Dust From 1000 Years (Live / Buzzard)

I think Tim was going to do this as his entry this week but I can't really help myself, sorry tim, this cd is so good. We (aka Sgt Dunbar) had the pleasure of playing with Dust From 1000 Years last monday night and I had little idea of what to expect knowing only that they were the touring band of the night. I was highly impressed with their set of haunting songs and perfect melodies, they had the entire room hanging on every note, up in arms with their rhythms and back again. As hard as I try I can't really think of anyone to compare these guys too, though they definetly fit into the indie folk genre but in a completely different way from us I think maybe because indie and folk are more aesthetics than genres.
After the show we swapped cds, and I got my hands Buzzard. Its now a week later and I still haven't stopped listening to it. I really wish I could have heard the cd before I saw them live cause the show would have been magnificent. I really can't wait to see them again and sing along. 13 Tracks spanning 40 minutes with an eerily wonderful sense of melody & harmony, deftly crafted lyrics, amazing ambience and beautiful lo-fi hiss these songs get stuck in my head non stop, especially Bad Thing.
You can grab this cd and their two older cds at their myspace. They are still on tour and anyone who reads this blog from brooklyn, richmond, atlanta, nashville or a few other places south of the mason dixon (aka nobody) would be well advised to check them out.

mp3:Bad Thing
mp3:Goin on forever
mp3:Immortal Hair

"Awesome Band" (from MySpace.com, 4 April 2007)

.

Desperately Obvious at the Capital District Federation of Ideas

.

April 2nd was another wonderful night to be a local hipster; my confidence in the people of the Albany area to be creative and entertaining has been gaining strength all throughout 2007 so far and Monday was another testament to that. The Capital District Federation of Ideas (CDFI) hosted their first ever full blown show at Point 5, their house/gallery at 383.5 Madison Ave. This included Sgt Dunbar, Desperately Obvious (as far as I believe, mostly local) and Dust From 1000 Years, on day 4 of their 16 day tour out of Bloomington, Indiana.

.

Desperately Obvious kicked off the show and continued to impress me song after song as the small space began to fill up and heat up with students, graduates, bosses and random passers-by. I was finding some very good influences in their tunes, starting with vocalist/guitarist Richard Nolan's wailing voice's similarity to that of Willy Mason. Add the rest of the band: a stripped down drum kit played with brushes, a very pretty bass, slide guitar and keys and you end up with an alt-emo-country pop-bluegrass band entering your head. If you're as big an Okkervil River fan as me then these guys are right up your alley, and their cover of "Westfall" was true enough to the original to see the bands respect for their influences, but also creative enough to be what is somewhat rare, a good cover song, and well adapted to their lack of a mandolin player.

.

CDs were swapped and I ended up with a copy of their press kit, the album art of which was done in my favorite meidum: pen on lined paper, along with Dust From 1000 Years full length called "Buzzard" (check out next Wednesdays post) also done in one of my favorite mediums: crayon on construction paper. I enjoy when bands post their lyrics, and when I read along with the songs on their impressivly available myspace, www.myspace.com/awesomeband where their lyrics are posted,I really began to appreciate the lyricism that's there when you can get past the excellent instrumentation and composition.

.

The disc starts with "New Flower", a very humbly poetic love song to a flower that evokes deep and honest longing. Then slows right down into "Cheatin' Heart", a mellow sort of Pink Floyd-ish bob your head bluesy kind of song, leaning towards more of a dramatic, fictional lyrical subject... at least I hope he didn't dump a mans body in a river. (these are the two mp3s i will post, so i suppose i should have described some of the other songs, but...tan tan tan).

.

You can see them in Utica, at the Resonance Center with Sgt Dunbar and Fig Mints (of your Imagination) on April 28th at 8pm.

.

They have at least one album out on Make Your Fate Records (comprised of them and the Mathmaticians), possibly two at this point. You can buy it from the MYF website (synonomous with the Desperately Obvious site) or probably just by sending them a message on myspace. For their presumably newer radio/press kit, you'll probably have to just go out and see them, which is a pretty good deal if you ask me.

