We Heart Arts is a truly wonderful organization that every Lo-Fi musician or anyone who believes in the power of creativity should get behind. It is non-profit and seeks to raise money for kid’s creative arts programs across the globe. Here are their tenants:
i. Creative arts teaches young people the value of lifelong active personal expressionism
ii. Creative arts teaches young people to question the world they live in
iii. Creative arts teaches young people that thinking outside of the box is an important mental function in life
iv. Creative arts teaches young people to engage in a social network of proactive young people invested in a community built on meaningful, sustained ideas and expressionism
v. Creative arts open up a world of opportunities for young people to grow and help others through arts therapy
vi. Creative arts can open up an avenue of communication for children with learning difficulties
vii. Creative arts can help children process and work through traumatic experiences
viii. Creative arts can provide peer interaction and a sense of community, independence and feelings of control
I for one agree whole-heartedly with these and in today’s world it is a whole lot harder to express yourself freely in the public sphere and kids shouldn’t be ashamed of what they create and love to do.
So if you want to support We Heart Arts in some way now is your chance. Write about it, make posters and take photos, make videos talking about it and buy the digital splits featuring so far Shelby Sifers, Eyes For Volume, Secret Owl Society and Fire Island, AK!
Here your chance to use your creativity to make a difference, and not just awareness either, but the more people take part the more things get done. Go!
My video for We Heart Arts:
In conjunction with We Heart Arts, ACOSM Records is a label that ya’ll are going to hear a lot about in the near future. Also started by Tony Cannings, he says this about ACOSM’s ideals; “Music is about passion, drive and the need to free you creatively from the monotony of everyday life. It’s about being flag bearers of a new cultural revolution, about having a voice and knowing how to use it, sometimes the quietest of voices can make the loudest noise!”
With recent closures or hiatuses of labels like Pop Monster and Valiant Death, we need labels like ACOSM to take up the new mantle of supporting the unbridled creativity of the Lo-Fi world. Like I said, big things will be happening soon, just you wait. But for now check out the likes of Lauren Elle and Everyone Except Me who are already on ACOSM getting the whole thing started.
I first heard Patrick “Redbear.” while playing the all-too popular MySpace music friends six degrees of separation game. When I saw this guy Patrick wearing an Evil Dead t-shirt, listed as a friend of the band Real Live Tigers, I had to drop in and see what Redbear was all about. I clicked on his MySpace, where my ears were greeted with a song that instantly made my day. “My Ghost Love Jam” was impeccably described on YouTue as a “ragtime version of Antony and The Johnsons.” I of course added him as a friend and proclaimed my love for his songs almost immediately. Cut to my first house show experience playing live in Champaign in which I overheard Issac “Blanketarms” and PJ “Super Famicom” also proclaiming their love for the bear. It was clear by then that upon returning from my spring break tour, that I had to meet up with the red-haired mammal in person. When I did, I instantly could see why he had a following, and as a result of his personable personality and enthusiasm for the house show scene, managed to formulate a music community with friends that magically congealed in an affluent suburban area not too far from Brookfield Zoo. Since then, it’s safe to say that I’m more excited about seeing DIY bands perform in garages, basements, and living room rather than the Metro. Experiencing shows at both The Glass Haus and The Foster Home is exactly the type of communal bliss that can reaffirm your faith in the arts.
