Tag Archive for 'download'

New Single “You Know I’ll Always Love You” From Karyn Paige Released Today

Published on April 24, 2012 in Bands/Artists, Downloads, Exclusive, Interview, Music and Reviews. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Bay Area Pop Funk Chanteuse Karyn Paige. Today, I’m happy to announce that she’s dropping a new single to tide us over until she finishes her full length album.

Consistent with her first release, The KP EP (I reviewed here), her latest single “You Know I’ll Always Love You” pays tribute to the Pop R&B heyday of the 80′s with swelling and buzzy synthesizers. Ms. Paige transforms from the sexy fuming diva sitting on the bed in “Stay Away Tonight” to a sunny girl in love that reminds me of Paula Abdul’s great singles.

The smartly spare arrangements, and loping percussion draws us very close to Karyn’s lovely soprano with an adopted affected stuffiness that recalls 1920′s and 30′s jazz singers. Factor in the slightly-kitschy talk box harmony vocal effects and you have one perfect pop song.

I asked Karyn why she chose to release this single ahead of the full length album she’s working on.

“The motivation for releasing the song  ahead of the full LP was simple: Fans who have seen us play it live are constantly asking when we are going to put it out. People are really drawn to it, from music heads to moms. I wanted to give my fans something new to enjoy until the LP comes out. It was written by my co-producer and keyboard player Matt Berkeley, and I’ve always been honored to sing it.”

Listen for yourself:

Then buy it on iTunes!

While you’re there, check out The KP EP, too.

Click Here to visit the Karyn Paige official website where she has some great videos to check out, too.

Click Here to visit the Karyn Paige Facebook Fanpage

(Upcoming Release) Hiss Golden Messenger – “Poor Moon” Waxes 11/1/11 – Preorder Bundles Galore

Published on September 28, 2011 in Bands/Artists, Downloads, Music, Retail and Vinyl. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Hiss Golden Messenger is the band name that former Court & Spark members MC Taylor and Scott Hirsch have been using since the dissolution of their previous band in 2007. Since then there have been four releases under this moniker: Live in Big Sur in 2007, Country Hai East Cotton in 2008 (which was re-released last year on Black Maps), and in 2010 we saw Root Work which was based on live in-studio Country Hai tracks and Bad Debt which was a recording of spiritually-themed songs Taylor recorded in his kitchen to a cassette recorder.

On November 1st, Hiss Golden Messenger will be releasing a new album called Poor Moon. Poor Moon will be released on a new record label, Paradise of Bachelors and will come out in a hand-numbered limited edition of 500 on beautiful 150g vinyl with a tip-on sleeve designed by Brendan Greaves from Paradise of Bachelors featuring a beautifully-detailed illustration by Alex Jako.

As if this wasn’t enough reason to jump on this purchase, there are tiers you can purchase at which get you bonus downloads. The base $20 “Oak” level gets you the vinyl on your doorstep around 11/1/11, but also a digital download of the album via Bandcamp on 10/15, so you can enjoy it whilst you wait for the physical version. (By the way, they are charging a very reasonable $5 domestic shipping and handling, as opposed to typical shipping charges seen via TopSpin these days). If you order at the $25 “Ash” level, you get an EP of demos and outtakes titled Lord, I Love the Rain which has some tracks from the Bad Debt sessions as well as some studio tracks from an “conceptual soundtrack” called He Wore Rings on Every Finger. At the $30 “Rowan” level you get the aforementioned EP, plus a live recording from 2008 called Plowed: Live in Bovina which was recorded in upstate New York around the same time that the Root Work radio session was taped.

Notably, the tracks on Lord, I Love The Rain will be the basis of the next HGM release, which is targeted for Spring 2012!

As for Poor Moon itself– the album shares it roots with the kitchen table ruminations of Bad Debt in that most of the songs started there. We get full-band treatments of  “Balthazar’s Song,” “O Little Light,” “Jesus Shot Me in the Head,” a driving “Super Blue (Two Days Clean),” Balthazar’s Song” and “Call Him Daylight” (which was a bonus track on the vinyl version of Bad Debt). The Lord, I Love the Rain EP also includes a Bad Debt version of “Westering.” So, you might consider Bad Debt and Poor Moon together as being a “deluxe” edition.

