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 follow Boston singer/songwriter Marissa Nadler's non-album endeavors her latest team up should be of no real big surprise to you. After enlisting the aid of Angel Olsen and Cat Martino on past collaborations, she's apparently set her sights on Father John Misty's Josh Tillman and they've engaged in a bit of a song swap for a 7" out on Bella Union. For the 7" Tillman's offering up a take on Nadler's "Drive" from her newest full length July while Nadler's tackling arguably the most popular song on the Father John Misty record "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings".
Nadler turns the rugged rock jam into a lamentation. Some of the lyrics which were humorously eyebrow raising in Tillman's delivery, instead are handled with a delicate care that instead makes them appear as a direct response to grief instead of questionable drug-addled adventure. As is Nadler's way, she manages to stay true to the source material while displaying her own strengths - giving herself elegantly craning vocal lines in the balladic version.
The 7" split with be available both on limited edition vinyl and digitally from Bella Union on August 4th.
Well this certainly is an exciting twist. While Boston folk songstress Marissa Nadler has a lot of musical acquaintances, for some reason I didn't really see this one coming but I'm certainly glad it exist. Apparently Marissa Nadler is friends with Angel Olsen. Yes. I'm completely supportive of this. Because as a direct result of this the two golden-voiced ladies have teamed up together for more of Nadler's at-home lo-fi recording goodness. Taking on Richard and Linda Thompson's "Withered and Died" and the results as you very well could've guessed are nothing short of magical.
Boston folk chanteuse Marissa Nadler continues the Halloween love as well as her own series of lo-fi covers with a cover of Daniel Johnston's "Devil Town" and it's kind of exactly what you'd expect from Marissa Nadler. That is, it's quietly beautiful, features Nadler's yawny vocals (and doubly so as she harmonizes with herself), and also features Nadler on an instrument you didn't know she played: the harmonica. I swear Marissa Nadler's steadily conquering each and every instrument known to man. Anyway, it's a good cover that she manages to deliver in her own style. Makes me wish everyday was Halloween.
Listen to Marissa Nadler's "Devil Town" cover here:
Just when I thought it couldn't get any better than her self-titled sixth album, Boston songstress Marissa Nadler proves that's clearly not the case with her companion to last year's self-titled titled The Sister. On "Apostle", Nadler continues with her airy dreamscapes and her intricate guitar patterns in a great display of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". That's not to say Nadler's a one-trick pony offering up the same thing time and time again. No, with "Apostle", which is noticeably more hopeful and chipper, Nadler adds a new tale among her collection of so many interesting and diverse ones that displays the poignant, poetic lyricism that is certainly Nadler's strong suit. How Marissa Nadler can pumped out what's shaping up to be a devastatingly beautiful set of songs so soon after the endlessly gorgeous Marissa Nadler is beyond me but far be it from me to complain.
Boston folk songstress Marissa Nadler has always had a certain affinity for crafting tunes of breathtaking beauty steeped in melancholy and on "Wrecking Ball Company", the first single from Nadler's upcoming companion record The Sister, she's certainly hits her stride. Featuring a sort of bluesy funereal dirge, Nadler laments the distant that can sometimes appear between two people who are otherwise close. The stark video details this relationship perfectly. Featuring a couple that seem to mutually coexisting rather than sharing any kind of loving relationship - it's cold (both visually and emotionally) as Nadler pulls away from the gentleman's advances and attempts at reconnecting all the while Nadler isn't complete unresponsive attempting repair in her own roundabout way by just sticking around and allowing the gentleman to follow her. For all of their unsuccessful attempts at connecting, the last shot is one of home as they stand as the front door holding a matchbox advertising The Wrecking Ball Company. It's beautifully shot and follows in Nadler's tradition of pure emotional evocation with just the right balance of cohesive narrative.
Watch Marissa Nadler's gorgeous "The Wrecking Ball Company":
Marissa Nadler's The Sister is due out May 29th on her own Box of Cedar Records.
This year I got more in sync with music than I think I ever did, with follow ups from established acts like Blind Pilot, Bon Iver, and Feist, the majority of my favorite came from bands and artists I had little to no knowledge to in years prior (with some noteable exceptions). Below are some of my favorite releases of this year that I feel really took the concept of an album to heart.
