REVIEW: Youth Lagoon - Year of Hibernation

Youth Lagoon (Seattle musician Trevor Powers) is playing some beautiful, languid lo-fi indie rock. He's not afraid to stretch out on the guitars or to slow it down and let the song grow almost of its own accord. Vocals are not clear or up front, but they support the overall sound well... almost like Doug Martsch's in Built to Spill. I'd recommend Youth Lagoon for anyone who's a fan of Built to Spill - there's not anywhere near the guitar attack, and some keyboards and synths are substituted for raw guitar power, but like a lot of Martsch's work, there's some sparse beauty and excellent playing.

Enough with the comparisons... check out track 2, "Cannons" and tell me if it's not one of the prettiest rock tracks you've heard this year, and track 5 "Day Dream" and its repeated guitar line and primitive chanted vocal "oh oh oh's".

Here's the video for "Montana", a typical slow-builder with dense keyboards and handclaps and a nice melody:



This record impressed me with its approach and the variety of sounds created, as well as Powers' obvious talent - the focus on creating something beautiful out of the tribulations of life is clear, and it serves him well as this is a very pretty record.

Youth Lagoon at Fat Possum Records

REVIEW: I Build Collapsible Mountains - The Spectator & The Act

Sometimes I wonder whether a soft, mostly acoustic album can hold my interest. Then an album like The Spectator & The Act by I Build Collapsible Mountains comes along, and I wonder how I could have wondered. Over the past few weeks this has been the album to which I turn late at night, with the headphones on, connecting with emotions and personal space after a day of playing lawyer, dealing with other duties or straining to be "on" in engagements where I really don't feel like it. That isn't because the album is peaceful or soothing (although musically it is both of those), it is because it is an album to get lost in, to really pay attention to the words, phrasing, and underlying emotions.

Shall we begin with the album's opening track? Here is "Face of Thunder Grin" --

I Build Collapsible Mountains - 'face of thunder grin' from luke joyce on Vimeo.

IBCM is Scottish singer-songwriter Luke Joyce, who creates almost painfully introspective and insightful music of great beauty. Particularly notable is Luke's lyrical ability. He can evoke and clear image of a relationship and his emotions about it in a deft phrase or two. One of my favorite tracks, "Burn", includes the line "your eyes are graced with cross-hairs, and I am your kill". Here is a live version:


And here is the title track, "The Spectator & The Act", in which Luke sings

So hold me down by the wrist and by the crown
....
Don't give up on me
'Cause I hang by hooks and string
You left my bones dangling
'Cause I hang from hooks and string
And you can break me any way you want to
Squeeze my heart 'cause it doesn't feel at all
And you can break me any way you want to
Just tell me its love before my head hits the floor.

Joyce also is the front man for indie rockers The Gothenburg Address. I don't think he's abandoned that project, but IBCM is his platform to showcase his singer-songwriter side. More than that, the album seems to be an explosion of emotions, including longing and rejection. I hope it was cathartic for Joyce, because for the listener the result is a work of art and a musical treat.

The album was released in October on Seattle's Burning Building Recordings. It seems to be flying under the radar, which really is a shame. I urge to to turn down the lights and let this one wash over you.


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Concert Alert: The Posies at Seattle's Neptune Theatre

Rocksteady74's Seattle concert pick for this weekend is The Posies, supported by Star Anna & The Laughing Dogs and Curtains For You, Saturday November 19 at the Neptune Theatre. Why that concert on a good weekend for concerts? I'm glad you asked. There are three reasons.

Reason One: For over two decades, as The Posies and separately as solo artists and with other projects, Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow have been making intelligent, soulful and sincere fusions of rock and pop. Their energy and passion for music and refusal to stand still artistically keep them relevant and entertaining. As a case in point, consider their fine album from 2010, Blood/Candy.

Reason Two: The Posies will play their seminal album Frosting on the Beater in its entirety Saturday night. Yes, "Dream All Day", "Flavor of the Month", "Solar Sister", "Burn & Shine" and the rest of that album will be on the setlist.

Reason Three: Rocksteady74 loves The Posies. The opportunity to see them in Seattle is too good to pass up.