There are few songwriters today that have the ability to capture the sentiment of reaching desire that really grabs me. I think that MC Taylor is in a small group of current songwriters that includes Kurt Wagner of Lambchop and Richard Buckner that excel in this. If you’ve been following the combined story of The Court & Spark and Hiss Golden Messenger, the music on Poor Moon is not as much a revelation as it is a reinforcement of this fact.

Poor Moon captures a certain timelessness in its sound– the production doesn’t stand in the way of the music. Taylor confirms this in a recent conversation, “That was the intention. I wanted sort of a neutral production with the rhythm section fairly up front– which it is– and more acoustic instruments than Country Hai and Root Work. Country Hai was a concerted effort to feature no acoustic guitar whatsoever.”

To that end, Taylor has never been afraid to draw inspiration from his very diverse musical tastes and Poor Moon to these ears has some subtle but definite vibe and tone from early 70′s Van Morrison and Grateful Dead (more American Beauty than Aoxomoxoa, though). Certainly a more rustic setting than Country Hai, I would say, but no less enjoyable.

Below are the Bandcamp links to samples of tracks from Poor Moon and the two bonus releases and the links to order.

CLICK HERE to go to the Ordering Page for Poor Moon

Click Here for the Hiss Golden Messenger MySpace Page

Click Here for the Hiss Golden Messenger Facebook Page

Click Here for the Paradise of Bachelors Website

Click Here for Heaven and Earth Magic Recording Company

Click Here for MC Taylor’s Blog “The Old Straight Track”

 

(Upcoming Release) Ryan Adams – “Ashes & Fire” Album Details and Preorder – Streaming “Lucky Now”

Published on August 23, 2011 in Bands/Artists, Music and Vinyl. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , .

This afternoon Ryan Adams posted the link to the preorder for his upcoming release Ashes & Fire to Facebook which is due out on October 11th on PaxAm Records through a distribution arrangement with Capitol Records. The album was recorded at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles and produced by Glyn Johns who produced albums from the likes of The Who, The Clash and The Rolling Stones among many others. Glyn happens to be the father of Ethan Johns who worked on Adams’ Heartbreaker, Gold and 29. The album has garnered a substantial amount of buzz since it is his first studio album of new material since Cardinology in 2008– although he did some housecleaning by releasing some archival material in the form of his Metal Space Opera Orion and III/IV, a collection of songs recorded around Easy Tiger in addition to some 7″es and some digital releases.

Ryan solicited help on the album with some keyboards by Heartbreaker Benmont Tench (what albums is he not on these days?) and some vocals from Norah Jones on several tracks (she provided the guest vocals on “Dear John” for him previously).

Along with the link to access the pre-orders, Ryan posted a bandcamp link to “Lucky Now” which is also a free download with the pre-order. Everyone who pre-orders will get a digital download of the album the day of the release by accessing their online account created at order time.

Lucky Now by ryanadams

There are four pre-order options for Ashes & Fire. CD and vinyl ($12.99 and $20.00 respectively) and a Deluxe Bundle which can either be CD ($40) or vinyl ($50) and a Deluxe Bundle with a teeshirt ($50 for CD, $60 for vinyl). The extra goodies for the Deluxe Bundles includes a flexidisc of unreleased track “Darkness” as a 3D Lenticular Photo of Ryan Adams, a Booklet of expanded album artwork including 3D photos, A pair of Ryan Adams 3D Glasses and PAX-AM Bucks (To be redeemed toward future paxamrecords.com store purchases).

View all of the preorder details at the Ashes & Fire Store.

Here is a new video of Ryan performing the title track solo acoustic:

Tracklisting for Ashes & Fire (with links to videos):

Dirty Rain
Ashes & Fire
Come Home
Rocks
Do I Wait
Chains Of Love
Invisible Riverside
Save Me
Kindness
Lucky Now
I Love You But I Don’t Know What To Say

(Free Download) Pieta Brown Encore Daytrotter Session

Published on March 6, 2011 in Bands/Artists, Downloads, Eastern Iowa, Music, Out and About and Upcoming Show. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Today Daytrotter posted a session I’ve been waiting over a year-and-a-half to hear– Pieta Brown‘s encore session!

The session was recorded Thursday, June 11, 2009 using a short-lived band lineup called “Dream #9″ with Jim Viner on drums, Jon Penner on bass and Bo Ramsey on guitar. They performed only two shows in this configuration. June 11th at The Redstone Room in Davenport and then on June 12th at The Mill in Iowa City, which I reviewed.

