Jolie Holland’s future career shows a considerable amount of promise.
She blends together a mix of folk, jazz and blues that casts a slow, woozy spell over it’s listener. The categorization of her genre may not be as easily described as it’s effects, but its all beyond infectious. A quick listen on Thursday was quickly heightened to an all-weekend binge after finding everything she’s ever publically released.
There’s a clear progression in her music that was released over the span of just a few years–from solo singer/songwriter to beautifully accompanied songs that still stay true to their more simplistic roots. It’s a bit of an up and down adventure if your more inclined to one of her styles than another, but it’s all wonderful stuff. So dust off those red-plumed adventuring caps and let her sail around your room for an hour or two.
Thomas writes honestly and you can definitely hear it in his songs. In his myspace influences section he states, “bad lyrics wreck my head, I’d rather hear a simple lyric or none at all than someone trying to be smart but sounding like a Donkey.”
Once in a while I come across a song or an artist that will grab my attention and my ears will start pulsing, so was the case when I first heard Thomas Kitt. His song ‘Die Tryin’ is an absolute beauty with its funky beat and hopeful lyrics. His heart breaker ‘Girl with a Whispered Name’ is one I’ll listen to over and over with lyrics like “you’ve only got yourself to blame she breaks your heart, the girl with the whispered name, while her heart barely makes a sound”. Since there is not much info on Thomas he kindly agreed to do an interview with me. I hope you will enjoy his music and interview as much as i did, thanks Thomas.
Check out the songs I mentioned above and a couple others on his myspace page.
YCD: Please tell us a little about yourself, how long have you been making music etc? TK: I’ve been singing since I was very little, come from a musical family. My dad thought me guitar when I was 7. I guess I started writing my own tunes seriously in my early twenty’s after gaining a bit of life experience. I play cards to fund making albums and I’m a serious optimist.
YCD: What are your top 3 song of the moment and why? TK:emmmm
Operator by Jim Croce. Absolute classic. Been listening to his stuff on vinyl lately. It’s got the best line ever in a song, about a girl that’s left him.
“she’s living in L.A. with my best old ex-friend Ray”
I love songwriters who possess such turns of phrase.
“So sorry” from Feist, opening track on her Reminder album. Great song beautiful voice, wonderful arrangement, just can’t stop listening to it these days”.
Anything from Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, absolutely love their stuff.
YCD: Who’s been the biggest influence in your musical career? TK: Guy Clark a Texan country singer songwriter would probably be my biggest songwriting influence. I’m definitely going for the brutally honest style of songwriting, it’s all I know, and he’s the master at that. Life influences me the most though, I’m fascinated by it.
YCD: Where do you see yourself/music five years from now? TK: It’s such an uncertain business money wise, i.e. there’s not much going around but the great thing these days is that you can make records a lot easier, so I guess if I’ve 2-3 more albums that I’m happy with, done in five years and I’m healthy and happy I’d be delighted. In reality I’ll probably have a few Grammys in the bag
YCD: Do you or your music get compared to anyone else? If so, do you see that as good or bad? TK: You get compared to a fair few people in reviews and such. Sometimes it can be very complementary, other times not so much. It doesn’t bother me whatsoever if I’m compared to someone I don’t think is any good. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion musically.
YCD: Are you working on anything now? Touring? TK: I’m always writing and the new album is taking shape at the minute. My debut album was released in Ireland about a month ago, so I’m doing the odd bit of gigging and promo. I don’t like force feeding people my CD, I much prefer the subtle word of mouth way of getting your music out there (probably my biggest fault).
YCD: Who would you love to sing or gig with? TK:Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Guy Clarke. I’d love to work with T-bone Burnett
YCD: And last but not least, if you had one super power what would it be and why? TK: That’s a tough one. The greater the power the greater the responsibility. I’ll just go for x-ray vision, top see through cards in a poker game.
all the best
t
Susana.
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So I’ve been meaning to become part of this music writing group for a while now but in all honesty, another task in my daily life had seemed daunting to me up until this point. The big BUT(!) I had to write about Bell X1, this is a band that I’ve been following for a while now and that i have recently become very enchanted with. I feel they are on the verge of breaking the states, and that this style of music will be a big thing within the indie community. I could be wrong, but nevertheless, this is just some good stuff.
Bell X1 have just released their 3rd album, Flock, here in the U.S of A on February 19th. It’s a great album with gems like ‘Bad Skin Day’, ‘Rocky Took a Lover’ and their ever so funky and catchy tune ‘Flame’. The latter reminds me of the Talking Heads, which could never be a bad thing!
Bell X1 have a long musical history that includes a heavy hitter in the singer-songwriter circuit in Dublin, but I feel I need to leave that out cos they really do stand on their own. They are very much loved in their native Ireland with Flock reaching the top of the charts and I’m so happy that they will finally get some love on this side of the pond.
Bell X1 will tour the U.S. in March, with some shows listed as sold out already. So if they come your way, definitely get your tickets ahead of time. Check for listings on their website or here.
They’ve got a great witty little bio on their myspace page which you should check out, which also lists their upcoming tour dates.
You can listen to acoustic versions of two songs from Flock, and two from Music in Mouth (which if you can get your hands on, is equally brilliant) on a recent NPR session they did with David Dye.
I hope you enjoy my post and as I do hope to continue contributing more frequently (through Trini, until I can figure this all out). As they say in Ireland, “Tanks!” (aka. thanks!)
Your probably already acquainted with this snappy dresser, but on the off-chance you aren’t…
Ever wonder what Jack Johnson would sound like if he had a different set of influences? Or if he grew up in the sprawl of the American Midwest, with a violin instead of a guitar? I hadn’t, but Mr. Bird always reminds me of that. And the names Bird for a reason, this guy can spit out a whistled tune with such warbling clarity that I can’t help but find myself trying to rediscover that particular musical art all over again. And it ain’t pretty.
In a time of manufactured beauty, Jana Hunter stands out as a champion of homegrown Texas lo-fi. Her initial success has been, for the most part, due to her earlier releases with the hairy godfather of the “freak-folk” genre–Devendra Banhart. But she shouldn’t be confused, despite her associations, as being like Banhart–whose sound is a bit more free-wheeling. You know, the type of stuff you might want to dance to after kicking back a few over the weekend
Jana Hunters music, in polar contrast, is stripped down of many of the acoustical pony tricks and slowed to the point of a lamenting drawl. The barren and haunting feelings produced by the songs of her first full length album Blank Unstaring Heirs of Doom, are further emphasized by her hesitant and meek approach to the songs themselves. This album was mostly recorded in a variety of fidelities–from cassette tapes to laptops. She simply recorded on whatever was handy when inspiration hit. Her second and more recent album titled There’s No Home, is recorded in a more professional setting and introduces a much more confident artist in terms of the songs and their presentation. However, I still have trouble deciding which style of hers I’m more keen to.
This all to say… I think she’s pretty spectacular. I hope you do too. Check her out.
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