On record, a lot of the DIY musicians put out as much material as possible, which I encourage since I actively do the same. But can one achieve a track-for-track masterpiece? Many have come close, especially since Real Live Tigers put out the best record of last year. Redbear’s first record Love Songs For A Nihilist ended with a couple of improvised goofy ditties that merely tickled the funny bone instead of the heart, unlike just about every song that preceded it. Patrick has possibly grown tiresome of playing his “older hits” because he’s evolved beyond singing about Hootie and toast. I hope he doesn’t ever completely dismiss favorites such as “Fiber!” and “Brains!” But there’s a sense that he’s steering away from his roots and letting grass grow, reaching new heights in the process. His follow-up, Hollywood Taoism, is anything but a sophomore slump, which was expected even before listening to it. Hearing the songs live were always a treat, and unlike his debut, it isn’t just primarily a guy playing his nylon-stringed guitar. There are breathtaking arrangements here. It’s hard to decipher exactly what the intent is by including a few instrumental interludes here and there, other than a tip-of-the-hat to the ear-piercing noise of Einsturzende Neubauten as well as keeping in check with the Phil Elvrum influence. The sweeping harmonies and kitchen-sink-knock-on-wood rhythms also climb to the top of Mount Eerie, but never come across as derivative. The songs here are draped in buzzy fuzz, choir-like vocal layering, and the click-clack clatter of tribal beats. The results are otherworldly despite the lyrics touching base with the mysticism of nature and the human body’s uncertain place in an ever-changing universe. There are vivid descriptions of seasons changing and keeping an open heart behind a world that seems to be closing in on us.
Standouts include show staples that receive a massive makeover due to unexpectedly sublime instrumentation. There is no denying how infectious a lot of these songs are. “Walks Among Us, Life On A Map,” and “Don’t Haunt Me Yet,” are arguably his strongest tracks to date. The latter benefits from a glued-to-your-skull chorus refrain, “Now tell me something / how do I get to be like you?” That kind of simplicity was served well on the first album, but there’s also complexity and ideas behind a song like “Forest of Legs II,” which connects mind, body, and spirit in anything but a New Agey milieu. One of my favorite moments is featured in “Forest” with the line “Do you feel the tension between the trees and the moon?” Another gorgeous number is the achingly personal “Cook County,” which is one of the more tear-jerking moments as well as the most relatable.
The way the record ends is an acquired taste to the least. Does the title track add or subtract from the listening experience? For those who don’t require an easy “comedown” to put your mind at ease for closure or you enjoy the sound of rhinos fucking around with an effect processor, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the conclusion of the record. I’m more of a fan of traditional pop songs so I would’ve been doused with satisfaction had it ended with “Circular,” but this is a tiny, forgivable quibble. I simply love everything else about Hollywood Taoism. Nobody is making music like Redbear is right now. I had gotten to the point where I was unsure if originality was even attainable until I listened to this and the new Portishead album back to back on a 5-hour drive in stormy weather. Both are interchangeable for my favorite records of 2008 so far. Neither are chock-full of verse/chorus/verse aesthetics, but instead, choose to defy and challenge the listener to think and feel on such a visceral and cerebral level that you almost have to check and see if you’re not living inside a dream (or a nightmare) that you never want to wake up from and are dying to analyze as it occurs. Hollywood Taoism is the perfect encapsulation of the mind of myth of Redbear. I had sensed from my first live encounter that there was something special about this kind of songwriting, and this 2nd effort is a step up from the last and definitive proof that Patrick is the real deal. And we’re all the better for baring witness to Redbear’s vivacious imagination and freakishly unique perspective of this chaotic, yet invitingly beautiful vision of the world we reside inside.
Roaring Nineties Roamin’ Over Thisaway
In case you haven’t seen on CLLCT yet, the compilation is finished and for sale. I had lots of fun drawing them, although I went a little overboard with some…However, they all look pretty much similar, some are just less similar than others. One even looks like Chewbacca! At least, I think so.
If you were wondering, I did do some editing in Photoshop. Nothing major, just my attempts to fix the quality…I don’t have a camera, you see, so I used a toaster instead. Even after my editing, they still look ten times better when you’re sitting there holding it in your hand. I used some nice-ass pens!
Now, those of you who pre-ordered (probably the only people reading this blog), I’m mailing your copy tomorrow without a doubt. And they’ll be the best of the best. I was going to mail them today, but I need access to a printer that I can’t get access to until long after the postal workers are asleep. As for your bonuses for pre-ordering? Well, let me say this: you will never ever regret pre-ordering. Your gift for helping me out when so few would - every time I make something for the collective, be it a shirt (i’ll be making lots of these soon - missus owl just got a screenprinting kit), a comp, or a paper-mache flamingo, you’re going to get one for free. For as long as the collective is around, which means your grandkids are going to be getting weird shit in the mail and wondering why the hell someone would send them a bonsai tree.