Here is a picture of that band lineup from The Mill Show:

Pieta Brown and Dream #9 at The Mill

Pieta’s first Daytrotter session was recorded in March of 2008. Between these two sessions recorded less than a year apart, Pieta would go from being on a semi-major label to being “in limbo” with no label. A situation which was remedied by September 2009. Nevertheless, Pieta had self-released an EP titled Flight Time in October 2008 and both sessions include songs from Flight Time as well as her Shimmer EP– produced by Don Was and her debut release on Red House Records.

The session is a nice cross-section of Pieta’s career:

1. “#807″ is from her 2005 release In The Cool, which was released on Valley Entertainment and apparently is still in print!

2. “Going Away Blues” is a Frank Stokes cover that Pieta also recorded for her self-released 2003 EP I Never Told which is impossibly out-of-print. I managed to get one of these when Pieta discovered a box last year.

3. “4th of July” also on In The Cool.

4. “Sunrise Highway #44″ is from her self-released EP Flight Time which is still available on CDBaby.

5. “You’re My Lover Now” is from her debut Shimmer EP on Red House Records. This version differs from the EP version by having some nice subtle brushwork from Jim Viner.

Pieta Brown Daytrotter Encore Session: The Faint Light of All Lungs and Hearts

Pieta  Brown has tour dates coming up (from her website) with a show at the Mill Restaurant on April 9th:

Date Time Location
Sat Mar 19 Bluegrass & Roots Festival, River Falls, WI more info
Sat Apr 09 The Mill, Iowa City, IA more info
Sat Apr 16 Stoughton Opera House, Stoughton, Wisconsin more info
Thu May 26 SPACE, Evanston, IL more info
Sat May 28 Crossings At Carnegie, Zumbrota, MN more info
Fri Jun 03 Mountain Jam Music Festival, Hunter, NY more info
Sat Jun 04 Iron Horse Music Hall, Northampton, MA more info
Sun Jun 05 Club Passim, Cambridge, MA more info
Sat Aug 06 Edmonton Folk Festival, Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA more info
Sun Aug 07 Edmonton Folk Festival, Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA more info

 

(Upcoming Show) Kopecky Family Band at The Mill Restaurant in Iowa City 8/12

Published on August 12, 2010 in Bands/Artists, Downloads, Eastern Iowa, Music, Out and About and Upcoming Show. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Growing up in Bellevue, IA there was a local family band with generations of members called the Sieverding Band. This band– as you might expect– was made up of a bunch of guys with the last name Sieverding.  They played the Catholic parish barbeque every year– and still do– and performed the polka mass as well. They are an institution, really.

The Kopecky Family Band is a band I hadn’t heard of before this week when their PR folks reached out to me. A group of seven from Nashville, they aren’t actually all related, but the idea of a tight-knit group of musicians being a family– sharing space and the closeness of working together– is one that clearly ties the members of the Kopecky Family Band together. In an interview with spinner.com from March of this year before they played SXSW, they talk about how Kelsey (the one member who is actually a “Kopecky”) gives the band members their per diem money in a hand-decorated envelope with an encouraging message before the tour. She’s also the person responsible for morning wakeup text messages with an inspirational quote or joke. Clearly, she has taken her role as the “mom” of this family band!

Disaster is the name of the new EP from the Kopecky Family Band and it was released on August 3rd. The band helpfully provides a streaming version of the album from their bandcamp page (below).

Some comparisons have been made to Arcade Fire by reviewers, and I think that is a pretty good place to start with Kopecky Family Band. I think that the anthemic style as well as their classical bent– strings and horns helps with that. My wife also said that the harmonies also reminded her a bit of Local Natives. But, you can listen for yourself:

The band has also made their previous EP Embraces available as a free download through bandcamp:

While the Kopecky Family Band won’t playing parish picnics or performing polka services at your local church, the will be playing at The Mill Restaurant in Iowa City on Thursday Night at 9PM. This is a 21+ show and the cover is $6. Evan P. Donahue will open.

