Ty Segall – Lemons

Ty Segall - Lemons

One-man act Ty Segall drew a fan base in the Bay Area and then successfully cast a bigger net with his well-received 2008 self-titled debut. 2009′s follow up, Lemons, builds and improves on all Segall’s previous efforts. Segall fits well into the long lineage of underground solo artists who emerge like a pimple, stewing under the surface a bit before blossoming. Obviously, some pimples are bigger than others, and the biggest ones can leave a lasting impression. Jay Reatard, the most contemporary version of this, crudely repackages the pop music today’s indie fans like. Before him, it was Beck drawing together folk and hip hop (among other things). Beck certainly had many forefathers, and each beget the next generation.

Ty Segall, like his counterpart, Reatard, puts the early 60′s burgeoning rock traditions through a new battery of tests. Like the artists of that well-aged rock era, Segall dares get louder and louder in volume, and cruder and cruder in execution, thereby defying what many consider conventional, traditional musical values. Calling the execution–the musicianship–crude is, of course, a term of convenience. Segall, Reatard, and company have a strategy and they practice their own sort of sophistication in crafting their product and establishing their ethos as artists. They have a sense of who they are and who their audience is, and they work in those parameters.

Lo-fi, a sound that is today more often a choice than it is necessity, is a big part of Segall’s method. It, like minimized instrumentation, is also something that can be abandoned once a certain level of status is achieved. Note the musical evolution of artists like Dylan, Beck, Elliot Smith, and, most recently, Reatard on his newest, Watch Me Fall. On Lemons, Segall likewise increases his instruments of choice, but holds on to the modesty afforded by lo-fidelity. And he keeps the most potentially intimate instrument, his vocal, buried deep in the mix, muffled in echo and reverb.

The music on Lemons works way more often than not, and many of Reatard’s loyal fans will find an equal or even better version of that sound here. Segall moves through a variety of moods and places with deceptive ease while always sounding like Segall. “It #1″ immediately introduces those tin can recorded vocals behind jarring chord hits and a barely tonal surface. The songwriting, as always, throws a few wrinkles into standard pop chord progressions. This song bears a palatable air of The Kinks.

Segall introduces a Jerry Lee Lewis affectation to his vocal on “Standing at the Station”, a song whose fuzzy guitars and energetic rhythms bounce around as if recorded in a studio built of concrete and metal sheeting. On Lemons, Segall shows range; while “In Your Car” comes off strikingly abrasive, “Lovely One” is an acoustic stomper, “Cents” follows a threatening surf riff, and “Rusted Dust” treads intimately but eerily with soft vocals under poor boy bedroom riffing. On this last track in particular, Segall really captures a feeling of loneliness. But, for some listeners, the album’s biggest surprise will be the well developed and concentrated instrumental track, “Untitled #2″, a blues-inspired acoustic exercise that ultimately becomes a full pop song crowned by an unconventionally effective guitar solo.

Segall’s nearest misstep is “Die Tonight”, a pop number that sounds bland when paired with the other gems. But, if nothing else, it makes a great counterpart to the screaming mad following track, “Johnny”, the most raucous, overtly cathartic track on Lemons. This is a very solid album that makes as good a use of lo-fidelity as you’ll likely hear this year and maybe next. Segall offers a variety of tunes that, while not innovative, keep pop and rock music spinning like plates on sticks.

Goner Records

Hunter, Run! – EP2

Hunters, Run! - EP2

Spending 10 minutes with Hunter, Run! seems reasonable in the digital ADD era. With two LP’s in 3 years, Hunter, Run! can get away with a two song EP that captures the band’s energy onto one easy to digest release. Jangly guitars and pounding percussion give life to this melodic power-pop band, along with the energetic vocals.

“If I Had the Chance” is going to be the standout on this EP, with its joyful enthusiasm and precision of the power-pop format. “Simple & Calming” is in a similar vein to “Chance” but gets shown up a little in the energy department. Both songs are quite good, and gives off a great summer single to jam to. EP2 is like the sample plates at grocery stores, where you get just a quick taste of the overall product. If you pick this EP up, you’ll get a real good look into the fun, rock-out world of New York City’s Hunter, Run!

