Small Sur – photo by Henn Pict

Today has been excellent so far.  Really excellent.

Small Sur posted on their Facebook wall this morning about a recent live recording that was up for a free download.  Apparently the long time in the making session for Mobtown Studios came to fruition and we now have 13 tracks to download from the “Microshow: Live in Baltimore” session!  Wrapped up in this set are some new tracks, old tracks (like a personal favourite ‘The Kelp’), mostly new tracks (like the personal favourite ‘The Woods’) and a few covers (like the personal favourite ‘Still Life Blues’ from Elephant Micah).  God damn it is an excellent day so far.

Oh, did I mention that Small Sur also said they are also recording a new album today?  Told you it was an excellent day.

Small Sur – “Still Life Blues (Elephant Micah Cover)” – Microshow Session
(this is just a taster at 192kbps – visit Mobtown for the full session at 320kbps)

Find out more on Small Sur: Website | Facebook | Bandcamp

~Smansmith

P.S.  Does Bob Keal’s vocals on this cover actually sound like Joe O’Connell from Elephant Micah?  I thought so too!

Today’s song of the day is a cover of the classic track ‘Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want’ from The Smiths as performed by Pickering Pick.  Gone is the dramatically mellow angst only to be replaced by sombre aching alongside the ambient acoustics.  While we are not comparing which song is better and both are the same lyrically but give total different listens despite being the ‘same’ song.  Pickering Pick removes himself from the persona of Morissey and The Smiths and simply creates a great version of a classic song.

“Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want (The Smiths Cover)” – Pickering Pick
As part of the Rate Our Music #08 compilation “See You on the Other Side”  (FREE DOWNLOAD)

Visit and listen to more from Pickering Pick on his Bandcamp Page.

~Smansmith

Message To Bears - Photo by Luke Doyle

I love the original song (it is actually one of my all time favourite tracks) but there is something about a cover track not sounding like a carbon copy, ya know?  For this cover songs, ‘Wolves’ while originally also a beautiful and sparse acoustic number in its own sense, Message To Bears takes the acoustic song forward with layers of his own that almost make the song a different beast all together.  While the cover finds the song becoming less tortured and aching than the original, it is still a great homage to the song in my opinion.

Find Message To Bears: Bandcamp (new album is stunning) | Facebook | Twitter
Find Phosphorescent’s album “Pride”: Dead Oceans Label

Enjoy your Sunday!

~Smansmith

This young respectable folk artist pictured above is Mr. Tyler Butler.  He is playing a show tomorrow night at Wunderbar in Edmonton – or as it is also known, The New Wunderbar Hofbrauhaus.  Other than the obvious reason I am bringing this to your attention in order to go and see him play music, is he is also selling an EP of demos and cover tracks in support of the venue itself.  Tyler is a big proponent of local music and here he is doing his part by providing all proceeds of the sales of this EP to the Wunderbar itself.

So bottom line here, if you are in the Edmonton area, check out Wunderbar tomorrow night for a full line up of great music including Sheree Plett (new album now out), Tyler Butler, Jordan Norman, James Rockliff and an apparent surprise performance from Johnathan Inc.  The whole night was put together from the good folks at Old Ugly Co. and you can check out a bit more on the Facebook event for full address, etc.

For now, let’s listen to one of those covers from Tyler Butler, here is Lionel Ritchie’s “Hello”;

~Smansmith

photo by Bobby Aazami

Just a quick post of a Daniel Johnston cover from Bahhaj Taherzadeh (We/Or/Me) that was just completed for a lost friend. Songs mean many things to many people and some are shared specifically among friends. I don’t pretend to know the whole story behind the recording, but it is a great song, done well for a good reason.

From the Soundcloud page:

I recorded this song for my friend Gavin Welch a few days after he passed away. This week Marie helped me finish it up so that it could be shared with his friends today. It’s a song by the great Daniel Johnston–an artist that Gavin and I had many conversations about. It’s not a sad song. It’s a song of gratitude and of acknowledgment that the time we spend with those we love, is time that will be with us always.

Find the original via the Soundcloud link above (or here) and enjoy a nice big uncompressed download of the track.

Visit We/Or/Me: Website | Facebook | Bandcamp (he has a great new album).

~Smansmith

Chris Kiehne has just released his newest album ‘A Widower’s Kind’ via his Bandcamp page and as eluded to in the title of this post he is using material from the great Hank Williams.  By his own admission he describes the project below:

“A Widower’s Kind” is a collection of significantly-to-slightly modified Hank Williams songs. Some of my favorite Hank songs, and some of his most morbid. Mark de Wilde (http://markdewilde.tumblr.com/) created the beautiful cover art. Hank supplied everything else. God rest his soul.

If you are familiar with the originals you do know that these are more of a modern day stark singer songwriter version of the country tunes, but they do work for the most part.  I have selected a couple of tracks that stuck out as some good listenin’.

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Enjoy your Friday.  Oh, did I mention this album is available for free?  You can download it via his Bandcamp Page HERE and find a link to a Mediafire upload link to grab a copy or simply chip in $1.00 or more for the Bandcamp copy (more format options than the mediafire copy).

You can also check out a previous post with Chris Kiehne here and also find him with his fantastic previous band The National Lights on iTunes here.

~Smansmith

(photo by Nick Wilkes)

Many do it.  Many will continue to do it.  Many don’t do it this well.  Covering Neil Young is almost a staple of any Country/Folk/Americana artist, but it isn’t something to take lightly.  It is all too easy to jam a cover and release it to the masses – we all know we are a blogger-coversong-world these days.  It just usually isn’t done where you feel like an artist borrows from another and if you didn’t know that little fact, that the song could be their own.

“Albuquerque (Neil Young Cover)” – Jeffrey Foucault – Signature Sounds Studio June 2011

Visit Jeffrey Foucault on his Website.
Purchase his stellar new album “Horse Latitudes” here.