Location:
NEPTUNE THEATRE
1303 Northeast 45th St
Seattle, WA 98105-4502
Doors at 8:00pm; show begins at 9:00pm

The concert is presented by STG (Seattle Theatre Group). The link for the concert is provided below.

The Posies' Website
Seattle Theatre Group page for concert

Cool Video: "You Told the Drunks I Knew Karate" by Zoey Van Goey

Glasgow indie poppers Zoey Van Goey released their sophomore LP, Propeller Versus Wings on Chemikal Underground this spring. One of that album's most engaging songs is "You Told the Drunks I Knew Karate", and he band just released a fun video send up of the modern artistic martial arts movie.



The band's line up is Matt Brennan, Michael John McCarthy, Kim Moore, and Adam Scott.

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Chemikal Underground

REVIEW: Heavy Times - Jacker

You know what it's like when you are finishing the last drink before bed on a quiet night, and you wish that you could squeeze the glass to get few more swallows? Well, that's the way I felt when I finished my first listen to Jacker from Chicago's Heavy Times. I wanted to squeeze another song or two from the player. It isn't that the album is ungenerous, there are 12 tracks. But they are short songs anyway and I really, really didn't want the album to end.

Here is a live version of one of my favorite tracks from the album: "Skull Hair".

031 Heavy Times from Kyle Obriot on Vimeo.

Heavy Times are Bo Hansen, Matt Jacker, Mathew Horde, Luca Cimirusti. Their sound isn't easy to classify. It has the speed, aggression, and noise of punk and garage, but the guitar sound is has a dense fuzz and the guys can wring out convincing rock solos on top of the three chords. Moreover, the songs have engaging vocal hooks. Whatever one wants to call it, it is a winning recipe.

Jacker is Heavy Times second LP. It was released in late October by HoZac Records. If you like garage/punk pop with a heavy side of fuzz and vocal hooks, this album is just what you're looking for. (It's going on my workout playlist)


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REVIEW: Colin Bugbee -- Halle EP

I've sort of grown skeptical, if not weary, of the unaccompanied "man/guitar singer-songwriter" convention lately. It's not that it's a played out form. Hell, folks have been doing it hundreds of years, it's not like we'd run out of ideas all of a sudden. It just seems like there's been a troubadour glut in recent years. My theory is that this can be traced to the phenomenon wherein a bunch of guys listened to the first half of Damien Rice's album "O" and decided it couldn't be all that hard to crank out sweet, sweet folk tunes that will make the ladies swoon. The problem is (this is still my theory) they never listened to the second half of that album, and thus missed an important cautionary tale about self-indulgence and, well, you know, self-indulgent crap. So despite getting a revelatory effort every year or two from a Richard Buckner or an Eric Bachmann or a Mark Kozelek, I've come to not expect much from this little corner of the music world.

These expectations were gloriously shattered a few weeks ago when Punknews.org led me to the Bandcamp page of a young singer-songwriter-guitar-prodigy from Huntsville, Alabama named Colin Bugbee. Last month he released what appears to be his debut EP, Hallé, on Get Young Records, a very promising new label out of Boston. In these seven forlorn songs about drinking, heartache, and drinking, Bugbee carves out an astonishingly original and unique space for himself in this genre. His old-soul lyrics and fascinating guitar sketches are arresting enough, but it's the voice -- good lord what a voice -- that has me wearing out the grooves of that tiny file on my ipod. It's hard to peg a proper comparison to his singing. If you've been fortunate enough to experience the genius of Chris Flemmons of the Baptist Generals, that ought to give you a bit of an idea. Heck, why don't you listen for yourself? Here' s a tune off the EP, "Babe, I'm Goddamned Sorry", with subtle backing harmonies courtesy of a couple of Bud tallboys there in the background. It's a beautiful song from front to back, but you're missing the real payoff if you don't watch the whole thing. The version on the record is even better, with Bugbee desperately wailing "I'm not your man, I'm not your man" to finish the song.

Here's the closer, "Mail Order Magazine". Thankfully, the video is a still, so you don't have to worry about anything crawling into or out of the, err, fixtures in the foreground.

