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Led by Dee Dee, Dum Dum Girls churn out pop music that
adheres to her self-proclaimed M.O.: “blissed-out buzz saw.”
Dee Dee formed DDG in late 2008 as a solo project—the
name a nod to both The Vaselines’ album, Dum-Dum, and the
Iggy Pop song “Dum Dum Boys”—and released a home-
recorded CDR on her label Zoo Music followed by a 7" on
HoZac and a 12" EP on Captured Tracks.
When Dee Dee needed a band to take her songs out of the
bedroom, she looked to her friends: Jules (guitar and vocals),
Bambi (bass), and Sandy (drums and vocals). When the other
three met for the first time a week before CMJ 2009, it was an
instant girl gang.
Dee Dee wrote and recorded the songs that became I Will Be
over the first eight months of 2009, and she asked a few
others to contribute. Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner
plays on “Yours Alone.” Crocodiles’ Brandon Welchez sings
and plays guitar on the duet “Blank Girl.” And Los Angeles
musician Andrew Miller contributes guitars to a number of
tracks.
When it came time to choose someone to gently finesse I Will
Be, the name Richard Gottehrer came up on Dee Dee’s wish
list. Responsible for writing such seminal songs as “My
Boyfriend’s Back,” and “I Want Candy,” he also produced his
own short-lived band The Strangeloves, as well as The
Voidoids, Blondie, The Go-Gos, and more recently, The
Raveonettes. Marvels Dee Dee, “I gave him all the rough
tracks and he produced them, as I had a lot of digital effects
acting as sort of placeholders. I’m not exactly sure what he
did, but it’s a world of difference. The songs sound warm,
and they kind of sparkle.”
adheres to her self-proclaimed M.O.: “blissed-out buzz saw.”
Dee Dee formed DDG in late 2008 as a solo project—the
name a nod to both The Vaselines’ album, Dum-Dum, and the
Iggy Pop song “Dum Dum Boys”—and released a home-
recorded CDR on her label Zoo Music followed by a 7" on
HoZac and a 12" EP on Captured Tracks.
When Dee Dee needed a band to take her songs out of the
bedroom, she looked to her friends: Jules (guitar and vocals),
Bambi (bass), and Sandy (drums and vocals). When the other
three met for the first time a week before CMJ 2009, it was an
instant girl gang.
Dee Dee wrote and recorded the songs that became I Will Be
over the first eight months of 2009, and she asked a few
others to contribute. Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner
plays on “Yours Alone.” Crocodiles’ Brandon Welchez sings
and plays guitar on the duet “Blank Girl.” And Los Angeles
musician Andrew Miller contributes guitars to a number of
tracks.
When it came time to choose someone to gently finesse I Will
Be, the name Richard Gottehrer came up on Dee Dee’s wish
list. Responsible for writing such seminal songs as “My
Boyfriend’s Back,” and “I Want Candy,” he also produced his
own short-lived band The Strangeloves, as well as The
Voidoids, Blondie, The Go-Gos, and more recently, The
Raveonettes. Marvels Dee Dee, “I gave him all the rough
tracks and he produced them, as I had a lot of digital effects
acting as sort of placeholders. I’m not exactly sure what he
did, but it’s a world of difference. The songs sound warm,
and they kind of sparkle.”
| Dum Dum Girls |
Full Lengths
I Will Be
Blissed Out Cassette
Chickens in Love
I Will Be
Blissed Out Cassette
Chickens in Love
Singles
Mayfair Set - Already Warm 7"
Jail La La
CROCODILES / GRAFFITI ISLAND / DUM DUM GIRLS / PENS 7" AFOO5
Mayfair Set - Already Warm 7"
Jail La La
CROCODILES / GRAFFITI ISLAND / DUM DUM GIRLS / PENS 7" AFOO5
Photo and text used with the permission of Sub Pop Records
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Fleet Foxes Announce the Release of Second Album,
Helplessness Blues, Out May 3rd, 2011 & Tour Dates in North
America, London and Europe
On May 3rd Fleet Foxes will release Helplessness Blues (Sub
Pop/Bella Union), the much-anticipated follow up to their 2008
self-titled debut. The release of the twelve-track album will
coincide with the band’s first North American tour dates since
August 2009 followed by a string of UK and European dates.
The tour will begin in Vancouver on April 30th and end in
London England. More tour information, including North
American ticket pre-sale, provided below. Fleet Foxes have
made the title-track of the album available for download now.
Helplessness Blues was recorded over the course of a year at
Avast Recording, Bear Creek Studios, Dreamland Studios, and
Reciprocal Recording. The album was recorded and mixed by
Phil Ek and co-produced by Fleet Foxes and Ek. The piece
that appears on the album cover was illustrated by Seattle
artist Toby Liebowitz and painted by Chris Alderson. Fleet
Foxes is Robin Pecknold, Skyler Skjelset, Christian Wargo,
Casey Wescott, Josh Tillman and Morgan Henderson.
Helplessness Blues, Out May 3rd, 2011 & Tour Dates in North
America, London and Europe
On May 3rd Fleet Foxes will release Helplessness Blues (Sub
Pop/Bella Union), the much-anticipated follow up to their 2008
self-titled debut. The release of the twelve-track album will
coincide with the band’s first North American tour dates since
August 2009 followed by a string of UK and European dates.
The tour will begin in Vancouver on April 30th and end in
London England. More tour information, including North
American ticket pre-sale, provided below. Fleet Foxes have
made the title-track of the album available for download now.