~Smansmith

• Today is the release of William Elliott Whitmore’s “Field Songs” over on Anti Records.  If you enjoy your music on the rootsy side, banjo side and the folk country side – then this album is a no brainer.  The songs of Whitmore can be at times a tad too ‘raucous crooner’ but it is almost like he is taking a moment to breathe and the music is both powerful, a bit gritty and a worthy listen.  The vocals of Whitmore are perfect for this mid tempo folk country and they just hit the spot soo much on this album – his patented twang and warble just damn work on Field Songs!!
  William Elliott Whitmore – Everything Gets Gone by antirecords
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• Brett Detar recently released a video of himself attempting a cover song.  And by ‘attempting’, he did a fantastic job.  Watch him covering a classic in the form of Townes Van Zandt’s ‘Waiting Around to Die’ below:
  
  
• And for one of the best deals in town right now, you gotta swing by Ondarock to pick up the latest compilation, One Way Ticket to Nowhere.  This one is based on their ‘Outlaw’ series where artists cover an outlaw country/folk artist.  It is 2CDs worth of tracks from folks like Great Lake Swimmers, Chris Kasper, Caleb Coy and The Sumner Brothers (among many, many others).  Oh, did I mention it was completely FREE?  Yeah, so what are you waiting for?
• Keep your eye on that Adult Swim “2011 Singles Club” thingy as I believe that track from The Tallest Man on Earth is being released as a free download today sometime as well.  The page for the current and upcoming tracks is right here.  For now, stream ‘Weather of a Killing Kind’ below:
  

That is all I have for now, hope you enjoy it all!

~Smansmith

Song of the day.  Joshua James covering Sufjan’s classic ‘To Be Alone With You’ for the charity album featuring the Seven Swans album ‘reimagined’ by a different artist for each song.  Great idea, not all tracks really worked, but overall it is a pretty solid listen.  So, then, song of the day:

Find more information on the On Joyful Wings Bandcamp page HERE.

~Smansmith

I’ve been a long time fan of Anna-Lynne Williams and all things Lotte Kestner (ok, fine, and Trespassers William) and now we have a full on covers project from her!  This is a great solo acoustic covers album from one of the best voices in folk today.  There is something soo soothing about her voice and the way it floats over acoustics…delicate and almost haunting vocals spill all over anything she does.

So, for a covers album, name someone who you would like to have covered…they will be here.  I always think that half the battle for a collection is selecting the ‘right’ artists to cover to make an album really work – I mean, you just can’t throw it together, you have to put thought into it.  Many decisions must have been made on this album as it is deliciously eclectic and full of “yeah, you gotta have that one” and “oh, I would not have thought of that but damn…” moments.  Think of having songs from The National, The Cure, Bon Iver, New Order and even Vic Chesnutt with Williams’ buttery vocals all over them.

The album was released just this past June 1st and is on her label, Saint Loop Records here.  If you click that link you will notice that you also can have a bonus EP of covers…yeah, they keep coming!  The bonus EP is available via Saint Loop and her Bandcamp Page (here) and includes some great tracks.  I have included two tracks from this bonus EP for streaming below – Billy Idol AND David Bazan?  Nice.

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Do yourself a favour and swing by and pick up this covers tribute to some great artists.  Current favourite is her cover of ‘True Faith’ from New Order…soo good!

Find Lotte Kestner on her Record Label, Facebook and Bandcamp.
Purchase on Saint Loop Records, iTunes and CD Baby.

~Smansmith

I haven’t had much time for music blogging lately due to work, the hockey playoffs (because I’m clearly involved), commutes and other things that you don’t need to bother yourself with.  I am also unwilling to let you all go without good music for too long as that just isn’t right.  No, sir, just not right.

Today, we have John Statz’s cover of a pretty popular Frightened Rabbit track and other than the fact that I don’t listen to too much Frightened Rabbit, its pretty good.  Not too much production, probably a live take actually, but that is the way I like my singer songwriters these days.  Listen below:
Old, Old Fashioned (Frightened Rabbit cover) by John Statz

John has a couple of darn good albums as well that you can find on his Bandcamp page (here) and I can’t recommend his name-your-price EP “The Budapest Sessions” enough, great EP that you all should have (here).  Plus you can’t go wrong with a guy who has a song called “Our Love Was Made For Canada”.  You just can’t.

Find more on John Statz on his Website, Facebook, Bandcamp & Twitter.

Enjoy!

~Smansmith

p.s.  Find an interview we did with John back in 2008 with some good tunes – HERE.

Quick hitter today with a new album from Philadelphia’s Psalmships.  We have featured Joshua Britton (& crew) on the blog before and his eerie sense of ambient folk and he once again pulls out the stops with his new live album release “Baby, I’m Wild” due out next week as a free download!

I think the facebook page description sums up what you can expect upon first listen before you submerge in it and make your own call.

“Psalmships creates ghost folk, reeling in the minimal with atmospheric restraint.”

Today you can listen to 2 streams from the album (out on Bandcamp now and for free download next week) that cover two highly respected and covered artists in Jason Molina and Jeff Mangum:

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The covers have the delivery and timbre of each original artist and that is what is kind of chilling…listen for yourself and catch the entire thing on his bandcamp page now.

Visit Psalmships: Facebook | Website | Bandcamp

~Smansmith

This song has been on constant repeat at Slowcoustic HQ.  Why?  Because it is absolutely stunning.  I am not overly familiar with the original but I fear that I might prefer the cover…is that really so wrong?

Well it might be wrong if you ask Ryan Tanner due to Steve Earle figuring predominantly in the “hero” category around Ryan Tanner HQ.  Well, we agree to disagree on the immensely powerful cover of “Goodbye” performed here.  While I have heard some live versions of the song by Steve Earle back in the day, they are also damn good (and possibly with a bit more twang than Tanner provides) but I stand strong with the fact that this song can stand on its own.  That is really all you can ask for a cover/tribute song – that it stands on its own.  Ryan Tanner’s “Goodbye” stands taller than most.