Oh, and you all now have magical powers on CLLCT. Use them with wisdom and benevolence. You’ll see what I’m talking about.
I love all of you. Thank you.
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Here’s the Track Listing!
1. James Eric - More Than Words (Extreme)
2. The Brooke - Wonderwall (Oasis)
3. Patrick Ripoll - Fu-Gee-La (Fugees)
4. Shelby Sifers and the Sarcastic Dharma Society - Roll To Me (Del Amitri)
5. Existential Hero - Say My Name (Destiny’s Child)
6. Grammar Rodeo - Lick It (20 Fingers)
7. fire island, AK - Angel (Sarah McLachlan)
8. Tinyfolk - Can You Feel the Love Tonight? (Elton John)
9. Eyes For Volume - Losing My Religion (REM)
10. The Brooke - Jamie (Weezer)
11. Dustin and the Furniture - Semi-charmed Life (Third Eye Blind)
12. Patrick Ripoll - How’s It Gonna Be (Third Eye Blind)
13. novemthree - Unbreak My Heart Oh Baby (Toni Braxton)
14. Campbell - Kiss Me (Sixpence None The Richer)
15. The Not Band - Be With You (Patti Scialfa)
16. Uggamuga - Wannabe (Spice Girls)
17. Eyes For Volume - Iris (Goo Goo Dolls)
18. Manipulator Alligator - Waterfalls (TLC)
19. porches - Same In The End (Sublime)
20. stars and thunderclouds - Bittersweet Symphony (Verve)
21. fire island, AK - The Freshman (The Verve Pipe)
22. Children’s Guide - Kiss From A Rose (Seal)
23. Fudge - Suck My Kiss (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
24. Seven Dynasties Of Glass Children - Lovefool (Cardigans)
25. SFIAS and The Anchorites - Love You Always Forever (Donna Lewis)
26. Lather - The Boyz-n-the-Hood (Eazy E)
The first two mp3s from the yet-to-come Super Famicom epic “The Wandering Floret” have been posted on the sf myspace, and they sound wonderful. For those who aren’t in the know, The Wandering Floret is eight albums, all of which are going to be simultaneously released on eight record labels, on 08/08/08. I’ve never heard of anyone else doing this, and I honestly can’t figure out why no one’s talking about this, because it’s completely unprecedented. This dwarfs 69 Love Songs and just about any other indie rock concept I can think of, if only for the sheer magnitude of the undertaking. The record labels involved have not yet been announced, but I’m sure they’ll include some of the labels PJ has released on already such as Sanitary Records, Tract Records, Red Chair Records, and Pj’s own PJ Records. This is a big deal.”Sometimes” starts out with the killer line “sometimes you let someone ruin your life to see how far they’ll go,” and keeps loose time with the sounds of rustling brushes and moving water. “Nice Really Nice” reeks of delicious Super Famicom reverb, and keeps the lonely lyrics coming. From the looks of it, The Wandering Floret’s gonna be the best thing PJ’s ever done, and I’m way excited.
It may not be fair to review this album since I’m on it, but James Eric has compiled a great collection of artists covering the hilarious and heartbreaking Magnetic Fields.
The covers here run the gamut from faithful to downright bizarre. Check out Tinyfolk’s take on “I Don’t Believe You,” I’m so strangely drawn to it, but every time I’m like “WTF is going here?” It sounds like a mice and robot orgy.
Fairmount Fair turn “Why I Cry” into an upbeat jungle romp ‘n’ stomp sing-along. The same goes for James Eric’s cover of “(Crazy For You) But Not That Crazy,” as he injects about ten billion watts of electricity into the original and lets go with wondrous results.
Now before you think that everyone here is taking a piss out of Stephin Merritt, its all in good fun and I think he might get a real kick out of this if, or when, he hears it.
