Tag Archive for 'Tinyfolk'

The Roaring Nineties


June 2, 2008
foggy ruins of time

Album Review Collective Family Compilation Music

Put together by CLLCT’s Secret Chief (Luke!), better known by most as Secret Owl Society, this Lo-Fi compilation, The Roaring Nineties, covering the greatest hits of the 90s, is like most compilations, brimming with some amazing songs, some good and some bad. To keep this two-disc, twenty-six track beast at bay, I’ll just describe some of my favorites and mention a few others.

The Brooke (a tiny ocean) has graced us with two (that’s right) two awesome covers, her cover of Oasis’s “Wonderwall” being my favorite. Just an acoustic guitar and her dream-like voice, she manages to recontextualize this song, not in its sound or delivery, but in its emotional impact. It hits almost ten times harder than it did originally.

Shelby Sifers, along with help from the Sarcastic Dharma Society, cover Del Amitri’s “Roll To Me” a song I remember instantly, but don’t ever recall the original band’s name (or even the song title). Shelby manages to cover some new ground, articulating her voice in ways that sound more down-to-earth than ever before. It’s sweet and gives us a glimpse into an alternate universe where she would be selling millions of albums and the world was a better place.

Tinyfolk’s cover of the Elton John classic from the hit Disney film The Lion King, “Can You Feel The Love Tonight,” starts off a bit slow, but the Usher-influenced ending is totally perfect. If you like Bill and Valley Forge era Tinyfolk, this is a good reflection of that style with a hip-hop twist.

Dustin And The Furniture’s take on Third Eye Blind’s “Semi-Charmed Life” was probably my most anticipated cover on The Roaring Nineties and it is everything I hoped it would be and more. It is acapella, focusing solely on Dustin’s “sleepy brown bear” voice. What more could you want?

Uggamugga’s acoustic cover of “Wannabe” by The Spice Girls is so hilariously cute. Sung almost off key and featuring boy/girl vocals, there is something so infectious happening here.

Fudge’s almost acapella cover of the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s “Suck My Kiss” is so ridiculous you have to love it. Featuring a chorus of kazoos, handclaps and vocal sound effects, it reminds me of Weird Al Yankovic at his most insane.

Perhaps the most stunning cover is SFIAS with The Anchorites’ cover of Donna Lewis’s only hit, “Love You Always Forever.” Essentially a wall of noise, they only hint at the melody lying deep within the chaos. It is beautiful, heartbreaking and sublime.

Now I’m sad to say that both of Patrick Ripoll’s covers didn’t do much for me, although the first bit of “How’s It Gonna Be (originally by Third Eye Blind)” is actually quite cool and very different for Patrick, it sort of teeters off aimlessly. I do like the nice use of the Amen Break though.

Both Fire Island, AK covers are a bit dreary and I wanted to like Manipulator Alligator’s cover of TLC’s “Waterfalls” more than I did.

But, I can see what some of the artists were doing here. Some were trying to take these glaring monuments of mainstream ideology and turn them into what they are, manufactured dribble. I think that’s taking the easy route. Many of these songs, no matter how manufactured still spoke to us and the best covers here are ones that reflect the deep loving or enjoyment we had of these songs back when we were growing up.

Sold to raise money to help maintain CLLCT, the amazing community of artists and musicians that ALL OF YOU should be a part of, it is now available to download for free! Enjoy!

The Roaring Nineties

Links:
The Brooke (a tiny ocean)’s site
Shelby Sifers on Myspace!
Tinyfolk on Myspace!
Dustin And The Furniture on Myspace!
Uggamugga on Myspace!
SFIAS on Last.fm!

*anyone know anything about Fudge? I can’t seem to find anything on them.

21 Love Songs: The Magnetic Fields Tribute


March 13, 2008
foggy ruins of time

Album Review Compilation

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.

Mp3s:
Tinyfolk-”I Don’t Believe You”
Your Yellow Dress-”Absolutely Cuckoo”

Links:
Download the whole album for FREE on CLLCT!
Buy a hard copy from James Eric
Tinyfolk on myspace
Your Yellow Dress
The Magnetic Fields on myspace

Ghosts Never Die And Neither Will You!


February 20, 2008
foggy ruins of time

Collective Family Labels

I’m not sure if everyone knows, but Isaac of Blanketarms, Isaac Arms, The Spooky Ghosts, and the man behind the beloved Pop Monster Collective has called it quits. While I am deeply saddened we all do what we need to do and I’m just happy Isaac is letting the legacy live on by allowing us to post the entire discography onto CLLCT.com (or as much as possible). Today I personally put up Blanketarms’s masterful double album Sweet & Sour along with their side of the activist-minded One Small Fist split. I also put up Isaac’s solo record that I won’t shut up about. Russ of Tinyfolk is also working on uploading more material and if any of you have something that we might not have let us know!