Chinese – The Conquest Of Tomorrow Today

Chinese - The Conquest Of Tomorrow Today

I’ll be honest with you guys, if only because I love you: I’m not a fan of instrumental music. Forget arguments about music vs. lyrics and which is most important, because to me a successful band needs both. Obviously, the way a song progresses, the sound of the instruments, and how a song fits together is the most immediate part of music, but the way all of these factors work with lyrics and melody has always been of utmost importance to me. So, I went into The Conquest of Tomorrow Today, the debut album from the Seattle-based guitar/drum duo Chinese, expecting the worse, and that, unfortunately, is what I got.

There’s nothing explicitly wrong with this album; guitarist Aaron Campeau and drummer Michael Strenski are capable musicians, festooning this album with bluesy, faux Jack White riffs and solid drumming, respectively. So if it isn’t the playing, the problem must then lie in the tunes. Most of them hover around the 2:00 minute mark, never overstaying their welcome but never making much of an impression, either. In fact, the only tracks that make any sort of subconscious indentation are “In the Labyrinth” and “…Theseus Slays The Minotaur,” which consist of meandering noise. Memorable for the wrong reasons, it seems.

Most of the songs on this album are relatively anonymous, not only because they lack hooks and melody, but also because they sound the same. There are, however, a couple highlights. “Guitar Solo’s Are Counter-Revolutionary” is the longest track on the album, as well as the one that shows the most bravura. Campeau crams multiple riffs and ideas into the track, and all of them work. The closer, “Path of the Destroyer,” distinguishes itself from the pack through light guitar work and a more subdued tempo. In an album filled with the same garage-rock histrionics, the track is an unexpected gem. But these two tracks can’t salvage The Conquest Of Tomorrow Today because, in the end, being a guitar/drum band severely limits your musical possibilities, and being an instrumental band limits you even more. As a result, your band better have a few musical tricks in the proverbial hat to keep a listener’s interest; Chinese do not. This band could be on the verge of something great, but it appears as though they may have to wait until tomorrow to conquer the music scene of today.

Short Takes on Four EPs

Zach Wallace – Glass Armonica
Root Stata

The glass armonica is an instrument made of wine glasses of different sizes aligned on a rotating, horizontal axis, first devised by one Benjamin Franklin. Sound is made by rubbing the rims of the glasses with moist fingers, resulting in high pitched crystalline tones. Experimental drone musician Zach Wallace built his own glass armonica out of thrift store glasses and recorded a performance by himself and 3 other musicians in Ann Arbor, Michigan at The Gallery Project in Spring 2007. The disc contains three lengthy drones titled, “2”, “5”, and “7”, so one would assume these are the best parts of the performance.  These are deep drones, throbbing in a high register without much noticeable variation. There are loads of overtones, any drone fan’s dream. But while Wallace’s glass armonica might be a great achievement in instrument making, it is not a great achievement in drone music. Not that this isn’t a passable work in the genre, but the overtones and variations aren’t pronounced enough to really make this interesting. The rhythm, while transfixing, is so pronounced that it distracts from the textural qualities produced by the interplay of elements. Also, it sounds like at least one of the players is doing some interesting stuff, but it is half-buried beneath the constant hum of the other players.  The most interesting part of the performance comes 15 minutes into the second track when some separation of the players’ actions produce allow the texture to come to the fore, and it climaxes (relatively speaking) at the 20 minute mark with a purring sound and then some high pitched tones that sound like guitar feedback. Moments like these make this setup sound like it has way more potential than is shown on these fairly monotonous tracks.

Terminal 23 – The Melting of Ice
Inam Records

Another new limited run EP from Inam Records means another chance to bask in the glory of disorientation. Terminal 23 are a group from Athens who appear to do most of their work on self-made electronics, generators, effects, and software programs. On The Melting of Ice, pulsing drones slowly compete with sustained drones, all set against cavernous echoes, phased oscillations, and other found sounds. With assistance from the title, this noisy piece can be interpreted as a representation of the natural process of ice melting, a process which constantly leaves behind a form different than its predecessor. Despite this, the overall tone has more of an industrial feel than a natural one. Perhaps they mean to make a link between industrialization and melting ice. Regardless, this is drone music for the active listener, as a continuum of tones are visited throughout the 23-minute running time, always complimented by some other non-drone sound source, whether that be repetitive descending tones, swooping grand gestures, crumbling electronics, or swirling radio frequencies. Melting has never been so serious.

