I Draw Slow - Live at Pickathon 2013

 I Draw Slow - Live at Pickathon 2013 - Part 1

 

 I Draw Slow - Live at Pickathon 2013 - Part 2

 

In the latest installment of The First Time, Belfast-based photographer Joe Laverty catches up with Louise Holden of Dublin-based roots/Americana five-piece I Draw Slow to pry, ever so respectfully, into the “firsts” of her music-listening, loving and making life.

First album you bought? 

I’d like to say the Carter Family but actually I think it might have been Aha

First single you bought? 

‘Shake the Disease’ by Depeche Mode

First live concert/gig? 

The Cure in Dublin

First album you properly loved? 

Rust Never Sleeps, Neil Young. Still my favourite.
 
First artist/band to change your music-listening/making life? 

Joni Mitchell shook me up when it came to vocals and lyrics.

First local band you got really into? 

Any of those McGonagle’s bands – That Petrol Emotion and such.

First festival experience? 

Feile in Cork, I think it was 1992.

First favourite film soundtrack? 

The Jungle Book

First band t-shirt/jumper? 

The Cure

First song to make you cry? 

‘Love Song’ by The Cure

First time you knew you wanted to make music? 

When I set up my first school band, The Grinning Daisies

First instrument you learnt to play? 

Guitar

First riff/song/piece you learnt from start to finish? 

The piano intro to ‘Blue’, by Joni Mitchell. Can’t play past the intro so I pretend to get diverted at that point.

First original song you wrote? 

‘I Wonder Why The Grass Is Green’. I think I stole the lyrics and the tune though.

First gig or performance of your own? 

A 21st birthday party with Friendly Fire.  I think there’s another band called that now (ed: Friendly Fires, maybe?)

First musical hero/idol you ever met? 

I met Morrissey at a bar in Dublin. He said “How did you know it was me? I look so old and fat.” He didn’t.

From: https://thethinair.net/2013/10/the-first-time-louise-holden-of-i-draw-slow/

 

Los Lobos - Dream In Blue - Live 1992

Only a few years removed from breaking through with their cover of Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba," Los Lobos turned even more heads with Kiko, a beautifully textured and flawlessly executed musical statement that reveals the group taking on ambitious musical challenges and surmounting every one. In pairing with producer Mitchell Froom, the band yielded this critically acclaimed 1992 set that remains the apex of its distinguished career.
In Rolling Stone's original review of Kiko, David Okamoto remarks "the music sounds more created than contrived, thanks to the compassionate touch of the group's main songwriters, singer-guitarist David Hidalgo and drummer Louis Pérez." Indeed, the Los Angeles ensemble tackles tough-minded social issues such as alcoholism, suicide, abuse, homelessness, death, and rape without coming across as preachy or melodramatic. The record's power relates to that possessed by the most timeless albums – the emotional and metaphysical capacities to transcend problems, overcome adversity, and deliver catharsis.
Spanning rollicking blues and dreamy pop balladry to snarling rock and traditional Mexican-inspired waltzes, Kiko seemingly knows no bounds. Lullabies such as "Saint Behind the Glass" claim mellifluous elegance while the cabaret-laced jazz of work like "Kiko and the Lavender Moon" glows with a dark majesty, thanks to both the skilled performance and Froom's illuminating production. Los Lobos seldom, if ever, drifted so far outside of the roots-rock box as they do on Kiko. And yet, the collective's binding connection to folklore remains intact. Native American, Hispanic, and Catholic elements surface in the lyrics and arrangements, the characteristics expressing a multicultural reach that parallels the songs' multidimensional construction.  From: https://mofi.com/shop/music/vinyl/los-lobos-kiko-numbered-180g-vinyl-lp/

Cold Specks - Neuroplasticity (A Short Film)

It's been a year since the release of Cold Specks' second album, Neuroplasticity, but the sorrow in Al Spx's voice is as urgent as ever. Today, she's back with a short film of the same name, soundtracked by two particularly emotional songs off the album, "Living Signs" and "Old Knives." The film, directed by Young Replicant, features a beautiful narrative, wracked with love and loss, and ultimately hones in on what it feels like when those two things intersect.
"In the studio, I was aggressively determined to construct songs that were wild but still elegant. I wanted to create movement. Listening now, I can hear a sense of urgency in the songs," Al Spx explained to The Fader over email. "We didn’t want to make another typical music video, so we set out to create something that would stand on its own as a piece of art.”
Young Replicant offered up some additional context, too: "I left half the script unfinished until after we had found our location and had done some of the casting. It was important for me to make sure the video had a very specific sense of place, a unique energy inspired by the setting as much as the music itself."  From: https://www.thefader.com/2015/09/14/cold-specks-neuroplasticity-film

Canadian singer-songwriter Al Spx (who uses a stage name out of respect for her parents' disapproval of her career in music) found her band's name, Cold Specks, in a James Joyce quote. "Born all in the dark wormy earth, cold specks of fire, evil lights shining in the darkness," is the line from Ulysses that compelled Spx to keep making the dark, incendiary music she'd started writing at university.
Joyce's quote can also be applied to Spx's latest project, a short film featuring two songs from Cold Specks' 2014 album, Neuroplasticity. Fans of the television show Twin Peaks will find references in both story and image, as the video's young protagonist spins obsessively through his own anguish and obsession toward a violent and heartbreaking climax. Much like David Lynch's famously inscrutable series, "Neuroplasticity" creates as many questions as it answers. Spx's propulsive voice and seething music, paired with director Young Replicant's tense, choppy storytelling, will both reward and confound on multiple viewings.  From: https://fm.kuac.org/music/2015-09-16/cold-specks-explores-violence-obsession-and-memory-in-neroplasticity 

Citay - Dream Get Together

"I don't feel a need to distance myself from anything I like," Ezra Feinberg told a magazine in 2006, not long after the release of Citay, his extravagant self-titled debut of unbridled classic rock grandiosity for Important Records. "If anything I want to bring myself (and my bandmates, as well as my friends and family) closer to everything I like." The interviewer had asked Feinberg about irony in his music-- specifically, how he hoped the irony of Led Zeppelin references, sizzling electric leads, and a heroic, fantasy-rock instrumental dubbed "Vinter" might work amidst a landscape of cynics and smartasses. After one record, it might've been hard to say much of Feinberg's intentions. Yeah, those classic riffs ruled, and the layers of warm Jethro Tull and ELO textures that he and producer (and former Fucking Champ) Tim Green stuffed into Grateful Dead-like shapes sounded fantastic. But what about that flute? And those keyboard layers and string-section sprees? He must be teasing at least a little bit, right?
If any doubt lingered after Little Kingdom, Citay's triumphant and enormous 2007 debut for Dead Oceans, then Dream Get Together-- Feinberg's third and most expansive album as Citay-- dispels it entirely. From the Fleetwood Mac grandeur of the ballad "Mirror Kisses", sung by tUnE-YaRdS' Merrill Garbus, to the five minutes of instrumental swagger of "Secret Breakfast", Dream Get Together gathers the totems and taboos of 1970s rock and, as the record's title suggests, treats them all like the guests of some imagined jam session. At times, it might seem a tad cornball or cute, but Citay make triumphant, affirming music that leaves no room for irony.
Dream Get Together's closer, a cover of the 1988 Galaxie 500 single "Tugboat", is the most concise and accessible example. A room-filling acoustic guitar, more brisk and bold than it is schmaltzy, takes the rhythm, and a radiating electric line washes atop, announcing the theme in advance of Feinberg's, for once, dominant vocals. "I don't want to stay at your party/ I don't want to talk with your friends/ I don't want to vote for your president," he sings in harmony with himself. If the original take followed those declarations with question marks or uncertain ellipses, Feinberg chases them with exclamation points. Like the Galaxie 500 take, Citay end with an extended guitar vamp. But Galaxie 500's dissonance and stuttered lines wound tightly in turmoil. Feinberg and Green whirl in delight, their foil guitars treating the exit more like a liftoff than a comedown. It just feels good.
That holds for much of Dream, too. The title track, for instance, is a total celebration-- shakers, strums, and big drums opening the door for a sharp guitar line and Feinberg's summertime revelry. In one verse, he references Neil Diamond and Steely Dan and, more importantly, details the joy of his dreams-- "two hands out the window, two hands shifting gears." Opener "Careful with That Hat" is a sidewinding epic veering between choral swells, a Motorik midsection, and a solo that sends San Francisco's past exploding into the air like sparks.
Through it all, Citay supply a surprising amount of editing and elegance to these jams. Just two break the seven-minute mark. When Garbus' oohs and aahs float through a thick keyboard-and-acoustic haze on "Mirror Kisses"-- or even when the guitars lock in long, winding harmonies during "Fortunate Sun"-- Citay remain controlled and careful. Songs are constructed so that each line plays a certain role, every note tells its tale. Maybe that's where it will lose some listeners, too: It's not tough and rough and wild around the edges like Green's old band could be, or a lot of heavy metal can be. And it's not open at the ends like jam-band music. But this is Feinberg's third album of eight tracks in about 40 minutes, all exploring the same excitable intersection of psychedelia and pop. By now, he doesn't seem to be the sort to back down from his musical decisions or not to pursue the lavish sounds he hears in his head. Good thing, too: If he did, these intense little trips would be a lot less fun.  From: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13936-dream-get-together/

Pretenders - Message of Love

This rock and roll love song is unlike any other, with no gooey clichés but a heartfelt appreciation for how a loving relationship can strengthen both sides. It was written by Pretenders lead singer Chrissie Hynde, who has a rather pragmatic view of love. A self-sufficient leader, her bandmates were always men but never her love interests - she didn't start a band to meet guys. Her message of love is one of support:
At the time, Hynde was dating Ray Davies of The Kinks; they had a daughter together in 1983 but split up soon after and never married. Hynde got married twice, first to Jim Kerr of Simple Minds in 1984, then to the artist Lucho Brieva in 1997 - neither worked out. "Relationships are not the be-all and end-all," she told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2015. "You have to be happy within yourself first. No man can give you that."

The Pretenders knocked it out of the park with their self-titled debut album, which was released in 1979 and scored them a #1 UK hit with "Brass In Pocket." After an extensive tour, they were put right back to work, sent to the Pathe-Marconi studio in Paris to record songs for their next album. "Message Of Love" is one of the songs they recorded there, and it became the lead single from their next album, Pretenders II.

Musically, this song is built on a two-chord, one-up one-down guitar riff popular in punk rock. It's unconventional, with no chorus, just instrumental breaks after the verses, and big key change on the bridge after Hynde sings the "over and over and over" part. The song title shows up just once, in the third verse.
The Pretenders had an American frontwoman (Chrissie Hynde), but the rest of the band was from England, which is where they were based. Most American acts didn't make music videos at the time, but British acts did because variety shows and talk shows across Europe aired them. "Message Of Love" got a bare-bones video showing the band performing the song in a studio. Despite the lack of production value, it was exactly what MTV needed when they launched in August 1981: a recently released rock song by a popular band with an American lead singer. It was the 19th video the network played when they went on the air, but not the first Pretenders song on MTV - "Brass In Pocket" was the 7th video they showed.
  From: https://www.songfacts.com/facts/pretenders/message-of-love

Cheeto's Magazine - A.W.K.W.A.R.D.

Cheeto’s Magazine – Amazingous: Meet Todd Rundgren in a Spanish bordello channelling the cheesiest aspects of pop Genesis, while Cheap Trick hurl custard pies from the wings, and watch as these Spanish loons (aye, they’re still loons, five years after that bonkers debut Boiling Fouls) make a joyful pop-prog racket and dance around inside your cranium with all the decorum of a riot in the nursing home.
Full of rambunctious affairs like the irrepressibly daft Ready To Rumble, this album will probably work better in the summer, when the sun is out and we’ll all be too drunk to care anymore. Close Your Eyes thankfully pulls up just short of becoming a power ballad, and there’s an instrumental with the most unthreatening riff you ever heard, called, quite inappropriately, Scum … and what’s this? Ah, very clever… Boiling Fowls, the first album, commenced with a 25-minute epic, so naturally this one closes with one. It’s called Big Boy – you can’t fault the lads’ sense of humour, eh?
Some far too earnest prog albums meander or drear to such an extent that it’s tempting to go and mow the lawn while they stretch an already half-assed idea to beyond the point of reasonableness, as you know they’ll still be droning on when you get back. Not Cheeto’s Magazine, oh no. Listening to one of their huge amorphous beasties is akin to nailing down a box of frogs with a blancmange. One moment Big Boy is a synth-symphony, the next an FM rock folly blasting out across the barrio, then near the end it hints at cowboy movie soundtrack, all at a mostly breakneck pace. There is some classy arranging going on in here, you’ll never nod off, I promise. If playing rock music still paid the bills, by rights this lot should all have holiday homes in Acapulco, with more gold than you could shake a bong at.
It was five years ago Cheeto’s Magazine enticed my world with Boiling Fowls, and reading that review again reminds me what a comparatively worry-free place the U.K. was back then, but having listened to this a few times it somehow manages to let me leave that bag o’shite behind for a while. Not long enough, mind, but every little helps as they say. I would go see this lot live in a flash, should they ever visit these dark lands, and so should you if you know what your soul needs right now.  From: https://theprogressiveaspect.net/blog/2019/03/22/cheetos-magazine-amazingous/

Otyken - Genesis

Enter the immersive, storied world of Siberian indigenous music with Otyken, a collective that brings a rich musical legacy into a modern format. Otyken's performances introduce their listeners to their traditional vocal stylings and instruments, many of which fans may have never even seen before.
In this episode of Global Spin, Otyken performs "Genesis," a song they released in 2021. "Genesis" has some modern elements, but central to this song — and the rest of the group's work — is an evocative introduction to the music that has been coming out of the mountains of Siberia for generations.
Dressed in traditional outfits, Otyken perform in a log cabin-like setting, standing in front of a backdrop of large masks. Though many listeners won't be able to understand the words of the song (the group performs in Khakass and Chulyms, and sometimes Russian), the tone of "Genesis" feels celebratory, with a pulsing beat and joyful, emphatic lead vocals.
Otyken's performance puts a special spotlight on every element of their traditional offerings, including throat singing, a musical line that works as a counterpart to the breathy lead melody. The group also incorporates multiple instruments specific to their Siberian traditions, including a vargan (or jaw harp) and a morinhur (which they refer to as a "music skill") and leather drums.  From: https://www.grammy.com/news/otyken-genesis-performance-video-siberian-indigenous-traditions-instruments-global-spin

Antiprisma - Fogo Mais Fogo

At first glance, “Coisas de Verdade” can be seen as an album that celebrates Antiprisma’s return to the path of releases, but above all, it is a mature and very well-constructed synthesis of everything that this project led by Elisa Moos and Victor José has been doing since 2014, when they released their debut EP. Initially considered a duo that moved between folk and rock, carrying nuances of MPB, Antiprisma has always made a point of experimenting with the limits of the song format. They took their first steps in this field of acoustic sounds, definitively embraced the universe of viola caipira on their first album Planos “Para Esta Encarnação” (2016), flirted with psychedelia and electric instruments on their second album, “Hemisférios” (2019), and now arrives with an organic album with their feet firmly on the ground. In times of rising artificial intelligence, Coisas de Verdade was designed to be as human as possible and to highlight this aspect in every detail, subverting the current context slightly. According to Elisa, who shares production and artistic direction with Victor, “the songs are exactly as they should be, there are no aesthetic concessions of any kind and yet they sound open, somehow inviting to anyone who enjoys songs, which is something difficult to achieve, and this makes us very happy as independent artists”. This can be seen in the themes, the structures of the tracks and the style of the entire album. From the initial composition phase to the final recording, the search for authenticity and a truly emotional connection was a constant guide, shaping each chord, each note and each arrangement. To achieve this, they relied on the solid team of Ana Zumpano and Beau Gomez – drums and bass, respectively – to record much of the new work live and delve deeply into this process. In moments like “Que Seja” and “Um Rosto Desconhecido na Esquina”, everyone is in the same room, celebrating the moment of creating something together and in total harmony. Part of this search for something “handmade” is also in the choice of what to play. In Coisas De Verdade there are no emulators, synthesizers or any instrument that was not played by a real person. The title track itself, for example, has a rhythmic base made with sounds of household objects, emphasizing this search for the organic in every detail. As always in their work, Antiprisma took as much care with poetry as with sound. Unlike other releases, in Coisas De Verdade the lyrics of subjective themes full of landscapes and contemplative images are left out a little. With that, much more personal subjects come into play, almost like small chronicles from the point of view of a more urban experience, as in “Saturnino”, “São Duas Horas e Está Tudo Bem” and “Euforia”, which emphasizes this search for a more tangible work.  From: https://revistaogrito.com/antiprisma-retorna-com-coisas-de-verdade-album-feito-a-mao/

Nephila - Belladonna

Imagine progressive rock and psychedelic dreams combined with heavy blues and theatrical expressionism. The seven-headed rock orchestra Nephila brings out the best of ‘60s and '70s experimental movement, while adding a touch of mysticism and visual storytelling. The band travels freely through history and strange, otherworldly dimensions, bringing back plenty of intriguing tales that open up new realities of understanding in the form of dynamic songs with folkish melodies, proggy stylings, and a pair of fantastic female vocalists. Nephila has been described as a kind of a musical spider, with its sprawling legs represented by the different shades, hues, tones, and techniques prominent in the space rock pioneered by visionaries of the 1970s, such as Jefferson Airplane and Sweden’s Abramis Brama. Members of Nephila come to us from retro band Children of the Sün, where melodies and rhythm spiral like a pulsing red thread stitching together a most marvelous tapestry.  From: https://doomedandstoned.com/post/644741209841188864/nephila

Kansas - Don Kirshner's Rock Concert 1975

Kansas members Rich Williams and Phil Ehart admitted they still can’t understand what pop impresario Don Kirshner saw in them. In a recent interview with Billboard, the two remaining founders said Kirshner, who signed them in 1974, was the only person who showed an interest in their prog-edged music, even though he was better known for his work with the Monkees, the Archies and others. In allowing them time to establish themselves with their fourth album, Leftoverture, he gave Kansas a career that’s lasted more than five decades.
“When we were forming, it was right at the time the band Emerson, Lake & Palmer was coming out, Yes was coming out, Genesis,” Ehart said. “That stuff was just starting to hit the United States... and it showed us you could play different time signatures and things like that. We could do a song like ‘Carry On Wayward Son’ – all the different changes in that song might not have been performed before, especially on a single.”
Williams added that the band was “tired of playing the required music you’d play in a bar. We were very inspired by what became called progressive music. That taught us you can sing about anything you want to, you can use any time signature, any approach you can think of, any instrumentation that appealed to us. We didn’t want to emulate anything or copy the trends on radio. We wanted to do things our way, and we were very stubborn in that.”
They agreed that Kirshner seemed an “unlikely champion” for a band like Kansas. "We never had another offer," Ehart noted. "Nobody showed any interest except him. We could never figure out what he saw in us, a bunch of long-haired guys in jeans, cowboy boots and overalls… To this day, we still scratch our heads and go, ‘Wow. Whatever he saw in us, he definitely delivered.’ He made it happen. He put his money where his mouth was and let us make very good albums, and they weren’t cheap. He gave us tour support. And of course, he recouped, but the point is he believed in us and was willing to invest in these young guys. Man, we owe that guy a lot."
Williams praised Kirshner’s patience, noting that in the 21st century, a band wouldn’t be given the time and support to release three LPs before finding success with the fourth. “By the third album there was a little more pressure,” he explained. “The feeling was it was time to deliver. But that would never happen today, being given all that money … in hopes of something coming out of us. Donnie was patient with us, and [in 1976] Leftoverture exploded.”  From: https://ultimateclassicrock.com/kansas-don-kirshner/

There Is No Mountain - Listening to Sadness

There Is No Mountain - Luna: There Is No Mountain has released an experimental/folk/Americana/psych-pop-rock record that takes inspiration from all kinds of genres. This Portland-based duo is made up of vocalist/percussionist/guitarist Matt Harmon and vocalist/drummer/keyboardist Kali Giaritta, who happen to be married. There’s a ton going on with the guitars, whether they’re big and fuzzy or faint and picked, but it’s like life going on below the surface of a body of water. When the guitar is at its most intricate, it’s also at its softest volume. There are big, fuzzy chords on “Listening to Sadness” and “Waterbound,” but there are also soft, plucked parts hiding in there. “Hiking” is one of the few songs where the guitar gets all the solos it needs to really stand out. Because inspiration was taken from so many sources, at times the guitars sound like ‘90s alternative, or Latin (think of a world music CD being played at a Ten Thousand Villages store,) or a little Renaissance Faire-esque when it gets classical, or kind of folky Americana. I’m pretty sure I even caught a touch of zydeco in “Black Hole (Part 2).” Now keep in mind that all of those different styles may exist within the same song. There are tempo changes all over the place to accommodate for all of the style changes. Add in the vocals and you have even more styles for which to account.
The vocals are shared by Harmon and Giaritta, though their voices sound absolutely nothing like each other’s. They harmonize, but Harmon basically speaks all of his lead vocals while Giaritta has a clear voice I last heard from a church’s choir director. They harmonize well when singing together, but it’s a strange mix when they take turns singing because they styles are so different (even within the same song.) While the music has dark moments, it’s punctuated by things like really audible maracas and tambourine – who can be sad with maracas and tambourines? The lyrics, however, are pretty dark. They’re full of anxiety and depression, like not feeling worthy of the sun’s rays on “Listening to Sadness” because she’ll be dead soon, worrying that she’s not a good wife on “Good Life,” or Harmon wondering what happens if he dies while laughing after announcing that he doesn’t take care of himself on “What If?” Despite the anxieties expressed, “Good Life” has a pretty upbeat sound, and along with “Cat’s Away,” kind of sounds like it was inspired by a sea shanty. “Benjamin” is full of warnings to the title character about how life is sucky and lonely, but it has these cute little plinky keyboard notes that sound so happy. Many of the songs reminded me of being dragged to church as a child, mainly because of Giaritta’s voice and some of the vocal arrangements being really reminiscent of some of the more modern hymns, but also because some of the lyrics start to sound a little preachy. “C’mon Friends” implores us all to give ourselves a break and forgive each other; “Listening to Sadness” wonders why no one listens anymore and guilts us into it; “Black Holes (Part 2)” tells us that we have a choice when we’re afraid. Then there’s “Song of Seikilos,” which sounds like it came from church because the oft-repeated lyrics were taken from an ancient tombstone in modern-day Turkey and translated to English. They basically tell us to live life for the moment because life is short, which is quite a different message than asking a body of water to let you drown (“Listening to Sadness.”) Again, “Hiking” stands out as being different because its lyrics seem to recount a good hike at dusk – though there’s still the worry that it will be too dark to safely find their way back down from the summit of the hill they just climbed. There is no such thing as happiness, you guys. Everything sucks, even successful hikes.
This album is unique, which is a difficult word to use in a review. It blends the many styles and genres it uses well, though the vocals can be a strange mix with each other. The juxtaposition between the sound and the words is a little odd, too. Those lyrics are depressing. It’s all sonically blended together, but somehow all of the parts still stick out as not-quite fitting together. These two are clearly very talented musicians who have crafted a well-produced album with plenty of layers. But as a listener, you have to be in the mood for a little bit of nearly every genre and a lot of anxious lyrics. Maybe this album is a statement about depression, trying to keep a positive sound despite the invasive thoughts and fears. More power to them for confessing so many anxieties.  From: https://survivingthegoldenage.com/there-is-no-mountain-luna/

