The Handsome Family - Last Days of Wonder

When an album is about bowling alley bars, being attacked by wild boars, and Tesla's death ray, it's hard to not like it. When that album is by The Handsome Family, it's nearly impossible.

"Last Days of Wonder" is the newest of numerous solid albums by the family that actually is a family. Wife Rennie Sparks writes the words and plays a few instruments while husband Brett Sparks sings the words and plays the rest. The line up is rounded out by a decent amount of guest musicians playing everything from trombone to saw. The result is The Handsome Family's old country sound with storytelling lyrics and plenty of dark humor, death, and dementia. Brett's voice ranges from a rumble to a warbling wail as threats turn to love songs and hope ends in suicide. The album never quite lets you know whether it is all a deadpan joke or honest desperation, but for those of us that wonder the same thing about our lives, "Last Days of Wonder" is the perfect soundtrack.

Listen to "Tesla's Hotel Room"
Website ex officio

Norfolk & Western - The Unsung Colony

Norfolk & Western are often reffered to as "the band with the girl from The Decemberists" (Rachel Blumberg is their former drummer) or "the guy that owns Typefoundry Studios" (Adam Selzer being that guy) or simply M. Wards back up band (as both of them often are). This is unfortunate because over the years a band that started as two people, a cast of revolving musicians, and a Victrola Grammaphone has evolved into their own unique entity. They have gone from being in the shadow of their other bands to being their contemporaries, and with this release, their competition.

In the past Norfolk & Western have gotten lumped under the "folk" heading, but with each release they become harder and harder to pin down. They can seamlessly flow between Iron and Wine balladry and epic orchestration. Dreary folk slips into M. Ward style nostalgia, with a story that would be at home in an outlaw country song. And that's just the begining of an album full of subtle sounds and numerous influences. These influences have come together to form their most diverse and engaging album to date. Their quiet introspection has turned outward with the politics of "From the Interests of Few" and "The New Rise of Labor," but they still retain their subtlety, which draws the listener in rather than polarizing them. These political tracks manage to coexist with their most well known talent of telling detailed, yet universal stories, and introspective reflection. Couple all of that with a bit of marimba and a lonesome accordian and it's hard to turn it off.

More info
Listen

The ol' Quick Reviews...

Boyskout - Another Life
Girl group with a synthy post-punk sound. Nothing too new, but still worth a listen.
-yea

barnacle bill - towards the pebbled shore
where are the sea shanties and pirate songs? Instead you get pop rock that belongs on an adult contemporary station in 1993
-nay

Rafter - 10 Songs
Release of an album originally recorded in 1998. Some decent (albiet overhyped) pop songs hidden among a bunch of distorted electronic stuff that didn't hold my interest.
-meh

No Wait Wait - About You
Indie pop released on Secretly Canadian, so I wanted to like it, but then came the trite lyrics.
-nay

William Elliott Whitmore - Song of the Blackbird

On the surface, "Song of the Blackbird" is a chronicle of the seasons interspersed with musings on nature and rural life. It quickly becomes apparent that the changing weather is more than just the clouds rolling in. It's the rain that comes when a life is lost, it's the cold chill of an unrequited love, and those first warm rays when a person moves on. Those rays may be warming Whitmore's face, but his feet are still in the mud.

"Song of the Blackbird" couples William's amazing, gravely voice (which even after seeing him live I still can't believe comes out of a man in his late 20s) with his banjo plucking and occasionally a full band. He sings songs reminiscent of a past era, but with themes and emotions that are universal. The sound of "The Chariot" would be right at home on the porch of R.L. Burnside, but the loss it expresses still retains a timeless quality, while "Lee County Flood" shows a rare glimpse of optimism with the realization that after the rain comes re-growth. The album embodies a merging of classic folk tradition with modern influences and universal plight. If Tom Waits was thrown into a Steinbeck story about the dust bowl, this is the album that would result.


Tour Dates
MP3 of "The Chariot" from Southern Records

Quick Reviews...

Xiu Xiu - The Air Force
Bleeping, buzzing, videogame symphonies. Lyrics that make you want to cry, laugh, and cringe all at the same time. Some of the best stuff they've put out so far. I'm going to go listen to it about 12 more times.
-yea

Dead Moon - Echoes of the Past
Compilation of 49 Dead Moon tracks put together by Fred Cole (Dead Moon's singer, songwriter, and guitarist). Dark, foreboding punk from the sweaty bastards you hopefully know and love.
-yea

Instrumental Quarter - Traffic Jam
Atmospheric, minimal instrumental music. The standard rock setup plus strings and Rhodes. The first half of the album is fairly steady with few dynamic changes, but the second half moves into more experimental territory with dynamic changes, tempo shifts, dissonance, and more open song structures.
-yea

Jen Elliott & Bluestruck - This Damn Song
Like a female fronted Blues Hammer attempting to be dentist-office-radio friendly.
-nay

Death Vessel

So in the past 12 hours or so I've heard several people mention Death Vessel, which consists of Joel Thibodeau, a New Englander with a not-so-false falsetto and a layered folk sound. He was signed to Sub Pop just a couple weeks ago, so expect to hear his name around quite a bit in the coming months.


