This is why I love music and love Last.fm.  Lanterns on the Lake (discovered via Agnes over on It All Started with Carbon Monoxide) is a lush and soothing soundscape via rainy day England.  Now with the help of Last.fm, you too can stare longingly at the ground while possibly swaying back and forth getting lost in ethereal/ambient indie pop!  While I am not always into dreamy indie pop, I really have taken to LotL since first hearing them a few weeks back and I highly recommend them.  Why they are unsigned is still baffling me.

Back story: I have decided to put a post together as while scrobbling (yes it is a real word) some Lanterns songs over on Last.fm, I realized that you can pick up a entire album of 2007 demos on their Last.fm profile page.  You can easily look below for a taste of these tracks, but you can visit their Last.fm page here as well.  The included songs on this post below are mostly from a “Recordings 2007″ album that is completely free for download!  I must say that this is a great way for bands to get out there and Last.fm is really the place to do this, with it’s many music “taste makers” being longtime members of the community.   So I say kudos to the Lanterns for putting the music up.

As mentioned above, the selection of songs are what could be a collection of demos with the stand out tracks being “I Will Lay You Down”, “Caught on the Way” and the demo for the title track to their new EP “In Starlight”.  So enjoy some Lanterns on the Lake and visit their MySpace page to say hi and pick up a copy of the “the Starlight EP” for like 3.5 pounds (which is like $43.00 Canadian, but whatever).

~Smansmith

p.s.  I am not sure, but did I actually include the word “taste makers” on this post??

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Around the internet, what is new around the blogs, top news, and the like…more or less.

~~

• HearYa had a nice post on what to look forward to in 2009, and The Deep Dark Woods right after it!
• Yours Truly is making a splash - well, with my friend E over at das klienicum at least…but seriously check out the Theodore interview here, my new favourite ’slow as molasses’ (mostly) Americana act.
• Kirkeby Kritikk has some ancient (well not ancient) mp3s from John Darnielle/the Mountain Goats - too bad about the reason for them being released…check it here.
• I am Fuel, You are Friends has a new location and look - check it (and set your bookmarks).
• The Rawking Refuses To Stop! has some feelings on the new Animal Collective and gives us updates on Akron Family - freak folk fans rejoice!

I will leave you today with what will be my eclectic playlist for the afternoon while I switch my music collection from my iMac to my external drive - I always end up having a totally unconnected playlist when moving music, as I see stuff that I haven’t listened to in a while and rediscover small portions of my music collection that have escaped me.  Enjoy some examples of cobweb cleaning at Slowcoustic HQ.

Cobweb mix 2009 includes (and look way down for links);
Goldmund
Mumford and Sons
Mariee Sioux
Pure Horsehair
Adam Selzer
Chad VanGaalen (sorry for quality, but still good, no?)

~Smansmith

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Basket of Figs is a seriously entrancing singer songwriter from Toronto, Canada.  There…you have as much information about her as I do.  Well, almost.

Did you ever listen to music that simply amazes you?  Everyone needs to, and I recently experienced it with the EP entitled “666″ from Basket of Figs obtained through the Yer Bird Aviary.  Of course she even admits to the title of the EP being “ridiculous”, but it only lends to the enigma that is this artist.  So far, I have never seen a photo of this young Torontonian (yes, that is what they are called in the Canadian capital), and I think this is how she likes it.  Again, this lends to the mystery.  She creates a delicate lo-fi folk noir.  I find myself lost inside of it, it is truly amazing.  If Janis Joplin merged with Billie Holiday and then melded to modern day folk - this would be the incredibly powerful yet beautiful result.

Of what I know, she formerly was known as “The Hotel Ghost” and has a track on the Yer Bird Compilation “Folk Music for the End of the World” called “Lay Me Down” which has been re-recorded for inclusion on the “666″ EP as “Basket of Figs”.  My good friends over at Herohill have a great post (and mp3s) on the EP and are equally enamored, as well as elude to an upcoming full length release - I, for one am going to be sitting by the glow of my computer waiting for the chance to capture the next release of this stranger that is “Basket of Figs”.