There are some also really touching covers, my cover of “Plant White Roses,” for example. No, no really. But seriously, A Lime Tree’s homespun, front porch country cover of “You Me And The Moon,” is really sweet and banjolicious.
But my favorite cover on this album is Your Yellow Dress’s cover of “Absolutely Cuckoo.” This has become a full blown twee number, and you’ll totally fall in love with Carrie Muller’s voice. Her voice bounces just on the edge of the melody and keeps the song racing. Alex Poska ain’t no slouch either and the simple yet effective arrangement keeps it on constant repeat for me.
When James first started calling for admissions on this tribute I hadn’t even heard of The Magnetic Fields, but I was totally won over and consider myself one of the believers. I think everyone on this tribute, regardless of fandom, really pulled out the big guns and made a great album even if you haven’t heard of The Magnetic Fields either.
“Honesty is so addictive/I can’t get enough of these songs” James Eric sings in his song “Off Key?”, a cute tribute to the growing DIY folk scene. That sums up James Eric’s Fire In The Mountains for me. Fire In The Mountains is a rare album, in that is both intimate and lushly produced. For being recorded completely in Mr. Eric’s bedroom, the album sounds beautiful, with all sorts of orchastration, from trumpets to violins to pianos to lo-fidelity electronic sounds. But what makes this album truly special is the thematic string that ties it all together, James Eric’s lyrics.
James Eric is a frank and honest songwriter. Most of his songs are tales from his life, told matter-of-factly. It opens with “Daddy Don’t Cry”, a tale of James on his near deathbed which sets the pace for the rest of the album. While he occasionally breaks away to tell other stories (like his folk/court report “Something’s Not Right Here”), he mostly sticks to what he knows, or at least what he feels. Thankfully, they all aren’t as grave and serious as the opening track. Most notable is the upbeat and catchy “Could’ve Been Like Ben”. With lyrics like “I could have been a mentor according to my English professor/Or assistant to a lawyer, but I got too bored with college” it serves as the James Eric origin story. That’s what’s so great about the album, it’s a comprehensive portrait of the artist, how he feels, where he’s been, where he’s looking to go. It’s all delivered simply and matter-of-factly, with minimal pretense.
Unfortunately, sometimes the very plain and direct lyrics come at the cost of melody. Most of the songs have at least a few clunky lines and phrases where James tries to shove too many syllables where they don’t fit. I have no doubts about James’ talents as a musician and a songwriter, but if I had to pick one thing that could use improvement, vocals would undoubtedly be it. Luckily, with the lyrical style and subjects of the songs, it comes across much more earnest than annoying. In a way, the disregard for vocal melody only serves to add to the conversational feeling that makes the album so special. The album is worth checking out just for it’s rare combination of intimacy and vibrant production. So go on, get to know James Eric. He’s a friendly personable guy who’s made a friendly personable album.
But in the (pretty much) absence of content, I smell a power vacuum. And I’ve always wanted to be king. So guess who just became royalty? Patrick Ripoll, that’s who. I broke free of my stale prison they call “Friday assignments” and am now proposing something new.
You (all twelve of you) don’t go to this blog because you want to see where we stand on the big entertainment issues of the day (but, for the record, Semi-Pro is shit). You want us to share with you. This is a place where we stand on our little soap box (which would promptly tear and collapse, because it’s a fucking cardboard box that’s designed to hold soap) and yell “Hey! You! The funny looking one with the hat! Check this out! It is awesome!”. So that’s what I’m going to do every day. Sometimes it will be in the form of an album review, a rant about women in prison films, a retrospective on the career of Bill Duke, a comparison between stand-up comedy and 80’s cop films, whatever. Point is, I see some shit, I know some shit, I want to share this said shit with you. Because goddamnit, that’s what it’s all about.
I, King Patrick, declare that this blog be a place of sharing, from now until forever, cuz there’ll never be another better*. If this whole goddamned Collective is about people sharing music for the sheer thrill of it, then there’s no need to be as stingy as to limit my output to one day.
