SWF, Let It Be Told

swfletitbetold

I am not going to lie, this record – Let It Be Told, by SWF (Stevie Weinstein Foner) – really made me cranky at first.

Then after a couple of listens, it grew on me. No, not like a fungus. More like moss. Psychedelic moss.

Now I find myself queueing it up with the express purpose of wrapping it around myself like a (slightly fuzzy, perhaps faintly horse-and-patchouli-scented) aural blanket.

There are songs like Turtle Brain that have lyrics like hey turtle brain, sparrow eyes, purple haze which is both a puzzle and someone I feel like I’ve met, all at the same time:
 

 
And Warrior, for rallying the internal troops / providing a late-afternoon jolt of energy:
 

 
And also Automobile Blues, which I like because sometimes I do miss driving around listening to the radio. But it does just as well with the rumble of the uptown train as with the roar of the highway.
 

GRR, Ryan Ross

Earlier this week, Ryan Ross‘ chrysalis opened and two demos emerged. Tonight the chrysalis has opened a little further, and let two more songs out.

Here they are in the order I listened to them:

Lonely Moonlight: the electronics shimmer rather than grind, as in the two demos, though there is some static-y hum at the end, and the vocals are denser, more layered, with just a hair of an echo. Poetry nerd alert: the lyrics suggests he might be sticking to the metaphor scheme he used in Pretty. Odd., but I’ll have to wait for more songs to surface to be sure. In any case, it’s a sweet song.
 

 
I Get Down: Another bouncy tune; I think this is a song about an inconstant lover, but all I can think of is maddeningly frustrating missed connections involving public transportation. Though I suppose those things are not mutually exclusive.
 

 

We Are US, And This Is You

We Are Us is: Silvio Pasqualini (voice/bass/guitars) and Maddalena Zavatta (voice/guitars) and they are from Rimini, Italy.

And This Is You is their first record; it contains only three songs, an intriguing taste of what might be waiting in the wings.

These are two which got my attention:

First there is You, which is a bouncy punk confection:
 

 
And then at the end there is Call Me, wherein they switch gears drift towards shoe-gaze:
 

Lu Flur, Floriology

Lu Flur is Jude HarpStar (electro acoustic harp + backing vocals) and Zahné (lead vocalist + acoustic guitar), and they are from Johannesburg, South Africa. They came together as a band on a rooftop in Melville, Johannesburg in the spring of 2012, and Floriology, released this past September, is their debut EP.

Their goals include making beautiful and distinctive music and changing the way people think about the harp in contemporary music. I can only speak for myself, but: mission accomplished, ladies.

There are five songs on the EP. They are all lovely; the two below are my favorites.

Future Tides is the first song on the EP, and it sets the tone. Zahné’s magnificent voice is front and center, reverberating through the delicate, shimmering castle of sound built by HarpStar.
 

 
Transluscent is the third song; it starts with an angry fuzzy riff that is the harp, not a guitar, which halfway through shifts and becomes like a soothing rain, and then at the end the angry fuzzy harp resurfaces, to duet with the soothing rain. It is marvelous.
 

Late Night Listening: Ryan Ross demos

These two new demos from Ryan Ross are Late Night Listening because the first time I heard them was at 3 AM today when I had been up for 24 hours. I’ve had some sleep now, and they are still really good, rough demos or not.

Off My Mind: Quasi-surfy instrumental with some muscle on the reverb and electronic highlights. I hope the fuzz remains in the finished version.
 

 
Where I Belong: I’m going to get the fannish flailing out of the way: It’s just really good to hear him singing again. But after my initial OH MY GOD THAT’S REALLY HIM moment, I kept listening to this song because of the way the guitars and the fuzzy electronics are twined together. Yes, fuzzy electronics, not fuzzy guitars. As far as I can tell. I may have to listen to it a bunch more times before I can be sure. The lyrics are sharp, too.
 

 
Verdict: A++, can’t wait to hear the rest.

A Good Read, A Good Listen and a Good Drink: Abby Weitz, Wise Girl

It’s a simple yet sublime pleasure, and just thinking about it can make you feel a little calmer, a little more content. Imagine: You bring out one of the good rocks glasses (or your favorite mug or a special occasion tea cup) and pour a couple fingers of amber liquid (or something dark and strong or just some whole milk). You drop the needle on the jazz platter (or pull up a blues album on your mp3 player or dig out that mixtape from college). Ensconcing yourself in the coziest seat in the house, you crack the spine on a classic (or find your place in that sci-fi paperback or pull up a biography on your e-book reader). And then, you go away for a while. Ah, bliss.

