Archive for the 'Collective Family' Category

Morgan Orion: Circle of Allusions (2007)


February 9, 2008
Patrick Ripoll

Album Review Collective Family

Morgan Orion - Circle of Allusions

Personality counts for a lot in lo-fi music. Bob Dylan only wrote 2 of the 13 tracks on his debut album, but his voice and guitar playing crackled with life, wit, and a taste of the dry sense of humor to come. Morgan Orion wrote all 9 tracks on his debut album, and it drips with his personality, particularly the sound of his voice. A common flaw many beginning folk artists make is to allow their influences overpower their creativity. There are a million and ten bearded 20-somethings out there who are trying desperately to sound like an Iron & Wine, or a Bruce Springsteen. There is only one Morgan Orion.

One of the great things about Morgan Orion is that he sounds exactly as you would expect him to after looking at him, and he looks exactly like you’d think if you heard him. It’s a friendly, unpretentious, and slightly defeated sounding voice, one that is perfectly mirrored by his lyrics. Songs like “Furniture” and “Seashore” are driven by free-associative imagery like “Sweeping what’s swept up and keeping what’s kept up/it’s not so easily done/the battles are ample but we’re just a sample/of all that’s been lost and won” and “They had a child, the child had another/this young boy was that child’s brother/he looked at his Grandfather with eyes like sailing ships”. His clever wordplay gives the songs a terrific rhythm and energy that no amount of additional insturmentation could duplicate.

With 9 tracks clocking in at 30 minutes, Circle of Allusions is a highly enjoyable and propulsive record that gets in, does it’s job, and gets out. It’s been getting a whole lot of airplay at my place, even as background music it always puts me in a good mood. Do yourself a favor, and check him out.

Also, Morgan is going to be touring all over the place with the duo Kiki & Peepee throughout March. I had the good fortune to see him perform last night at the House of Grey Noise, and they were both excellent. I highly reccomend you see these excellent performers, so check out the tour dates on his myspace.

Download Circle of Allusions from CLLCT here!
Morgan Orion’s Myspace

Cara Del Gato - Green Fingers (2007)


January 27, 2008
morion

Album Review Collective Family

The band is Meg and Wayon Costello who, according to their myspace, live in both Gainesville, Florida and Richmond, Virginia.

Green Fingers is a 15 minute EP recorded in Waylon’s shed. It goes by fast which is fine because you will want to give a good few of the songs multiple listens.

The two that really stuck out at me on first listen were:

“Only Daughter”, a sort of Velvet Underground meets Animal Collective number which pretty much sold me on the release.

“This Town”, a great track beginning with some entertaining dialogues and some how reminiscent of The Unicorns for me. Maybe it’s the keyboards or the spooky childishness…

But, I keep on listening and I keep on liking more of these songs.”Ring Around the Rapture”, for instance, is a folkier number with some grand whistling and then this last song “You’re Aware”….“You’re aware, I’m a werewolf…”

This is brilliant stuff and perhaps a sampler for the many other releases they have available on 001 collective.

I for one am going to go find out!

Secret Owl Society and Colloquial Mage: The Story of the Sand (2008)


January 24, 2008
foggy ruins of time

Album Review Collective Family

Colloquial Mage reminds me of Link from Legend of Zelda only Colloquial Mage is more eager to share his adventures. His collaboration with the ever–so-brilliant Secret Owl Society was a perfect match for Mage to share with us this two song tale Story of the Sand. Sort of an allegory of his fears, anxieties, hopes and dreams about his mission to Taiwan, Story of The Sand is a dreamy surreal tale about a boy falling in and out of a dream. Secret Owl Society’s music perfectly underscores the sense of uncertainty, but reinforces Colloquial Mage’s optimistic outlook.

Divided into two parts, “Sand Creature Part I” and “Sand Creature Part II,” Part I feels like the beginning of those sorts of adventures where the plucky young kid falls into a hole or a cave and emerges in another world. However, the distinctions between reality and dreaming blur almost immediately as he leaves his friend behind to look outward on sand dunes stretching for miles. He finds comfort in the sand, “It would never betray me,” and transforms himself preparing for the adventures ahead. Part II turns into a Mad Max like chase through the dunes as Mage tries to deal with similar, but foreign feeling individuals. Every line can be taken several ways and when I listen I get flashes of a childlike whimsy; that this whole story is part of the type of imagination games we all used to play when we were younger. Again Secret Owl’s dreamy score adds a level of ambiguity to the words coming out of Mage’s mouth, reinforcing this blurring lines between reality and dreams.

I am typing this in an airport in Fiji as I await my new unknown adventures in New Zealand. Like Colloquial Mage who is now well underway on his mission, I know what impending change can do to a person’s mind and his pairing with Secret Owl Society hits on the mark all the feelings I have at the moment perfectly. Yet, anyone who’s dreamed of adventures can see that they aren’t just dreams, they are coming true all the time.

