Pitstop: Parkington Sisters

Clearly the key to worthwhile music discoveries lies somewhere with Mike Savino aka Tall Tall Trees. He has this habit for playing shows with what eventually ends up to be my next musical obsession. From Brooklyn singer/songwriter Lapland now to the Parkington Sisters who he had the pleasure of opening for/playing in on a short tour. When he announced the tour dates with them, it was a given I was going to check them out; it was only a matter of when.



In a lot of ways,  the lead single from their new EP "Inside of My Head" both does and doesn't prepare you for the excellence of the folky Massachusetts sister quartet. It's easily their most infectious, accessible and poppy offering not only on their Inside of My Head EP but of their whole catalog (which really just expands to their debut album Till Voices Wake Us). It's a hell of a hook to introduce you to the Parkington Sisters and you'll either be delighted by the softer, more subtle build of the other songs or listen to "Inside of My Head" until someone checks you into rehab for song addiction.



From a cursory listen, the Parkington Sisters have the stuff most other folk pop bands have: emotive vocals, shimmering harmonies, an affinity for arresting musical moments and a clear narrative voice - and yet when laid in the sisters talented multi-instrumentalist hands, they become weaponized to lay siege to your very heartstrings. Parkington Sisters sing of love, heartbreak, sailors, and far away lands like they're lived the stories themselves. There's none of that hokey put-on folk affect or unneccessay drama, each musical moment is hard-on, occurring at the perfect moment to induce a heart-fluttering shudder.

Lapland - Lapland (2013)

My introduction to Brooklyn singer/songwriter Josh Mease aka Lapland happened rather unsurprising from his likewise monikered Mike Savino aka Tall Tall Trees. Lapland's self titled debut is quite literally days old celebrating its release but a few short days ago at Mercury Lounge. Tall Tall Trees' first show in New York since embarking on a full US tour as Kishi Bashi's touring band, that alone was enough to draw my attention much less the praise Mease was receiving from other artists I dug. That was extra.

Lapland's music, specifically at first listen, is rather unlike what you'd expect from a singer/songwriter. Lyrics cast afloat upon billowing seas of dreamy textures, it seems hard to believe that everything you're hearing is almost solely the work of Mease and yet with the exception of the drums that's exactly what's happening. And while tracks like "Unwise","Memory", or "Soldier" could very well be the soundtrack of your actual dreams, Lapland benefits from a very real, human touch. Inspired by Mease' self-imposed isolation as well the kind of introspection required by most singer/songwriter to reach those interesting depths, it's Mease's silky, emotive vocals that push the songs forward; grappling them to earth when they might otherwise float away. 

While at times it sounds a bit like Patrick Watson ("Aeroplane" and "Metal Lungs" in particular), for the most part, and even in the Watson-esque songs, Mease's sound is his own. Subtly shifting genres in a way that doesn't earn eyebrow raises or set the album on a far less cohesive course than it's released on. Amid Mease's dreamy folk stylings there's colorings of jazz despite Lapland's occasional electronic hum. Unsurprising considering that like Mike Savino, Mease is a jazz musician. But the more impressive feat is how all of Mease's various loves and influences are alchemized in not only an intriguing personal style but also one that manages to be remarkably understated. That's what makes Lapland an album worth mentioning, it's travels are bump-free and svelte; it's machinations as quietly life-affirming as Mease's whisper. 

Watch: Tall Tall Trees - BreakThruRadio LiveSession

Sometime after meeting him at a Kishi Bashi concert last year, I stumbled upon the amazing music of Mike Savino better known as Tall Tall Trees. Last year he and band released the excellent follow up album moment and for some reason or another I never made it out to a show. Since our meeting and his record release show (which I missed because I am a bad, bad fan), Savino's been on the road with some rather impressive friends: most notably the dynamic powerhouses of Lucius and loop pedal maestro Kishi Bashi on his most latest headlining tour, lending a hand as a member of K.'s band.

That's sort of what's so wildly exciting about Savino's BreakThruRadio session. Getting to see several of the techniques he used to create a more lush and boisterous live sound with Kishi Bashi employed on his lonesome. On "Nothingless", Savino creates a beat by hitting the body of his banjo and looping it before accompanying himself by not by strumming his trusty banjo but by bowing it. It's the sort of endearingly simple but genius innovation that made me a fan of Tall Tall Trees in the first place. It's also the reason I'm kicking myself for not seeing the man either solo or with a band since my initial discovery. To think I've been missing out on awesome of this magnitude is more than a little depressing. In the session there's also little excerpts of two newer songs "How Did It Get Dark So Fast?" and "The Seagull and the Eagle" that sound absolutely incredible.



Don't be like me. If you have the opportunity to see Tall Tall Trees live, do it. I'm looking at you West Coast. As Savino has a couple dates over there opening for Kishi Bashi. Don't sleep on this. Do it, do it, do it!

And if you haven't, check out Tall Tall Trees' Bandcamp which features two excellent and remarkably different albums for your perusal.

Tall Tall Trees - Moment (2012)

My discovery of Tall Tall Trees has everything to do with being in the right place at the right time. When I saw Kishi Bashi's Spike Hill show last month there was always a bit of a line to talk to him and while waiting, one of K's constant companions struck up a conversation with me - assuming I actually knew the man. I didn't but that made him no less genial. That man was Mike Sevino - Tall Tall Trees' frontman (which he only revealed when pressed). I couldn't make their record release show but I made a mental note to check them out.

Moment, the follow up to 2009's self-titled debut, trades in the fun, playful folk starting right out the gate with the poppy "Highwire" which metamorphoses into a veritable rock anthem during the break down. In fact, it's not until  the album's fourth track "Men and Mountains" that Mike Savino's banjo makes it's entrance. The sprawling 7 minute track best encompasses what Tall Tall Trees attempt to do on Moment, stacking up an updated more accessible rock sound and much more serious song composition with hints of the more folk-driven sound of their debut. The result is an enjoyable genre-straddling collection of fantastic musical moments.

Moment is essentially a rock album with folk ornaments that proves that Tall Tall Trees can write some pretty amazing serious music if they're so inclined. An album where the individual parts are a bit greater than the whole,  Moment might not be the strongest album you hear but delivers tenfold in downright enjoyment. The second half of the album more than makes up for a bit of a slow-start with bluesy "The Elk" and "Waiting on the Day" and rambling album closer "Nothingless". It's these genre-shifting musical moments that transform Moment into an album worthy of more than a casual once over.

Listen to Tall Tall Trees' Moment right here.