I have found myself immersed in a full inbox of music again (there are worse things), but I tend to get muddled in it all instead of casually floating among fantastic sounds and beats.  So basically I tend to listen to soo much, albums get one listen and then it is on to the next.  Some artists/PR emails send one track – I often find that not enough to gauge if I like the band/album (usually as the “lead off” track is the up tempo, jangly indie you tube track that I don’t prefer and the real gems are hidden amongst the ready for hipster college radio tracks).  Oh, I should slow down, I might go off on a tangent to defend the music I love from nobody. Where was I going with this?

Right, a playlist of various songs from a selection of inbox treats, discoveries and suggestions.  A lot of bloggers do this and yes, it is a bit of a cop out but sometimes you want to get out what you are listening to, tell people what you are listening to and simply offer up treats of the mp3 variety.  So, then let’s get on with it:

Inbox & Various Additions Playlist

Haircut (A Silent Symphony of Scissors at Age Six) – Theodore And Edgar (Visit, this album is a fantastic collection of moments in “The Life and Death of the Contemporary Man”)

Life Before Us – Arthur Adam (Visit at IACW – free album download of these uber mellow tunes!)

In the Life – Friend of all the World (Visit, this Canadian brings some country folk that defines “Canadiana”)

Happy Birthday – Ivana XL (Visit on Ampeater, fantastic site for massive amounts of great digital 7″ downloads alongside Ivana!)

New Best Friend – Vollmar (Visit, Doveman meets Nick Drake, meets Phil Elvrum…aaaa, yeah!)

Shrapnel – The Great Unknown (Visit, also this is from the “How To Make An Arrow – Philly Comp One” a collection of Philadelphia based artists – recommended, find it here)

Home Sick and Hotelrooms – Kim Janssen (Visit, WOW, member of Slowcoustic favourite The Black Atlantic has his own stuff folks, and it is exactly what you think it would be…real damn good.)

You Asked – Leonard Mynx (Visit, also you can email Leonard and get free downloads including “Vespers” where this track is from and a new album “Le Petit Mort”…just an email!)

And In Real Life He Wears Corduroy Pants – Trips and Falls (Visit, friends over at Song, by Toad Records putting out the newest album!)

Blue Monday – Tim Schmidt (Visit, this is what Dylan and Nick Drake would have been if they did that whole teleportation experiment in “The Fly”, just sayin’)

~~

The below 2 tracks are not here just to try and be popular a week or two late, in fact I really like the new National album (Visit).  A lot.  I am finding it playing constantly and almost every track is good if not great.  I also don’t get the “backlash” about Bloodbuzz Ohio as the weaker track from the newer promo track Afraid of Everyone – I think I might like Ohio better…so there!

Bloodbuzz Ohio

Afraid of Everyone

Okay that is all I got for today folks, dig in above and visit these fine folks if you have time.

~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

Slowcoustic Saturday Playlist (November Edition)

~ Wonder Stranger - Via Tania, from Moon Sweet Moon (Visit)
This is St. Vincent meets Tiny Vipers, really atmospheric.

~ Untitled In May -  Becky, from Some Like The Water (Visit)
Simply stunning.  Stunning and Canadian.  Stunning and Canadian and Albertan!

~ Girl From The North Country – EELS, from The MySpace Transmissions EP (Visit the Sessions)
Nice little cover by Mr. E himself.

~ The Echoes of Time - The Smiles and Frowns, from self titled The Smiles and Frowns (Visit)
Psych folk from across the pond, very catchy and underappreciated.

~ Twenty Cycles To The Ground - Molina & Johnson, from self titled Molina & Johnson (Visit)
Taken a while to post this lead off track, album is definitely better than most, but that was expected.

~ Painting - South China, from Washingtons (Visit)
Folk, orchestral, moves at a snails pace with perfectly matched harmonies.  This one makes you ache.

~ Thirteen - Cam Penner, from Trouble & Mercy (Visit)
Definitely a new favourite – gotta catch this guy next time he comes through!  Highly recommended.

~ Winter – The Diamond Family Archive, from Fife (Visit)
Mellow and German (by way of Bristol), simply great – free download on Woodland Recordings.

~ Island of Broken Glass - Dragon Turtle, from Almanac (Visit)
Wow, ambient “post-folk” with a bit of noise.  Definitely the album with the most “wall of sound/fuzz folk” on this list.

~ Wildmere (live at Lakehead) - Trevor Tchir, live @ Lakehead University (Visit)
Recommended to me from Becky (see above) and this is a great little ditty performed live – more Canadiana for ya!

~ Consolation Prize (live) - Sharon Van Etten, from NYCtaper’s session @ Pianos NY 2009-01-11 (Visit NYCtaper)
NYCtaper has soo much good stuff, this is a “half set” from earlier this year – look for a newly recorded performance from SVE soon!

~ Field Report – Loch Lomond, from the re-released Split 12″ with The Builders & The Butchers (Visit Song, By Toad Records)
Two artists on one piece of vinyl – what’s not to like?  The “Down To The River” from The Builders & The Butchers is also amazing!

~ We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River -  Richmond Fontaine, from We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River (Visit)
Admittedly the slower stuff from RF appeals to me – check “Thirteen Cites” album as well.

~ The Shortest Distance Between Two Points Is a Straight Line – Simon Joyner, from Room Temperature/A Collection of Tracks from the Team Love Library (Visit Team Love)
A bit lo-fi, okay, a lot lo-fi and well worth signing up for a collection of various tracks from numerous albums!

~~~

~Smansmith

I have been a bit lax on the label playlist feature here on Slowcoustic so I noticed that the good folks at IODA have quite a bit of content from Shameless Records available.  Hell, it is time to represent Alberta here – Canadian label action from my own province!  They have a pretty eclectic  roster, with my clear stand out favourite being The Wheat Pool – but that’s how I roll (all families have their favourite child, right?).

In reading over the info on their website, you know that 2002 was the official start of the label with organizing by Glen Erickson (wait, does he play guitar in a band…).  Erickson wanted to create a local scene that was growing and what better way to do this than be a label in the City of Champions (Edmonton, Alberta).  Not that this label is exclusive to Edmonton, its roots are there and they are hoping to grow it world-wide (hey, why not?).  The label is basically “indie” with artists falling into the alt-country, folk-pop-rock genres, but I don’t think they are stopping there – swing by the page, get to know them.

Lets build a playlist now with hand picked examples of some tunes!

~~~

The Wheat Pool
“This Is It” (mp3)
“One of These Nights” (mp3)
from “Hauntario”
(Shameless Records Canada)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Rhapsody

More On This Album
(NEW ALBUM)

~~~

The Wheat Pool
“Peniel, SK” (mp3)
“Evergreen” (mp3)
from “Township” (Excellent album)
(Shameless Records Canada)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at eMusic

More On This Album

~~~

F&M
“Shrug It Off” (mp3)
from “Every Light Must Fade”
(Shameless Records Canada)
More On This Album

~~~

F&M
“I Pray For The Fog” (mp3)
from “Let Every Light Shine”

(Shameless Records Canada)
More On This Album

~~~

Hector Fector
“All the Way’s We’re Living” (mp3)
“Let’s Make Friends” (mp3)
from “We Are Romantic”

(Shameless Records Canada)
More On This Album

~~~

James Murdoch Band
“Building a Bridge” (mp3)
“Canadian Summer” (mp3)
from “Wondering Where the Rush Has Gone”

(Shameless Records Canada)
More On This Album

~~~

Becky
“This Winter” (mp3)
“Breath” (mp3)
“Untitled in May” (mp3)
from “Some Like The Water” (GREAT album)
(Shameless Records Canada)

