It’s rare for a label to offer up a free track from their catalog, from one of their bread and butter albums, the albums that pay their bills year after year (not that Laurie Anderson is bringing in barrels of cash for WMG…). Even more rare is finding Laurie Anderson, the iconoclastic musician-artist-instrument maker (the tape-bow violin), revisiting her older projects. “Let X=X” can be found on her 1982 album Big Science, an early mainstream electronic album. The lyrics are wonderfully disjointed, seemingly found sentences, notes and conversations woven together with swelling synths, handclaps and doubled vocoder vocals. I believe this re-issue will be the first of several from Anderson’s catalog. Take advantage! If your music collection is void of Laurie Anderson start filling that void today and expand your education in American electronic artists.
South Central
Leave it to a couple Brits, thousands of miles away from the hood, to snag South Central as the moniker for their punked-up, electronic efforts. Don’t, however, expect them to address gang politics or aesthetics in their dance floor offerings. On their forthcoming single, due August 13th on Regal’s Single Club, the b-side track, “Revolution,” and its refrain “Can’t stop the wheel,” pays homage to both Spacemen 3 and to the novel of Russian philosopher/mystic P.D. Ouspensky, The Strange Life of Ivan Osokin, who explores the idea of eternal recurrance. Deep, trippy stuff to be sure. Catch their DJ sets or live appearances (with a five piece band) this summer in London and its surroundings. If they ever slow down their remix work, hopefully South Central will concentrate on banging out their very own, proper album. An archaic wish I know…
The Winston Jazz Routine
The Winston Jazz Routine doesn’t come off as the kind of music you’d typically hear coming out of Nashville. Then again, I’ve spent a grand total of 20 minutes in Nashville and it was all in a car on the freeway—and yes, I’m a bit ashamed of that fact. Nathan Phillips is the man behind an ever-rotating cast of characters in The Winston Jazz Routine, yet despite who comes in and out, this is Phillips’ child, and that child ain’t no troubled-troubadour or honky tonk hoedown. It’s more like torch music for the youthfully somber. Phillips is at heart a piano crooner whose songs are more likely to stir in you the desire to embrace your regrets like a warm blanket than to tap your feet or snap your fingers. Yet these compositions are far from hopeless. On the contrary, they ease into your mind and plant the seed of melancholy we all need every now and then to wash ourselves clean. It’s tailor-made for rainy days, and Nashville has its share of those, right?
Canada
Leave it to Sean in sunny California to raise awareness of a record label that’s operating practically in my backyard, even though he’s three time zones away. Canada, like the previously-posted Chris Bathgate, records for Quite Scientific, right here in Michigan. That is, Canada the seven-piece band out of Ann Arbor. If you’re looking for a bit of a late night summer folk-rock sing-along anthem, check out “Hexenhaus,” fom their 2006 LP This Cursed House.
Mighty Six Ninety on KUCI
Chris Bathgate
With the exacting diction of Flannery O’Connor Chris Bathgate sets up a haunting scene in “Flash of Light: “There was a flash of light / followed by chaos / all the night the moon struck my backyard.” He sets up the scene again and again, each time adding different details, each time greasing our anticipation. But like a good storyteller should he never fulfills our expectations. The listener is left to fill in the details. Whichever outcome you choose is accompanied by reverberating instrumentation as feedback leaks in and additional guitars and trumpets join Bathgate’s ever forceful chords. Such crafting of songs lifts Bathgate out of the “singer/songwriter” pigeonhole. Comparisons to Will Oldham and Jeffy Tweedy do not misguide, but I would posit, based on “Every Wall You Own,” that Bathgate is also the country cousin to Eric Matthew’s smooth, orchestral pop sound.
Bathgate spends the next few months saturating his home state of Michigan (Sam, Joe I expect you’ll be making plans to attend as soon as you hear this stuff!) with his sounds. But with the exception of New York City, there are no signs yet of Bathgate making his way beyond his state borders. Looks like you’ll have to bring him home yourself. And oh! what timing! His new album “A Cork Tale Wake” is out today.
I stand corrected. I just discovered he spent the month of May in Europe with Saturday Looks Good To Me…
The Childballads
Whilst sitting in church last week with my three daughters, I thought of a Jonathan Fire*Eater song that I first heard before I had any children. I could just hear Stewart Lupton singing in my ears “Give me daughters/And make ’em 1-2-3/I will raise them/they’ll go to church with me.” Now I know he wasn’t prophesying about me, but Stewart’s imaginative lyrics were one of my favorites things about one of my favorite bands. Three of the Fire*Eaters went on to The Walkmen after the big breakup, but Stewart’s new band the Child Ballads hit the scene around two years ago. Style-wise, Stewart’s 60s-influenced acoustic guitar rock is a long way from the Fire*Eater days, but when it comes to the lyrcis, he’s still got his muse.
Free New EP from Bedroom Eyes
Various – From L.A. With Love
Andrew Lojero brings musical and visual artists together as a collection and an introduction to the prolific art movement currently unfolding in Los Angeles. Usual suspects like Madlib, Daedelus and Nobody all provide tracks under various monikers. But newcomers such as Georgia Anne Muldrow and Gaby Hernandez also make significant contributions. Lojero passed the tracks along to visual artists with the mandate to produce works of art inspired by the songs. Several of these works are provided below. No stranger to this vibrant art scene, Andrew Lojero curated this collection as he has been curating live gatherings, er, parties, legal and otherwise, all over the L.A. area: in lofts, under bridges and in warehouses. From L.A. With Love places the power to party likewise in the palm of your hand.
Plunkett
Ian and Lara Plunkett, recording wistful acoustic pop in Italy. At least that’s what I remember this track sounding like. I’m working on giving myself access to the song… You see, I’m writing this post up on a new laptop purchsed for me by my wife Jennifer — Thanks honey! This is way cooler than your “right shoe for my birthday, left shoe for Father’s Day” idea! — and I don’t quite have it set up correctly yet. I hope the rest of you can enjoy the mellowness of Plunkett as I navigate the MacBook world. Ciao!