Marcus Eads - Saint Francis River Basin (2016)

This is not the first time I have taken a break from frequently posting on this blog (much thanks to Larry for keeps things from going completely dark). In fact I've found it a requirement that I step back and focus elsewhere, especially at transitionary periods of my life. I could go on by my job changes all that shit but really I am looking forward to not sweating that at all and just sitting around with some new music again. We'll begin with the basics this time, the very condensed and beautiful basics of American Primitive music.

I hope you've all remembered to regularly listen to the illustrious music of John Fahey, for it is central to getting the most out of this album. Like all players of American Primitive music, Marcus Eads owes much to Fahey's synthesis of the folk traditions of the United States. Though as we all know time has kept going and Eads has the influences of other finger-picking guitarists and popular music of the last decades. Still I believe you'll hear much of the simple folk traditions in these songs. These tracks are just guitar, played with open tuning and picked by his skillful fingers. If uninitiated to the style it may seem old-fashioned, but keen listeners will notice the degree of progressiveness that innate to the semi-improvised and every evolving sounds a well-handled acoustic guitar can offer. I haven't much more to say than I enjoying this album immensely.

Marcus Eads is from Seattle originally but now lives in Minnesota, something he shares with another of my favorite contemporary American Primitivists, Steve Palmer. Saint Francis River Basin has been released by the Manchester, UK based North Country Primitive and as of writing this still for sale as a compact disc or digitally.

To be had here:
Marcus Eads - Saint Francis River Basin

Oh K - Yes, Naked Empire (2015)

Long have I been a fan of bedroom pop, weird folk and other manner of eccentric songwriters. They send in music from all over the place, all different and strange in their own ways. It can't help but have a personal imprint, not requiring more than an inspired individual with a guitar, computer and whatever other instruments one has around to begin recording.

Yet nothing exists in a void and the human mind is programmed to seek patterns. Other than the clear debt to prior singer-songwriters and the internet being able to spread music that would likely have been limited to homemade cassettes passed out to friends, there's a changing aesthetic all this access to technology and music sharing has created.  The ease of adding effects and layering techniques has made psychedelic and spacey sounds near ubiquitous. However, it's not deployed with universal skill, but luckily the selections I'm sent tend to show exceptional well.

Enter Oh K, a Perth resident whose own description of his music is "Screwed up folk laptop tape machine lo-fi acoustic-y echo-y bottle top buzzsaw magpie dreams." I couldn't improve upon that if I wanted to. Yes, Naked Empire is a short album but Oh K manages to fit a lot in without overcomplicating the songs. At there core the tracks are acoustic guitar and soft singing, going to show the additional life a bedroom engineer is capable breathing into songs. The briefness of the album is something of an asset, it makes re-listening easy and prevents any of the many small lovely things tucked into the songs from being overlooked.

To be had here:
Oh K - Yes, Naked Empire

Acessórios Essenciais - Sinais de Ocupação Humana (2015)

I love Brazilian music and if I had more time and energy I'd devote much more of this blog to writing up all the great music coming out of the Latin American powerhouse. That said, I wish I had a more expansive knowledge of Brazilian bands to reference whenever I want to share one. I can't imagine it means much to group from Rio De Janeiro to be compared to Os Mutantes or Gal Costa. That'd be like saying an English band is like the Rolling Stones or the Beatles. So I'm gonna resist the easy out, and when you're telling all your friends about this great album try to do the same. And you just might wanna do that.

Acessórios Essenciais are indeed from Rio De Janeiro. They music is acoustically based and relies heavily on dual singing from a singer of each gender. The songs are kinda strange, of the sort that if it was an North American band I'd call it freak folk or new weird america, for while the acoustic guitar and vocals are the core there's plenty of uncommon and sporadic instrumentation to be heard on Sinais de Ocupação Humana. They've sprinkled in sounds of cymbal crashing, horns murmuring, maracas and tambourines rattling along with any manner of whistling. While it can appear as a cacophonous arrangement at first, the inconsistency really makes the album more memorable and enjoyable than it'd otherwise be. Maybe my favorite song at the moment is bit more conventional "Bike da Babi" but he seems to say "welcome to Mississippi" toward the end and I found that adorable.

