It’s been a short work week in much of the U.S. and Canada this week, which means it actually feels like a longer week. You could use a break. Why don’t you, circumstances permitting, pour a little cocktail and enjoy some songs and some chat as the charming Two Man Gentlemen Band sit down with Serious Business on BTR.
Two Man Gentlemen Band Official Website
photo credit: Nhung Dang
This past spring, I was honored to be asked to edit the liner notes Rick Saunders was writing for the new Mudlow album, Sawyer’s Hope, and there couldn’t be a more evocative description of not only the music, but also the feel of the album than Rick’s words.
The music of Mudlow has been referred to as “noir blues”, and like any good noir story, their songs are packed with colorful characters. And like any good blues, their songs are packed with emotions that can scrape out the bottom of your soul, an effect achieved sometimes with the most simple but telling phrase and sometimes with the sound that spreads between the moment the blade pierces your heart and the moment you begin to feel the sting.
This album is one of the most gorgeous I’ve heard in a long while, and I was pleased to get a few words with band members, and damn fine people, Matt (drums) and Tobias (vocals, guitar) about the band and their new album.
Let’s give the readers some background: where are you all from and how did you get together?
(Matt) Me and Tobias have known each other for years and have played in bands together for most of that time, when our previous band ‘Crawl Limbo’ folded Tobias moved to Brighton and decided to start a new band. We had always played on the gig circuit in Brighton so knew most of the other local band members and had become friends with quite a few of them so finding a new line-up actually wasn’t too difficult, Trimble was there from the start with another Sax player Jules, our first bassist could only play ska because of his unusually fat fingers so we had to let him go. We asked Paul to join and Mudlow was born. We’re definitely a ‘Brighton‘ band and we all live in the city or surrounding area.
Based on the 8-year span between full-length albums, I’d guess the band isn’t what keeps food on the table. What are your daytime alter egos (day jobs)?
(M) Me and Tobias work for a friend in the heating trade. Paul works as a sound recording engineer/producer at Church Road Studios in Brighton (which is where the Mudlow magic happens!). Not sure what Trimble does, I think he’s either a pirate or a spy, depending on what he’s wearing.
Where does the title Sawyer’s Hope come from?
(Tobias) It’s a partly-imagined place that crops up as a lyric in a couple of our songs. I use maps and place names for inspiration and this came from combining the name of a farm and a wood. To me ‘Sawyer’s Hope’ sounds like an old man’s lifelong aspirations, did he achieve or fail? or is it just a name on a map?
I know you were shopping around for a label to release this album for a while. What was that process like? How did the deal come together with Motor Sounds Records?
(M) It wasn’t really a ‘process’ as such. We had in mind quite a few labels that we liked so we sent them copies/press etc but didn’t hear much back. We’d pretty successfully self-released our first record but we really wanted to work with someone else on this one and kinda have a labels name on which to hang our hat. We know the guys at Motor Sounds so we approached them to see if they would assist with putting this one out. Thankfully they were really keen to be involved so that was that. I guess you could say it’s a self-release but via an independent label.
Your songs are so cinematic and contain so many interesting stories. How do you approach songwriting? Any thoughts about writing a novel?
(T) The songs approach me. You can’t write anything until it’s ready to be written. Sitting and trying to force ideas doesn’t work. A train of thought might be triggered by one line that pops in to your head and then once it gets going let it flow and write down everything, then scrub out the crap and join the dots. The lyrics are mine but we work on the music as a band, we don’t have a formula for creating the songs and we approach each song differently so each has it’s own individuality.
I think about writing a book a lot but who has the time to do that?!
What’s next for the band? Any chance of an American tour in the foreseeable future?
(M) We will be playing some shows in support of the new record and will most likely tour here and in Europe. We have already ear-marked band funds for a return trip to the States so we’ll have to see how well Sawyer’s Hope sells. We definitely want to come back.
And because I get some of my best music recommendations from musicians, what have you been listening to lately?
(T) I like that Bruce Peninsula band, they’re like a choir trying to upset God.
(M) I vote for The Bonnevilles.
(T) Wait… I want to choose the Bonnevilles
(M) Well, you can’t. I did.
(T) Right! I’m leaving the band. [stomps out]
In addition to Sawyer’s Hope, Mudlow is generously offering an EP of bits and bobs called The Last Rung Down to Hell, which you can listen to and download right here.
