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Yamin Semali: Yamintro (Hello Again)

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Some hip hop from the ATL for you today. We get so many submissions from rappers who just spit straight over an old song, with no attention paid to rhythm or dynamics and little thought given to production, that when I come across an artist like Yamin Semali, who leaves some space for personality and clever rhymes over great production, I almost cry.

Check out the video for “Yamintro (Hello Again)”, utilizing the classic Cars song, from Semali’s new album self-titled album, and keep any eye out for the cool Chevy-logo tailpipe.

 

“Yamintro (Hello Again)” – Yamin Semali

 

Yamin Semali’s album is available now via his Bancamp site and features John Robinson (Scienz of Life, DOOM, J. Rawls), Boog Brown (Mello Music Group), Chopp (The Smile Rays, Dillon), Blc Txt (King I Divine), and Gotta Be Karim (Black Spade, Do For Self), with production by Illastrate.

 

Yamin Semali @ Bandcamp

Yamin Semali @ Twitter

Yamin Semali @ Facebook

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Friday Link Session

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  • It’s about that time: Bands, if you can’t – or don’t want to – make it to SXSW this year, start getting your submissions ready for the third annual CXCW (Couch by Couchwest), March 10-16. Find submission details here.
  • If you’ll be in the Cleveland area on June 22 and would like to move from the couch to someone’s porch, the 5th annual Larchmere PorchFest is accepting submissions until May 1.
  • Wonderful CXCW alumnus Daniel Knox is playing a residency at the Hideout in Chicago, IL. For a highly interesting read, check out his pre-residency interview with ChicagoMusic.org.
  • Spacehog – yes, the “In the Meantime” band – are preparing to release their first new album in twelve years, As It Is On Earth. They have a fundraiser project for the album, with part of the proceeds going to the David Lynch Foundation.
  • On February 7, Patti Smith received the Katharine Hepburn Medal from Bryn Mawr College. The medal “recognizes women whose lives, work and contributions embody the intelligence, drive and independence” of the great feminist actress.
  • Roots artist Frank Fairfield is selling off some of his record collection on eBay. As you can imagine, there are some unique and fascinating old platters available.
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Willy Mason: Don’t Stop Now

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Willy Mason - Don't Stop Now

 

Around the time Now This Sound Is Brave started, back in 2010, I found myself in the habit of inadvertently seeing Willy Mason play live as he seemed to be opening for everyone I wanted to see. While he clearly had talent and skill, it took a while for me to be won over. Mason had started his career at a young age and was growing into his role.

Seeing his name pop up in the old e-mail inbox after three years is like seeing an old, beloved friend again. Willy Mason is trotting out his first new album in six years, Carry On, and in the run-up, he has an EP titled Don’t Stop Now available for free download from NoiseTrade. It’s a beautiful little thing, ranging from the somber to the downright danceable.

 

 

Mason is gearing up to tour the UK and Australia, and will be joining the Gentlemen of the Road tour for four stops this summer.

 

Willy Mason Official Website

Willy Mason @ Twitter

Willy Mason @ Facebook

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A Good Read, a Good Listen, and a Good Drink: Murder by Death

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Murder by Death's Dagan Thogerson

 

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.

Murder by Death’s latest album, Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon, is a product of one of the most successful Kickstarter music campaigns to date, and the endearingly silly video for the campaign helpfully categorizes the band’s sound as “dark whiskey devil music”. But before you go off thinking this is another cheesed-up act pining for a time that never was, littering their lyrics with talk of crossroads and rotgut and deals with the devil, know that the music of Murder by Death is much more complex and elegant than that.

And on Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon, Murder by Death have once again stood at the crash site of Americana and indie rock and swept the debris into a new, cohesive whole, honing the finished product into a rich, captivating journey through stories gritty and haunting. Lost girls, boozy wakes, rambling death, and fated (and perhaps fatal) romance, fill the 13 tracks, picking you up where you stand and setting you down somewhere very different, somewhere misty and full of shadows.

In anticipation of their upcoming appearance at the Grog Shop in Cleveland (February 22, co-headlining with Man Man), Murder by Death drummer Dagan Thogerson (who went so far as to offer his skin as canvas to a flush contributor in the aforementioned Kickstarter campaign) shares with us some space-centric recommendations.