Click Here for the Kopecky Family Band website

Click Here for the Kopecky Family Band MySpace Page

Click Here for the Kopecky Family Band Facebook Page

(Upcoming Release) Antibalas – Who Is This America? Reissued on 8/17

Published on August 8, 2010 in Bands/Artists, Downloads, Music, Personal History, Reviews and Vinyl. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

I became aware of Antibalas around the time that I was working on a review of the very cool Scion Daptone Records Remixed compilation where I mentioned that Ticklah who is credited with the remix of “How Long Do I Have to Wait” by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, is David Axelrod who, among other things, has been a member of the Brooklyn, NY Afrobeat and funk ensemble since 1999.

Antibalas was formed in 1998 and modeled after Fela Kuti’s Africa 70 band and continues to maintain connections with members of Fela’s bands. In 2008 the band was involved in the off-Broadway and on-Broadway musical of Fela’s life titled Fela! The musical is based on the events of his life and particularly his politically motivated music career and oppression from the Nigerian government.

Antibalas’s influence from Fela Kuti extends further than just their afrobeat style, they also choose to make their music the platform for sharing their political views. No where is this more evident than their third album Who Is This America? which was released in 2004 on Ropeadope records. The band and label felt that their political and social statements on the album are as relevant today as they were during the Bush-era, post 9/11 period they were conceived in.

The re-issue of Who Is This America? will be on CD and digital download with a new bonus track “Money Talks” and with an iTunes-only track “Paz.” Notably, Ropadope is choosing not to release this album on vinyl. As luck would have it, Daptone Records released a vinyl version back in 2004 that seems to still be available on their site for $20 and has the “running man” cover artwork. Daptone also has Antibalas’s 2007 Anti- Records release Security on vinyl as well. Security was produced by John McEntire of Tortoise, incidentally. Ropeadope will have a special edition package that includes the CD, a download and a reprint of the “Running Man” teeshirt ($27.99). You can get just the teeshirt, too.

Click Here to download “Big Man” from Who Is This America?

Click Here to pre-order Who Is This America? from Ropadope.

Click Here to order the original (no bonus tracks) Who Is This America? 2 LP from Daptone.

Click Here for the Antibalas website.

Click Here for the Antibalas MySpace Page

Click Here for the Antibalas Facebook Fan Page

Upcoming Release : “Old Punch Card” by Sam Prekop; Sea & Cake Tour Dates

Published on June 27, 2010 in Bands/Artists, Downloads, Media, Music, Upcoming Show and Vinyl. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

If you’re interested in early information about Thrill Jockey releases you need to look no further than the Thrill Jockey website itself! Last week I was doing some research on a couple of upcoming releases on the label and stumbled upon the upcoming solo release from Sea & Cake frontman Sam Prekop! Titled Old Punch Card it will be an experimental instrumental electronic release. I have confirmed with Thrill Jockey that this will be released on Septemer 7th on vinyl as well as CD and download. Each of the covers for the CD and LP will be individually painted by Sam. The cover art you see above is effectively the canvas. Here are some examples of what the covers will look like:

Sam’s last release in the Fall of 2007 was also a disc of electronic instrumentals. It was bundled with his book of photographs.

Tracklisting for Old Punch Card (from thrilljockey.com)

01 Old Punch Card
02 Array Wicket
03 Knitting Needles
04 Brambles
05 Tell Work
06 November September
07 A Places
08 Lazy House
09 The Silhouettes

Sam’s band The Sea & Cake will also be going on tour around the time of this release in support of Broken Social Scene. I wonder if the Sea & Cake is gearing up for an eventual new record? John McEntire–  who is the drummer for The Sea & Cake– produced Broken Social Scene’s new album Forgiveness Rock Record.

