Elmer and the Ceramic Trees - SaturdayNight Satellite (2014)

My coworker recently turned eighteen. He's a bright kid, someone with a lot of potential. Someone who should do more than drunkenly type up musing about songs on a blog and work a series of retail jobs like yours truly. I remember what it was like to be eighteen, wishing someone give me even the slightest of pointers in what is worth learning about and what culture will expand my horizons. I feel by default into plumping the depths of the internet for music and only later by happenstance of becoming a bookseller did I gain a love of literature. I gave him copies of The Stranger by Camus and a collection of Rimbaud's poetry hoping I wasn't dooming him to the depressive existential bouts I sometimes experience. Gotta learn that too though, I suppose. Nothing better to work through them than a musician expressing their gloomy mood in a most beautiful way.

The Wisconsin songwriter Robbie Haas, going by the lovely moniker Elmer and the Ceramic Trees, is just such a musician. I'm not gonna beat around the bush here. SaturdayNight Satellite is a magnificently composed album. It doesn't hold too tight to one genre, and the amount of production on the tracks varies considerably from stripped down folk-type songs to multifarious post-punk. Bears many of the features of sadcore bands like Great Lake Swimmers, Fred Thomas's Flashpapr and the more dejected tracks of The National. Though I can get why one might the sadcore tag, sounds silly. Add to that some gothic country twang, liberal use of a piano and deft application of the wall-of-sound, you'll end up with a better idea of Haas's astute approach. SaturdayNight Satellite's title track is fine place to begin as it's a long, melodic and varied exemplar of the interwoven aspects with which he's working. Outstanding songs are the noisy "Winterlong," the guitar-driven "Evening Prayer" and the comparatively pop-like  "The Way We Fall." Nevertheless, the morose "Take Me Drain Me" and "Gentle Hand" are more poetic, reminding me of the aforementioned sad literature I'm so fond of sharing.

To be had here:
Elmer and the Ceramic Trees - SaturdayNight Satellite

Amazing Larry's top 10 of 2014

Just a quick disclaimer, not everything listed was released in 2014, just posted to the blog in 2014.

What a big year for Spacerockmountain:

-We saw the introduction of the Spacerockmountain podcast, which has progressed from tired and drunk ramblings to sober and thoughtful interviews with some of our favorite artists as well as reviews of movies.

-The Scenes of a City series where we profile fantastic releases from artists all over the word.

-And probably the most prolific posting in general thanks to the blog founder Antarktikos. Seriously, near daily posts thanks to that busy motherfucker.

That said, it's been a challenge for myself to listen to everything on the blog. I'd ideally like to do a top 10 of everything posted, but since I'm most familiar with what I wrote about, here's a top 10 from my own posts over the year, in order from best to bestest:

10. Leptospirose - Tatuagem de Coqueiro

This is crossover thrash band from Sao Paulo, Brazil proves that it's not all about psychedelic, lo-fi, garage rock.... there's much appeal in that which is fast and furious. 

9. The Sin Veldt - S/T

The Sin Veldt are like 70's Rocky Erikson meets The Stooges. It's blues-influenced psych garage from NYC that's got more blood, grit and piss than Jack White's latest kidney stone... or record... or whatever.

8. Toads And Mice - S/T

This Dayton, Ohio-based band blew my mind when I stumbled across them this year. Having first learned to be a ravenous music listener in the 1990's, it always surprises me when I hear newer music reminiscent of that time. The meandering and melodic guitar lines, the crystalline and poetic vocal delivery ...this band and this record set a unique mood that harkens to a time when indie bands weren't afraid to get a little moody and add some interesting architecture to their songs. 

7. Underground River - Endless Air; the Other Side of Happenings

Largely the solo project of Hunter Davidsohn, Underground River is music for a rainy day. I mentioned in my original post that it reminded me of coffee shop music. It still does, but like the fucking best possible coffee shop music. Like you went down to the cafe to read a book and drink an espresso but then this amazing songwriter starts playing on the pseudo stage and both your espresso and your blood go cold.

6. Zageron - S/T

Didn't think it possible to love music like this at this point in my life. This band I first wrote about in my Scenes of a City post on the Lithuanian city of Vilnius. Zageron are just ridiculously enjoyable to listen to. I'm pretty sure the singer is Satan or at least Satan's first cousin. And I just love how the drums aren't blown out or ridiculously beefed up in the production like so many other death metal. And this drummer. Fucking shit. I love the drumming on this record.

5. Jesuslesfilles - Une Belle Table

Great Montreal rock band, I still stand by them being the perfect mix of The Strokes and Blonde Redhead. Great stuff that promises much more greatness in the future. 

4. The Salad Boys - S/T

A New Zealander by the name of Joe Sampson who may or may not run Melted Ice Cream Records is one of three behind this excellent self-titled by ChristChurch's Salad Boys. A rough diamond in the crown of that country's long history of pristine and clean indie rock purity. So damn good.

