Monthly Archive for September, 2008

Phillip Bracken – Everything Looks Better in Candlelight

Published by Olivier on September 23, 2008 in Acoustic, Folk, Singer Songwriter, Soul and blues. 1 Comment Tags: , , .

Autumn has come to soon ? I’ve got a solution… a one album-trip to Australia. It’s been a while, since ‘To The Dogs or Whoever‘ blog has stopped bringing me its regular dose of Australian music, that  I didn’t receive any input from the land down-under.
A moon on an album cover ; nothing more, nothing else, I was a click away to discover the most brilliant EP this year hold so far.  Phillip Bracken is a young – at least in music, so few information is available about him on the net – a young singer from New South Wales.
Beyond the first calm acoustic tags emerging on a primary listening, this short (i’m just eagerly awaiting for a full length) but intense 5 tracks collection revealed a powerful and hypnotic songwriting.  For sure, Phillip’s brilliant and unique vocal is a major instrument in this beauiful delivering. I’m also totally seduced by the beauty of his compositions : simple – pure – and perfectly arranged.
With songs format which are mostly exceeding the standard, this album is an invitation for a peaceful break… and so residing one of its prowess : peaceful and contemplative but you’ll be surprised murmuring on ‘The Boy and the Sickle’ and ‘Ishmael’ is simply irresistible for your hands to be clapped, foot-taping later – even dancing for sure !  Mesmerizing.
If you need comparisons, the likes of Ben Harper, Nick Drake, Doug Burr or Josh Garrels (for both evocative guitars and warm voice) could be cited. But be sure, you will find none of those afore mentioned listening to Phillip Bracken ; none of those, but a highly dose of unique emotions. Soon to be yours !

For a debut, it’s a monument ! Such a major act won’t be unpunished ; my curisoty, once again, pushed me to contact Phillip for an interview : an opportunity to discover this promising talent. Enjoy his music while reading his anwsers.

 

Deadman – Phillip Bracken [6:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

Ishmael – Phillip Bracken [3:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

YCD : Hello Phillip, how’s it going down-under ?
Phillip Bracken : Really well. I’ve been living in a small coastal town for the last few months and I really like the energy here.

YCD : Before asking any further question, One is teasing my curisity : Tranquil Dwarf, what does it mean ?
Phillip Bracken : It was going to be a moniker until I decided that my own name was good enough. To abbreviate the story the name came from a t.v show. I adjusted it to give it more irony and I guess for something for me to hide behind as well.

YCD : Would you mind telling us your story about music ?
Phillip Bracken : I think we all have something we’re passionate about and that we feel a connection with. Music has always been the companion that accepts and understands all my moods. I’ve always enjoyed singing and writing as separate elements but I didn’t start taking guitar more seriously until a few years ago.

YCD : ‘Everything Looks Better in Candlelight’ is your first release. How did you finally decide to merge your songs into this dense collection and bring it to an audience ?
Phillip Bracken : I wanted something to help myself be heard, remembered after gigs but something more complete than a demo. I was introduced to an amazing musician named Peter Northcote who gave me a nudge. Initially I wanted to record more songs but Pete and a couple of others told me to be patient and just put out five. We recorded the ep in his studio.

YCD : I have played ‘The Boy and Sickle’ at least a hundred times in these last 15 days… what’s your recipe for creating such a flowing song ?
Phillip Bracken : That’s so great to hear. I’m not sure that I have a recipe or set method in the way I write. Sometimes the lyrics come first and at others it’s the music which was the scenario for this song. Finger-picking is also something that feels natural to me.

YCD : Suppose, that you have been condemned to spend a full year on an isolated island. Allowing to bring with you a single object which would you choose : a book or you guitar ?
Phillip Bracken : Tough one. Probably a book and I would create an instrument out of coconuts and banana leaves.

YCD : Is there a song you wish you had written ?
Phillip Bracken : I like the idea of going largely unnoticed and developing an underground following so something like Sugarman by Rodriguez.

YCD : If you could share a stage with any band or artist who would you choose and why ?
Phillip Bracken : Sigur Ros. I saw them play recently and they were completely absorbing as much to the eye as ear. They looked totally lost in their instruments and came across as quite humble and unassuming.

Everything looks better in candlelightYCD : Any other projects for the coming months, a first full length ?
Phillip Bracken : I’m launching my ep in November in Sydney. Other than that I want to play more gigs and improve myself musically. I’d like to do a full-length at some point but it might still be a little way a way.

Artist : Phillip Bracken
Label : unsigned
Where to buy : cdbaby.com
More appetizers : @myspace.com

 

If You Haven’t Heard – Ghosts I’ve Met

Published by smansmith on September 22, 2008 in Americana, Folk, Indie, Singer Songwriter and Unsigned. 3 Comments

Well here we are at the 3rd installment of “If You Haven’t Heard” and I have some beautiful Americana ballads from “Ghosts I’ve Met”.  So put down your whiskey and grab the one that you want to hang onto and press play, you won’t be disappointed.

Sam Watts is the heart of this “rotating cast” of players that enjoy the Ghosts I’ve Met title and he has been welcoming many an artist to join him over the last few years.  The recordings see influences and assistance from co-founder Ben Blankenship along with Anne Marie Ruljanchic, Brent Arnold, Jen Turner, Karen Waltuch, Margaret White, Michael Lerner, Joe Seely and Amy Bezunartea – did I say rotating cast yet??  Take a trip over to the MySpace page and see all the artists this group has worked with…who’s who to say the least.   Recordings have taken place over the last few years (since 2005) and although not all of his material has seen the light of day to this point, there has been a release earlier this year of an EP entitled “Payphone Patience” (that should be for sale through snocap in the US and their MySpace page).  I have been lucky enough to receive a few tracks so as to not stalk his MySpace player.

The EP hmmm…it floats some sadcore Americana ballads that encompass and wrap around you, and not just singer-songwriter stuff, this is full band heartache here.  The title track brings beautiful piano accents (from Darren Jesse of Hotel Lights – thank you very much) alongside a waning violin…stunning.  This is the kind of stuff this EP is made of and while it has been done before, it usually isn’t done quite this well.  It is a bit confusing why there isn’t more of this band floating around, they definitely have an audience in me (and now you fair readers)

I have included the aforementioned title track for “Payphone Patience” along with one other song.   The additional track is another great track from the EP – “Reno”- a bit more of a laid back string arrangement than “Payphone…” and is another example of the the sound of “Ghosts I’ve Met”.  Remember to visit Slowcoustic for another track, “Ghosts in the Snow”, on the mirrored version of this post over yonder.

Hope you all like it, now go to the MySpace page and convince Sam to release that full length album!

~Smansmith

 
 Ghosts I've Met - "Payphone Patience" [3:13m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
 
 Ghosts I've Met - "Reno" [5:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

The Sumner Brothers – In the garage

Published by Geordie on September 20, 2008 in Acoustic, Americana, Country, Folk, New Album Alert, Soul and blues. 1 Comment

I first briefly mentioned The Sumner brothers when I wrote about The Wood brothers on this blog here. From British Columbia they have just released their first album In the garage available here which they kindly sent me last week. A band that really wear their hearts on their sleeve especially on the track both back, a song about wanting his late father back in his life but also on the track Pain where the first line “better look over what I got cause it won’t last long” makes you immediately stop and listen. It’s not all doom and gloom though as they start off the album with a banjo led cover of a Stompin Tom Connors track called Luke’s guitar then straight into Girl in the window which is a footstomping folk blues track with Bob Sumner screaming the vocals. They have you smiling and singing along one minute then break your heart the next. Like The Felice Brothers before them I get the feeling a lot of these tracks are just one take with any mistakes just left in giving the whole album a really genuine organic feel to it. Throw in another four covers, A storming version of Johnny Cash’s Folsom prison blues, a live version of Dylan’s I was young when I left home, the folk gospel Carter family song The rock where Moses stood and my personal favourite, Sleepy John Estes‘ Good place to go, now that’s the blues. Somehow you just pick up that these guys are the genuine article, no bullshit, just straight up rootsy country/folk/footstomping blues at it’s raw organic best.

R.C Joseph wrote the following about them.

“Their music is about light, though it is not afraid to explore the dark. Their music is about hope, but it does not ignore the despair. It’s a mournful Johnny Cash, a repentant Willie Nelson, a reflective Stompin Tom. It’s the power of boozy sincerity and hopped-up honesty, and that, brothers and sisters, I can get behind”

I think I can too.


 

Holcombe Waller – Into the Dark Unknown: the Hope Chest

Published by Olivier on September 20, 2008 in Acoustic, Alternative, Folk, Live Performance, New Album Alert, News, On Tour, On Youtube, Rock and Singer Songwriter. 3 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Another great reason to be as enthusiastic as Laura for this promising October Month is the forthcoming performance of Holcombe Waller. It’s been about two months, I’m exchanging some mails with this Portland based songwriter, requesting demos and asking for an interview. Following a kind message (review and interviews will come soon), I’ve received this announcement :

Dear world,

While insanity looms in the political arena and international markets crumble around us, let me invite you to a wonderful evening of music and video and light and ideas debuting in just two short weeks in Seattle.

“Into the Dark Unknown: The Hope Chest” is an original music theater performance that I have written about how we find hope in hopeless situations. It’s about transformation, and how we struggle with change – in ourselves and in the world around us. And, it’s about moving boxes, storage facilities, and of course, crushes on sexy people and long walks on the beach.

Funded and commissioned by a list of fabulous organizations you can read about on the project summary page here, “Into the Dark Unknown: The Hope Chest” represents the largest theatrical production I’ve ever created, incorporating contributions and feedback from a list of talented theatrical designers, artistic mentors, and a litany of life experiences both shitty and epiphanic. It is the traveling performance work to which my next album, “Into the Dark Unknown,” has merely become the companion piece (and yes, we’re working on it so announcements are forthcoming).

The show is October 2, 3 and 4 at 8pm at the lovely On the Boards (one of the commissioners). Thursday night we’ll have an after party mixer at the bar below the theater; Friday night we’ll have a post-show Q & A; Saturday night I’m having a raucous closing-night party at The Cuff.

If you’re in Seattle, please join us. If you’re in Portland, find that couch to crash on and come on up, we’re all going. For the rest of the world, please do forward this letter along to your friends. Reserving tickets is highly recommended:

You can read more about the show on On The Boards’ website. In 2009 it will be coming to New York, San Francisco, Portland, Vancouver BC, and hopefully other US and European destinations, so stay tuned for all that.

[...]

With love, from the grind,

Fans of Holcombe Waller will surely forgive me the easiness of the copy/paste use- indeed they’re no longer reading this post but are already on the above booking link. So, If you’re still reading my approximate English, it seems that you’re not already addicted to Mr Waller musical universe. Please consider as an immediate purchase his unique available album on the e-market : Trouble Times released in 2005 – if you had the opportunity to have found his two previous collections, drop me a mail ! This album is in my library for 2 months and  his ranking is already reaching my top ten !

With an amazing four octave vocal range, Holcombe Waller is delivering his visions with poetry on some haunting melodies. Sometimes organic, sometimes  acoustic, his tunes are beautifully crafted with the addition of some sweet electronic arrangements which deserved his compositions, comparisons with Bjork’s sound. Also compared to Morissey ( especially cited for teasing my friend Geordie), Peter Murphy and Jeff Buckley by Performing Songwriter, Waller’s writing seems to be a never-ending dense creative process blending elements of pop, jazz and folk, giving you the opportunity to travel his various musicscapes. A unique experience. Stop Talking. Here are the two tracks i’ve selected for you : ‘Literally the End of the World’ from Trouble Times and a live version of the  forthcoming title album : Into The Dark Unknown. Enjoy.


Holcombe Waller singing a Jacques Brel song “Ces Gens Là”
at the work-in-progress performance of “Into the Dark Unknown: The Hope Chest”
at the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art’s Time-Based Arts Festival, September 2007, in Portland, Oregon USA

Artist : Holcombe Waller
Label : Pow Wow Now
Where to buy : cdbaby.com / Miles of Music (it’s a cracker !)
More Appetizers : @myspace.com / @youtube.com
(be sure to check on both sites, his cover of Buffy Sainte Marie : Qu’appelle Valley, Saskatchewan)
Who else should you enjoy ? Chris Garneau.