I like to talk about how I got into lo-fi music a lot lately (or at least the events behind it) and I just remember Blanketarms being one of the first bands I listened to. The first song I heard was “Heartbreaker,” the version off of their tour CD-R (anyone have the entire disc?). I was transformed completely and utterly forever. I never heard something so raw, so honest and so unexpected. From that moment I had to find more. I was freshman in college and I was vulnerable and open and I wanted to consume everything lo-fi; luckily Pop Monster Collective was right around the corner. I immediately started snatching up records from Blanketarms, Tinyfolk, Real Live Tigers, Super Famicom, Jon Crocker; you name it I was listening to it. And not just Pop Monster either, but I would follow myspace top 8s to get to any artists that sounded like the perfect fit.

It wasn’t just about listening to all these wonderful artists, but it was about the spirit of DIY and how it didn’t matter if your guitar was a twenty-five dollar toy guitar, if it was broken, or if it was a thousand bucks. You could record your songs on cassettes using headphones, using iPod mics, or even the recording device that comes with windows; it didn’t matter. For the first time in my life I knew that if I made music someone would listen because in this community everyone was willing to give you a chance.

I mean I can honestly say that my entire train of thought was effectively altered forever because of Blanketarms, Pop Monster Collective, and all of you fine folks out there doing what you love no matter what. I grew up in place where most people had ZERO passion and suddenly discovering so many people who cared deeply about what they were doing inspired me to become a more driven and confident person.

So what I do is for all of you. I want to make Isaac proud, Pop Monster proud and all of you proud of what I do, you do, what we did, what we do and what we will do. We are all artists and no matter what, we always will be.

The legacy of Pop Monster Collective will never die and I suggest for those uninitiated check out every artist that was a part of that family.

Mp3s:
Blanketarms-“Heartbreaker (Unripe Version)”
Isaac Arms-“Us Vs. Stuff”
Real Live Tigers-“No Regrets”
Tinyfolk-“Dear Apollo”
Rambling Nicholas Heron-“Only This And Nothing More”
The Spooky Ghosts-“Ghoul’s Night Out”
Super Famicom-“I Evaporate”
LA Beard Club-“ Harder Than It Has to Be”

Links:
The Pop Monster Collective site
Pop Monster on myspace
CLLCT.com where the legacy lives on!

Blanketarms-”Ya Basta!”

Get up and out of bed and in your car and off to work

Complain cuz greatness passed and you’re just stuck with common jerks

So you’ve been lost so long just like a cog it’s not the end

And it won’t kill you to destroy yourself and start again

But I refuse to believe that no one gives a shit

And I think we, we watch ourselves sink

Just because we’re used to it

You know how nacho cheese it gets real stiff when you let it sit

Well I think your eyes are pale

And your soul is stale cuz you don’t do shit

Just ride a bike or read a book or send a letter home

Or build a new friendship cuz we weren’t meant to be alone

But I refuse to believe that no one gives a shit

And I think we, we watch ourselves sink

Just because we’ve given up

But enough is enough

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

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

Jenny is a Boy, Kickass 4-way


December 26, 2007
Tinyfolk

Artist Review

A band you people should check out is Jenny is a Boy. Yes, he went to high school with me, yes, we were roommates, but I think that that, if anything, gives me license to be more critical of his music than the average listener. Fans of The Mountain Goats (i.e. everyone) and Paul Baribeau will find some common ground here, but really Adam is doing his own thing here. His latest release is “Folkilla,” (whatever the hell that means) a split with the wonderful Life Under a Tree that you can buy over at Bob Heavens Records. Solo, Jenny is a Boy is a treat to watch for anyone who loves intense, earnest, personal acoustic guitar music, with equal doses of whispered lyrics and shout-alongs. But it is when he plays with his full band, The Proclamation where he really comes into his own and it’s a lot easier to see how original and versatile his songwriting really is. You can get one of his songs on the Real Live Tigers tribute comp (available from the wonderful Toby Foster’s myspace page), and there is a new album which should be out in two or three months on Bloomington, Indiana’s Let’s Pretend Records.

MP3s:
Jenny is a Boy - What’s Wrong with Me from Folkilla
Jenny is a Boy - I’m the Asshole pt. 2 from Folkilla
Jenny is a Boy and the Proclamation - The Preacher’s Daughter from Life is Easy: A Tribute to Real Live Tigers
Jenny is a Boy and the Proclamation - I’m the Asshole pt. 2 from the upcoming Jenny is a Boy and the Proclamation album

OH! And holly fucking shit guys (there’s a christmas typo for you), three of my favorite musicians in the word, Super Famicom, Redbear and imadethismistake, are all putting out a 4-way-split 7″ with me. And it’s going to be out on Fall of the West records in a couple months. How damn exciting is that?

One Love,
Tinyfolk