Out of the goodness of their hearts, Colin and the fine folks at Get Young currently are offering this terrific record for download at the amazing low price of nothing at all. You can check it out in its entirety, and download it, from his Bandcamp page:

The second track, "21 Overnight" is as good a song as I've heard all year.

Get Young Records

Review - Over the Rhine "The Long Surrender"

This CD has been out a few months but cannot be overlooked. Over the Rhine are Linford Detweiller and Karin Bergquist, a husband-wife duo who took their band name from their downtown Cincinnati Ohio neighborhood. They've been making music for 20+ years and this is their 11th studio record.

The Long Surrender is yet another fine production effort from the great Joe Henry (yes, occasionally I do plug CDs not produced by Joe Henry, but not today) and featuring Joe's A-team of LA sessions players - Jay Bellerose, Dave Piltch, Patrick Warren etc., plus a guest vocal by Lucinda Williams. They are all perfectly sympatico with Over the Rhine's gorgeous piano-based Americana and the exquisite singing of Ms. Bergquist. This will appeal to fans of Joe's work with Mary Gauthier and Lisa Hannigan. It's beautiful, mournful, searching, and it digs very deep emotionally.

Here's one from the record, "All My Favorite People" (with its great line "All my favorite people are broken"):

Here's a live version of the lead track "The Laugh of Recognition":

Story behind the record, far better written than anything I could do: http://www.overtherhine.com/otrstory.php

Did I mention that Karin Bergquist is an amazingly talented singer? Very highly recommended.

New Discovery: Twin Library - "No Summer/Shaking Hands"

Twin Library is an Edmonton lo-fi rock band, and they have all the right influences - Guided By Voices, The Velvet Underground, The Wedding Present, The Clean - to grab my attention. And having grabbed it, they're offering a couple of opportunities to download their music and name your price. I recommend it - they're terrific. It's beautiful lo-fi music with definite Pollard influences. As I listen to more, you might see a review of their most recent full-length, Softer Seasons, on WYMA.

New Single from The Twilight Sad - "Sick"

The Twilight Sad, Scottish masters of dense sound and deeply dark stories will be back with a new album, No One Can Ever Know, on Fat Cat Records in February 2012. As a big fan of the group, I'm looking forward to the release of the new album. To occupy us in the meantime, the band has released "Sick", the first official single from the new album. The 7" includes the track "Sick" and and "untitled #67", which may be a demo of another album track. Here is "Sick"--


Album track "Kill It In The Morning" was made available as a free download in September--


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PUJOL - Nasty, Brutish and Short EP

Nashville garage punk wizard Daniel Pujol is making great primitive rock music, and is part of a burgeoning local rock scene. Well worth checking out, especially if you've developed a liking for folks like The Black Keys, JEFF The Brotherhood and Ty Segall...

Here's a free download from Saddle Creek Records:



And here's the video for the title track from his 2010 release Black Rabbit:



Very strong. Check out more - Daniel Pujol MySpace. Not a weak cut in the bunch.

Get to Know: The Make-Overs

Here is another welcome edition of the two-people-make-glorious-racket story. In this case it is a male guitarist (Andreas) and female drummer (Martinique) from Pretoria, South Africa who call themselves The Make-Overs. The band describes their music as "trashpop garage punk something" which, depending on the song, is likely to be an accurate description. Here is the video for the slyly named "Surf Bored", which is the A-side of the band's new 7" on Chicago's HoZac Records:


Also on the 7" is "Will It Ever Grow Back", presented here from a live performance--


This video for their song "What Did I Just Axe You" was posted last spring--


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REVIEW: Bwani Junction - Fully Cocked

One can imagine a young band whose gig is invaded by an axe-wielding madman who commences chopping up the bar, tables and glassware to be a bit intimidated, and perhaps reconsider the wisdom of the venture (and perhaps wonder if all music critics are that bloody emotional). But Edinburgh's Bwani Junction are not that sort of young band. As I recall, they displayed the local paper's headlines of the incident on social media and named their label in honor of the incident. And today their Aksatak Records released the band's first album, Fully Cocked--a debut brimming with quality, confidence, personality, and some of the catchiest guitar pop songs of the year.