The Sea & Cake Fall Tour Dates in Support of Broken Social Scene (from Thrill Jockey):
Mon Sep 13 Washington, DC – Warner Theatre w/ Broken Social Scene
Tue Sep 14 Philadelphia, PA - Theater of Living Arts w/ Broken Social Scene
Fri Sep 17 Boston, MA - House of Blues w/ Broken Social Scene
Sat Sep 18 New York, NY - Rumsey Playfield w/ Broken Social Scene
Mon Sep 20 New Haven, CT - Toads Place w/ Broken Social Scene
Tue Sep 21 Northampton, MA - Calvin Theatre w/ Broken Social Scene
Wed Sep 22 South Burlington, VT - Higher Ground w/ Broken Social Scene
Fri Sep 24 Ithaca, NY - Historic Ithaca State Theatre w/ Broken Social Scene
Sat Sep 25 Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom w/ Broken Social Scene
Sun Oct 3 Milwaukee, WI - Pabst Theatre w/ Broken Social Scene
Mon Oct 4 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue w/ Broken Social Scene
Wed Oct 6 Winnipeg, MB - Burton Cummings Theatre w/ Broken Social Scene
Thu Oct 7 Saskatoon, SK - The Odeon Events Centre w/ Broken Social Scene
Fri Oct 8 Calgary, AB - Macewan Hall w/ Broken Social Scene
Sat Oct 9 Edmonton, AB - Winspear Centre w/ Broken Social Scene
Sun Oct 10 Kelowna, BC - Kelowna Community Theatre w/ Broken Social Scene
Tue Oct 12 Victoria, BC - Element Nightclub w/ Broken Social Scene
Wed Oct 13 Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom w/ Broken Social Scene
Thu Oct 14 Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom w/ Broken Social Scene
Fri Oct 15 Seattle, WA - Paramount Ballroom w/ Broken Social Scene
Sat Oct 16 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom w/ Broken Social Scene
Tue Oct 19 Los Angeles, CA - Wiltern Theatre w/ Broken Social Scene

Click Here to visit the Thrill Jockey page on Old Punch Card which will be updated with streaming tracks and pre-order information closer to the release date.

Free Download: For The Budos Band The Third Time is a (Snake) Charm

Published on June 14, 2010 in Bands/Artists, Downloads, Music, Out and About, Personal History, Retail, Upcoming Show and Vinyl. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , .

Last week the mighty instrumental afro-funk band The Budos Band– which bills itself as the “Staten Island’s Undesputed Champions of Afro-Soul” announced the release and details of their new album The Budos Band III. To be released on August 10th on the formidable Daptone Records label the record is the band’s first release since 2009′s The Budos Band EP and the first full length since 2007′s The Budos Band II.

Coincidentally,  I was in Boston this week for work and managed to sneak in a run to Newbury Comics. I was hoping to pick up the new Suckers vinyl, but it has been delayed. Instead I ended up picking up a couple of records I’ve had on my Amazon Wish List for a while– The Budos Band and The Budos Band EP. I still need The Budos Band II. I’ve been a fan of The Budos Band since I did a review of the Scion Daptone Records compilation.

The Budos Band is a band with a distinctive sound– influenced by African– specifically Ethiopian– music coupled with organ and guitars lead melodically by a muscular horn section. The Budos Band shares guitarist Brenneck with the other signature Daptone house band– The Dap-Kings. Other Dap-Kings Neal Sugarman and Binky Griptite were on-board for the first Budos Band album.  It’s clear that the cross-pollination has helped establish them.

The first Budos Band Record featured a volcano in full eruption with the lava coming right for the viewer presumably representing “The Volcano Song.” The second Budos Band featured a scorpion ready to sting, representing the “Scorpion” album track. Continuing the “dangerous” cover art of the Budos Band records, III has a cobra on the cover– likely representing the “Black Venom” track– but I think may also be a sly reference to the expression “The Third Time is a Charm” where the charm would be for that cobra.

“Heading into the studio for Budos III, I really thought we were going to make the first psychedelic, doom-rock record ever recorded at Daptone,” said front man and baritone saxophonist Jared Tankel, “but somehow it ended up sounding like a Budos record.” I’ve had the opportunity to listen to the album and the familiar formula of the Budos Band is continued but I do get the sense of some underlying darkness.

I like the whole album– the songs on III fit comfortably next to the rest of their catalog in my opinion. Early standout tracks for me are “Unbroken, Unshaven” (this has to be a reference to the fact that the band used to be called Los Barbudos or “The Bearded Ones”) with its clean strumming leading the song, “Nature’s Wrath” has a great loping circular beat but has the BEST FLUTE SOLO this side of Ray Thomas’ solos in The Moody Blues! In my mind, Mother Nature is PISSED about the BP oil leak and this song is the warning before she tears us a new one! One nice bonus to this album is “Reppirt Yad” which wraps the album up. For Record Store Day this year, Daptone put out a split 7″ of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings and The Budos Band. The Budos Band track was an interpretation of The Beatles “Day Tripper.” They seem to have disguised the song with a backwards title for III.