Olekranon – Panacea
Inam Records

Hot on the heels of Olekranon’s recent full-length, Gaitan, comes this limited (pressing of 50) 3” Panacea on Inam Records. The three tracks on Panacea, which was recorded both before and after the sessions for Gaitan, take the flood-light-in-a-gutter, industrial, party aesthetic of that album and attenuate them in trippy ways. “Panacea” pushes even further into trip-hop territory, with an overblown drum machine and something that sounds like a creaky hinge leading the way rhythmically, accompanied by some fuzzy, phased guitars swirling through the back giving an impression of circular movement.  It’s simply great another Olekranon track which feels like a Dionysian celebration of noise, scuzz, and anarchy. “Armored” goes in a completely different direction, trading in the volume of noise blasts for the creepiness of echoes in empty space. Little more than a little echoing percussion figure with some windy wisps and other random noises lurking in the background, at almost 8 minutes this track gets a little tedious. Final track “Solemn” starts with some very bright electronics before segueing into a bumping beat and some darkly atmospheric keyboards. Uncharacteristically, the song breaks for an interlude of melodic guitar licks before dropping back in beat. This song repeats that drop a number of times, mixing in various elements to the beat and guitar picking, and is the most structured and melodic thing I’ve heard from Olekranon. Could be an intriguing direction for the new full length…

Kill and Eat – Green Bushes
Alright Now Records

“Green Bushes” is a loose 18-minute voice and piano piece released on the Alright Now Records label, which eschews including any sort of album artwork in order to put the focus on the music. Luckily, the music included is less austere than this sort of purism would lead you to expect. Following the stream of conscious, “Green Bushes” employs a cocktail lounge piano on valium, the player’s lead foot barely lifting off the sustain pedal, accompanying a boyishly imperfect voice singing the line “Green bushes and concrete trees above me”. The singing is detached and dreamy, like the singer is more interested in the nuances of the syllables than the words themselves. As the song slowly draws on, the piano gains some gusto in its flourishes, throwing in twinkling notes and cascading runs, grounding the proceedings just a little even as the music continues to wander at its own whim. Before the track comes to a close, a trumpet that sounds muted under an armpit plays a woozy but serene variation on the main theme. To end, the piano ramps up its force and volume, banging out the chords and notes in a confident rhythm accompanied by a drumbeat, a satisfying coda to the deep, dreamlike meditation of the rest of the piece. Although Kill and Eat use familiar sounds, “Green Bushes” pushes into totally new territory to surprising effect, bringing emotionally touching and gloriously unclassifiable playing back to the piano and voice.

New Album from Swedish Duo Ecovillage

The album, Phoenix Asteroid, is released via Darla Records (US) and Quince Records (JAP). Its the number one selling record on Darla.com right now!

Ecovillage is primarily a two-man Psychedelic/Shoegaze band from Sweden. The band members have both been involved with different bands over the years. In 2005 they went on an journey together which changed their view on music radically.

In 2006 they formed the band Ecovillage…with this band everything fell into its right place and it just clicked from the beginning. They felt that Ecovillage was something special so they put everything else on hold and dedicated all their time into their music. Ecovillage music have often been described as euphoric, melancholic, ethereal and very psychedelic. A Good Vibrations, The Association, psychedelic pop kind of affair mixing Shoegaze with vocal harmonies, electronics and some sitar.

Members of the band: Emil Holmström and Peter Wikström. The album features Jonas Munk aka (Manual/Darla Records), Jakob Skott (Syntaks/Benbecula Records/Ghostly International) and Sherlie Matthews (Motown Records).

Telegraph Canyon – The Tide and the Current

Telegraph Canyon – The Tide and the Current

Dreaming and longing for something real and fully-realized, with every waking step and every yearning breath, it feels nearly impossible. The mystique and beauty of life and its ever-succumbing follies is a struggle that’s natural and ultimately, inevitable. But forgotten in all of this is the goal that there is something amazing waiting on the other side; a release that justifies everything else.

While sometimes we fail to notice or capitalize on it, these so-called releases are often put aside. But when they come, they come with every ounce of heart, soul and depth that if we miss them, they may never come again. With all of that in mind and believe me, I hope more than you that it all makes sense, Telegraph Canyon have created an amazing piece of music with their latest album. A complete translation of the lo and behold, this Fort Worth band pack a Texas-sized punch of songcraft and melody. The Tide and the Current isn’t so much a work of art, as much as it is one genius stroke of emotionally powerful and viscerally-jarring music.

Sparkling and mystified, Chris Johnson’s vocals are reminiscent of other lead singers like Robin Pecknold and Ben Bridwell. Johnson’s voice is carefully refined and he is able to convey such tender sincerities with supreme ease. On “Captain,” he’s singing about the simplest way of admitting that you found the one and yet, finding a way to question it. These kinds of feelings, the kind that doubt and confuse about how good it may be are firmly prevalent on the band’s music. But as the violins flush in support of Johnson, his acoustic guitar conveys the confidence needed as he sings, “I never knew you to be the one and why would you ever, why would you ever, think twice?”

There’s a lot of influences being channeled here and although each of them make their lasting impact, Telegraph Canyon takes care of everything else. There’s the honesty of Neil Young, the open-heartedness of a voice like Joe Cocker and the overall combination of something like The Snake The Cross The Crown on such songs like “Safe on the Outside.” With the drums pounding away, Johnson sounds most like Pecknold’s brimming voice, but with those terrifically arranged clapping hands and the force of the instruments, everything sounds amazing.

But it’s easy to tell, even just from the opening piano notes on “Into the Woods,” that this isn’t your normal alt-country, southern gothic country shuffle. No, not at all and in fact, you’d be downright foolish to assume such things. These aren’t your dad’s country westerns that are all twang and no heart but instead, the band’s music prevails in part to its towering compositions. Built on that aforementioned piano, the drums and guitars are aptly placed at the center and they don’t ever overpower. The auxillary are fitted nicely into the grooves before letting Johnson disappointedly admit, “You’re nobody until you’re breathing, nobody, until you’re dead.”

Speaking of that auxillary, it lends a strident touch to the landscapes that Johnson and his bandmates are creating. On “Shake Your Fist,” they’re playful and allow some of the seriousness to melt right off and on “Welcome to the Night,” along with some rightfully placed accordion, the glockenspiel is barely recognizable until Johnson’s singing, “You don’t have to hide,” allowing the band’s chemistry and foreshadowed climax to reign. It’s this chemistry that proves The Tide and the Current is a worthy listen; don’t let this be one of the releases you miss out on.

“Into the Woods” by Telegraph Canyon

Velvet Blue Music / Spune

The Delfields – Ogres

The Delfields - Ogres

The press sticker packaged on The Delfields’ LP Ogres overtly claims that the New Brunswick band’s music should be filed, sonically, alongside indie rock landmarks like Death Cab for Cutie and The Shins.  It’s not that this assessment is off base or misinformed; it’s that these RIYL comparisons may be too close to what The Delfields sounds like.  Helpful?  In terms of classification, yes.  Damaging?  In The Delfields’ case, yes.

On Ogres, the band’s influences are worn on a sleeve.  While album opener “Slippery Slope” clearly states the band’s intentions and stance on cerebral indie pop, it’s a well-tread sentiment.  Though I had never heard “Slippery Slope” before, I felt like I had heard it a million times, a song with nice hooks and a solid melody in an overdone genre; in an overpopulated sonic territory.  Another problem that cripples The Delfields is the striking resemblance between lead singer Joseph Feteke’s voice and the voice of The Shins’ lead singer James Mercer, something that surely doesn’t lead the listener away from that particular band’s sound.  The Delfields don’t do enough to establish their own voice. Though I had never heard a Delfields song before I spun Ogres, I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of déjà vu and an urge to play the high-school-nostalgia-soaked records of their peers, records stronger and more well formed. Records that, by comparison, eclipse The Delfields unfairly.

Some pieces are in place, however.  Though it’s a sound more trendy than timeless, hearkening back to a time when The Shins and the Death Cabs of the world were making their better-known material, The Delfields have a nice command of their sensibilities.  On title-track “Ogres”, The Delfields construct a very nice pop rock entry that would feel at home on a playlist at a summertime apartment party.  The vocals swirl nicely and it’s an accessible, catchy melody.  “Our Beds” is a good, sappy pop song that resides more in the territory of Mr. Gibbard than Mr. Mercer, where strings pop in and add a nice depth to the arrangement.  Ogres songs are quick and catchy (most of the time), unfussy songs quick to develop.  That’s their wheelhouse. The longest track on Ogres, “Short Sleeves,” runs four minutes, and even that’s a little bloated; the solo break is dull and uninteresting.  Though it’s a simple, clean sound in theory, The Delfields manage it nicely, clearly capable of pumping out more bouncy pop songs.

