Jun
19

SARAH JAFFE Songwriting as a craft is as hard a thing to analyse as it is to catagorise to a handful of types.The more I listen to artists, the more I’m beginning to search for their entire catalogue (if they posess one).You can discover a songwirter at any particular point in their career, it’s all up to chance.I’m beginning to find this fascinating. Have you stumbeleld upon their work because it is now head and shoulders above what they’ve done before?Often this is not the case.I was intorduced to Sarah Jaffe by a friend and found her to be a perplexing listen.Often lyrically jovial (something I find hard to warm to), she had a tendancy to write a little too earnestly and her songs suffered.On the otherhand, there are plenty of examples of her getting her pop sensiblilites perfectly onto tape in a raw and mature way.What intrigued me most about her was her tendancy to tread on darker themes and melodies in the song ‘Pretender’ taken off ‘Suburban Nature’ would be a prime example of this. On her latest record, ‘The Body Wins’, there’s plenty of the latter on display.As well as a penchant for intricite electronica brought home by producer John Congleton. (St. Vincent/Shearwater/The Walkmen) The standout track on the album for me is ‘Hooray For Love’.Dark, intense and broody are moods Jaffe does very well, and none moreso than here.Her voice is consisently superb, her range and delivery are equal parts heartbreak and staunch defiance.The piano melody is something which hasn’t left me since I first heard it.Re-entering my brain at random times and forcing me to revisit the album again and again. Sarah Jaffe’s musical journey has been a necesary one, as it has seen her mature into a teriffic songwriter.I’m just glad I got to hear how it all unfolded.

SARAH JAFFE


Songwriting as a craft is as hard a thing to analyse as it is to catagorise to a handful of types.The more I listen to artists, the more I’m beginning to search for their entire catalogue (if they posess one).You can discover a songwirter at any particular point in their career, it’s all up to chance.I’m beginning to find this fascinating. Have you stumbeleld upon their work because it is now head and shoulders above what they’ve done before?Often this is not the case.I was intorduced to Sarah Jaffe by a friend and found her to be a perplexing listen.Often lyrically jovial (something I find hard to warm to), she had a tendancy to write a little too earnestly and her songs suffered.On the otherhand, there are plenty of examples of her getting her pop sensiblilites perfectly onto tape in a raw and mature way.What intrigued me most about her was her tendancy to tread on darker themes and melodies in the song ‘Pretender’ taken off ‘Suburban Nature’ would be a prime example of this.


On her latest record, ‘The Body Wins’, there’s plenty of the latter on display.As well as a penchant for intricite electronica brought home by producer John Congleton. (St. Vincent/Shearwater/The Walkmen)

The standout track on the album for me is ‘Hooray For Love’.Dark, intense and broody are moods Jaffe does very well, and none moreso than here.Her voice is consisently superb, her range and delivery are equal parts heartbreak and staunch defiance.The piano melody is something which hasn’t left me since I first heard it.Re-entering my brain at random times and forcing me to revisit the album again and again.


Sarah Jaffe’s musical journey has been a necesary one, as it has seen her mature into a teriffic songwriter.I’m just glad I got to hear how it all unfolded.


theonetheycallguy Posted by theonetheycallguy

May
27

I have only just stumbled upon some very fine chill-wave loveliness from one Colin Ward aka Observer Drift. This young Minnesotan whipper-snapper is snapping at the heels of acts such as Washed Out, Neon Indian et al, but despite any allusions to or stylistic similarities to those fore-mentioned bands, Observer Drift is forging a path with a determination belying his tender years. Creating a much keener sound, Ward avoids rehashing the same old ideas and themes without ever sacrificing emotional intimacy with the listener. Below you can listen to the album in it’s entirity and well worth checking out is the majestic “Warm Waves” Corridors by Observer Drift And while you can file next to Toro Y Moi, Small Black, Memory Tapes, etc. Observer Drift may soon take up a shelf all to himself soon enough. Facebook Bandcamp soundcloud
I have only just stumbled upon some very fine chill-wave loveliness from one Colin Ward aka Observer Drift. This young Minnesotan whipper-snapper is snapping at the heels of acts such as Washed Out, Neon Indian et al, but despite any allusions to or stylistic similarities to those fore-mentioned bands, Observer Drift is forging a path with a determination belying his tender years. Creating a much keener sound, Ward avoids rehashing the same old ideas and themes without ever sacrificing emotional intimacy with the listener.