More On This Album

~~~

Now don’t you just want to be Canadian?

~Smansmith

I have done this before (see here) and I just did the whole drag and drop into my iTunes and have a new playlist for this Saturday. I have had these mp3s on my desktop for weeks now and they are not related at all besides the fact that I listened quickly, liked it and downloaded it, then didn’t import the songs to my iTunes. I don’t know what I’m doing half the time – there is soo much music out there and I try to grab as much of the stuff that I like, but it is like running up a wet banana with feet doused in baby oil. Don’t ask why I just typed that description – a bit groggy after pints last night.

So again, I apologize if you are a fellow blogger and I have stolen your music (but imitation is the sincerest…) but I can’t fully remember where all these songs came from.  Hell, if I downloaded them, they are sitting out there somewhere anyway, right?  Some are aptly labeled (well the Walkmen track is) and a few are from Last.fm, some might be artist submissions that I didn’t label correctly, etc.  I like them, so I hope you all can take them and listen and maybe pick up an album or single?

Saturday Desktop Mix

On the Water (In a Van Sessions – La Blogotheque) – The Walkmen {Visit} (La Blogotheque does no wrong, visit for more from this session!)

The Vagabond, Drunkard and Bank Man – Starving Pride {Visit} (find some more free downloads on his Last.fm page)

Where Was Your Mind – John Zambricki {Visit} (Nice singer songwriter stuff here, guy needs more love!)

Curse of a Drunk – The Takers {Visit} (great indie country with a rock edge)

The Revival Is Over – Sam Lowry {Visit} (gothic folk, stunning – see previous post on Sam)

Song for God – The Mountain Goats {Visit} (out take from one of the best lo-fi albums ever “All Hail West Texas”)

Faced Down – Sweedish {Visit} (New EP of mellow folk pop is only $5 at their website!)

Enjoy the fall weekend folks (did I mention that I think I saw snow in the forecast for Calgary next week??!!?).  I am hanging on to fall for a bit longer before these Saturday mixes become snowy-hibernation playlists!

~Smansmith

So we have a bit of a mixed bag today courtesy of the good folks at IODA.  See below, I am sure something is going to work out for you!

Amy Millan (and this track specifically) has been featured already on Slowcoustic, Anders Parker has also graced the pages (thanks to Greg @ Captains Dead for reminding me of the new album), Nathan Xander re-appears on the blog as well as Slaraffenland.  To end out the playlist there is a bit of a unique track from a first timer on the blog – Alan Singley & Pants Machine!

~~~

Amy Millan
“Bruised Ghosts” (mp3)
from “Masters of the Burial”
(Arts & Crafts)

More On This Album

~~~

Anders Parker
“72nd St. Horses” (mp3)
from “Skyscraper Crow”
(Bladen County Records)

More On This Album

~~~

Nathan Xander
“Trial By Fire” (mp3)
from “The Fear”
(Deep Elm)

More On This Album

~~~

Slaraffenland
“Long Gone” (mp3)
“Meet and Greet” (mp3)
from “We’re On Your Side”
(Rumraket)

More On This Album

~~~

Alan Singley, Pants Machine
“Rice Pudding” (mp3)
from “Feelin’ Citrus”
(Bladen County Records)

More On This Album

~~~

Enjoy your Friday!

~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

I am a little sad as I awoke to snow on the ground this June.  Yes, snow in June.  I know many of you are thinking…”But Sandy, you live in Calgary….that is in Canada!”.  Damn it, it still shouldn’t snow in June.  I have already had my sunburn from a couple weeks back fade and now we are back to snow!  Texas here I come.

Well enough bitching, it is still the weekend and I can sit around (re: hibernate) watch a few movies, listen to great music, snuggle with the missus.  I will also be hoping for warmer weather, and to help that cause let’s start with musical selections that might help (in title at least).

“Fire” / Josh Preston
“Fireplace” / Lost in the Trees
“Fire In My Chest” / Old Lost John
“Fire In The Hole” / Olivia Chrestomanci
“I’m On Fire (Bruce Springsteen Cover)” / A.A. Bondy
“Eyes Like a House on Fire (Vinyl Bonus Track)” / Chad VanGaalen

Let’s hope this helps bring a bit of warmth to Southern Alberta….

~Smansmith