The Moray Eels Eat the Holy Modal Rounders (1968)

http://www.mediafire.com/?koe1rj053pabwi8

From the linear notes:

"There was an article in the LA hippie paper about a confrontation between two local guru types in MacArthur Park. Their followers--by this time, there were tens of thousands of young and not-so-young people following hundreds of self-styled gurs du jour, from Mei Lyman to Charles Manson--were looking for a peace and love-style version of the old west shoutout on Main Street. Both would-be avatars were about thirty. One was swaddled head to toe in robes, diffraction gradings, body paint, beads and peacock feathers. The other one was completely naked, except for an incense-on-a-stick-thingie that he had stuck up his asshole and lit. It had gone out.
The two avatars faced each other, smiling.

'You're beautiful, man,' said one.
'No, man,' said the other. 'You're beautiful.'
'No, I'm not,' came the reply. 'You're beautiful.'
'No, brother. You're the one who's beautiful.'
'I think I'm going to throw up,' said one of the cops.

Doomed as doomed can be."
-Peter Stampfel

Yamaguchi Goro- A Bell Ringing in the Empty Sky (1967)

Original cover. Fussy, but still stunning.

http://www.mediafire.com/?9wdvz4j30ng6zit

Remember the 1960s, when people would release records just because they were interesting?

Japan's designated Living National Treasure, Yamaguchi Goro, played the shakuhachi (bamboo flute) on a series of lps throughout his life, though this one was picked up by the massively exotic Nonesuch Records Explorer Series in the 1960s. It's one of the few LPs to have been rereleased on cd in the early 2000s.

If you've ever wondered what a solo bamboo flute sounds like, you don't have to imagine too much. It sounds empty, plaintive, sad, lonesome, faraway, and fragile. And lovely.

New artwork. Actually matches the music better.

This is a perfect album to play while you're doing something seemingly unrelated. For instance, i love to listen to it while gardening. It makes picking tomatoes seem so fleeting and sad. Totally recommended.

R. Crumb- Hot Women: Women Singers from the Torrid Regions of the World (2003)

http://www.mediafire.com/?b54hzi52x8dshtr
or
http://www.mediafire.com/?nj3r6d9neneeq49

There have been a few times that I have purchased an album based on the sheer promise of the artwork and song names on the back cover. HOT WOMEN was a very memorable one.


It was compiled by illustrator R. Crumb (and his under-credited wife Aline Kominsky-Crumb) from an impressive group of 78s.


The music is all "traditional," as iTunes calls it. Women, sometimes with their children, all singing around the mic, hisses and all. After being bombarded by Rebecca Blacks and Lady Gagas, i love to hear the flawed crackle of outdated recording technology and the additional talent that performers had in order to adapte to the medium. As a result, the album is beautiful and diverse.


The main reason to purchase the cd is to hold the fantastic artwork in your hand. But the music is good, too.

Complaint: A few of the titles are listed as "Title in Hindustanese" or something similarly lazy. If you're going to put out a compilation, why not bother to ask someone who reads a language to translate it for you??
Big pet peeve. Crumb probably thinks it's part of the charm, but i call it lazy at best (and culturally arrogant at worst). Your call. 

Carolina Chocolate Drops- Genuine Negro Jig (2010)

http://www.mediafire.com/?1u2i0wcccphlg45

Nothing defines Knoxville, Tennessee like folk music, specifically bluegrass and old timey music. When i first moved to Knoxville, i was blown away by the attention that people paid to folk music-- live, on the radio, in record stores, on tour, etc.

For a west coast kid who equated old time music with the "O Brother Where Art Thou" soundtrack (and don't laugh-- a lot of us did), it was a revelation to find out that young hipsters in the South liked folk music, and that young kids were MAKING folk music.

The Carolina Chocolate Drops are pretty badass in that they are probably the only African American group doing folk music right now. They're not only great, they're finally getting a lot of commercial and critical attention (they won a Grammy for this cd). I actually feel a bit guilty about putting this up-- i love this cd, but i also want them to continue to make music!

Americans forget that folk music is an umbrella term that brought in music from different backgrounds (since America is a country founded by immigrants [oh, and forcibly taken from the native inhabitants. Had to add that!}). So musical traditions from French, the Caribbean, Africa, Latin America, Ireland, Scotland, etc all got lumped up into the limp category "Folk" music.

As Margaret Kilgallen loved to point out, the banjo was an African instrument. People nowadays associate the banjo with uber-white musicians, but traditionally, this sucka came from Africa! Percussion instrument, bitches!!

Michael Hurley, the Unholy Modal Rounders, Jeffery Fredrick and the Clamtones- Have Moicy! (1976)

http://www.mediafire.com/?oguumtfftdt

Do you like songs about stealing hamburgers, robbing banks, getting it on by the moonlight, washing dishes, and taking shits?

OF COURSE YOU DO!!!!

That is why you want to hear the most amazing and certainly most unique country/bluegrass/folk/pop cd of the entire 1970s.

This is what you get when a rubbertramp, psychadelic bluegrass musicans, and depressed folk singers get together and make an album. This is absolutely the most interesting record I heard during my year in Knoxville, TN. Which is saying a lot!

Have Moicy continues to be one of the most influential albums of the 70s and have given props up and down and all over. Yo la Tengo covered "Grizelda" and blah blah blah. I think you just might really love it.

Michael Hurley + Ida: Ida Con Snock (2009)

http://www.mediafire.com/?zzzgzzzezw5

Call me a mindreader, because i know what you're thinking: "Based on this weak drawing of birds singing on telephone poles, this cd is gonna suck." I would tend to agree with you, if the words "Ida" and "Snock" didn't also appear in the title.

Snock, aka Michael Hurley, has been making weird folk records since the mid 1960s. His first record came out on Folkways, and his last came out on Devandra Barnhart's label, Gnomonsong. Tell me that's not street cred.

But mostly, this cd is my favorite Hurley record since the amazing "Have Moicy!" collaboration extraordinaire of 1974. I have at least 6 cds by Hurley, and i'll be honest-- they're pretty interchangeable. Each cd basically sounds like a continuation of the one before it. Or more bluntly, they all sound the same. Which isn't necessarily bad...

But, from the first bar in Ida Con Snock, you can hear the difference. Ida brings an incredible warmth and focus to Hurley's songs, grounding them and supporting them with an incredible musicianship that his other cds don't have. You've never heard drone, sweet harmonies, and thoughtful arrangements on a Hurley cd before. 

If you haven't heard Michael Hurley before, you might not be startled in the same way that I was. It might just sound like a nice, understated folk record. And that's okay, too. But keep in mind that this dude is around 68. At this point, Ida Con Snock sounds better than anything that Neil Young or Bob Dylan puts out (contemporaries of Hurley who proudly live up to the title "Washed Up").

For fans of early Low, Emmylou Harris, Crazy Horse, etc

Damien Jurado- Saint Bartlett

http://www.mediafire.com/?detxkj8swulzk17

When people think of Damien Jurado, they probably think of a sensitive northwestern singer/songwriter who likes to play lots of acoustic guitar and have women sing with him. I, for one, have thought that his last few cds just seemed like a blurring of one continuous album that never really stuck out to me. That's probably not a fair assessment.

Saint Bartlett, which was produced by Richard Swift, really caught me off guard. It's a very solid record: the songs are catchy, haunting, and distinctive. But the thing that really sealed it for me are the great idiosyncratic percussion and doo-wop sensibilities. It's still a Damien Jurado record, but it sounds like one that would be playing in the background of an episode of Twin Peaks.

His songs always seem confessional, but they're often from the point of view of others. This record was apparently made while several friends were going through divorces, in hospitals, etc. The different points of view make it "read" like a collection of stories by Ray Bradbury.

It's a really affective record. I have some days when I pull in to work on my bike and all i can think of is the endless loop that he sings on the first song: "Trying to fix my mind, trying to fix my mind." This has been one of my favorite records of the past year.

Shields Down- Powdered Sugar Avalanche

http://www.mediafire.com/?5uc3gdwbpym5hwh

Powdered Sugar Avalanche combines the Everything But the Kitchen Sink Brian Eno brand of pop music with the whirled sonics of My Bloody Valentine and the instrumentation of Magnetic Fields. It's ultimately a group of pop songs, but sounds a bit like Alan Lomax engineered a group of pop musicians that Brian Eno arranged and Kevin Shields produced. It's all over the place, in a nice way, i think.

The 'band' consists of brothers Ben and Leif Fairfield, who both make their own cds, and Lisa Chuang. Ben Fairfield tends to make poppy songs in the vein of Jack Johnson or Elliot Smith while Leif prefers the overall sound and feeling of songs, more akin to Brian Eno or Andrew Bird.

The songs here are shrouded in imagery and feel a bit like reading a book on a remote ocean shoreline. It has a song in Thai, a Chinese boys choir, and lyrics about Japanese history. It's familiar-enough as a pop cd, but even at its most intimate, it still feels pretty far off and abstract.

"Any Kind of Day" feels a bit like Sarah McLachlan-meets-Cush and "SwanDive" nearly sounds like Jeremy Enigk with a looser backing band. I have always appreciated bands that rotate lead singers, and i especially like the three part harmonies.



* If you ever get a chance to pick up a physical copy, it's printed letterpress! Woo ha!

Leif Fairfield- Facts of War

Leif Fairfield- Facts of War (2011)

http://www.mediafire.com/?m4mqviii9hj1fsa

Troubadour musician Leif Fairfield first cut his teeth with the 2005 "Delaware Sessions," a Berkeley-birthed cd that made pop music really tiny, basing songs around plucked violin and tentative vocals. Facts of War is his first full length offering since (with a smattering of EPs scattered throughout) and finds the emotional attachment cranked up a few notches, with some improved musical chops. An audio chronicling of his relocations from San Francisco to Knoxville to Cincinnati, this cd is full of screechy noise, darker lyrics, and pop sensibilities.

This cd squishes the devotional with the confessional, blurring the personal with the projected. And like all of Fairfield's cds, it has at least one song about suicide and/or dying. Go figure.

Think of it as a sound lasagna, with layers of violin and effects, filled with vocal harmonies, and drizzled with a small sprinkling of acoustic string instruments. Recommended for fans of Andrew Bird, Grizzly Bear, and Brian Eno.

Featuring Peralta Pirates Bryan Maurer and Matt Kronbach, plus Cincinnati staple Sonic Elf. 

Filip Zelway- Phamilial (Twilight Edit)

* NOTE: This is the first link i have posted that was removed due to "copyright infringement. I translate this as: Nonesuch Records (or Mr. Zelway himself-- the band he plays for has a sharp dislike of not making money) has a stick up its collective arses about sharing digital music. Hence, the vehement misspelling of Mr. Zelway's name (which is actually cooler than his real name! You paying attention, Fil?). You'll get the drift, no? I am reposting the link with a different title. 

http://www.mediafire.com/?oojevqqczlxrif9

Hey dude- have you heard of this really cool band that no one has ever heard of called "Televisionead" (actual name revoked: see note above)? Well, it turns out that their drummer, Filip Zelway took a page from James Iha's book and put out his own cd of songs that sound as far as possible from the chaotic behemoth of exacting sound that probably weighs on his shoulders every day.

Basically, think NICK DRAKE. This cd is so quiet, so acoustic and finger picked that it gets poo-pooed like young hipsters (Pitchfork) and embraced by aging yuppies (NPR). But it deserves a little more credit than that: it's basically just a really pretty record, packed with songs about his family members (hence the title). Musically, it's the equivalent of eating macaroni and cheese on a rainy day: it's really simple yet satisfying.

It's not groundbreaking by any means, but it just might grow on you. A very good early morning Sunday record.


*(Note: I omitted my least favorite songs which are borderline cheesy. For that reason, i call this the Twilight Edit-- not after the vampire franchise, but after the time of day when this record seems most appropriate).

Ho Lan- Echo From Deep Valley

http://www.mediafire.com/?yp3mr2ox4oi3n21

Okay, so picture this: a female singer-songwriter from Taiwan in the 1970s who has a penchant to classic Spanish and Mariachi songs, a "thing" for yodeling, and a super-husky voice (one that she strengthened by learning to sing over the roar of a waterfall in her native hometown).

Meet Ho Lan:
part Zhou Xuan, part Nina Simone, and part Lucha Reyes.

The songs are split into solo guitar accompaniment (with multi-tracked vocal harmonies) and big band orchestrations, but Lan's voice always stands out. In addition to some really striking tunes, she sings some songs that could normally strike a very cheesy note with many listeners-- "Palmoa," "Hawaiian Wedding Song," and even {ick} "Home On the Range"-- but I can nearly guarantee that you won't mind.

This is my idea of folk music at its most bare and most satisfying: pure talent, no pretense, engaging voice, wonderful simplicity, versatility of styles, and MASSIVE TALENT. My friend Eric, who has immaculate taste in music, said that this is his favorite recording I have shared with him. That might mean something?


Here is Ms. Lan yodeling on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap6MKABAKoA

Grouper- Dragging a Dead Deer up a Hill

http://www.mediafire.com/?4okmxp57rcvmxoy

Grouper is apparently the work of one woman, Liz Harris, who has made a few other albums. This is my introduction to her. The songs are disarmingly quiet, reverb-y, and slow. But they don't necessarily feel sad or disdainful as you might expect. They tend to feel warmer, maybe even indifferent, and always pretty far off. It's a great soundtrack for feeling a bit introspective or kind of "off."

Recommended for a good mid day nap with the windows open and a good breeze. 

Clogs- The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walden (2009)

http://www.mediafire.com/?7q0am23d6v78wdd

Clogs is a "new classical" group that takes a very weird approach to making music. They are a little like Rachel's, where you feel that you could show the cd to the sweet metalhead who lives down the lane, your traffic cop, or your grandma, and all would be equally enthused.

I just realized that this is actually members of The National (Bryce Dressner, at least), who tend to dip in a lot of chamber music. Also featuring Sharon Worden of My Brightest Diamond, who sounds much better here than on her own music. Sorry, Sharon.

This cd has really grown on me-- haunting, minimal, strange, quiet, and beautiful.

Especially recommended if you've ever been interested in acoustic instruments, vocal harmonies, choral music, jazz, weird pop stuff (like St. Vincent or Deerhoof), and feeling as if you're very cultured.

Definitely recommended for fans of Colleen, Bjork, your local Byzantine choir, and renaissance music.

The Golden Fleece

http://www.mediafire.com/?x3f7e7wds5eu7u4

Of all the albums I have posted so far, this is probably the most mysterious. 
The Golden Fleece is songs from two Georgian ethnic enclaves, Abkhazia and Muslim Adzharia. The music is difficult to describe, oscillating between major and minor keys, instrumentation, and vocal styling. Some of it is an all out Vocal Belt-Fest (a'la American gospel music), and then dips into harmonic and drone-based fiddling. Some of it sounds like it could be guitar tracks from Animal Collective or Devandra Barnhart songs. 

Animal Collective & Vashti Bunyan: Prospect Hummer

http://www.mediafire.com/?xclu1cs51ekw5sy

Okay, Animal Collective? Now, they're cool, but can we be honest and say they're pretty overrated?

Vashti Bunyan, on the other hand, is SOOO legit that she eats Panda Bears and Avey Tares for breakfast on her farm out in the woods where she gathers mushrooms and smokes wild "ragweed" and howls at the moon while shearing her own sheep with a razor that she sharpened on her own teeth. She's the real deal-- put out one kick ass album in the '60s titled "Just Another Diamond Day" and called it quits.

So, let's all give almighty thanks to AC for bringing Bunyan out of retirement, but shame on them for not extending credit to her and naming the album after themselves. No worries-- i will correct their arrogance by co-crediting this short EP, which is a real gem. It's pretty stripped down by AC standards, but still holds a kernel of their weirdness. And Bunyan's voice blends really well, and actually fares well against all this. Not all singers could be featured on an AC album and still shine through with a lot of personality. Kudos, Vashti.

Think: ethereal, strummy, reverb, delicate, kind. This is a fantastic cd for a summer day at your table, eating a vegan meatloaf with a tall wheat beer. 

St. Vincent- Actor

http://www.mediafire.com/?3yqdtb7gz9zspru

Probably a commonplace name at this point, but I am still really impressed by this album. I was especially impressed to learn that Annie Erin Clark (aka St. Vincent) wrote and arranged the CD, right down to the drum beats (which is contrary to the average singer-songwriter who simply writes tunes on a guitar, then has the pros come in and flesh them out until they sound like solid songs). She's more of a composer, in the classical sense, than a songwriter. But she's still composing songs.