I recommend you start keeping an eye on this award winning songwriter’s solo persona (he was formerly in the band Atherton who enjoyed their fair share of notability).  While he is new to me, I plan on listening to him as much as possible – new album is due this year, which is great news.

Best new find in my book.  The new find, once again, brought to me from Adrian (my web brother) from I Pick My Nose Blog – cheers Adrian.  Let’s listen to the song that started this ramble.

“Goodbye (Steve Earle Cover)” – Ryan Tanner

Find more on Ryan Tanner on his Website, Twitter and his blog!

~Smansmith

*All photos on this post by Jed Wells

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Someone has to cover for the boss now and then…
Benjamin Francis Leftwich – Atlantic City by dirty hit
Cover Me by The Boombox Hearts
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Find our more on The Boombox Hearts (new album this month) by clicking here.
Find out more on Benjamin Francis Leftwich (new debut album soon) by clicking here.

~Smansmith

An album I am very much looking forward to seeing a release is the upcoming Hezekiah Jones album “Have You Seen Our New Fort?”.  I am excited as it is a fantastic album and we are releasing it over on our label Yer Bird Records (his 4th release with us)!

And while this post isn’t about the new album (I’ll post on it next week with the release on March 29th), but we are uploading a track a day to the Yer Bird site of a live performance recorded in 2009.  2009, you say?  Yes, it is a great collection of the soundboard tracks that were recorded and mixed by Kyle Graham at Fresh Produce Studios and it includes some favourites alongside some covers the band has done.  So far there are two tracks up and I will post them below as well, but visit the home page of Yer Bird Records each day up to the release for another free track (another one up later on this afternoon)!

“Drug Buddy (Lemonheads cover)”
“Cupcakes for the Army”
Hezekiah Jones, Live @ The Fire – 2/19/09

For the recording the below “Jones” players were involved:

Enjoy!

~Smansmith

Visit Caleb Stine: Website & Facebook.
Pick up his recent (amazing) album “I Wasn’t Built For a Life Like This” at his store.

~Smansmith

One of my favourite songs in the last decade is Wolves by Phosphorescent.  It just is.  The song echoes, pines and just hits the spot.  The song is from the album “Pride” released on Dead Oceans in 2007 and it still kills me, but it is the death march.  The combination of the ukulele and the scratchy wounded vocals of Matthew Houck create a epic Slowcoustic track for the all time list.

Recently good friend Tim Showalter, or as you know him Strand of Oaks, recorded a cover of this track over on WXPN’s “The Key” in Philadelphia where he now calls home.  The song was part of the Folkadelphia Sessions via Y-Rock last December.  So as expected, I enjoy this cover quite a bit and I am also glad that Tim did a great job with it as this is sacred ground folks.  So thanks to Matt Houck for creating the song, thanks to Tim Showalter for covering it and thanks to XPN for sharing it.  Listen below:

“Wolves (Phosphorescent Cover)” – Strand of Oaks, Folkadelphia Session
See original post on The Key HERE
See the full session on XPN’s The Key HERE

Bonus is a live rip of the track from Phosphorescent’s Black Cab Session from a while back.  Tell me this doesn’t kill?

“Wolves (Black Cab Session)” – Phosphorescent

Visit Phosphorescent on Dead Oceans
Purchase “Pride” on iTunes, Amazon & eMusic

Visit Strand of Oaks on Facebook
Purchase Strand of Oaks on Bandcamp, iTunes, eMusic (VINYL on Ten Atoms)

Enjoy one of the best songs you will hear.

~Smansmith

So I found this little gem while looking into Waller’s upcoming album “Into The Dark Unknown” (which is beautiful to say the least) and I had to post on it.  The song is from a collection of out-takes from Waller’s previous album “Troubled Times” which are chock full of album worthy songs like this one.  Come on, Jolene (originally penned and made famous by Ms. Dolly Parton)…you can’t NOT post on it.  Bloggers love them some covers afterall…

With the original being a classic to many, it can be a hard to cover (and many have tried), but I think it might work better at half speed like it is here.  With the ominous ebb of this version of the song, you feel more of the unfortunate situation of a woman’s relationship being at the complete whim of another.  It is a tragically beautiful song – also, don’t let the jazz keyboards throw you, this one is fantastic.

There are a couple of free tracks from Waller on his Bandcamp page HERE.  Swing on by and visit him on his website as well.

~Smansmith

P.S. Bonus – “Bored of Memory” (mp3) from the new album “Into the Dark Unknown” – release is Feb. 15th, 2011 (album page).  Expect another post on that album very soon.

P.P.S. – check out a previous track from Holcombe that he donated to a compilation album “We Were Lost, We Were Free” here.

On my list of albums to look forward to in 2011 is “Outside” from the band O’Death which is due this April.  Just last week they started on the promotion of the album and the lead off track for promotion and the album itself is Bugs and it is actually on the lighter side for O’Death, but damn it, it is just soo good.  (Thanks to Love Shack, Baby, where I first heard the song!) While I reserve O’Death to be of the slightly cryptic, off centre and a bit darker side of folk, they now show that they are reaching some next level shit.  One might think that they have this whole music thing down pat.  Ernest Jenning Record Co will be at the helm of the new album so keep an eye out as this one will be something to purchase.  A side note is that EJRC also release the O’Death ‘side project’ Blood Warrior – something to check into if you find the sounds of O’Death pleasing to the ear.

Outside will be released on vinyl as well, so you have to purchase it as a 12″ record with that cover art…I think that is a perfect cover for an O’Death album, I’m sold.  Once again, damn it that is good.  Listen to Bugs below:

“Bugs” – O’Death, from the upcoming “Outside”
due April 19th (US/CAN), April 29th (DE) & May 2nd (Europe)

Find more O’Death: Website, Facebook, Twitter, Ernest Jenning Record Co
Purchase: iTunes, eMusic, Amazon, Ernest Jenning Record Co

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Next we have something from Philadelphia aritst “Sweet Lights” (or Shai Halperin as he is known to those that know him…ya know).  I completely missed the song on its first push through the tubes of the internet, but alas I had good friend Raphael Cutrufello (of Hezekiah Jones) bring it to my attention…and I am more complete due to it.  I ended up checking it out over on one of Philly’s best spots to find great music – WXPN’s The Key which also comes highly recommended.  See there post on it here and the new “old school” video here.

I just want to touch on this cover because the subject matter and original from Sharon Van Etten is fantastic and one always worries that a cover might not give justice to the original.  Well, I don’t think we need to worry about that here – the main thing about Van Etten’s music is that it is sound that you can feel, it’s raw, emotional and you immerse it her music.  Halperin provides you with a similar experience by keeping it fairly lo-fi and with his overly sombre delivery it very much works.  Well done.  Listen below;

“One Day (Sharon Van Etten Cover)” – Sweet Lights, free single

Find more Sweet Lights on Bandcamp, Tumblr and Twitter
Purchase on Bandcamp

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~Smansmith

Caleb sent over another one of his covers this past weekend – this time he covers the buzz band everyone is looking forward to at SXSW this year – The Marshall Tucker Band.  Remember, you heard it here second.

“Fly Eagle Fly (Marshall Tucker Band Cover)” – Caleb Coy, unreleased

Bonus, find some more Caleb Coy from his debut album from us over on Yer Bird Records.
Caleb Coy
“I’ll Be Damned” (mp3)
from “Wild Desert Rose”
(Yer Bird Records)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album

~Smansmith

Kyle Swartzwelder is one of those guys you always feel is flying under the radar with consistently great music.  While “country folk” isn’t the genre of music you really go into to become famous, it just seems like some people deserve a bit more.  Kyle is one of these people.

Kyle has quietly set forth his 3rd release in a 4 track EP of Neil Young trubutes and while it isn’t always “Slow and ‘coustic” as he noted to me, it still has phenomenal moments.  The EP has probably one of my current favourite songs in the epic seven and a half minute “Cortez the Killer” – just great.  It is a modern laid back country-fied version and just hits the spot.  I instantly felt the track and I knew this as there isn’t even vocals until over 2 minutes into the song and it isn’t out of place – the song is just a great listen.

Some people are wary of Neil Young “covers” as they have been done numerous times all over the world due to Young’s influence in this style of music – sometimes they work, sometimes you are just people singing other people’s music.  In this instance it really works and you must listen to Cortez the Killer right now, see below!

“Cortez the Killer” – Kyle Swartzwelder, from 2011′s “The Songs of Neil Young” EP

Please swing by and visit Kyle on his Website HERE, and purchase it HERE.
Visit Kyle on his Facebook, MySpace and Reverbnation pages.

~Smansmith

p.s.  If you enjoy covers, please check out his previous EP that has a vicious Springsteen cover of Thunder Road.  Also…tell me you have heard his Kathleen Edward’s “Away” cover too?

Ivana XL, one of Brooklyn’s finest up and coming (come on guys, how much longer do I have to say this – why isn’t she famous) singer songwriters has been uploading songs on her “Xmas” themed Bandcamp Page for a few weeks now.  I noticed that there were some more tracks and the below cover of Lucinda Williams’ track “Over Time” can not be overlooked.  It is a fantastically lazy stroll of a song that I believe was recorded by Willie Nelson & Lucinda Williams (but written by Williams) in the early 2000s…. or whatever – regardless, its a great track.

“Over Time (Lucinda Williams cover)” – Ivana XL

If you visit her Bandcamp page, you can also pick up 6 other songs currently, including one of her best with “Nobody Does it Better” (I don’t want to get caught up in the covers here, but why do they all sound so great?) – stream it below;

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There you have it – swing by here and pick up the rest of the free tracks from Ivana!

~Smansmith

So I’m just sitting there, minding my own business and Raphael Cutrufello (the man at the helm of Hezekiah Jones) sends over a couple of songs from “this upcoming compilation for Philadelphia artists”.  I think “great” because I consider the PA area of the USA one of my favourite areas for musical talent.  Then I took a listen and now I’m looking forward to more!

Philly sings Philly was a series of live shows over the course of 5 weeks where local artists covered each others songs.  My boy Raphael is pretty well known in the folk scene in Philly, so he was in there like a dirty shirt!  So far a stand out track is Hezekiah Jones (with Brad Hinton) covering a Joshua Britton track “Gospels” – great stuff.  Listen below (please ignore how it displays, it is Hezekiah Jones);

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So now you know where I am coming from.  So far there are “officially” only the two tracks that I know of, but I am digging in for more that I presume will surface in the new year courtesy of Turtle Studios.  The Ryan Tennis track where he covers Chris Grunwald is fantastic as well – fans of a Damien Rice/David Gray should take note on that one.

I also wanted to leave you with another group of Philly artists fronted by Brad Hinton covering a Hezekiah Jones track – Enjoy, Cannonball (I’ve Got a Little Room).

So keep an ear out and swing by for a purchase of the two tracks from PSP so far – only $0.76 USD for each and proceeds go to the 420 fund.  Visit the Bandcamp page HERE.

~Smansmith

p.s.  Don’t miss the Dec. 29th show with Andrew Lipke, Hezekiah Jones and Chris Kasper at Sellersville Theatre – info/tix HERE.

So I am heading on a bit of a winter vacation (as you read this I will be either in an airport or in the sky already) and I ‘re-found’ these two covers while making a playlist for the plane/beach/pool/beach – you know how it is. Well, Josie Little is one of my “online friends” and this does not mean weird shit, it just means we are friends via social networks and you need to give her a bit of time to have her play for ya.

Take a couple of minutes to listen to what is (probably) her most popular cover track from Ryan Adams, plus a nice little one from The Who – enjoy!
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come pick me up by josielittle
love, reign o’er me by josielittle
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Enjoy your Tuesday, I’ll enjoy some nice acoustic covers while oceanside!  Cheers.

~Smansmith

Listen:

For those that don’t have the lovely flash support, please enjoy: “Rebellion (Arcade Fire Cover)” – Benjamin Francis Leftwich.

Find more BFL: MySpace, Facebook

Purchase: iTunes, Amazon, eMusic

~Smansmith

I recently started “really” listening to Dolorean.  I mean, being a music blogger that enjoys the style of music I do, I have clearly listened to a few tracks from this Portland band previously.  I mean Buffalo Gal is crazy good, but I never considered myself a die hard fan.  Sure I liked them, they play a great tune but I never knew why I didn’t really listen to them.  I am starting to give it the effort and low and behold, it doesn’t take too much effort at all…its pretty damn good.

Well the new album “The Unfazed” is out in January on Partisan Records (see more, stream a little here) and it sounds freakin’ good – again, why am I not listening to more Dolorean??  I have learned my lesson and am now starting to consider myself a “fan”…now listen to a track and come to the same realization.

“Ghost of David (Damien Jurado Cover)” – Dolorean, from the split 7″ via the 2005 tour.
Download the 320kbps version including the Damien Jurado Cover of “Traded For Fire” HERE.

Visit Dolorean: Website, Partisan Records, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter.

~Smansmith

above via toothpastefordinner.com

What is it that I am aware of and enjoying the world of music and music blogs?  Glad you asked.

• Did you download the Sam Quinn session at Daytrotter (HERE)?  If so, congrats you are accepted into the inner circle.  If not, get thee into the circle by downloading!  Current favourite track is the “just a bit too late for the new album” Oceans, so let’s listen: “Oceans”
• Did you see that compilation to benefit the Wisconsin Humane Society?  You know, the one that took 15 Wisconsin artists and had them record a song each to complete a tribute to Wilco’s “Summerteeth” album?  ummm, you need to check it out (HERE) and consider a donation (HERE).  Thanks to Muzzle of Bees for making it happen!  Current favourite is the Conrad Plymouth track, listen: “Nothing’severgonnastandinmywayagain” (but head over to MoB for the full 320kbps version).
• Captain Obvious blog is always able to come out of nowhere to give us one of his mixtapes and he does not disappoint.  See the August installment (regardless of posting it on Sept. 1st….hey, it was worth getting every last day out of August for the mix!).  Download it HERE.  Current favourite is the Dylan LeBlanc track.
• This one isn’t about music, but I think you should follow Drew who creates Toothpaste For Dinner on Twitter (FOLLOW).  He be funny.
• Did you know that Song, by Toad Records has a great release that combines favourites Animal Magic Tricks, Meursault and King Creosote into one nice little package (currently on VINYL & CD).  Well it exists and they call themselves Cold Seeds!  Listen to a sample: “The Perfume of Mexican Birds”.  Current favourite track is the sleeper “Soil” that has been sending chills since I first heard it.
• Wentworth Kersey has released their 3rd installment of the “O” series, ((O)).  It is once again more shoegaze Americana (and some of the best you will find).  Listen to a current favourite “Sun And Moon”.  Find out, listen, purchase more at their SITE and (damn slick) LABEL page.  Watch a video of another track below:

Well, that is all I have at the moment.  Hope it gives you all something to fill the long weekend!

~Smansmith

A daunting task for any artist is to do covers of bands that are for the most part universally loved.  So I believe this is why most artists retain covers for live performances and personal listening/enjoyment.  Of course there could be some sort of licensing issue (especially if you are attempting to do a cover of a well known artist), but who knows.  I recently obtained some “remixes/covers/rarities” from one of our artists over at Yer Bird Records, Hezekiah Jones.  Below are two of the covers that was part of the package – HJ tends to not mess around with covers and picks some of the big guys with the two Radiohead below and others included John Lennon and David Bowie….but those will be for another time.  So let’s dig in:

“Thinking About You (Radiohead Cover)”
“Stop Whispering (Radiohead Cover)”

I also like that he used tracks from the Pablo Honey album from Radiohead and didn’t cruise right up to OK Computer for a slam dunk cover.  And come on, when you kick in that much banjo into “Stop Whispering” it can’t be wrong….or, maybe try to tell that to a die-hard RH fan…

Visit Hezekiah Jones:

Enjoy.

~Smansmith

(Photo by Donna Ward/Getty Images)

Thought I would put the good old blogger “Mixtape” for Saturday with some tracks that have been getting some decent play around Slowcoustic HQ along with some new ones I just started listening to.  Some are from upcoming albums, some are from albums a few years old, some aren’t officially released at all.  Hope you enjoy this rag tag bunch of tracks loosely combined for a nice little playlist to import for that next moment you need some solid “folky” tunes.

• Starting with a new one from an album that I am very much looking forward to – The Mountains & The Trees upcoming “I Made This For You” (due August 2010).  Jon Janes who records under the moniker of The Mountains & The Trees is just the kind of guy you wanna know: he is an almost overly friendly guy, plays a mean banjo and has an almost unhealthy appreciation for the Canadian Broadcasting Company.  You gotta like that in a guy.
  ~ Enjoy “More & More & More” from the upcoming album.  Pre-order the album HERE.  **look for a “bonus track” from this album on our upcoming Yer Bird Records compilation in July!

• Another song that has been getting more play is from Brad Senne.  Despite the album being a 2009 release, it has been a bit of a sleeper and I personally loved the album “Aerial Views” immediately.  It started with the fantastic “Sing & Dance” and has extended through the entire album.  It is definitely one of those pensive singer songwriter albums that draws you in.  Highly recommended.
  ~ Enjoy “Golden” from Aerial Views.  Visit Brad HERE.