The Who - Disguises

"Disguises" is a song by the English rock band the Who, written by guitarist Pete Townshend. It, along with "I'm a Boy" are of the earliest compositions in which Townshend questions gender identity and identity crisis', a prevalent aspect found later in his songwriting. Both "Disguises" and "I'm A Boy" were written to be parts of a concept album titled Quads, in which parents would be able to choose the gender of their children. However, this idea was later discarded and the pair of songs are the only ones that survived. They were first attempted on 14 June 1966 as demos, And were worked on for some months, before being recorded on 31 July to 1 August of the same year. It is one of the earliest songs recorded by them that features claves, played by drummer Keith Moon, who would also later use them on "Magic Bus" in 1968. French horn is featured in a distinct solo played by bass guitarist John Entwistle. "Disguises" was never performed live by the band. The only live recording of the song originates from a session the Who recorded on 13 September, which was later broadcast on 17 September for an episode of Saturday Club. This version, apparently recorded as a joke, ends with Moon smashing his drums, interrupting presenter Brian Matthew, much to the bands' approval, with Matthew exclaiming "I see". This version can be found on their 2000 compilation album BBC Sessions.  From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disguises_(The_Who_song)

The Nields - King of the Hill

The Nields are a five-piece band who you might call folk-rock if you were a marketer under the cowardly impression that everything must have a recognizable label or people will gather in the square at night and put it to the torch. Three of the five are Nields in person, as well. Katryna sings, Nerissa sings and plays guitar and writes most of the songs, and David plays guitar and writes the rest of them. David also provides a first-name link to drummer Dave Hower and bassist Dave Chalfant. Their back-catalog includes the 1994 album Bob on the Ceiling, which includes, among other things, a striking cover of Sinéad O'Connor's "Black Boys on Mopeds", and an EP and a live disc that I haven't heard yet because when I ordered them from the band's Web page I got a note back from their manager saying that they were out on tour and it might be a while.
Calling them folk-rock isn't accurate or evocative, but it's still probably the best place to begin. They use acoustic guitars frequently, and both Nields sisters (at least, I assume they're sisters) sing with fragile voices that sound like they'd be most at home in a small-college-town coffeehouse. And though there's plenty of overdriven electric guitar and loud drumming on this album, none of the Nields seem to have mastered the machismatic bluster with which rock drama is customarily executed. So if folk-rock is what you get when people raised on folk try to play rock, that's sort of what this is.
There's more to it, though, because the Nields' upbringing appears to have been a bit more complicated. Or perhaps everybody's upbringing is complicated, and the Nields just reflect more of theirs in their music than most people do. They remind me of Suddenly Tammy, not because the two bands play similar styles of music, but because the family is evident in the music. There's something fundamentally different about the music you get from four random individuals who gather in a basement to become a rock band, and the music you get from siblings and their assorted friends who play music as an extension of their lives together, and while I don't know anything about the real history here, if the Nields the band didn't evolve out of the Nields the people in this latter manner then this is a cunning imitation all the same.
The result is that the Nields have a large number of interesting elements that you would probably not have thought to include in a rock band constituted from scratch. Neither of the sisters' voices are that impressive on their own, but they play off each other instinctively, one soaring into wailing harmony while the other drops into a quiet, elfin confidence. One of them (or both perhaps, it's hard to tell) is fond of letting notes trail off into wild pitch modulation, and at other times they produce passing hints of a Polly Harvey-like whisper, Jean Smith's flat intonation, Sinéad O'Connor's tense circling and even the Beatles' psychedelic flourishes. David's electric guitars produce a range of sounds from a digeridu-like throaty drone to squeaky rhythm chords to a ragged-sounding lead that could easily be coming out of a cheap amp in the family rec room, and they combine this with the folkier acoustic guitars as if having both in a band at once is the most natural thing in the world.  From: https://www.furia.com/page.cgi?type=twas&id=twas0060

The Move - Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited

Very few Americans have ever heard of The Move unless they found themselves bored enough to dig deep into the liner notes for one of the Electric Light Orchestra’s commercial successes and learned that Jeff Lynne and drummer Bev Bevan were ex-members. Lynne was a johnny-come-lately, however, and did not appear on Shazam, a forgotten masterwork originally designed to properly introduce this long-popular-in-the-mother-country British band to the colonies, courtesy of A&M Records.
Things didn’t work out as planned. A&M was out of its league when it came to promoting rock bands (the “A” stands for Herb Alpert, for chrissake), and arranged a comically disastrous tour that required the band the lug their stuff around the USA in a U-Haul trailer. Creative and personal tensions between band members didn’t make things any easier. When the rubble had cleared, however, what survived was Shazam, one of the most fascinating rock recordings ever made.
The album has been buried for years, and I only vaguely remember hearing parts of it while growing up. I rediscovered it accidentally while browsing through iTunes and tracked down an extraordinarily expensive import CD version for my collection. I fell in love with it on the first listen, knocked out by Bevan’s drumming, the sheer diversity captured in a mere six songs, the intense riffs, the gorgeous harmonies and the great good fun captured in random street interviews and band chatter.
The album explodes with the no-bullshit guitar and pounding drums of “Hello, Suzie,” the story of a ditzy British teenybopper featuring an introduction that almost forces you out of your seat. Roy Wood growls out the lead vocal with good humor and strong support in the form of a thrilling backdrop of harmonies that come together with a huge exclamation point at the end of the bridge. I keep praying that somewhere out there a band will cover this sucker and use it as an opening number for a gig, as I’d love to see this done live with the same great energy as the original.
After a short interview with some native Brits, Carl Wayne steps to the microphone for the lovely and bouncy string piece, “Beautiful Daughter,” delivered in a perfect combination of romantic sincerity tempered by a touch of tongue-in-cheek and supported by the energetic strings that would later characterize early ELO recordings.
Then a door creaks . . . footsteps . . . the door closes and we hear a diffident voice narrating the story of how he would end up going off his HEAD!!! The band explodes with heavy bass, drums, the works! This is “Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited,” a high-power remake of one of their earlier songs, and a delightfully wacky remake it is. The heaviness fades into acoustic guitar playing Bach, no less, and ends with an over-the-edge falsetto picking up the tune and eventually blending into layers of perfectly executed harmonies.  From: https://altrockchick.com/2012/05/02/classic-music-reviews-shazam-by-the-move/