There is an other-worldliness to some of her melodies, and they are sung in a delicate, lilting voice that is really strong. When singers like Bjork or Janelle Monae are able to impress by their sheer range and emotional range, St. Vincent does the opposite-- she impresses by possessing an incredible voice but refusing to show it off.

She's pretty theatrical, which turns a lot of people off. But i definitely appreciate the comprehensive approach: music, image, lyrics, production, execution. One could also call her narcissistic, but eh... what singer-songwriter isn't, really?

Definitely worth listening to, and recommended for fans of left-of-center indie pop songwriters, or fans of Sufjan Stevens, My Brightest Diamond, Neko Case, et al. 

Juana Molina- Un Dia

http://www.mediafire.com/?an515logjlf6l2v

The whole "single artist making a huge sound by using a looping pedal" phenomenon is pretty big, made popular by Andrew Bird, Zoe Keating, and Imogene Heap. And they're all pretty good at it in different ways. But one of my favorites is Juana Molina.

Her first two albums often get described as sounding somewhere between soft Brazillian bossa nova and Brian Eno, which is intriguing enough of a description to make me want to listen to a record. But Un Dia, her third, pulls out all the hush and slaps you in the face with weirdness: layers and layers of noises, vocal ticks, instruments, keyboards, and horns. It's just great, dense, weird, and beautiful. And most importantly, it really kicks-- all solid driving beats, so you don't have to sit and sip yerba matte in your yoga wear with your pretentious yuppie friends while you listen to it on your fair-trade hand-woven area rug. It's acid trip approved, crazy kids!

I was able to see Molina live at the Southgate House in Kentucky. She played loops with a live bassist and drummer, and of course, it was incredible. Her live set actually blew this recording out of the water, because I was able to see that all these loops on the CD were happening live-- I wouldn't be surprised if this CD had no overdubs.

I heard through the grapevine that Molina is Argentinian and had a previous career as a comedian?! Even if this is untrue, I love that idea.

Thao- We Brave Bee Stings and All

http://www.mediafire.com/?18673kcrsfv5pht

Get ready to throw rocks at me, but i'll go ahead and say it: i have never liked Cat Power. Ever. Besides being pretty inconsistent and self-absorbed, she is responsible for spawning a whole army of singer-songwriters who think that singing off-key and writing boring songs is somehow charming.

So, let me introduce you to Thao Ngyen. She's often compared to Cat Power, and i guess the vocals have a similarity, but she's far superior. She has personality, a sense of humor, writes great songs, and can rock when she wants to. Plus-- and say what you will about this-- the people who rule the singer-songwriter indie world tend to be white. So to see a Vietnamese American coming in and kicking ass in this genre makes me feel pretty elated.

She has a follow-up which is good as well (and has Andrew Bird on it! Oooo!). But for my money, i'll take We Brave Bee Stings and All.

---


(By the way, i will admit that i like Cat Power's "The Greatest." But mostly because the musicians on it are so accomplished that they could play even MY songs and make them sound amazing.)

Neil Young- After the Gold Rush

http://www.mediafire.com/?8zcgvu8evr15cca

At this point, Mr. Young is more likely to appear in a tepid Rom-Com about high school friends falling in love than a rowdy bar. But so many people like it, that it doesn't seem to matter too much.

After the Gold Rush is a nice often-overlooked LP that kind of bridges a gap between his quiet folky moments and harder Crazy Horse rock. The first few listens made me think it was really unspectacular. But like a lot of Neil Young's records, it really grew on me.

Avey Tare & Kria Brekkan - Pullhair Rubeye {REVERSE-REVERSED}

http://www.mediafire.com/?fz2dh34290p2dt3

Animal Collective singer Avey Tare and his wife Kria Brekkan (of Mum) put out what should have been an incredible album of mind-blowing weirdness. Instead, they made a pretty understated, intimate record that is surprisingly gorgeous. But, then they watched a David Lynch movie and, probably while they were high, decided it would be so great to reverse all the tracks so that the entire record was backwards. Amazingly, they still released the cd like this.

It's an exercise in patience to listen to the cd all the way through. However, any average joe with a knowledge of Audacity can easily thumb their nose right back and just flip it back to its original direction. Which is what i did.

Ladies and gentlemens, i present you with "Pullhair Rubeye {Reverse-Reversed}." Please enjoy.