And I declare this: If you e-mail me (soybomb@care2.com) with a link to your music, your website, your blog, your short documentary about midget turtles, I will mention it here. People will hear about it. I’m not gonna lie and go “Oh my god, Long Necks, Little Torsos is the greatest short film about midget turtles ever made!” but I’ll keep an open mind, I’ll keep positive energy, and most of all, I will keep what I write about it entertaining so even if it sucks, at least a funny joke came of it.
I got several different e-mails recently from various blokes asking me to review their albums. On Friday (which will still be “Patrick’s Big Stuff Day”) I’m reviewing Chicago folkie James Eric’s new album Fire in the Mountains. Spoiler Warning: It’s good. The next Friday after that I’ll be reviewing plucky young upstart Big Round Spectacle’s debut misfortuneless, which is also all sorts of pleasant. But let me cover the two non-CLLCT folks who contacted me recently, AKA, “the less important”.
I got an e-mail recently from a Nadav Young promoting his curious site www.VIRV.TV I say curious because it’s purpose is not entirely clear to me. In the little e-mail press release thing I got, it claimed to be “a hand-picked, all-indie playlist 24/7, exclusively on the web. Our playlist includes Bright Eyes, Of Montreal, Spoon, Arcade fire, Xiu Xiu, The Good Life, Now Its Overhead, Architecture In Helsinki, Bloc Party, Shout Out Louds and many, many more..”. So it’s like a YouTube with super-limited selection and no easy ability to control what you watch? I’d like MTV2 to start playing all music videos again, too, but that’s cuz it’s on TV, so it’s easy to have on in the background while I do other things, like making gin in my bathtub. An online tv station just misses the point of why people choose to sit in front of the TV: It’s passive. So why have it online? Why would someone download an application to watch videos they could find on youtube? Well, Nadav’s job is a playlist manager, so I suppose the angle they are going for is “if you like X band, you’d like Y band!” Which I guess makes a little more sense, but not a ton.
Nadav, if you read this and you could clarify exactly what your site is and the needs of the consumers it fills, that’d be super helpful. As far as the music, I think it’s silly to limit yourself to indie, but niches are meant to be filled, I suppose. For once I’d like to see a radio station that plays Curtis Mayfield, Paul Simon, Captain Beefheart,Kylie Minogue, Daniel Johnston, and Leadbelly back to back. They could call it “97.5, The Hammer: We’re completely unmarketable!” Then I could listen to it for a week before I get all up in arms about it shutting down. Cuz that’s what happens to great things. They get replaced by Lite Rock mix stations. Fuck quality, we need another outlet to hear Rob Thomas.
The other fellas that contacted me were one of those musical rock ‘n roll groups you kids love so much. Their name: Springfactory. Their mission: to rock you. Or make you dance. Or make you giggle while dancing. Look, I’m not going to tell them why they do the shit, point is they make music and they want to share it with ya’s. They have a new album of old material, their previous released EP’s, coming out through Series Two records. Series Two records is based in Nebraska, the music capital of the world. I’ve listened to music via their myspace, and the tracks they e-mailed me, and I gotta say, it’s pretty nice (especially “No More”, which has a fun Georgie James quality to it). Go ahead, check it out, it won’t hurt. It’s some rather lovely definitely well-made indie/pop/rock/dance stuff. Look, I won’t do Springfactory the disservice of lumping them into the genre. You know why? Because I’m not a good enough writer to do that. You gotta be a DaveB motherfucker to do that shit. I’m just some college dropout.
Speaking of which, will Kanye West ever be interesting again? Just wondering. Dude can make fucking beautiful beat, but will he ever be interesting again? I wonder. But speaking of Kanye West and interesting, have you seen Spike Jonze’s video for “Flashing Lights” yet? Holy great.
Anyway, that’s about all I got for now. Keep in touch though, for real. BTW, if I ever say something stupid here, or just incredibly ignorant, tell me. That’s you sharing with me. Which is beautiful.
Virgins is one part gentleman poet Silly Rob Childish. and one part live wire guitarist Maxwell Lewis?. And they are making my Microsoft Word grammar check go crazy. But I digress. Rob Gray and Max Golding have been making music under various forms for awhile now, but they came together last year as Virgins, playing shows, jamming in studios and just plain blowing heads in Santa Barbara.