“Hard World” – Murder by Death

 

Good Read: John Carter of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
I really got in to reading science fiction about three years ago. I’d never heard of the John Carter stories until Disney made a movie out of them that I heard was bad. A friend lent me the first volume containing three novels and I ripped right through all 900 pages. The stories were published in the early 1900’s, so the actual science is all weird and wrong, lending more charm to an already charming lead character. John Carter is a Virginia fighting man who is the noblest of all. When he unintentionally teleports to Mars (what?), he quickly fights his way to fame and glory, falls in love, and unites all of the planet’s races of Martians. All the while refusing to compromise his strict gentleman’s sensibilities. All of the ingredients of the story add up to something that is at once super cool and totally ridiculous, which is sort of the reason that I love sci-fi in the first place.

Good Listen: “Another Space Song” by Failure
My band mates give me shit for my love of nineties music, but I stand by this tune. It’s a song that I can get lost in. The drum beat is really cool and never changes for the entire four plus minutes of the song, and lyrics are a beautiful profession of the singer’s romantic love of space. It’s just a beautiful song.

“Another Space Song” – Failure

 

Good Drink: Manhattan on the rocks
Dash of bitters, tiny bit of sweet vermouth, and two ounces (at least) of bourbon. Splash of water, swirl it, don’t shake.

 

“Ghost Fields” – Murder by Death

Murder By Death - Ghost Fields

 

Murder by Death Official Website

Murder by Death @ Twitter

Murder by Death @ Facebook

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The Dirty Nil/Northern Primitive Split 7″

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The Dirty Nil/Northern Primitive Split 7"

 

The Dirty Nil, who appeal to our never-ending love of loud, have a new single out. This time around, they’ve gone in on a split 7″ with their friends Northern Primitive. The single is available digitally and on vinyl.

Check out a video of the bands playing both songs of the split – “Positive Bondar” and “Zombie Eyed” – in, as the band says, “the coldest barn in the history of barns”.

 

The Dirty Nil @ Bandcamp

The Dirty Nil @ Tumblr

The Dirty Nil @ Twitter

The Dirty Nil @ Facebook

Northern Primitive @ Bandcamp

Northern Primitive @ Tumblr

Northern Primitive @ Twitter

Northern Primitive @ Facebook

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Friday Link Session

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Murder by Death Is Coming to Cleveland

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Murder by Death

 

The best voices in modern music are not those that are technically proficient but those that are dented and torn, so full of character that they could tell a whole story just by humming a few notes. Tom Waits, Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Leonard Cohen… as their careers continued their lives seeped into their voices, expanding, contracting, cracking, causing deep crevices. Adam Turla of Murder by Death is well on his way to becoming a member of this camp. In the early days of MbD, Turla’s voice was like a flower bud, green and simple. Now, a decade on, his voice has a timbre closer to another one of those vocal icons, Johnny Cash.

 

 

And like those other singular singers, Turla is not relying merely on his battered vocal chords to carry him forward. He integrates it with A) a great band, and B) great stories. While this is clearly a band with a sense of humor – not only are they named after the 1976 murder spoof starring Peter Falk, Peter Sellers, Maggie Smith, and more, but titles in their catalogue include “Spring Break 1899”, “Intergalactic Menopause”, and “Killbot 2000” – their strongest suit is balancing this voice, this music, and these stories to create transportive moods. This craft is at its most whole on their latest album – their sixth full-length album and their first for Bloodshot Records – Bitter Drink, Bitter Moon.

 

“Foxglove” – Murder by Death (Violitionist Sessions)

 

Murder by Death will be bringing it all to the Grog Shop in Cleveland on February 22 when they co-headline with the quite different, but also great Man Man. Damion Suomi will open. To get more of a live taste of these exciting bands, check out this Murder by Death concert at NPR and this Man Man performance at Amoeba Music.

Bonus: Enjoy Adam Turla navigating an interview with a couple of kids.

 

Grog Shop Official Website

Murder by Death Official Website

Murder by Death @ Twitter

Murder by Death @ Facebook

Man Man Official Website

Man Man @ Twitter

Man Man @ Facebook

Damion Suomi @ Facebook

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Feel Bad For You, February 2013

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A new FBFY mix is live, and I’d personally like to thank our FBFY commander-in-chief for not choosing a Valentine theme this month.

