Archive for the 'Country' Category

Curtis Harvey brings old to new again with “Box of Stones”

Published by smansmith on November 14, 2009 in Acoustic, Americana, Country, Folk, New Album Alert, Singer Songwriter and blues. 1 Comment

I don’t remember who sent me this “blast from the past” album from FatCat Recording artist Curtis Harvey. It might have been one of these You Crazy Dreamers bloggers, so I thought I would put a bit of finger to keyboard for it.

The album “Box of Stones” is a new release (Nov. 3rd here in North America, rest of planet still pending I think) and is choke full of acoustic country folk that is just a bit more country than folk. Almost like the album cover, I believe it speaks to another time of sephia toned whiskey joints and live roots music. The sound created seems both personal and full of energy (even if it is a bit down tempo at times) with Harvey’s blood and guts built right in. It is said that he recorded the entire album in his basement with few takes – just took it as it was. I think that is why it seems full of that energy – it is really him, not his recording mixed and reproduced 50 times till it’s a fraction of the sound it once was. A song like “Borrowed Time” has a straight forward structure but seems like was put together like it was happening all at once. It might be the collection of sounds in the background, but I don’t know – it just sounds that way. You can also have a songs like “Joking” or “Words” which are more in the vein of a back porch tribute to a previous time while at the same time being quite beautiful.

Another great track I found on the album is the sing a long “Oldertoo” which is a bit up tempo and brings a bit of kick to the step of this sad bastard. It brings in banjo and an easy sound…I think it could just be the leg slapping (or what is reminiscent of a lite version of “foot stompin’ honky tonk”) – that track is included below, see for yourself!

Sidenote and recommendation: I do know I have kind of beat the vibe of “Americana past” into the ground for this post. I have noticed with today’s indie music landscape where there is a country folk artist on every indie label’s roster (and maybe Harvey is FatCat’s resident guy with a guitar), Harvey brings a country worth considering. With that, Curtis Harvey’s album is definitely worth a few spins, especially while sitting back with a favourite beverage of choice.

Curtis Harvey
“Oldertoo” (mp3)
from “Box Of Stones”
(Fat Cat Records)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at eMusic Delivery
More On This Album

~Smansmith

A.A. Bondy – When The Devil’s Loose

Published by Geordie on November 13, 2009 in Acoustic, Country, Folk, On Tour and Singer Songwriter. 1 Comment

I know I know, it came out in September and yes I am aware other blogs may have written about it, am I bothered? Not in the least, this blog has never been about being the first to post about someone although many times we have been but in the case of Mr Bondy I feel his new album, When the devil’s loose, deserves to be blogged about by as many people as possible as it’s an amazing piece of work. Recorded mostly in Mississippi by Bruce Watson of Fat possum records who has produced for the likes of Andrew Bird and the Black Keys as well as others and partly in New York by Jeremy ’searcher’ Backofen (The Felice Brothers). In fact the brilliant Felice Brothers make an appearance on two tracks, namely When the devil’s loose and the final track of the album The coal hits the fire and you could argue they are the two stand out tracks on the album but that wouldn’t be fair to the rest of it as it’s full of acoustic gems. From the gentle opening track The mightiest of guns where his slightly croaked voice telling you to see the stars falling down like burning rain that were fired by the mightiest of guns, to the above mentioned final track bringing this fine album to a brilliant end. Of course with the Felice brothers connection there is some of their trademark sound to be heard here but I also hear in his voice similarities to Justin Rutledge and also just hear a later Josh Ritter singing I can see the pines are dancing. This is a must have album in my opinion by a singer/songwriter on the up who I think can only get better and better.

I saw Mr Bondy support the Felice brothers recently here in the UK and I urge you to go and see him on his current U.S tour as he’s a must see live act that will leave you astounded. Also, his new album is available on vinyl and it comes with a free mp3 download so please, without going into how right now, you are supporting these smaller artists by buying their vinyl so do it.

He has also done another session for hearya which is going to be up soon but you can still grab his previous one here. Enjoy.

A.A Bondy - I can see the pines are dancing [3:42m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hush Arbors – Yankee Reality

Published by Geordie on October 15, 2009 in Alternative, Country, Experimental / Psychedelic, Folk, Indie, New Album Alert and On Tour. 0 Comments

I first came across Hush Arbors around a year ago when Uncut magazine put one of their tracks on a compilation cd they give away each month. Signed to the brilliant ecstatic peace label I was immediately struck by the sadness in Keith Woods voice, it reminded me a lot of the late Saint Thomas who I am a massive fan of and the second track (Lisbon) on the new album which just came out this week in the U.K yankee reality is uncannily similar. This is completely accidental as when I saw Keith play a solo set recently in London he said he’d never heard if him when I asked him.

Hush arbors earlier albums blends fuzzy lo-fi psych-folk with country but on the new one, which is produced by Dinosaur jr’s J Mascis there’s an added rockier edge to it, namely on fast asleep and the blistering final track Devil made you high but it still manages to maintain the default sound on so they say and one way ticket. If I had to pick out my favourite track from this album which quite frankly doesn’t have a bad one on it, i’d probably go for take it easy only because it’s completely different to any other they’ve done, more country sounding in the style of say The Byrds but you could ask me again tomorrow and I could plump for coming home with it’s chugging along riff and mellotron (played by J Mascis) with the first line ” I was thinking about the country, walking down these city roads, thinking about the space between, the silent and my soul” I love shit like this, it resonates with me.

When I was in London and I saw Keith play rue hollow I remember sitting completely transfixed by him and coming to the realisation that I was in the presence of a genius. He’s got that certain thing no one can name or put a finger on, the same as Elliott Smith had or Nick Drake, just that something. His songs seem to come from somewhere deep within him very few of us ever reach, the bit where the real honesty lays and he’s bearing his very soul. Very few songwriters do this in my opinion, it takes guts to lay it all out on the line for everyone to hear and that leaves a certain vulnerability, it’s risky because it seems so fragile and any criticism could easily break it, or at least try to. Criticism must be hard to take when you’ve just bared your soul.

Now based in London there’s a couple of dates in Italy and then London at the end of October. Info here

Kindly I have been allowed to put up a couple of mp3’s for you to download but please please please, if you like it go and buy it here, you will not be disappointed I promise you. Enjoy.

For your attention Keith is also part of Six organs of admittance and Current 93 and has just supported Sonic Youth on a London date.

Fast Asleep - Hush Arbors [4:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Light - Hush Arbors [4:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Song o’ Day – Wentworth Kersey’s “Adore”

Published by smansmith on August 2, 2009 in Acoustic, Americana, Country, Experimental / Psychedelic, Folk, Singer Songwriter and Song o Day. 1 Comment

“Song o’ Day” is from the duo Wentworth Kersey’s “(O)” album and is the opening track “Adore”. It is a track that fits its title very well, it is a pining lament in true troubadour style.

The duo of Joe Kersey Sampson and Jeffrey Wentworth Stevens make up WK and bring an overall Americana tinged psych-folk to the table. The music is something that would make a great soundtrack for a Quentin Tarantino movie (when he decided to make a serious movie). While I would say the sound is basically “folk” it is soo much more – it has so many textures, auras of rolling Appalachian valleys and a modern day Mexi-Cali conquistadors – all with a slight bit of ambient flowing through it all (yes, you will get the odd floating DJ scratch in the distance).

Wentworth Kersey also have a bit of an interesting project in the release of their EPs. The track included is from thier 2nd EP “(O)” which was preceded by “O” and we will (hopefully) soon see the third installment “((O))”.

“Adore” – Wentworth Kersey – from 2009’s “(O)” EP

Visit Wentworth Kersey on their Website or MySpace. Click the below images to pick up one of the EPs via CD Baby – highly recommended.

