Phil Spector is more in the news for being a convicted murderer these days than anything else. Before that, people may know him for screwing up Let It Be (at least in the opinion of one knight).

But I wanted to bring some focus back to the genius music he produced and one of my favorite box sets of all time: Phil Spector: Back to Mono. It’s has three discs of Spector singles and the full length Spector Christmas album as the fourth disc. It’s an overview of the Wall of Sound, with its huge drums, layered production and diverse instrumentation. You can also hear that Spector introducing Latin elements into pop songs in a time when that was not yet commonplace.

Of course it has the hits and Phil Spector’s hits are among the best pop songs made: “Be My Baby”, “He’s a Rebel”, “Then He Kissed Me”, and “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling” among them. Then there are many other songs you’d recognize, but the real value in the set are the lost gems hidden in here. I love Ben E. King’s “Spanish Harlem”, a light and straight-forward soul ballad with some great orchestrations and fun vocal lines. Lee Curtis’ “Pretty Little Angel Eyes” borders on doo wop and has a driving rhythm and a fantastic chorus. “Uptown” by the Crystals is a Latin-tinged love song with a great pre-chorus->chorus build.

“Heartbreaker”, also by the Crystals, has a harder groove and more swagger than most of Spector’s numbers, putting it closer to a Motown track than most. It also has a classic sax solo in it. Treasures’ “Hold Me Tight” is built upon a percussion line than may be close to “Be My Baby”’s in how good it is. The vocal melodies are also really catchy. It holds a fairly rare distinction of being a Beatlest cover that is much better than the original.

The Crystals – Heartbreaker (mp3)

Treasures – Hold Me Tight (mp3)

This is really a fantastic box set and I recommend it to anyone that’s interested in oldies, girl group or soul music.

While going through some of my stuff, I found an extra, unopened copy of Phil Spector: Back to Mono. I bought this with my own money, but I’ll give it away to one lucky reader. To enter to win the box set, leave a comment with the song on the collection you most look forward to listening to again and again by 11:59pm Sunday July 19. (See here for tracklist.) I’ll pick one winner at random. Be sure to put a valid email address because I’ll need to contact you to get an address to ship it to if you win. This contest is open to residents of US and Canada only.

You can buy it at amazon.

Update: The contest is closed and with the help of random.org, I’ve chosen Will as the winner. Thanks for the entries!

the photo I gave Joel P. West in exchange for Dust Jacket

After Natalie’s suggestion and further song obsession, I participated in Joel P. West’s (myspace) Dust Jacket Project, where you send him a piece of art–a photo, drawing, song, poem, etc–and he’ll send you a download code for the album.

That’s pretty sweet, right*, but it gets better: this San Diegan’s album is good. From the opener, “28th and NE Davis”, you can tell it’s going to be a quirky, orchestrated folk album. It took me a couple listens to get into the song, but now when the stomps/ low drums starts, I’m looking forward to the rest of the song, and the album. The melody, especially along with the words “open up, my hands are freezing” has slowly burrowed its way into my head.

Another highlight is “Bark and Feathers”. It’s an upbeat folk number with a rollicking drum beat and nice strings throughout.

Joel P. West – 28th and NE Davis

Joel P. West – Bark and Feathers (mp3)

It’s got its inconsistencies, but while I don’t love all of it, Dust Jacket’s a solid effort and worth the price.

Make some art and get the album. You can also check out his Daytrotter session.

*Granted: you can get just about any album you want complete free, but that’s not exactly legal, nor does it have the pleasant side effect that it forces you to be creative.

Andrew Kenny of Wooden Birds, by Adrian Bischoff

Since I saw the Wooden Birds (myspace) (twice) at SxSW I’ve been trying not to listen to their forthcoming debut album, Magnolia.

The Wooden Birds are the new band fronted by Andrew Kenny, of American Analog Set along with members of other ipickmynose favs, Lymbyc Systym and Ola Podrida. And I’ve been trying not to listen to Magnolia, out May 12, because I know it’s the sort of album I could just put on repeat for a few weeks at a time. It’s just that good an album.

The band treads on similar intricately orchestrated and layered, rhythmic, drone-folk-pop ground to AmAnSet, with perhaps more percussion in the approach. The record doesn’t hit a sour note throughout, from mid-tempo opener “False Alarm” to the melancholy and brilliant closer “Bad”. One familiar tune, “Hometown Fantasy”, originally released as an Andrew Kenny solo number (on the Home split EP with Ben Gibbard), holds down the middle.

the Wooden Birds – Sugar (mp3)

the Wooden Birds – Anna Paula (Live on Woxy) (listen to the whole Woxy session)

Bonus mp3:
Andrew Kenny – Hometown Fantasy (mp3) (buy)

You can pre-order the album from insound. The band has tour dates on the East Coast right now and then in Europe soon. In Austin, Kenny said the band was planning to tour the album in June and would hit the West Coast.

In related news Slowcoustic points out that American Analog Set has a rarities comp called Hard to Find: Singles and Unreleased 2000-2005 coming out next Tuesday.

Wooden Birds at SxSW

Update: The vinyl (+mp3 download code) is available now.

I know I’m late posting about this and I’m just another voice talking about it at this point. Well, let’s say it’s good enough that it’s worth another voice.

Sometimes a compilation album comes across that’s more than a collection of good songs; it’s inspiration, in auditory form.

By sometimes, I mean about once every ten years. The last one I remember was the Lounge Ax Relocation and Defense CD.. It inspired me in a number of directions: the indie rock of Seam and the post rock of Rachel’s. (Those are still two of my favorite bands of that era.) It was the first place I heard Shellac, June of 44 and the Mekons.

Much like that Dark was the Night, put together by the Dessner brothers of the National, is the sort of compilation that inspires one to listen to new music. Granted, it has good National tracks and Bon Iver tracks. We knew it would, after all. Where it succeeds is its lesser-known tracks.

The gorgeous Riceboy Sleeps track, for instance, is a great track from a band I’d never heard of[1]. Ambient, instrumental and sprawling, it’s just beautiful. The Yeasayer track, a medium slow groove with layers of percussion and clapping and tightly wound but melodious vocals, makes me want to give them another try.

The many collaborations are also something to note. The Books with Jose Gonzalez (covering Nick Drake) put together a good track, as do Feist and Ben Gibbard. David Bryne sings on a Dirty Projectors track. Antony with Bryce Dessner put together a simple and gentle cover of Dylan’s “I Was Young When I Left Home.”

Now I’m not saying every track is a winner, but I think what’s important here is that, as a whole, the compilation is good enough to get you from beginning to end, to hear those tracks and bands you wouldn’t hear if you were skipping around to a few choice track. I’d recommend getting it.

the National – So Far Around the Bend (mp3)

Bon Iver – Brackett, W9 (streaming)

Riceboy Sleeps – Happiness (streaming)

You can pick up Dark was the Night on amazon

[1] Of course, I now know that it’s a side project from a band I do know (Jonsi of Sigur Ros’ side project).

Update: rewrote parts of it.

Every time an album with religious themes is reviewed, it seems the writer feels the need to clarify his personal position on religion. Reviews of the bitches-and-hos varieties of rap–do they clarify their position on bitches and hos? Regardless, I figure that there’s good music inspired by faith and good music inspired by secular themes.

Everything that Numero puts out is great, but Local Customs: Downriver Revival has to be one of my favorites yet. With a mix of gospel, soul, rock and funk, this album collects recordings between 1967 and 1981 that Felton Williams made in his basement in Ecorse, Michigan–Detroit’s down-river neighbor. Initially they were issued on Williams’ Solid Rock, Cass, Compose, and Revival labels.

The collection is solid throughout, but among the highlights have to be the four tracks from Shirley Ann Lee. They’re all drenched with great vocals and they alternate between frantic, rousing, uptempo numbers and slower ballads. Then there’s the old-school-gospel-like-you-see-in-the-movies of the Gospel Supremes’ “Sinner Man.” There’s lo-fi, home-recording-like songs like the selections from Coleman Family and The Revelations. The compilations winds this way and that, through soul and jazz, funk and rock before ending with a full gospel choir.

Shirley Ann Lee – There’s a Light (mp3)

Pilgrim Wonders – He Never Failed (mp3)

The 24 track compilation would probably be worth the price by itself, but it also includes a DVD with 200 sound recordings (demos, sermons, rehearsals, outtakes, etc) and a documentary about putting the collection together.

Buy Downriver Revival from Numero Group or Amazon.

Sam Cooke had probably the best voice in soul music before he was killed at far too young an age. And it stands as one of the best still. You probably know this. If not, you can get acquainted. This is where I’d recommend starting with his music:

1. Portrait of a Legend A greatest hits of sorts, it’s got all the songs you know and a handful you don’t and will grow on you.
2. One Night Stand! Sam Cooke Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963 A hot live and hard-hitting live recording from his peak. He brings new energy and a new perspective to each song in the set.
3. Keep Movin’ On

For the most part, Keep Movin’ On–which I finally picked up recently–isn’t the hits and it has some overlap with Portrait but once you get more into his music, this the next place to go. It’s a number of recordings he did for Abkco in his last year or two, including the masterpiece “A Change is Gonna Come.”

The style is all over the place as Cooke seemed to be trying to figure out his next direction. He’s got jazzy numbers, orchestrated ballads, soul dance tunes, and pop songs. I’m not going to say it’s without its misses, but the missteps are easily forgivable given the quality of the music overall.

“Rome (Wasn’t Built In a Day)” Classic Sam Cooke. His voice settles in a swinging soul groove in this pop song. When he wails “give me time” near the end of “The Riddle Song” This is a version of an English/ Appalachian ballad dating back to the 15th century. Concentrate on his voice–forget the orchestration for a minute–on this one. It’s just amazing.

Sam Cooke – Rome (Wasn’t Built in a Day) (mp3)

Sam Cooke – The Riddle Song (mp3)

Not all of the songs are on the softer side–I’d love to share them all with you. “Sugar Dumpling” is a great song.

Keep Movin’ On is available from insound.

home

Folk is nearly the only thing Doug and I have in common. He was a DJ at the radio station doing electronica shows–his shows were so electronic that he did his “mic breaks” (announcing tracks, public service announcements, etc) with a computer text-to-speech program. But somehow we had folky music in common. We even cohosted one very odd, but memorable combination show on that genre. He’s a good person to have around–he was really early on the Fionn Regan train, for instance.

The other day I got an email from him about Peter Broderick, a Portland and Copenhagen-based songwriter. I’ve mentioned Broderick before, but you had to have eagle eyes–he’s the other guy in Horse Feathers. (He’s also in Danish group Efterklang.) So I’d heard of him but never investigated his solo music. I’m glad Doug prodded me to.

There seems to be a growing set of “gorgeous folk”. It might just need to be a genre–J. Tillman, Horse Feathers, old Iron & Wine, and Adem could all be in it. Broderick could join that group as well. The more the merrier, I say.

Broderick treads particularly in the lush aspects. Whispery vocals, active-but-soothing fingerpicking, and just enough reverb to make things float. Home won’t keep you awake at work, but it does have a set of gorgeous folk songs. Some songs are more straight ahead fingerpicked folk songs and others tend towards a minimalist, almost post rock-influenced vibe of drawing out the music.

“With the Notes in my Ears” is one of my favorites. The simple simple fingerpicked guitar and double tracked vocals give way to almost reverent backing vocals. “Not at Home” falls in the repetitive-but-hypnotic-not-boring category. The accordion (harmonium?) and bells add a nice touch.

