Here’s what I’ve found in my junkmail… Call me a spammer, but I can’t resist sharing with you this message from one of the best Indie French Label : Fargo Records.
Summer is almost there… blah blah… To get our new 8 tracks sampler, just click here and fill in the ‘fargo‘ password and your e-mail address, you’ll received an e-mail with a link to download it - even if the mail is in French, you won’t be lost !
Find below the tracks listing :
1. Alela Diane : The Rifle ( from The Pirate’s Gospel)
2. Alela Diane : Pink Roses (unreleased yet) !
3. Dawn landes : Kids In A Play (from Fireproof)
4. Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter : The Air Is Thin ( from Like, love, Lust & the Open Halls Of the Soul)
5. Chris Garneau : Relief (from Music For Tourists)
6. Chris Garneau : Saturday - (unreleased yet) ! 7. Laetitia Sheriff : Hulabaloo My T.V. Ratings - (To be released on Games Over - May 27th) !
8. Clare & The Reasons : Pluto - (To be released on The Movie - August 26th) !
Even if some are already favorites (Alela Diane, Dawn Landes, Jesse Sykes, Chris Garneau), those unreleased should teased your curiosity. Enjoy !
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After months of hunting Sam down and constantly harassing him via e-mail, I now have the interview with Sam for you all to read. Sam has been making noises in the London folk scene for quite a while now but hopefully this will be the year he breaks through to a much wider audience. In one review I read he was compared to an English version of Ray LaMontagne and although I can see why that comparison was made Sam is a much more accomplished guitar player than Ray and for me he has a completely different style, more folky and less country for one. He is an astonishing guitar player as you can see from the youtube clip I recently captured when I saw him play at the tiniest venue ever in Bom Banes in Brighton (posted). In my opinion I would draw a comparison to perhaps John Martyn for his folk style and Nick Drake or Bert Jansch for his guitar playing ability. Now i know that’s high praise especially when just about every new english finger picking folk singer comes along is compared with Drake but he really is that good, he plays the guitar like he and it are one but all done in such an effortless way, it’s a joy to watch. When you hear Sam’s voice live it takes you slightly by surprise, I feel he let’s it rip a lot more than he does on his album and I guess this may be where some reviewers get the Ray LaMontagne connection, still i would love to hear him really belt a few songs out on his album just to show his vocal range which is clear he has when you hear him play live, again it’s astonishing and a joy to listen to. He is due to release a new album Far from you in the very near future and of course I will keep you all updated on any news of that. Has a few dates coming up but one special one is the Union Chapel in London on 7Th June which if you have never experienced a concert there is a must see, breath taking acoustics which will suit Sam and his music perfectly, a ‘must go to’ gig.
In the meantime here is the interview that Sam was forced kindly agreed to do for us along with a couple of mp3’s that he has allowed for YCD to post. Please support this independent artist, he’s a superb talent who i think is on the brink of greatness. If you don’t believe me go and see him live, you will not forget it. Enjoy
YCD - So firstly, could you please tell us who you are and where you are from?
Sam - My name is Sam but my full name is Samuel James Beer, I think that sounds rather grand but everyone calls me Sam so Samuel has never really stuck, Actually people only called me Samuel when they were cross with me.
I have moved around quite a lot in my life as my dad’s work took my family to several places, my first years were spent in Spain although I was born in London.In the end I came back to London to go to Art School and I have been here ever since.
YCD - Ok, might as well ask you now, promoting anything right now or recently released anything?
SAM - I will be bringing out my first album in a couple of months called Far From You.With out sounding over confident I think it is going to be the best and most true thing I have made to date.I am in the middle of recording it and its going really well.I really respect and admire the players I am playing with on the record and I’m recording it in a great studio so its going to be something special when its finished.I’m really enjoying the process and am happy about what I’m doning…
YCD - So where can we get a hold of this?
SAM - You will be able to get the EP through my myspace page and through Itunes ect but we are in discussion with labels and distributers so it should be available all over,I can\t say any more than that at this stage.
YCD - You recently played the Union chapel in London, how did that go?
SAM - I would say it went really well! I have wanted to play there ever since I saw a gig there a few years ago. It is a wonderfully atmospheric place to play and I was lucky enough to play for a very good audience, people really got it and that made it all come alive.
YCD - What are the biggest obstacles you feel a singer/song writer faces today?
SAM - That is a tricky one for any musician and there are a lot of obstacles. It all depends on what you want and where you want to go.
You are only as good as your next song and that can be the biggest obstacle.Most of the barriers are in your own head and for one reason or another I think musicians have an internal struggle that is lifelong and that is the journey to become the best you can be.
YCD - Ok, I don’t know if you are aware but they have recently found an old law that says all musicians since time began are allowed to take any song from anyone they like from any moment in time and claim it as their own, Which one are you having then?
SAM - That answer changes on a daily basis and this one is really difficult. I feel like I am having to save one puppy from a house fire and watch the others cook, do I only have one songshit!
(TWO CUPS OF TEA LATER)
Grant Spivey (Live) by Victoria Spivey.
I heard this song on a compilation CD when I was coming back from a show in Exeter and it completely transported me. I was on a busy train and I think I was moving a bit and really getting into the songI got some odd looks from people around me as I was probably looking a bit special (if you know what I mean).That song devastates me every time I hear it.She sings about her father (Grant) and the song has so much movement and feeling. She is rough around the edges and completely natural.
I would never be able to play that song.If any of my songs come close ill sleep well at night.
There are so many other songs I could have picked for so many reasons
YCD - What’s your guilty pleasure?
SAM - Instruments! They are my heroin as it were.. I love old instruments and am lucky enough to say I own a couple of beauties. Old guitars that have been played a lot in my opinion have something very powerful within them. I could go on and on
YCD - What’s your best musical experience so far and why?
SAM - Again that’s difficult.When ever I truly connect with another musician that is something very special and moving for me.When I connect with a player it feels like we are talking and exchanging something highly personal and open.When ever that happens I am knocked over and I remember why I am doing this.I feel the same when the audience really gets it.
YCD - who’s currently rocking your stereo?
SAM -Quite a lot of story tapes
YCD - What band/artist would you most like to play with?
SAM - Neil Young, Danny Thompson (Double Bass), David Rawlings (Gillian Welsch’s guitar player),Tom Waitts, Joni Mitchell Nina Simone,I would be terrifiedto play with all of them and would probably make a tit of myself. But their all just people, they all have mothers.
YCD - What are your hopes and fears for you in the future, musically?
SAM - I fear my guitar will go out of tune and I won’t be able to write any more songs
I hope my guitar stays in tune and that I do too.
Many thanks for the interview and we here at you crazy dreamers wish you all the best for the future.
Who would have thought that anyone from the Indie scene would be featured on MTV. It’s rare the time I’m on MTV, well except for my addiction to “The Hills” yes, I watch the show. I have to admit that I recently found this guy on a gossip site yes, I read those too but he’s no stranger to the music blog world. MOKB listed him as one of his top albums for 2007. Although I try my best to keep up it always seems that I’m just discovering some talent for the first time. Devendra will be performing in Los Angeles in June. His on my list to see for the summer.
Eccentric Venezuelan/Los Angelino merry folkster, Devendra Banhart, shot a new music video last weekend that stars one of our favorite people ever, Natalie Portman (seriously, she’s like the nicest person in the world). Oh but here’s the funny part. While both Portman’s folks and Devendra’s folks confirm this shoot took place over the weekend, at Banhart’s crazy canyon home in LA, neither camp WILL SAY WHAT SONG THE VIDEO IS FOR. They’re keeping it very secret and stuff.
We think that’s just silly.
Is it a song off of his recently released Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon, or perhaps it’s that exclusive Devendra song that appeared on the compilation Portman put out to benefit FINCA, the microfinance charity she’s a big supporter of.
“The substance known as camphor has historically been used in religious ceremonies, as a moth repellent, as an ingredient in fireworks, for the embalming of the dead, and for medicinal purposes such as the alleviation of heart symptoms and fatigue. The music of Camphor has many of the same powers …”
Those are the words introducing the biography of Camphor on his website : an invitation to join this promising mixture.
I’ve contacted Mr Max Avery Lichtenstein about Camphor teased by “Confidences Shattered“, a catchy waltz abounding with numerous variations… that makes you feel like a half-drunken butterfly ! Max kindly gave me the opportunity to listen to the complete album. While listening to the opening song Daybreak, I had to double-check the name of the band, I was doubting the genesis of the track. The double take made me alert, I was then ready to play the complete 13 pieces collection, ears wide open.
Without a doubt, the album title helped me to draw this comparison. As I was listening, I was taken back to the days of sitting in front of my old toybox: Pink Floyd (Deconstructed), Talk-Talk / Mark Hollis (Daybreak), Peter Gabriel for the elders ; Elbow (The Sweetest Tooth), Calexico (Castaway) and Arcarde Fire (Immolation). Many of the ‘Drawn to Dust‘ tracks refer from a distant background to one of these great bands. In my point of view, the science of orchestration is the common denominator between them all.
If Max Avery Lichtenstein has already proved his producer talent (Mercury Rev , Timesbold, Whip among many others), his capacity of composing great tunes (Tarnation song was just an appetizer !!!); with his new Camphor project, he has reached a new dimension. Few album achieved such a symbiosis, it’s a perfect chef d’oeuvre : its structure could be easily compared to any classical masterpiece. Removing a track from its context gives life to another song living in its own entity. A real amazing talent!
It reminds me of Mark Hollis saying back in 1998 : “…don’t play one note unless you’ve got a reason to play it.” For Drawn to Dust, this saying is not only concerning each note, but also each instrument on each track, and maybe each words - as Max is a bit less prolix with regard to lyrics - : ‘pickaxe syntax chipping at the sweetest tooth‘ ?
Usually I would be writing a review while playing the album : “yes, I love this song, this one doesn’t match my mood, but that’s ok as the following one is so great…you know what i mean? ” Dealing with Drawn to dust I had to stop the music as it was totally captivating! I bet the following ‘Confidences Shattered‘ will have the same effect on you as it hypnotized me! In a different genre, Max’s path is similar to Daniel Lanois but both reached the top of what music is able to produce : when a talented producer, sound-engineer decide to cross the border… a gem will be born !
Only couple days left for the album to be released, April the 1st… so in the meantime, let’s play the traditional answers/questions with Max.
YCD : Hi Max, how’s it going? Max Avery Lichtenstein : Fairly well… fairly well indeed.
YCD : Could you please tell us more about Camphor ? Max Avery Lichtenstein : Camphor is a project that’s been simmering quietly since the turn of the century… I’ve always tried to make a little time in between film scoring projects and record production projects (both very collaborative kinds of work) to allow myself a bit of purely self-directed expression, but it’s tricky to get a lot done in those infrequent windows. So after I completed work on a film called The King in 2005, I decided it was a good time to devote a bigger share of my attention to songwriting, and the album “Drawn to Dust” is the result. The nice thing is that many of the artists I worked with over the years as a producer were happy to contribute their talents to the Camphor record, so in the end it was still very much a collaborative project as well.
YCD : and what’s about the ‘wabi sabi’ - the idea that greatness exists in the inconspicuous details of the world, and that heart-tugging beauty can be found in the imperfect and the broken - concept of this first full length - Is it another way to define limits in your songwriting such as the one you’re facing in film music ? Max Avery Lichtenstein : That’s certainly an interesting way to think about it. I guess I like working with themes… they allow you to approach a single idea from different perspectives. You put the idea in a different light each time you address it, and then you can watch both the idea and your own relationship to it evolve as the exploration continues.
YCD : Camphor, first ep ‘Silver Gold’ has been released about 3 years ago… time to mature the concept or just a matter of time ? Max Avery Lichtenstein : Oh, that 7″ is even older… I think it was released in 2000. It’s a bit of an oddity, actually… Camphor began as a sort of ‘invisible’ band that I would assemble to produce music for movies. I was working with my friend Jason Russo (from a great band called Hopewell) on some 70s-flavored instrumental rock music for the film Jesus’ Son, and while in the studio we decided to try our hand at building a song with vocals in a similar retro style, just for fun. Jason had this orphaned song “Silver Gold” that seemed to fit the bill, and so we started playing around with it. The resulting 7″ featured that song (sung by Jason) and two of the instrumental pieces from the film. It’s a nice little remnant of that particular film project… but probably not a good representation of the current state or sound of Camphor…
YCD : Is there a song you wish you had written ? Max Avery Lichtenstein : Ah, that would be a dangerous wish… I think the truly great songs could only have been created by the unique person who wrote it. I’d just be happy to write a great song of my own… YCD : Yes, I can witness it and the list is getting long !!! If you could share a stage with any band or artist who would you choose and why? Max Avery Lichtenstein : Oh, there are lots… anybody doing something unique and honest is all right by me. But if I could really get a genie to grant my 3 wishes, I’d love to share a stage with Björk (’cause she is always aiming to do something new), Sigur Rós (’cause of the intense atmosphere they create) and Tom Waits (’cause he’s, well, Tom Waits).
