Slowcoustic » Post Rock

“Post Americana” from The Lonesome Southern Comfort Company

slowcoustic — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 17:35:56 +0000

This album is due to a great recommended from fellow blogger Giuseppe over at Takes the Songs and Run, and if you are looking for a combination of Alt-Country, Americana, Indie Rock all with a sombre overtone, then the aptly named Lonesome Southern Comfort Company is also for you.

The new album “Charles The Bold” has a hymnal meets whiskey soaked bar feel…and that is exactly how I think it is supposed to sound and feel. This is something you can drink in, swish it around, and wait while what might seem like a bite slowly mellows and soothes you into the their sound. Take a perfect example of the song “Death at Nancy”: you feel like you are taking a death march in the blazing hot desert of the South…but you are with the only people you would ever want to be around…so you need, nay, want to be on that death march as it slowly builds to its country rock end. The album is refreshingly epic while still be laid back…it truly is a feat.

Listen: “Horrible Town” – from 2010′s “Charles The Bold”

The album just came out at the beginning of September and you can stream it all on Bandcamp HERE. Visit on MySpace HERE and be their friend/like them on Facebook HERE.

~Smansmith

Status Check – All good, for the most part.

slowcoustic — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:02:03 +0000

So just a quick status check on the goings on for yours truly. I know you are all waiting with baited breath on my daily life. Come on, don’t you feel like we need a connection? Whatever, well lets look ahead to what is going on around here.

I am working on a few items and features with:

Oweihops‘ new album “Viburnum” will get a review – fantastic album and one of my good online friends, so keep an eye out for it.
Working on getting a decent photo of the new Slowcoustic T-shirts (men’s AND ladies thank you very much) that we have for sale for $25 w/shipping in CAN & US – so get you paypal accounts all up to date! If you see one in New York this weekend, say “hi” to Scott for me. Holler if you need – we will be having a give away for one, so you could also cheap out and do that as well.
My last day as a corporate slag will be next Thursday and then I am off to the private sector doing some web & marketing work. Very excited – screw you suit & tie humps!
Still waiting on my iPhone 3GS (I have the 3G regardless) – but Canada has apparently been sold out for the last month…go figure – don’t people get it, shiny things attract attention – must…buy…now…

Well enough of those numbered items, so let’s have some recommendations of listening, visiting, reading and such.

~ Rediscovered the Splice Folk Mix (original versions of traditional folk tunes) that you can pick up HERE by simply getting a splice login, which you should have regardless. Featured artists include: These United States, Christian Kiefer, Theodore, Deer Tick, Vandaveer, Wye Oak, Phosphorescent and more – 20 artists in total!
~ Knox Road are screening the new Antlers video for “Two” (still like that Hospice album, good stuff) – check it HERE.
~ I agree with Sean over at Battery In Your Leg about not posting “Harry Patch”, drop by and agree with us at BIYL HERE. By the way, I really like the “flash” of the site, makes me think of a change around here…
~ What was with that Radiohead drama anyway? Just sayin’
~ Please consider visiting Speed of Dark blog, if for nothing else to show support for one of the good “guys” currently in flux for blogging. Find a real person behind the blog template HERE.
~ Jeniferever are re-releasing their debut album “Choose a Bright Morning”, so if you like ambient/post rock/shoegaze you will find this a must listen!

Jeniferever
“From Across the Sea” (mp3)
“Alvik” (mp3)
from “Choose a Bright Morning”
(Monotreme Records)

More On This Album

That it for now, enjoy your Thursday.

~Smansmith

Have a Good Night Series – Great Music, Great Cause

slowcoustic — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:54:07 +0000

There is still good in the world and this is a shining example of it. The “Have A Good Night” Series has been around for a couple of years and is currently on it’s 4th compilation in support of Junior Solidarity. With translation from the French site, I am not quite sure if the compilations are exclusive for charity or simply assisting in its promotion – anyone familiar, please post in the comments any info you may want to contribute.