Thanks again to my friend Barbara for sending me this great Brazilian album, which if we're all lucky won't be the last.

To be had here:
Acessórios Essenciais - Sinais de Ocupação Humana

Eating Cake with Friends - Fork Your Tongue, Hold Your Breath (2015)

I like that despite the fact that I've got more music sitting on a hard drive on my office desk and even without it I have more music than I can ever get to hear merely from submitted albums that I can still lament that a beautiful album is finished all too quickly. Fork Your Tongue, Hold Your Breath provoked this convivially delirious affect in me.

These are songs of a Swedish man opening himself up quite admirably. His submission email was very brief, giving only the details that he recorded to on one track, the microphone was stolen, and that he's had some troubles in life. Haven't we all got troubles? However, he's got some talent to balance it out with, apparent through these murkily recorded songs. Simple in structure, the tracks haven't much more than his voice, an acoustic guitar, and some occasional keys and percussion. Naturally, the lo-fi recording technique adds a warm, cozy buzz. The songs, and especially his vocal delivery, are exceedingly lovely and without need of embellishment. It also sent me back to listen to the music of his fellow Swede, Horrible Houses. They're very much of the same gloomy folk vein. And one could cast back for references to the lauded Nick Drake or the Canadian outfit Timber Timbre, keeping in mind that Eating Cake with Friends is far more stripped down and lo-fi than either.

To be had here:
Eating Cake with Friends - Fork Your Tongue, Hold Your Breath

Patient Barney Penrose - Kirilov (2014)

Not sure what it is but I've felt myself slowing down just a bit lately. That goes for most everything except what I'm forcing myself to keep up with for work. But I am getting out of bed later, drinking less beer and wine (you know, leaving some for another day), and enjoying slower, lyrical songs more than I had in the past. Knowing myself this is a brief stop on a cycle that'll keep spinning until I stop living, I've taken strides to take it all in. Thusly, Patient Barney Penrose's harmonious folk songs showed up at exactly the right time for me.

Kirilov has some genuinely beautiful folk songs. Rather stripped down sort of folk music, the type that seem like it was shyly thought up in a bedroom only later to be fleshed out into the melodic pieces presented here. The singer-songwriter is a Virginian living in Richmond and this is far from his first release but hardly the least notable. Indeed he appeared back in 2013 in a Grab Bag written by Elvis. There's no sugarcoating it, pilgrims, this is sentimental, one could even say sappy, folk. Yet, as I have always thought, anything but ska can be good if done well and this dude is real good. "Orchid's Song" has got to be my favorite, with the ambient sounds sprinkled in there that remind me of Mickey Newbury. Furthermore, the fiddle on "Wishbone" is capable of stealing the show. Check it out, it won't bum you out too much, rather to the just right bummed out mood.

To be had here:
Patient Barney Penrose - Kirilov

Happy Sadness - The Long Play LP (2015)

Happy Sadness is maybe my favorite name for a musical project that I've heard in a long time. Two words that are a whole philosophy, albeit one that many don't get and those they embrace it still have questions about.

The Long Play LP is not just a cutely redundant name, it is an accurate description of the length of the album. It is a lengthy listen with sixteen tracks, plenty that are over five minutes. This means there's a bunch of material through which to acquaint oneself with Happy Sadness. Far from the worst thing I can imagine, in fact seeing as I am writing it up I was fond of the experience. A very varied experience at that. The songs do not adhere to a style across the album, rather the songwriter tries his hand at many folky acoustic, warped psychedelic, and others shimmering pop songs. While I recommend the whole album, the songs that truly stood out for me were "We Fall As We Rise" and "The Night Has Woken" as wonderful examples of surreal folk dreamscapes. Finally, Happy Sadness reminds me of Pete Dello, which is great quality in anything, though more serious in some ways. Not too serious however, for who need that shit?

To be had here:
Happy Saddness - The Long Play LP

EP Grab Bag vol. 86

What we have here is a little exercise in Scandinavian-American relations. I have taken to calling this "Scando-Amero Amigos" in my mind. Hope that particular coinage makes it into the zeitgeist. Three EPs from the United States plus one each from Sweden and Finland. A transatlantic mixing of artistic, chaotic, acoustic and psychedelic sounds.

To be had here:

This Heel - e.p. (2015)

All the way from Malmö, Sweden we've got some sweet noise pop. Three tracks that are full of exciting fuzz and some excellent bass rumbling beneath, then an acoustic number that's all the remarkably sweet after experiencing the energetic songs before it. This nine minute EP shows they've got the chops for both noise pop or folk. If you a fan of lo-fi rock you gotta at least treat yourself to "A Man In The Mirror." I can't get it out of my head. Also, This Heel is a side project of Dog, Paper, Submarine and will be put out by Small Bear Records.

Sun Cinema - Symmetry (2014)

I stumbled upon this Philadelphia band looking for I forget what... Doesn't matter what I was looking because I found Sun Cinema. They've got all sorts of tags on this that seem like nonsense to me, for they're not funk or garage, rather they seem like an artsy indie rock outfit. And they're fucking good at that, so it's nothing to hide under a bushel basket. The songs are fantastically well composed. They seem like the exact sort of thing that could attract a lot of attention and playtime by more than just a no-name blogger like myself.

YoloSuicide - i listened to your answering machine, got nervous and hung up (2014)

YoloSuicide is a woman from Postdam, New York that is expressing herself the best she can with a few short songs concerning this damnably confusing concepts of love and sadness. Seem sappy? Sure it is a bit, but also beautiful and simple. These are as much poems recited aloud with a guitar strumming as they are songs. It certainly helps that she is a good poet, at least according to my sensibilities. Only a coldhearted fool couldn't help but be charmed by them at least a little bit.

Lasten Hautausmaa - Lasten Hautausmaa (2014)

I can't say the name of this band, nor can I understand the Finnish that they sing in. No surprises there, but also unshockingly I fucking love this EP. Finding it was no accident is related to an envisioned series of posts I have been pondering, but for now we need to focus on Lasten Hautausmaa. It has got it all, melodic and entrancing vocals in an language you can't even pretend to get over a mixture of folk, rock and world elements into something unbelievably righteous. If the first tune, "Kiputyttö," doesn't hook you then you may be dead inside.

SPANYURD - OOW EP (2014)

It has been some time since I have post any noise rock this harsh. I mean this shit is Lightning Bolt, Le Shok or Lake of Dracula harsh. It is near utter chaos that only lets up so the singer can give you the whillies with how he gets all creepy. So yeah, it is pretty damned cool. Came to be by way of Evan Lacksmer who plays in this and a few other Chicago outfits and is buddies with math rock duo, Imelda Marcos. After hearing this your might question who would be friends with such a fella, but don't worry he won't come to your house as you enjoy the noise. I don't think he will at least.

Galápagos Finches - The Genetics of Folk Music (2013)

At the behest of Modern Folk I've taken another look at the independent label, Sioux Trails. They put out the remarkable album by the Glass Men that Elvis wrote up back in the spring. This time I've chosen to listen to the folk musician that releases under the name Galápagos Finches.

Although Galápagos Finches is an acoustic folk project on the face of it, the themes of the songs are reversed from what one might expect. They're not homesick and longing for return as often as mourning never having a chance to have yet explored. He sings of personal independence, emigrating from the USA and a restless melancholy that's resigned to lonesomeness and heartbreak. I know this seems like a major bummer, and truthfully the songs aren't cheerful but they are beautifully accurate and expressive of the self-doubt felt by the doleful, among which I'd include myself. It's a gloomy reflection on the limitations of one's own life and not getting stressed out and worried about it all, rather a consoling knowledge of seeing things as they are for both oneself and many others. In this state of mind daydreaming takes on a paramount significance in its ability to reintroduce glimmers of hope and whiffs of happy musings. All of this emotional cycling is wonderfully covered in these songs, and done with more classy and skill than my words are portraying. I believe should you listen to this album, and see what he's singing about and what the music is evoking, it'll leave you better off than it found you, even if there are bleak moments in-between. 

To be had here:
Galápagos Finches - The Genetics of Folk Music

EP Grab Bag vol. 72

What we have here is an all European Grab Bag. As these are what was in the submitted material and what I have been fixated on personally for months now. I cannot get enough of European garage rock and basically anything lo-fi, psych or likewise. So tour Europe with me from French-German joint endeavors to Finland and back to darling Spain, not in that order for whatever reason.

To be had here:

Carton Sonore & Broken Jokes - Sleeping Water (2014)

Similar to the Italian-Turkish collaboration on Yellow, this release is a result of the combined multinational efforts of one man each from Paris and another in Berlin. Also, I'd say there's a folksy, acoustic nature with a purposefully Eastern style to both releases that further the association, but here the tracks are instrumental other than some vocal sounds that are sampled and altered in an artful fashion. Reminds one of a Hawk and a Hacksaw, especially the more striped down first album. Only six short songs left me eager to hear more, so hopefully they'll put our more through With A Messy Head (the label putting this out and the previously posted Monster Surprise).

Chickn - Single #2 (2014)

Sure, this is technically a single yet the songs are long so I believe that it qualifies for the Grab Bag easily. Plus after hearing the songs I could not pass up a chance to talk them up. Chickn is an duo from Athens, Greece who are still recent to pulling material out as you can tell. However, you'd ever be able to tell by the bluesy, kraut/psych/garage rock they've got in these 13 minutes of music. High quality, but lo-fi, as it should be.

Tropicalianegra - Tropicalianegra (2013)

Tropicalianegra is a band that appears to be made up of members of various other groups in separate towns in Spain. The at least got working together long enough to make these four very lo-fi garage rock tracks and get them put out on the Sevilla-based Saturno Records. The songs are fast and punk in tone, and of course I don't know what the fuck they're singing about, but I prefer it that way. Thought it was a short but awesome EP and we can only hope they want to make a longer release that'll be as sweet some time in the future.

Dot Dash - Dot Dash 7" (2014)

Viennese band that makes post-punk flavored pop tunes. I was trying to come up with something they're akin to and tonight the best I could come up with is Stereo Total, the Franco-German band that made weird electronic pop tunes like a decade ago. Dot Dash does sound more subtle than that band yet just as catchy. The seven inch is put out by the Austrian fettkakao, who seems to be a man and a label at same time. Either that or someone isn't good at translating.

The Achtungs - The Achtungs EP (2013)

Finnish punk rockers the Achtungs are incredibly lo-fi. The sound is like a 90s garage punk album from the Midwest or Southern United States, but is totally what these northern Europeans are up to right now, at least this band, and for that I am exceedingly happy. Looks like it was originally put released last year but was re-issued but attempts to find a non-digital version where a nonstarter for me. Maybe some Finnish reader out there knows better. Anyhow, they also put out a 7" recently that keeps up the same momentum called Total Punk.

Beyza and the Man with his Broken Piano - Yellow (2013)

Yellow is a stunning folksy, lo-fi acoustic album. It's a collaborative effort of a Turkish Beyza and the Italian who releases his music as the Man with his Broken Piano. Now the Man with his Broken Piano has been featured on SRM in the past with a couple of EPs he recently released and submitted. This album I was in the dark about however, as it wasn't submitted to my knowledge and I happened across in while looking for something completely unrelated. Yet with a long and distinctive name as he goes by it was obvious we were dealing with the same fellow.

I've been listening to this album over and over through the last couple of days, as I get a lot of listening in while reading or playing this video game where I am Batman and I beat up people (I'm not good at either one of those hobbies so they take some time). It isn't very much like the Man with his Broken Piano music that he did in his solo work, in fact besides being vaguely folk orientated it is very different. Perhaps this is due to Beyza, of whom I know nothing really beyond being Turkish. Regardless, Yellow is wonderful to hear: soft acoustics with electronic layered on top and in turns melancholy and buoyant. The competency of the songs in face of the remote collaboration is remarkable and every song is masterfully put together and can stand alone. The singer has an absolutely stunning voice and the tunes are hard to resist. Just fucking trust me on this one, it is about as swell as it gets.

To be had here:
Beyza and the Man with his Broken Piano - Yellow

EP Grab Bag vol. 68

I always feel very productive after I finish an EP Grab Bag, but I guess that is just imaginary it really just means I sat around and listened to a bunch of music. Does make me feel more worldly when I can get a large geographic span covered in the EPs, so that's something. Oh, and the music, the music is fucking good, that's why I do it, right?

To be had here:
Druggy Pizza - Chili Cheese Crust (2014)

This is the solo moniker of Cédric of most righteous French garage rock band Dusty Mush. I must imagine any diligent follower of SRM would be sold just by that, but in case you're head is in the sand I'll tell you more. Chili Cheese Crust are six short and loud tracks of very fuzzed out garage rock with lyrics that cannot be understood and moaning keyboard playing. Basically, the exact kind of squalid rock and roll that I thrive on. In particular give a listen to the amazing song, "I'm Cramped" for its simple effectiveness. Mind you this is his third EP as Druggy Pizza, so there's more to eat up.

Nick Oleksiak - Carrie (2014)

This is an EP I found when looking around on bandcamp. Carrie is five songs by a young man from Detroit that is studying music in Cincinnati (I guess they know shit down there). It is rather hard to describe the music generically, he even goes to the length to tag it "whatever i feel like" but it is certainly electronic pop music of some sort. Has a new wave-ish feeling. Perhaps one could call it  an updated 80s/post-disco thing. Whatever the fuck it is I caught my attention, the first and final songs of the EP in particular.

Boards - Care & Handling (2014)

A Norwich-based musical project with very stripped down instrumentation. Blends acoustic guitar and a few accompanying instruments with light electronic tones and beats. So in a reversal of my usual stance on vocals, it is really the singing that carries this EP from being a competent yet humble ambient release into something more beautiful. The overall effect of the songs is a mesmerizing calm, like a mediative piece, so when a spoken word story appears in the midst of the eponymous track I was very willing to hear it. Excellently done.


Garrett Linck and JESSIE'S BREATH - /Split/ (2014)

Garrett Linck, who you might recall from his solo work and in babydog, is back with a track on the two song split with another musician that goes by Jessie's Breath. Linck's track is a folksy indie rock tune that is very catchy as has become expected from that dude. Jessie's Breath matches it with his own lo-fi folk tune that's every inch as charming. Good combination for a split and looking forward to hearing more from each of these songwriters.

El General Villamil - Archipiélago 32' (2014)

This is basically an addendum to Amazing Larry's post of the city of Guayaquil, Ecuador. He found four really great acts from that city, and I was downloading them the other day and trying to see if I wanted to make an episode of the podcast out of the bands and I saw these guys pop up. More fucking garage rock that was so good I could not help myself but add it here. Old of my favorite parts is how on the bandcamp page they have an explaination of their name in Spanish even I can decipher: "El General Villamil fue el conquistador y primer gobernador del Archipiélago Galápagos en 1832"

Twin Man - Super Bowl 2 (2014)

What we've got here is a bizarre collection of improvised acoustic numbers done by a buddy of mine back in Michigan. I have posted up other work of his in the past, under a the name Forest Porridge. The songs are mostly sweet, very lo-fi recordings with whimsical lyrics that shows a real poetic if left-field artist. The first track does get racy (in more than one way), but one must expect the irreverent and tongue-in-cheek nature of such a song. Maybe it is my basis as a friend of his, but I find this sort of short-form composition very endearing and supremely easy to listen to repeatedly. I hope that some of you find it that way as well, because it really is a sort of an extreme of the outsider and under exposed sort of artwork that makes deep corners of the internet like this a real valuable asset.

To be had here:
Twin Man - Super Bowl 2

EP Grab Bag vol. 52

"These are not EPs!" you say? "Some of these are full records, don't you even know what an EP is?" says internet assholes? I sure do, but you can still go fuck yourself.

We are the Wooden Houses – Maya Devi/ Litanies of Satan (2013)

This group describes themselves as a mix of Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath. Initially, I found that preposterous. Yet, having reached the end of the record, those British acts absolutely come to mind as the construct forged around the acoustic guitar helps make the dreamscape they envisioned come to mind. No Ozzy connection however, and more Syd Barret than Roger Waters by the way, seeing that Waters is a dumb asshole.

Rockstar Astronaut – One Small Step 1

I will start by telling you that this is long as all hell. It also happens to be rather good. This German group has 2 discs full of beautiful ambient songs that are well constructed and purpose driven. This is not noise without a mission. Upon hitting the 13 minute mark on the first track, I knew I was in for a ride. Movie soundtrack, here this comes.

Pulse Emitter – Equinox (2013)

Having Tubular Bells in your collection used to make you an un-cool square in the punk community. “Studio produced music without soul!” they would say. Punks eventually grow up and discover that making pimp ass sounds isn't just for old men in a studio. Thankfully the kids these days don’t have an aversion to creating music that could serve as the background to a PBS NOVA special. This is great, and better yet, it is on cassette.

Cottons – Terrible Roars (2013)
Let’s end on a little guitar rock, shall we? This Connecticut native has found a home in Southern Cali as of late, but his twinkly guitar work and intricate guitar work could be placed in any local that values a nice pop-rock song. I loved this kind of thing as a kid, and they do it well. 

Velibor Nikolic - Covek Peva Posle Rata (2012)

Here we've got a solo album from Serbian musician Velibor Nickolic, who tells me he plays in a post-metal band called Brigand as well. Now the album gives me little reason to doubt his post-metal credentials, as one of the tracks falls rather squarely into that sort of jam. However, Nickolic doesn't hold himself to one genre by any means. In fact, the tracks I am finding most enjoyable are more what I'd call psych-folk with "Kauboj, Njegovo Dvoriste I Njegov Karton" and "7324" being good examples of this. In some ways it feels like modernistic version of Meic Stevens or Bröselmachine (I do apologize for my esoteric references, but foreign lyrics in folk takes my memories to tucked away places). In addition, the opening song is more experimental and mildly ambient. Basically, the guy's putting up a solid musical resume and it'd be cool to hear what'd he produce if he focused in on a fully psychedelic project. 

To be had here:
Velibor Nikolic - Covek Peva Posle Rata [320/256 kbps]

Ryan Trott - Wild Wonder (2011)

A submission that came with good timing. As the post on Elf Power might suggest I've had a hankering for some psychedelic pop music. Ryan Trott has released this album on bandcamp (not for free, mind you, sorry about that jazz) riddled with a mess of sweet ditties of Elephant 6-esque lo-fi pop. Perhaps most like The Sixth Great Lake or The Sunshine Fix's A Spiraling World of Pop because of the acoustic element to his songs. However, I don't have to portray Trott as any carbon copy of E6 or other previous acts. He's definitely got his own voice and style that does well by incorporating good influences. Sure they songs aren't wildly unique, but they're well written and refreshing. I found them acutely charming in fact. Gave the whole thing two complete listens in a row I liked it enough.

To be had here:
Ryan Trott - Wild Wonder

John Fahey - The Yellow Princess (1968)

It's been a while since I told everyone how much I enjoy John Fahey's guitar playing. A long bit ago I posted his The Voice of the Turtle, which remains one of my all time favorite albums. Fahey's personal story is nearly a dramatic and interesting as his music too. He was rather down and out for a period, having lost what I think was his third wife and being terribly ill, broke and nearly homeless. This was reversed in with a upswing in his popularity with a new generation of music fans in the final decade of his life. Though this didn't prevent him from writing a book entitled How Bluegrass Music Destroyed My Life. That book is gonna top my Christmas list this year for sure. The Yellow Princess actually came out the same year as The Voice of the Turtle, along with two other albums. It's likewise a golden example of of Fahey's steel-stringed brilliance as a master of folk music. Sometimes it is consider some of his more stunningly technical work. So yeah, dog, it is the bee's knees.