9) BELL – DIAMONITE
Despite my fastidious allegiance to the format of an album as a means to tell a story, there comes a time when an album can just be a collection of songs and still be okay in my book. This works in the case of BELL’s debut album DIAMONITE based on the cohesive nature of the tracks. Each of Olga Bell’s tracks contain a similar quality that makes them fit together like perfect puzzle pieces and even when she goes off in zany unexpected directions, like the folksy interlude in “Charlie”, they manage to remain a part of the sound and feel of her other songs. Those random moments where she zigs instead of zags breathe life into the album and keep things from getting too stale (not that they were all that much of danger of that to begin with).
8) The Head and the Heart – The Head and the Heart
The Seattle sextet’s debut album has all the making of a great album, that I was kind of surprised not to find it on more best of lists. From the slowly unfurling intro of “Cats and Dogs” that incorporates each member of the ensemble before a heartwarmingly grand unified tutti moment, to how that track leads directly into “Coeur D’alene” there’s no shortage of great musical moments. There’s a wealth of talent contained within the band’s ranks and on the debut each member gets their moment- violinist Charity Rose Thielen often sneaking up on you with brazenly soulful solos that manages to surprise you no matter how much you listen, guitarists/vocalists Jonathan Russell and Josiah Johnson trading off seamlessly, and Kenny Hensley mind-bending piano chops. It all comes together into The Head and the Heart’s folk pop gumbo alongside a smorgasbord of resonating lyricism that doesn’t try too hard. The Head and the Heart - Lost In My Mind by subpop
7) North Highlands – Wild One
There’s a major different between a lot of the albums on my list and North Highlands’. The wide majority of them made an impact due to stellar lyricism, North Highlands didn’t do and that’s fine. Wild One is an example of a more “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it” approach that doesn’t get nearly enough love. Brenda Malvini’s delivery is part of what makes Wild One such a treat. Repeated lyrics empowered like a command or chant and no matter how many times she repeats a phrase or word – it doesn’t get old. But Malvini’s isn’t the band and it’s due to the effort of the whole that Wild One is the success it is. The group’s playing is tight and diverse, swaggering and bustling to create an enjoyable romp that lasts the whole album – even in downbeat numbers like “Fre$ca” and “Best Part”. North Highlands might keep you emotionally at arm’s length but in doing so they make sure you have plenty of space to listen and more importantly to dance.
6) Marissa Nadler – Marissa Nadler
Considering how recently I got into Marissa Nadler’s latest album, her self-titled sixth, it’s kind of surprising that the album can be one of my favorites of the year and yet it is. Marissa Nadler has managed to positively consume my life from the first listen, no doubt due to Nadler’s crystalline vocals, delicate intricate arrangements resulting from Nadler’s arresting attention to detail, and poetic storytelling.
5) Laura Marling – A Creature I Don’t Know
While a bit of a far-cry from her sophomore I Speak Because I Can in terms of emotional intensity and rich moving narrative, Laura Marling continued with her more mature, less conventional songwriting style that revolved around a single driving theme. While I Speak focused on responsibility and womanly duty, A Creature I Don’t Know explored the intense dark emotions that her previous album mostly hinted at. And while album centerpiece “The Beast” falls a bit flat (or needs more time to properly digest), Marling still manages to put together a stunning batch of songs that work exceptionally well together. Marling’s most remarkable tracks are in fact the ones with seemingly the least amount to say “Don’t Ask Me Why”, “Salinas”, and “Sophia”. Rather than trying to drive home her themes like “The Beast” or “All My Rage”, the other songs are small peeks into the mind and psyche of Marling’s characters. While it’s never quite explained why they do what they do, that’s somehow okay. With the exception of “My Friends”, Marling doesn’t ever try to make them accountable for their actions merely to present them in a rich and engaging manner in which she earnestly succeeds. Laura Marling - Sophia by ListenBeforeYouBuy
4) Sondre Lerche – Sondre Lerche
Every time Sondre Lerche reemerges from a recording-related hibernation I know the result is going to be something special and dear to my heart. Sondre Lerche’s eponymous sixth album was no different. While not quite as near or dear as Heartbeat Radio (most likely due to the time I’ve spent with the latter), Lerche certainly brings his a-game and manages to both Lerche’s jazzy-pop rock stylings and also tread new ground. It’s an album brimming with brilliant songcraft and arrangements but also Lerche’s exceptional lyricism. On his self-titled, Lerche combines elements from his previous albums like Phantom Punch’s hard rock fizz but takes things to riskier level when Lerche steps out of his comfort zone of singing pseudo-confessional type songs and embraces a broader songwriting style that still manages to sound personal and engaging. Go Right Ahead by sondrelerche