I’ve been a little slow getting to this one (then again, I’ve been a little slow on everything lately – sorry, friends), but I would watch film director Jim Jarmusch open a can of beans and listen to him play his armpits, so I was thrilled to learn he was collaborating on an album with composer and lutenist Jozef Van Wissem. Fortunately for all of you who might not be Jarmusch zealots, the resulting work is a damn site more pleasant and entrancing than either beans or armpits. Indeed, there are moments when you feel you are listening to a soundtrack from one of Jarmusch’s films, which have always been excellently scored.
“The Sun of the Natural World is Pure Fire” – Jozef Van Wissem & Jim Jarmusch
Jarmusch and Van Wissem released an album, Concerning The Entrance Into Eternity, back in February and are already set to release a second album, The Mystery of Heaven.
Heaven will be out on November 13 and includes vocals from Tilda Swinton (both Van Wissem and Swinton are involved in Jarmusch’s forthcoming film, Only Lovers Left Alive). Jarmusch and Van Wissem will play a record release show at Le Poisson Rouge in New York on November 27.
Today in the category of Songs I Have Been Listening To Somewhat Obsessively, I present World’s End, by Army Navy.
It is the first single from their third record, which is scheduled to released into the wild early next year. I am hoping that by “early next year” they mean “January 1” (it is a Tuesday!) because I am pants-afire to hear the rest of the songs.
The video below is directed by Mark Schoenecker, and stars Martin Starr (Freaks and Geeks, Party Down) as the creeptastic Chester Felt and Camille Cregan (The Trivial Pursuits of Arthur Banks) as the object of his affections:
And for the b-side, they did a cover of Yaz’s Only You, which is pretty great too:
Only You (Yaz Cover) by Army Navy
Finally, their fall tour starts tonight (9/26) in Los Angeles, at the Troubador. Check their listings and get out to see them if you can!
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.
Now, we again take up the story of Firewater. When we left our hero (or is that anti-hero?) Tod A, we feared his rock ‘n’ roll boat might have capsized in the international seas of music. But, wait! We have a transmission from Istanbul! It’s a coded message, saying, “International Orange!”
Okay, enough purple prose. Here’s the deal: Firewater has a new album out called International Orange!. Recorded and mixed in Istanbul, Turkey, (where Tod A now lives) and Tel Aviv, Israel, during the Arab Spring of 2011, International Orange! brings back together the team of Tod A and Balkan Beat Box’s Tamir Muskat, who birthed Firewater’s last powerfully rocking album, The Golden Hour. Though still backed by Tod A’s acerbity, the album is punctuated by the passionate optimism of revolution and full-to-brimming with international rhythms. International Orange! tours Turkey, Greece, Pakistan, Cuba, Jamaica, Greece, picking up trinkets of each country’s sound as it goes, melds them with the American and British fire of punk and rock, and sets it all down in a package that will have you clearing space for pogoing.
“A Little Revolution” – Firewater (download from link or listen below)
Now it is my giddy honor to hand the reins over to Tod A for another installment of inspiring recommendations.
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The following can be enjoyed simultaneously, ideally underneath a palm tree on a tropical island.
Good Read:
The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson
Forget the Johnny Depp film debacle: he completely missed the point. This book holds some of HST’s best barbs about human nature. A choice quote: “Like most of the others, I was a seeker, a mover, a malcontent, and at times a stupid hell-raiser. I was never idle long enough to do much thinking, but I felt somehow that my instincts were right. I shared a vagrant optimism that some of us were making real progress, that we had taken an honest road, and that the best of us would inevitably make it over the top. At the same time, I shared a dark suspicion that the life we were leading was a lost cause, that we were all actors, kidding ourselves along on a senseless odyssey. It was the tension between these two poles — a restless idealism on one hand and a sense of impending doom on the other-that kept me going.”
Good Listen:
Essential Ska Masters by The Skatalites
If you’ve never heard this amazing early sixties instrumental ska band, this record is a great place to start. Everything you probably love about jazz, with minimum wank, and plenty of skanky groove to get your hips shaking. Every cut is a winner.
“Confucius” – The Skatalites
Good Drink:
Arak Madu
Fill a tall glass with ice and one teaspoon of honey. Pour in three fingers of Indonesian arak, then top up the glass with fresh orange juice. Stir. Drink and repeat.