If you are unfamiliar with Junior Solidarity (English version), it is the French based “charity” that launched an effort, using internet and multimedia, to break the isolation of children with cancer and who are hospitalized in sterile rooms across many hospitals. The organization provides laptops which provide access to the outside world – keeping the essentially disconnected children, well, connected. Those children who live separated from loved ones due to the necessity of “extreme hygiene” find themselves not only feeling scared due to their own circumstances, but must feel additional isolation due to often living in hospitals away from family and friends.

It can be painful to think of, but there is help from the music community in the form of the compilations where the artists offer up free contributions of music which is in turn bringing awareness to the cause. In turn donations are provided to help Junior Solidarity bring a little bit more light through technology. I discovered this project a while back and don’t know why I haven’t posted sooner. Originally found via the music that in turn lead to the cause – you can find the music over on Blog up Musique.

Below are tracks from each of the 4 compilations (with Star/Moon actually being the second compilation), with the most recent release coming this past March with a tour being planned for September.

“Stay Golden” – Au Revoir Simone
“The Loveliest of Trees” – Dawn Landes

“Seaworthy Sleeper” – Johanna Kunin (Star)
“Sleeping Some” – This Is The Kit (Star)
“Werewolf” – Flowers From The Man Who Shot Your Cousin (Moon)
“Lullabye” – Grizzly Bear (Moon)

“Do The Right Thing” – My Broken Frame
“The Sea A Dream” – Liz Durrett

“Lullabye For Monkey” – La Corda
“Lily’s Knight” – My Lady’s House

So good music for a good cause – if you so choose, head over to Blog Up Musique and download all 4 compilations – massive amounts of great talent and a lot to discover (at least for me). Go on, be one of the good guys.

~Smansmith

If You Haven’t Heard – The Vega Star

slowcoustic — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:27:28 +0000

Sorry I have been remiss on the “If You Haven’t Heard” series here on Slowcoustic, but we have someone that you need to hear…if you haven’t heard. It’s corny I know, but sometimes it is simply a fact, The Vega Star is a band you will want to hear.

The Vega Star are a Wisconsin foursome that draws you into the swirling Indie rock shoegaze that is their new album “The Night” that was released in February of this year. Their debut album is fittingly titled, though not to be confused with depressing dark corners, it is meant to revel in the dusk, that time of night that you lose focus and can drift away and get lost in something – in this case the beauty of “The Night”. The current line up of Justin Rolbiecki | Jackson Messner | John Juchemich | Stephen DeLassus have created a great alt-folk rock album in “The Night”

To start off, their debut album “The Night” is comparable to a more band orientated Gravenhurst. So anyone knowing the folk noir of Gravenhurst can enjoy a folk-Americana noir from The Vega Star. I also don’t want anyone to get the impression this is your indie-pop shoegaze either, it is more your indie-rock version. I dare say that the album isn’t entirely a trip down “Sad Bastard Lane”, but might actually be secretly hiding a bit of rock band in despair. I wouldn’t be too surprised if the band is secretly lurking behind a veil of sombre song crafting that can effectively lead to a great stage performance.

I also must apologize for being a bit all over the map on this “review”, but the album can be an enigma at times. There seems to be a common thread that I keep tugging at, one that keeps providing more to sink my teeth into. There is modern day 60′s Psychedelia in “The Lullaby” that has the band doing a sombre march through dark times, while a track such as “The Cell” shows a bit of folk Americana wrapped in the “Stone and Steel” of a prison lament. And there is more, 10 tracks more to be a bit more accurate. You might also find additional stand outs including “The Collector” and “The Wicked” that continue down the path along some terrific gothic rock – this is a band that would close out your Austin evening in style, if you know what I mean.

If you think this might be a band you need to hear in full, click on the album cover below to pick up a copy of the album.

Recommended if you like the description from their MySpace page “… if Neil Young fronted Pink Floyd while covering Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’.” Well, it certainly paints the picture.

Visit The Vega Star on their Website and MySpace.

~Smansmith

Modicom’s “Ice Storm” makes an appearance in Calgary, more or less.

slowcoustic — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 20:39:45 +0000

So remember when I bitched out National Geographic for showing a ridiculous photo of a snowy Calgary, Alberta and titled it “Spring in Calgary” a few posts ago? Well, I am here to “eat crow” and say that damn it, I woke up to snow everywhere…on the first weekend in Spring (check a flickr photo from Sherlock77 in Calgary)! It isn’t that cold or anything, but we tend to get snow at odd times due to the Rocky Mountains being so close. So I thought I would throw out some tracks from an album from Australia’s now defunct band “Modicom” that fittingly is called “The Icestorm”.

The story is that the band recorded this album back a few years (okay, like 10 years ago) and ended up disbanding prior to actually releasing the album. With it being on another continent and 10 years ago, I would never have heard of a band that broke up and didn’t actually release their album. Well, with the amazing power of the music sharing network (you may know it as the internet) – I have now discovered this: 1 part shoegaze, 1 part indie and 1 part chamber pop, band.

The two tracks I have are fitting for this lazy (snow infused) Sunday and are included below. The first one is “The Icestorm” and is an acoustic ambient song with a bit of a rock oriented cello section. Following that up is “Mexico” which is where most Calgarians go during the winter months (again, fitting) and is another dreamy power pop lullabye with Nathan Korotkov’s baritone washing my dreary Sunday away.

Modicom
“The Icestorm” (mp3)
“Mexico” (mp3)
from “The Icestorm”
(Big Rig Records)

More On This Album

~Smansmith

p.s. If you end up liking the tracks, unfortunately I am not even sure where to purchase a copy as the indicated label doesn’t even offer the album or have them as an artist…

Post Rock Instrumental Evening – Montreal’s Torngat Is Invited.

slowcoustic — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 01:42:37 +0000

Montreal Quebec’s ambient power trio Torngat create majestic instrumental music that is at times as breathtaking as the glorious Quebec mountain range from whom they take their name. Torngat return with “La petite Nicole”, the follow up to the critically acclaimed 2007 effort, “You Could Be”. This time around the band is sporting a grittier, propulsive sounding record that more closely resembles the bands live sound.

New album for my Easterly friends has just hit the online and CD/Vinyl market on March 3rd over on Alien8 Records. The new album is “La Petit Nicole” and is described as below:

“La petite Nicole” offers forays into dub-heavy elements of post rock as well hints of kraut rock and the occasional miniature freak-outs. Aside from these flirtations in new directions, the same sound that has made them popular in Canada and festival stages remains. One gets the feeling that the band is creating music for yet-to-be-made films; while cinematic references may be considered standard when describing instrumental music, Torngat’s creations are particularly evocative of the medium.

I also know I say this a lot, but damn it people, listen with headphones with this band, it is well worth it to get all the layers out of it. Torngat make beautiful music that, like mentioned above, might be looking for you to give it vision. Not saying that the sound lacks focus, I just think that there is soo many ways to hear their music. Soo many ways to decide that they made it just for you and your headphones.

Torngat
“La Petite Nicole” (mp3)
from “La Petite Nicole”
(Alien8 Recordings)

More On This Album

Visit this trio from “La Belle Province” on MySpace or check them on their Website.

~Bonus~

Torngat
“Celebrating New” (mp3)
from “You Could Be”
(Alien8 Recordings)

More On This Album

~Smansmith

Just More Barzin

slowcoustic — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 15:21:17 +0000

Toronto singer-songwriter Barzin can be summed up quickly. Not because there isn’t much there or because he is one dimensional. It is because sometimes the musical persona is a persona in itself. Quoted from Barzin’s own site the music is “Slow and melancholic, introspective and confessional”. This easily and quickly encompasses the beautiful and atmospheric music from Barzin. All of a sudden it seems like Slowcoustic HQ just found it’s new poster band…