Bwani Junction are Fergus Robson (bass, keyboard and vocals), Jack Fotheringham (drums, vibraphone and vocals), Rory Fairweather (guitar and lead vocals) and Dan Muir (lead guitar and vocals), three 19 year-olds and one geezer of 20, all of whom were students at the private Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh. What originally drew me to the band was their sound, which has elements both familiar and exotic. The familiar is easily described--Bwani Junction is a Scottish indie rock band with the expected instruments (two guitars, bass and drums) and song structures. But a few aspects of their sound set them apart from their peers. First and foremost, Dan Muir's African-influenced lead guitar style. And don't assume that this is just a Vampire Weekend-inspired affectation. Dan learned the style directly from Rise Kagona, guitarist for Zimbabwe's Bhundu Boys, for whom his father had served as manager in the late '80s and '90s. Fergus' fat rubbery bass, typical in Afro-beat and reggae, heightens the world beat sheen. Rory's vocal delivery is understated and has the tone of a natural storyteller (embellished by an hint of Edwyn Collins warble). Jack's drums alternate between understated support and aggression.

Of course, all the that talent would still come short without good songs. Fortunately, Fully Cocked reveals the band to be quality songwriters, as well. Rather that reach for the grand scale -- and necessarily speak in platitudes necessary when teenagers aspire to The Grand Statement -- the band writes about what they know. Standout track "Two Bridges" begins "All the boys down Walker Drive / They don't seem so bad any more / Remember nights, little chilly nights / When they was knocking down our door? / Remember Lucy, she was all shook up / Make up running down her face / All she could do was stand and watch / You've got to be tough in this place". Even their foray into political commentary, the anti-war "Today's Crusades", focuses on their observation of troops in nearby barracks leaving for the middle east and returning with fewer members. While the songs often are based on a mid-tempo platform, they feature changes of pace, Dan's engaging lead guitar bridges, sing-a-long choruses joined by the entire band, and positive deliveries, resulting in music that both is varied and invites the listener into the band's world. These aren't songs you put on the pedestal and worship for their indie perfection; these are songs to which you dance, sing along and share with the band.

Bwani Junction hasn't released any videos for Fully Cocked as of this writing. Fortunately, the BBC did an admirable job filming the band's set at the T in the Park festival in Scotland this past summer. The clip features three excellent tracks from the album, "Roots Too Deep", "Today's Crusades", and "Two Bridges". The whole set spans fewer than 16 minutes and is worthwhile in its entirety, but if you only have time for a shorter taste, my recommendation would be to take in the last five minutes because, in my view, the third song -- "Two Bridges" -- is among the best five songs I've heard this year.

I also expect that you can listen to the tracks on Spotify, and snips of tracks on various sites. In addition to "Two Bridges", my favorite tracks include "My Body, My Mind", "Roots Too Deep", "Bianco's", "Today's Crusades", "Marlebone", and "Middle Meadow", roughly in that order.

Fully Cocked was produced by Paul Savage, truly Scotland's hottest producer, at Chem 19 Studios, and funded in part with a grant from the Creative Scotland and the remainder for the boys' pockets. It is released on Aksatak Records. At this point, physical copies are available retail only in the UK and continental Europe. However, Amazon has the MP3s available, and I expect iTunes does as well. You may be able to obtain a physical copy from Sterns Music, Avalanche Records or other sources.

For a final listen, here is "Bianco's", the album's opening track, live at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut in Glasgow--


One of Bwani Junction's peers on the Scottish music scene to told me that he wasn't surprised that a band this young could produce a debut LP, because in his estimation they probably have 30 quality songs already. And I am confident that a band that has this much going for them out of the gate will be on our radar for a long time. They have the songs, the charisma, the drive, and they are managed by a music industry veteran, Gordon Muir. Make no mistake, this Bwani Junction are Fully Cocked.


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New Discovery: Beaten By Them, People Start Listening EP out 11/22

Beaten By Them is an art rock band - at least that's what they sound like to me - with similarities to American Analog Set, but a bit more abstract. One thing they do well is to build their sound... on this four-song EP, People Start Listening, the fourth track "It Can Take You Higher" turns into something you might expect from Mogwai.

For a short EP, they cover a good bit of territory in terms of sound levels and tempo - this is worth your time to check it out.

