A music blog dedicated to my ever-expanding tastes. A musical journey with endless pitstops along the way. Bringing you the best of what I see and hear.
If you're anything like me, you like maybe even prefer absolute stunning instrumentals over clever lyricism atop rather simplistic arrangements. There's just something so incredibly great about the rather revealing quality of a song that needs to bring it all melodically. Ultimately that's what I'm most drawn to even when there's words attached. What's happening musically?
Well for those like me, you're in luck. Taking his place among instrumental acts like Delicate Steve, Collections of Colonies of Bees or Phil Cook & His Feat, William Tyler is releasing a brand new album with Merge and if idyllic scorcher "Cadillac Desert" is anything to go off off, it's going to be an absolutely amazing collection of melody-laden guitar rock. On it, Tyler goes more places thematically in it's mammoth open air sprawl than most albums do while maintaining a smooth, clear timeline. It's minimalistic without being laboriously so and Tyler's ability to recycle themes while still moving the track along is rather incredible. It's the kind of track that could go on forever and you wouldn't hear a single complaint. It's a wind-swept pastoral reverie without any need for words and you wouldn't have it any other way.
William Tyler's Impossible Truth is out March 19th on Merge Records.
Two months ago, we were gifted with the first sounds from The Voluntary Butler Scheme forthcoming third album A Million Ways to Make Gold in "Brain Freeze" and in the wintry second single "Quinzhee (Building Us A House Out of Snow)", Rob Jones appears to be returning to form; stitching back up the visible seams of The Grandad Galaxy and recalling the retropop stylings of After Breakfast, Dinner, Tea. In fact he's taking the brass-laden sounds that composed both albums best tracks and seems to be making them a permanent addition. Not a bad addition in fact as "Quinzhee" and b-side "That's How I Got to Memphis" ( a Tom T. Hall cover) are filled with buoyant horns as well as Jones' impressive multi-instrumentalism.
Get a listen to the latest single "Quinzhee" and b-side "How I Got to Memphis" here.
Also you can order a signed 7" copy of the single here if you're so inclined. The Voluntary Butler Scheme's A Million Ways to Make Gold will be out March 2013.
While I was introduced to Montreal singer/songwriter Patrick Watson earlier this year in name alone through Andrew Bird, it was actually the excitement of Nashville singer/songwriter Justin Branam to see him in concert that really made me take notice and dig in. The result being about a intensive 4 hours listening session of everything I could get my hands on from the man. All worth it.
From the airy piano intro of "Lighthouse", Patrick Watson manages to easily transport you to a world of his own creation: where the mundane is elevated and infused with a sense of wonder and awe. Where wild-eyed innocence is paired with Watson's emotive power and aided infinitely by Watson's feathery light barely there vocals. Songs like "Words in the Fire", "Into Giants", "Small Crooked Road" transform moments like a campfire hang, falling in love, or just going for a walk are given magical, life-changing significance.
What appealed to me most about Watson in general is the core of what makes Adventures in Your Own Backyard work so well. Watson makes genuinely interesting music that has all the complexity of a seasoned multi-instrumentalist while also appearing to be rather simple at least in delivery. Compositionally, Watson's songs are works of art that anyone can enjoy. The rugged experimentalism of albums past (Wooden Arms in particular) is subtler and less obvious and turned more toward inventive songwriting than innovating song construction. That's not to say there's not anything impressive about Patrick Watson's songcraft this time around but rather the main focus is the lyrics and rightly so. Adventures n Your Own Backyard is a series of songs grounded in reality but given tall-tale like stature - artfully arranged into giant lush masterpieces bursting at the seams with effortless beauty. A stunning display not only of Watson's own talents but those of his gifted comrades.
When I was first introduced to Brooklyn singer/songwriter Leigh Jones in a joint concert with John Craigie and Olivia Quillio it was almost impossible not to compare the two females. Olivia Quillio singing raw, sultry songs of heartbreak and frustration, Leigh's songs hopeful, sweet, and caressing love ballads. Subconsciously I started pitting them against each other - a friendly competition of course - to see who would win out which now seems a little unfair. The two had more in common than I initially realized: unexpected powerhouse vocals explode effortless from their rather diminutive statures, real relatable lyrics based on their actual lives, and impressive amounts of musical talents that caresses each verse and musical phrase.
Leigh Jones' debut album Worth Wild is certainly a good one. Reminding me of Sylvie Lewis with its ability to convey intelligence while also remaining accessible and catchy featuring unexpected rhymes and a noticeable folk-pop flair. And Jones' changes gears rather impressively, there's exuberant romp "I Know You Know" and more ballads than you can shake a stick at ("Old Guitar", "Half Mast", "How is California?") there's also soulful highlight "Time Zone" which is probably the album's best track (but not my much).
While Leigh Jones is rather obviously a girl in love, she does a good job of harnessing it in a way that makes you root for her and not just roll your eyes and hurry along. Long distance relationships are the recurring theme on Worth Wild but each time she visits it, Jones has something new to say about it. She celebrates the moments spent together rather than just prattling on about how terrible it is that they have to be apart. Overall, Worth Wild benefits from Jones' ability to handle her love affair with adult sensibility instead of just schoolgirl infatuation. There's a balance of somber seriousness and tracks that are just plain fun just the thing you need to need to get through what could easily have turned into something unnecessary repetitive.
Give Leigh Jones' debut album Worth Wild a listen now:
Ever since seeing them open up for Fleet Foxes, I've been eagerly awaiting news of a new tour from Seattle folk rock trio The Cave Singers which pretty much waiting until they finished up a new album. And considering they had just released No Witch that year, that could've meant years of waiting. Thankfully, that's not the case. Cave Singers retreated back to their native land to work on some new tunes, occasionally venturing out into the Northwest and Midwest for the occasional show/mini-tour while working on that new album.
But with the release of their fourth full length imminent and just from the first single off of it, all those months of East coast neglect seem entirely worth it. "Have to Pretend" is like a more laid-back "Black Leaf", inspiring dance but less frantically so. Instead it rolls on with a rather simple, charismatic beat, some harmony play, and Peter Quirk's trademark rasp. And despite it's rather simple structure, Cave Singers prove they're no amateurs occasionally deviating from the track's casual plod.
Welcome back Cave Singers, I expect a tour immediately. Listen to the new track "Have to Pretend":
The Cave Singers' fourth studio album Naomi is out March 5th on Jagjaguwar.
Sometimes one of the worst things to happen is a region-based releases. Sure, with a foreign artist it make a lot more sense since making your music available everywhere involves significant hoop-jumping but it can cause a brilliant album to fall by the wayside. Case in point is Let The Dog Drive Home, the fifth studio album from Faroese singer/songwriter Teitur. Those abroad had the album for almost an entire year before it arrived on US shores at the very beginning of this year which almost made me forget about the album entirely. And what a real shame that would've been.
Since my first listen to Poetry & Airplanes, Teitur has held a special places as probably one of the most underrated songwriters plying their trade. Maybe that has to do with Teitur Nordic residence but there's been plenty of Scandinavians and the like who've been equally talented and properly successful despite not living here. Sondre Lerche for instance. Or even First Aid Kit. No, the reason Teitur isn't more beloved can only be because he hasn't reached more ears. Hopefully Let The Dog Drive Home can change that. It's a sort of return to form for Teitur, reaching levels of charm, emotiveness, and lyrical poignancy that I hadn't really felt since his debut (the aforementioned Poetry & Airplanes). Tracks like "Waverly Place" and "Freight Train" are almost classic Teitur, featuring the sparse instrumentation and emotional stirring tenor present in his most powerful tracks without sounding like rehashing of whatever worked last time. The stories are new as "Freight Train" percolates with barely concealed regrets, "Let the Dog Drive Home" cruises casually by steeped in metaphor, and the wide majority of Let The Dog Drive Home's tracks slipped into crisp pop dressings of an entirely different beast than albums past.
Melancholic but not depressing, On Let The Dog Drive Home, Teitur shares the kind of life lessons it takes considerable ages to learn. Considering Teitur's rather youthful countenance, it'd seem almost disingenuous if the man weren't the picture of sincerity. That and he grounds this rather big life-changing realizations in a relatable manner whether they be in the form of stories of drinking ("All I Remember From Last Night Is You" or even cozy Bacharachian arrangements ("Very Careless People") allowing Teitur's ruminations to feel more like sound friendly advice than professional, sagely opinion.
Get a taste of Teitur's excellent album with the music video for "Freight Train":
There's something incredibly liberating about attending a show stacked with bands that you don't really know. Sure, I suppose you make a pretty strong argument for scoping out the bands ahead of time to really know what you're getting yourself into but I find the idea of just going and experiencing a band for the first time live to be a far more appealing one.
Enter Neighbors. The brain-child of singer/songwriter Noah Stitelman, the quintet's live set was easily one of the most appetizing of the four band lineup. While I went for ARMS, Neighbors sure were a nice bonus - covering the audience with toe-tapping 80s-leaning synth-pop goodness and throwing in a little bit of 60s girl pop for good measure in the form of backing vocals provided by female members Steph and Julie. The result is something that sounds surprisingly familiar even when you might not have heard the band before. That's not to say that Neighbors don't bring anything particularly original to the table or even that Stitelman wears his influences a little too noticeably on his sleeve, rather Stitelman paints with the rather broad strokes of synth-pop masters and fills in the little details with his own (and his band's) personal touch.
With two EPs and a recently released debut full length (Good Luck, Kid) under their belt, Neighbors have found a sound that seems to work for them. While you could throw any track from Good Luck, Kid on an 80s playlist and have people be none the wiser, it's still a rather enjoyable collection of danceable tracks. A sure sign that 80s nostalgia is here to stay and can be utilized to great effect.
You can listen to Neighbors debut full length Good Luck, Kid on Spotify and buy it digitally.