Rob Gray is a poet through and through and words explode explicitly and are exquisitely annunciated (Sometimes told with a drunken swagger). Images of history and our culture flicker out and about his mouth and you’ll find yourself holding your breath to listen to every word. And these words are given ten shots of cocaine by Max Golding’s insane fingers. It is as if someone knocked over a telephone pole and the poetry electrocuted your insides and especially your brain.
“Champagne And Snow” is perhaps their flagship song; I’ve seen it performed twice, heard it on three albums and it is different every time. Like old Jazz artists they tend to play around with the structures making for some fascinating takes on the same song. One thing that carries through in every version of this song is the electricity and fury put into it. Gray is practically spitting these images of orgiastic decadence (a reflection of Isla Vista perhaps?), failed dreams, utmost disappointment and a killer Fall Out Boy reference. Golding’s fingers fly like a wild night on a Las Vegas strip à la Fear And Loathing…
“How I Am” is one of the best examples of Gray’s ability as a spoken word poet and this time around Golding backs it up with a fitting level of tension. It’s visceral seeing it live, but it still hits you even in the recording.
Virgins are doing some of the most original music out there today. If you even think for a second that it comes with a level of pretentiousness, once you listen you’ll understand that they are coming from a very human place. It’s the part in us all that longs to try and encapsulate all our pain and joy into words and music. Virgins are making headway into that territory quite gloriously, well as glorious as the human experience can be.
Folk has splintered. There’s folk-rock, folk-pop, anti-folk, twee-folk, jazz-folk, folk-salsa, folk-rap, folk-folk, folk-folk-rock-folk and too many other folks to mention. This is not new news. Since the folk explosion of the 60’s, the word hardly means anything at all. What used to describe pop music inspired by traditional music, now means “an acoustic guitar is in there somewhere”. Surely, when Neutral Milk Hotel and the Mamas and the Papas can both be covered with a single term, things have changed. I beat this point into your brains because I need to emphasize how remarkable an artist Joseph Still is. His music sounds like he’s been in a Rip Van Winkle coma since 1953, as if Dylan never happened. And it is wonderful.
The aptly named MineSongs has a thick reverb that dominates the entire album, as if Joseph’s mournful howls were eminating from the depths of the Earth itself. Every part of this album carries the same air of mystery, from the inconsistent tracklists (his album is available various places, and never are the songs in the same order) to the cryptic single letter song titles to a hissing voice that makes the lyrics to his songs near impossible to detect. His raspy voice has a weariness and wisdom that comes from a place much older than himself. The fact that Joseph is only 17 years old is mind boggling and I still have trouble believing it.
Most of the songs rely on Joseph’s considerable skills as a guitar player, but other instruments, sounds, and voices drift in and out of the music as if they were a dream. It’s a dark dark album, but these instances of accordion, organ, and vocal harmonies are warm lanterns that penetrate the night. Listening to this album is like live with a group of folk musicians, in a log cabin, in the dead of winter, in the middle of the night, huddled together, taking turns playing songs to keep your mind off the cold, trying to make it until the sun comes up. And I’m sorry I have to fall back on such flights of fancy, but Mr. Still has left me with no choice. He’s created an intense dreamy album that you float in and out of, that floats in and out of you, that transports you somewhere else.
I’ve listened to this album, in it’s many different mutations, probably over 30 times since I first stumbled upon it, and I will probably listen to it at least 30 times more. It’s eerie production possesses an ambience that makes it a perfect album to listen to as you go to sleep, but the old fashioned song structure and Joseph’s amazing voice make it so engaging that it also works on it’s own terms, listened to straight through. You can drive to it, you can make love to it, and one day, if he’ll permit me, I would love to score a film with it.
My friends, I cannot reccomend any one or two songs, because to take any song out of context would be doing both you and Joseph a great injustice. I will say that if you can listen to “Break” and not feel moved, you probably have your heart installed backwards.