In this series, some of NTSIB’s friends share beloved albums, books and drinks to recommend or inspire.


Wise Girl is Abby Weitz (singer/songwriter/guitar), Chris Fasulo (guitar/producer) and Harry Keithline (drums). They’re from New York, and they make power-pop gems like this one, called Wishful Thinking:
 

 
There’s also this awesome little tune, which is called You’ll Just Have to Wait:
 

 
And now, here is Abby Weitz to share a favorite book, record and drink:


A Good Read: The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron

This book literally changed my life. I had started it in May and it changed my life. We had just finished recording the album and I’d just gotten out of being involved with a shitty person. I’d lost myself in the bullshit and realized that besides recording, I’d lost touch with my creativity because I was so consumed by everything going on. This book helped me realize a lot of things about myself and I started writing again. Funny thing though, I usually write about failed relationships but this person was so worthless they got nothin’! Haha.

A Good Listen: Damone, Roll the Dice

Ugh this band is so underrated and I’m so upset that they are no longer around. This album is great for a pick me up at anytime! I love to rock out to this while im getting ready to go out or when I need to get pumped up for a run or if I have to go on a long drive. Love me some Damone!
 

Bored To Death from Damone on Myspace.

A Good Drink: Prosecco

I’m totally a prosecco girl! I can drink a whole bottle by myself without even flinching. One time my friends and I went to the lake by my parent’s vacation house and I brought a kayak and bottle of prosecco and drank the bottle while I kayaked alone while they all tanned. It’s one of my favorite most peaceful memories in the world!

A Good Read, A Good Listen, and a Good Drink: Brianna Lea Pruett

It’s a simple yet sublime pleasure, and just thinking about it can make you feel a little calmer, a little more content. Imagine: You bring out one of the good rocks glasses (or your favorite mug or a special occasion tea cup) and pour a couple fingers of amber liquid (or something dark and strong or just some whole milk). You drop the needle on the jazz platter (or pull up a blues album on your mp3 player or dig out that mixtape from college). Ensconcing yourself in the coziest seat in the house, you crack the spine on a classic (or find your place in that sci-fi paperback or pull up a biography on your e-book reader). And then, you go away for a while. Ah, bliss.

In this series, some of NTSIB’s friends share beloved albums, books and drinks to recommend or inspire.


Brianna Lea Pruett commands a very subtle magic. Her latest record, Gypsy Bells, is the kind of thing you should listen to straight through. You should, in particular, allow yourself to relax and be cocooned in her voice, and her delicate melodies. Let yourself be drawn into her stories.

For example: No Diamond Ring, which is the first song on the record, and also the one I found myself humming under my breath as I moved through the city one recent morning. The drums are a heartbeat; the lyrics are a promise; overall it is a savory antidote to over-sugared love songs.
 

 
New Life is the second song; here the pace picks up a little bit, and lyrics are a love story that is also six miles of hard road. It is simultaneously beautiful and brutal.
 

 
And finally, one song that isn’t on Gypsy Bells, but I am including because it just so very lovely. Pruett is of Cherokee/Choctaw descent, and she’s taught herself to sing in Tsalagi (Cherokee). This is Amazing Grace, in Tsalagi, complete with exquisite harmonies.
 

 

Speaking of stories, here she is to share some of her favorites, as well as a favorite record and drink:


A Good Read

I read voraciously as a kid and now I’m reading again, mostly for school, manuals on film editing and filmmaking mostly. Finally got through most of what I needed to for the semester and now I can get back to what I started in the summer!

I always have a small rotating library going around in my car, my studio, my bedroom, and my bag.

I’ve had an Annie Dillard novel in there, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, and a writer local to my area of the world that I grew up reading, Gary Snyder, Regarding Wave. After a recent trip to South America I’ve gotten a taste again for poetry in Spanish, which I had a few books of as a teen but after a much-wandering lifestyle all my books found new homes along the way.

Cesar Vallejo’s Poemas Humanos is one I am taking small bites of right now, along with Blanca Varela’s Como Dios en la Nada.

I’m enjoying Alice Walker’s Once: Poems. Alice Walker wrote The Color Purple which is a classic and a great book. Kim Shuck’s Rabbit Stories.

What else? I’m reading Loretta Lynn’s autobiography, I picked it up at her ranch on my last tour, it’s called Coal Miner’s Daughter.

I try to get through a McSweeney’s Quarterly whenever possible, any issue is excellent, number 43 has Charles Baxter, T.C. Boyle, and Catherine Lacey. Recommended. Dave Eggers, a regular favorite. I am usually reading at least four or five different books at a time.

If I really have to choose one, right now, I’d recommend Coal Miner’s Daughter by Loretta Lynn. It’s so straight up, it’s so down to earth. The language and the colloquialisms remind me of my family from Oklahoma and Arkansas a little and so it’s got a familiar pacing and feel for me, but also she’s just a great storyteller.

So this is not a very direct single book recommendation, is it? What’s solid, though, is that I recommend always having a poetry book in your bag or on your nightstand. Poetry is essential to the soul, which craves the backwards, the familiar, the old, the mystical, the unbalanced, the romance. So I think my recommendation from my current reading list is two books – Coal Miner’s Daughter, Loretta Lynn, and Once: Poems, Alice Walker.

A Good Listen
Right now, I am listening non-stop to Vampire Weekend’s Modern Vampires of the City, out earlier this year on XL recordings. Don’t be intimidated by the review articles or their popularity. They’re great. Just buy it, spin it 5 times, and you pretty much have created a mood for yourself and some permanently good times.

It’s an incredible album for lots of reasons, but I like to keep it simple, no need to explain why. It’s just that good. I listen to it on the drive from my warehouse studio to where I live and back, and though I love Manhattan and it’s from there, it’s got permanent Bay Bridge visual memories for me.

A Good Drink
Mexican Hot Chocolate is an all time best drink ever. You can buy the pre-packaged kind but I like chocolate with no soy in it, it tastes 100 times better.

I usually cook without recipes, I just know how to make a lot of things from loving to cook and being able to throw something together in any kitchen. It’s so fun to do the most with the least. So my recipes always vary, almost never do I use a recipe twice – if I’m really lost, I might do the recipe once, from that point on it’s a free for all, ha!

So I might have different things in mine from this recipe – jalapeno’s, or a teeny tiny slice of habanero, or a special other something or other. This is a good basic recipe for tastes suited to American cuisine.

4 cups milk

1/4 cup Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder(or the cocoa powder of your choice) [ed note: such as this stuff, maybe!]

1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. cornstarch (optional thickener)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. chipotle powder or chili powder
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of cayenne
optional toppings: whipped cream, marshmallows, chocolate syrup, and/or chocolate shavings

Add all ingredients to a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until simmering, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and serve with optional toppings.
Drink this listening to Gypsy Bells and Modern Vampires of the City, with a blanket over you in between drawing with color pastels and reading poetry.

Heart-Ships, EP1

Reasons why I am very fond of Heart-Ships:

1. That name! All I can imagine is little heart-shaped ships, or ships with big red heart-shaped sails, navigating rocky channels. Go, brave little ships, go!

2. The hand-claps/drum combo intro on Pin-Hole of Light. It says Here we go! Get ready! Stand up! It is almost time to rock out! Also the glorious little trill at the 1.15 mark that gooses the tempo and adds a frisson of traditional Celtic sound to the proceedings. You can’t really dance the jig to the whole song, but you might want to try, for parts of it.
 

Heart-Ships 'Pinhole of Light'

 
3. Five Forks of Ligtening, which is a slow building, gradually expanding anthem about being chased around the garden by a monster with fire fingers.
 

 
4.There is a robot on the cover of the EP. I love robots. It appears to be shooting lasers out of its eyes at a heart, or parts of heart, which is awesome.

5. Ryan Cooke, their lead singer, has a rich, flexible voice, and even when it is filled with ache and sadness – perhaps especially when it is filled with ache and sadness – it soars, as you can hear below, in Air Balloon:
 

 
6. And also here, in Spray Paint:
 

 
7. This is pop music, but it is majestic, stirring pop music. Majestic, stirring, and a little off-kilter; fight songs and anthems and love songs for the few, the proud, the extremely fond of tiny boats fighting big currents and robots with eye-lasers.