Tag: Psych folk

Categories
Playlists

Playlist: New tunes from 2023, part two

Happy Friday all!

For me, it’s an especially happy Friday because at the end of today’s work day, I’ll be off on vacation leave, taking a much needed break from the office and at the same time, these pages, for just over a week and a half. I’ll be sure to take full advantage of the time away and not think of anything except that moment and the next, and come back fully recharged and refreshed. But before I go, I’ve got one more blast of music to share with you all: part two of my ongoing New Music of 2023 playlist.

To be truthful, I can’t believe I’m posting another one if these already. I typically do each instalment of these four part series of new tunes for the year once every three months but it feels more like three minutes rather than months since the last time I did one. I can’t really recall very much of what I’ve done during the second quarter of 2023. It’s not that I haven’t appreciated each breath I’ve taken, moments shared with my lovely wife, etc and etc, but there’s been so much sameness, it’s hard to extract one moment from the next. It’s been working, eating, sleeping, and mostly more of the same.

Interestingly, the music I’ve been listening to hasn’t quite reflected this same feeling. It’s been for the most part very reflective and present and self-aware. Music that breathes with you and embraces you. It’s not something I purposely sought out but it found me nonetheless. Have a look through and see if you disagree, and don’t worry, it’s not all work and no play. There’s a bunch of fun jams thrown in there to shake things up for you as well.

But I won’t guide your thoughts too much, I’ll present the music that I’ve ridden on during these second three months of 2023. If you’re not sold on checking out all twenty-five, perhaps sample from a few of these highlights:

      • Daughter sets us off on the right track with “Be on you way”, the beautiful and breathless track from “Stereo mind game”, their first album in seven years
      • The brash yet melodic garage rock feels of “Love beyond the grave” reminds us all why we love what Crocodiles are all about
      • Montreal-based dream pop duo Bodywash and their track “Kind of light” had me wondering why on earth I’d never heard of them before this
      • The National are back up to their old tricks with “New Order t-shirt”, weaving stream of conscious narratives and haunting melodies that I dare you to not adore
      • Olivia Jean’s “Trouble” is dark, grimy, and glamourous, not to mention chock full of attitude
      • The ever brilliant James has released a new double album in celebration of their 40 years in existence, reimagining many of their iconic tunes with an orchestra and it includes wonderful new number called “Love make a fool”
      • Pond frontman Nicholas Allbrook is channeling Bowie in “Jackie”, an amazing tune off his new solo album, “Manganese”

Here is the entire playlist as I’ve created it:

1. “Be on your way” Daughter (from the album Stereo mind game)

2. “Sepsis” Blondshell (from the album Blondshell)

3. “Love beyond the grave” Crocodiles (from the album Upside down in heaven)

4. “Rushin’ river valley” Fruit Bats (from the album A river running to your heart)

5. “Major league” The Tallest Man on Earth (from the album Henry St.)

6. “Kind of light” Bodywash (from the album I held the shape while I could)

7. “Gamma rays” Temples (from the album Exotico)

8. “Slow burn” Rose City Band (from the album Garden party)

9. “American daughter” Beach House (from the EP Become)

10. “Flight paths” Great Lake Swimmers (from the album Uncertain country)

11. “New Order t-shirt” The National (from the album First two pages of Frankenstein)

12. “Time back” Indigo De Souza (from the album All of this will end)

13. “Gaagige” Zoon (from the album Bekka ma’iingan)

14. “Trouble” Olivia Jean (from the album Raving ghost)

15. “True mirror” Esben and the Witch (from the album Hold sacred)

16. “The likes of us” Lanterns on the Lake (from the album Versions of us)

17. “Visions” Frankiie (from the album Between dreams)

18. “Pretty Boy” Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds (from the album Council skies)

19. “Love make a fool (Orchestral version)” James (from the album Be opened by the wonderful)

20. “Jackie” Nicholas Allbrook (from the album Manganese)

21. “Joy’all” Jenny Lewis (from the album Joy’all)

22. “Social lubrication” Dream Wife (from the album Social lubrication)

23. “Silver girl” Spoon (from the EP Memory dust)

24. “Mór” Sigur Rós (from the album Átta)

25. “It’s just a bit of blood” bdrmm (from the album I don’t know)

Apple initiates  can click here to sample the above tracks as a whole playlist.

And as always, wherever you are in the world, I hope you continue to be well. Above all, enjoy the tunes.

If you’re interested in checking out any of the other playlists I’ve created and shared on these pages, you can peruse them here.

Categories
Live music galleries

Live music galleries: Phosphorescent [2013]

(I got the idea for this series while sifting through the ‘piles’ of digital photos on my laptop. It occurred to me to share some of these great pics from some of my favourite concert sets from time to time. Until I get around to the next one, I invite you to peruse my ever-growing list of concerts page.)

Phosphorescent at Ottawa Bluesfest, 2013

Artist: Phosphorescent
When: July 13, 2013
Where: River stage, Ottawa Bluesfest, Lebreton Flats Park, Ottawa
Context: Out of all the great performers at Bluesfest back in 2013, Phosphorescent’s (the stage name of singer/songwriter Matthew Houck) was one of the sets to which I was most looking forward. I had fallen in love with “Muchacho”, his psych-folk album from that year, almost at first listen, and then, when I went back to explore his back catalogue, I couldn’t believe it had taken me so long to discover his work. I consumed it all like it was candy, so obviously, I was good and pumped for Phosphorescent’s early evening set and dragged my friend Jean-Pierre along for the ride. Houck had a five-piece touring band with him, many, if not all, of whom had also helped him record the aforementioned “Muchacho”. It was a pretty impressive ensemble cast, including an organist, as well as a keyboard player, a bongo player, and an incredible drummer, which made for a voluminous sound, a sound to get lost in with the hopes of never returning. The band played a good selection of tracks from Houck’s last three albums. Each song, though also long on the recording, was given the full freakout jam treatment with Houck wailing on his guitar and playing the feedback like it was art. My highlight, of course, was when they played “Song for Zula”, likely my favourite track off “Muchacho”. Nope, Phosphorescent did not disappoint despite high expectations on my part. My only beef was that the set seemed cut short, ending half hour earlier than the schedule stated it would.
Point of reference song: “Song for Zula”

Matthew Houck and Rustine Bragaw of Phosphorescent
Jo Schornikow of Phosphorescent
Scott Stapleton and David Torch of Phosphorescent
Christopher Marine of Phosphorescent
Matthew Houck
Categories
Albums

Best albums of 1998: #3 Neutral Milk Hotel “In the aeroplane over the sea”

It was my friend Jez that tried to get me into Neutral Milk Hotel many moons ago, albeit five or six years after the release of this, their seminal album. I had met Jez at my call centre job in the early 2000s and I’m not quite sure how we got to talking about music but it was on this that we had clicked as friends. We were constantly introducing each other to bands. He gave me a copy of “In the aeroplane over the sea” to sample, telling me they sounded like The Decemberists, a band I was just getting into at the time, but for some reason, the album didn’t click with me.

My friend wasn’t wrong in his comparison though, I can totally see where this album influenced Colin Meloy now. In fact, a lot of indie folk bands of the 2000s were influenced by it. However, when Jeff Mangum started the project in the late 80s, the sound was decidedly different. It was a lot noisier and raw and even less put together, if you can believe it. “In the aeroplane over the sea” was the second album released by Neutral Milk Hotel and the first recorded as an actual group. Before that, the ‘band’ was whoever was around at the time to perform with Mangum. This second album is still very lo-fi but it is also an electric mishmash of genres and instruments. It is ugly but beautiful, the lyrics influenced by Mangum’s reflections on Anne Frank.

Adding to the lore of the “In the aeroplane over the sea” is the fact that Jeff Mangum put the band on indefinite hiatus the year following its release after becoming disenchanted with everything. The album did well critically but not commercially right away. However, it picked up steam over the years, people discovering it way too late, has since sold many copies, and has now appeared on multiple best albums of the 90s lists. Mangum reformed the band in 2013 and toured extensively into the spring of 2015 before disappearing back into the night.

I finally the picked up this album again around that time because they were announced to play the folk festival in my city and this time it clicked. Yep, I fell in love with it just in time to see them live. The three picks below are amongst my favourites on the album but they are by no means the only great tracks.

“Ghost”: It is aggressive acoustic strumming and a rumbling and distorted fuzz bass, almost obscuring Jeff Mangum’s stream of consciousness-like lyrics. Indeed, at times, it sounds like he needs to be yelling above the cacaphony. “Ghost, ghost I know you live within me. I feel you as you fly in thunder clouds above the city into one that I love.” The words started out from the thoughts that his apartment was haunted and like many of the songs on the album, reflections of Anne Frank creep through. From there, frantic drums kick in as well as a pocket of duelling horns, none of which sound super proficient or rather, their attention to detail is lacking. Yeah, it’s a shambles. But it’s a wonderful shambles.

“In the aeroplane over the sea”: “And one day we will die and our ashes will fly from the aeroplane over the sea but for now we are young, let us lay in the sun.” The title track of the album is still hinting at the supernatural but has a somewhat happier bent. The acoustic strumming that starts the tune and carries on throughout is of the head swaying type and never fails to bring a smile. You can almost picture Mangum singing this wth his eyes closed in ecstasy. He adds in those same horns we heard in the previous track to the party and for shits and giggles, some singing saw. Seriously. How often do you hear a singing saw in popular music? Right.

“The king of carrot flowers, pt. 1”: “And this is the room one afternoon I knew I could love you. And from above you how I sank into your soul into that secret place where no one dares to go.” The opening track with the seemingly nonsensical name is but part 1 of a two song trilogy (parts 2 and 3 follow on the album’s next track). It’s short at two minutes and not necessarily as frantic as some of the other tracks that follow it. It’s like a warm up for the joy and bliss that’s to come. It is simple and innocent, that aforementioned kitchen sink instrumentation and breathless and almost random lyrics are present here as well, evoking yellowed polaroids and long ago discarded toys and favourite blankets. It is the purity of first love set to an off-kilter accordion and what is better than that?

Check back next Thursday for album #2. In the meantime, here are the previous albums in this list:

10. Sloan “Navy blues”
9. Cake “Prolonging the magic”
8. Embrace “The good will out”
7. Mojave 3 “Out of tune”
6. Rufus Wainwright “Rufus Wainwright”
5. Manic Street Preachers “This is my truth now tell me yours”
4. Pulp “This is hardcore”

You can check out my Best Albums page here if you’re interested in my other favourite albums lists.