Mr. Gnome - Barb's Revenge

For nearly two decades, Cleveland-based couple Nicole Barille and Sam Meister have been producing otherworldly rock epics under the moniker Mr. Gnome. From the very beginning, the duo’s swelling psychedelia has resonated with a grandeur typically associated with larger bands, while Barille's ethereal vocals add a layer of intimacy that sets their sound apart. They’ve grown more ambitious and expansive with each album, culminating with the dazzling double album The Day You Flew Away in 2020. After a period of relative silence, mr. Gnome is back with a new record, A Sliver of Space, set to drop on Sept. 27. The duo will also be embarking on its first tour in years — accompanied by Jonah Meister on bass/guitar, who also contributed to A Sliver of Space — stopping in Asheville on Wednesday, Oct. 2, at Sly Grog Lounge. Early singles “Nothing and Everything,” “Fader,” and “Mind’s Gone” showcase their continued evolution, featuring an increased use of synthesizers alongside Barille’s soaring guitars and Meister’s powerhouse percussion, which remain as hypnotizing as ever.

Jonny Leather: I couldn’t find any record of previous shows here. Will this be your first time performing in Asheville?

Nicole Barille: We played in Asheville earlier in our career, but it was so long ago I couldn’t even tell you what year or where we played! We’re super excited to come back. We’ve gotten a bunch of requests over the last year or so from Asheville fans, so we wanted to make it happen on this tour.

JL: New singles “Nothing and Everything” and “Mind’s Gone” indicate a slight shift in your sonic palette, placing greater emphasis on synths and piano, while “Fader” is a ripping rocker. Are fans in store for a more synth-heavy edition of mr. Gnome?

NB: When we were writing this album, we really had no rules regarding where we could go. So it covers a lot of ground — a lot of genre shifting going on. It wasn’t intentional, rather just a complete self-discovery process without any limits. The entire album is not necessarily synth heavy, but we did dabble with synths more than ever on this one. I think we were always searching for sounds and melodies that excited us, and we weren’t too concerned about what style we were leaning into during the writing process. “Fader” was an exciting moment because we were really leaning into our roots, into the influences that made us excited about music in the first place. But throughout the album, there’s also dance rock, punky rock, electronic pop, doo-woppy ballads…lots of other styles.

JL: Can you talk a little about how your approach to making A Sliver of Space differed from your earlier work?

NB: It’s hard to talk about A Sliver of Space and not talk about what we were going through mentally at the time. We started writing this album during the COVID-19 pandemic — we had just lost two of our closest family members, and we were dealing with a mountain of grief, all in complete isolation. It was a very difficult moment to work through, and there was a lot of pain and confusion that we began pouring into the songs we were creating. On the flip side, our son was only 2 years old when we started writing, and so this time was also one of the most beautiful, happiest moments we had ever experienced. It was a real study in contrasting emotions. Writing this album was 100% our therapy sessions during this time, and we were forced to write in a different way because of our son being in the house with us.
There were more lone sessions — us creating sonic beds by ourselves and then presenting them to one another. We gravitated towards the songs that we felt had the most potential; the songs that were evoking the best melodies and overall feel. I think this might explain the longer songs we ended up choosing as the main singles. When we would latch onto a song or an idea, we would really throw ourselves into the journey of that song, allowing it to go every which way we could push it, and really losing ourselves in the sonic experience. As long as it evoked the emotion we were after, we felt like it was the right way to go. I’m not sure we’ll ever write in this way again now that our son is in school. We’ve been rediscovering our rock ’n’ roll side over the last year, and it’s been so wonderful.

JL: From your music to your album covers to your videos, you’ve always had a distinct artistic vision. How important has it been for you both to maintain control over the entire process?

NB: We’ve both always been obsessed with all things art, and really bonded over our love for art and music from the first day we met. So when we started Mr. Gnome, it was so exciting to not only create music together, but then get to create album covers, press shots, and music videos as well. We’ve always felt like our album covers are just as important as our music, and it would be hard to have someone else create the visual representation of that for us. We are control freaks in that way, wanting to pick the colors and mood and feel when creating art for our music. We have such an intimate relationship with our music — we want the visual side to perfectly capture everything we’re feeling when writing it as well.

JL: Cleveland has always been a bit of an underrated rock city, producing such incomparable artists as DEVO, Pere Ubu, and NIN. How has the city influenced your own journey as artists?

NB: Cleveland has completely shaped who we are as people. I’m Cleveland born and raised; Sam was born in Canton, and then moved around a bunch as a kid, but came back to the Cleveland area for high school, which is where we met. The midwest vibe is so wonderful and the hardworking ethos that emanates from this city has definitely shaped who we are as musicians as well. When we first started playing out a lot, we played our hometown way too much, and quickly understood that we needed to leave in order to grow. So we started touring non-stop, building up our stage presence and a following around the country, and when we would come back home, our audience would grow and grow every year. Our Cleveland fans have been very loyal to us and so supportive and it’s meant so much to us.

