Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here, as interpreted by Sea Lion (Linn Osterberg) makes me feel like my brain is on sideways, and I kind of love it:
This is what she sounds like when left to her own devices:
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Two Songs From: Junkie Thrown
Junkie Thrown (Sanna Holmstr̦m) is from G̦teborg, Sweden, and she combines crystal-sweet vocals with delicate guitars and the occasional heavy hypnotic beat. I spent most of last night listening to her YouTube uploads on endless loop; that includes her tunes as well as one by a friend РSun Lions Army, by Sea Lion Рand you can replicate that experience if you like, or you can listen to just her stuff, below.
Fairy Christmas Day is . . . not your typical Christmas song. It’s Christmas through a haze – a haze of what, who knows – disappointment and alcohol, maybe – but it’s also somehow soothing.
And then there is Circus of Our Misery, as an example of her non-Christmas fare, which has a delicate melody over a dark, thudding undertow.
Split: Joyce Manor, Tame and Toys That Kill, Times We Can’t Let Go
November has come to a close. Novels have been written; moustaches, of various degrees of amazingness and horribleness, have been grown and shaved; turkey has been eaten; in some locations, the first snow has fallen.
Here at NTSIB, I’ve been doing NaBloPoMo, or National Blog Posting Month. I’ll do a masterpost later, but: there’s been a lot of music. Go back through the archives and see what you’ve missed.
To finish out, here is the Joyce Manor/Toys that Kill split, set to be turned loose upon the world later this week, via Recess Records. If you like Ramones-style punk, these bands are for you.
Joyce Manor, Tame:
Toys That Kill, Times We Can’t Let Go:
They’re also touring the West Coast together later in December.
Late Night Listening: Two Songs from Tei Shi
A home for things that might be fleeting, might be soothing, might be weird, might be soothing and weird. The blogging equivalent of sitting in the garage twiddling radio knobs just to see what might be out there.
Tei Shi (Valerie Teicher), from Brooklyn via Argentina, Colombia, Boston and Vancouver, gives her genre as “mermaid music”, and this strikes me as an accurate assessment. It’s subtle, complex, seductive and a little bit otherworldly.
See Me is one of two new singles; I’m most fond of the trance-y hiss-click beat that periodically expands into something light and airy, as well as the dark wubble-bubble echoes floating beneath her crystalline voice:
Bassically is a little more up-tempo, and has a little more fuzz-grit, and is just delightful:
New Yorkers: She’s playing at Glasslands on Dec. 8; everyone else: check in with her frequently, there will be more music coming, and be sure to explore her back catalog.
A Good Read A Good Listen and a Good Drink: El Xicano
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.
And now, a very special holiday/Friday/holiday Friday treat: a new song from my favorite international man of mystery El Xicano. This one is called I Mostri (Monsters), and it’s a little bit more mellow than La Grande Pauro, but no less lovely. The rest of the EP will surface next year, but in the mean time, put your feet up and relax to this tune:
And now I will turn the floor over to El Xicano himself, who is becoming a little bit less of a mystery today by sharing his favorite book, record and drink:
A Good Read:
If On A Winter’s Night A Traveler by Italo Calvino. An experimental but accessible novel written by one of the most interesting Italian writer of the 20th century. A mesmerizing (and full of oddities) book about the magic of writing and reading. I read it when I was 16 and it really stunned me.
A Good Listen:
One of my favourite albums of 2014 is Black Moon Spell by King Tuff. I think it’s the indie-garage-psychedelic-pop masterpiece of the year with its alluring vocals, brilliant harmonies, huge r’n’r riffs, bizarre lyrics and unforgettable hooks. The songs are extremely well written and produced. I can’t wait to see him in concert.
A Good Drink:
Sangiovese. Always. It’s absolutely my favourite red wine. A couple of glasses and life becomes easier and simple. Around Gambettola, where I live, there are so many wineries producing such excellent wines that I’m spoilt for choice due to the crazy amount of options.
ScotDrakula, Stupid Everything
Because I feel like I’ve been listening to a lot of dreamy folk / electronica lately, and it’s time for the pendulum to swing back the other way: Stupid Everything from Burner by ScotDrakula, which melds punk grit with rockabilly swing and swagger.
Late Night Listening: Industrial Love, Casper Cult
A home for things that might be fleeting, might be soothing, might be weird, might be soothing and weird. The blogging equivalent of sitting in the garage twiddling radio knobs just to see what might be out there.
Industrial Love from Domesticated by Casper Cult is, I think, the aural equivalent of sitting inside a Zen rock garden with a rain-noises machine and a warm fuzzy sweater. Some part of me thinks something called “Industrial Love” should be louder, clangier, with more screech and holler, but a larger part thinks no, this perfect, this is sitting in an empty warehouse and communing with the silence and the stillness of machines not in use.
Late Night Listening: Eyreton Hall, Featherstitch
A home for things that might be fleeting, might be soothing, might be weird, might be soothing and weird. The blogging equivalent of sitting in the garage twiddling radio knobs just to see what might be out there.
Featherstitch is the first single and title track from Featherstitch by Eyreton Hall (Toni Randle and Andrew Keegan) of Auckland, New Zealand. It’s sweet, lovely and lovingly-crafted folk music, spare and delicate and sad and beautiful. I may or may not have listened to it three times in a row after the first time I heard it. And three more times while putting this post together. It’s kind of seductive, this tune.
You can listen to the rest of the record (and, you know, buy it) at their bandcamp.
Two Songs From: Johanna Glaza
The first polar vortex of the season arrived in New York yesterday, bringing with it icy temperatures and blustery winds. Like it or not, winter is here.
And in the spirit of all things frosty and beautiful, here are two songs from Johanna Glaza: Paper Widow and Winter Song, due out at the end of November, which embody, in sound, all of the best parts of the season: windows full of delicate frost fronds, the smell of fresh pine, the crunch of new snow.
Dead Professional, Hard Hard Hard
Hard Hard Hard, by Dead Professional (John Harouff) is the sort of record that sneaks up on you. A bass line gets lodged in your head one day; you find yourself humming along with a melody the next; the day after that a particular lyric strikes home.
For example, I was just briefly arrested by I can be your baby / or I can play the sitter from I Can Deliver, which has both sharp edges and Replacements-style catchy grooves:
Another one I’m fond of is Bad Memory, because it’s a love song, if love songs were written by sharks: