Album Review | Collective Family

Arrah and the Ferns is a big small band.

But even after playing 130 shows last year it is still very possible you didn’t see them.

I didn’t.

But, I did find them somehow. Probably one of those late myspace sessions I’m trying to stay away from of late. I acquired their album via the internet (the illegal way) and was very taken with it. That was last summer.

I listened to it last night again and go figure it’s still good!
My first brush with them, “Apple for Evan”, is still a possible favourite, but there are plenty of other gems. Really…there isn’t a second wasted.

I love thirty minute records!

Currently, they are recording their second album for national release on May 6th through Standard Recording, from which you can buy their debut here.

Myspace

Website

Cara Del Gato - Green Fingers (2007)

January 27, 2008

morion

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

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

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.

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

The Lonesome Architects: The Ocean at Night (2007)

January 24, 2008

Their Myspace with “Julie Vignon”!
On Virb!

Hey everyone, I’m in Auckland, New Zealand right now and I have a bit of free time. Sorry if I’m posting out of turn, but I know ya’ll understand.

orginal post date: Thursday, August 16, 2007

The Lonesome Architects are a band (Josh and Martin) originating from LA who play dare I say, “Folktronica”? Is it possibly the greatest antithesis to rap/rock? Genre-bending aside, their latest EP The Ocean at Night is a surprising album given their more acoustic background. However there were inklings of the sound on their last record 15 songs of loss, love and longing. This mixing of folk and electronic music is simply stunning and each form compliments each other greatly. The warm intimacy of acoustic guitars entwined with the cold discipline of electronic beats really recreates the surreal landscape we all live in. So what is this EP all about? Well relationships are one big answer and our relationships to those relationships too. It’s very post-modern; the very best kind. I think I really like The Lonesome Architects because of the pervading sense of individualism that comes from these two guys. It isn’t a selfish or self-absorbed type of individualism, it is us the individual who looks and feels and perceives. I could go on and on about this type of stuff (I’m taking culture and film theory at the moment), but I think what will really win you over is their craft at coming up with very memorable melodies and interesting song structures. “Julie Vignon” is an instant classic. It has a very biting edge to it; a synthesized beat intermixed with some screeching guitar, handclaps and a killer hook, “And now I’m living alone/ just like Julie Vignon/you can catch me by/ the swimming pool anytime.” I’d be afraid to be this girl. Josh and Martin mentioned at the Muddy Waters show yesterday (Read my review here) that while making this record they decided to make it a dance record, or an attempt at one. Now I wouldn’t necessarily call this a dance record, but if some DJ were to remix it I’m sure it would be tearing up the clubs. The song, “Was It You?” Is the most obvious of their intentions. It is the kind of dance song all young un-dance oriented guys would make who wished they had moves (like me): earnest, serious, and a bit cute (in a good way!). The poetry is something else when Josh sings, “And in to this field of schemes/ that once was filled with dreams/ but dreams do rot/ and fruit gets soft/it’s true or is it not?” Attempt to get The Ocean at Night any way you can right now. It is necessary for anyone who’s ever thought about our place in this world and with everyone else.

Mp3:
The Lonesome Architects-“Was It You?”

I just want someone to share my life with- Jens Lekman’s “Oh, You’re So Silent Jens”

January 20, 2008

rhiannon

There have been two people overshadowing my week. One has been a long term crush who I am fearful to talk to (but that’s not for here) and the other has been a certain Jens Lekman.

A year or so ago a very nice, but supremely cool, friend of mine mentioned that she thought I would like this chap. She was right. With his happy pop songs filled with pretty intense romance and images of his native Sweden there was no way I could fail to be hooked. Unfortunately, I did not heed this advice straight away. In fact I thought no more about it until two of his tracks (one from a free CD in the wonderful Plan B magazine, the other on a mix from a friend) made their way into my life almost a year later and reminded me what I’d been missing. And so, flash forward to a couple of weeks ago, on a whim I bought “Oh You’re So Silent Jens”, a collection of previously released singles, EPs, and compilation appearances recorded between 2003-2004.

The main dominator of my brain was “I Saw Her In The Anti-War Demonstration”. I’ve been getting obsessed. Opening with a sprawling violin/viola/cello trio it changes direction into something altogether more marchy. With that, in come the vocals, filled with romance and rhyme. The story of Jens’ love for an ex-punk he met on an anti-war demonstration leading to the epic rhyme of six: “And the skies/were clear blue skies/And her eyes/were clear blue eyes/And her thighs/were about the same size as mine/And we were walking in the anti-war demonstration”. Pretty glorious stuff.

Another highlight of the album is the fabulous Maple Leaves (there are two versions on this album, EP or 7”), the story of the best type of miscommunication: “But she said the dreamers just make believe/and I thought she said maple leaves” and “And when she talked about the fall/I thought she meant Mark E Smith/I never understood at all”.

On another album Maple Leaves or ISHITAWD could (possibly) take the cake for most romantic (in my skewed way of seeing the world), unfortunately, everything is thrown off by the Someone To Share My Life With. Unlike most other tracks, the only accompaniment Jens’ voice gets is some low-down guitar and subtle glockenspiel, making the lyrics stand out even more. “I don’t want a girl who hangs on every word I say”, right here Jens, “who shows me off to her parents over roast beef on Sundays”, you have my word, “I don’t want a girl who thinks she has to fake”, seriously Jens, I think we could be good together, “I don’t want a girl who laughs at every little joke I make”, no fear of that, “I just want someone to share my life with/and that someone could be you”. Then it’s settled/Download link http://www.sendspace.com/file/sie81j

Tinyfolk: Bill (2007)

January 17, 2008

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

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”

A Drum is ferociously attacking that Window!

January 10, 2008

Secret Owl

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

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.

A Drum and an Open Window - Overcoats

Dustin and the Furniture - Dancing on Nothing

January 9, 2008

Tinyfolk

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:

Isaac Arms: Old Artificer (2007)

January 9, 2008

Isaac Arms-”Us Vs. Stuff”

So this will be the first in a series of 001Collective family reviews that I’ll be reposting from my blog Foggy Ruins Of Time. I realized now how many artists on here I have already written about, so in addition to the new content I’m writing for this blog I’ll post one old review a week. For the first week I’m posting a review of Isaac Arms’ solo album. Although this isn’t technically a family release yet, I know when Isaac has the time he’ll post this and all the other great Pop Monster releases here for all of us to enjoy.

Original Post Date: Saturday, August 4, 2007.

Blanketarms was a twosome band from Illinois featuring the lovely couple Isaac Gadient and Leila Grey. They sang with such purity it broke your heart and put it back together at the same time. I wish so much every time I listen that I could be in love as much as they are together. However this review isn’t about Blanketarms, it is about Isaac’s solo EP Old Artificer. Released earlier this year, it is by far my favorite of 2007. Containing eight songs, they go by quickly, but it makes it easy to listen to them multiple times; and you will. Scribbled on a note with the album, Isaac tells me that these songs were written while living in his old apartment in East Champaign. This solo record is a snapshot of feelings, memories, musings, and revelations written during a time of uncertainty about the future. Emotion is the keyword here, but it is coupled with a fragility so delicate you are almost afraid to listen for fear of your own emotional stability. In the album’s best song, “Us Vs. Stuff” Isaac recalls the war of living in the “real world” and being so determined to survive because the one he loves will give each other the strength to transcend anything. “And I may never be enough/ but I will swear that I will pull out all my hair/ ‘till its plain to everyone/ you got every gallon of my love.” He sings this with a touch of self-deprecation, but it never gets melodramatic. That can be said for the entire album. This music is so affecting because I know the things Isaac has gone through are real, never embellished. His voice is the sound of hope from experience. I am sad as I write this review because I know only twenty-five copies of this EP were made. So I ask you all to go to his Myspace as well as his record label Pop Monster Collective (And get all the other great lo-fi music!) and beg for him to make more copies. These songs deserve to be heard by everyone; just be careful, you will fall to pieces.

Links:
Myspace: Hear three other songs!
Pop Monster Collective
PMC site: So many great bands

Honorable Mentions

January 6, 2008

morion