3) Anna Calvi – Anna Calvi
Anna Calvi’s self-titled debut beginning strains transports you to a smoky, dark cabaret club and there you remain until “Love Won’t Be Leaving” fades out gingerly. Anna Calvi lays all the cards out on the table: ninety percent of the album’s songs are about sex or of a sexual nature (“No More Words”, “Desire”, “First We Kiss”) and yet Anna Calvi presents it in such a classy refined manner that you can both relate and appreciate and enthusiastically share with others. Her passion is felt more than stated, her vocals practically exploding from her at precise the perfect time to make its effects most immediate. While Calvi’s exploration of the primal is nothing new, both Wild Beasts and Laura Marling releasing albums doing that same thing this same year, what catches is Calvi’s total allegiance to the world she creates in her exploration of sounds and textures. Anna Calvi 'Anna Calvi' by Anna Calvi
2) Fleet Foxes – Helplessness Blues
I could go on and on about how Fleet Foxes almost didn’t release this album and how we’re all lucky to be able to it and that’d be true. But Robin Pecknold’s neurotic perfectionism has resulted in one of the single most beautiful albums of the year. If an album has a weak track or two, that’s expected and not really cause for alarm but what do you do when an each and every track on an album is utter perfection? It’s something to be celebrated. That’s no easy feat and Fleet Foxes have managed to do this on their sophomore record and with an effortlessness that belies the frustration its member most likely felt making it. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues by subpop
1) ARMS – Summer Skills
In a year where I found several eagerly anticipated follow up albums to be flops, ARMS is one of the few bands that not only delivered but exceeded all my wildest expectations. Summer Skills, with its supernatural break up album concept, delivered not only a boldly innovative idea but presented it in a way that was exceptionally mindful of itself and charmingly catchy. Todd Goldstein achieves an elegant balance between grizzly detail and imagination-fuelling vagueness in his songwriting that only helps to enrich the album’s miscellaneous stories. Each song pits the two main characters in a new predicament which Todd Goldstein’s deft songwriting and the band’s startlingly precision underscore and navigate you through. Summer Skills is labyrinthine and yet wholly accessible, an album with nearly as many instantaneous rewards as its hidden treasures.
Honorable Mentions:
The Antlers - Burst Apart
Caveman - CoCo Beware
The Deloreans - "American Craze" Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers - On Being
This year, psychedelica has seemingly become the norm - at least when it comes to music videos to the point where it's kind of become overdone. And yet Carter Tanton's "Fake Pretend" could only exist in realm. His jaunt into fizzy electro-pop is bookended by his and Marissa Nadler's clear-cutting emotional vocals that create an interesting mix of synthy folk. Well director Jeff Maksym created a video that stays true to that aesthetic. While it's trippy and colors are everywhere - there's also a very real Carter Tanton wandering among the cornfields and farmland brush. Sometimes he slips into the colorful jumble of shapes or seems transcendentally unaware and it works in this awesomely artistic way of having Carter Tanton slip in and out of reality. Makers of psychedelic music videos should take note: This is how it's done.
Ever since I listened to the Marissa Nadler's self-titled fifth album earlier this month, I've essentially been waiting for this moment. Album opener and arguably my favorite Nadler track has finally gotten the video treatment it so rightly deserves. It kind of makes some sort of cosmic sense that the video for one of Nadler's most narrative of narratives doesn't really have a plot. Instead you're gifted with some intensely beautiful shots feauring the chanteuse herself. Marissa Nadler and director Alec K. Redfearn are a music video dream-team creating a brilliant work of art fueled by the subtle emotions that are the very essence of the track.
Strangely enough, I remember when a year ago when I swore I would never do a Best Of list. At least not in the way that some blogs do there. Rehashing old reviews and offering nothing new - that might work for some but it's not my style. And yet, Best Of lists are a great way to discover some great music you might've missed throughout the year or might've forgotten about. So my hope is that by throwing my own hat into the Best Of ring I can help do one of those things for you. Enjoy my first Best Of list or more aptly put, my favorite 15 tracks of 2011.