-

mp3: A New Flower

-

mp3: Cheatin' Heart

-

Desperately Obvious

www.myspace.com/awesomeband

-

Pink font, stars, smiley faces, cleavage:

www.myspace.com/desperatelyobvious

-

Make Your Fate Records/Desperately Obvious

www.desperatelyobvious.net

-

Capital District Federation of Ideas:

www.federationofideas.org

RPM Challenge Recap Parts II-IV

“Excuse me, could you tell me where the Portsmouth Music Hall is?” Eric leaned out the car window toward a woman who exuded “I’m a local” from her pores.

“Right there.” She pointed to the large brick building directly in front of us.

We’d made it.

Musicians mingled in the mezzanine, sporting name tags like “Hello My Name Is: Lithia Spring and the Beatniks of Destruction.” People stood in line, plastic cup of wine in hand, waiting to hop on stage and get a glimpse of the cover art for just a handful of the 850 CDs that had been turned in for this years RPM Challenge (see yesterday’s blog: RPM Challenge Recap Part I). The stage was covered with new music. There were office supply store branded CDs scrawled on with Sharpie, there were hand painted cardboard cases and there were inkjet printed cases. I even saw a hand quilted CD case. Already I was giddy. But the fun had only just begun.

Soon the packed Music Hall was greeted by RPM organizers Dave Karlotski, Chris Greiner, Jon Nolan, and Karen Marzloff, who took the time to bestow as much credit as humanly possible to the musicians in the audience and around the world for making the RPM Challenge possible. The humble nature of these hardworking folks became a theme throughout the night. The behind the scenes work of organizing such a massive musical endeavor as the RPM Challenge, not to mention the Global Listening Party alone, is no small feat (especially when they were doing it for free, and still writing for, editing and publishing The Wire magazine…all just because they love music). But the organizers never once focused on their own sleepless nights uploading 8,500 new songs into what Dave Karlotski called “one of the biggest free independent music sites that I know of.”

This Listening Party it seemed was not a place for the godly organizers to unload about how in the past two months they’ve drank more coffee, had less sleep, torn open more manila envelopes, or stared at more computer screens than ever before. No, this was a time for celebration. And what better way to celebrate than with surprises?

The 550 person audience cheered ecstatically when Bob Boilen, director of NPR’s All Things Considered, and creator of All Songs Considered, as well as RPM Challenge Participant himself, joined us Back to the Future II style when his face glid across the massive projector screen on a live Skype Internet call.

Independent musicians everywhere were crying in their beers after his inspirational and heartfelt words. Okay, maybe it was just me that was crying. I was glued to every word that came out of his mouth. I absorbed the image of the shelves and shelves of vinyl and CDs that were stacked in the study that was the background of his massive face. I marveled at how his eyes looked even more tired than the organizer’s. And I grew weepy when he said exactly what independent musicians around the world know so deeply: There is something more personal about music that is recorded by the musicians themselves. The recording process itself becomes an extension of your art. Whether you’re recording in your bedroom, or your kitchen, or your basement, it’s you that’s doing the recording. It’s you that has the final say. There’s no more of this getting in your car to drive for your 10am appointment at the studio. Every artist knows you can’t make an appointment with creativity.

The time of unfeeling, expensive, professional recording is over, Boilen said, “and it should be.”

Boilen’s unseen audience cheered so loud that he stopped talking and laughed, raised his hands and shook his head in disbelief. Comprehending aurally just how many independent musicians were in the audience he was speaking to.

The intimate call from Boilen was followed by a video, yet another massive undertaking by the RPM organizers. It included still shots played in fast time of every single CD that was handing in to them, interviews with musicians about the highlights and lowlights of their month (one memorable quote was: “it’s takes a lot of work to put all of your energy towards procrastinating on such a gigantic project”), and home videos sent in documenting recording processes (one guy recorded his entire album on a reel to reel tape player). The Music Hall occupants then dispersed to six different venues around Portsmouth to listen to varying set lists.

Some musicians handed out their CDs for free, others exchanged email or recording techniques. I jotted down notes of artists I wanted to look into further after hearing their preferred track streamed through a warm, crowded, smoky (it’s New Hampshire remember –live free or die) bar.