Mp3:
Secret Owl Society and Colloquial Mage-”Sand Creature Part I (Adapt)”

Links:
Story of the Sand on CLLCT
Secret Owl Society on myspace
Colloquial Mage on myspace

Tinyfolk: Bill (2007)


January 17, 2008
foggy ruins of time

Album Review Collective Family

This is a “classic” review of mine. =D

One of my favorite records of 2007.

Original Post Date: Saturday, September 22, 2007

Tinyfolk’s new album Bill is the most epic lo-fi album I’ve ever heard. For the uninitiated Tinyfolk comes from the mind of Russ Woods (and sometimes Meghan Lamb) and is from Indiana. On occasion Russ’s voice reminds me of Daniel Johnston, but his standard instrument of choice is a baritone ukulele. As Tinyfolk he writes quirky, cute songs with a dash of longing behind all of them. I’ve had the pleasure of playing a show with him a few months back and he was so nice and just as adorable in person. But I should get back to Bill. If you were expecting another “Love Is A Thing” you are gravely mistaken. Right out of the gate “Antlers” begins as a fantasy-like spoken word exchange before melting into a baroque world of animals and beasts and then it gallops into a desperate rhythm questioning a girl’s motivation. And this is only in the first song. My favorite song on the album “Dear Apollo” comes next and showcases Russ’s unique voice killing that Daniel Johnston comparison I made earlier. The way he sings the chorus “And they cry out to me” is simply sublime (you can only sing it loudly when sung aloud). On the entire album Tinyfolk greatly increases his repertoire with expansive and interesting arrangements not limited to: samples of bird calls, banjos, piano, and synthesizers. The exponential increase does not take away any of Tinyfolk’s charm and in fact his voice is the center for all of the songs on Bill. The nostalgic sounding, but forward thinking “Really Blue: A Tale of Unrequited (Perhaps) Romance and Lizardry” really grinds itself deep into our own feelings towards the past and longing. Russ sings, “The skies looking bluer than I ever remembered it being during high school/it’s like you and me we’ve got a sea way up above our heads/it’s really, really, blue/And I know you could never love a lizard boy like me/but on a big wet sunny day like this I like to just pretend/so don’t take me seriously” His voice belts earnestly while a beautiful synth line weaves its way along the poetry. “You Can Call Me Al” a cover of a Paul Simon song from his album Graceland is a fantastic cover because it is sung like it isn’t one. It follows the arrangement pretty closely (using the same horn arrangement but on synths humorously this time) but I would never know that it was a cover if I hadn’t heard the original! I know some might say the point of that previous statement is obvious, but some covers reveal their original artists quite easily (Any Beatles cover pretty much). The other cover on Bill is also a highlight. “(There’s) Always Something There to Remind Me (written as “Always Something There” on this album)” is a Burt Bacharach song, but I will always remember the 1980s version from the band Naked Eyes (Those “Best of the 80s” compilation ads played every five minutes when I was a kid!). This song is the last song on the album and returns to some familiar territory from his previous album “Platapeasawallaland”: A Rainy-Day Owlbum. It’s simple, cute, and Meghan sings on it! It is very effective at making this infectious tune even more infectious. Bill is a sprawling epic of an album, but maintains a high level of intimacy and a bit of humor that makes listening fun and more enjoyable each time. I put it on more and more each day.

Tinyfolk-”Dear Apollo”

Links:
tinyfolk.com
Tinyfolk on myspace
Get Bill and many more great music from Pop Monster Collective

A Drum is ferociously attacking that Window!


January 10, 2008
Secret Owl

Album Review Collective Family

A DRUM AND AN OPEN WINDOW!
IS NOT AFRAID OF ANYTHING.
ESPECIALLY NOT “THERE WILL BE FIELDS FOR US”.

That’s their album, the one in quotes. And it’s fantastic. It makes me nod my head! The lyrics are brilliant, the music is brilliant, the rhythm is brilliant; everything is brilliant. The songs make you feel like you’re right there with them on their adventures. I keep imagining myself riding around the country in a beat up Oldsmobile (don’t ask me why), always escaping some ensuing mayhem and getting in-betwixt shenanigans wherever I travel.

Also, the songs make me think of Italian food, for some reason.

Nevertheless, this album is fantastic, and very happy! I was already in a happy mood before I listened to it, but if I WAS in a bad mood, now I would be in a good one! It’s that happy. Very happy, yet somehow nostalgic.

I miss the old days. You really never will know how dark it is until you turn the lights off.

Download “There Will Be Fields For Us” here at the collective!
Visit ADAAOW’s myspace!


A Drum and an Open Window - Overcoats

Dustin and the Furniture - Dancing on Nothing


January 9, 2008
Tinyfolk

Album Review Collective Family

Dustin and the Furniture Dustin and the Furniture is one of my favorite musicians. Lyrically, (and this holds true for a surprising number of his songs) he manages to talk about a single person’s role in the universe in a way that is effective and useful, and to do it unpretentiously, with humor and candidness. Dustin can sing a song about myspace and have it not come across as lame:

Dustin can rap in a folk song and not seem like he’s making a joke about it:

But most importantly, Dustin can also write a good song without any of those gimmicks, and he’s done it over and over. I’ve never heard a Dustin and the Furniture song that I didn’t like. His live performances are flawless, with him taking the “bang on your guitar to keep the beat”-style playing to the next level, and his vocals are really unique for the kind of music he creates. Dancing on Nothing is a great introduction to some of Dustin’s best material, though a few of his more recent tracks really show off his abilities with percussion as well as guitar, vocals and lyrics, just to throw some icing on the proverbial cake. Here’s one more song, just because I can, and because I feel like I could pick any track off this album to impress someone:

Campbell - Flatland Prometheus EP


January 4, 2008
Patrick Ripoll

Album Review Collective Family

My intro to video games was through the SEGA Game Gear, a big lug of a thing that sucked up batteries like the cast of SNL used to suck up cocaine. And like the cast of SNL used to gloat over less fortunate variety shows (like Fridays), I would laugh at those with less fortunate systems like the Nintendo Game Boy. “You fools” I would shout, “you only have four colors, and no backlight! My Game Gear has both, and Sonic the Hedgehog to boot! Now I have to go sell my first-born to support my AA Battery habit!” It’s true, I was keeping the monkey off my back like I was a cast member of SNL, which is where the already bent metaphor breaks and shatters into a million pieces.

I guess my point is, in between the dawn of the very first video games that weren’t entertaining enough to play and the current state where video games aren’t affordable enough to play without making a serious marriage-level commitment to them, there was a time when games were both simple and fun. The Gameboy may have only had 4 colors but it had at least 40 GREAT games. And it may have been operating with approximately 14 sound effects (a number you can count on your fingers, if you’re weird and have too many fingers), but there was some great music. Tetris, Kirby’s Dreamland, Super Mario Land, all classic gaming scores, done with relatively simple beeps, buzzes, whirrs, and pops. Enter Campbell.

The minimalistic album cover for Campbell's minimalistic album

Campbell is an electronica artist that utilizes all sorts of lo-fi sound effects, from Game Boys to cell phones. And while this isn’t entirely unique to him (a mini-sub-culture* of sorts has spawned from this kind of lo-fi sampling. Even Beck rocked a concert in Bonnaroo using a Gameboy), the difference here is that once the gimmick has worn off what you’re left with is well-composed songs. “20,000 Leagues” is a lovely and lush (if a bit long) folk song that mixes gameboy sounds with a guitar and Campbell’s vocals (which I wish there were more of! Homeboy can sing!). It doesn’t sound like it should work on paper, but the two lo-fi sounds work amazingly well together. Then things get even better with his certifiably epic “Misguided Salute” which manages to evoke real feeling and soul from the boops buzzing and beeps. “Misguided Salute” is definitely my favorite track of the album, and one of my favorite electronica songs I’ve heard in a while.

His genre is listed as “Noise-Folk” and while I call it lo-fi electronica, it is important to differentiate him from artists like Kraftwerk. His music has much more of a soul and is much more rough around the edges (by design) than other similar artists.

Unfortunately, as with any good EP, it’s all a tease. With only 4 other songs (two more sound experiments than songs, and one a wholly original cover of “What a Wonderful World”) it’s all over much too quickly. I can’t wait to see what Campbell does next, and until he releases more material, this will do fine. Well, this and some late-night Tetris sessions on my old dot matrix Gameboy.

*Which I guess, is a sub-sub-culture.

Download Campbell - Flatland Prometheus EP from CLLCT!
Campbell - Misguided Salute:

A Colloquial Mage in Taiwan


January 3, 2008
Secret Owl

Album Review Collective Family

It is with tremendous sadness that I say goodbye to Malachi McGee, the fellow behind Colloquial Mage. The beloved family member and forum celebrity is leaving on January the 9th for Taiwan, a journey that will last two long years!

The good sir Mage, it seems, is not just a mage but a missionary as well! He shall be spending his time in the foreign lands studying the elusive Towel Elephants, a mammoth species of elephant long thought lost to time but recently rediscovered. He is a brave soul, as he will be completely alone in a strange country, unable to even speak the native tongue.

I will mourn the loss of my friend, but fear not! He shall indeed return, and mightier than ever! And, lo and behold, the family will be waiting for him; where was once a proud hut shall stand a towering temple! And he will find himself always welcome in the abode, ’cause it’s his abode too.

Wilonia Swallowtail
His farewell album is, in my opinion, his best work yet and one of the best releases the collective has to offer. His songs are bouncy and they make me smile, yet they’re quite melancholy as well (it confuses the hell out of me, but why must we understand everything?). It echoes the situation perfectly: he’s leaving everything he’s ever known behind, but the future is exciting. Adventure and a new life are looming ahead. He doesn’t know what to feel, so he feels everything.

And it shows. The songs make your heart beat just a little more quickly and your eyes close just a little, just enough to make you pause and listen. Then they make your lips twitch upwards and your fingers snap uncontrollably. Whatever you say about this album, nobody can deny that it’s catchy.


Colloquial Mage - Feel Like Squid

Download Wilonia Swallowtail here, only at CLLCT!

Goodbye, Malachi! Take care of yourself, you hear?

We’ll be waiting for you right here.

Tinyfolk: Little Mice And Other Things That Go Skitter Skitter (2007)


January 2, 2008
foggy ruins of time

Album Review Collective Family

Released in early 2007, Tinyfolk’s Little Mice And Other Things That Go Skitter Skitter is an album caught in transition. Containing qualities of his earlier twee pop glee with the grander production and themes of his more recent releases, Little Mice And Other Things That Go Skitter Skitter has a striking intimacy brought to fore so beautifully due to it’s presentation.

Let me just tell you now, the first four songs are flawless. Starting off things familiar and joyful, “Love Is A Thing,” lulls you in with its adorable chorus and delicate verses (When its played live they are usually improvised!).

A cover of The Field Mice’s “Emma’s House” really shatters me and if you had only heard early-Tinyfolk up to this point, this song will change everything. Its melancholy (the accordion extenuates this mood well) and when I listen to it I remember everything I’ve ever lost in my life.

“To Answer Your Question, Yes,” is probably Russ’s most personal song ever written (or at least self-aware/self-referential). I think everyone at 001Collective can relate to this song if not every artist out there.

“Trees” is amazing in every way conceivable. About a man named Harold, “Who’s lonely and he doesn’t know why,” This song is the precursor for many Tinyfolk songs about melancholy characters trying to escape from their socially constructed surroundings. And In some ways I feel like this song is the prequel to Paul Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al (Which Tinyfolk covered funnily enough).” The song is broken up into several parts including a haunting whistle-sounding breakdown and then a slow shower of piano keys with the baritone ukulele remaining as a constant. Its more than just sad, but we so desperately want things to get better for Harold that we would do anything for him (in some ways we all are Harold).

Little Mice And Other Things That Go Skitter Skitter is a rewarding album in many ways and although the second half lacks some cohesion, not many artists could pull of the “transition stage album” as gracefully as Tinyfolk does.

Tinyfolk-”Trees”

Links:
tinyfolk.com
Tinyfolk on myspace
Pop Monster Collective
Little Mice And Other Things That Go Skitter Skitter on 001Collective
My Pizza Under The Sea EP review
My Bill review

A WONDERFUL - “UNCORKED UNDERSTANDINGS”


December 31, 2007
Parade Parade

Album Review Collective Family

I don’t know Tim Wilson. But after listening to A Wonderful’s “Uncorked Understandings,” I kind of feel like I could. Sure, it feels like a personal record. His voice has a kind of gentleness, and though it is thin at times, it is thin in a kind of pleading, desperate kind of way. The lyrics are sparse and simple yet seem loaded with personal references, experience, and memory. But the record seems personal in an almost universal sense. Tim talks a lot about hiding, about missing someone, about regret- thoughts and things that I’d like to think anyone could understand and relate to, particularly boys having been under the weight of heartbreak at one time or another.*

My favorite track is “Under Cover(s).” The drums are minimal yet mesh with electric guitar and a synth drone to tap out the kind of syncopated beat that makes me want to sway around alone in my bedroom. At one point, Tim seems to croon “… and this year, I chose to give myself to others. Just not you, and you’re damn tired…”, reinforcing a sense of isolation and a kind of lament. “Under Cover(s)” is really a beautiful song, and I’ve probably listened to it over twenty times now. It’s honest, minimalistic, and has a (dare I say) funky accented beat that sets it apart from 99% of lo-fi pop music in a good way.

I remember in the documentary “Wise Old Little Boy” (2004), Phil Elverum of the Microphones / Mt. Eerie said something about how he felt it was important to make music that was obviously “made by a human.” I’d say that A Wonderful accurately captures this human-made aesthetic, both on an emotional and musical level. Even the drums and percussion are cleverly layered and exude a very human feeling.

With repeated phrases and consistent instrumentation, “Uncorked Understandings” is a minimalist song cycle that begs for multiple listens. It is cohesive and lush with lo-fi pop sensibility.

*I don’t mean high school boys in a negative sense, but more in reference to young love and gray days when you just want to lay on your bed and listen to Elliott Smith.

A Wonderful - Under Cover(s)