15) The Deloreans - "Buffalo", "American Craze"
Before Sam at MiddleClassWhiteNoise introduced me to The Deloreans, I wasn't aware there was anything of note in Kentucky. Let alone the three stellar bands I was later introduced to from Louisville. An ode to old-fashioned American decadence and a hodge-podge of different styles, practically any song on the album is worthy of a slot and definitely necessary listening but what set "Buffalo" apart is its multi-faceted nature. Fun and frenetic for the choruses but subtle and restrained for the verses, the track utilizes the intense energy of "American Craze" without sacrificing any of the thematic content.
14) North Highlands - "Roundhouse", Wild One
For an album named Wild One, there's actually a shortage of songs that are actually all that unchained and yet that works for North Highlands. Brenda Malvini's soft, delicate vocals are inviting and the band, broad and sweeping around her, pull you in like ocean waves. Malvini quiet coo in "Roundhouse" "If I was wild, if I was brave..." explains a bit, and ends up far more effective than a roar. The track pulses with an infectious energy while maintaining an almost stoic control before there's an unexpected rush, the opening of the floodgates and you're smacked with feeling. The track tells a story but is also intensely danceable. The best of both worlds.
13) The Dodos - "Good", No Color
When I first read that Neko Case would be contributing vocals to the new Dodos album I regarded it with a great deal of surprise and confusion. Meric Long's voice somehow fits the percussion-heavy folk realm the two inhabit but how would Neko Case's translate? Incredibly well. And yet, the tracks where she was barely there- a mostly quiet spectre in the background were the tracks I enjoyed most. When she shouts and harmonizes on "Good" it's almost too much good to bear. "Good" is great because it's driving, hard-hitting, with an astonishing amount of simplicity but effortless precise and no doubt memorable. It's 6 minutes long but far from monotonous - something always catching your ear to keep you from just drifting off. Good by The Dodos by Mute-Song
12) Hello MTN - "Suitcase Song", Tour EP
Portland folk duo Hello MTN have been working on an album for better part of the year, taking breaks pretty much solely to tour. Luckily, the duo decided to make a four song EP so concertgoers would have something tangible to hold onto and things just kind of spiraled from there. "Suitcase Song" might seem like a bit of a novelty (being that the song features an actual suitcase as the percussion) but the song is positively awash with emotion. The song makes use of the duo's seemingly endless array of talents and features remarkable musical interludes between verses.
11) Joe Hertler & The Rainbow Seekers - "We Are Everything", On Being
It's hard to fathom the possibility of not seeing Joe Hertler and his band in that small mostly empty bar at the start of my CMJ but I did and for that I'm exceedingly glad. On Being shows off Joe Hertler's deft songwriting chops and a wisdom far beyond his years with "We Are Everything" functioning as a delightfully enjoyable cog in Joe Hertler's conceptualized vision. While songs on On Being wrestles with bigger picture ideas and pseudo-religious themes, "We Are Everything" notes how tiny humans are in the grand scheme of things when compared to the limitless wonders of the universe and yet, does so with nary a heavy-hand. Instead with his rich imagery and patience, Joe Hertler creates something truly soul-stirring.
10) Left With Pictures, "June", In Time
Last year, British chamber pop quintet Left With Pictures challenged themselves to the great songwriting feat of writing a song a month as part of their In Time project. Not only did they have to have a fully developed song that would be premiered by Gideon Coe on BBC 6Music on the last Monday of each month but they also had to have a finished video which they would post the next day. For 2010, I had no greater joy than when a brand new Left With Pictures track was revealed as each month their songwriting seemed to get better and better especially when they reached months without an obvious inspiration. One of my favorite tracks from this was "June", inspired in part by the advent of summer but with no obvious references to it. Instead "June", the month it was composed for, is personified as a beautiful girl whom has utterly enchanted the narrator. The song is as big as it's claims that a thousand battle ships would launch for her - the band pulling out all their songwriting chops to brilliant effect to create an upbeat romp full of positively delightful musical moments.