The party’s over, but the work for the RPM organizers isn’t finished yet. Right now you can visit http://www.rpmchallenge.com/ and hear the 2007 Jukebox of 850 songs, amounting to one track per artist. But in the next few days all 8,500 songs will be available. As Dave Karlotski said when asked what the organizers would do once they’re finished: “we have a lot of new music to listen to.”

links:
RPM Challenge: http://www.rpmchallenge.com/
The Wire Magazine: http://www.wirenh.com/
Bob Boilen’s All Songs Considered: http://www.npr.org/programs/asc/

The RPM Challenge Recap Pt. 1

I wonder what might have happened if Pitchfork never covered the RPM Challenge. I wonder if it would have quietly worked its way up in size or if it would have fizzled out. I may have found out about it through some other avenue, who knows. But it first crossed my eyes on Pitchfork. I read the article, clicked on the website, played the jukebox, read the rules, picked up the phone, called Jen, told her to read the article and within twenty minutes we had agreed we were in. We were making an album in 28 days. The month of February was going to be Record Production Month.

Last year was the first year of the RPM Challenge. It was organized by the alt-weekly magazine The Wire, out of the cool seacoast town of Portsmouth New Hampshire. Loosely modeled after the February Album Writing Month (FAWM), which was a take on the National Novel Writing Month (nanowrimo), The RPM Challenge was going to challenge songwriters in New Hampshire to write AND record an entire album in a month. Record it on whatever you can find: tape recorder, four-track, Protools, even your mother’s answering machine. 10 songs or 35 minutes of recorded music, noise, whatever you want to call, however you want to make it, you got 28 Days to complete it.

28 days is not a lot of days. That’s entirely the fun of it. The lure of the RPM Challenge is that you can’t get things perfect if you want to get things finished.

This year a lot of people were lured. People from outside New Hampshire, people all the way out in Albany and beyond. Chicago, Seattle, Tokyo, Bangkok, all the way to Dublin and below the equator. Get out your maps. Put a pin on a globe. Chances are you’re striking a country with a RPM Challenge participant living in it. Actually, you can just go to http://www.rpmchallenge.com/. They have a map there.

850 bands made albums for the RPM Challenge in 2007. 850 Albums that might never have been made otherwise. 850 albums from all over the globe. So what does a little alt-magazine from Portsmouth do in response to such a response?

They threw a killer global listening party March 30th. That's what they did.

It was a listening party played over the web. The RPM challenge asked each participant to choose one song off of their album to be put into a custom built high-tech juke-box to be streamed over the web (once again http://www.rpmchallenge.com/). Registered gatherings in major cities across the U.S. were given set lists full of the songs written by attendees to those parties. The beer flowed like wine. The hipsters, the Goths, the hippies, the freaks, the lumberjacks, the white collar 9-5ers all came out to see and be seen, to hear and be heard.

I was in Portsmouth for the big soiree, along with the other half of the band We Are Jeneric. It was awesome. I drank a lot of Old Grandad and I danced like a fool.

I’ll let Jen fill in the rest for tomorrow.

The Ashes of Vesuvius - The New New Beirut EP

Beirut is a spatial band. Their new Pompeii EP is only available digitally at EMusic helps us circumnavigate their short but illustrious travels. Their old new ep, Lon Gisland, presumably named in reference to the band's migration to Williamsburg BK from Albequerque NM, was a logical continuation of their Gypsy Folk stylings of my #1 album of last year, Gulag Orkestar. The "move to Brooklyn" has come to signify a band's immersion into the hipster capital of the universe, availabliity to a larger listening public and an fight for distinction of a unique sound in the polyglot of musical happenings. Ironically, just as Pompeii is a forgotten subterrean city, so is this album, devoid of any the eastern European, or Northeastern American flair. It's placeless. This two-song b-side, a digital 7", submerges the organic sounds the flittering mandolins and accordions of Eastern Europe under a ethereal synthesized piano gobblety-gook. Releasing an online only b-side has morphed their sound into a sterile "scenic world."