• Theodore recently did a Daytrotter Session (here) and it was crazy good.  While I find Theodore as an entity almost hit and miss at times because they have tracks that are mind blowing and then some that don’t hit the mark (for me).  Maybe it is a band that do such great slow burners get stuck in that mindset for me so when they kick it up a notch I am always waiting in 1st gear…oh well.  This song is an all timer for me and the Daytrotter version is killer.
  ~ Enjoy “Back From The War (Daytrotter Version)“.  Visit Theodore HERE.

• I posted last weekend on Joe Hertler from Michigan and I mentioned that I was thinking of him due to a video post for Frontier Ruckus.  Well, I don’t know why I didn’t post this song, but because I didn’t, here it is now.
  ~ Enjoy “Orion Town 3 (Frontier Ruckus Cover)“.  Visit Joe Hertler HERE.

• Drunk Country (of The Waiting Room fame) who is often a source of music for me has sent me in the direction of Björn Kleinhenz who I had not heard of prior.  Well I am glad he did as Kleinhenz has a piercing voice perfect for all the dusty towns and open plains that  “Americana Music” could ever hope for.  I found a split EP with Winter Took His Life who I had heard of, so what can I do other than provide a track from each right here!
  ~ Enjoy “We Will Burn” from Björn Kleinhenz and “Heaven On Earth” from Winter Took His Life.  PLEASE go get the rest of this EP (free download) over at his website HERE.   Also visit Winter Took His Life HERE.

• To end, I am still reeling over that NPR Session from Elephant Micah so I am going to post another track from it.  Listen to a great live take of “Loop and Lil” which is from his “Plays the Songs of the Bible Birds” album that came out earlier this year.
  ~ Enjoy “Loop and Lil (Live on NPR)“.  Find that album and more on Elephant Micah HERE.

Well that is it for now.  Other than the above, recommended listening includes that great new Sam Quinn album, Deer Tick and Matthew Ryan’s “Dear Lover Acoustic Version” album.  Soo much good stuff right now…

~Smansmith

Mark Erelli {Visit}

Jeffrey Foucault and long time friend Mark Erelli have murder in their heart.  And in their latest collaborative album.

So I felt I had to post this because it was like I was meant to, I basically had to.  I don’t normally hear too much from either artist despite being a big fan of Foucault and slightly more than average fan of Erelli.  Then, last weekend I get an email from fellow blogger Laura at You Crazy Dreamers to check out a b-side/demo from Foucault (listen: “Geese Fly By“).  I realize later that she was getting ready to see the show last week out in Chicago that ended up being her favourite concert this year.  And she has seen more than a few so far.  She purchased the Seven Curses album and immediately sent it over to me and I have been playing non-stop…well, lots.

Then I notice on one of my regular reads, Cover Lay Down, that this album gets a mention as essentially the album is a collection of murder ballad covers – hence the mention on Cover Lay Down.  Okay this is getting weird, so I decide in order to get my aura clean I had to post on the album and here we are.

So basically, I really like the album – but people, you have to be ready for the (alt) country in you to be represented.  The album could be considered a country album if this was 10 years ago, so now a days I would call it folk-country or so.  Both Erelli and Foucault are singer-songwriter/troubadours in the full sense of the word – these two would feel just as comfortable in a whiskey soaked stage at midnight just as easily in the back woods of Colorado when singing to whomever is around.  The covers range from the full on country version of Woody Guthrie (Philadelphia Lawyer) to the honky tonk version of Bruce Springsteen (Johnny 99) to a mellowed out Steve Earle (Ellis Unit 1) and the below version of Richard Buckner’s version of a Edgar Lee Masters Poem called Tom Merritt (from what I can tell).  Essentially, this is a great country cover album that possibly gets a bit too country for me at times, but it always pulls itself back with a stunning track that keeps me listening.  Recommended.

“Tom Merritt” - Jeffrey Foucault & Mark Erelli, from 2010′s “Seven Curses”
(you can also visit Foucault’s site for 2 more tracks, here)

Purchase:

~Smansmith

I hope you readers are also following my other “night job” of running Yer Bird Records …(waits while sound of crickets gets louder…)…as we have been slowly but surely announcing updates on our upcoming compilation CD set for release this Summer.  I had said to myself repeatedly that I would do my best to not cross pollinate with my blogger life here at Slowcoustic – in other words, I have a pseudo financial interest in Yer Bird doing well so it is hard to promote it without feeling like I am pandering to you all to “buy my wares”.  But screw it, its going to be soo good, that as a music blogger I would be remiss in not letting you know!

So the compilation will be called “Folk Music For What Lies Ahead” which is an all encompassing phrase to go with me & my wife now being recent owners of the label and possibly moving the label ahead with the music that we find dear to our ears, the “slow & acoustic” type.  It also has a bit of a secondary meaning in the fact that “folk music” has taken on a wider range in definition the last few years, falling in line with terms such as “indie” and “alternative” did years ago.  Natural progression I guess – so in turn the compilation includes 18 artists that can range quite a bit across the spectrum of music that can be referred in internet circles as “folk”.

Now that the title has been established (yikes, now you know why its another couple of months…) – we think we have the cover art (similar to the great pic above and from a friend of the blog – more on that as it materializes).  I have heard artists lament on cover art and others flippantly put something that might catch a non-fan into picking up a disc or album.   I find I like to have something that I like in general just to start out with.  I think the photos that we will be using are incredible and can be considered art alone, so cover art has been discovered to be a bit overwrought for us…sigh.

Now the music!!!  Again, 18 artists that include a combination of Yer Bird Artists and some others that we just feel represent great music and artists we admire.  All the songs are in and I have been listening constantly for the last 4-6 weeks or so and I try not to be biased, but this collection is going to be fantastic.  There are solo acoustic, gothic folk, country tinged folk, gorgeous indie-pop-folk, bluesy edged tracks and even good old singer songwriter stuff!  All tracks are either unreleased (as of yet), alternate versions or new songs all together, and this deep pool of talent have graciously agreed to donate a track to the project.