To be had here:
John Fahey - The Yellow Princess [192 kbps]

Caetano Veloso - Transa (1972)

Unwilling to let go of the summer and think of coming cold days of autumn, I want to post more Brazilian music. Transa is perhaps my favorite album I've heard by Caetano Veloso, and the one I most frequently recommend to my friends. Not as revolutionary and excitingly eccentric as some of his Tropicália albums, it is a brilliant display of just how good a musician Veloso is regardless of genre or style he's aiming for. The first album he recorded after his exile to England, Transa exhibited some influence from British rock and roll. It doesn't get hard or heavy, rather it is a mellower, paced sound in some songs, but he does sing in English and uses more directly western patterns in some tracks. "Nostalgia" in particular shows this. "It's a Long Way" is an example of how he'd maintained the Tropicália style as well. However, my favorite is "Mora Na Filosofia" which I consider one the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. Naturally, there are political messages to be found by those attuned to such matters, but they're cloaked more heavily than previous songs. After all, he did just return from a self-imposed exile because of the fears of repressions of being outspoken.

To be had here:
Caetano Veloso - Transa [256 kbps]

Honeyboy Edwards - Mississippi Delta Bluesman (1979)

Honeyboy Edwards died recently, and he was the last of the bluesmen to come up out of the Mississippi Delta spread their music throughout North America and beyond. Edwards played with the likes of Robert Johnson and Son House and stuck true to the slower, simple style of making blues. NPR had a good story aired about his wherein he offers his opinion on how the blues ought to be done. They'll do a better job getting anyone up to speed on the significance of Honeyboy Edwards than I would. What I can tell you is that I can find myself sitting in a dark room at midnight listening to Delta blues not having realized five hours passed and I drank all my beer. If everything was that naturally conducive to that behavior my liver would've given out already, but it is a fine experience every now and again.

To be had here:
Honeyboy Edwards - Mississippi Delta Bluesman [320 kbps]

EP Grab Bag vol. 3

More EPs, all of these expect Bass Drum of Death were submitted to me. Sorry if you sent it in and it took some time to show up; I sorta let the smaller releases pile up so I can make an grab bag post. Also all are through bandcamp save the aforementioned EP.

To be had here:


LVL UP - Singles (2011)

The fellow that sent this in is also a member of Spook Houses, whose fantastic EP was posted up here a couple months back. This is a short and sweet selection of 3 tracks from an upcoming cassette. There's splendid blend of lo-fi and pop-like qualities in their rock.

Bears In America - Bear Tracks (2011)

I was sent this EP without any information regarding who this band is. Decided to give it a go anyway and it was a pleasant experience. Three songs of dreamy, looping, and wandering ambient folk experiments.

Bass Drum of Death - High School Roaches EP (2010) [192 kbps]

Decided to toss this up because I have really been digging their full-length. More I listen to them the more I think of the early White Stripes, before shit got all messed up and costumes seemed more important than rock and roll.

Eastern Phoebes - Gypsy Paw (2011)

This is a new EP from an Long Island duo released on February Records. It's some cheerful sounding, if not lyrically so, indie pop. Reminds me of Math and Physics Club, Pas/Cal and even early Beulah.

The Diggers - Words of Wisdom (2011)

Sat on this EP for a bit, sorry again. Don't let my delay hold you back from snatching this up though. This EP is different from the others, and much of what I've posted lately. It's a softly recorded acoustic album that he's got tagged as psychedelic blues. Quite soothing of a listen.

Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison (1968) & At San Quentin (1969)

Having somewhat brunt myself out on trying to consume new music from submissions and that I sought of my own accord, it is sometimes nice to go back to familiar albums to reset. Johnny Cash has long been among the artists I use to clear my head and reassess why I bother after overwhelming my eardrums. As I am sure many people did, I grew up listening to Johnny Cash on my parents' vinyl records. I'll always remember a summer afternoon when my father got out his copy of Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison and simply said something to the effect of, "Country music sucks but I like Johnny Cash." The couple of albums he cut in the late 60s in California's Folsom and San Quentin prisons are among the very best work he ever produced. Functioning similar to a pair of "best of" albums, the tracks are favorites that he knew would please the prisoners and the record buying public alike. What really makes the albums extraordinary is hearing the howls and applause of the the inmates along with Cash's snide commentary aimed at the penitentiaries. Both are truly intimate and engaging and one of the few things that can make me jealous of those unfortunate souls stuck in the 1960s Californian correctional system. Finally, Cash is one of the few people I'll abide preaching the word of God at me and love it, as those inmates must've if their reactions are any indication.

To be had here:




At Folsom Prison [192 kbps]












At San Quentin [192 kbps]