Zach Condon's wavery voice sounds more like Kid A Thom Yorke than ever before; you can actually tell he's singing in english, and the multiple recorded layers of his voice gives a haunting robotic overtones than the proletarian mumblings of his occidental influence the of string driven/horn bubbling/ accordion bellowing/ gems "Postcards from Italy" and "Elephant Gun." Excavations take a long time, and Beirut rushed this one. You have to admire Condon's proflicacy, but this EP probably should have stayed buried.

http://www.emusic.com/album/11008/11008224.html

New Music: Dinosaur Jr

Dinosaur Jr haven't released a record proper since 1997, although Rhino Rereleased Green Mind & Where You Been just last year. They haven't released a record with Lou Barlow(Sebadoh, Folk Implosion) on it since the 1989 Bug. Now with their original lineup erm.. in line? Dinosaur JR is back with a vengance. I expect you will start to see this album all over the muso-blogo-sphere pretty soon because 1) it comes out May 1st 2) its really good. Honestly this is the first Dinosaur JR album I've listened too all the way through (I was 12 the last time they really released something) , I'd say it kinda sounds like pavement and sebadoh but I guess its not really fair cause Dinosaur JR was around before either of those bands and spawned one out of its own members. You can check out the album opener over at fat possum records website.

mp3:Dinosaur Jr - Almost Ready

Ps. Nike is making limited Edition Dinosaur Jr skate shoe, I can't figure out where you can buy them but you can check them out here.

Jon of the Atom's Life in Groton, NY

As promised last Wednesday, today's post is on Jon Fink's (of The New Wave Dirt) side project Jon of the Atom. I unexpectedly received this album is my mailbox in a sort of unofficial album swap that occured between myself and Jon, both mine and his being pseudo-side-projects of the bands we're currently in.

Similar sounding to NWD's "The Apple", Jon takes his solo project in a trippier and more electronic direction. His distinct voice is still there innocently creeping into your skull. The instrumental "The April Fool Song" is sort of Portishead-esque with a very synthetic drumbeat, and immediately following is "Bicycle", which my first description of was that it was a song that Jon would be singing to an adult who is tripping balls, laying in an oversized crib crying about his imaginary bicycle being stolen.

There's three cover songs on the album: Beck, Woody Guthrie and D. Johnson, and besides those self proclaimed influences I hear a little bit of the Olivia Tremor Control, a pinch of Pinback, and some Middle of Nowhere, New York country blues. The last two tracks are unlisted, "I'm a Hard Working Pearl Diver" (which was on NWD's first release "Elephants Tap Dance Recital (Cozy Home Records)" and a magnificent cover of The Microphones "I Felt Your Shape", another influence that can be heard: off time strumming, crazy panning, and fuzzy drum beats.

Most distinguishing for me is Jon's voice. On anything that's come my way from his direction the quality of vocal recording is just phenomenal. Almost in the way that Robert Schneider commented that he was most pleased with how we captured Jeff Mangum's voice for Neutral Milk Hotel, I feel that Jon's voice is recorded in such a way that absolutely captures the emotion that you would hear if you were spying on him while he was playing the song alone in his room. Sometimes it's off key, sometimes it's off time, sometimes there's two vocal tracks singing in octaves...no matter what, its up front, its incredibly clear considering Jon's drawling sort of Thom York-ish drone; innocent, wanting, and sometime downright eerie. He is up there on my list of favorite distinct voices, including: Willy Mason, Jeff Mangum, Ramona Cordova and Thom Yorke.

I couldn't help but put four mp3s up, I know its a lot, but I could'nt choose between them. Other tracks I would highly recommend are: his cover of the Microphones "I Felt Your Shape", the instrumental "April Fool Song" and the 12th song of the seemingly 11 track disc, "I'm A Hardworking Pearl Diver".

Here's Jon: www.myspace.com/jonoftheatom

Here's Jon and Megan Geiss: www.myspace.com/thenewwavedirt



mp3: Bicycle

mp3: Church Bell People

mp3: A Ride Without A Fair

Bonus mp3: I Ain't Got Nobody (Woddy Guthrie)