Peter Broderick – With The Notes in my Ears (mp3)

Peter Broderick – Not at Home (mp3)

Broderick along with Efterklang have a date in San Francisco in March:

3/10 Efterklang, Peter Broderick @ Bottom of the Hill, 9pm, $12, 21+

He has some dates listed in Seattle, Portland and in the UK, but he doesn’t have a lot else listed stateside. Check his myspace for details.

You can buy Homes from insound.

Night lights, Tokyo

Have you been to Japan? I was there a bit over a year ago. It’s a place of contrasts, at least in my limited experience. One minute you’re overwhelmed by the lights of Shinjuku and the next you’re in the most tranquil garden at Diago-ji in Kyoto. Or you’re experienciing a cosplay restaurant. Or you’re on a lightning fast high speed train. Or you’re in the quaint small town-like Taito-ku area of Tokyo. And, of course, it’s the home to tiny cellphones and misspelled/ awkwardly worded signs.

Of course, this doesn’t have a lot to do with Shugo Tokumaru (myspace), other than I’m not surprised his unusual, eclectic and disorienting pop comes out of Japan.

Built on loops of various types–some reminding me of the circus, western swing, even hip hop–and often layered with even more loops of all sorts, it’s like information overload. But the music also has a really strong melodic pop sense to it. There are two almost-warring sides to it: the smoother melodic side and the often-frantic loop-side to it. It’s disorienting at the very least, but it’s also really intriguing.

There are definitely some misses on the album, but overall it’s a really good and intriguing album.

Shugo Tokumaru – Parachute (mp3)

Shugo Tokumaru – Hidamaru

You can buy it from insound

Gold Pavillion, Kyoto

The Bay Bridged announced their Bay Bridged, Vol 2 10″ EP last week. I received my copy later in the week.

The compilation includes five exclusive songs by Rogue Wave, Emily Jane White, Birds and Batteries, Two Sheds, and Okay on 10″ vinyl (and all copies come with a download code for high quality mp3s).

Opening the package you get an immediate view of the double sided picture disc. The record itself is gorgeous and perhaps that’s why there’s no jacket (just the clear outer sleeve), but I sort of want a nice jacket to put my record in. This is a small complaint, I know.

The two sides aren’t A and B–no, that’d be too easy–they’re Bear, left above, and Tree, right above. With an (yet another) excellent track from Two Sheds, one that I’d enjoyed live many times, and a long hypnotic song from Okay, I feel the Bear side is the better one. Tree may have the biggest name of the bunch, Rogue Wave, but while I think they put in a good effort, it doesn’t catch my ear in the same way.

Unlike many compilations, this one has some uniformity of sound: all of the tracks were recorded by the same engineer (Ian Pellicci) and most of them were recorded at the same studio (Tiny Telephone). It’s nice that it has some aural continuity in there.

All in all, a nice compilation and a worthy collectible from the guys over there at the Bay Bridged.

Buy it at the Bay Bridged store

You can stream the songs below or or over at the Bay Bridged:

(Full disclosure[2])

the Horse Feathers’ House with No Home

Horse Feathers is almost nothing like the screwball early Marx movie they’re presumably named after. In the last few weeks, Justin Ringle, Peter Broderick et al.’s album of melancholy and meticulously gorgeous indie folk has hit me with some gravity.

With a heavy blanket of melancholy over the record, the people behind Horse Feathers split their energies between interesting and full-but-not-overreaching orchestration, distinctive and breathy vocals, and just plain good songwriting. It’s unusual for an indie folk band to succeed at all three of these as well as this band does. The resulting album is consistent across the board, more in feel, quality and sound than particular instrumentation. While not having a completely new sound, that doesn’t stop this album from being really good.

Horse Feathers – Curs in the Weeds (mp3)

Horse Feathers – Working Poor (mp3)

As someone summarized:

If you like gorgeous folk, then this album is for you. If you don’t, well, The Hold Steady released something not that long ago.