Here's a video about the making of their most recent album, Invisible Origins. There aren't any videos from the current EP, but they are working on a full album so hopefully more soon.



Check out the EP here:



And here's a free download of "Nusla Nif" from Invisible Origins:

REVIEW: The Circus Devils - Capsized!

Here we are, happily listening to Bob Pollard's sixth full length release of 2011: Capsized! by the Circus Devils.

Circus Devils is Robert Pollard, Todd Tobias and Tim Tobias. They're pretty dark - what would you expect a 'circus devil' to sound like? - and they really do rock. Over their history (nine albums!), I've detected a sense of homage and inspiration from dirty 70's rock, but they are in no way limited to one type or sound, a trait that carries through on this record. Track one, "To England The Tigers", is a dreamy instrumental, almost Enoesque (sorry, had to get an -esque in there). The second song, "Capsized!" is vintage Circus Devils - bringing to mind great psychedelic craziness like "Vegas" from The Harold Pig Memorial, but also maybe Tom Waits as the tour guide on a late night Jungle Cruise. But there is melodic rock music here, too - track three is the very catchy "Cyclopean Runways" (click to download)...

On some of the harder rock songs like the pounding "Leave the Knife Curtis", Pollard shouts over the racket, but on track 9, he whispers over a gently-played piano. The track is "Vampire Playing a Red Piano" and it's Pollard describing the contents of a series of boxes. As with so much of the Circus Devils' work, you are constantly being supplied with atmosphere and imagery: imagine finding yourself in, say, a dark basement, a stranger walking up to you and whispering "Those boxes over there on the floor contain paralyzing secrets"... one of which, it turns out, is a film labeled "Vampire Playing a Red Piano".

Circus Devils is real, and Circus Devils is Pollard at his most unrestrained (which, honestly, is really saying something). There is a track called "Double Vission" which sounds very much like a twisted parody of, say, a Foreigner song, complete with the sounds of someone puking - followed by a strange little instrumental, "What Wallace". If you stick with 'em, though, the Circus Devils' next song rewards you with what is best described as sweet, soulful soft rock - "Plate of Scales". And that, to me, is the point of Circus Devils. You gotta take the whole ride, and it's a blast, but not everybody is gonna get it.

To give you a sense of their aesthetic (and just because I like it), here's an excerpt from the "forum" on www.circusdevils.com:

Oslo Peters from Oslo, Norway: When is Circus Devils going to reunite the classic lineup and play Oslo again?
Dear Oslo: We are still the classic lineup. No personnel changes have ever been made. It seems you are confused on this point. Once we toyed with the idea of allowing a non-human to join the band. We will not go into further detail. All we can say is that there were bites that required stitches, and a really big diaper bill. To answer your second question, we will not play Oslo until we get paid for the last show we did over there, and have our equipment returned. In case you have not heard the story, we were attacked by the sound man at that show. He came at us during our set swinging a lead pipe and screaming in Norwegian. Naturally, we ran for our lives.

Do you want to buy it yet? Well then, go to your local decent record store (mine's Grimey's) or to GBV Digital.

The Soul Corner - Sam Cooke

The Soul Corner is coming up to the end of its calendar year run, and looking for the essential artists or songs we may have overlooked.

No one sang sweeter or with more feeling than the great Sam Cooke. The 1964 classic "A Change is Gonna Come" represented a significant stylistic change for Cooke. Legend has it that hearing Bob Dylan's "Blowing the Wind" while Cooke himself was being denied entry into Southern motels while on tour, inspired him to move away from his pop style hits like "Twisting the Night Away" to write something topical and from his heart. The vocal here is so weary, so heartfelt, so true:

And here's another of my Sam Cooke all-time favorites:

If you have a request for these final editions of the Soul Corner, please post them in the Comments section here or track me down. I'll be posting a survey soon on what we should do on Fridays in 2012.

REVIEW: Shelby Earl - Burn the Boats

Today it is my privilege to review an album notable for all the right reasons, including honest and insightful songwriting and top quality musicianship and production. However, if you are like me, the most notable aspect of the album is the vocals--almost unbelievably clear but redolent of heartache, passion and intriguing depth. Yes, Shelby Earl is one of Seattle's musical treasures, and if the music world is just, Burn the Boats will bring that realization to a wide audience.