9) tUnE-yArDs - "Bizness", W H O K I L L
My introduction to "Bizness" happened live at tUnE-yArDs' concert in Central Park about a year and a half ago. There she performed almost all the sounds that weren't created by bassist Nate Brenner or with her own drums sticks with her own mouth (besides the brass band she had join her for a couple songs). It was exceptionally impressive. So when I heard the new version where those vocal effects were replaced with studio-processed machine sounds I was a little disappointed. And yet, even with that little let down, the infectiously catch nature of "Bizness" won out. It takes some of the best moments of her 2009 debut and amplifies them about tenfold. Garbus' decision to studio record affords the track with increased accessibility but also allowed her to throw some great things onto it (like the aforementioned brass band). tUnE-yArDs - Bizness (4AD) by Ragged Words
8) The Head and the Heart - "Rivers and Roads", The Head and the Heart
During an intimately live show at Pianos in September, I had an epiphany: Spunky Seattle folk sextet The Head and the Heart write some pretty sad songs. This might seem like a no-brainer or even downright wrong to you but underneath their fun, poppy arrangements are lyrics about feeling out of place and alone whether you're far from from or stuck in your hometown. And yet there's a shortage songs on the album where this emotion is just left to its own devices - not played with by the groups various band members and their skilled arrangements. "Rivers and Road" is one of those rare songs that's not upbeat and makes no attempts to be. You don't get rapped up in the feel of the song and think it's about something else entirely - no, instead you get this wonderful moment of heart-on-your-sleeve confession carried from a purely vocal standpoint. Guitarist/vocalist Josiah Johnson gets his moment to shine while the rest of the band helpfully keep tempo and Jonathan Russell and Charity Rose Thielen add backup harmonies. And it's all quite lovely and good and makes for a nice song and then in an utterly unexpected moment Charity takes the helm with powerhouse vocals radiating with soul and you're a puddle on the floor. It elevates the already good song to an absolutely other plane of greatness and tugs at each and every one of your heartstrings. Rivers and Roads by ImpressYourPeers
7) Carter Tanton - "Murderous Joy", Freeclouds
It strangely alright that, like a lot of my musical discoveries, Carter Tanton was a case of being at the right place at the right time. Because Tanton's "Murderous Joy" might just be one of the best songs I've heard in awhile and especially was about a month ago when I was introduced to it. It's catchy in an excitedly nonchalant way - a brilliant masterpiece of a song that single-handedly proved Carter Tanton and an able songwriter to me. There's an ineffable greatness about it - it ebbs and flows at precisely the right moments; its simple with unassumingly intelligent turns of phrase and a pervading sense of calm nostalgia. 01 MURDEROUS JOY by NYLONmag
6) Tallest Man on Earth - "Weather of A Killing Kind", Adult Swim Singles Program 2011
After the release of The Tallest Man on Earth's sophomore album The Wild Hunt and subsequent Sometimes The Blues Is Just A Passing Bird EP just a couple months after last year I figured we'd be done with any new Tallest Man for awhile. So when Adult Swim released a brand new Tallest Man track as part of its Single Program this summer I was incredibly surprised and equally as appreciative. It's quintessential Tallest Man with his trademark rasp and complex fingerpicking but also with beautiful melodies. The Tallest Man on Earth - Weather of a Killing Kind by All Around Sound Blog
5) St. Vincent - "Cruel", Strange Mercy
When I first heard St. Vincent's music, I remember being strangely neutral about it. Albeit my first foray was at a live show that Annie Clark herself was disappointed in. But earlier this year when Annie Clark teased Strange Mercy via Twitter-fueled Youtube videos, color me intrigued. I revisted her older stuff and found myself actually really liking it. When "Surgeon" dropped, I ate it up and asked immediately for more. Then "Cruel" came out. This track took the big rock licks that were my favorite part of "Surgeon" and made a whole song of it. It's big, bold, and strangely enough not in your face. Annie Clark knows subtlety. She's made a career of wink-wink nudge-nudge moments and yet, "Cruel" is subtle in a brand new way. It's vunerable and open with a shouted from the mountaintops vibe that she tones down into something far more marvelous. It's catchy without trading in any of the necessary emotion and virtuosic without being overly showy. St. Vincent - Cruel by Posh Magazine
4) Fleet Foxes - "Grown Ocean", Helplessness Blues
