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.
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.
The last time we heard from El Xicano was approximately this time last year, when he joined us for an installment of A Good Read A Good Listen and A Good Drink. His long-awaited EP La Grande Paura (The Great Fear) has at long last been turned loose upon the world, and it is just as delightful as I remembered.
By delightful I mean: Perfect for a rainy day just on the edge of chilly, as it is here. You could probably also sort Halloween candy to this music. Or carve a pumpkin. Perhaps work on the final touches of your costume.
Check it out:
HEY Y’ALL.
I’m more or less settled in Mississippi now (translation: I’ve unpacked half my books) and I’m coming to you today with music from Australia because of the MAGIC of TECHNOLOGY. I love the internet sometimes, I really do.
Specifically, I am bringing you three songs from Sea Legs, who are from Bateau Bay, Australia (Central Coast, north of Sydney) which I like because they are either uncomplicated fun, making interesting use of shimmer and fuzz, or both.
Why Don’t We Go Out Tonight, from their upcoming EP Daddy’s Girl, is exactly what it says on the tin: an invitation to conjugate the verb “to party,” and is the kind of thing suited for driving up coast roads with the top down while wearing obnoxious sunglasses and/or dancing around your room while refining your Party Look. The guitars are satisfyingly propulsive and crunchy, as well, which I always enjoy. A++ would add to a roadtrip playlist.
Christopher Strong, is not as lightweight as Why Don’t We Go Out Tonight, but I’m still very fond of it. Based on a TRUE STORY, i.e. Sea Legs’ frontman Byron Knight’s chance encounter with Katherine Hepburn while traveling in America in 1998, the lyrics are bittersweet – Hepburn was clearly feeling the sting of her declining years – but the tune is very neatly constructed.
Take A Little For Yourself is more mellow than the other two, and is ALSO a true story, though one about a fatally jealous love affair, not a Hollywood star. Things I liked: interplay of tones, fuzz, and shimmery reverb and how it’s a little slower than the other two but still has good energy and pacing.
Reasons I am super fond of Cicada Ball, by The Boxcar Boys:
1) Awesome cover art! They even have the creepy silvery wings. It only be better if some of them had red eyes.
2) Awesome tunes! The Boxcar Boys specialize in Dixieland jazz-folk fusion, featuring horns, mandolins, accordions, and the occasional burst of klezmer. Unlike actual cicadas, they’re good company on a lazy late-summer afternoon.
Some examples:
Shaking off the Cobwebs is a peppy little instrumental number:
Old Tracks, one of the few non-instrumental tracks, features sweet beautiful vocals by Kelsey McNulty:
And finally The Busker, which is both the longest and the most spare and delicate song on the record:
To listen to the rest, check them out at Bandcamp.
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.
Damien Brennan is a young singer/songwriter who grew up in County Down, Northern Ireland and later refined his craft busking and backpacking his way across Italy and Austria.
Below are three of his songs, all of which serve to demonstrate his big voice and big sweeping sound, and particular talent for setting a dramatic romantic mood. All three are strong tunes, but my favorites are Shine and Man on Fire, for the way the swell, crest and soar. Fair warning, Shine will probably get stuck in your head like it did in mine, and you’ll just have to listen to it several times to dislodge it again.
And with that, I turn the floor over to Mr. Brennan, who joins us today to tell us about a favorite book, record and drink.
A Good Read
A book that stands out for me is Dog Man by Martha Sherrill. It’s about a Japanese man, Morie Sawataishi, who risked imprisonment to go live in the snowy mountains of Northern Japan during the second world war in order to save the beautiful and ancient Akita breed from extinction, as all of these dogs were to be handed over to the military in order to make coats from their pelts. It’s about the search for enduring values and the determination to live life on one’s own terms. I love dogs and have two Akitas of my own, so maybe that’s got something to do with it.
A Good Listen
It wasn’t easy picking a favorite album as there are so many from multiple genres that I love, but it has to be Joshua Tree [by] U2. It is one of the most iconic albums of all time, not such an original choice I admit… but there is a very good reason for it having lasted the test of time and that’s the sheer amount of great quality songs in just one album. The majority of ‘iconic’ albums have one or two stand-out-alone songs, but almost all the tracks from Joshua Tree are special for me. I remember as a boy listening to With or Without You, I Still Haven’t Found What I’m looking For, [and] Where the Streets Have No Name, and they really left an impression on me. I’ll always find time to listen to this album once in a while.
[Ed note: Full disclosure: I totally had a Joshua Tree-era U2 poster on my wall, so I picked the original video, and OMG look at them, so young and skinny!]
https://youtu.be/XmSdTa9kaiQ
A Good Drink
I’m Irish, so not to be stereotypical or anything but it has to be alcoholic! Morgan Spice with coke and ice on a Friday night watching a movie is as good as it gets. Yup, love the Captain Morgans.
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.
When I took over the blog a year ago, when April commenced her (now over) hiatus, I put up submission guidelines in which I asked artists to give me their “elevator pitch.” Since then I’ve gotten all flavors, sizes and shapes – some good, some bad, some just there.
A week or so ago, Paul Bohak‘s submission sailed over the transom, and his pitch was “press play.”
Hmm. I thought. And then, because it was late at night and sometimes I like to live dangerously: All right.
Both records have become music I come back to regularly, to be soothed, and also to cleanse my musical palate.
Before I Lose You is from Vagabond’s Wealth, one of two solo albums he released this year, after over 25 years writing songs, mostly while in bands. It is not the first song I listened to, but it is the first one to sink its hooks into me.
This is Headlights from Saraswati Radio, his first solo album, and the one I want to put on a road trip playlist. It seems perfect for long stretches of interstate broken up only by billboards and fast food billboards glowing in the enveloping darkness.
And with that, I turn the floor over to Paul Bohak, who join us today from Bozeman, Montana, to share a favorite book, record and drink:
A Good Read:
Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl. This is a book I read when I was a kid, but never forgot about. It follows the life of a young boy and his father. They live in an old gypsy carriage type of thing. I think what was so intriguing about it was, not only the shorter stories that are told throughout the larger narrative, but the ability to identify with this boy and his life. I recently bought it again and am looking forward to giving it another read.
A Good Listen:
Know By Heart by The American Analog Set. A friend of mine gave me his old iPod a few years back and it was loaded with a bunch of music I’d never heard. Know By Heart was on there and I immediately dug it. It’s so mellow, the kind of music you can put on at any time. There’s such a great mood that it creates, almost like a kind of soundtrack. So it’s a combination of droning vibe and really great songs, if that makes sense. The Postman, Know By Heart and Aaron & Maria are three of my favorite songs. I’ve listened to this album many, many times since I first heard it and continue to keep it in rotation.
A Good Drink:
Spiffy Cola. Nothing fancy . . . it’s a cola drink that’s been around since 1934. It comes in a glass bottle, which is really the only way to drink a soda, and the label looks like it hasn’t changed since it came out so long ago. I found it mixed in with a bunch of other obscure soda drinks at the grocery store. What more can I say . . . it’s super tasty!
Photo Credit: Hera Chan
That song…
That song that makes someone grab someone else to immediately transmit the new infection…
A song that makes someone sigh with relief…
A song that makes someone break down…
Ought are responsible for that song. Their new album Sun Coming Down arrives September 18th. July 17th will find them at the Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, Illinois. After that, Europe.
01 Aug Binic Festival, Binic (FR) *FREE*
03 Aug Cas’Aupa, Udine (IT)
04 Aug SuperUho Festival, Sibenik (HR)
06 Aug Chelsea, Vienna (AT)
07 Aug OFF Festival, Katowice (PL)
08 Aug Klub 007 Strahov, Prague (CZ)
11 Aug Radar Festival, Aarhus (DK)
12 Aug Folken, Stavanger (NO)
13 Aug Landmark, Bergen (NO)
14 Aug Oya Nights, Oya Festivalen, Oslo (NO)
15 Aug Way Out West Festival, Göteborg (SE)
17 Aug Sommerloft 2015, Berlin (DE)
18 Aug EXIT 07, Hollerich (LU)
19 Aug Bogen F, Zurich (CH)
20 Aug For Noise Festival, Lausanne-Pully (CH)
21 Aug Pukkelpop Festival, Kiewit-Hasselt (BE)
22 Aug MS Dockville Festival, Hamburg (DE)
23 Aug Lowlands Festival, Biddinghuizen (NL)
24 Aug Noorderzon @ Vera, Groningen (NL)
27 Aug Barretto, Portoferro (IT)
28 Aug Frames, Fondogianus (IT)
29 Aug Soundpark Festival, Brugnera (IT)
01 Sept Village Underground, Shoreditch (UK)
02 Sept The Deaf Institute, Manchester (UK)
03 Sept Hare and Hounds, Birmingham (UK)
04 Sept End of the Road, Larmer Tree Gardens, Dorset (UK)
06 Sept Into the Great Wide Open Festival, Vlieland (NL)
Ought @ Bandcamp
Ought @ Twitter
Ought @ Facebook
Ought @ Constellation Records
Chill Out Drown Out: music for when you need to, well, chill out, and also drown out extraneous noise. Tunes for calming down and concentrating on important tasks or just having a peaceful time in the middle of a hurricane of a day/week/month/year/existence.
I occasionally feel bad when my highest recommendation for something is “this is excellent background noise,” but – it is truly one of the finest accolades I can give. It means the music has successfully walked the fine line between “delicate, beautiful, but unobtrusive, integrates well into the process of multi-tasking” and “so boring I forgot the first song half-way through.”
Resplendent, by In Vivid (Ben Snook, of Lawrence, KS) is indeed delicate and beautiful. The swirling textures and gently propulsive energy make it – for me, at least – ideal for tasks that require concentration and creativity. And, best of all, it stands up to repetition; I listened to it three times in a row one night last week and never got sick of it.
Here are three songs to whet your appetite, chosen at least in part because I liked the titles.
Lightswitch Indicator: The second song on the record, this one is for when your brain is still spinning up. The mix of high and low tones supported by a steady warm background thrum is perfect for when it is way too early but the work must get done.
Some Imagine Caretaker: This one has a steady thud-thud at its heart, surrounded by oscillating bands of other tones. It feels a bit like having a friendly metronome around to prod you out of the sloughs of distraction.
Three Person Pillow: There are vocals, on this one, but they mostly sound like aliens making vaguely familiar encouraging noises. Aliens who have brought their very own extra large pillow for all of you to sit on together while you complete your tasks and they watch with great interest, because they have never seen PowerPoint before and are fascinated.
Photo by Jamie Kronick
Brock Zeman, singer/songwriter, is from Ottawa, Ontario, and plays indie rock with country-folk undertones. He recently released his 11th record (!), Pulling Your Sword Out of the Devil’s Back.
The title track is more spoken word poetry with music involved than a song. It’s meta-commentary on the art and science and struggle of songwriting and broken hearts and stories that don’t belong to you don’t belong to you and that won’t go away. You won’t be able to sing along, he says, as he rolls to a crescendo, which is true. Still, if I had a car and oceans of prairie to get across, I think I would start my driving playlist with it, just for the satisfying rhythms and final, thundering stop.
Little Details, on the other hand, is, for lack of a better term, a rollicking break-up song, and you definitely can sing along:
