Free Download : The Horse’s Ha Unreleased Track and Tour

Posted on June 30, 2009 by mike

No sooner did I finish my review of the new Horse’s Ha album Of The Cathmawr Yards, then they announce a free unreleased track from the album! The song is a cover of a “Slow Moons Rose” originally by Slapp Happy. Slapp Happy was an English-German experimental rock group that existed from 1972 -1975. “Slow Moons Rose” is from Slapp Happy’s self-titled 1974 debut on Virgin Records. Slapp Happy is notable as having Peter Blegvad as a member.

Click Here to download “Slow Moons Rose” (192 Kbps mp3)

The Horse’s Ha MySpace page has a Strobe Sessions performance where The Janet Bean Trio is performing “Slow Moons Rose” and the excellent Freakwater song “Cloak of Frogs” from May of 2008.

Here is Janet Bean, James Elkington and Fred LongbegHolm performing as The Janet Bean Trio:

As if that wasn’t enough, The Horse’s Ha have announced “the first of several mini-tours this summer” per their PR. That sounds cool if we can get some more midwest dates!
Fri. July 3 — Chicago, IL @ Schuba’s w/ Castanets – Record Release Show
Mon. July 27 — Pittsburgh, PA @ Thunderbird Cafe
Tue. July 28 — Arlington, VA @ IOTA
Wed. July 29 — Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s w/ Illinois, The Builder and The Butcher
Thu. July 30 — Brooklyn, NY @ Bruar Falls w/ Hospitality
Fri. July 31 — Brooklyn, NY @ The Bell House w/ The Mekons
Sat. Aug. 1 — New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge w/ The Mekons
Sun. Aug. 2 — Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavern
Sat. Sep. 19 — Champaign, IL @ Pygmalion Festival

Click Here to Download “Asleep In A Waterfall” from Of The Cathmawr Yards
Click Here to Download “The Piss Choir” from Of The Cathmawr Yards

Click Here to read my review of Of The Cathmawr Yards.

The Horse’s Ha – Of The Cathmawr Yards (review)

Posted on June 28, 2009 by mike

There is plague, said Tom Twp. ApLlewelyn in the organ loft reached for the bass stops. The white plague drifted through the church to the music of the savage voluntary. Parson and sinner stood beneath the reflections of the Holy Family, marking in each ginger halo the hair of blood. There was to one the voice of an arming God in the echo of each chord, and, to the other, the horse’s ha.

— “The Horse’s Ha” by Dylan Thomas

Things do seem to take place on this record in dark or darkening places, but that’s where all the interesting stuff happens, right?

— Janet Bean of the band The Horse’s Ha

While I was working on the review of Of The Cathmawr Yards— the debut album by The Horse’s Ha— I took the opportunity to read the namesake short story “The Horse’s Ha” by the Welsh poet and writer Dylan Thomas. “The Horse’s Ha” was included in the posthumous 1955 collection of short stories titled Adventures in the Skin Trade and Other Stories. Most of the reporting about the albums release earlier in the year pointed out the Dylan Thomas short story about the fictional Cathmawr Yards cemetery where zombies lived.

The white horse in the story and its associated “raw-headed” rider represents a plague that spreads through the small Welsh village of Cathmawr Yards. The plague seemingly is causing the zombification of the residents. To be “Of The Cathmawr Yards” implies that one is undead.

What does all of this have to do with the album? At first listen, it isn’t really clear. The obscurity of the band’s name and the title of the album is matched to the obscure dark lyrics penned mostly by James Elkington whose other gig is with The Zincs and one song by Janet Bean of Freakwater and Eleventh Dream Day. The CD and white vinyl LP of Of The Cathmawr Yards provide the lyrics to the album, which, when taken out of the context of the music, are impressively poetic. It would take a lot of literary chutzpah to name your band and album after a Dylan Thomas work.

Dead wrong, dressed right
for waltzes in starlight, the
house is dry, the flowers
grieve in their vase.
–“Heiress”

There’s a whirring to a dwindling word,
that fades in waves once it’s heard.
Once it’s gone and you return to numb
You’ll never retrieve, however you plumb.
–“Plumb”

Prior to reading the short story, the repeated listens of the album presented a common thread to me. I reached out to Janet to verify that this was the case, and she said that the album has definite patterns of certain words used.

The quote from Janet about “dark and darkening places” at the beginning of this article does a good job of summing the album up for me. Taken in whole, the album is a series of vignettes taking place on a dimly-lit stage. These stories of conflict and the human condition are presented without context leaving the interpretation up to the listener. In the dramatic structure, these songs are entirely exposition and mood, but the payoff is in the presentation.

Of The Cathmawr Yards is a jazz and folk amalgam that borders on a pop sound that draws quick and pleasing comparisons to The Smiths and later Talk Talk. The instrumentation is a constant acoustic sound implementing smartly-brushed percussion as well as double bass and other strings to carry the Johnny Marr-ish clean electric guitar and the well-matched harmonies of Bean’s pretty soprano and Elkington’s soft baritone voices. This mixture reminds me also of the duet work of Richard and Linda Thompson on albums like their 1982 final work together Shoot Out The Lights. In fact, that could be considered a logical forebear of this album.

Unlike the rocky inter-personal relationship on record and off of Richard and Linda, James and Janet serve only as narrators of these songs, and it’s this almost-dreamy detachedness that provides a reserved tone to the album. A reserve that might not appeal to everyone or every situation. The album is best consumed in whole to appreciate the complete work. To my ears, this is flawless presentation with singular vision and purpose– a collection of verse set to polished music.

In the Dylan Thomas story “The Horse’s Ha,” Mr. Montgomery is presented with the irony of being the undertaker of the Cathmawr Yards, where his clientèle are undead. “Shall I measure the undead?” he asks aloud incredulously from within his own coffin– his boarded up home. It’s the feeling of being trapped in a particular situation and desire for change that is the unifying theme throughout both the short story and Of The Cathmawr Yards.

Of The Cathmawr Yards by The Horse’s Ha is out now on CD, digital download and limited edition white LP on Hidden Agenda Records.

Purchase, download or stream Of The Cathmawr Yards by The Horses Ha at Bandcamp:

Living Colour is Back With Chair in the Doorway to Drop September 15

Posted on June 27, 2009 by mike

The “Cult of Personality” is back with its first new album in five years. For those who weren’t paying attention to Living Colour (and admittedly I wasn’t after 1993) the band reunited in 2000 after a five-year separation due to the old “creative differences.” In 2003 the band recorded their comeback Collideøscope for the now-defunct Sanctuary Records. On September 15, 2009 the band is releasing the follow-up album called Chair in the Doorway on their new home– Megaforce— a label known primarily for its Heavy Metal catalog which includes Anthrax, Metallica and Ministry as well as non-Metal acts like Warren Haynes and the Meat Puppets.

At the time of Living Colour’s debut 1988 album– the Grammy-winning Vivid– the band was considered very unconventional as most African American music groups in the US were either Hip Hop acts or R&B. In fact, I guess things haven’t changed much, which is ironic considering Rock and Roll’s beginnings. Even with the big steps in heavier rock made by Jimi Hendrix and to a lesser extent maybe bands like Thin Lizzy and Parliament Funkadelic the area of African American Rock Musicians is still pretty sparse. Even following the huge success of Vivid and its smash single “The Cult of Personality” the band was considered more of a curiosity than anything.

Curiosity or not, Living Colour’s success certainly paved the way for rockers like Lenny Kravitz and Rage Against the Machine as well as Body Count.

The band met in Prague in Fall of 2008 and Spring of 2009 to start writing the material that would become Chair in the Doorway. In a similar fashion to their previous albums, the songs run the gamut of styles ranging from heavy rock to blues and soul. “We feel like this is the best record we’ve made yet and couldn’t be mroe excited to be releasing it on the legendary Megaforce Records,” says guitarist Vernon Reid.

The band will be announcing plans for a world tour with dates to start in September.

Track Listing:

1. Burned Bridges
2. The Chair
3. DecaDance
4. Young Man
5. Method
6. Behind the Sun
7. Bless Those
8. Hard Times
9. Taught Me
10. Out of Mind
11. Not Tomorrow

Living Colour performing “DecaDance” live:

Click Here to visit Living Colour’s MySpace Page

Click Here to visit Living Colour’s Blog

Tortoise Announce Fall Dates in Support of Beacons of Ancestorship

Posted on June 18, 2009 by mike

Tortoise’s Beacons of Ancestorship— their sixth official studio album– arrives in stores and online on Tuesday, June 23rd. The release was available online for pre-order as CD, LP and mp3 and a special set of packages of the CD and LP release that included a folded poster of Beacons and a very limited brass belt buckle with the “TRTS” logo with the eye that was used on the hoodies. Apparently the buckles were only available to the first 75 preorders. The LP’s– which are 180g virgin vinyl which was mastered by Ray Janos at Stirling Sound — are sold out online, but thre should be copies available at your favorite indie record stores. It sounds like there will be a future re-repressing, too. At this moment there are still some CD+buckle packages left on the site. See the “artist’s rendering” below. I’m going to need to run to WalMart and get a belt with the snaps so I can rock this thing!

The Tortoise touring machine is getting ready to jam econo in support of the new album. They’ve been playing some sporadic shows already and are hitting some festivals, but the fall tour is already starting to shape up with some Midwestern dates starting in September and October.

Notably (for me anyway) Iowa is getting its first tour date in a very long time. The show is going to take place at the very cool Voices Warehouse Gallery in Dubuque, IA. It has a similar artsy space feel as CSPS in Cedar Rapids. I saw Bo Ramsey there in October of 2006. I called Tim McNamara who handles setting the shows up and there will be more information coming soon about tickets and the possibility of other opening acts. 10/3 ends up being the end of the season for the gallery and last year they had a number of acts playing. I’ll post an upcoming show article when I get more details.

Tortoise Tour Dates:
Sat. July 11 — Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
Mon. July 13 — San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
Wed. July 15 — Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
Fri. July 17 — Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
Sun. July 19 — Washington, DC @ Black Cat
Mon. July 20 — Philadelphia, PA @ Sanctuary at First Unitarian Church
Tue. July 21 — New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge
Fri. July 24 — Tokyo, Japan @ Fuji Rock Festival
Fri. Aug. 14 — St. Malo, France @ La Route Du Rock
Sat. Aug. 22 — Hasselt, Belgium @ Pukkelpop
Tue. Sep. 29 — St. Louis, MO @ Firebird
Wed. Sep. 30 — Kansas City, MO @ Beaumont Club
Thu. Oct. 1 — Omaha, NE @ Waiting Room
Fri. Oct. 2 — Minneapolis, MN @ Cedar Cultural Center
Sat. Oct. 3 — Dubuque, IA @ Voices Warehouse Gallery

Other articles at playbsides.com about Tortoise

B-Sides in the Bins #48 – Best Buy & Half Price Books – Cedar Rapids 5/19/09

Posted on June 16, 2009 by mike

I was at Best Buy for the release of the Iron and Wine collection of rare and b-sides called Around the Well. I had a $15 Reward Zone certificate. But, since the 2 CD release was $9.99 I needed to buy something else to bring it over the $15. I picked up Woman King by the Iron and Wine as well which was $7.99. Ever since I picked up the live Iron and Wine Record Store Day release, I’ve been trying to get caught up with Mr. Beam.

Since I was on that side of town anyway, I stopped in to Half Price Books to see if anything interesting was in the bins.

BestBuy Purchases:

Around the Well – Iron and Wine (2 CD, SubPop SPCD 808, 2009) ($9.99) Great collection and replaces the need to try to track down all of the singles, soundtracks (The “Twilight” soundtrack… “In Good Company”… yikes) as well as the iTunes Exclusives, which have now been pulled down, presumably because of this release. Lots of great songs on here– Sam Beam is so prolific that even his b-sides are quality tracks.

Woman King EP – Iron and Wine (CD, SubPop SPCD 665, 2005)($7.99) This is probably my favorite release next to 2007’s The Shepherd’s Dog. Every song on here is a keeper. Jim Becker from Califone is on this release which helps fill out the sound of the band.

Half Price Books Purchases:

The Bumper Crop – Pell Mell (LP, SST 158, 1987)($2.98) Holy crap! Certainly wasn’t expecting this in the bins. A corner-cut cut out. The bad cut job also caused a tear in the cover. You might know me in my other internet job as the guy who runs the official Pell Mell website so I collect things Pell Mell. The work for this album started in 1982 after the remaining members of Pell Mell moved to Berkeley, CA following the tour for their debut EP Rhyming Guitars. The songs for this release came from some outtakes recorded for the EP and some new material with new members Greg Freeman and Steve Fisk. This trio of Fisk, Freeman and Bob Beerman would form the basis for the remainder of Pell Mell’s career which ended after their 1997 album Star City. Pell Mell was influenced by the instrumental rock bands of the sixties and a lot of the instrumental rock bands around today (El Ten Eleven, The Six Parts Seven come to mind) owe Pell Mell for blazing the trail for them.

(self titled) – The Cars (LP, Elektra/Asylum 6E-135, 1978)($2.98)

Candy-O – The Cars (LP, Elektra/Asylum 5E-507, 1979)($2.98)

Panorama – The Cars (LP, Elektra/Asylum 5E-514, 1980)($2.98)

Shake It Up – The Cars (LP, Elektra/Asylum 5E-567, 1981($2.98)

Heartbeat City – The Cars (LP, Elektra/Asylum/Nonesuch ST-E-60296-1, 1984)($2.98) This was a pretty impressive haul! Someone dumped their Cars collection apparently. All of the records were in fantastic shape with little to no cover wear. All inner sleeves were intact and the vinyl was pristine! There was actually two copies of Heartbeat City there, so I picked the best-looking one. The copy of Heartbeat City that was around my house when it came out was a cassette. The vinyl version was a very nice gatefold sleeve. The only records that were missing were the Greatest Hits and their last record Door to Door.

We also had Candy-O on cassette at the house. With its combination of pop and New Wave sensibilities coupled with the Alberto Vargas pinup cover it was an intriquing album. That was their second album, and it had the big singles “Let’s Go” and “It’s All I Can Do.” It seemed that the Cars were all over the radio and movie soundtracks. Some of the big hits from The Cars are still some of the great pop songs of all time. This selection of albums represents the peak of The Cars creative output. Just looking at the track list from 1985’s Greatest Hits album proves it: “Just What I Needed,” “My Best Friend’s Girl,” “Good Times Roll”– all from The Cars; “Let’s Go” from Candy-O; “Touch and Go” from Panorama, “Since You’re Gone” and “Shake It Up” from Shake It Up; and “You Might Think,” “Drive,” “Heartbeat City” and “Magic” from Heartbeat City. Quite a run of singles!

Out of these, however, Panorama is probably the one that faired the worst. It only had one single– it was considered The Cars’ “experimental” album. I picked up an 8-Track version in some cutout bin a long time ago and listened to it maybe one time and dismissed it. I think that I’ll give it a fair shake now to see what I think.

New Tour CD from Calexico – Live in Brussels 2008

Posted on June 14, 2009 by mike

In what has been a treat for collectors like myself Calexico has been providing “Tour Only” releases since 1999 on their in-house label Our Soil Our Strength.

Their last tour release was in June, 2007 with Tool Box— a recording of instrumentals with just Joey and John rather than the full band.

This morning on the casadecalexico Yahoo group, Calexico/Giant Sand Archivist, KUAT jockey Jim Blackwood announced that there will be a new Tour CD Ancienne Belgique – Live in Brussels 2008. It was recorded in Brussels on October 13th, 2008, and mixed at Wavelab by Craig Schumacher. It will be available during the summer Europe tour and casadecalexico.com as well.

Here is the tracklisting:

1. Bisbee Blue
2. Roka (w/ Amparo Sanchez)
3. Bend To The Road
4. El Gatillo
5. Two Silver Trees
6. Inspiracion (w/ Amparo Sanchez)
7. Minas de Cobre
8. Man Made Lake
9. Alone Again Or
10. Fractured Air
11. Red Blooms
12. Victor Jara’s Hands
13. Crystal Frontier

14. Crumble [Bonus Track]

Here is the full setlist of that show from The Caliposa Setlist Archive:

01 Bisbee Blue
02 Across The Wire
03 Roka (w/ Amparo Sanchez)
04 Bend To The Road
05 The News About William
06 Writer’s Minor Holiday
07 Black Heart
08 Slowness (w/ Francoiz Breut)
09 Ballad of Cable Hogue (Francoiz Breut)
10 El Gatillo
11 Two Silver Trees
12 Inspiracion (w/ Amparo Sanchez)
13 Minas de Cobre
14 Man Made Lake
15 Alone Again Or
16 Fractured Air
17 Red Blooms
————————————-
18 Victor Jara’s Hands
19 Les Jeunes Pousses (w/ Francoiz Breut and her band)
20 Guero Canelo (w/ Amparo Sanchez and Francoiz Breut’s band )
—————————————–
21 Crystal Frontier

It is interesting to see what songs they had to cut. All of the songs that had Francoiz Breut and her band in them were edited out.

Still, a nice selection of songs and the Carried to Dust songs have been sounding really good on tour. Amparo Sanchez from Amparanoia reprises her part on “Inspiracion” from Carried to Dust and adding her vocals to “Roka.”

The website doesn’t mention where the bonus track “Crumble” was recorded.

Here are some YouTube videos of the performance– which are gorgeous (what, no DVD release??)

“El Gatillo” from Ancienne Belgique – Live in Brussels 2008

“Inspiracion” (with Amparo Sanchez) from Ancienne Belgique – Live in Brussels 2008

“Fractured Air” from Ancienne Belgique – Live in Brussels 2008

“Red Blooms” from Ancienne Belgique – Live in Brussels 2008

Click Here to order Ancienne Belgique – Live in Brussels 2008 ($18 US, $21 World)

Pieta Brown & Dream #9 at the Mill in Iowa City 6-12-09 (review)

Posted on June 14, 2009 by mike

As I reported earlier, Pieta Brown assembled a band to shake up her live performances, which are typically a duo (usually with Bo Ramsey on guitars). This makes for a very intimate performance and Pieta’s music and vocals undeniably shine in this setup, but it’s been my opinion for a while that she should perform in a band setting to more closely approximate her albums. So, I was naturally very interested to see this lineup at the Mill. I wasn’t too concerned about the success of this, since Dream #9 is made up of regular sidemen– Bo Ramsey on lead guitar and Jon Penner on bass. Dream #9 also has Jim Viner on drums. Jim has worked with Bo and Jon frequently, and Jim is also on Pieta’s new self-released EP Flight Time with Bo and Jon.

Friday night was rainy, and the prospects of subjecting my gear to certain watery peril was eating away at my resolve it seemed. Eventually with the coaxing of my wife I made a late departure from Cedar Rapids. The show started at 8PM, and the opening act– Parlour Suite— came with good online reviews, but my late departure meant I would miss most– if not all of their set. Indeed, I walked in at 8:45 and they were just wrapping up their set.

I ran into Jim Viner and his wife Katy eating at one of the booths so I got the lowdown on the Daytrotter session. Jim finished his chicken strips and made for the stage and I ended up sitting with Katy most of the night– when I wasn’t out shooting pictures anyway.

One of the first surprising things about this band lineup is that Pieta is playing electric guitar, too! I sort expected that she’d rock the acoustic, and leave the electric up to Bo. She concentrated on two guitars– a black Gibson SG with a P-90 pickup, and a Reverend Flatroc with a Bigsby. I recognized both of these guitars as being Bo’s. I saw that SG for the first time at Bo’s last gig at the Mill. The Reverend is one he’s had for a while, and is a unique guitar in that Reverend didn’t make many with the Bigsby, and in fact isn’t a standard option. After the show I asked Pieta about the guitars and she said that the guitars she wanted to play hadn’t arrived. She said that she has a Reverend Flatroc coming as well as a white Fender Telecaster! Those will be very complimentary to Bo’s guitars since one of his primary axes is a Telecaster Deluxe, too. Pieta said that she used to play electric guitar out when she lived in Tulsa and had a band– a fact I hadn’t heard before.

Dream #9 is made up of seasoned musicians and are able to pull together a show on-the-fly with little prep. Effectively this band has only been playing Pieta’s songs for a couple of days– but they all found the pocket in Pieta’s songs perfectly.

The show was a quick hour-and-a-half single set. The Mill wraps their shows up pretty early– the show was over by 11PM. So, don’t worry about going to mid-week shows here– you should still be in bed in time for work the next day provided you behave yourself! I was surprised about the low turn out. I guess the rain kept folks home– like it almost did for me.

The set was made up of a nice selection from all of Pieta’s albums and included some new songs that I assume are under consideration for a new album. All of Pieta’s songs benefit from the country-blues sound that I equate with Bo Ramsey and his projects. It gives the songs a similar feel and recognizable to her albums– all of which Bo helped produce. I would have liked to hear more songs from the new EP, but I suspect that as the band plays together more there will be variation in the set list. It was pretty clear that having the two Iowa shows was giving the group the home-court advantage to work out any kinks that might exist with this new arrangement.

I really like Pieta fronting a band like this– it draws natural comparisons to other strong female artists like Lucinda Williams or maybe even Chrissy Hynde of the Pretenders. A good, structured driving rhythm really shows the strength of the songs– and not for a lack of intimacy where needed. On the song “Even When” from the Flight Time EP the band shows knows how to carry a gentle song, too.

Listening to the band and Pieta talking after the show it was clear that they were satisfied with the results, so hopefully we’ll start seeing more Dream #9-fueled shows in the future!

The band did record a Daytrotter show on Thursday, so I hope that session gets released in the near future.

Setlist (1 hour 27 minutes):

Sunrise Highway #44
In My Mind I Was Talking to Loretta
Rollin’ and Tumbin’
You’re My Lover Now
Rollin’ Down The Track
Bad News
Loving You Still
807
How Many Times Do I Hear Myself Say These Things
Faller (introduced as a new song)
West Monroe
I’m Going Away Blues (Frank Stokes cover)
Hey Run
Even When
Fourth of July
Over You
Remember The Sun
Are You Free

Click Here to visit Pieta Brown’s website.

Click Here to visit Pieta Brown’s MySpace Page

The Long Journey of “Country Hai East Cotton” by Hiss Golden Messenger

Posted on June 4, 2009 by mike

Once upon a time there was a little band from San Francisco called The Court & Spark. For seven years they crafted their own flavor of Americana and Rock in relative obscurity. For those people who did hear their music, most– like me– became fans.

I first heard about The Court & Spark on All Things Considered one cold night at the end of 2001 when Sarah Bardeen reviewed Bless You. I had never heard anything quite like it, and the loping clockwork percussion paired with singer M.C. Taylor’s melancholy vocals and slide guitar– particularly on “To See The Fires” had me tracking the album down immediately and I followed their career until they disbanded in 2007 following the release of Hearts– an album I thought was their best effort to that point.

As announced from their website, “seeing as how we’re all involved in different musical projects, it seems best to retire the C&S name for a while.” M.C. Taylor and Scott Hirsch moved to the East Coast and would continue to work together in a new project cryptically called Hiss Golden Messenger. At the same time they announced the new direction, they also announced from their MySpace page a live CD for sale of a show that Hiss Golden Messenger did called Live at the Fernwood Lodge, Big Sur 4/22/07. I ordered that right away since it was a limited hand-stamped run. When I received the CD, I also got another nondescrept CD-R with only a Sharpie-scrawled “HARPO” on it.

The songs contained on this CD were, according to M.C., “very rough mixes” of an album he was hoping to release after he sorted out getting a label and taking to a studio for mixing and mastering. He was very modest about the recording since I guess he felt it wasn’t done, going so far as to suggest I could share it on my site if I wanted.

The music contained on HARPO was mesmerizing. It was really a continuation of the experimentation I’d heard on the last Court & Spark album, Hearts. I was a bit giddy with this secret album and I did share it with a couple of people I knew who loved The Court & Spark as much as I did. I really felt that the modesty that M.C. had about HARPO’s fitness to be released was completely unfounded! If these were home demos on some hissy old 4-track, I would have still been excited to hear it, and would have shared it out– but I saw the potential of these songs to be much more than mere “rough mixes.” The damn thing sounded complete, to me! I know that others who had received HARPO felt the same way.

As it turned out the songs on HARPO would become Country Hai East Cotton remixed and in a different track sequence. I received a review copy of Country Hai East Cotton in early May and have been listening to it in my regular diet of music. The resequencing was a bit jarring at first, since I was so familiar with the sequence on HARPO. The mix was certainly an improvement on Country Hai East Cotton over HARPO, so the effort of taking it to a studio for some polish yielded exceptional results. The levels were pushed up a bit and the instrument head space has been expanded. HARPO was a good headphone album, but Country Hai East Cotton is really an experience on the cans. No more is the remix more evident than on the cover of the Tim Rose song “Boogie Boogie” where we gained prominent breaths and and a wah guitar line! What was a song I didn’t really care for in the original mix, but the Country mix has much more texture and kind of reminds me of “Digging in the Dirt” by Peter Gabriel.

Standout tracks for me have been “Watch Out For the Cannonball” with it’s compressed snare and keyboard patches, and “Oh Nathaniel.” “Oh Nathaniel” is the theme to a vampire story that sounds a lot like an outtake from late-period Buckingham-Nicks Fleetwood Mac. True Blood’s second season starts this month– they could use this song for the soundtrack– “drink their blood when they call on you…Rise up like the moon…” “Resurrection Blues” is a Nawlins funeral march of desperation where the narrator can’t seem to make it to heaven.

Country Hai East Cotton was released this week and is available in a couple formats from either the website of the record label the band formed called The Heaven and Earth Magic Recording Company, or from a number of brick-and-mortar stores– mostly on the coastal regions. The first format– and most desired frankly, is the crazy-limited edition CD pressing seen in the picture above in all its glory. The limited-to-500 CD is encased in a color miniature gatefold cover which was illustrated by Nathaniel Russel and printed on 100% recycled cardstock. The CD is lovingly encased in a woven-fibre inner sleeve and the whole shebang is protected by a mylar sleeve. The picture above also shows the small gold-colored thankyou card that lists all of their intertube access and a haiku by Jaime De Angulo on the flipside.

Alternatively, you can download a 256Kbps version of the album in mp3’s for the price of a donation. Per the press-release from the band, “I realize that Country Hai East Cotton will be easily obtained for free on a host of torrent sites and blogs very soon, if it isn’t already. That’s OK. We appreciate that. But, at the risk of sounding totally romantic and/or naive, we’re hoping that those who have heard HGM and like what we do will choose to spend a little money on a disk or download directly from us.”

Indeed, this form of electronic sales where the consumer chooses what to pay has been attempted before successfully and not. Country Hai East Cotton is certainly one of my favorite releases this year and I can’t recommend enough that you, gentle reader, give this album a shot, and I think you’ll find that the band deserves your donation for this fantastic album.

Click Here to visit the Hiss Golden Messenger MySpace Page where you can hear tracks from Country Hai East Cotton.

Click Here to visit the Heaven & Earth Magic Recording Company to order your copy of Country Hai East Cotton.

Click Here to visit the blog page for Hiss Golden Messenger

Click Here to visit Hiss Golden Messenger Facebook Page

B-Sides in the Bins #47 : Disc World, Conshohocken, PA 3-13-09

Posted on June 2, 2009 by mike

I was in Pennsylvania for work in March, and I typically stay at the Mariott in Conshohocken because it is very close to work. I had to stay over a weekend and happened to stumble upon a record store literally up the street from the hotel! I was out for lunch with a co-worker when I spotted Disc World out the window of the restaurant. We decided to check it out.

Disc World (201 West Ridge Pike, Conshohocken, PA 19428 610-828-8434) is run by Michael and Terry Weiss a really nice couple who seem very devoted to their little store. It was previously a Disc-Go-Round, so the store looks very similar to that layout with the CD’s along the back and right wall and the counter on the left. We had a Disc-Go-Round in Cedar Rapids and today it is “CD Connection.”

At Disc World you have the typical used CD selection, but you can also order new titles which is really nice in this day-and-age. They have posters and DVD’s as well as games.

But, the real surprise was the two crates of vinyl at the front of the store! Even though it was a small collection– every piece of vinyl was in amazing condition. Michael Weiss told me that their vinyl buyer was really picky about what records he buys. He also said that he hadn’t intended to get into selling vinyl, but a good customer of theirs came in with a collection he wanted to sell. So, that is how they started. The crate had a lot of 70’s classic rock in it, and a substantial Doobie Brothers collection. I picked the best of what I was interested in, but I will be back!

Thinking of You – Freakwater (CD, Thrill Jockey thrill 150, 2005)($5.99) Well, I can’t spot a Thrill Jockey release in the used CD bins and pass it up. This is the country folk project from Catherine Irwin and Janet Beveridge Bean. This is their most recent release produced by Tim Rutli from Califone and includes members of Califone as well. This album also includes James Elkington on “Double Clutch.” His participation was kind of a return-the-favor for Janet’s participation on the first Zincs record. Since then, Janet and James have formed The Horses Ha, whose album comes out this month.

4 Way Street – Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (2 LP, Atlantic SD 2-902, 1971)($7.00) Wow! The cover is kind of worn, but the seams are all in tact. Includes original LP sleeves with other Atlantic titles. The vinyl is pristine! The label is a very vivid red and green. Fantastic live album. A must for any collection, really.

(first self-titled, aka “Car”) – Peter Gabriel (LP, Atco SD 36-147, 1977)($3.00) Another cool release. I don’t have any proper Gabriel releases (I have a 2 LP bootleg). This is the first solo album post- Genesis for Peter, and includes the smash hit “Solsbury Hill” as well as “Waiting for the Flood.” Produced by Bob Ezrin. Cover art designed by Hipgnosis who does most of the Pink Floyd cover art. Super clean vinyl, edge wear on cover and seam split on inner sleeve.

VI/ZOSO – Led Zeppelin (LP, Atlantic SD 7208, 1971)($5.00) Wow!! Hit the goldmine on this one. Very nice shape sleeve. The vinyl is immaculate. Has “Porky” / “Pecko Duck” scratched into the deadwax. According to this thread, generally accepted to be a superior pressing and probably first pressing. Gatefold in good shape and no seam splits. Inside record sleeve is in tact, too. Second Led Zeppelin release I have on vinyl. I have a Columbia House pressing of Physical Graffiti, too.

Blood On The Tracks – Bob Dylan (LP, Columbia PC 33235, 1975)($5.00) Here is where I start my Bob Dylan vinyl collection. Brilliant divorce album from Bob– angry and all of that. Apparently recorded the album twice– once in NYC, and then re-recorded half of the record in Minneapolis at the suggestion of his brother. This LP is not a first-pressing, but is super-minty sleeve, record and inner sleeve. A prize piece for sure.

A nice selection of classic LPs at a really good price considering the price-hiking that Half Price Books has been doing lately. I recommend stopping in at Disc World if you’re in the area.

Pieta Brown Announces “Dream #9” Band and Upcoming Shows

Posted on June 2, 2009 by mike

In an e-mail announcement yesterday, Pieta Brown announced that she is creating a band to tour with her that she’s calling “Dream #9.” She says she formed the band to “expand the sonic landscape of her songs in a live setting.” Indeed, Pieta has successfully been touring in relatively stripped-down combos for her entire career– mostly, just as a duo of Bo Ramsey and her, and recently with Jon Penner.

I have been really impressed with Pieta’s last couple of albums and her new EP Flight Time, but I have admittedly been not very motivated to see her live, because I wanted to hear the songs with drums.

Dream #9 is made up of players who have worked with her live and in the studio– a pretty intuitive move, really. On guitar will be Bo Ramsey, of course, who is her constant touring partner and also produced all of her albums. On bass will be Jon Penner who has been working with Bo and Pieta for the last couple of years. On drums will be Jim Viner, who has worked with Bo, Jon and Pieta as well and, up until last year, was the drummer for the Diplomats of Solid Sound. Jon and Jim were in Bo’s band when I saw them for Springville Fun Days in 2006. Here is a picture of Bo, Jim and Jon from that show:

I haven’t had a chance to ask, but I wonder if “Dream #9” is a reference to the John Lennon song “#9 Dream?”

The first two shows with Dream #9 are Thursday, June 11th at the Redstone Room in Davenport, and Friday, June 12th at the Mill in Iowa City. Tickets for both shows are $10.

Additionally, Pieta and Dream #9 are scheduled to record a Daytrotter session on June 11th. This will be the second time Pieta and Bo have done a Daytrotter session– the last one was in 2008.

Click Here to visit Pieta Brown’s website

Click Here to visit Pieta Brown’s MySpace Page

Click Here to visit Pieta Brown on Facebook

Click Here to purchase Pieta Brown’s Flight Time EP.

Time to play b-sides

Mike Roeder muses over things musical

Monthly Archives: June 2009