“…and we’re back! I considered and then threw out a number of ideas for different themes and went with goulash (def: an eclectic and uncoordinated mixture of something). What a mixture we’ve got! We are spanning quite a few genres and yet it works! Thanks to Matt (@truersound) for this month’s artwork.”

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Feel Bad For You, February 2013

  1. Title: Cleaning Out My Closet (Eminem cover)
    Artist: Angel Haze
    Album: Classick (2012)
    Submitted By: @tincanman2010 (http://tincanland.wordpress.com/)
    Comments: NSFW! wtf, rap on FBFY? Yeah, deal with it bitches. Eminem broke through rap’s colour barrier and Haze threatens to shatter it’s gender ceiling, so a cover seems appropriate. Similar styles, too

    2.  

  2. Title: 1965 (Duas Tribos)
    Artist: Legião Urbana
    Album (year): As Quatro Estações [2007]
    Submitted By: hoosier buddy
    Comments: First, thanks go out to my last.fm friend Vitória for turning me on to this album. This song reminds me a little of The Refreshments circa 1996 – and also reminds me walking barefoot on hot beach sand, driving too fast in cars with bench seats, the big knobs on Silvertone guitar amps, Sandy Nelson of Superdrums! fame, first kisses, cool water when you’re super thirsty, and Deputy Dawg’s hat in the episode titled “National Spoof Day”.

    3.  

  3. Title: King’s Flashlight
    Artist: Elliott, Rose, Da Costa
    Album (year): CA TX NY Vol. 1 (2012)
    Submitted By: @philnorman
    Comments: An indie-songwriter supergroup kicking out a catchy jam
    from Raina Rose. The whole 6 song EP is fantastic.
    http://store.thefamilyrecords.com/products/ca-tx-ny-vol-1-ep

    4.  

  4. Title: Pale Rider
    Artist: Heavy Horses
    Album (year): Murder Ballads & Other Love Songs
    Submitted By: Bryan Childs (ninebullets.net)
    Comments: The Heavy Horses are the band I am currently and completely crushing on.

    5.  

  5. Title: Abandoned
    Artist: Phil Norman
    Album (2010): Four Februarys
    Submitted By: @popa2unes
    Comments: Well there’s February, a short month it will go by like that, then there’s March with cxcw in the middle of it which will go by too fast, really it’s almost spring. There’s this guy Phil Norman, who does this February Album Writing Month (FAWM) thingy 14 songs in 28 days so there is sure to be some great new tunes coming from him, you may have heard of him and or it, He’s also in the excellent band called Blue Moonshine which rumors are they are close to releasing some new material which mayhaps will coincide with cxcw? Anyhoo I have a playlist on my Ipod with this song from Four Februarys ’07-‘10 in it and when it comes on I have to hit repeat, I dig it so much. Hope you enjoy it to, and follow along this year’s FAWM and nudge him and the band about cxcw, They’re on twitter and stuff.

    6.  

  6. Title: Manchester
    Artist: Kishi Bashi
    Album (year): 151a (2012)
    Submitted By: TheOtherBrit
    Comments: Stepping out of my Southern band box for this earworm that I discovered thanks to the end of the year lists. Though technically, still from the South.

    7.  

  7. Title: This Boy Is Exhausted
    Artist: The Wrens
    Album (year): The Meadowlands (2003)
    Submitted By: Ryan (Verbow @ altcountrytab.ca)
    Comments: I think this is at least the third Wrens song I have submitted to this comp. I can’t help it – I love the heck out of them and keep dreaming of a day when they actually release some new material. 10 years is a long time gone, but I digress – this is just a great example of a rock and roll song, about the tedium and glory of playing in a band and playing live. Crank it up.

    8.  

  8. Title: Lay Down
    Artist: Alberta Cross
    Album (year): Daytrotter Session, 2KHz, 1/3/2013
    Submitted By: BoogieStudio22
    Comments: Damn! I like these guys. Daytrotter Studios seems to be regular stop for these guys and they trotted out a new session in early January. I’m lovin’ this song right now. I keep meaning to buy some Alberta Cross, but never get around to it. I will buy one of their albums this month!

    9.  

  9. Title: Born to Ruin
    Artist: Wildlife
    Album (year): …On the Heart (2013)
    Submitted By: April @ Now This Sound Is Brave
    Comments: I was introduced to this Canadian band on Daytrotter’s Barnstormer 5 tour, and they were so brilliant that they overshadowed nearly all the other bands for me. “Born to Ruin” is the lead single off their second album, which is due out in early March, and when I first heard it, I couldn’t stop playing it. Their big drums, big vocals, and big heart keep getting me.

    10.  

  10. Title: “I See a Darkness”
    Artist: Bonnie “Prince” Billy
    Album (year): Now Here’s My Plan EP (2012)
    Submitted By: Beldo or @TheSecondSingle
    Comments: Will Oldham remakes his own classic as a spirited ’70s-style country rocker.

    11.  

  11. Title: I Still Write Your Name In The Snow
    Artist: Chet Atkins
    Album: Almost Alone (1996)
    Submitted By: toomuchcountry
    Comments: Ahh, love is in the crisp air of winter – and apparently soaked into the new fallen snow. While listening to these romantic lyrics as sung by the original Certified Guitar Player, just remember to pay heed to Frank Zappa’s advice.

    12.  

  12. Title: Victoria
    Artist: The Kinks
    Album (Year): Arthur Or The Decline And Fall Of The British Empire (1969)
    Submitted by: Erschen
    Comments: Been on a Kinks kick lately and really love this overlooked gem.

    13.  

  13. Title: Night Train
    Artist: Oscar Peterson Trio
    Album (year): Night Train (1962)
    Submitted by: Gorrck
    Comment: Old school jazz. Go pour yourself a cocktail and enjoy. NOTE: Not to be confused with GnR’s “Night Train”

    14.  

  14. Title: Ape of Dorado
    Artist: Dorado
    Album (year): Anger Hunger Love and the Fear of Death (2013)
    Submitted By: Mad Mackerel Music Blog
    Comments: Dorado is our first great discovery of 2013. Dorado is one Jody Nelson. Dorado is sonic chaos. Dorado is musical mayhem. Dorado is somehow simultaneously disjointed and perfectly cohesive.While its roots might nominally be in southern rock, there are plenty of other forces at work here – psychedelia, folk, country-noir, art-rock, straight-up indie – the musical cauldron bubbles and seethes with every imaginable ingredient. This track, Ape of Dorado dips into a rockabilly rhythm, gives that up as a bad job and heads helter-skelter into scrappy indie rock, but does it all brilliantly. Dorado is what we imagine Heath Ledger’s Joker might have on repeat on his iPod.

    15.  

  15. Title: Funtimes In Babylon (Demo)
    Artist: Father John Misty
    Album (year): Fear Fun Demos 2012
    Submitted By: Sandy @ Slowcoustic
    Comments: Last year’s album Fear Fun from Father John Misty was one of the albums I was most interested in (due to my appreciation of J. Tillman’s previous work). It ended up being one of the year’s best albums in my opinion and quite frankly surprised me. So then, how about the cross between the older more acoustic J. Tillman and the new indie crooner Father John Misty? The acoustic demo for the opening track of the new album seems to be just that spot.

    16.  

  16. Title: Love Reign O’er Me
    Artist: Pete Townshend
    Album (year): The Quadrophenia Demos 2 (2012)
    Submitted By: Simon
    Comments: This track sounds better every time I listen to it, a wonderful version of a classic Who song from the soundtrack to Quadrophenia, released on a 2012 Record Store Day limited edition 10″ and the Director’s Cut box set.

    17.  

  17. Title: You Gave Your Love To Me Softly
    Artist: Weezer
    Album (year): Angus (Soundtrack) (1995)
    Submitted By: annieTUFF
    Comments: Man, I completely froze on song choice this month….BUT I’ve been revisiting my love for Weezer lately, so here you go FBFY.

    18.  

  18. Title: Answering Machine (home solo demo)
    Artist: The Replacements
    Album (year): Let it Be (orig. 1984, Deluxe Edition 2008)
    Submitted By: Rockstar Aimz
    Comments: Went on a “Let it Be” bender this weekend. I think I like this song better than “I Will Dare,” and that song is genius.