Helplessness Blues was recorded over the course of a year at
Avast Recording, Bear Creek Studios, Dreamland Studios, and
Reciprocal Recording. The album was recorded and mixed by
Phil Ek and co-produced by Fleet Foxes and Ek. The piece
that appears on the album cover was illustrated by Seattle
artist Toby Liebowitz and painted by Chris Alderson. Fleet
Foxes is Robin Pecknold, Skyler Skjelset, Christian Wargo,
Casey Wescott, Josh Tillman and Morgan Henderson.
Full Lengths
Fleet Foxes
Helplessness Blues
Fleet Foxes
Helplessness Blues
EPs
Sun Giant
Singles
Mykonos
Sun Giant
Singles
Mykonos
| Fleet Foxes |
Photo and text used with the permission of Sub Pop Records
C’mon is the shortest title of any Low album, which seems fitting, as it also ranks among the
most succinct and straightforward entries in their variegated discography. Singer-guitarist
Alan Sparhawk has even perfected the “elevator pitch” for C’mon: “Recorded in an old church
in Duluth, MN and mixed in an apartment in Hollywood, CA.” But that brief synopsis hides
universes. To get to the heart of this album, we must delve deeper into both halves of the
creative journey of C’mon.
Comprised of new material written on and off the road, the ten-song set was recorded in a
former Catholic church, aka Sacred Heart Studio (where the band previously crafted 2002’s
Trust). Sparhawk says Low deliberately seeks out circumstances that will generate challenges
and happy accidents, breaking them out of established patterns. “We like to work in situations
where there’s a character, whether that’s the time period or who we’re working with. A lot of
times, the space can set that tone.”
In this case, they took advantage of the venue’s high, vaulted ceilings, natural reverb, and
audible affinity for organ sounds—bassist Steve Garrington is quite adept on keyboards, too—
and group singing. The thunder-crack percussion that peppers the final minute of the slowly
unfolding “Majesty/Magic” is just one example of this dynamic in action. Sparhawk and singer-
percussionist Mimi Parker already get to enjoy playtime at home with their family, but now
that childlike freedom of expression translated into work. “We had toy drums, and boxes, and
big, beat-up kick drums laid out everywhere, and were just hitting them in the middle of the
room and listening to how it sounded, and using that as accents here and there.” The space
also responded especially well to the baritone guitar that resonates throughout the dense and
dirty “Witches.” The band further expanded its sonic palette by inviting in outside players,
including longtime friend Nels Cline, who contributes lap steel and guitar, and violinist Caitlin
Moe (of Trans-Siberian Orchestra).
The trio was also eager to return to a sound closer to how they perform live. “I didn’t want to
furrow my brow too much making something ugly, just because I’m sometimes
uncomfortable with things being too pretty,” Sparhawk admits. With its jangly guitars and
sweet vocal harmonies, opener “Try to Sleep” not only betrays his affinity for the Byrds and
‘80s Paisley Underground acts like Green on Red and Rain Parade, but sets the album’s tone:
Warmer, fuller, and more introspective. Whereas 2007’s Drums and Guns railed against the
war in Iraq, C’mon feels like a plea for humanity, decency, and common sense in a world
gone mad. Sparhawk concurs with that sentiment. “With the last couple of records, we were
grappling with something outside of ourselves. This one feels more like, ‘Well, forget all that.
I’m looking in your eyes right now, and we need to figure out how to get through the next
moment, together, as human beings.’”
Towards that end, Low have fashioned some of their finest originals yet, including the album’
s snowball-down-a-mountain centerpiece, “Especially Me,” a Parker original that her husband
credits with anchoring the spirit of the whole record, and an incredibly naked love song “$20.”
Sparhawk rates the latter among his favorite Low compositions ever, even a suitable candidate
for his epitaph. "If I could only have one song that would say everything that a person would
hope to say after they’re gone, I would say that’s one of them.”
The second phase of making C’mon involved its biggest creative risk: Engaging the services
of co-producer Matt Beckley, who also contributed additional recording and mixing. Just as
Beckley’s home base of Los Angeles is almost the opposite of Duluth’s icy climes, his résumé
contrasts starkly with the sort of indie rock icons (i.e. Steve Albini, Steve Fisk, Dave
Fridmann, Kramer) with whom Low have collaborated in the past, with credits including Katy
Perry, Avril Lavigne and a long list of other pop stars.
Sparhawk knew none of that when Low first met Matt: “He’s just the son of this guy* I
know.” He admired Beckley for his humor and taste, and once he learned what Matt did
professionally, recognized a new opportunity to throw a curveball into Low’s creative
process. “I thought it would be interesting to see what a guy like that would do with a band
like us. I know how we sound. I want to hear how we sound with someone unexpected, to
make something interesting.”
Though over three years have passed since the release of their last album, Low has not been
idle. Parker and Sparhawk devoted a long stretch of time to writing and performing music for
“Heaven,” a contemporary dance piece by choreographer Morgan Thorson; that work’s
emphasis on group singing would prove especially influential on C’mon. The band’s public
profile has risen, too, thanks to Robert Plant covering two songs from their 2005 full-length
The Great Destroyer on his 2010 solo album Band of Joy, and garnering a Grammy
nomination for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for his interpretation of Low’s “Silver
Rider.” Plant has praised the band in periodicals from MOJO to Rolling Stone (RP in RS: “I’m
not sure if the album would have worked without them”) but Sparhawk was simply flattered
by their inclusion—which he didn’t learn of until after the Led Zeppelin front man’s disc was
completed. “Having one of the best singers in the world sing your songs is okay by me,” he
demurs.
most succinct and straightforward entries in their variegated discography. Singer-guitarist
Alan Sparhawk has even perfected the “elevator pitch” for C’mon: “Recorded in an old church
in Duluth, MN and mixed in an apartment in Hollywood, CA.” But that brief synopsis hides
universes. To get to the heart of this album, we must delve deeper into both halves of the
creative journey of C’mon.