The band is in the extended area twice this week. They’re in Santa Cruz Tuesday at the Crepe Place and on Wednesday there’s this show that I’ll be attending:

10/8 Horse Feathers, Lady Genius @ Rickshaw Stop, 8pm, $8, 21+

The record is available at insound. They’ve also done a Daytrotter session and you can download 6 mp3s from their virb site (via MOKB).

Check for their tour dates (England, East Coast, and Midwest) after the jump.

(full disclosure[1])

Read the rest of this entry »

Growing up on the east coast and going to school in Boston, I spent some time on Cape Cod. One family vacation there was the idyllic Kennedys-throwing-football-in-a-picturesque-compound sort of Cape Cod experience (with the compound, of course). But not all of Cape Cod is like that, there are small, out-of-the-way towns and there’s the off-season. I’ve walked on the beach with a jacket on and it pouring down cold rain. I can imagine the middle of the winter there is frigid and the winds whip around with abandon, the sort of time where even leaving the house seems like a steep proposition, only to be done when necessary.

promo shot

While Andy Arch, who records as Tom Thumb (myspace), doesn’t live anywhere permanently, his home base is in Cape Cod and most of his most recent record, the Taxidermist was recorded in a beach house there during the winter months. Just as one isn’t surprised that sunny sounds of the the Morning Benders come out of Berkeley, I’m not surprised that Tom Thumb’s music comes out of a winter on Cape Cod.

The Taxidermist toes a line between various genres. On some songs, like “Providence”, Arch takes indie folk and orchestrates around it in a way that’s reminiscent of Sufjan Stevens. Other songs (”Asleep in the Sawmill”) are closer to Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska in feel, if not in sound–middle Americana if you will. Other songs have a bit of a looped, electronic feel–”Lord, Release Me” is a repeated chant that reminds me of George Harrison and Rhythm of the Saints-era Paul Simon more than Americana or folk.

Overall it’s a good album and a worthwhile listen. If I have one complaint it would be with consistency; while this album has a number of true gems and a few more good songs, it’s unfortunately not without a couple mediocre songs in the mix as well.

The Taxidermist is available digitally and as hand-made hard copies. You can also stream the whole album on the artist’s website.

Tom Thumb – Providence (mp3)

Tom Thumb – Gypsy Curse (mp3)

Bonus mp3, from a previous EP, Lifeboat:

Tom Thumb – Atlantic City (Bruce Springsteen cover) (mp3)

On Sunday night, I caught Geographer (myspace) and Cotillion at Cafe du Nord.

Walking in during the Cotillion set, there was already a fairly sizable crowd for a Sunday night. People were milling about and chatting in the back and the atmosphere was pretty jovial. Given that it was a Bay Bridged presents show, those guys and some of the other local blogerati turned out.

Alexi, Blythe, and Burton of the Botticellis are all in Cotillion, a band which also boasts members of Bright Eyes and Judgement Day. Given the shared membership, there are some shared sonic similarities with the Botticellis, but it really is an entirely different vibe. Reverb certainly isn’t as evident. They also have a trio of backup singers.

It was the release show for Geographer’s debut full-length, Innocent Ghosts, and a big portion of the crowd seemed to be out for the event.

Their set up was back to a four-piece, though a different four-piece than when I first saw them in February. They had the same trio we’ve all grown to love–Mike on keys and guitar, Nate on cello and sequencer, Brian on drums–but they’ve added a fourth on bass. Even with the new line-up, they had obviously practiced sufficiently, because they were tight.

I’ve been enjoying listening to Innocent Ghosts. It’s a nice mix of various influences from pop to folk to the electronic touches. It’s a good album, but the band’s live show is great. It’s engaging and fun and I had a good time. Their set seemed to go by in a flash.

I didn’t stay for much of Judgement Day’s crazy string metal, but I did want to note that the violinist’s bowing and fingering patterns reminded me of some styles Anglo-American fiddling. At the very least, the violinist is quite talented.

You can view my photo album online.

(Full disclosure [1,2])

“I can’t believe it took him 6 years to write the same album as Sleeping On Roads. 1/5.”

That’s one review of Neil Halstead’s (of Mojave 3, formerly of Slowdive) new album Oh! Mighty Engine.

Sleeping on Roads is a really solid album showcasing Halstead’s hushed vocals and acoustic guitar, finger-picked or strummed, and interesting songwriting. I agree that Oh! Mighty Engine is very similar to Sleeping on Roads, but that makes me want to rate it highly.

Neil Halstead – Elevenses (mp3)

Neil Halstead – Paint a Face (mp3)

Bonus mp3 from Sleeping on Roads:
Neil Halstead – Martha’s Mantra (mp3)

He’s got a show coming up at the Cafe du Nord in a week or so:

8/26 Neil Halstead @ Cafe du Nord, 8pm, $12, 21+

He’s also got some US festival dates, as well as west coast and British Isles dates coming up in the near future.

Insound carries the album.

As you probably know I’m no stranger to retro soul sounds, so when Soul Sides wrote (twice) about Little Jackie–a group made of Imani Coppola as songwriter and Adam Pallin as producer–I paid attention.

What I found when I listened to some songs and eventually the album, the Stoop, was catchy melodies over some retro soul music–akin to some of the girl group production from the 60s but undeniably updated. There re also some hip hopish vocals and some other quirks to it. Though this is undoubtedly a mainstream release, it is far from being generic or stamped out by a hit factory. It’s got a lot of style to it.

In a way, the Stoop overall reminds me a Sean Kingston ditty you may remember from last year. Both have retro charms. And both are extremely catchy and fun, and are suitable for light summertime listening. It’s yet to be seen but I feel like the Stoop has more depth than the Kingston song and will stand up to more listens.

“One Love” has got some great production and melodies at every turn. The part that I find really intriguing is the vocals in the 3rd verse, where Imani doesn’t really sing (but isn’t quite rapping in a conventional sense either). They have a heavy swing and lots of style to them.

Little Jackie – One Love (mp3)

For a few more days, you can stream the whole album at Spinner (update: you can still stream the album, but it’s been moved to here. You can pick the record up at insound.

Like a fair number of bands I write about these days, this may not come as a surprise, as I’ve been obsessed, twittered twice and put them on a mixtape, but I thought I should write a bit more about Toronto’s the Rural Alberta Advantage (myspace).

press photo by Vince Wong

The RAA is a trio lead by Paul Banwatt Nils Edenloff and employing his sometimes strained, sometimes relaxed vocals, along with drums, cello, guitars, keyboards and probably some other instruments. After hearing “Don’t Haunt this Place” and a few other songs, I quickly ordered their first full album, Hometowns. Since receiving it, it’s been heavy rotation.

That song is addictive and catchy and generally magnificent. Drums that are tight and interesting, cello, great melodies and harmonies.

the Rural Alberta Advantage – Don’t Haunt this Place (mp3)

But as great as that song is, I was surprised that the album is greater than the sum of the parts. It’s not often that I hear albums–as opposed to collections of songs–anymore, but here’s one. The songs range from subdued to agitated, the instrumentation and tone from folk to rock.

But I’m asking myself how does it get from that to an album, and a really good one at that? I’m not sure, to be honest. The eclectic feel makes the album pass quickly and suddenly it’s built up from a melancholy mess of song into one piece of art.

Banwatt’s Edenloff’s voice reminds me, at times, of Jeff Mangum’s. I hold Neutral Milk in the highest regard and I take any imitation, intentional or not, with a heavy dose of skepticism. As I said to some people when this album first really caught my ear, though, that this is the first time in a long time that I’ve considered liking a band with a vocals that sounds like Mangum. But this album is too good to discount for reasons like that. Or, really, what I should say is that this album shouldn’t be discounted or compared at all–and if it is compared, it should be to say that the vocals work for some of the same reasons Mangum’s do.

the Rural Alberta Advantage – the Dethbridge in Lethbridge (mp3)

the Rural Alberta Advantage – Sleep All Day (mp3)

You can buy Hometowns directly from the band.