 

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals – Cardinology

Published by Laura on September 18, 2008 in Alt-Country, New Album Alert and On Tour. 2 Comments Tags: , , , .

October is just turning out to be such an amazing month for me already and it is not even here yet. With a planned trip to Madison, WI to see Ryan Adams & The Cardinals, the release of Ray LaMontagne’s new album, and 2 Ray shows I am attending in NYC and Chicago, I really didn’t think it could get any better for me. I’ve stated it before on this blog and I’ll say it again: these two men are the musical loves of my life! Adding to all this excitement for me is the confirmation that Ryan & The Cardinals are releasing Cardinology October 28th on Lost Highway Records. I pretty much spit my drink on the keyboard when I read the news.

The album will be produced by Tom Schick who worked on Cold Roses and Jacksonville City Nights with them.

This will be the band’s first album to be billed as soley as The Cardinals.

Preorder Cardinology on vinyl: here

This vinyl version includes a bonus 7″, a comic book and a digital download code.

Track Listing:

1. Born Into A Light
2. Go Easy
3. Fix It
4. Magick
5. Cobwebs
6. Let Us Down Easy
7. Crossed Out Name
8. Natural Ghost
9. Sink Ships
10. Evergreen
11. Like Yesterday
12. Stop

First single “Fix It” will be digitally released to radio Tuesday, September 23, while “Stop” will receive a sneak premiere in the Tuesday, September 30 episode of THE CLEANER on the A&E network (check local listings).

In other news from Planet Cardinal, Infinity Blues, Ryan Adams’ first ever collection of non-musical writing will be published March 16, 2009 by venerable independent house Akashic Books. Infinity Blues will be available for pre-order through Akashic’s website beginning Monday, October 6 at

http://www.akashicbooks.com/ryanadamspreorder.htm.

Pre-orders will include a signed hardcover copy of “Infinity Blues,” with a bonus poetry chapbook by Ryan Adams titled “Sad American Mythology.” The limited edition signed and numbered chapbooks will be available only through the Akashic Books website as part of this pre-order

 

Essie Jain – The Inbetween

Published by Geordie on September 18, 2008 in Acoustic, Alternative, Folk and New Album Alert. 1 Comment Tags: , , .

One of the highlights for me from this years end of the road festival was Essie Jain. Since i purchased her first album we made this ourselves last year I have been trying to keep an eye on her but didn’t actually realise she was playing at the festival until i got there. A captivating live performer, her minimal chamber folk really comes to life. She plays piano and guitar and has a rather haunting but beautiful sounding voice. Her new album, The Inbetween follows on rather nicely from her first with it’s intimacy and frailty and with some very delicate strings and horns too which are just enough to maintain the rather spooky folk sound that she’s created for herself. Not an album you would stick on when friends visit for dinner, this is definitely an album you put on while you are on your own, submerge yourself in it as some of the lyrics are stunning. I think she’s a serious talent in the making and will keep an even closer eye on her from now on. She has been compared to the likes of Sandy Denny and Vashti Bunyan but I think that’s mainly due to her singing style rather than her music. Although born and raised in London she is now based in New York and is on the Ba Da bing label in the U.S and the leaf label for the rest of the world. Enjoy.


 

Rachel Yamagata – New Album Coming Soon!

Published by Trini on September 16, 2008 in Americana, New Album Alert and On Youtube. 0 Comments Tags: .

Watch the video from the first song off Rachael Yamagata’s new album “Elephants…Teeth Sinking Into Heart” – in stores October 7th!

(It just seems like ages since her last release)

***October, 10 2008 at Borders***
1501 Vine St. (Hollywood and Vine), Los Angeles, California
Cost : FREE!

Special Acoustic Performance! See Rachael in a special in-store performance as she celebrates the release of her new album! Be sure to pick up a copy that night and have Rachael sign it!

Update:
New 4 Track EP available on iTunes

 

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