Comprised of new material written on and off the road, the ten-song set was recorded in a
former Catholic church, aka Sacred Heart Studio (where the band previously crafted 2002’s
Trust). Sparhawk says Low deliberately seeks out circumstances that will generate challenges
and happy accidents, breaking them out of established patterns. “We like to work in situations
where there’s a character, whether that’s the time period or who we’re working with. A lot of
times, the space can set that tone.”
In this case, they took advantage of the venue’s high, vaulted ceilings, natural reverb, and
audible affinity for organ sounds—bassist Steve Garrington is quite adept on keyboards, too—
and group singing. The thunder-crack percussion that peppers the final minute of the slowly
unfolding “Majesty/Magic” is just one example of this dynamic in action. Sparhawk and singer-
percussionist Mimi Parker already get to enjoy playtime at home with their family, but now
that childlike freedom of expression translated into work. “We had toy drums, and boxes, and
big, beat-up kick drums laid out everywhere, and were just hitting them in the middle of the
room and listening to how it sounded, and using that as accents here and there.” The space
also responded especially well to the baritone guitar that resonates throughout the dense and
dirty “Witches.” The band further expanded its sonic palette by inviting in outside players,
including longtime friend Nels Cline, who contributes lap steel and guitar, and violinist Caitlin
Moe (of Trans-Siberian Orchestra).
The trio was also eager to return to a sound closer to how they perform live. “I didn’t want to
furrow my brow too much making something ugly, just because I’m sometimes
uncomfortable with things being too pretty,” Sparhawk admits. With its jangly guitars and
sweet vocal harmonies, opener “Try to Sleep” not only betrays his affinity for the Byrds and
‘80s Paisley Underground acts like Green on Red and Rain Parade, but sets the album’s tone:
Warmer, fuller, and more introspective. Whereas 2007’s Drums and Guns railed against the
war in Iraq, C’mon feels like a plea for humanity, decency, and common sense in a world
gone mad. Sparhawk concurs with that sentiment. “With the last couple of records, we were
grappling with something outside of ourselves. This one feels more like, ‘Well, forget all that.
I’m looking in your eyes right now, and we need to figure out how to get through the next
moment, together, as human beings.’”
Towards that end, Low have fashioned some of their finest originals yet, including the album’
s snowball-down-a-mountain centerpiece, “Especially Me,” a Parker original that her husband
credits with anchoring the spirit of the whole record, and an incredibly naked love song “$20.”
Sparhawk rates the latter among his favorite Low compositions ever, even a suitable candidate
for his epitaph. "If I could only have one song that would say everything that a person would
hope to say after they’re gone, I would say that’s one of them.”
The second phase of making C’mon involved its biggest creative risk: Engaging the services
of co-producer Matt Beckley, who also contributed additional recording and mixing. Just as
Beckley’s home base of Los Angeles is almost the opposite of Duluth’s icy climes, his résumé
contrasts starkly with the sort of indie rock icons (i.e. Steve Albini, Steve Fisk, Dave
Fridmann, Kramer) with whom Low have collaborated in the past, with credits including Katy
Perry, Avril Lavigne and a long list of other pop stars.
Sparhawk knew none of that when Low first met Matt: “He’s just the son of this guy* I
know.” He admired Beckley for his humor and taste, and once he learned what Matt did
professionally, recognized a new opportunity to throw a curveball into Low’s creative
process. “I thought it would be interesting to see what a guy like that would do with a band
like us. I know how we sound. I want to hear how we sound with someone unexpected, to
make something interesting.”
Though over three years have passed since the release of their last album, Low has not been
idle. Parker and Sparhawk devoted a long stretch of time to writing and performing music for
“Heaven,” a contemporary dance piece by choreographer Morgan Thorson; that work’s
emphasis on group singing would prove especially influential on C’mon. The band’s public
profile has risen, too, thanks to Robert Plant covering two songs from their 2005 full-length
The Great Destroyer on his 2010 solo album Band of Joy, and garnering a Grammy
nomination for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for his interpretation of Low’s “Silver
Rider.” Plant has praised the band in periodicals from MOJO to Rolling Stone (RP in RS: “I’m
not sure if the album would have worked without them”) but Sparhawk was simply flattered
by their inclusion—which he didn’t learn of until after the Led Zeppelin front man’s disc was
completed. “Having one of the best singers in the world sing your songs is okay by me,” he
demurs.
| Low |
Singles
Venus/Boyfriends and Girlfriends
California Single
Santa's Coming Over
EPs
Monkey Remix
Full Lengths
The Great Destroyer
A Lifetime of Temporary Relief
Things We Lost In the Fire
Trust
Secret Name
Christmas
Songs for a Dead Pilot
Tonight The Monkeys Die
Alan Sparhawk - Solo Guitar
Drums and Guns
C'mon
Venus/Boyfriends and Girlfriends
California Single
Santa's Coming Over
EPs
Monkey Remix
Full Lengths
The Great Destroyer
A Lifetime of Temporary Relief
Things We Lost In the Fire
Trust
Secret Name
Christmas
Songs for a Dead Pilot
Tonight The Monkeys Die
Alan Sparhawk - Solo Guitar
Drums and Guns
C'mon
EPs
Dum Dum Girls Yours Alone 12"
Mayfair Set - Young One 12"
Blissed Out Cassette
He Gets Me High
Dum Dum Girls Yours Alone 12"
Mayfair Set - Young One 12"
Blissed Out Cassette
He Gets Me High
Singles
Mykonos
Mykonos
Photo and text used with the permission of Sub Pop Records
And should having a light shone on their band by one of rock’s best-
known artists direct some new listeners to Low, the attention couldn’t
be timed much better. Without curtailing their artistry one iota, the trio
has made one of its most accessible albums to date in C’mon. Its
origins may lie in a church in Minnesota, an apartment in Hollywood,
and the hearts of the modest individuals who created it, but the
resulting music has the capacity to resonate deeply with audiences
everywhere.
* That “guy” being Gerry Beckley of ’70s soft-rock kingpins America.
known artists direct some new listeners to Low, the attention couldn’t
be timed much better. Without curtailing their artistry one iota, the trio
has made one of its most accessible albums to date in C’mon. Its
origins may lie in a church in Minnesota, an apartment in Hollywood,
and the hearts of the modest individuals who created it, but the
resulting music has the capacity to resonate deeply with audiences
everywhere.
* That “guy” being Gerry Beckley of ’70s soft-rock kingpins America.
A 10-year anniversary is a time to reflect. In a relationship, it’s a chance to recount the first date; to remember the awkward pauses and the eventual connection.
For musicians, a 10-year anniversary is a time to look back on their first album and see how far they’ve come from those earliest recordings. The new Album Leaf
album A Chorus of Storytellers, marks the first decade for the group led by Jimmy LaValle. In those 10 years, LaValle has gone from initial improvised home
recordings to now five complete studio albums, from opening slots to leading an incredible world-touring band to the stage at Red Rocks, headlining the
Metamorphose festival in Japan and performing at the Hollywood Bowl with the Incredible String Band. LaValle’s well-earned reputation as a crafter of impeccable
sonic imagery even led to a critically-acclaimed show at the Seattle International Film Festival where The Album Leaf performed a live score for the 1927 silent
film Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans.
The Album Leaf’s debut, An Orchestrated Rise to Fall, was recorded by LaValle and a friend in his bedroom, and though it launched his ethereal dreamscape
sound, the album recording quality is thin and rough. In contrast, A Chorus of Storytellers is the perfect showcase for LaValle’s skill as a recording artist. The
album’s 11 tracks are crisp, clean, flowing and beautifully complex. That the completion of A Chorus of Storytellers coincides with the 10th birthday of the first
Album Leaf album, over three years on from the release of the last album (the late-2006 release Into the Blue Again), can be chalked up to two unrelated, but
important, events: LaValle’s wedding, and his conquering a bad case of writer’s block. "I took about a year off after everything was said and done with Into the
Blue Again,” LaValle admits. “It was the longest period I’ve been inactive since I was 15 or 16 years old.” While he gives himself a pass for time spent on
milestones in his personal life, LaValle feels guilt about his bout with writer’s block. Under pressure to create a divergent record that still carried The Album Leaf’s
signature ambiance, LaValle grew frustrated, and the songs subsequently came to him very slowly. He wondered, “How do I stay fresh, realizing that The Album
Leaf has been around for so long and that a lot of people wouldn’t give a new record a chance?” First, he had to cleanse his musical palate, recording and touring
with indie rock supergroup Magnetic Morning, which includes Sam Fogarino from Interpol and Swervedriver’s Adam Franklin. When he felt he had enough
material, he returned to Bear Creek Studios in Woodinville, WA, the same studio where he created Into the Blue Again, to record.
The finished album reflects its difficult journey to creation. For instance, when LaValle had trouble meeting his mixing deadline in San Diego, he narrowed his
focus to vocals. As a result, especially on tracks like “There Is a Wind” and “Falling From the Sun,” the vocals on A Chorus of Storytellers are more prominent
than on any other Album Leaf record to date.
But A Chorus of Storytellers does something even bolder. LaValle’s distinctive, dreamy, cinematic soundscapes are often jarred out of reverie, particularly on “We
Are.” This late addition to the track list, with its skidding beat moving under LaValle’s bounding Moog line and insistent vocals is the closest thing to a pop song
The Album Leaf has ever produced.
LaValle also made the decision to bring his entire touring band in to record live, a first for The Album Leaf. Recording as a band, with multi-instrumentalist
Matthew Resovich, guitarist Drew Andrews, drummer Timothy Reece, bassist Luis Hermosillo, an Icelandic horn section and a few symphony players, allowed
LaValle to act more like a conductor. Hearing the band play these songs, afforded him new perspective on his compositions, and led him to include new sounds in
A Chorus of Storytellers, like those heard in “We Are.”
LaValle called the album A Chorus of Storytellers because the title perfectly captures his new approach to The Album Leaf. Recording with the full band created a
feeling of unity and shared purpose, as well as an expanded sonic breadth that he wanted to express in the title. “I wanted to name it according to what happened
with the whole process,” he explains. “It took two-and-a-half, close to three years to make. There were so many different things that went into it and there’s a lot
of storytelling behind it.”
Looking back on the past decade, LaValle recognizes his distance from the bedroom recordings of his early days. “If I were making the same records now that I
was making ten years ago, then I’d obviously not be doing something right,” he asserts. “But I think back over the work and everything I’ve done over the ten
years and it feels pretty good. I’m still doing it, and I’m making a living at it. It’s cool to think of it in that way; I went for it and worked for it and here I am.”
For musicians, a 10-year anniversary is a time to look back on their first album and see how far they’ve come from those earliest recordings. The new Album Leaf
album A Chorus of Storytellers, marks the first decade for the group led by Jimmy LaValle. In those 10 years, LaValle has gone from initial improvised home
recordings to now five complete studio albums, from opening slots to leading an incredible world-touring band to the stage at Red Rocks, headlining the
Metamorphose festival in Japan and performing at the Hollywood Bowl with the Incredible String Band. LaValle’s well-earned reputation as a crafter of impeccable
sonic imagery even led to a critically-acclaimed show at the Seattle International Film Festival where The Album Leaf performed a live score for the 1927 silent
film Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans.
The Album Leaf’s debut, An Orchestrated Rise to Fall, was recorded by LaValle and a friend in his bedroom, and though it launched his ethereal dreamscape
sound, the album recording quality is thin and rough. In contrast, A Chorus of Storytellers is the perfect showcase for LaValle’s skill as a recording artist. The
album’s 11 tracks are crisp, clean, flowing and beautifully complex. That the completion of A Chorus of Storytellers coincides with the 10th birthday of the first
Album Leaf album, over three years on from the release of the last album (the late-2006 release Into the Blue Again), can be chalked up to two unrelated, but
important, events: LaValle’s wedding, and his conquering a bad case of writer’s block. "I took about a year off after everything was said and done with Into the
Blue Again,” LaValle admits. “It was the longest period I’ve been inactive since I was 15 or 16 years old.” While he gives himself a pass for time spent on
milestones in his personal life, LaValle feels guilt about his bout with writer’s block. Under pressure to create a divergent record that still carried The Album Leaf’s
signature ambiance, LaValle grew frustrated, and the songs subsequently came to him very slowly. He wondered, “How do I stay fresh, realizing that The Album
Leaf has been around for so long and that a lot of people wouldn’t give a new record a chance?” First, he had to cleanse his musical palate, recording and touring
with indie rock supergroup Magnetic Morning, which includes Sam Fogarino from Interpol and Swervedriver’s Adam Franklin. When he felt he had enough
material, he returned to Bear Creek Studios in Woodinville, WA, the same studio where he created Into the Blue Again, to record.
The finished album reflects its difficult journey to creation. For instance, when LaValle had trouble meeting his mixing deadline in San Diego, he narrowed his
focus to vocals. As a result, especially on tracks like “There Is a Wind” and “Falling From the Sun,” the vocals on A Chorus of Storytellers are more prominent
than on any other Album Leaf record to date.
But A Chorus of Storytellers does something even bolder. LaValle’s distinctive, dreamy, cinematic soundscapes are often jarred out of reverie, particularly on “We
Are.” This late addition to the track list, with its skidding beat moving under LaValle’s bounding Moog line and insistent vocals is the closest thing to a pop song
The Album Leaf has ever produced.
LaValle also made the decision to bring his entire touring band in to record live, a first for The Album Leaf. Recording as a band, with multi-instrumentalist
Matthew Resovich, guitarist Drew Andrews, drummer Timothy Reece, bassist Luis Hermosillo, an Icelandic horn section and a few symphony players, allowed
LaValle to act more like a conductor. Hearing the band play these songs, afforded him new perspective on his compositions, and led him to include new sounds in
A Chorus of Storytellers, like those heard in “We Are.”
LaValle called the album A Chorus of Storytellers because the title perfectly captures his new approach to The Album Leaf. Recording with the full band created a
feeling of unity and shared purpose, as well as an expanded sonic breadth that he wanted to express in the title. “I wanted to name it according to what happened
with the whole process,” he explains. “It took two-and-a-half, close to three years to make. There were so many different things that went into it and there’s a lot
of storytelling behind it.”
Looking back on the past decade, LaValle recognizes his distance from the bedroom recordings of his early days. “If I were making the same records now that I
was making ten years ago, then I’d obviously not be doing something right,” he asserts. “But I think back over the work and everything I’ve done over the ten
years and it feels pretty good. I’m still doing it, and I’m making a living at it. It’s cool to think of it in that way; I went for it and worked for it and here I am.”
| The Album Leaf |
EPs:
In an Off White Room
Seal Beach EP
There Is a Wind
Full Lengths:
In a Safe Place
One Day I'll be on Time
An Orchestrated Rise to Fall
Into The Blue Again
A Chorus of Storytellers
In an Off White Room
Seal Beach EP
There Is a Wind
Full Lengths:
In a Safe Place
One Day I'll be on Time
An Orchestrated Rise to Fall
Into The Blue Again
A Chorus of Storytellers
Photo and text used with the permission of Sub Pop Records
Two years after the release of Jennifer Gentle’s critically acclaimed Sub Pop debut Valende, the Italian psychedelic avant-pop explorers are back with The
Midnight Room.
Since _Valende_’s 2005 release (the first album by an Italian band ever released on Sub Pop), they’ve kept themselves quite busy. In addition to international
touring in the US, UK, EU and most recently China, they’ve put out a couple of more experimental releases with the recent A New Astronomy CD, and last year’s
Sacramento Sessions limited-edition LP on the Italian label A Silent Place. As well, US label Empyrean Records has plans for a 2007 re-release of their second
album Funny Creatures Lane, and they’ve also been recording the soundtrack for a documentary about legendary British producer Joe Meek.
Other things happened too: drummer Alessio Gastaldello left the band and Jennifer Gentle is now solely the project of founder and songwriter Marco Fasolo. Marco
wrote, performed and produced the entire new album alone in his Ectoplasmic Studio, a rambling old house lost in the foggy plains of Northern Italy, infamous for
its previous owner’s suicide by rifle.
Maybe it was because of the isolated location or a result of the turmoil he experienced in his own personal life, but Marco’s music has evolved and The Midnight
Room is a departure from the band’s trademark sound. While the psychedelic references are still there, they are more oblique than ever. This time the music pulses
with a nocturnal, feverish, hallucinatory emotional atmosphere, making for a truly unique aural experience.
Informed by a deep love for American ‘50s rock n’ roll and European musicians like Nino Rota and Kurt Weill, The Midnight Room is by far the most personal
Jennifer Gentle album to date. Focusing on the possibilities of the quintessential rock combo (two guitars, bass and drums) and enriched by swirling keyboard
touches (plus the demonic bell heard on “Granny’s House”), Marco has created an album that feels like music from some forgotten amusement park at midnight.
The results are ten, tight, visionary tales of the mysterious and the grotesque, twisting and turning in the most unpredictable ways with intricate guitar interplay and
weird rhythmic patterns.
Opener “Twin Ghosts” is a darkly soft paean to the night, sounding like an improbable meeting between Ricky Nelson and Nico. And there’s so much more here:
the baroque counterpoints on “Quarter to Three,” the limping pop hooks of “Electric Princess,” the nightmarish Beefheart-ian stomp of “Telephone Ringing,” and
the ghostly fanfare of “Mercury Blood.” Every track is a surprise, the album a carousel of carefully built melodies, recurring musical themes, dizzying
arrangements, and tricky sonic solutions. And all of it is paired with Marco’s chameleon-like vocal performances—detached and shadowy on “The Ferryman,”
marionette-like on “Take My Hand,” darkly ominous on the sci-fi imbued “Come Closer.”
Evoking bizarre, otherworldly images of gas-lit street corners, abandoned theatres, labyrinthine corridors, The Midnight Room marries the intensity of primitive
rock ‘n roll with a renewed taste for a certain kind of typically Italian melody–albeit deconstructed, shattered and broken into tiny little bits. Think of Link Wray,
Krysztof Komeda and Federico Fellini rolled into one short, dense, cryptic tour de force. In other words, this is just another place in the strange, strange land
Jennifer Gentle are exploring album after album.
Jennifer Gentle live are Marco Fasolo (vocals & guitars), Andrea Garbo (guitars & vocals), Francesco Candura (bass, acoustic guitar & vocals), Liviano Mos
(keyboards), Paolo Mongardi (drums & percussion).
Midnight Room.
Since _Valende_’s 2005 release (the first album by an Italian band ever released on Sub Pop), they’ve kept themselves quite busy. In addition to international
touring in the US, UK, EU and most recently China, they’ve put out a couple of more experimental releases with the recent A New Astronomy CD, and last year’s
Sacramento Sessions limited-edition LP on the Italian label A Silent Place. As well, US label Empyrean Records has plans for a 2007 re-release of their second
album Funny Creatures Lane, and they’ve also been recording the soundtrack for a documentary about legendary British producer Joe Meek.
Other things happened too: drummer Alessio Gastaldello left the band and Jennifer Gentle is now solely the project of founder and songwriter Marco Fasolo. Marco
wrote, performed and produced the entire new album alone in his Ectoplasmic Studio, a rambling old house lost in the foggy plains of Northern Italy, infamous for
its previous owner’s suicide by rifle.
Maybe it was because of the isolated location or a result of the turmoil he experienced in his own personal life, but Marco’s music has evolved and The Midnight
Room is a departure from the band’s trademark sound. While the psychedelic references are still there, they are more oblique than ever. This time the music pulses
with a nocturnal, feverish, hallucinatory emotional atmosphere, making for a truly unique aural experience.
Informed by a deep love for American ‘50s rock n’ roll and European musicians like Nino Rota and Kurt Weill, The Midnight Room is by far the most personal
Jennifer Gentle album to date. Focusing on the possibilities of the quintessential rock combo (two guitars, bass and drums) and enriched by swirling keyboard
touches (plus the demonic bell heard on “Granny’s House”), Marco has created an album that feels like music from some forgotten amusement park at midnight.
The results are ten, tight, visionary tales of the mysterious and the grotesque, twisting and turning in the most unpredictable ways with intricate guitar interplay and
weird rhythmic patterns.
Opener “Twin Ghosts” is a darkly soft paean to the night, sounding like an improbable meeting between Ricky Nelson and Nico. And there’s so much more here:
the baroque counterpoints on “Quarter to Three,” the limping pop hooks of “Electric Princess,” the nightmarish Beefheart-ian stomp of “Telephone Ringing,” and
the ghostly fanfare of “Mercury Blood.” Every track is a surprise, the album a carousel of carefully built melodies, recurring musical themes, dizzying
arrangements, and tricky sonic solutions. And all of it is paired with Marco’s chameleon-like vocal performances—detached and shadowy on “The Ferryman,”
marionette-like on “Take My Hand,” darkly ominous on the sci-fi imbued “Come Closer.”
Evoking bizarre, otherworldly images of gas-lit street corners, abandoned theatres, labyrinthine corridors, The Midnight Room marries the intensity of primitive
rock ‘n roll with a renewed taste for a certain kind of typically Italian melody–albeit deconstructed, shattered and broken into tiny little bits. Think of Link Wray,
Krysztof Komeda and Federico Fellini rolled into one short, dense, cryptic tour de force. In other words, this is just another place in the strange, strange land
Jennifer Gentle are exploring album after album.
Jennifer Gentle live are Marco Fasolo (vocals & guitars), Andrea Garbo (guitars & vocals), Francesco Candura (bass, acoustic guitar & vocals), Liviano Mos
(keyboards), Paolo Mongardi (drums & percussion).
| Jennifer Gentle |
Singles:
Evanescent Land EP
Full Lengths:
Valende
The Wrong Cage: Jennifer Gentle and
Kawabata Makoto Live
Funny Creatures Lane
I Am You Are
Sacramento Sessions 5 of 3
A New Astronomy
The Midnight Room
Evanescent Land EP
Full Lengths:
Valende
The Wrong Cage: Jennifer Gentle and
Kawabata Makoto Live
Funny Creatures Lane
I Am You Are
Sacramento Sessions 5 of 3
A New Astronomy
The Midnight Room
Photo and text used with the permission of Sub Pop Records
Lovewhip’s new album, Love Electric,
is a futuristic dance party complete
with unicorns, icebots, intrigue, and
rock'n'roll! Each song on the album is
chock full of catchy hooks, mixing
dancehall reggae with disco, pop and
rock. http://www.Lovewhip.net
is a futuristic dance party complete
with unicorns, icebots, intrigue, and
rock'n'roll! Each song on the album is
chock full of catchy hooks, mixing
dancehall reggae with disco, pop and
rock. http://www.Lovewhip.net
| links and keywords to other parts of this site: Arkansas DJ Service : DJ Service Arkansas Oldies DJ : Oldies DJ Arkansas Professional Photographer : Professional Photographer Arkansas School Photographer : School Photographer Arkansas Wedding DJ : Wedding DJ Arkansas Wedding Photographer: Wedding Photographer |
| Hot Springs, AR - Little Rock, AR - Conway, AR - Fayetteville, AR - Fort Smith, AR - Jonesboro, AR - Pine Bluff, AR - Texarkana, AR |
It can be easy, sometimes, to forget where you started. When the goal that you set out to create no longer carries any resemblance to
the original plan, and the finished product is as much of a surprise as it is a completion. In a lot of ways that was how Keep in Mind
Frankenstein came to be.
Singer-guitarist Mat Brooke had big plans for Grand Archives’ sophomore album. The band had written a slew of new songs, and
honed them during sound checks around the world. They were good to go. And when they entered the studio and the tapes started
rolling?
“It sounded kind of… Like guys who don’t really play rock music trying to rock out,” confesses Mat.
Their record, it seems, had very different plans for how it wanted to sound. Except for “Dig That Crazy Grave,” a buoyant ditty
redolent of Southern California and summer afternoons, all the material originally slated for the album wound up on the cutting room
floor. Yet as the earlier songs fell away, new ones were composed to take their place. “And the record took on a new identity,” says
Mat, “a little darker than the first album.”
Sometimes the group had barely scanned the lyrics before they stepped into the vocal booth to record harmonies. “As opposed to
singing like you’ve practiced the song for a year, we were singing each one like it was the first time… because it really was,” says
Mat. Not that he’s complaining. “This sounds a lot more alive.”
The album’s finest moments include several happy accidents; little ideas nurtured with help from producer Ben Kersten (who also
recorded The Grand Archives, the band’s 2008 debut) and recording pal Ron Lewis. One example: After the addition of cello and
accordion, a late-night ukulele improvisation blossomed into the bittersweet elegy “Topsy’s Revenge,” inspired by the infamous 1903
newsreel footage of Thomas Edison electrocuting a rogue Coney Island elephant.
A few friends dropped by. Brooke’s former Carissa’s Wierd cohorts, Jenn Ghetto and Sera Cahoone, sang backing vocals. The
gorgeous streaks of pedal steel across the late-night saloon scene of “Oslo Novelist” come courtesy of Jason Kardong. But for the
most part, Grand Archives played everything. Especially the weird bits. Jeff built a mammoth glass harp, mounting multiple wine
glasses on a plank, filling them with liquid, and rubbing the rims with his fingertips to make noise. “Then he put it in the back of his
truck one day and drove off and smashed it to pieces.” A cut-rate Theremin—“this piece of junk from a Radio Shack somewhere in
the ‘80s”-—pops up on several songs, too.
Keep in Mind Frankenstein, like much of its predecessor, was crafted at Paradise Sound in Index, WA. “Index has one of the most
haunted houses in America,” discloses Mat. One night, late, they ventured into the old mining town, and into the site of a notorious
double suicide. It turns out they weren’t the first pilgrims. “It was insane. There were Bibles open on the bed, and flowers strewn
everywhere. We all felt a little haunted that week.” The stately “Siren Echo Valley Pt. 1” and its lurching waltz-time sequel were
hatched in the wake of those nocturnal antics.
Having enjoyed a fair amount of media attention before their debut album was even finished, Mat hopes the next stage of Grand
Archives’ journey will be mellower. “All bands should be allowed to have the joy of being a new band. We’d like to come in under the
radar on this record.” At least, that’s the plan. Plans sometimes change.
the original plan, and the finished product is as much of a surprise as it is a completion. In a lot of ways that was how Keep in Mind
Frankenstein came to be.
Singer-guitarist Mat Brooke had big plans for Grand Archives’ sophomore album. The band had written a slew of new songs, and
honed them during sound checks around the world. They were good to go. And when they entered the studio and the tapes started
rolling?