Death Vessel - Mandan Dink
Death Vessel - Deep in the Horchata (my favorite song title of the day)

Official Website
Myspace

Califone - Roots and Crowns

Heron King Blues was the scariest album of 2004. Not in the black metal and corpse paint kind of way, not in the William Shatner duet with Henry Rollins "is this actually real?" sort of way, and not in the Fergie solo album "what the hell happened to pop music?" sort of way. It was an album about a half-man half-bird creature that haunted the dreams of Califone's primary singer and songwriter, Tim Rutili, while he slept. It was simply a creepy album - so much so that I fell asleep with it on and when I woke up in the middle of the noisy, drone of the title track, I promised myself I would never listen to the album while tired again.

If Heron King Blues was the bad dream, then Roots and Crowns is the morning after. It might not be a sunny morning with birds chirping and waffles waiting, but at least the dream is over and the sun is up. The line that best sums up the album actually appears in the only cover on the album ("The Orchids" by Psychic TV) when Rutili sings, with a relieved tone, "and in the morning after the night I fall in love with the light." This theme of renewal is found throughout the album in Rutili's unique style of lyrics which seem to stagger the line between stream of consciousness and intimate description. This is all backed up by an almost ridiculous number of instruments (over 30, not including multiple band members playing the same instrument) that come together to form Califone's unique, droning symphony of Americana. The album ends on a melancholy note as Rutili returns to the theme of sleep. He seems weary of another night and trails off mid-sentence. "This winter bed lives and breathes, winter bed - could do so much if you would..."

I could never recommend this album enough.

Click for more info and the chance to order the limited edition, hand silk-screened vinyl version (which I just did)

Quick Reviews...

A basic yea or nay on whatever I happen to have this week. The good, the bad, and the horrible - it all gets a mention.

(click the titles for more info)

Cale Parks - Illuminated Manuscript
Ambient, downtempo with live percussion, keyboards, and sparse vocals by the drummer from Aloha. It wont reach out and grab you (except maybe the rockin' xylophone on track 12), but it's working well as background music on a quiet night. I just realized I'm bobbing my head.
-yea

Lucero - Rebels, Rogues, & Sworn Brothers
Punkish-rock with a country influence, some good gravely vocals, and generous amounts of Hammond and Farfisa. William Elliott Whitmore meets the Hold Steady. Deserving of a full review, which may come later.
-yea

Blood Red Velvet - Tension of Opposites
A toned down Hootie and the Blowfish with some random proginess thrown in. At least a few of the song titles made me chuckle (although I'm a bit ashamed to admit it) - 1. Nostrodumb-ass, 5. Fission Chips, etc.
-nay

The Swimming Pools - I Fall in Love 100 Times a Day
I can't seem to find any sort of mention of this band or album on the internet and it doesn't seem like they're signed to a label. Their cd case is full of writhing nudity and school lockers, but lacks the basic necessity of a track listing. Oh well, it's pretty much electro pop with overzealous use of the fuzz effect.
-nay

Bonnie "Prince" Billy - The Letting Go

Conjuring images of everyone from Leonard Cohen to Nick Drake to Smog, The Letting Go feels familiar from the first moment you hear it. However, the root of this familiarity stems not from musical influences, but from an overall feeling of warmth that flows through each of the tracks. The album is filled with autumnal themes - you can feel the cold breeze blowing in, see the leaves darkening and dying, and winter is on its way, but Will Oldham is that welcome bit of warmth on the overcast day.

At the core of the album is Will with his stark guitar and whisky warmed voice, which have found their place among swells of dark strings, ramshackle percussion, and the dissonant, but not jarring, background vocals of Faun Fables. On the opening track, in the midst of legato strings and haunting accompaniment, Will tells the listener that "God is dead," but he says it with a pat on the back. It is not a proclamation or a threat; it is Will offering you his experience and advice. He has long ago realized that God is not going to save him and now he is sitting the listener down and breaking the news.

Will is the wise old man, the new parent, and the broken hearted boy all at the same time. It is a subtle and complex album that may not drag you in, but will always be there when you need it.


more info, some entertaining videos, and tour dates

Another music blog...

This will be yet another place full of music ramblings on the internet. It will mostly consist of album reviews, the occassional live review, interesting mp3s, and whatever other nonsense I decide to spew out.

Enjoy?