To get a free download of “Unbroken, Unshaven” click on this link to sign up for a Daptone Records e-mail list (that they admit you can unsubscribe from). I’ve been on the Daptone e-mail list for a couple of years now and they aren’t abusive and it’s a good way to stay on top of news from this fantastic label.

The band is off on an extensive tour in support of III and hopefully they bring their snake charming show to a venue near you!

The Budos Band III Tracklisting:

  1. Rite of the Ancients
  2. Black Venom
  3. River Serpentine
  4. Unbroken, Unshaven
  5. Nature’s Wrath
  6. Golden Dunes
  7. Budos Dirge
  8. Raja Haje
  9. Crimson Skies
  10. Mark of the Unnamed
  11. Reppirt Yad

Tour Dates :
Sat June 5 Montclair, NJ Wellmont Theatre (w. Les Claypool)
Fri June 11 New York, NY Rocks Off Concert Cruise
Sat June 26 Vancouver, VC Vancouver Jazz Festival @ Commodore Ballroom
Sun June 27 Calgary, AB Calgary Jazz Festival @ The Whiskey
Tue June 29 Saskatoon, SK Saskatchewan Jazz Festival @ Lydia’s Pub
Wed June 30 Winnipeg, MAN Jazz Winnipeg Festival @ Pyramid Cabaret
Sat July 10 Chicago, IL Chicago Folk & Roots Festival @ Welles Park
Sun July 11 Bloomington, IN Bluebird
Mon July 12 Chicago, IL Millennium Park
Tue July 13 Ann Arbor, MI Blind Pig
Thu July 15 Quebec City, QC Quebec City International Summer Festival
Fri July 16 Ottawa, ON Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest
Sat July 17 Toronto, ON Lee’s Palace
Wed July 21 Philadelphia, PA Johnny Brenda’s
Thu July 22 Harrisburg, PA The Abbey Bar at ABC
Fri July 23 Floyd, VA Floydfest
Sat July 24 Washington, DC Black Cat
Sat Aug 7 Brooklyn, NY Celebrate Brooklyn! @ Prospect Park Bandshell
Thu Aug 12 Los Angeles, CA Levitt Pavilion
Fri Aug 13 Pasadena, CA Levitt Pavilion
Sat Aug 14 San Luis Obispo, CA Downtown Brew
Sun Aug 15 San Francisco, CA Outside Lands @ Golden Gate Park
Tue Aug 17 Phoenix, AZ Sail In
Thu Aug 19 Santa Fe, NM Santa Fe Brew Co
Sun Aug 22 Dallas, TX Granada
Tue Aug 24 Oklahoma City, OK Conservatory
Wed Aug 25 Kansas City, MO Record Bar
Fri Aug 27 Denver, CO Larimer Lounge
Sat Aug 28 Boulder, CO Fox Theater
Tue Aug 31 Salt Lake City, UT State Room
Wed Sept 1 Boise, ID The Grove Plaza
Thu Sept 2 Eugene, OR W.O.W. Hall
Fri Sept 3 Portland, OR Dante’s
Sat Sept 4 Seattle, WA Bumbershoot

Click Here to visit the Wikipedia page on The Budos Band.

Click Here to visit the Budos Band website.

Click Here to visit the Budos Band MySpace page.

Click Here to visit Obscure Sound page on The Budos Band which has some mp3’s.

Click Here to visit The Spinner.com Interface session with video of The Budos Band.


New Live Release from Arbouretum – Couldn’t Hit It Sideways

Published on May 23, 2010 in Bands/Artists, Downloads, Media and Music. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

It was a happy surprise for me this week to find out that Arbouretum released a new recording! Part of the burgeoning Baltimore Indie scene which seems to favor sludgy guitar tone, Arbouretum is singer/songwriter/guitarist David Heumann with a rotating cast of supporting characters. Arbouretum has been on Thrill Jockey for the last three releases (2007′s Rites of Uncovering, 2008′s split with Pontiak Kale, and 2009′s Song of the Pearl).