Barzin, is in fact the name of guy pictured above (actually Barzin Hosseini), but it is also the name of the “project” itself. While there has been a bit of a revolving cast of participants in this project, there are 3 recurring characters circling Barzin at the core – Mike Findlay, Suzanne Hancock, and Tony Dekker (of Great Lake Swimmers fame). This quartet and colleagues have created a few albums to date and we are expecting another release just next week. The new album due out on Feb. 16th is entitled “Notes To An Absent Lover” and from what I can tell is a mix of old stuff and new stuff combined for the release. In fact, one of the few tracks included below actually does double duty in appearing on a previous EP and has been updated and rerecorded for next week’s release. The new album has the Barzin feel with its trademark minimalism and hushed vocals, but there is a bit more added to it; in the introduction of some up-tempo orchestral elements. Overall, it follows the same path that Hosseini and crew have lead us on previously, and this is the reason it is a great album. I for one am enjoying it immensely.

Enjoy some previous Barzin to get you in the mood, with the track “Queen Jane” being the track that has been released previously on the “Just More Drugs” EP and is included on the new album. Also of note the track “The Dream Song” from the new album was previously on the Hinah release from a few years back, just updated and lengthened I believe (the hinah is currently sold out, so maybe that is a good thing it is included on the new album!).

Barzin
“Let’s Go Driving” (mp3)
“Just More Drugs” (mp3)
from “My Life In Rooms”
(Weewerk)

More On This Album

“Queen Jane” (mp3)
from “Just More Drugs”
(Monotreme Records)

More On This Album

“Pale Blue Eyes” (mp3)
“Past All Concerns” (mp3)
from “Barzin”
(Monotreme Records)

More On This Album

Visit Barzin on his/their Website, Label Site and MySpace. Be on the lookout for tour dates in Europe starting in March, then it is back to Canada for April – but seems to unfortunately be only in the Eastern half of the country. I guess the cowboys here in Calgary won’t get a chance to catch the pedal steel in “When it All Falls Apart”…

~Smansmith

Twin Cats – Up North (2008)

slowcoustic — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:53:30 +0000

Some Monday listening for y’all today in the form of Joseph Murphy’s “Twin Cats“. While Murphy is not new to creating and performing music, this is a bit of a new project for Murphy. “Up North” as an album feels and listens like a transition to something new, a beginning of Twin Cats itself (both literally and figuratively).

From the opening line of “If This Were A Postcard”, it tells of the recent relocation of Murphy to Chicago (which for some, may just be “Up North“). This real life relocation launched a new era of Murphy’s – changing the name for his musical identity to “Twin Cats” from previously unassuming “Aim”. With this brought a bit of expansion in his sound to include more range of sound on his debut album as Twin Cats, almost as if Chicago breathed new life into him. In “Up North” there is traditional singer songwriter, indie, garage, shoegaze and even a bit of post rock – this album definitely spans across the spectrum of where I feel indie music is heading (or has already become).

While I tend to lean towards the more traditional folk, you can find this in tracks like the incredible “False Advertising” and “The River”. This is not all this album offers as mentioned earlier – don’t be afraid, as we get some guitar garage in the form of “I Was Wrong” then all the way to ambient with the title track “Up North” and “A Night at the Optimist’s Club” which have soundscapes of some of the best post rock around.

As far as current Twin Cats information, the band has expanded to include Jake Acosta, Kyle Klipowicz, and Matt Fields. The quartet are now creating/working on a new album as a band which is a new adventure for Murphy from his solo effort on “Up North”. That solo effort actually came to life with the help of these new band mates – Jake gave creative input and Kyle mixed the album. To round out the quartet, Matt Fields was a formerly in a band with Murphy a couple of years ago and is also a roommate! In Murphy’s words, it was kind of a natural progression to have them join in the band.

Expect a few shows this fall and winter, and sometime after the new album is officially finished, do a long tour – as a band, which is something both Murphy and myself are looking forward to. Remember Canada for the tour!

Enjoy a couple of tracks below – find yourself on the Twin Cats MySpace page, or Virb Page. Also, please consider picking up a copy of “Up North” at the Orchid Collective site – make up a great price/donation, get a great album.

~Smansmith