A live version of one of the album's better tracks, "At the Start"--


In her early 30s, Shelby Earl worked in jobs in the music industry, including at Seattle's Experience Music Project, for years, but it has taken a while for her to decide to become a professional recording artist. Perhaps the extra time explains her ability to create songs which so well combines youthful hope and adult realism. The result is a remarkably complete debut, devoid of artifice and indifferent to trends. And it is well worth your time.

Album track "Under the Evergreen", live at KEXP's studios:


Burn the Boats was produced (and some vocals contributions) by Seattle indie stalwart, John Roderick, whose band The Long Winters put out some of my favorite Seattle albums in the last decade. it was released November 1 on Rachel Flotard's Seattle-based label, Local 638 Records.

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Garage Rock Thursday: Hozac Records Sampler

For your listening pleasure today, we bring you the sampler from Hozac Records, the self-described "Trojan Horse of rock and roll". Hozac Records is a Chicago label, founded in 2006, that has an interesting stable of garage/fuzz rock oriented bands, including the wonderful Wax Idols whose debut release we reviewed a couple of weeks ago (I'm still playing that one regularly, are you?). Hozac has LPs and singles, and the really great thing is that you can hear songs below and decide whether you like them. And if indecision strikes, just buy the sampler; life is good. Enjoy!

Fall 2011 by HOZAC RECORDS

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REVIEW: New Ruins - This Life Is Not Ours To Keep

Sounding like Silver Jews in places and Richard Buckner in others, with the ability to create a wall of sound with the backbeat and bass, yet still sting you with ragged Crazy Horse riffs, New Ruins come on real strong. Other influences also portend well for guitar rock fans - they namecheck Built to Spill in track 8, "Homes of Rich Blood". First time through the record, I was impressed... a couple more times through, this might be on my "Best of 2011" list.

Here's "Blackbirds":

BLACKBIRDS.mp3 by New Ruins

Here's a video of them performing "Crazy Annie". One of the things I especially like about them is their mastery of the tension/release in the guitar lines, which is featured prominently on this track. Also, three guitars!



If you like artists who combine a laid-back vocal style with all kinds of great guitars, don't hesitate. You can listen to a couple of tracks at their website:

New Ruins Website

A new song from Fear of Men -- "Doldrums"

Fear of Men, one of my favorite emerging groups from England, has posted a new song called "Doldrums". I've shared the song with you below in both the Soundcloud and Bandcamp formats. You can listen to more of the group's fine songs at the Soundcloud and Bandcamp links below.

Doldrums by FEAROFMEN



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New Sounds of Scotland-Part 29: The Creeping Ivies; The Hazey Janes

This edition of New Sounds of Scotland could be subtitled New Sounds of Dundee.


Two people can make a lot of glorious musical racket. In the case of The Creeping Ivies, from Dundee, Scotland, the two people are guitarist/vocalist Becca Bomb and drummer Duncan Destruction, who formed the band in 2010 (disclaimer: WYMA has not checked birth certificates to verify the names of the members). The music is energetic garage/punk/60s throwback, and is sounds great to these ears. While The Creeping Ivies don't have a lot of music out there for us to evaluate, a group that list their influences as The Stooges, Bo Diddley, Johnny Thunders, Ramones, Velvet Underground, The Cramps, Hasil Adkins, and Link Wray has got more than a few steps in the right direction.

"Shake It Up"


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Also from Dundee are The Hazey Janes--Andrew Mitchell, Alice Marra, Matthew Marra, and Liam Brennan. The Hazey Janes play muscular, crunchy indie rock. The gang recorded two albums before this year, but the second one was never released due to legal issues. Their third album, The Winter that Was, was released on October 17, 2011 by Armellodie Records.

Here is a single from the new LP: "Girl In The Night" --


And here is the Soundcloud option for the same track (available for free download)
Girl in the Night by The Hazey Janes by Armellodie

"Carmelite" is from the new album as well--

The Hazey Janes - Carmelite from tHJ on Vimeo.

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Armellodie Records