From: https://ashevillestages.com/music/interview-nicole-barille-mr-gnome

Shearwater - Breaking the Yearlings

Shearwater are often considered "underappreciated," but they're just properly appreciated by an understandably modest, devoted fanbase. Though their handsomely recorded albums and Jonathan Meiburg's former membership in Okkervil River put them in the context of NPR darlings and amphitheater headliners, they're still a tough sell: Often compared to Talk Talk at their most commercially forbidding, they're not populist like Okkervil or the National, their theatricality doesn't appeal to a specific brand of geekdom like the Decemberists or Andrew Bird, and their artiness is too pretty and studied to be edgy. Even when trying to describe what makes something like Rook's "The Snow Leopard" a staggering listen, you're left with chin-stroking explanations, like how a trumpet's fanfare finally breaks the tension of John Congleton's immaculate production, but it lasts three seconds and takes four minutes to get there.
On Animal Joy too many changes are afoot to think Meiburg isn't chafed by the situation: They've peripherally moved from one indie titan (Matador) to another (Sub Pop) and from one revered indie producer (John Congleton) to another (Danny Reisch). But more notably, take a look at the unusually plainspoken title: Animal Joy proves they are still a naturalistically minded band, but in dropping the more arcane conceptual gambits of their self-described "trilogy" of Palo Santo, Rook, and The Golden Archipelago and speaking in layman's terms both emotionally and sonically, they're taking their best shot at meeting new listeners halfway.
They come racing out of the gate to do so on "Animal Life"-- Meiburg's amped-up choirboy vocals have always been suited for grand, sweeping gestures and yet he's never delivered something so overtly pop. To put it in his preferred orinthological terms, it's a peacock moment for sure, pure 1980s corporate rock because it somehow sounds expensive, striving to honor ambition itself as intrinsically good-- it could be a Florence and the Machine song, NBC could use it to soundtrack their commercials for the Summer Olympics, but they throw in enough fussy chord changes and dissonant fringe to keep things from getting too cozy.  There's a similar release-the-hounds rush to "You As You Were", a sonic and poetic ramble culminating in Meiburg's desire to "Go back to the East/ Where it's all so civilized/ Where I was born to the life/ But I am leaving the life." Whether it's meant as a candid admission from a touring musician or a nod to the desk jockey that longs to mount a wild steed, it feels like a mission statement; Animal Joy doesn't so much stand for carnality but for the thrill in upsetting the equilibrium between domesticated repression and desire for primitive abandon.
While Animal Joy doesn't totally do away with Shearwater's exploratory tendencies, Ek's production is radio-friendly in the sense that there's a constant presence to this music-- even the comparatively quieter moments make themselves heard fairly easily. In the past, Shearwater songs occasionally got loud, but lead single "Breaking the Yearlings" is loud throughout, big churning guitars and busy, inventive percussion from the truly underappreciated Thor Harris. That said, it's still a Shearwater song in that you'll get more out of it if you happen to know that yearlings are essentially pubescent horses, energetic and unpredictable. Indeed, though considerably dialed-back, Meiburg hasn't lost his preference for poetic devices-- whether equine or otherwise-- to keep any attempts to present Shearwater as a red-blooded, blue-collar rock band short lived. Amidst the trudging orchestral strains of "Insolence", he announces rapture as a time "when my thoughts become undisciplined... it is effortless," a wish-fulfillment fantasy for a band whose power is often the result of fairly obvious effort. And though Shearwater typically allow themselves one song per album to rock out of character, "Century Eyes" or "Corridors" wouldn't prepare you for how "Immaculate" gets all Eddie & the Cruisers with it, complete with tweaked 12-bar blues riffs, and a reckless loner named Johnny as a narrative device.  From: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16277-animal-joy/

Eve's Plum - Wishing The Day Away

 

I had the opportunity to speak with Colleen Fitzpatrick, Eve’s Plum’s vocalist. Eve’s Plum recently released their second CD titled Cherry Alive and they are visiting town as part of Ray Gun magazine’s first ever concert tour. Cherry Alive was produced by Fred Maher, a drummer who has worked with everyone from Lou Reed and Material to Bill Laswell, that would also be Material wouldn’t it? He has also produced CDs by Matthew Sweet as well as a Belly single.
Fitzpatrick called me from a tour bus parked in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Maher tour was on its second date and she reported that things are going well so far. Her press materials have her working as a dancer and actress before she joined the band. She studied ballet at NYU. I asked her what kind of dancing she did. She said that she’d done stage dancing, jazz dancing, and some dancing in videos back when that was popular. She couldn’t remember what videos she’d done, but she did remember one she didn’t do. She was called to dance in a Pat Benatar video, but was unable to make the photo shoot due to a prior commitment. It’s too bad because we could have had a new pop singer as the dancer in an old pop singer’s videos.
Next I asked about the songs. Who writes the songs? The press release gives the impression that Fitzpatrick does all the writing and it isn’t true. She does write most of the lyrics, but the songs are either co-written by guitarist Michael Kotch and Fitzpatrick or they are written as band songs. The songs are good, risking some criticism from all the strange little subcultures that read this rag, I’ll say that Eve’s Plum has some excellent pop songs. Nothing alternative about it, nothing cutting edge, nothing hard or industrial, it’s simply pop music. I guess I should slam it, but I fall for a pop band fronted by a girl every now and again.
The next question I asked was about their song on the Spirit of ‘73: Rock for Choice compilation—a benefit album for Rock for Choice. The project was in the works for about three years according to Fitzpatrick. For reasons I don’t understand and she didn’t know, the album was politically controversial. Record labels didn’t want to touch it. I asked about the man factor, but Fitzpatrick didn’t have information. She did say that a woman was responsible for finally completing the album. Eve’s Plum was excited about recording a song from the seventies. Remember Fitzpatrick is a dancer and they cover a disco song on Spirit of ‘73. She and the rest of the band were supporters of the cause.
The next question was about any weird encounters with audience members she’s experienced. She does write some songs dealing with sex in a blatant fashion and she is quite lovely. The basis for this question was the recent Heather Nova concert. If you were one of the psychos staring at Nova, get over it and find yourself a girlfriend. Fitzpatrick reports that she’s had none of the weirdoes chasing her. She said her band is a boy/girl band and that Heather Nova “must be a sex symbol.”  From: https://www.slugmag.com/archived/eves-plum-november-1995/   