YCD : What are your projects for the coming months : new soundtrack, producing, authoring ? Max Avery Lichtenstein : I’ve just finished making a video for my song “Castaway” that I’m really pleased with, and I’m looking forward to doing another one soon. Recording-wise, I’ve started writing and tracking for the next Camphor release, and I’m nearly nearly finished producing a very creative debut album by a band called Mook, which is lead by the actor Paul Dano, whom I met while scoring The King. And for the whole month of May I will be on tour in Europe with my other band Timesbold. ‘Tis a busy year, so far… so good. Cheers!
YCD : Thank you so much, hope to catch you somewhere in Europe !
Just a very quick post although to be honest will probabaly come back to it as Dan Mangan deserves a lot more attention than i am giving him now. However, I had to post immediately because i believe he could go big any time. From various reviews of his album postcards and daydreaming i have read he’s similar to a stripped down Ryan Adams, Damien rice without the accent, Leonard Cohen for his poetic songwriting and all of these are very true. Personally i think there is some traces of J Tillman especially in the slowness that he plays, often coming to an almost standstill. Some real sad stuff going on here and Dan’s gruff voice compliment his songs perfectly.
Looked on cdbaby.com for the cd but says it’s permanantly out of stock (was originally released in 2005) and his own website just has the option of downloading from i-tunes. If i can find anywhere selling the cd i will post asap. In the meantime listen to these absolute beauties. This is great stuff.
I’ve written about Mark Berube last album - What the river gave the boat, couple months back… and this post won’t be the last one about this immense Vancouver talent.
Last time, I’ve browsed his website, searching through his links page, i’ve noticed Dan Mangan - who soon will have a review there as his first album is a pure gem - but also The Fugitives, a trio composed by Barbara Adler - a prolific and young Canadian poet - Mark Berube and Brendan McLeod - a Canadian Slam champion !
And this last point kept me away from accessing their website and listening their music.
Reading this blog, can give you an overview on my eclectic tastes, but for having a young daughter who’s listening sometimes to this kind of music - yes education can fail - Slam is not for me ! And saying that Slam is not my genre is an under-estimation of my opinion about that musical expression : I simply can’t stand it !
Then few days ago, I was reading Herohill blog - this guy lives in Vancouver - and he wrote a nice review of a gig with Mark Berube and Ben Rogers. So back on Mark Berube’s website, my curiosity helped me crossing the border to the fugitives.ca !!!!
Oh Mon Dieu - even if no god was around me a that time, i’ll take the benefit of his absence to shout some Put#@## - that’s the word we use in french instead of fu#&##.
Just Listen.
Yes. Sware on any god you like or dislike ! This band is absolutely gorgeous ! And be sure to buy the album, each song is rising this level. The fugitives achieved with this album the perfect mariage of lyrics and music ! Jacques Brel in his own repertory achieved such a prowess.
Arrghhhh !! ! How can I write these words about Slam ! Do not expect any other reviews on that genre except for the next fugitives album !
Guest_2370 : just stumbled across your site today. good stuff. i think you might really like the new e.p. by Tall Tales, entitled Earthling.
Guest_1410 : ok...i looved this movie too..but whats that song thats playing when they are gardening with Joses dad? its just instrumental and some ai ai ais or something..its so beautiful..i want to know what it is.
Olivier : Oups sorry All... i've deleted couple valid comments while removing a list of 500 spams !
Sam : Kevin Pawlak thought I should email you about a new EP my band is putting out. He reviewed it favorably recently. Wanted to send you the information.
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Here’s what I’ve found in my junkmail… Call me a spammer, but I can’t resist sharing with you this message from one of the best Indie French Label : Fargo Records.
Who would have thought that anyone from the Indie scene would be featured on MTV. It’s rare the time I’m on MTV, well except for my addiction to “The Hills” yes, I watch the show. I have to admit that I recently found this guy on a gossip site yes, I read those too but he’s no stranger to the music blog world. 
YCD : and what’s about the ‘wabi sabi’ - the idea that greatness exists in the inconspicuous details of the world, and that heart-tugging beauty can be found in the imperfect and the broken - concept of this first full length - Is it another way to define limits in your songwriting such as the one you’re facing in film music ?
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