On April 10th Arbouretum and another Baltimore duo The Expotentials played a gig at a secret venue known only as The Granfaloon. For this show, Arbouretum trotted out the over-51-minute composition that makes up the new CD/download and second release from Aural Slate– the house label for the Baltimore/D.C.-scenester blog Aural States, which I discovered about the same time I found out about Arbouretum. Aural States is worth following and it is a dream of mine to run a boutique label, so I’m watching Greg Szeto’s progress in this space closely– he’s off to a good start with his second release Couldn’t Hit It Sideways by Arbouretum. Couldn’t Hit It Sideways is 51-minutes of churning, chugging improvisation and exploration of a simple and familiar chord progression. To many the concept of this recording might seem tedious and repetitive– and certainly I wouldn’t recommend this as a first exposure to Arbouretum as it doesn’t showcase the strong vocals and lyrics from Heumann. However, even with the 5-minute sample that is provided one can see how Heumann creates and tears down guitar lines– subtle changes that roll over the constant rhythm anchored by the bass and drums laid down by Corey Allender and JV Brian Carey.

The physical CDR will be available at the live shows Arbouretum is doing this Spring (some with Pontiak!), but you can get either 320Kbps mp3 or FLAC (yay!) for $5 from Aural Slate.

Click Here to getcha some Arbouretum!

In other Arbouretum news, the blog Bmore Musically Informed has an mp3 download of Arbouretum’s show from the G Spot on 1/29/10. The show features a great selection of Arbouretum tracks and closes with an astounding version of Neil Young’s “When You Dance I Can Really Love” joined by Wye Oak!

Click Here to see pix and the link to download that show!

Ryan Adams Orion Metal Project Is Available For Pre-Order– Ships 5/24

Published on May 19, 2010 in Bands/Artists, Eastern Iowa, Music and Vinyl. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .

I get home last from seeing Local Natives at the Mill in Iowa City with Suckers in support, check my e-mail and I see the above ad in my e-mail! Thank goodness I checked my e-mail before I went to bed!

This, of course, is the promised Metal album from Ryan Adams under the moniker Orion I reported on in March. Orion was recorded in 2006 with the final production completed earlier this year with Jamie Candiloro. It’s being described as a “fully realized Sci-Fi Metal Concept Album.” The track “Electro Snake” has been streaming since March which apparently was supposed to ease us into the idea of a full-on Metal record from Ryan. Looking over the track list I see that a song called “Fire and Ice” is on there. The assumption is that this is the same “Fire and Ice” that Ryan streamed from his website back in 2006 as part of the “fake” Warren Peace album – War and Peace. With lyrics like “Somewhere above the stars/In God’s cities/Reflecting the soul waves/Oh, the angels have mercy” it would seem to fit the SciFi concept, and aside from the mid-tempo piano part the chorus uses some pretty heavy guitars.

Orion will be the first full-length release from Ryan’s vanity record label Pax-Am. Last year he released three digital singles as well as his first venture into custom pressing vinyl with the pink 7″ of “Oblivion” b/w “People Need Sunlight.” Orion is the first of some promised releases from the mythical vaults of the very prolific Ryan Adams. The very limited (no reports on how many were pressed, yet) release is a very well-executed package from a fidelity and collectability standpoint. The artwork was done by “Away” aka Michel Langevin who, in addition to being the drummer for Canadian Thrash Metal band Voivod, is also a graphic artist. The artwork is screened onto a silver mirrored gatefold sleeve. The LP itself is pressed into clear 180g vinyl which is also a nice touch. Included with the LP is a card for a digital download of the album in the form of 320 Kbps mp3′s as well as a 24″ x 24″ double-sided folded poster (you can see it behind the LP in the picture above).

At the time of this writing, there are still copies available to order on the site. There was also a long-sleeve teeshirt available with some of the album art on it and a fake 2006 tour on the back– these are sold out. The album is $24 and for me at least, shipping was $8 which makes it $32 which is a bit on the steep side– but it is a very quality release and well worth it, I think. If Ryan keeps to his plans, there will be a digital-download-only version available eventually for those folks who don’t want the vinyl.

Click Here to Order the Orion vinyl + digital package.

Tracklisting for Orion:

Side One:

  1. Signal Fade
  2. Imminent Galactic War
  3. Disappyramid
  4. Fire Away
  5. Defenders of the Galaxy
  6. Fire and Ice

Side Two:

  1. By Force
  2. Ghorgon, Master of War
  3. Ariel
  4. Electro Snake
  5. Victims of the Ice Brigade
  6. 2,000 Ships
  7. End of Days
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