~Smansmith

Tom McKean & The Emperors

Published by Geordie on June 1, 2009 in Acoustic, Alt-Country, Alternative, Country, Folk and blues. 0 Comments

I first wrote about Tom and the boys here. At that point they had only released a single and were about to go off to Dallas and record their new album. Well not’s much changed in terms of releases since then but I have been informed by them that the EP release is imminent with the full album to follow not long afterwards. These are looking like they will be self released on their A little something label via their management team of Autonomy Music Group So to wet your appetite just a little longer here is another mp3 which I have been granted which was recorded in one of the emperor’s (Bobby’s) living room. In his own words, ” It’s got a great feel, with some clarinet, mandolin and double-bass action going on, Tom in preacher-man mode and a nod or two to James Brown in the chorus. It’s about as close as we get to a fun song”

He has promised me that the Ep and album has plenty of misery for us to indulge in though so that’s nice.

Please sign up to their webpage here where you can still get a free download and also be told of any further news. They have also granted us here at YCD an interview around the time of the EP release so if you have any questions let us know and I will ask away.

Finally, they have an intimate acoustic gig coming up on the 23rd July at the Hideaway in North London. More deatils of that here. I’ve not had the pleasure of seeing them live but apparantly these intimate shows are exceptional and not to be missed.

My favourite snippet of information is about them is this.

“You really get a sense that the Emperors are seasoned veterans of the London music scene and I can’t believe they won’t be playing much larger venues very soon, like Nick Cave jamming with Tom Waits playing in a Jazz Bar during a Tarantino movie… toe-curlingly good” – livemusic.fm

Watch this space kids.

Fever - Tom McKean & The Emperors [2:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Serious Sam Barrett – Close To Home

Published by Geordie on May 9, 2009 in Acoustic, Alternative, Blue Grass, Country, Folk and Indie. 0 Comments Tags: Folk, Serious Sam Barrett, traditional, yorkshire.

I first wrote about Sam here. Since that time he’s been on a successful UK tour and has also now finished recording his second album, close to home. Not actually out for another couple of months or so on Leeds’ yadig records, it’s an album of original and traditional songs mostly about Yorkshire, Sam’s home county, but unless you know before listening which are the traditional tracks you would never guess as Sam’s music is a complete nod towards that sound . Well, perhaps apart from Lonely night at JoJo’s, a song about wanting to be anywhere but JoJo’s in London’s Soho district where it’s full of posing, coke snorting networking types only there to try and look cool pretending to dig the latest scene. Living in Brighton I know exactly the type he means, they’re normally the ones talking all the way through the gig louder than anyone else.

Lay a white rose, which incidentally is the emblem of Yorkshire is a perfect and brilliant fast paced start to the album all played majestically on his twelve string guitar, Stella, in which Sam tries to sum up what it was like being brought up in Yorkshire and his pride of being so, he succeeds.

The pace slows a little for The Lullaby Of Leeds of which Sam says “As much as I adore folk and roots music I adore Buddy Holly and The Ramones too. I tried to write a pop song that people could sing along to” Well with the extremely catchy chorus “she’s the kinda girl I’d like to sing to, she’s the kinda girl that I’m bound to cling to, she’s the kinda trouble that i like to get into and I hope she’d like to get into me” it definitely has you singing along that’s for sure, great stuff and a highlight of the album for me along with the afore mentioned Lonely night at JoJo’s.

