Where the food sounds good, and the music is pretty tasty too.
there are those days (and moments) when the tranquil folky songs sung by a beautiful understated voice does more to lift your spirits and settle the dust aswirl all about you. well, lilly hiatt and the dropped ponies do just that with equal measure of talent and tenderness. listen to the tracks, “young black rose” and “let down” both are taken from the band’s fall debut release ‘let down’ available on itunes. peace. Continue reading “lilly hiatt and the dropped ponies // young black rose”
if you’re not familiar with the homespun music of nathan k. (Nathan Klages) then it is about time you take a few minutes and sit back and absorb the work-a-day music of this incredible michigan-based singer/songwriter. nathan’s soulfully wholesome album ‘dishes’ came out this summer, from which the beautiful track, “ghost” is taken. after the jump check out the dit session #24 for the previous mentioned track. how mr. k captures so much raw emotional tumult is both heart wrenching and a total explosion of happy/sad tears all at the some time. for more, check out nathan k.’s bob seger video and shiver at it’s majesty and grace. it’s as if every time nathan picks up a guitar and sets his honest mouth and accompanies the mercurial michigan clime, the airwaves rattle with the bones of truth. peace. Continue reading “nathan k. // ghosts (dit session #24)”
2012 has been pretty good year for mount eerie and the microphones’ phil elverum. in case you need proof get your mitts on the albums clear moon and ocean roar – two highly notable releases, which delve into a creative process final product that is both highly imaginative and worthy of your time and dime. after the jump check out, “ocean roar” and “i walked home beholding,” both songs exude an intimacy and beautiful darkness which is a recognizable aspects of mr. elverum’s music. peace. Continue reading “mount eerie // ocean roar & i walk home beholding”
Recently, I was sent an e-mail asking to give a listen to the debut album The Hale & Hearty by Heyward Howkins. I’ll say this, I count myself among the lucky ones for having such an honor bestowed upon me. When I heard and re-heard this collection of sounds it was (and is) unlike anything I’ve experienced as of late.
From the very first notes of “Thunderin’ Stop” my ears were pricked and lovingly so, suspended by nothing short of beauty collected in a web of evocative song. The music of Mr. Howkins does more than seduce you, it arrests your attention and sits you down. Then before you know it the hardy spell is cast. As I sat rapt and attentive I let the album The Hale & Hearty play. This is an album which is hard to get through, not for lack of good songs but to the abundance of them. The album consists of 11-songs but it might as well be a hundred, because you’ll start them over and over again as soon as they’re finished. I was bowled over time and time again by their reverential awe and simplistic nature. Continuously an onslaught of pliant sounds washed over me, and a singing voice dosed in cloud mist and the finishing notes of a fine Kentucky bourbon. What can one do when faced with songs as soul-stirring as “Hale & Hearty,” and the breath catching “Spanish Moss” just weaves deep-rooted tendrils round and round one’s vital organs. So much so, by the time “Sugar Sand Stitched Lip” spreads over you like a heavy quilt it is hard to figure out what hit you so delicately, and so sweetly square in the heart.
And if the music is the bone’s marrow, then it is the songwriting hanging like flesh riddled with the puncturing and poignant prose of a deviled-tongued bard. And perhaps the songs wouldn’t be so lethal if not for Heyward’s versatile shape-shifting voice. His is a voice whittling mere words into a cross between first-love-wonderment and old aching heartache.This voice accompanies each contemplative song with something akin to distant rolling thunder warmed over with a lover’s strewn arm across your shoulder. A comforting vibrato hulled of pretense and clothed in a powerful nakedness. Listen to the dazzling giddy-up in the song, “Flash Mob,” how it twirls and unsettles your pulse. Oh, and how that dangerous voice settles low into one’s blood on, “The Live Oak“. How the sung notes are pulled apart and stretched like well-worked sinews straining to carry you off into a melting sun all blood-red and smeared heat.. “Plum And Orange” showcases HH‘s vocal dexterity backed by organ and guitar carrying the song high into the canopy of the olden long-limbed Oak of some pristine and mysterious Pennsylvania wood. The album finishes with the finger-picked “Hudson Pier,” which is a melodic ode wound betwixt an ethereal unnamed female voice and Howkins’ own.
My hat off to Mr. Howkins. The songs he conjures are more akin to the low and high whistling winds, both the joyful and woeful squalls which move our hearts to and fro. Every tender ear should be graced with these rich songs and comforted by his exquisite melodies. The lover’s of the world have gained another gorgeous album to light candles too and dance the ardent dance of mutual adoration and simmering requital—all slow-moving hips and rapid pulse mimicking the sensual rhythms of his well-honed balladry.