So far we have only announced 6 artists because we are dragging it out a bit due to the release being about 2 months away.  So I thought I would update you on the artists so far and make a Saturday playlist out of it – but remember these are not the songs for the compilation, just songs from the artists to remind/ensure you how good it will be.

Yer Bird Records Compilation (with no songs from the actual compilation) Playlist

• Nic Garcia – “Triumph”, from 2005′s The Desperate Ones [Visit Him]
• Lotte Kestner – “Leif Erikson (Interpol Cover)”, from 2008′s China Mountain [Visit Her]
• The Gunshy – “It’s Time I Got Out Of PA”, from 2008′s I Gave Too Much Time To The Wine And Other Collected Eps [Visit Him]
• Sharon Van Etten – “For You”, from 2008′s Because I Was in Love (but check out the version on her self titled as well) [Visit Her]
• Cam Penner – “Thirteen”, from 2009′s Trouble & Mercy [Visit Him]
• The Mountains & The Trees – “Up & Down”, from 2009′s Hop, Skip & A Jump [Visit Him]

There you have it, you are up to speed – check back at Yer Bird Records every Friday for another update on the artists.  I am sure I will have another update here too, so don’t worry!  I am pretty sure we will have some give-aways here on Slowcoustic for it as well, so stayed tuned!

~Smansmith

So I never said I was first on the spot when music gets announced or promo’d but there are some pretty decent tunes that are new to me that I am spinning, so I thought I might need a Monday playlist.  No real connection other than the fact that I am listening to each individually and not part of the album (except for maybe White Hinterland) or any sort of back catalog – all individual tracks to me over the last week or so from the ol inbox.

“The Darkest Side” – The Middle East (I know, I know, where was I on this one already – AND they are touring with Mumford & Sons!) beautiful slowed down love ballad.  (visit)

“Icarus” & “No Logic” – White Hinterland, from the just released “Kairos”, worthy psych folk. (purchase)

“Liza” – Emily Jane White, from the upcoming “Victorian America”, so good.  (visit)

“By Morning” – Ghostkeeper, from the just released self titled album.   A bit of a jangly indie pop track, but they are from Calgary, come on! (visit)

“Like A Prayer (coverture)” – Glass Cake, yes it is a Madonna cover done overly lo-fi and it’s fantastic! (visit)

“Maybe Always (ft Jenn Grant)” – Share, from 2009′s Slumping In Your Murals (visit for a 3 track EP FREE) – they are playing The Palamino here in Calgary on Thursday, March 11th as well.

There you have it, another blogger “mixtape” for your Monday!

~Smansmith

]]> http://slowcoustic.com/2010/03/08/my-recent-listening-playlist-monday-edition/feed/ 4 http://slowcoustic.com/2010/01/12/free-compilation-alert-ondadrops-volume-1-do-you-know-the-way-to-blue/ http://slowcoustic.com/2010/01/12/free-compilation-alert-ondadrops-volume-1-do-you-know-the-way-to-blue/#comments Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:29:59 +0000 slowcoustic http://slowcoustic.com/?p=3866

Do you like great slowcore?  Do you like great singer songwriters?  Do you like beautifully ambient tracks?  Do you like all the previous for free?  Hells yeah!

The good folks over at the Italian music webzine “ondarock” has issued its double “disc” release of selected Slowcoustic music.  This makes this sad bastard very happy.  The compilation is a great project and features some original stuff, existing album demos and even a cover (or two).   See below for the bands included (notice some Slowcoustic favs amoung them!):

A SINGER OF SONGS

ANT

BARZIN

BRIAN WHEAT & GROGGY DARLIN’

DAKOTA SUITE

DOG IS BLUE

DREW PISTON

FOXTROT EMPIRE

HEZEKIAH JONES

ILYA E. MONOSOV

JOHN CRAIGIE

LEONARD MYNX

MOOMAW

NICOLAI RICCARDO GREY

NORABELLE

OWEIHOPS

PICKERING PICK

RADICAL FACE

RIVULETS

SIMON LLEWELYN EVANS

STEVE ADEY

TEX LA HOMA

THE BOY HARDY

THE BRENDAN HINES & CO., INC.

THE MOSTAR DIVING CLUB

THINGS IN HERDS

So click the patchwork image at the top of the page or click RIGHT HERE to visit (translated page in English HERE).  Come on, 26 free tracks put together with thought and care for your listening pleasure?!?!  You can’t go wrong here folks.

~Smansmith

For me, its usually not too bad as I don’t really take the “holidays” too seriously and now that I am getting a bit older (I said “a bit older” folks) it is less about opening gifts and frolicking in the snow but more about time away from work, drinks and some alone time.  Alone time?  Yes, I am in fact an only child and from a single parent family and I have no children of my own.  Poor me, right?  I don’t know.  Maybe because I was brought up in this scenario that crowds and huge family get togethers seem out of place for me.  If it gives you an idea, my December 25th morning will be me, my wife and my mom who has flown into Calgary for the holidays and my two dogs.  That’s it.  Sure we are heading out to the wifey’s family in the afternoon as there is actually family on her side, but I think maybe it is the quiet times of the holidays that I really like and look forward to.  That and making excuses to buy something excessive for myself because honestly the holidays are not too difficult for me – but one still needs to be rewarded for making it through this time of year!  Yeah, I like that last part about the excessive purchases…yeah…

QUESTION(s):  So, anyone with horror stories or is it all okay for you all?  Did you want to post it in the comments?  Is this a family time of year for you all?  Is this just time away from school/work/hometown and if not is it still something that you look forward to?

Well, for some of you it might not seem as easy as I have made my holidays sound, so my advice is to breathe deeply, slip away every now and then and just think that it will all be over soon.
For you: “The End’s Not Near (New Year Cover)” from Band of Horses.

And if you are into this time of year, I applaud you as you just may be a better person than I.  So for you, how about something a bit more in the season – try a nice little original from previous Slowcoustical
For you:  “Still, Still, Still” from “Land of Leland” (see a previous mention).

