You had to think I would have this as a song of the day, come on.  J. Tillman treads only on paths made of flower petals and breathes in only perfumed scented air in the minds of the Slowcoustic crew.  Nuff said.

The song is “Three Sisters” and it is the opening track from his upcoming Singing Ax album on Western Vinyl.  The album is spectacular as a J. Tillman album would be.  In fact upon first hearing the album, Three Sisters immediately stuck out as the feature track and may be the one that sticks in my mind as the touchstone of the whole album.  Coming in at just over 6 1/2 minutes of beauty that includes some accent points (courtesy of Albini’s production?  Maybe?) that may immediately feel overpowering, but that is the point.  The song envelopes you in it’s story, it’s beauty via its steady cadence…step by step.  The moments of inflection in the song give it that push to be more than just another singer songwriter telling tales of man’s journey.  This is epic.

“Three Sisters” – J. Tillman, from the upcoming 2010 release “Singing Ax” (Western Vinyl)

Even more:  find lots more Tillman in our “Slowcoustic Essentials” here.

~Smansmith

Whatever you want to call him or do call him – “J. Tillman”, “Josh Tillman”, “Tills”, “J.T.” – he is still the pinnacle of the hushed singer songwriter, period.  This is why J. Tillman is ultimately deserving of being essential listening to those who enjoy Slowcoustic style music.

J. Tillman has been on the scene for a few years, longer than most think, but overall not that long for the amount of material released.  So 5 years or so I would think from his first release to today.  Despite what Wikipedia currently says about the releases they do range over more than the last couple of years, see below:

• • I Will Return (2008) LP/Digital Release – ORIGINALLY 2004/5 on KEEP Recordings
  • Long May You Run, J. Tillman (2008) Digital Release – ORIGINALLY 2005/6 on KEEP Recordings
  • Minor Works (2008) LP/Digital Release – ORIGINALLY 2006 on Fargo Records
  • Documented (2006) Tour EP
  • Cancer & Delirium (2008) LP/Digital Release – ORIGINALLY 2007 on YerBird
  • Isle Land DVD EP (2008) – technically not a release, but a 4 track “EP” from VTB
    
  • Vacilando Territory Blues (January 2009)

There has been a bit of an “all over the map” impression left in the wake of Tillman’s many label switches.  Who knows what it may be due to, either getting larger and needing different labels, poaching from label to label – whatever.  Regardless, for the most part everything is readily available via iTunes for the last 4 releases (thank you Autumn Tone).  All are hugely recommended (obviously) and if you can pick up a physical copy of “I Will Return” and send it to me that would be great – it is the only album I don’t have both mp3 and CD copy of.  I unfortunately learned of the whispering acoustics of Josh Tillman just prior to the release of his sophomoric release “Long May You Run, J. Tillman” and missed my chance at getting his debut “I Will Return” in physical media.  I ended up just barely getting my hands on a numbered copy of his second release via the now defunct KEEP Recordings.  It was hard enough getting your copy of a “pre-order” from KEEP Recordings in those days.

While I will have my personal favourites, you absolutely cannot live without his first two releases and they come highly recommended – if not for “Lilac Hem” from “I Will Return” and “Casualties” from “Long May You Run, J. Tillman” alone.  Both are classic dark room, lonely troubadour recordings and this is what drew me to his music and keeps me coming back.  Strong lyrics, almost all-breath vocals and a lone single acoustic guitar.  Tillman might be the reason I latched onto the singer songwriter genre and have become one with it the last few years.

Video love for Tillman with the only “official” video of “Seven States Across” along with a great live performance of “Darling Night” in Barcelona.

You can’t miss by taking advantage of Western Vinyl’s release of “Vacilando Territory Blues” this week, so make sure you order a copy, don’t just sit there with the digital copy – order the CD.  Yes, order the CD in hopes that you one day will sit back one early morning in the fall, sink deep into your chair and hear the subtle beauty of Josh’s incredible creations.  Just to make sure you pick up the new release – enjoy a few samples right here: Steel On Steel & James Blues and Masters House (live on KEXP).

Below are a few live performance rips, album versions, and also a favourite in a rare-ish track “Slow Burn”.  There are many more out there and don’t get me started on the tracks that have come through his MySpace player over the years that have not officially surfaced…always something to look forward to, and with that I wait patiently.

You can (and go on , go now) visit him on his: Website, MySpace & Label Page(s) here, here, here and here.

~Smansmith

p.s.  I believe he joined the band Fleet Foxes recently, just a fyi.  ;-)

Just received my DVD of “Isle Land”, the 4 track DVD EP from J. Tillman.  Dark, acoustic and perfect.  So then, I just had to put a sneak peak on the Essentials Series next “victim”.

J. Tillman is most likely my “favourite” artist.  This is what I may say if found strapped to a chair, my feet placed in a pool of tepid water and had some sort of car battery jumper cables coming towards me.  Well, I might be convinced to admit this without the drama, just was looking to paint a mental picture…

Enjoy your Sunday with the KEXP performance of “Master’s House” from a while ago that ended up being on this month’s release of “Vacilando Territory Blues” from Western Vinyl.

~Smansmith

Jason Molina.  The man of many faces (or identities at least) in the realm of what many might call “indie” music.  He just might be the “essential of essentials” for the type of music I love.  Whether he is Magnolia Electric Co., Songs: Ohia or even just Jason Molina…this guy should be a staple in everyone’s library.

While you might not immediately latch on to Molina’s vocals and possibly find yourself a bit lost on where to start if you are new to him – keep listening and keep it to Songs: Ohia and you will be fine.  Of Jason Molina’s identities, I believe Songs: Ohia is the pinnacle of woozy, pained songwriting.  It tends to never be “fields of flowers and puppy dogs”, but if it was, would you be here right now??  Not that all down-tempo music needs to be about loss, finding yourself and discovering what you thought was true actually isn’t…it sure helps!

This Ohio native (what, you didn’t guess this yet?) started out in Cleveland in a few metal bands (!!) and eventually moved to his solo persona and officially started recording in 1996 as Songs: Ohia.  He has recorded numerous albums and such since then which is reflected in his release library.  When I say the library of music and projects for Jason Molina is large, the Wikipedia page for him shows just how vast it actually is.  Again, I am partial to his Songs: Ohia stuff so check out some info below.

Songs: Ohia

Albums

• 1997 Songs: Ohia (also know as The Black Album)
• 1998 Impala (originally released on Happy Go Lucky) *personal favourite
• 1999 Axxess & Ace
• 1999 The Ghost (tour-only release)
• 2000 The Lioness
• 2000 Protection Spells (tour-only release) *personal favourite
• 2000 Ghost Tropic
• 2001 Mi Sei Apparso Come Un Fantasma (live album, Paper Cut Records) *personal favourite
• 2002 Didn’t It Rain *personal favourite
  
• 2003 Magnolia Electric Co.

EPs

• 1997 Hecla & Griper
• 1998 Our Golden Ratio (Acuarela)
• 2001 Howler (Absalom)
• 2001 Travels in Constants (Temporary Residence)

Singles

• 1996 “Nor Cease Thou Never Now” (Palace Records)
• 1996 “One Pronunciation of Glory”
• 1999 “Untitled” (Western Vinyl)
• 2002 “The Gray Tower”/”Black Link to Fire Link”
• 2002 “Keep It Steady”/”United or Lost Alone”
• 2004 “No Moon on the Water”/”In the Human World” (Chunklet)

Jason Molina

Albums

• 2004 Pyramid Electric Co.
• 2006 Let Me Go, Let Me Go, Let Me Go *personal favourite
  

Magnolia Electric Co.

Albums

• 2005 Trials & Errors (live album)
• 2005 What Comes After the Blues
• 2006 Fading Trails
• 2007 Sojourner (Boxset)

EPs

• 2005 Hard to Love a Man

Collaborations

EPs

• 2002 “Translation” on Split: My Morning Jacket / Songs: Ohia (Jade Tree)
• 2002 Amalgamated Sons of Rest with Will Oldham and Alasdair Roberts (Galaxia)

Singles

• 1998 “Nay, Tis Not Death” (Alternate) on split 7″ with Appendix Out (Liquefaction Empire)
• 1999 “Journey On” on split 7″ with Oneida (Jagjaguwar)
• 1999 “How to Be Perfect Men” on split 7″ with Rex (Temporary Residence)
• 2000 7″ single with Alasdair Roberts
• 2000 “Fade St.” on split 7″ with Glen Hansard (Road Relish)
• 2001 “Lioness” (Version) on split 7″ with Scout Niblett

Jason Molina is currenlty signed to the fantastic Secretly Canadian label (hell, that’s a great name for a label, by the way) which has a ton of tracks to get you started, such as:

• JASON MOLINA
  Let Me Go, Let Me Go, Let Me Go
  Get Out Get Out Get Out
• MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC CO.
  Hard to Love a Man
  Doing Something Wrong
• MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC CO
  What Comes After The Blues
  The Dark Don’t Hide It
  Leave The City
• MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC CO
  Trials & Errors
  Dark Don’t Hide It
  Cross The Road
• MAGNOLIA ELECTRIC CO.
  Fading Trails
  Lonesome Valley

• SONGS: OHIA
  Magnolia Electric Co.
  Farewell Transmission
• SONGS: OHIA
  Didn’t It Rain
  Two Blue Lights
• SONGS: OHIA
  Ghost Tropic
  Body Burned Away
• SONGS: OHIA
  The Lioness
  Lioness
• SONGS: OHIA
  Axxess & Ace
  Captain Badass
• SONGS: OHIA
  Impala
  East’s Heart Divided
• SONGS: OHIA
  Hecla & Griper
  East’s Last Heart
• SONGS: OHIA
  Songs: Ohia
  Cabwaylingo

Whether you consider him “Rock n’ Roll” or “Alt Country” or simply “Great”, there is such a library for Jason Molina recordings (as you can see above) that would span these descriptions.  There are especially a large amount of live performances floating around that I had to include a favourite solo performance from Columbia, South Carolina at the New Brookland Tavern from March 12, 1999 – frickin’ awesome.  This recording is from the soundboard, so it is great quality, the “crowd” is a quiet at the right times so it is incredible.  I first posted a song from this set HERE and have included it again as it is great.

Well there you have it, massive amounts of downloads – more than enough to keep you going until you pick up every last one of the above…well maybe a few of them at least.

Visit Jason Molina:  Website, Label Site, MySpace.

~Smansmith

Part two of the Slowcoustic “Essentials Series” with the phenomenal Shearwater.  While not extensively all mopey singer songwriter material that many might expect for Slowcoustic – this is some great down-tempo stuff – you will find something on every single album since their beginnings in 2001 that is worth calling a favourite.

The beginning as mentioned in 2001 was a creation in “indie” heaven and Shearwater was a spawn of Okkervil River’s Will Sheff and Johathan Meiburg.  Sheff was part of Shearwater until May of last year before leaving to continue with Okkervil River.  While I believe the separation was amicable, despite what press would think makes a better story, both bands were just simply getting bigger – it is just too hard to be in two bands at the same time – understandable…right??  No seriously, while Sheff was integral to the band, they are doing a good job “on their own” if I do say so myself.

While they have slowly grown to a fuller “band” sound from “The Dissolving Room” to “Rook”, the sound is very recognizable as still being Shearwater…maybe it is the voice of Jonathan Meiburg (which one could say IS their signature sound).  While many netzins of the blogosphere may concentrate on Palo Santo album as the beginnings, you must hit the earlier stuff  – it is the intimate, pained and hauntingly gorgeous stuff that won me over to them in the first place.  Just to make sure, when I say “intimate”, don’t think sparse (although they can be), Shearwater can have such a full sound that is enveloping and warm enought that you just want to crawl inside of.

While I do consider Shearwater to be a Slowcoustic Essential, you might ask why “Rook” didn’t make my best of 2008 album list.  Well, do not get me wrong, the album is great and there are songs that I believe can make it on my “best songs of 2008″ such as “Leviathan, Bound” or “Rooks” – I just didn’t delve into it as much as the library of their complete works…it will most likely grow on me and become a classic like the rest of their material.  Now don’t make me feel bad about not putting them on the list….

Maybe I should watch this performance from the Retread Sessions a bit more and it will convince me – great Palo Santo performance;

Shearwater – “Palo Santo” from Retread Sessions on Vimeo.