“It sounded kind of… Like guys who don’t really play rock music trying to rock out,” confesses Mat.
Their record, it seems, had very different plans for how it wanted to sound. Except for “Dig That Crazy Grave,” a buoyant ditty
redolent of Southern California and summer afternoons, all the material originally slated for the album wound up on the cutting room
floor. Yet as the earlier songs fell away, new ones were composed to take their place. “And the record took on a new identity,” says
Mat, “a little darker than the first album.”
Sometimes the group had barely scanned the lyrics before they stepped into the vocal booth to record harmonies. “As opposed to
singing like you’ve practiced the song for a year, we were singing each one like it was the first time… because it really was,” says
Mat. Not that he’s complaining. “This sounds a lot more alive.”
The album’s finest moments include several happy accidents; little ideas nurtured with help from producer Ben Kersten (who also
recorded The Grand Archives, the band’s 2008 debut) and recording pal Ron Lewis. One example: After the addition of cello and
accordion, a late-night ukulele improvisation blossomed into the bittersweet elegy “Topsy’s Revenge,” inspired by the infamous 1903
newsreel footage of Thomas Edison electrocuting a rogue Coney Island elephant.
A few friends dropped by. Brooke’s former Carissa’s Wierd cohorts, Jenn Ghetto and Sera Cahoone, sang backing vocals. The
gorgeous streaks of pedal steel across the late-night saloon scene of “Oslo Novelist” come courtesy of Jason Kardong. But for the
most part, Grand Archives played everything. Especially the weird bits. Jeff built a mammoth glass harp, mounting multiple wine
glasses on a plank, filling them with liquid, and rubbing the rims with his fingertips to make noise. “Then he put it in the back of his
truck one day and drove off and smashed it to pieces.” A cut-rate Theremin—“this piece of junk from a Radio Shack somewhere in
the ‘80s”-—pops up on several songs, too.
Keep in Mind Frankenstein, like much of its predecessor, was crafted at Paradise Sound in Index, WA. “Index has one of the most
haunted houses in America,” discloses Mat. One night, late, they ventured into the old mining town, and into the site of a notorious
double suicide. It turns out they weren’t the first pilgrims. “It was insane. There were Bibles open on the bed, and flowers strewn
everywhere. We all felt a little haunted that week.” The stately “Siren Echo Valley Pt. 1” and its lurching waltz-time sequel were
hatched in the wake of those nocturnal antics.
Having enjoyed a fair amount of media attention before their debut album was even finished, Mat hopes the next stage of Grand
Archives’ journey will be mellower. “All bands should be allowed to have the joy of being a new band. We’d like to come in under the
radar on this record.” At least, that’s the plan. Plans sometimes change.
Photo and text used with the permission of Sub Pop Records
| Grand Archives |
Indie quintet led by Seth Richardson's powerful and unique vocal talent.
Electric viola acts as an infectious counterpoint to vocals while bass acts
as a tertiary melodic voice with guitar and drums making unusual rhythmic
team.
Voices in the Trees began as the mellow songwriter project of
singer/guitarist Seth Richardson and bassist Gary Brown, but from the
beginning the group was destined for something even more awesome.
Gary recruited the buy-one-get-one-free pair of Mollie Harrison on the
viola and drummer Patrick Harrison to fill out the line-up, and later
Bradford Sims was recruited on the guitar to allow Seth more vocal
freedom.
Such a collection of strongly opinionated, creative minds from such varied
musical backgrounds forged a multifaceted, dynamic blend of raw
alternative rock and folksy, world-music influences that cannot be
duplicated. After several months of serious gigging, tireless rehearsals,
and a rough demo to refine their sound, Voices in the Trees entered the
studio to record their first album: The Death of Viola, a long running
project and an important learning experience for everyone involved that
the band is pleased to finally release to their hungry fan base.
But just hearing the album is not truly experiencing Voices in the Trees,
as the recordings pale in comparison to the live show. With the band
firmly established for over a year now, Voices in the Trees has begun
branching out to play shows outside of the Birmingham area and create
converts as far as their sound will reach.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Voices-in-the-Trees/101308731171
Electric viola acts as an infectious counterpoint to vocals while bass acts
as a tertiary melodic voice with guitar and drums making unusual rhythmic
team.
Voices in the Trees began as the mellow songwriter project of
singer/guitarist Seth Richardson and bassist Gary Brown, but from the
beginning the group was destined for something even more awesome.
Gary recruited the buy-one-get-one-free pair of Mollie Harrison on the
viola and drummer Patrick Harrison to fill out the line-up, and later
Bradford Sims was recruited on the guitar to allow Seth more vocal
freedom.
Such a collection of strongly opinionated, creative minds from such varied
musical backgrounds forged a multifaceted, dynamic blend of raw
alternative rock and folksy, world-music influences that cannot be
duplicated. After several months of serious gigging, tireless rehearsals,
and a rough demo to refine their sound, Voices in the Trees entered the
studio to record their first album: The Death of Viola, a long running
project and an important learning experience for everyone involved that
the band is pleased to finally release to their hungry fan base.
But just hearing the album is not truly experiencing Voices in the Trees,
as the recordings pale in comparison to the live show. With the band
firmly established for over a year now, Voices in the Trees has begun
branching out to play shows outside of the Birmingham area and create
converts as far as their sound will reach.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Voices-in-the-Trees/101308731171
| Alt. Rock from Voices In The Trees |