3. Small Teeth - Small Teeth Tape

Yet another Montreal band that shook my world, Small Teeth bring something unique to their sound. It's mostly song structure, because the instrumentation is conventional rock band. But the band also stands our with vocal delivery. I'm pulling my hair out waiting for more recordings from this fine band. Please hurry the fuck up, Small Teeth.

2. Roselit Bone - Blacken & Curl

I used to see these guys live as a 2 piece and they were amazing then. Now they have over 5 members and they are killing it. If out of town guests come to Portland, take them to Multnomah Falls, eat at a food cart, and take them to a Roselit Bone show. You can't lose.

1. Grime Kings - Honeymooning

There's no question in my mind which record is my favorite of 2014. Yet another fantastic release from eastern Canada, this time Grime Kings from Ottawa, just a short drive from Montreal. The recording project of Callum Runciman, a prolific and exceedingly talented songwriter and musician. It's rock music for those bored of rock music. Multilayered and strange, it's offers something new with each listen. If I had a record label and some money, I would throw it all at this guy.

Roselit Bone - Blacken & Curl (2014)

Fourth of July is here and it's time to blow shit up and cook dead things as we celebrate the surprisingly esoteric concept of "freedom". Some of us may actually feel some patriotism today, or  even bother reflecting on everything that lead to the current state of things. But most will use the day off as an excuse to drink themselves into a stupor under the guise of national pride, letting the troubles of yesterday drown in the swimming pool while tomorrow perpetually worries about itself.

My own pessimism over the topic reinforces my love for the gothic americana of Portland band, Roselit Bone. Singer/songwriter Joshua McCaslin paints bleak imagery of a world that is dry and desolate on opening track "Slow Hot Death", where everything we thought would save us, in the end, didn't.

"Our idols will be melted down or crushed, as we pray to them to turn back the tide. Our hearts will fall like rocks into the dust, when we learn that they were never on our side."

This is a repeated theme in Black & Curl, where idolatries of religion and love are painted as uncertain crutches. The music has range on the country spectrum, much more now that the group features a several new members. This is a departure from Roselit Bone's previous configuration as a guitar and drum duo. Here the sound is lush and full, complete with a pedal steel player and horn section: an addition that lends a cinematic quality to a group that was already something quite special to witness live (see also their live record Live At Ella Street Social Club record).

I almost never gush over lyrics but those written by McCaslin are perfect for this style of music, he's like a rabid poet of the prairie. Everything is stronger about the music on this release... and even though I've said before I'll say it again here: this is the best band in Portland right now.

Roselit Bone - Black & Curl

Roselit Bone - Live at Ella Street Social Club (2012)

In a city with so many musicians, it's surprising how uniform the music can sometimes feel. The venues, who only seem interested in booking indie/garage/punk bands, get the lion's share of blame. But, truth be told, so are the people that go to those venues ...those who'd rather feel their adrenaline surge than have their ears and, whatever's left in-between them, stimulated. 

This is why Roselit Bone, who play minimal gothic country with twinges of punk, are kind of a Portland anomaly. They often find themselves playing to these crowds and the audiences are usually more polite than ecstatic, which is a shame because this duo is something pretty special. 

Here's a live set they recently played in downtown Portland at a tiny venue called the Ella Street Social Club. One of the first things you'll notice is frontman Josh McCaslin's forceful, bellowing vocal delivery as he spits lyrics like "there are figures in the shadows of the seeping mist, that find you choking on your sorrows and the smell of piss". On other songs he's the opposite of this, crooning melodically over guitar lines that hint at Josh's skill at the instrument, which is most apparent in the ballad "My Coward Heart", a mellifluous song about the yearnings of a parasitic love. The crooning continues on the song that shares the band's name, where we're transported to a tragic scene as war has exiled a couple, "love me like you love the ocean, love me like you love the open sea, there are horses on the road and my legs are weak, love me, and stand up to meet them". 

This is not your bubbly, teenage love note … this is some epic shit.

Lyrics go on to weave images of desperation, death, and self-loathing. The songs are dark, but aren't completely without optimism. In the fantastic closer, "In My Egg", the narrator sees a pitiful old man crossing a bridge and thinks, "I hope I am not him one day, and that I still find some beauty - in the yellow lamplight of decay - in a dirty, rainy city." Well, maybe that's not very optimistic... but, as Anne Frank said, "Where there's hope, there's life."

Roselit Bone play around with folk and country traditions but inject it with dust, blood, gasoline, and tears. It's loud and rageful, it's quiet and solemn … it's probably one of the few bands, not just in Portland but in any city, keeping the flame of the oil lamp lit for this musical style and I cannot urge you enough to give them a listen.

Roselit Bone - Live at Ella Street Social Club