Check out your “essential” shopping list below;

The Dissolving Room – 2001 / Grey Flat

Everybody Makes Mistakes – 2002 / Misra

Winged Life – 2004 / Misra

Sham Wedding/Hoax Funeral – 2004 / Jound / CD Split with Okkervil River

Thieves – 2005 / Misra / EP

Palo Santo – 2006 / Misra

Rook – 2008

The Snow Leopard EP – 2008

So make sure you check out Shearwater because if they are not a favourite of yours already, they should be.

WEBSITE
LABEL SITE
MYSPACE

~Smansmith

Shearwater
“An Accident” (mp3)
from “Everybody Makes Mistakes”
(Misra)

Shearwater
“Room For Mistakes” (mp3)
from “Everybody Makes Mistakes”
(Misra)

More On This Album

Shearwater
“Whipping Boy” (mp3)
from “Winged Life”
(Misra)

Shearwater
“Wedding Bells are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine” (mp3)
from “Winged Life”
(Misra)

More On This Album

Shearwater
“I Can’t Wait” (mp3)
from “Thieves”
(Misra)

More On This Album

So I have been playing around with the idea of having a “Slowcoustic Essentials” for a while now.  Why?  Well, since “Slowcoustic” isn’t a real word, it is just something I have been using for the past few years to describe the music I like.  Basically, there is no real true definition other than it is music that tends to be a bit more down-tempo and can usually be created/re-created with just a vocalist and a guitar (but not exclusively).

What better way to start to turn you all into believers of the word Slowcoustic, then to provide my examples of what I consider it to be.  I just happened to actually start to do it today and will continue on in the many upcoming months with more examples of this incredible genre of music.

First installment – Chris Bathgate.  While he may not be my immediate “go to” musician for my made up genre, he is an phenomenal artist that I consider one of my all time favourites.  From what I know of Bathgate, he is a native of Illinois, but really considers Michigan his home base.  His discography contains a new release each year for the previous few years and all are worthy of purchase in physical media (the true test these days if you appreciate an artist, imho).  From his Wiki page, there is only one album I am not truly familiar with and it is his first and prior to me ever hearing him, it is something I am hunting down.

I do believe his sound is progressing, but it doesn’t need to go too far as his sound is rich, encompassing and something I always gravitate to.  Whether it is “The 44′s” from “Silence is for Suckers” or “Buffalo Girl” from “Throatsleep” or from his newest EP “Wait, Skeleton” and the track “Yes, I’m Cold”.  He brings songs with acoustic beauty, often with a banjo (my favourite) and each song is one you find yourself wanting to join in with the band and sing along to.  While he has been a regular around the Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti area for a while, he has moved to touring nationally in the last few years and I believe is someone everyone will be hearing a lot more of (no pun intended).

Enjoy some great label approved tracks (found via the good folks at IODA again) and you need to listen, download and run off to pick up a copy of his discography;

Create and Consume (2003) – post in the comments with info on this one!

Silence Is For Suckers (2005)

The Single Road I Longed For (2006)

Throatsleep (2006)

A Detailed Account of Three Dreams EP (2006)

A Cork Tale Wake (2007)

Auld Lang Syne (single) (2007)

Wait, Skeleton EP (2008)

The Ashville Squints (split with Hezekiah Jones) (2008)

Now try and tell me you don’t want to scour the internet for everything you can find!  Enjoy the below, visit him on his Website, his MySpace and his Quite Scientific page.

There will be more Slowcoustic Essentials in the series soon, so keep an eye out!

~Smansmith
Chris Bathgate
“buffalo girl” (mp3)
from “throatsleep”
(Quite Scientific Records)

Chris Bathgate
“I know how you are going to die tonight.” (mp3)from “throatsleep”
(Quite Scientific Records)

Chris Bathgate
“little bird in coffin come” (mp3)
from “throatsleep”
(Quite Scientific Records)

More On This Album

Chris Bathgate
“Serpentine” (mp3)
from “a cork tale wake”
(Quite Scientific Records)

Chris Bathgate
“the last parade on Ann St.” (mp3)
from “a cork tale wake”
(Quite Scientific Records)

Chris Bathgate
“every wall you own” (mp3)
from “a cork tale wake”
(Quite Scientific Records)

More On This Album

Chris Bathgate
“Yes I’m Cold” (mp3)
from “Wait, Skeleton.”
(Quite Scientific Records)

More On This Album