Archive for the 'Folk' Category

NOZZA Fest

Published by Trini on January 18, 2010 in Acoustic, Folk, Indie, Live Performance and Singer Songwriter. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Where: Art Theater of Long Beach
Who: Tadhg Cooke, Jay Buchanan, Shane Alexander and The Guggenheim Grotto
When: Saturday, March 6th, 2010 at 8:00 pm

Fingerprints mailer:
“Our friend Trini, who first introduced us to the boys in Guggenheim Grotto, is stepping up to the “Make a beautiful racket – Long Beach” initiative (which I just invented, but in my mind it’s an umbrella of everyone who’s working to bring more music to our humble, but quiet, little town.) Anyway, Trini is hosting Nozzafest at the Art and it’s a night of fantastic music, great community, and well, it’s going to be a good party. The bands are Tadhg Cooke, Jay Buchanan, Shane Alexander, and The Guggenheim Grotto.

A bit about the bands:

Tadhg Cooke
The Irish Times said, “Tadhg Cooke’s solo debut crisscrosses so many terrains that your musical compass may quiver with the sheer magnetic challenge of Wax & Seal” and, giving it 4 stars, described the record as “eminently likeable, utterly enviable”.

Jay Buchanan
Jay is a local, who’s done a lot with SAM, and whose new album is an absolute killer (it’s not out yet, so you’ll have to trust me, but it’s great); think of the tempestuousness of Jeff Buckley, combined with the reflection of Ray Lamontagne, and the bare-boned soul of Marc Broussard and you’re in the right neighborhood.

Shane Alexander
Shane is an LA based songwriter who says he “strive(s) to have my music to connect on a spiritual level the way classic writers like Neil Young, Paul Simon, and Bruce Springsteen do. I don’t know I’ll get there, but I’m definitely getting closer.”

Guggenheim Grotto
The Guggenheim Grotto have twice filled the house at Fingerprints with their wonderful take on pop music with a folkish flair, so it’s no wonder that we’ve kept an eye on them, and over the past couple of years their star seems to have been on the rise. They’ve had songs feature prominently on KCRW and WXPN, they’ve had their songs play on the TV shows Brothers and Sisters and One Tree Hill, and StereoSubversion said “…if you are a fan of great harmonies, melodic arrangements, and intelligent folk rock sound then this album belongs in your collection”

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Purchase Tickets Direct

Hope to see some new faces!

 

Ohbijou on Third Floor Sessions!

Published by smansmith on December 19, 2009 in Folk, Free Download, Indie, Live Performance and On Youtube. 1 Comment

Ohbijou - photo courtesy of Holly Thomas

photo courtesy of Holly Thomas – see the full set

So Third Floor Sessions have done it again…a great live performance caught on video (and mp3) from Canadian indie icons Ohbijou!

There is something about Ohbijou, they are just a dreamy pop sound that is thick with lush melodies.  They create moments instead of songs…I can very much see them sound-tracking moments in time.  That perfect moment in time (or not so perfect moment) where through your mind’s eye it has sound.  It is the kind of music that can create something deep within you while listening.  The same way (for me) Sigur Rós create such deep emotion with music – the sounds can be epic, heart-warming and tragically beautiful.

Enjoy a couple of the tracks and a video: get the full 8 tracks over at Third Floor Sessions HERE.

“New Years” (mp3)
“Steep” (mp3)
Taken from Third Floor Sessions (Dec. 5th, 2009)

Ohbijou Third Floor Session

~Smansmith

 

J. Tillman’s “Casualties” on Luxury Wafers

Published by smansmith on December 17, 2009 in Acoustic, Folk, Free Download, Singer Songwriter and Vimeo. 0 Comments

Probably my favourite J. Tillman track is “Casualties”. I almost fell of my chair when I saw Luxury Wafers put a nice little video of a live recording of it for their recent session with the Tills.

I know I (and others on this blog) preach about Josh Tillman…but seriously, chills.

J Tillman – Casualties – Luxury Wafers Sessions from Luxury Wafers on Vimeo.

Visit Luxury Wafers for 3 live tracks (even a nice version of a track from his new 7″ that just came out last week) for free download with one simple click RIGHT HERE.

~Smansmith

 

Song o’ The Day – Kay Pettigrew’s “Adventures In The Rocky Mountains”

Published by smansmith on December 6, 2009 in Folk, Indie, Live Performance, Singer Songwriter, Song o Day and blues. 2 Comments

Kay Pettigrew - photo by Frances Beatty

Song o the day today is selected for two reasons (well three really) and comes from the lovely Kay Pettigrew.

The reasons go something like this: I listened to the Ohbijou live session yesterday via Third Floor Sessions (which was great by the way) and while there I took a look around, as I tend to, and noticed that Kay Pettigrew was the inaugural episode! I did a quick post with a cover Kay did for the theme song of Fresh Prince of Bel Air over on Slowcoustic (click to listen) a while back so I started thinking. The song generated a fair amount of airplay for Kay around the blogosphere and ended up being on the Hype Machine popular charts via myself and a couple other bloggers. So that is a reason isn’t it?

Another reason is I felt I needed to post again as I wanted to make sure that people see her for more than just that cover track. Her Third Floor Session is full of folkish sing-a-longs, bluesy riffs and gritty Canadiana alongside an incredibly mature sound for this young Torontonian. So this is a reason as well isn’t it?

The last reason is simply because I am located in Calgary which is at the base of the Rocky Mountains and this weekend started our “adventure” into winter (see here for a twitted photo from this weekend in Calgary). So this is definitely a reason isn’t it?

Well if none of the above are not enough of a reason, then I don’t know what else is. You can download the entire session from her live session HERE…maybe that is the reason??

“Adventures In The Rocky Mountains” – Kay Pettigrew

Visit and purchase some Kay Pettigrew:


~~~

~Smansmith

 

Song o’ Day – “Love Song #1″ from The White Buffalo

Published by smansmith on November 22, 2009 in Alt-Country, Americana, Folk, Singer Songwriter and Song o Day. 0 Comments

I just recently discovered The White Buffalo while trolling Last.fm of fellow friends and neighbors and I must say it has been a pretty good find.  I listened to a couple of tracks from his website and then immediately zipped over to eMusic and picked up his Hogtied Revisited album that was released in March of this year.

The video included below is for “Love Song #1″ which is from “The White Buffalo EP” which I believe is from 2005.  2005!?!  Yes, this guy has slipped past this Americana/Alt-Country fiend…but no longer.   This “White Buffalo” or Jake Smith as he is known to his friends is now on my radar.  This song is also streaming on his website homepage along with 2 others – so get a listen on and then zip over for an album if you enjoy it as much as me.



Visit The White Buffalo on the MySpace page and Website!

Pick up an album, why don’t you?:

~Smansmith

 

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

Box of Stones

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

http://www.eachnotesecure.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/aabondy.jpg

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

 

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