Also, as an added bonus check out a previous recording “Praline Country“. Peace. Continue reading “heyward howkins // the hale & hearty (our sunday best)”
Joey Ryan and Kenneth Pattenngale are the one-two-punch known as The Milk Cartoon Kids. When listening to their brand of folk-pop you’ll notice a certain delicacy and attention to detail mostly reserved for lace makers. These guys are in the vein of say Simon and Garfunkel or the Jayhawks, both tough acts to follow. But make no mistake TMCK don’t do mimicry, instead they pay homage to a strong song tradition with ample acumen, grace and a whole heap of talent. Treat yourself to their Tiny Desk Concert today on NPR and get their albums Prologue and Retrospect as free downloads. Peace. Continue reading “the milk carton kids // prologue & retrospect”
Fellow Michigander Nathan K. recently dropped his spectacular Dishes LP and if you haven’t treated yourself to a listen then you’re missing out. I had the pleasure, and honor, of reviewing the full album before its official release. This album is well stocked with tender, yet dazzling songwriting.
This is an album that happens when someone loses an important link in their life. Nathans grandfather passed recently, and it is easy to imagine how many of these songs are the result his loss. So, on its face this is a collection of songs about heartache, but it also about taking that heartache and turning it into songs of reflection. In the end it is also ultimately about refection, and finding one’s resolve to, if not rise above it, then to cope as best you can. In the end these are songs paying homage and honoring those who leave us while we still envision having them in our lives.Yes, we carry on without their physical presence. We go about the daily rigors of life with a loved one’s remembrance stitched permanently in our hearts. The album opens with the tranquil, “For Your Own Good” and the songs speak of frustration, youthful angst, well-intentioned advice, and perhaps a need to accept one’s doubtful compulsion towards personal destiny.
For Your Own Good lyrics
I was stopped on the side of the highway. I was stopped on the side of the road. I guess I was going too fast. I guess I was going too fast for my own good. He let me go with only a warning. He let me go with only these words. (He said) Son you should try to relax. Son you should try to relax for your own good. I spent the whole day just sitting in silence. I spent the whole day with the radio off. I couldn’t think of a good song to sing. I couldn’t think of a single good thing to save my life. It’s been so long since I stared at a sunset. I was a kid last time I really felt that, the world is a beautiful place. And I guess it’s a beautiful place but it’s hard to tell. And I get so tired of hearing my own voice. But I can’t never seem to want to seem to shut my mouth for shit. It makes me sick. I can’t stop thinking about what that cop said. I can’t stop thinking about what he told me. Said, “son you should try to relax”. And I really should try to relax for my own good.
It is songs like this which comprise a seemingly journal full of personal songs that flesh out the life stories and discoveries on full display within the Dishes album. There has been much written about this release, and with this writing I’ll further the accolades, simply because they are fully deserved. Nathan K. is singer/songwriter from Ypsilanti, Michigan, and he crafts songs that not only reflect the geographic and social landscape around him, but also how the aforementioned geographic and social landscape shapes his perception. The temperatures of his heart reflect the mercurial aspects of the seasons here, and his voice is a worthy conduit coloring our souls just as bright and dour as we are. Peace. Continue reading “nathan k. // dishes (our sunday best)”
Out of nowhere this band started following me on Twitter less than a day now. How they found my little corner of the universe is beyond me, but I am so glad these guys reached out to me. When I first started listening to the music I had no idea where they were from, but as I started listening to them I thought they sounded like the many great bands out of Portland or Seattle. Boy was I surprised when their Facebook fanpage revealed their locale as Leeds, UK! Just goes to show one mustn’t judge a bands longitude and latitude by their sound, it was a total (napkin please I’ve got a spot of egg on my face) moment. At any rate if you like bands like Blind Pilot, Fleet Foxes and Horsefeathers then my friend Fossil Collective just may be your cup of tea. By the way the band’s The Power of Love (Frankie Goes To Hollywood Cover) is totally gorgeous! Listening to it will make you an instant fan! By the way you can order the band’s Let It Go EP on iTunes. Peace. Continue reading “fossil collective // let it go (official video)”
If one could take all the suffering and beauty of Michigan. Its many closed factories and depressed economy, contrast all the dark negative reality with the natural beauty found in the more rural aspects of our environs; the running rivers, those deep blue lakes, the white-tail deer, and the wild turkeys. Take all this and distill it into song. Nathan K. provides those songs, narrates our state of being into beautiful odes. Songs forlorn and gorgeous with hope and a relentless optimism. Watch the Xack Gibson directed video for Nathans’ song “Leave Them” from the forthcoming record Dishes, out June 26, 2012. Peace. Continue reading “Nathan K. // Leave Them (Official Video) (Our Sunday Best)”
The band Noah & The MegaFauna best described themselves as, “Equal parts meditation on Gypsy Jazz, and modern song writing and an excuse to stay up late drinking with friends.” And really that is the point of the music. Yes, don’t look too deeply for hidden meaning and esoteric riddles, it’s just sweet swooning music. Check out the bands’ song “On And On” and it’ll just make you miss your lover even if they’re deeply ensconced within your arms. Right now you can get the vinyl pressing of their romantically sensuous album Anthems For A Stateless Nation at www.bigcartel.com. Peace. Continue reading “Noah & The MegaFauna // On And On”