Happy “whatever it is you want it to be this time of year” to you all from Slowcoustic.

~Smansmith

p.s.  Maybe the breeze I am thinking of is the breeze of the ocean off the coast of Mexico that I will be seeing in a week…  I said my holidays are not stressful, right?

it happens (possibly a lot to this band from what I hear – I didn’t really listen to the album, but enough to know I like the below better than the Wavves version).

“So Bored” – Le Man Avec Les Lunettes

“So Bored” – His Clancyness

*pick up the full ep of “So Bored” covers over on We Were Never Being Boring collective

So anyone find a cover and decide it is better than the original?  Post in the comments with what you have and let everyone judge you for it!

~Smansmith

p.s.  Didn’t Pitchfork give Wavves an 8.1??

I thought I would send you on your way into the meat of the weekend with a couple of tracks that I have been spinning lately and are tracks that I thought needed to hit the blog, ergo, you my fine readers.  They kind of span things I enjoy listening to, but sometimes everyone doesn’t enjoy all aspects of what I think “Slowcoustic” means.  Well, I use the term quite loosely and I think the below are some examples of a bit of the range of the genre.

“Hawthorn to Hennepin” – Clint Michigan {Visit}
I don’t know why there isn’t more blog love for this Brooklyn duo, they have such great harmonies and keep it basically singer songwriter with folk tinges of banjo and is just a great listen.

“Mommy Crow” – E.P. Hall {Visit}
This is an example of lo-fi female fronted vocals that draws me in; beautiful, not too over the top and you can both dig into it and drift away with it.

“Drop” – Akira Kosemura {Visit}
Definitely the ambient side of me – Kosemura is one of the artists that create something that is just stunning.  This is a track that is considered electronic, and I am willing to bring it on board a traditionally non electronic blog.  It must be good then…right?

“Question (Old 97s Cover)” – Josh Preston {Visit}
Josh sent this to me due to my covers post last weekend – great job by Josh as I am not really a huge fan of Old 97s.  This is a highly approachable track that might get you on board and then you can find numerous other tracks from Preston – he has a lot!

One last video inclusion for a new album just sent over that is really hitting home – “Life But No More” from Frank Schweikhardt.  Take a listen to The Dead – this is some great slow and acoustic stuff!

Frank Schweikhardt- The Dead from Crossroads Of America Records on Vimeo.

Enjoy!

~Smansmith

p.s.  The top photo is just a random photo from a hike last year in the beautiful Kananaskis area.

Although I believe TDFA is more than these covers, take this as an introduction to the world of his sombre acoustic beauty.   The songs below are quiet and alternate landscapes of familiar and not so familiar songs.  Collyer’s take is classic acoustic folk and keeps is down the middle with consistently great sounding tracks that every Slowcoustic fan would enjoy.  The recordings are surprisingly great quality for the most part and you are treated to the banter between tracks and discover that he is quite funny and charismatic.  This particular recording is from Dec. 29th back in 2007 and is a funny and sad bastard soundtrack for today as well as providing a quick glimpse into this talented German.   Enjoy.

The Diamond Family Archive – 29/12/07 Komedia, Brighton, United Kingdom

Caroline

Here I Go Again

I Hear A Sweet Voice Calling

Islands In The Stream

Brothers In Arms

Down At The Landing

Walk Of Life

The Wanderer

I almost lost my shite when “Here I Go Again” was selected and played.

Visit and Purchase The Diamond Family Archive

~Smansmith

So I have been away from posting new stuff (or old stuff for that matter) – due to day to day life getting in the way.  I know, this is no excuse – in a cut throat world of mp3/music blogging this comes as a hollow excuse disguised as a “reason”.  Well, dear blog readers, take this as my olive branch, my most humble of apologies for the fade to black around the blog this past week.

So, what better way to provide a pick-up for the masses?  Well, why not put a bunch of “indie covers” on the blog!!  Come on, everybody loves covers, and as shameless of a post this is, you know you will like some, already have others and secretly wish you had posted the one or two.  Regardless, we have a good week upcoming (if I get around to it) – with some giveaways (CD and shirt) so keep tuned, you never know what you may walk away with…other than the below covers!  Most, if not all, have made there way around the blogs, and at least half have already been on this blog, but here they all are once again, in one convenient post.

Slowcoustic’s Apology in the form of Cover Playlist

I Am Trying To Break Your Heart (Wilco Cover) / James Eric & Erin Vogel / Yankee Hotel Foxtrot Covers
Return to Me (Sparklehorse Cover) / Travel by Sea / That Horse Yonder (Sparklehorse Tribute)
Say Say Say (Paul McCartney & Michael Jackson Cover) / Kesang Marstrand / Bodega Rose
Mistaken For Strangers (The National Cover) / Ian McGlynn / Memorial Day Parade – EP
Wicked World (Daniel Johnston cover) / Jay Bennett / Whatever Happened I Apologize
Shankill Butchers (The Decemberists Cover) / Sarah Jarosz / Song Up In Her Head
Hello (Lionel Ritchie Cover) / Blackbird Harmony / Hardwood Exits Demos
Ol’ 55 (Live Tom Waits Cover) / Joe Pug / Live at Schuba’s Tavern 5/1/09
Fairies Wear Boots (Black Sabbath Cover) / Bill Patton / Gets It On
Landlocked Blues (Bright Eyes Cover) / Geri X / Radioactive Drool
Leif Erikson (Interpol Cover) / Lotte Kestner / China Mountain
The Park (Feist Cover) / Bon Iver / Live on JJJ – 01/23/2009
None Of The Above (Weakerthans Cover) / Scott Cooper
Sound and Vision (David Bowie cover) / The Peptides
Come Pick Me Up (Ryan Adams cover) / Josie Little
Woody (Hayden cover) / Winter Makes Sailors

Zip file of the whole playlist

~~~

There you have it, plenty of music to make up for missing 4 days last week!  Let us never speak of this again.

~Smansmith