A great fun track on the album is The Yorkshire Tup which is apparantly about a massive sheep that seem to be commonplace in Addingham, the part of Yorkshire where Sam was brought up but please don’t let me give you the impression that you need to be from Yorkshire or even know where Yorkshire is to enjoy these brilliant songs because you don’t. I’m not from the Mississippi delta but can still dig the blues from and about that region. It’s the story’s, the passion and the remarkable playing that brings these songs to life. Basically, anyone who is a fan of old folk/blues that was made yesteryear like Charlie Patton, any of the blind boys Mctell, Johnson etc, or the skiffle of Lonnie Donegan will love Sam’s music. For a more modern day comparison perhaps look towards the like of Charlie Parr. There’s a late night drinking feel to this album, I could imagine sitting in a remote Yorkshire pub with the huge sheep roaming around, a few locals singing into the early hours drinking some local ale and maintaining all that is traditional about this kind of music, singing and playing the way they are meant to be done so. I love those kind of nights which are sadly less and less frequent now as many of these pubs and areas have become weekend homes for the rich. Perhaps there’s still a few in Yorkshire, who know? Sam? I know there’s still some of these places in Ireland where I’m certain Sam’s music would go down a treat.

There’s enough croakiness in Sam’s voice to suggest he’s drank plenty of whisky in his time and had a few late nights but unlike those fakers at JoJo’s, Sam is the real deal, he’s serious.

Some guest musicians on this album worth checking out are Pistol Pete Carlill and David Broad. Both from Yorkshire and can often be seen playing alongside Sam.

For now no downloads available but you can listen to a couple of tracks in the music player until I get permission to put one or two up perhaps nearer or just after the official release. I will also let you’s know when the album is released but for now there’s a few tracks you can grab from Sam’s website too. Enjoy.

Al’s Song – Serious Sam Barrett : Play Now | Play in Popup

The Lullaby of Leeds – Serious Sam Barrett: Play Now | Play in Popup

Steve Abel & The Chrysalids

Published by Geordie on April 18, 2009 in Acoustic, Alt-Country, Country and Folk. 0 Comments Tags: Chrysalids, New Zealand Music, Steve Abel.

I was in New York last week and during my time there, as well as meeting my wonderful fellow blogger Laura I also found time to go to a couple of gigs in town. The first one I went to was Jolie Holland who was playing at a great place called The Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in Lower East Side (supported by the brilliant Ana Egge). I also won a guitar signed by Jolie at this gig but that’s another story.

During Jolie’s performance she invited various friends up on stage to sing with her and as well as Sam Parton (The Be Good Tanyas), one that really stole the show for me was the above mentioned Steve Abel. Originally from New Zealand where he was an active campaigner for Greenpeace and other worthy environmental causes he is now spread between his homeland, France, the UK and I’m guessing New York now too. Having released his debut album Little Death in 2005 to critical acclaim winning the New Zealand best alternative album prize and also Pavement magazine calling it a a melancholic masterpiece, he is now on album number two, Flax Happy. Steve reminds me of a mixture of some earlier Will Oldham (Bonnie prince Billy) with it’s sparseness and cut throat honesty, the looseness of the playing of some Elvis Perkins and the dark, haunting lyrics of Nick Cave and surely you can’t go wrong with that? Incidentally, Jolie Holland also guests on the latter album and with titles such as Sad Girls, Cinders of the sun (Duet with Jolie) and Heart Of Misery you would expect a depressing album but It isn’t. Sad? perhaps, but not depressing as the songwriting and musicanship is outstanding and not only that, what’s wrong with depressing music anyway? I’d much rather listen to someone spilling their guts out in front of me than someone pretending to be Mary Fucking Poppins, honesty from a songwriter is all I ever ask for, good or bad. Steve has a UK date lined up in May and I’m praying he adds more shows to that. I highly recommend both his albums, talent.

Archive for the 'Country' Category

Curtis Harvey brings old to new again with “Box of Stones”

A.A. Bondy – When The Devil’s Loose

Hush Arbors – Yankee Reality

Song o’ Day – Wentworth Kersey’s “Adore”

Tom McKean & The Emperors

Serious Sam Barrett – Close To Home

Steve Abel & The Chrysalids

Search

FYI

Our Crazy Dreamers Playlist

Authors

Categories

Follow on Twitter

Archives

Muzak