Fuchsia - Another Nail

Taking their name from Lady Fuchsia Groan of the 1940's novel `Titus Groan', Fuchsia were a British progressive-folk group made up of students who delivered a single cherished little album that has since picked up quite a legendary underground status over the last few decades. Comprised of charming and sprightly folk tunes with lush orchestrated instrumentation and keen pop melodies, it almost sounds like a cross between early Pink Floyd and the Syd Barrett solo albums, Electric Light Orchestra and a pinch of Gentle Giant, Caravan and Fruupp, making for a whimsical, energetic and sweet psych-lite folk gem.
The group is directed by lead singer and guitarist Tony Durant, who fleshes out Fuchsia's acoustic/electric sound with a predominantly female band on violin, cello, viola, harmonium and piano. Opener `Gone With The Mouse' is softly energetic and lively, propelled by forcefully jangling plugged-in guitar strums, sighing plaintive backing vocal longings from the girls and lightly proggy orchestral-like violin interludes that soar gently with confidence.
‘A Tiny Book', one of the more ambitious pieces at eight minutes, is a mini-suite of subtle reprising passages that seamlessly move in and out of each-other, darting through everything from frantic electric bursts, wearily wistful ballad ruminations and regal-flecked pomp in the finale that would make Gentle Giant green with envy! Pay close attention to this track - Tony's likable voice here often sounds like the results of a lovechild between the Floyd's Syd Barrett and the nasally Steven Wilson of the early Porcupine Tree works! But moving on, ‘Another Nail' is bookended with violin-fuelled whimsy that wouldn't have sounded out of place on Caravan albums like `For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night' before crashing into a politely wilder vocal psychedelic runaway rocker with a touch of Pink Floyd's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn's 'Astronomy Domine' to it!
The B-side's ‘Shoes And Ships' is one of the strongest tunes on the album, a fragile yet elegant folk-popper with frequent orchestral reprises in place of a vocal chorus and a longer instrumental acoustic guitar outro, and it almost sounds like a template for a million indie-pop/folk bands ever since. The playful and loopy ‘The Nothing Song' practically screams Syd Barrett and his `Madcap Laughs' and 'Barrett' albums, and along with some darker little traces locked in, there's a deliciously bent and slightly `off' quality to it all! It's a psychedelic romp that throws in everything from big percussion crashes, rumbling drums, dramatic orchestration, with shambling acoustic guitars alongside manic and mischievous electric guitar soloing. 'Me And My Kite', a favourite amongst fans of the album and group, is a gorgeously twee pop-charmer with a sweet and achingly simple chorus, and the dreamy bluesy guitar bends of closer `Just Anyone' again reminds of the earliest Floyd works.
Sadly, sparse advertising and failed touring opportunities lead to the premature demise of the group soon after, until a compilation of unreleased and related pieces entitled 'Fuchsia, Mahogany and Other Gems' emerged in 2005, and more excitingly a revamped modern line-up assembled by Mr Durant, now based in Australia, delivering a well-received proper follow-up `Fuchsia II: From Psychedelia...To a Distant Place' in 2013. But for over forty years now, this charming self-titled work has been Fuchsia's defining musical statement, one that holds an effortlessly melodic crossover quality that would also likely appeal to non-folk fans, and it has retained its infectious and precious charm ever since.  From: https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=2585

22 Brides - Another Distant Light

It never fails... every time I'm ready to declare alternative rock dead, some group comes along to prove to me there are signs of life in the stagnating genre. This time around, it was the duo of Carrie and Libby Johnson, better known as 22 Brides, who gave me reason to see new blood in the alternative rock world. Their third album, Demolition Day, reminds me a lot of the Indigo Girls, only with more of an edge musically and lyrically. For such a short album, a lot of enjoyment is packed into it - and that makes all the difference.
Often, the lyrics sing about relationships and the pain that can be caused as a result of them. The title track is one moving example of the heroine in the song trying to break out of a relationship that is headed towards (if it's not already in) trouble ("Getting out of here is the hard part now / You haven't learned a thing"). What provides the added punch needed to the song is the musicianship of Libby and Carrie (who often trade leads throughout the album); they know that a good lyric means nothing without a good song to make the message hit home.
Similar to the title track, "Another Distant Light" looks in at a woman who dreams of leaving a dead-end relationship, but doesn't seem to have the resolve to do so just yet. Lyrics: "He moves into the distance / Each time I start to turn / He moves and so I listen / To learn what I might learn". The aspect of feeling trapped is summed up in the line, "I don't know how to be free / So silently I shrug". Ka-pow.
But for the messages of hopelessness conveyed in Demolition Day, there are moments where the rays of daylight shine brightly. Tracks like "So It Goes" offer the hopes of passing on life's lessons learned from a parent to a child, even as they look towards a new chapter in their lives ("Old words beyond us / Water under the bridge").
The surprising thing about 22 Brides is that despite the often dark tone to the lyrics, the sisters Johnson, through their vocal delivery and often upbeat tone they set in their music, are able to help the listener feel better after going through the album. How they are able to do this I am not certain, but whatever magic they're creating, it works well.
The eleven songs on this disc are surprisingly short; four tracks clock in at under three minutes each. However, 22 Brides seem to know how long it takes to get their message across, and they don't want to pad it out with any extraneous material. That being said, I would have preferred the disc to be longer; something this good shouldn't end so quickly. It's too rock-oriented to call folk, yet it's too folky to classify as rock. Instead, Demolition Day creates its own unique musical category for 22 Brides: just good music.  From: https://dailyvault.com/toc.php5?review=471

Curse The Son - Suicide By Drummer

Already half-way through the year and we’ve encountered a number of game changing records already. ‘Excruciation’ (2020) by Curse The Son must surely be counted among them. It’s the New Haven doomers’ fourth album since their inception in 2007, chock full of fire and brimstone.
“Suicide by Drummer” was the first single to greet us some months ago, a dawn-to-dusk kind of experience delivering a spirited Ozzyesque opening followed by a stark change of tone and a dead serious close. Whether vibrant or grim, Ron Vanacore’s wicked vocal approach gives each song on Excruciation a distinct identifying mark, along with the devastating low-end his guitar delivers – reinforced by the punishing rhythm section of Brendan Keefe (bass) and Rob Ives (drums).
Vanacore comments: “In this bizarro world we currently find ourselves in, a band’s life’s blood has been taken away. Who could ever have thought that live performances would be such an outlandish concept? Pre-Covid19, Curse the Son had already made the decision to unleash videos for every song on Excruciation! That decision appears even more relevant and necessary now! Fast forward a year and here we all are…isolated, lonely, nervous and frustrated. Fear not friends, music is alive and well.”  From: https://doomedandstoned.com/post/620552765519904768/cursetheson