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Make sure to check out Firewater on the road for a show that is told to be un-fucking-missable.
I love this first song from Harriet’s EP Tell the Right Story.
Harriet “I Slept With All Your Mothers” from Harriet on Vimeo.
Harriet, which includes Alex Casnoff (Dawes, PAPA), is offering Tell the Right Story for free download at their website, and they will touring the American/Canadian west coast with AC Newman in November.
11/8 – Vancouver, BC – The Biltmore Cabaret
11/9 – Seattle, WA – The Crocodile
11/10 – Portland, OR – Doug Fir Lounge
11/12 – San Francisco, CA – The Independent
11/13 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echoplex
11/14 – San Diego, CA – The Casbah
It’s difficult to gauge the quality of an artist based on one song (there’s a reason there are so many one-hit wonders), but this one moody song from Lillian Todd-Jones is very promising.
If you’re in London, Todd-Jones will be a part of the City Showcase at the Borderline on October 11, 2012.
Gummy Soul does it again. A year after Fela Soul, an album-length mash-up of Fela Kuti and De La Soul, Gummy Soul has produced another album of chilled, jazzy hip hop, this time pairing the Pharcyde with A Tribe Called Quest.
“Runnin'” – Gummy Soul
Like Fela Soul, Bizarre Tribe is delicious from beginning to end. And like Fela Soul, Bizarre Tribe is a free download on Bandcamp. It’s a beautiful thing.
Silicon Ballet, I thought. Hmm. Perhaps there will be dancing robots! In tutus!
So I clicked on the link.
There were no dancing robots or tutus on the other end. Instead I was rewarded with some charming dreamy pop, plus adorable children in sunglasses and multiple varieties of super-hero costumes. Check it:
Silicon Ballet is Anne-Claude Dejasse (Violin), Aurélie Potty (Cello), Katia Raffay (Violin), Didier Soufnenguel (Electronics), Christophe Danthinne (Lead vocals), Antoni Severino (Bass guitar, vocals), David Diederen (Guitars, vocals) and Didier Dauvrin (Drums), they are from Belgium, and Sunglasses is from their debut EP Utopia, released in February 2012.
There is new music on the way; their second EP, to be called Slowly Slowly, is expected in early November.
photo credit: Nate Burrell
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.
Life in the Shivering Timbers’ household, i.e. the home of Sarah and Jayson Benn in Akron, Ohio, doesn’t leave much time for leisurely drink while flipping through pages and listening to the hi-fi. On top of raising their four-year-old girl and the handful of jobs that Jayson works, the band just released their second, beautiful album, Sing Sing. But, fortunately for us, they did find a moment to share a few favorites for when they do have time to sit still for a while.
“Wayfaring Stranger/Evening Prayer” – Shivering Timbers
Sarah says: Free time is scarce, so a 78 is perfect for a moment of escapism, and I relish Ernie Andrews “Dream Awhile/Green Gin” (GEM records 1945). Add a tall glass of iced sweet tea, and the latest copy of Garden Design magazine, and I’m blissful for 10 minutes. On the road I have time to read, and it’s almost always some sort of world history (or music history) book, right now I’m reading A People’s History of the United States [by Howard Zinn], which I think everyone should read.
“Green Gin” – Ernie Andrews
Jayson says: On the rare occasion when I’m able to disappear for a while, I can usually be found lying on the floor in my living room, directly in front of the stereo. Lately I’ve been listening to the country gentlemen of guitar: Chet Atkins, Merle Travis, and Duane Eddy, to name a few. There is something about these old timers that has been lost on a lot of modern guitar players; they had grit, class, and knew how to make their instruments sing. My drink of choice is typically a glass of good bourbon (neat).
On the other hand, if the girls are out of town visiting family, I’ll grab a six pack of High Life and blow the speakers out with some Motorhead or Iron Maiden.
Reading while listening to music usually doesn’t go hand in hand for me. I do, however, have a couple of books going at the moment: Tom Waits – In the Studio by Jake Brown, and Speaker for the Dead, the follow-up to Orson Scott Card’s great sci-fi novel, Ender’s Game.
“Cannonball Rag” – Merle Travis
Shivering Timbers Official Website