If Ogres was released five years ago, it might have elicited a pretty reasonable amount of buzz, back when this particular sound was en vogue.  However, time has moved along and left many of those groups in the dark, particularly if their records didn’t hold up without the overlying structure of the current trend.  Now, to make a truly timeless and durable record, a band or a songwriter needs to either use the current musical trends as a tool for the projection of their individual voice or  completely ignore the trend and continue to keep working on what interests them unabated.  But, if it sounds too much like something else, people won’t listen.

The Delfields may just be on to something.  We just don’t hear it on Ogres.

Brian Bond – Fire & Gold

Brian Bond - Fire & Gold

Brian Bond writes gentle songs about nostalgia, loss, and leaving. Fire & Gold is a soft, beautiful record, one that takes its time to tell a story- something missing in a lot of contemporary pop music. Like a calm, serene Built To Spill, Bond knows how to play with tension and release. He understands we don’t really want to see the mountaintop- we want to climb and take the journey, and Bond makes sure to point out all the vistas and really show off the atmosphere. 

A less talented artist would abandon the pace and tone, afraid he’s not hooking the audience enough. Fire And Gold is consistently patient, and it’s my favorite aspect. “House For An Easy Heart” is deadly tense, waiting minutes to hit the titular line and pseudo-chorus. This makes each word in this story of a broken relationship mean so much more, and is all the more captivating for it.

“Astrology” has a terrific false start and a stripped down, Matt Pond PA meets The Long Winters vibe. “Sacajawea” is my favorite, with its gorgeous, background moaning and rambling, folksy melody. “Keep Your Eyes On Me” is simple and sweet, with a vast, floating bridge that kicks right back into the snappy chorus.

Bond’s voice is the real star here- he sounds so pained, yet hopeful, like Jose Gonzalez crossed with a grieving widow. It’s unique and undefinable, and I love it. I can’t wait to hear more from Brian Bond. Here’s to a songwriter with patience, tact, and a killer voice to match.

Myspace

The Lovely Eggs – “Have You Ever Heard a Digital Accordion”

The Lovely Eggs - "Have You Ever Heard a Digital Accordion"

Not the most intriguing song title, but Holly and David of The Lovely Eggs combine old-school DIY, plucky charm of bright, sing-song vocals and cheeky lyrics about accordions, scorpions, and…yes, beef bourguignon (love the British accent on that word) – with a sudden descent into a shouty, discordant inferno of chaos at the end of the tune.

The band’s album, If You Were Fruit, was released in the U.K. on June 1^st and will drop soon in the U.S. on the Happy Happy Birthday To Me record label. 

The song starts off slowly, with a cheerfully mischievous Holly inquiring “Have you ever heard a digital accordion?”, and then a brisk, upbeat guitar strum and hand clap-like clacking come in, supporting Holly’s sing-talking vocals.  David chimes in on bits of the chorus, sounding like a blasé Jarvis Cocker, along with the stroke of an occasional guitar chord, and they both feign a dismayed “Oh, dear…” at the thought of the listener never having heard a digital accordion or never having fought a deadly scorpion.

Holly and David cap off the last quarter of the song in madcap style, showing off their more rockin’ side with a surprise deviation from the preceding twee sensibility as the song devolves into distorted noise clashing with strummed guitar, layered shouts, and Holly sing-talking in an emphatic, but still perky, tone.  Pay close attention to the lyrics, because there is a reason for the musical conflagration… 

Official MySpace profile: http://www.myspace.com/thelovelyeggs

Choir of Young Believers Release Debut Album

Even though This Is for the White in Your Eyes, the full-length debut released this week (August 18th) by Danish collective Choir of Young Believers , is teeming with instruments—voices, pianos, synthesizers, banjos, an orchestra’s ransom in strings and French horns—it’s not the arrangements that dominate so much as the images they conjure. Snow-flecked mountaintops, deserted city streets, ghost-filled churches, a final kiss between estranged lovers—this is the emotional terrain trod by Jannis Noya Makrigiannis and his Choir of Young Believers. This Is for the White in Your Eyes is an album of orchestral indie-pop, but its artistic scope extends beyond melody and harmony: Choir of Young Believers paint cinematic tableaux, with Jannis cast as the silvery-voiced narrator.

“Next Summer” mp3

Official Site
Ghostly Artist Page

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