Below you can listen to the album in it’s entirity and well worth checking out is the majestic “Warm Waves”

And while you can file next to Toro Y Moi, Small Black, Memory Tapes, etc. Observer Drift may soon take up a shelf all to himself soon enough.

Facebook
Bandcamp
soundcloud

reddirtgal Posted by reddirtgal

May
02

I reckon that if Billy Bragg, Nick Cave, Daniel Johnson and Tom Waits had grown up in confederate America, formed a band and jammed their way across the deep southern states, their sound still wouldn’t come close to the powerful musings of Andy The Doorbum. Based in North Carolina, Andy the Doorbum is effortlessly supported by fellow members Wyley Buck Boswell & Richard Culp, and together they have produced a guttural, primal and seductive sound on their latest offering “The Man Killed The Bird, And With The Bird He Killed The Song, And With The Song, Himself”. I, for one, am new to this party but this album is as good a place to start as any. It has certainly enticed me to delve back through the already extensive back catalogue. The Man Killed The Bird, And With The Bird He Killed The Song, And With The Song, Himself. by Andy the Doorbum
I reckon that if Billy Bragg, Nick Cave, Daniel Johnson and Tom Waits had grown up in confederate America, formed a band and jammed their way across the deep southern states, their sound still wouldn’t come close to the powerful musings of Andy The Doorbum.

Based in North Carolina, Andy the Doorbum is effortlessly supported by fellow members Wyley Buck Boswell & Richard Culp, and together they have produced a guttural, primal and seductive sound on their latest offering “The Man Killed The Bird, And With The Bird He Killed The Song, And With The Song, Himself”. I, for one, am new to this party but this album is as good a place to start as any. It has certainly enticed me to delve back through the already extensive back catalogue.

reddirtgal Posted by reddirtgal

Mar
19

Elvis Depressedly came to my attention though Mat Cothran’s other band Coma Cinema.I wasn’t hugely won over by their sound but earmarked them in my brain as ones to look out for.Where Coma Cinema failed to ignite my interest, Elvis Depressedly succeeds. He simply creates infectious music.I tend to move from my guitar to my laptop rather frequently when writers block occurs and I go and search for something which blows me away.It rarely happens these days, so I must rejoice in what he’s achieved here.In ‘Mickey Yr A Fuck Up’, he’s taken the most simplest of chord progressions and wrapped an incredibly textured vocal melody around it.It progresses with a beautiful synth line, and then ‘ahhs’ its way into the most perfect of conclusions.It’s so refreshing when music so good is this simple. mickey yr a fuck up by elvis depressedly Back to my guitar.

Elvis Depressedly came to my attention though Mat Cothran’s other band Coma Cinema.I wasn’t hugely won over by their sound but earmarked them in my brain as ones to look out for.Where Coma Cinema failed to ignite my interest, Elvis Depressedly succeeds.

He simply creates infectious music.I tend to move from my guitar to my laptop rather frequently when writers block occurs and I go and search for something which blows me away.It rarely happens these days, so I must rejoice in what he’s achieved here.In ‘Mickey Yr A Fuck Up’, he’s taken the most simplest of chord progressions and wrapped an incredibly textured vocal melody around it.It progresses with a beautiful synth line, and then ‘ahhs’ its way into the most perfect of conclusions.It’s so refreshing when music so good is this simple.




Back to my guitar.

theonetheycallguy Posted by theonetheycallguy

Mar
16

The only snippet of information available (via XLR8R where I found this track) about Parisian is that he’s from St Louis. Aside from this one blog post he seems to be almost entirely unknown. So what can I say about it?. ‘Heavy Petting’ is quite possibly one of the more interesting electronic numbers I’ve heard in some time. I can imagine either living or watching on the big screen a scene whereby the main character wanders through the busy streets of a city in some sort of LSD induced fug searching for that ever elusive meaning &/or clarity that you always expect in those moments but never quite reach. It’s a track that I find easy to get inside of but somehow always manages to remain softly distant. The track lops & staggers from side to side as woozy elements layer on top of slowly pulsing layers, unexpected offbeat elements circling in & out lifting to a height that’s never quite more than a subdued trance walking in around a slow shuffling rhythm. It manages to do all of this in the most beautiful way possible though, & that’s the important part, it requires your mouse pointer to never stray far from the play button. ‘Heavy Petting’ will worm it’s way inside your head, lay eggs, slowly stumble & squash a number of them into the floor while loping out of view as you try to focus on the blurred shape of the elusive figure exiting the room. Actually just reading his twitter feed there & it seems he’s been having trouble sleeping, I may not be too far off the mark… Parisian / Facebook / Twitter / Soundcloud

The only snippet of information available (via XLR8R where I found this track) about Parisian is that he’s from St Louis. Aside from this one blog post he seems to be almost entirely unknown. So what can I say about it?. ‘Heavy Petting’ is quite possibly one of the more interesting electronic numbers I’ve heard in some time. I can imagine either living or watching on the big screen a scene whereby the main character wanders through the busy streets of a city in some sort of LSD induced fug searching for that ever elusive meaning &/or clarity that you always expect in those moments but never quite reach. It’s a track that I find easy to get inside of but somehow always manages to remain softly distant.

The track lops & staggers from side to side as woozy elements layer on top of slowly pulsing layers, unexpected offbeat elements circling in & out lifting to a height that’s never quite more than a subdued trance walking in around a slow shuffling rhythm. It manages to do all of this in the most beautiful way possible though, & that’s the important part, it requires your mouse pointer to never stray far from the play button.

‘Heavy Petting’ will worm it’s way inside your head, lay eggs, slowly stumble & squash a number of them into the floor while loping out of view as you try to focus on the blurred shape of the elusive figure exiting the room. Actually just reading his twitter feed there & it seems he’s been having trouble sleeping, I may not be too far off the mark…

Parisian / Facebook / Twitter / Soundcloud

drrghnln Posted by drrghnln

Noticing a band by their artwork is not usually my preferred route into discovering a band, however I make sure & check out all/any new bands under the relatively new Cascine umbrella, & first noticed when they posted the rather nice artwork (above) to World Tour’s new EP ‘Believe’. Self proclaimed ‘experimental-pop’ label Cascine have a sound all of their own, tied together by attitude more than niche. This is a good thing by the way. World Tour are not their newest discoveries having signed to Cascine only four months into the label’s genesis, but are releasing their ‘Believe’ EP to bathed breath by all accounts, & “Believe’, the lead single streaming below, should go some way towards helping you understand why. The band’s press states ‘World Tour is Tobias, Felix & Merike who make a sort of romantic and spiritual pop music’ & listening through the EP it is both a strangely apt & simplistic description. If I had to compare them to other bands, which most bands hate but everyone else loves (hey we all need some pillars to place our newest discoveries upon, unstable or otherwise), I would describe the instrumentation as being like the best bits of Yeasayer’s first album (All Hour Cymbals), with obvious world music influences glowing throughout the rhythm section, & spiritually minded references peppering the lyrics. That description alone does them an injustice though since elements of the EP are probably a lot closer to some of Cascine’s other signings. With the gentle summer strumming of Wintercoats & the minimal production / washy reverberation that Selebrities employ, World Tour carve their own identity mainly through melodies that are not quite instant yet don’t take too long before working their way into your subconscious & sprouting stubborn roots. Check out the track below & don’t say I didn’t warn you… World Tour / Facebook Cascine / Facebook / Website

Noticing a band by their artwork is not usually my preferred route into discovering a band, however I make sure & check out all/any new bands under the relatively new Cascine umbrella, & first noticed when they posted the rather nice artwork (above) to World Tour’s new EP ‘Believe’. Self proclaimed ‘experimental-pop’ label Cascine have a sound all of their own, tied together by attitude more than niche. This is a good thing by the way.

World Tour are not their newest discoveries having signed to Cascine only four months into the label’s genesis, but are releasing their ‘Believe’ EP to bathed breath by all accounts, & “Believe’, the lead single streaming below, should go some way towards helping you understand why. The band’s press states ‘World Tour is Tobias, Felix & Merike who make a sort of romantic and spiritual pop music’ & listening through the EP it is both a strangely apt & simplistic description. If I had to compare them to other bands, which most bands hate but everyone else loves (hey we all need some pillars to place our newest discoveries upon, unstable or otherwise), I would describe the instrumentation as being like the best bits of Yeasayer’s first album (All Hour Cymbals), with obvious world music influences glowing throughout the rhythm section, & spiritually minded references peppering the lyrics. That description alone does them an injustice though since elements of the EP are probably a lot closer to some of Cascine’s other signings. With the gentle summer strumming of Wintercoats & the minimal production / washy reverberation that Selebrities employ, World Tour carve their own identity mainly through melodies that are not quite instant yet don’t take too long before working their way into your subconscious & sprouting stubborn roots. Check out the track below & don’t say I didn’t warn you…

World Tour / Facebook
Cascine / Facebook / Website

drrghnln Posted by drrghnln

Feb
04

Mirel Wagner has released an astonishingly accomplished debut album. Born in Ethopia and raised in Finland, this singer has gifted us with a collection of songs that belie her young age. Each track a captivating, spiritual journey through some very deep and dark themes. Much like Leonard Cohen, an obvious musical hero, Wagner explores weighty, intense emotions. Her songs are peppered throughout with lyrics of death and sorrow, imagery of wells and shadows. Mirel Wagner by Bone Voyage While listening to this record you can’t help but feel a chill, a haunting shiver down your spine. This is, without a doubt, not music to play at parties, but I urge you to take a chance.
Mirel Wagner has released an astonishingly accomplished debut album. Born in Ethopia and raised in Finland, this singer has gifted us with a collection of songs that belie her young age. Each track a captivating, spiritual journey through some very deep and dark themes. Much like Leonard Cohen, an obvious musical hero, Wagner explores weighty, intense emotions. Her songs are peppered throughout with lyrics of death and sorrow, imagery of wells and shadows.

Mirel Wagner by Bone Voyage

While listening to this record you can’t help but feel a chill, a haunting shiver down your spine. This is, without a doubt, not music to play at parties, but I urge you to take a chance.

reddirtgal Posted by reddirtgal

Feb
01

Laura Gibson is no stranger to the music scene. With three releases already under her belt, Gibson’s fourth offering “La Grande” sees the Oregon singer expanding her horizons. “La Grande” opens with the title track recalling the ghosts of Sergio Leone’s classic westerns but soon incorporates a jazzy soundscape that ever so tantalizingly tickles the ear. It exposes the listener to an exciting and delectable palette of sound all the while holding you at arm’s length. There is a distinct vintage, old world feel to the album with delicacies that crackle and repeat a subtle liveliness that one can’t help but wish for a gramophone on which to play it. There are two standout tracks for me on this record, the glorious “Milk-Heavy, Pollen-Eyed” is a wonderfully atmospheric pleasure and the album closer “Feather Lungs” relays an intimate and dreamy reflection wrapped up in a retro cocoon of layered vocals. “Skin, Warming Skin” is a tender and sumptious affair that perfectly captures Gibson’s fine vocal abilities and suggests a smallness, a fragility. The album comes complete with a lyrical content, owing more than a nod in the direction of one Miss Newsom, “Secret spun as this as summer thread, hidden in the hems of summer dresses”……..”Go on, be the seas to break and swell. Tell me all your troubles, I’ll tell mine. Show me every one thing you’ve been hiding. It’s only skin, warming skin.” and what we are left with is what can only be described as a quiet connection between the listener and creator.
Laura Gibson is no stranger to the music scene. With three releases already under her belt, Gibson’s fourth offering “La Grande” sees the Oregon singer expanding her horizons.

“La Grande” opens with the title track recalling the ghosts of Sergio Leone’s classic westerns but soon incorporates a jazzy soundscape that ever so tantalizingly tickles the ear. It exposes the listener to an exciting and delectable palette of sound all the while holding you at arm’s length. There is a distinct vintage, old world feel to the album with delicacies that crackle and repeat a subtle liveliness that one can’t help but wish for a gramophone on which to play it.

There are two standout tracks for me on this record, the glorious “Milk-Heavy, Pollen-Eyed” is a wonderfully atmospheric pleasure and the album closer “Feather Lungs” relays an intimate and dreamy reflection wrapped up in a retro cocoon of layered vocals.

“Skin, Warming Skin” is a tender and sumptious affair that perfectly captures Gibson’s fine vocal abilities and suggests a smallness, a fragility. The album comes complete with a lyrical content, owing more than a nod in the direction of one Miss Newsom, “Secret spun as this as summer thread, hidden in the hems of summer dresses”……..”Go on, be the seas to break and swell. Tell me all your troubles, I’ll tell mine. Show me every one thing you’ve been hiding. It’s only skin, warming skin.”
and what we are left with is what can only be described as a quiet connection between the listener and creator.

reddirtgal Posted by reddirtgal

Dec
19

Gung Ho have surfed their way into my heart on this dank and dreary day! Summer may well be over, but this Brisbane trio have taken me on a virtual holiday to sunny shores with their brand of vintage guitar surf pop. Twin Rays by Gung Ho To date there are just three songs available to purchase from their bandcamp page, each one trading in a nice line of laid-back sun-chic. There is, however, an E.P. scheduled for release 2012, and if it is anything close to the blissed-out, slacker, beach vibes that permeate the wonderful lead single Twin Rays, it may well be one of the sounds of that summer! Demos (April 2011) by Gung Ho
Gung Ho have surfed their way into my heart on this dank and dreary day! Summer may well be over, but this Brisbane trio have taken me on a virtual holiday to sunny shores with their brand of vintage guitar surf pop.

To date there are just three songs available to purchase from their bandcamp page, each one trading in a nice line of laid-back sun-chic. There is, however, an E.P. scheduled for release 2012, and if it is anything close to the blissed-out, slacker, beach vibes that permeate the wonderful lead single Twin Rays, it may well be one of the sounds of that summer!

reddirtgal Posted by reddirtgal

Dec
01

Having previously collaborated with Constantines on their Kensington Heights album, as well as Fucked Up and KC favourite Doug Paisley, Jennifer Castle is definitely not new to the music industry. In fact, “Castlemusic”,(Flemish Eye, Apr. 2011), is the singers third album (she released two previous albums under the moniker Castlemusic). However, seeing as we are coming to the end of 2011 and every blog you read at present are compiling and publishing their “best of” lists, I just wanted to draw attention to this record before you make up your own. Jennifer Castle - Neverride by chippedhip “Castlemusic” is a wonderfully warm, intensely moving piece of work. And while it is music to curl up to with your headphones on, it is undeniably open and communicative. You can’t help but let the imagery take you on an incredibly reflective journey through life and all that it brings. Castle’s voice is a hauntingly graceful and trance-inducing instrument. It is timeless and refreshingly so, stirring the listener to the very core. Just as Sharon Van Etten emerged, for me at least, with one of 2010’s highlight albums, I honestly hope the same fate awaits Jennifer. It’s an album that demands the listener’s full focus and I promise you it is well worth your time and investment. Do not let this pass you by.
Having previously collaborated with Constantines on their Kensington Heights album, as well as Fucked Up and KC favourite Doug Paisley, Jennifer Castle is definitely not new to the music industry. In fact, “Castlemusic”,(Flemish Eye, Apr. 2011), is the singers third album (she released two previous albums under the moniker Castlemusic). However, seeing as we are coming to the end of 2011 and every blog you read at present are compiling and publishing their “best of” lists, I just wanted to draw attention to this record before you make up your own.

Jennifer Castle - Neverride by chippedhip

“Castlemusic” is a wonderfully warm, intensely moving piece of work. And while it is music to curl up to with your headphones on, it is undeniably open and communicative. You can’t help but let the imagery take you on an incredibly reflective journey through life and all that it brings.

Castle’s voice is a hauntingly graceful and trance-inducing instrument. It is timeless and refreshingly so, stirring the listener to the very core. Just as Sharon Van Etten emerged, for me at least, with one of 2010’s highlight albums, I honestly hope the same fate awaits Jennifer. It’s an album that demands the listener’s full focus and I promise you it is well worth your time and investment. Do not let this pass you by.

reddirtgal Posted by reddirtgal