Weekend Music Roundup

The weekend is here, the resurrection weekend no less. In that vein, many of the albums on this list are a bit of a resurrection project as they are old and forgotten, but perhaps shouldn't be. However, to keep it interesting, there are a couple of new releases (or newer). There's a big mix of music from folk to noise rock to jazz. Hopefully there's something here that will be worth your time to seek out and check out and enjoy.

Turin Brakes - Invisible Storm: It's been nearly 20 years since this London outfit's first release and they've been active ever since. Released in January, this is their eighth studio album and my favorite of theirs in a decade. It captures the melancholy edge of indie pop in a way that they did on their best work. "Lost in the Woods," "Deep Sea River," "Everything All at Once," and "Don't Know Much" are my favorite tracks.

Karen Dalton - In My Own Time: This 1971 folk album is one of those unknown to many yet treasure by the few who do. One of the Woodstock artists, her name lives on in my neck of the woods and I picked up the reissue of this album a few months ago, yet held off reviewing it until I'd listened to it several times. I've always loved her voice and her playing, but it took a few times for the beauty of this to sink in. She breaks many of the folk rules to create what is often billed as "acid folk," creating a sound that is grating on the surface, but beautiful underneath.  It reminds me of Jackson C. Frank, another artist who ended up in the Woodstock area.

The Skull Defekts - The Skull Defekts: Though this Swedish noise rock band has released a ton of music in the past 13 years, this is the first I've encountered. Ironically, it appears to be their last as the band reportedly disbanded after the release this year. This has the kind of heavy psych vibe that I dig, mixed with a harder rock sound. It reminds me of Icarus Line, one of my favorite bands of the '00s. Definitely worth checking out and I'm going to check out other albums. 

Chain and the Gang - Experimental Music: The newest album from Ian Svenonius (Make-Up, Nation of Ulysses, Weird War) is the best of this incarnation's releases. It returns to the throwback garage sound of the Make-Up and ironically is the least experimental music he's done in a decade. "The Logic of Night," "Rome," and "Three Made a Fool Out of Me" are standouts on this welcomed return to form.

Panama Limited Jug Band - Panama Limited Jug Band: The short-lived London psychedelic folk band produced two albums in '69 and '70, this being the debut on the Harvest label (Pink Floyd's label at the time). I picked this up on a whim due to my obsession with jug band music and have to say, despite reviews I've read online, I quite liked it. Sure, there's lot of kazoo and mandolin, and hippy freak outs, but that's what makes it so entertaining. This is London side of the psychedelic end of the '60s and I find it fascinating.

Charles Mingus - Mingus at Carnegie Hall: Recorded in '74, this album is two jams that each take an entire side of the record. Mingus is fine form, playing the bass, and his talented band totally bring it, as most performers usually do at this venue. This is a non-stop assault. When one sax solo is done, another picks up. The result can be overwhelming at times, but if you get in the right frame of mind, it's a wonderful trip and one worth taking.

Weekend Music Roundup

It's been a month since the last Roundup, but it's back now. And the good news is that I have at least f three weeks worth of records all set to go, so there shouldn't be another extended outage. As a special for the return, I'm going to feature a few high profile releases in my world from some of my favorite artists. There's a lot of great stuff on here, so I encourage you all to find something on it to check out if you haven't already done so. Enjoy!

The Decemberists - I'll Be Your Girl: It's been three years since the Portland band's last album and this one was worth the wait. Having been one of my favorite bands of the past 20 years, I was excited for this, and a bit nervous, but it turns out the nerves were not necessary. The band moved away from the country folk sound of their recent records to return to a bit to the quirky feel of their early albums. This one reminds me of The Crane Wife and includes some amazing songs. "Severed," and "Sucker's Prayer" are two of their best songs ever, and the rest of the album is strong too, with the possible exception of "Everything is Awful", though even that song is growing on me.

Holly Miranda - Mutual Horse: The third official solo album from the Detroit native is flat-out brilliant. With each album, she's elevated her songwriting and this album hits all the right notes to create a transportive narrative of songs that feel as though they've come straight of an eerie dream. "Wherever You Are," "Golden Spiral," "When Your Lonely Heart Breaks," and "Mt. Hood" are personal favorites on a record that's sure to be one of my favorites of the year.

The Fratellis - In Your Own Sweet Time: The Glasgow pub rock band returns with their fifth album. By now, the trio of brothers know how to write songs that can get listeners to stomp their feet and chant along, and this is another album filled with belters. But it's missing a little something that I've always loved about this band, and this is songs that switch up their flow within the song, "Chelsea Dagger" is a perfect example, and it lacks the down-tempo sadder songs that sprinkle previous albums. The end result is a decent album, but one that begins to sound repetitive by the end. Enjoyable, but only essential for fans. 

Hockey Dad - Blend Inn: The second album from the Australian band is another good bit of indie rock that builds off their impressive debut from a few years ago. The last album had a '90s alternative sound, mixed with early 00's garage rock revival, this one takes the garage rock a little farther, and oddly ends up sounding slightly more original. It reminds me of the sound of The Orwells, a rough around the edges feel that works. "Homely Feeling," "Danny," "Whatever," and "Where I Came From" are standouts.

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra - Horses in the Sky: The 2005 album from the Montreal contemporary free folk outfit is a brilliant record, one I was really lucky to find on vinyl. On the verge of freak folk and art rock, this album falls into a category with bands like The Microphones, early Decemberists and artists like Jordaan Mason. This is melancholy album that captures the solitude of wintery days in secluded places. Three album sides of perfection. "God Bless Our Dead Marines, " "Teddy Roosevelt's Guns" are beyond words.

The Sounds We See

As I wrote yesterday, I've been insanely busy this past month with grad school, and honestly, for the past year. Given that I also have a three year old, and a full time job, my time for writing has been limited to say the least. Despite this, I've written a few times over the past half year or so that ideas have been gestating and the itch to get back to writing has grown more severe over the past few months, an itch that grew last night during a concert I attending.

I went to see Langhorne Slim in Woodstock last night, and while he was amazing, this post is about the opening performer, James Wallace of Skyway Man. There was something about his songs that created intense images in my head, images involving two of the stories that have been gestating in there. Music has always acted as a fertilizer for my imagination, but every now and then I encounter something that acts like Miracle Gro. 

He was selling his album between acts and as I was the only one there, we chatted a bit and I got him to sign the record. I can't wait to have a little spurt of time to listen to it and let it inspire me some more.

Out of the Woods

This past month was a bit brutal. As some of you may know, I've been going to grad school to get my Master's in Library Science and I'm nearing the end of that course. However, the end of the road comes with heavy traffic as I've been trying to accelerate through to the end. This past quarter, I took two classes, neither of which really had much to do with my career plans, but were the only two classes offered that went toward my degree requirements. 

The courses were HTML/CSS website building, requiring me to learn HTML and hand code a 7 page website and using a CSS template to create another one. The other course was about building a database and learning SQL language. None of this was anything I knew anything about and meant a ton of learning of two computer languages. Needless to say, my time has been very limited. That is the sole reason for the lack of posts on this blog. But both those classes are over, so I'm back.