Fleet Foxes' Helplessness Blues is arguably one of the best things to come out of this year. Especially when you realize it almost didn't. But Robin Pecknold's musical perfectionism ended up creating one of the greatest albums of the year - one that tackles an important theme of growing up. One of the best songs on Helplessness Blues is no doubt "Grown Ocean", with it's driving drums and bass, not to mention it's place as the cathartic end to an album with heaps to say and even more questions to ask. Everything you love about Fleet Foxes spills out in this track - Robin Pecknold and the band's lovely songcraft, everpresent nature imagery, soul-gripping vocal harmonies. The whole thing is utterly magical, even the wonderfully little ellipses that ends the track (and album). Fleet Foxes - Grown Ocean by subpop
3) Marissa Nadler - "In Your Lair, Bear", Marissa Nadler
If I had made this list about a week ago, this track wouldn't be here. But since sitting down with Marissa Nadler's self-titled I've found this song has completely taken over my life. Since I heard the opening strains of the album's opening track, I've hardly been able to listen to much else. It's slowly but surely consuming me. And yet, isn't that exactly what our favorite songs do? With her slow, lilting siren song Marissa Nadler has charmed her way not only onto the list but also pretty high on my favorites list. "In Your Lair, Bear", with it's supple melodic lines and yawny unraveling narrative is bewilderingly beautiful. Not a bad song to have utterly take over your life, actually.
2) Laura Marling - "Flicker and Fail", A Creature I Don't Know (Bonus Version)
I was first introduced to the live version of this song which Laura Marling debuted at the Radio 2 Folk Awards early this year and I was struck by how good it is. When describing Laura Marling's music calling it "good" seems kind of like kind of a moot point but considering that half the song is an old song her father wrote and the rest is just things she fixed around it, I was surprised by how well it all seemed to go together. Laura Marling has always been described as being a mature songwriter but this song left me completely floored. Still does. For all the conceptualizing on I Speak Because I Can and A Creature I Don't Know, this track hit me square in the heart. Not only did it sound amazing, like all of Marling songs, but it captured all the elements I loved about Marling and elevated them to the next level - her witty turns of phrase? Present. Her intricate guitar melodies? Present. It contains the emotional side-stepping Marling has started to make her songwriting staple and yet, does in a manner that doesn't make you question it. "Flicker and Fail" shows a decidedly better Laura Marling that was hinted at in some of the best tracks on A Creature I Don't Know and her decision to include it (albeit as a bonus track) shows that she knows this too.
1) ARMS - "Heat & Hot Water", Summer Skills
"Heat & Hot Water" might not have been the first song I heard from ARMS (that slot is reserved for "Emily Sue, Cont'd") but it was the song that launched my year-long obsession with all things ARMS related. So much storytelling is packed into 4 minutes of vibrant, visceral songwriting not to mention so many delicate musical ornaments and intricate textural strokes. While practically any song from Summer Skills could've made it on this list, "Heat & Hot Water" is my definitive ARMS song. The moment on their 2010 EP where I realized I needed to know more, and probably my most listened to track of the whole entire year of 2011. Not to mention a surefire contender for one of my favorite songs ever written ever.
Honorable Mentions: Conveyor - Sun Ray, Sun Ray EP The Middle East - "Hunger Song", I Want That You Are Always Happy Laura Marling - "Don't Ask Me Why"/"Salinas" A Creature I Don't Know Sondre Lerche - "When the River", Sondre Lerche The Voluntary Butler Scheme - "Don't Rely On It, Don't Count on It", The Grandad Galaxy
Before the release of her brand new self-titled album, I had never heard of Boston songstress Marissa Nadler and what a tragedy that was. Around the time of her album release, We Listen For You championed it so strongly that I felt compelled to check out her music. But not with the new album. No, Nadler's music seemed like it needed time and devotion to truly understand so I set about starting at the very beginning and working my way to her newest album.
Marissa Nadler begins with the hauntingly beautiful "In Your Lair, Bear" a track that could very well just be the album. It's that good. It shows off everything Nadler does so well - her poetic narratives, her pristine vocals, and her utterly captivating compositions. At six minutes, she takes her time letting her tale unfold slowly but enchantingly and most importantly, unexpectedly. Nadler's songwriting is almost maddeningly strong. There's no sloppy rhymes or singer/songwriter bravado or self-importance. Instead Nadler lets the songs go where she feels they need to and steeps them in an overwhelming sense of quiet that makes the listener far more attentive. Instrumentation and lyricism are given equal tempering in a way that creates some stunning musical moments and only adds an extra layer to Nadler's narratives.
Marissa Nadler rewards dedicated fans with references to old songs, like "Mr. John Revisited", the sequel to Mr. John Lee (Velveteen Rose) off The Saga of Mayflower May and references to Ballads of Living and Dying's "Box of Cedar". But such knowledge isn't necessarily to fully enjoy the album. Nadler is a skilled songwriter and gifted in every sense. Each song a fully realized piece tended to with an artistic attention to detail. The result is an album in which each song is a treat and a thing of utmost beauty. Nadler is often lauded for the impressiveness of her dreamy landscapes but it's those moments when reality crystallizes amid those dreamy hazes that are really impressive most noteably in "Baby, I Will Leave You in the Morning" and "Wind Up Doll". Marissa Nadler is an album of limitless beauty that manages to be literary, musical, and amazingly relate-able all at the same time. An absolute gem of carefully constructed art.
Get a taste of Marissa Nadler with a live video of "In Your Lair, Bear":
When I was first introduced to Carter Tanton that fateful night in a Turntable.fm room, his album Freeclouds has been on the brain. At the time I had only heard album opener “Murderous Joy” and knew without a doubt that I wanted this album. Never mind that Carter Tanton has a rather impressive set of credits that include guitar duty with Boston dream pop songstress Marissa Nadler and Baltimore’s Lower Dens.
Freeclouds starts off with ”Murderous Joy” arguably the best track on the album. Every singer-songwriter, band, or artist should strive for that one song that’s so great people can’t stop listening to it and this might very well be Tanton’s. It’s emotional without being melodramatic, with a plainsy whisper that recalls the rolling hills of the countryside viewed from the window of a departing train. And just when you think you know what to expect from the album, you get a hazy duet with Marissa Nadler in the form of “Fake Pretend”. Despite all the noise and effects, Tanton and Nadler’s vocals cut clear though – simple and sweet.
Freeclouds makes some reference to David Bowie’s “Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud” (most notably in “Pitch Bent Flute”), but if you’re like me and have merely a passive knowledge of David Bowie’s music you’re certainly won’t be left out of the loop. Tanton combines all the strengths of his other projects to spectacular effect without being upstaged by them. “Murderous Joy” proves right away that Tanton’s a skilled songwriter so the rest of the album you’re not distracted looking for proof. Instead it gives him room to explore and experiment while occasionally grounding it with tracks like “Saturday” and “In Knots”. Each track offers up something new – some new effect or unexpected twist that all come together to make for a diverse but not disconnected album. Freeclouds is a delightful listen that grows better with each listen –as intricacies give way to revelations and yet, it’s an album that’s endearing simple. There’s no grandstanding like some singer/songwriters are sometimes wont to do – instead it’s just a collection of songs that are honest, sincere, and most importantly just plain good.
Get a taste of Freeclouds with the video for "Horrorscope":
My discovery of Carter Tanton is a testament to how awesome Turntable.fm still is despite it's minor brush with irrelevance. Max Blau of Paste Magazine put the track "Murderous Joy" up and I was immediately sold. Before he even mentioned that Carter Tanton was actually the guitarist from Baltimore's Lower Dens and had a track featuring Marissa Nadler. Sold and Sold. That was enough for me promise I would check out Tanton's debut album Free Clouds out November 15th.
And yet if the slow, folksy whisper of "Murderous Joy" isn't enough to win your favor, Tanton has two other tracks available for consumption. There's bristling, raucous "Horoscope" and the aforementioned track featuring Marissa Nadler, "Fake Pretend".
The constant between these three rather different songs is Tanton's silky, evocative vocals - comforting and caressing even amid the stormy, bustling "Horoscope" and "Fake Pretend" and doubly so in downtempo "Murderous Joy". The ease at which Tanton switches moods is all the assurance I need that Free Clouds in a sure fire must listen.
Free Clouds is out November 15th on Western Vinyl. Get a taste of Carter Tanton: 01 MURDEROUS JOY by NYLONmag