    19.  

  19. Title: Girlfriend
    Artist: Slim Dunlap
    Album (year): Times Like This (1994)
    Submitted By: @scratchedsoul
    Comments: Slim was the guitarist in the Replacements after Bobby Stinson left the band. In Feb 2012 he had a pretty massive stroke which sucks. This is a song off his 2nd (and last) album. He played solo in Boston one night on this tour and at the end of his set he said he needed someone to drive him to Cleveland after the gig. If you did he would buy your plane ticket home. I wish I could say I volunteered, but I didn’t. Regrets. There’s a fund set up to help defray costs. More info here http://songsforslim.com

    20.  

  20. Title: What is the Color of the Soul of a Man
    Artist: Jimmy Driftwood
    Album: Voice of The People (1963)
    Submitted by: Truersound
    Comments: Picked this record up recently and it proceeded to blow me away, this song in particular. Then found out it was released in 1963…wow

    21.  

  21. Title: Anymore
    Artist: Jonathan Warren and the Billy Goats
    Album: Just Relax, Honey (2009)
    Submitted by: BoogieStudio22
    Comments: Yeah… I added a second song. So what? This band sent us (FBFY) a little press release with some videos. So I say “What the heck, I’ll watch the videos”:
     
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1hmOMKCd5M
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48ZKos2D9Wg
     
    I liked what heard (a bit of folk, indie, alt-country, americana, etc…) so I headed over to their site (http://www.jonathanwarrenmusic.com) , sampled the songs and bought their two albums. They are operating on the ‘ pay whatever you can afford’ principle, so if you like what you hear and pick up their albums, throw some money their way… like I did. Oh… and they were recently featured over on @pop2unes site too.
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Friday Link Session

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  • Morrissey has been diagnosed with a pre-cancerous throat condition, but he’s determined to be back on the stage next week. Check out Louder Than War for more details. Best wishes, Moz.
  • Continuing in the artists-of-the-’80s-who-remain-mighty vein, Depeche Mode have made a video for their lead single, “Heaven”, from their forthcoming album Delta Machine. Watch the video at Stereogum and tell me they shouldn’t be tapped for the next Bond film soundtrack.
  • Dinosaur Jr. made a stop at World Cafe recently, complete with characteristically painful interview segments.
  • Hearth Music posted a trailer for the upcoming Coen Brothers’ film “Inside Llewyn Davis” to their Tumblr. The intriguing-looking movie is based on the memoirs of folk artist Dave Van Ronk.
  • Cleveland’s Weapons of Mass Creation Fest has chosen its dates and venue for this year. Mark August 16 through 18 on your calendar, NEOers.
  • Stupefaction has posted a documentary called “The Britpop Story”. No prizes for guessing what it’s about.
  • Set some time aside for “Wattstax” the documentary of a 1972 concert festival of Stax artists in memory of the 1965 Watts riots. The Staples Singers, Albert King, Isaac Hayes, and Rufus Thomas in pink shorts and white go-go boots – you don’t want to miss that.
  • Closing it out this week, check out our friends Field Report performing their beautiful “I Am Not Waiting Anymore” for Live Nation Labs.
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Video Mix: Madeleine Peyroux, Skyzoo, Everything Everything

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A handful of videos to pique your interest today. We start with the lead single from Madeleine Peyroux’s forthcoming album The Blue Room. It’s a sweet, jazzy, strolling take on Buddy Holly’s “Changing All Those Changes”. The Blue Room releases in March, followed by a tour. Check her official site for more information.

“Changing All Those Changes” – Madeleine Peyroux

 

Next up, Skyzoo pays tribute iconic filmmaker Spike Lee, with a verse from the man, Talib Kweli. It features rapid-fire spitting, majestic horns, and a truly lovely piano outro.

“Spike Lee Was My Hero” – Skyzoo, featuring Talib Kweli

 

Now shake the end-of-the-week dust off with the super danceable “Cough Cough” by UK band Everything Everything. It comes from their EP of the same name, their US debut, which is set for release on February 5. The band will be playing SXSW, followed by shows at the Roxy in L.A. and the Bowery Ballroom in NYC.

“Cough Cough” – Everything Everything