way, once I did spend the time to think about this song (rather than just scream and twist the dial as I do when Wham's version comes on), I kind of wished I hadn't... I mean, why write a song to someone who dumped you LAST CHRISTMAS? Anyway, it's a nice little ballad, as is Obvious Dolphin's take on "White Christmas".
The Chris Stamey / Chorus Project post from yesterday helped me recall this fine Christmas song of Mr. Stamey's from 2010:
And in special honor of the events that will take place this evening, here are my 2 favorite versions of one of my all time favorites, "Run Run Rudolph". First, the 1958 original from the one and only Chuck Berry:
And this killer version from across the pond, by Dave Edmunds:
We've featured songs by POST (Yeah, try to Google THAT! Thanks, guys.) a few times. They are a very good young Glasgow/Manchester band, and we expect big things from them. They are selling physical copies of an EP titled Cavalcade at their live shows. The really good news as they've also made it available on line for those of us not living in the UK. It is on Bandcamp for name-your-price.
What is an element of Christmas more essential than Bing Crosby? Well there are not many, but certainly one is helping out the less fortunate. Combine those two, add some great musicians and talented young singers, and you have something special.
The Chorus Project "Bing Crosby":
And this gets extra points for actually being a new and original Christmas song and a fine one at that. Produced by the great Chris Stamey, whose latest effort with the dBs will sit high among my best of 2012 list, due to be posted here in early January.
The Chorus Project is a group of 25 high school age singers from the Chapel Hill, NC area. All proceeds from the sale of this single, the Chorus Project's first release, go to support programs and the scholarship fund for Community Chorus Project, as well as to KidZNotes, a music program for low-income children in Durham, NC.
More of our artist and label friends are in the giving mood, and we're happy to share with you. Gnar Tapes, a Portland-based label, has given us several of our favorite new lo-fi fuzz rock artists in 2012, and here at Christmas time, they're giving away a compilation featuring several of their artists, including Emotional, whose new album Feeling was recently reviewed by Rocksteady here. Emotional contributes "I Wanna Be Your Dradle" (sp?), based on the Ramones' "I Wanna Be Sedated".
The theme might be best embodied by White Fang's freewheeling yet laid-back reggae take on "Jingle Bell Rock": "Jingle Bell Rasta". Or perhaps by one of the fuzziest cuts on the record -- Love Cop's take on "Christmas (Please Come Home)" called "Christmas (Let's Get Stoned)". Get it? I don't have to draw you a picture, do I?
The liner notes disclose: "Recorded at Gnarnia in Carpet Cafeteria - November 23 - December 3, 2012." So you can be fairly certain that they didn't overproduce this sucker.
Late last month we profiled Queen Jane, a good young band from Cumbernauld, Scotland. They have an energetic, Afro-pop inflected sound that we found quite refreshing. For those who liked it then, or who are just discovering it now, you are in luck. From now until Christmas, the lads are offering their new Romantics EP as a free download (we tried to negotiate a better price for you, but the group held firm at free and could not be moved). If you sleep on this offer, you will regret it.
Christmas is almost here, and we have a few presents for you!
Check out this heavy, psychedelic cover of Chuck Berry's "Run Run Rudolph" by Cincinnati's Buffalo Killers:
And this cover of the old Beatles' fan-club-only 1967 song "Christmas Time":
They are happy for you to have these songs free of charge, in the spirit of the season.
And here, also available for free download, is a new song by Chattanooga's The Bohannons, "Christmas in Vietnam":
Here at the end of 2012, I want to give a special salute to the Buffalo Killers, whose 2012 release Dig. Sow. Love. Grow. was reviewed here, and to the Bohannons, whose Unaka Rising was reviewed here. If you're looking for fierce blues-based rock music, these are two artists you ought to spend some time with as you look to spend the iTunes gift card or (hopefully) Grimey's (or other local music retailer's) gift certificate you will receive next week.
It is possible both will be featured on a WYMA Blog Best of 2012 list, coming the week of Jan. 1...
This ranks as one of the really great musical ideas of the year. The beloved noise poppers Black Tambourine, while reunited recently, decided to record covers of five Ramones songs. And the recording is available at Bandcamp in physical form on Slumberland Records or name-your-price on digital. Well, Merry freaking Christmas to all of us!
I realize that the cell phone and French Press coffee maker may be a better overall inventions, but this ranks as a seriously good idea.
Black Tambourine is Pam Berry, Archie Moore, Brian Nelson and Mike Schulman. Additional vocals by Jenny Robbins and The 'Rinettes (Rose Melberg, Dee Dee, and Jenny Robbins.
We've got a fairly obscure one this week, but a song that I've loved since first hearing it at "beach music" parties in North Carolina 25 years ago.
From 1967, Clifford Curry, "She Shot a Hole in My Soul":
It's got the call and response, some terrific horn lines, a perfect vocal and a greasy guitar sound at the beginning that I've always wished there were more of.
No less an expert on southern soul-pop than the great Alex Chilton, whose birthday is Dec 20, covered "She Shot a Hole in My Soul" with the Box Tops:
