And now, from Milan Jay (scrappy little band of my heart, west of Ireland division:): Get Ghost. The song drops this Friday, and on Saturday, accompanied by their brand new drummer, they play their first show in 18 months in Egan’s Basement in Ballinasloe, Galway.
The rest of the new record will be along later this year; in the meantime, if you liked that, take a skimmy through their back catalog. It’s good stuff.
Late Night Listening: 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.
Photo by Dominic Neitz
Arum Rae (formerly White Dress) is from Brooklyn via Austin, TX. Warrented Queen, her first EP with producer Sanford Livingston, is due out in late April. Consider these two songs a taste of the whole:
2001: This one jammed its claws into me in a weird way. I was here, that September. Sitting on the train on the Williamsburg Bridge, watching the towers burn. Standing on Houston Street while tanks rolled downtown. Leaning on the bumper of a U-Haul on John Street, during a brief pause in helping my sister move while the fires still burned and everything was covered in ash and unnatural silence, reading the note someone had written on a nearby windshield: You can knock us down but you cannot knock us out.
A year later I moved away. Several years after that, I came back. When the anniversary comes around, I don’t watch the news.
Warrented Queen: If you need a palate cleanser after all of that, this tune is far sweeter. Love thrives, broken-in and well-loved, if perhaps a little ragged around the edges.
Late Night Listening: 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.
Fields, the title track of the latest EP from Still Parade (Niklas Kramer and friends; due to arrive in May) is a delightfully dreamy pop song and a little bit bouncier that some of their other work, which tends to be fuzzier and slower. All of it is perfect for winding down after a long day.
The Mercy Beat are (possibly international) gentlemen (and maybe ladies?) of mystery for right now, so all I can tell you is 1) they are currently in Los Angeles 2) this is their most recent song and 3) it is mellow and lovely.
Also, I am pretty sure the sly echo of “Mersey Beat” in their name is not an accident. And I have a very strong suspicion that I should know that voice.
Love Kin by Guantanamo Baywatch is a great surfy rockabilly tune, and one half of a double-A single release; the other side is Mama by Shannon and the Clams.
You can follow GB’s shenanigans on Facebook, but be warned, that page is not safe for work or persons with delicate sensibilities.
Ukiah Drag have taken Poison Ivy, originally by The Coasters, and given it their own doomy, grimy finish:
To hear what they sound like left to their own devices, check out their Soundcloud page.
Ancestor is one of the most extraordinary and unusual records I have listened to so far this year.
It’s mountain music, but it’s modern mountain music. The songs are still about love and loss, but the sound evokes a dreamy opiate-induced haze rather than a whiskey-fueled blues bender.
The man behind it is by Stone Jack Jones, originally from Buffalo Creek, WV. He comes from four generations of coal miners, but he’s a wanderer. Now based in Nashville, he’s – to quote his bio – “been a carny, an escape artist, a ballet dancer, a professional lute player, and even owned a late night performance art club in Atlanta.”
And he’s taken all of those experiences and channeled them into songs like O Child:
And State I’m In, which sounds like the end of a long night:
But there are bursts of sweetness too, such as this tune, aptly named Joy:
Late Night Listening: 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.
HANNAH (Hannah Thiem; Copal, Nyxyss) is getting ready to release a solo record; Brym Al Mar is the first single. Inspired by a Norwegian folk song, it blends crystal-pure violin tones with gritty electronic beats to magnificent effect.
Late Night Listening: 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.
shallow swell is the first ep from electronic producer/multi-instrumentalist edapollo (Ed Bidgood), of Bristol, England. And it is the perfect thing to put on to unwind in the evening after a long day, or at any other time you need just over fifteen minutes of sounds that are soothing, but definitely not boring.
I’ve included the whole thing below, mainly because the songs flow so neatly into each other, like movements of a symphony.
Like it? You can buy the EP from Bad Panda Records at bandcamp!
Late Night Listening: 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.
Twang Darkly is Michael Futreal (dulcimer, guitar, banjo, gourdtar, harmonica, flute), Joel Boultinghouse (bass, guitar) and Troy Messina (drums) and they are based in Shreveport, Louisiana. You’ll notice there are no “vocals” in there; they are, indeed, a purely instrumental trio.
And they are really great. Their sound takes elements from multiple traditions, including mountain music, jazz, and folk, and fuses them all together, with delightful results. All of their songs are excellent; I picked these three to share because I liked the titles.
Skinwalker: This one adds some “horror movie” shine to the proceedings, and is both eerie and lovely:
Close to the Spark: For when the autumn nights begin to draw in, or any other time a fire must be built:
Sea Glass is pretty and smooth, and so is this song:
