Tag: NaBloPoMo

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Video: Space, Strange World

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After roughly a decade on hiatus – with one brief reconnection in 2011 – Space, of Liverpool, have returned, bearing new tunes and gearing up for a tour.

I’m trying to figure out what to say about this video and don’t quite know where to begin. Okay, let’s try a numbered list:

1) The camera close-ups highlight that these dudes are old(er) and have earned some gray hair and wrinkles. They are all the more dear for it, and I really didn’t know who they were before, uh, today.

2) There is all manner of “weird” stuff – literally, things: all kinds of dolls, vintage musical instruments, religious statuettes, rows of rusty scissors – which I’m sure was art directed within an inch of it’s collective life, but – I don’t know, I feel a certain sympathy for the magpie heart that collects that kind of thing for real.

3) The song itself is also about the – the challenge, if you will, of being the owner of that kind of magpie heart. Of being able to find home for all sorts of oddly painted creatures and uses for half-broken tools but yet being flummoxed by the sudden appearance of someone else, who might – might love you. Maybe. Of the ways that can feel like a fever dream, and a lie, but trying to believe it anyway.

Space - Strange World

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Twin Limb, Don’t Even Think

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Twin Limb, of Louisville, KY, are also a dream-folk band. Their sound is a hair more aggressive than Wickerbird – meatier, if you will — but still pretty mellow.

This is Don’t Even Think, from their upcoming EP Anything is Possible and Nothing Makes Sense, scheduled to be unleashed upon the world next week.

It’s a solid tune, with lovely vocals and a tempo that is just the right side of seductive; it is, in short, excellent company.

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Wickerbird, The Leaf Maker

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It’s been a little while since we last checked in with Wickerbird (Blake Cowan), and in that time he’s made some more music, inclding his most recent release, The Leaf Maker.

His sound is still dream-folk, but these songs seem more . . . mature, I guess. Better constructed, perhaps; the instruments blend seamlessly with the samples of birdsong and rushing water to create an atmosphere of reflective melancholy.

That makes the whole thing sound grim, doesn’t it. This is not a grim record! Sad and lovely, yes; depressing, no. It is, I think, comfort food for souls who do not especially mind being left to their own devices for extended periods of time.

For example, here’s The Coppice/A Haunting, which sounds like a late afternoon walk by a creek running high:

And Sail Cloth, which sounds like a small boat gliding through an arch of trees towards rough water:

In conclusion: Sepulchre, or, a murder of crows rises and wheels across the sky, headed out of the valley – but they’ll be back, they always are, because this is home.

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Barns Courtney, Glitter & Gold

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Today in Things I Heard on SoundCloud While Looking for Something Else: Glitter & Gold by Barns Courtney.

I’m pretty sure this is the heaviest song I’ve ever heard that features glitter as a major motif. Mostly, though, I like the slow stomp of the beat.

Also of note: he has another song called Fire which was just selected to appear in Bradley Cooper’s new film, Burnt.

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The Dirty Nil, No Weaknesses

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The Dirty Nil - Photo Credit: Yoshi Cooper

The Dirty Nil – Photo Credit: Yoshi Cooper

The Dirty Nil (scrappy little band of my heart, Frozen North division) have been busy lately. First they went out on Warped Tour for the summer, which is not so much as tour as it is an endurance test, and now they are releasing more new music. The first single out of the gate is No Weaknesses, below – a cover of Fugazi’s Provisional is the B-side – and there’s a full record coming early next year. I’m super excited and looking forward to all of it.

Previously on NTSIB, with The Dirty Nil: Luke Bentham talks A Good Read, A Good Listen and a Good Drink.

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Split: Joyce Manor, Tame and Toys That Kill, Times We Can’t Let Go

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November has come to a close. Novels have been written; moustaches, of various degrees of amazingness and horribleness, have been grown and shaved; turkey has been eaten; in some locations, the first snow has fallen.

Here at NTSIB, I’ve been doing NaBloPoMo, or National Blog Posting Month. I’ll do a masterpost later, but: there’s been a lot of music. Go back through the archives and see what you’ve missed.

To finish out, here is the Joyce Manor/Toys that Kill split, set to be turned loose upon the world later this week, via Recess Records. If you like Ramones-style punk, these bands are for you.

Joyce Manor, Tame:

Toys That Kill, Times We Can’t Let Go:

They’re also touring the West Coast together later in December.

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Late Night Listening: Two Songs from Tei Shi

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A home for things that might be fleeting, might be soothing, might be weird, might be soothing and weird. The blogging equivalent of sitting in the garage twiddling radio knobs just to see what might be out there.

Tei Shi (Valerie Teicher), from Brooklyn via Argentina, Colombia, Boston and Vancouver, gives her genre as “mermaid music”, and this strikes me as an accurate assessment. It’s subtle, complex, seductive and a little bit otherworldly.

See Me is one of two new singles; I’m most fond of the trance-y hiss-click beat that periodically expands into something light and airy, as well as the dark wubble-bubble echoes floating beneath her crystalline voice:

Bassically is a little more up-tempo, and has a little more fuzz-grit, and is just delightful:

New Yorkers: She’s playing at Glasslands on Dec. 8; everyone else: check in with her frequently, there will be more music coming, and be sure to explore her back catalog.

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A Good Read A Good Listen and a Good Drink: El Xicano

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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.

And now, a very special holiday/Friday/holiday Friday treat: a new song from my favorite international man of mystery El Xicano. This one is called I Mostri (Monsters), and it’s a little bit more mellow than La Grande Pauro, but no less lovely. The rest of the EP will surface next year, but in the mean time, put your feet up and relax to this tune:

And now I will turn the floor over to El Xicano himself, who is becoming a little bit less of a mystery today by sharing his favorite book, record and drink:

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A Good Read:
If On A Winter’s Night A Traveler by Italo Calvino. An experimental but accessible novel written by one of the most interesting Italian writer of the 20th century. A mesmerizing (and full of oddities) book about the magic of writing and reading. I read it when I was 16 and it really stunned me.

A Good Listen:
One of my favourite albums of 2014 is Black Moon Spell by King Tuff. I think it’s the indie-garage-psychedelic-pop masterpiece of the year with its alluring vocals, brilliant harmonies, huge r’n’r riffs, bizarre lyrics and unforgettable hooks. The songs are extremely well written and produced. I can’t wait to see him in concert.

A Good Drink:
Sangiovese. Always. It’s absolutely my favourite red wine. A couple of glasses and life becomes easier and simple. Around Gambettola, where I live, there are so many wineries producing such excellent wines that I’m spoilt for choice due to the crazy amount of options.

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Video: J. Tex and the Volunteers, This Old Banjo

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This video for This Old Banjo by J. Tex and the Volunteers of Copenhagen, Denmark, is a masterful piece of minimalism – it’s just him and a guitar – and it feels, for lack of a better term, organic. Unfussy, unforced, like he’s just walking around thinking with his guitar. The only thing that could have made it better would be the appearance of an actual banjo.