Visit her on Tumblr or her MySpace page here before it disappears.  I am not joking one little bit.

~Smansmith

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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 a great 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

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So nothing to post today as it is December 31st and I need to try and entertain the wife while not spending more than my mortgage payment and not end up being disappointed regardless.   You know what this means….take out and a movie!!

Seriously, have a great New Year and all the best in the new year.  If it is already the new year where you are, simply move closer to me already, er…I mean, I hope it has started out well!

Two lovely ladies can say it better than I can - Daisy Chapman and Maria Taylor, so let’s just end this post here.

See ya in ‘09.

~Smansmith

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Travel by Sea.  One of the most interesting stories I have heard in a while, well heard a couple of years ago at least.  One that I always like telling as it is a great one.

It goes a little like this…two guys who have never met record some music and put it together.  It sounds pretty good.  They turn it into an album.  It sounds pretty good.  They meet, play some shows, it works out pretty good.  They in turn make another album and sign to a cool label and do some more shows, get a couple of more guys to round out the band.  You have Travel By Sea in a nutshell.

All that sounds simple and ridiculous, but it is essentially true, a great start of two strangers from across the country (Kyle Kersten & Brian Kraft) to a full blown band (now with the inclusion of Trevor Gerhard & Dan Moore).  This growth to a foursome was only a matter of time as the sound needed a full line up to play and the music had to be played.  Now TBS has the two albums under their belt (”Shadow’s Rise” and “Days of My Escape”) and are working on a new EP that should be hitting our ears in early 2009.

To get a feel of the indie-folk sound of Travel By Sea, you can grab a couple of tracks from “Shadow’s Rise - “I Won’t Let You Down” and “Complete Shakeup” courtesy of their website.  You might notice a fuller sound from a couple of tracks from “Days of My Escape” with “Truth Was” and “Split Second Time” from the Autumn Tone website.  One additional note that the track “Too Much Too Quickly” that ended up on their follow up release “Days of My Escape” was also featured on the Yer Bird Compilation album “Folk Music For The End of The World” which also comes highly recommended.

They are currently recording a song for a tribute to Paul McCartney’s “Ram” album which should be out very soon (actual release TBA at the mo’).  The track Travel By Sea is covering is “Back Seat of My Car” of which Kyle has incorporated his own touches (yeah, you could call it that).  In his words the song is now more like a long lost Will Johnson or Jason Molina song.

Well with that mention of covers, I have attached two covers of songs performed by Travel By Sea, one is from a Sparklehorse Tribute where they cover “Return To Me” and the other is “Closing Down My House” that just so happens to be a Will Johnson track.

Now that you are up to speed, check out Travel By Sea:
MySpace
Website
Autumn Tone Records (you may know this as Aquarium Drunkard’s label)

~Smansmith

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So I have been out of the loop a bit with the holidays and such, and I have been a bit behind on catching up with what is going on in the world of music blogging lately, but here we go on another “New on the ‘Nets this week” post.

~~

• Received my copy of A Singer of Songs new album “I Dig for Gold” which is readily available on his MySpace page HERE.  Simply drop him a line and get a FREE CD download, now come on you can’t beat this!  Check out a track below from said album…now, go.  Go get it!
• One of my new favourite albums is from Doug Burr and is entitled “The Shawl” - see my fellow Blogrollers You Crazy Dreamers’ post and Captain Obvious’ post for some good vibes.  This album is truly a beautiful sounding concept album, and honestly could have been in my top albums for 2008 had I only found it sooner.  Check out Doug Burr here.
• Speaking of Blogrolling - new inductee is KOKOMO WebRadio!  Nice little outfit from France who assists in getting you some music to stream.  Swing on by an say hi, why don’t ya.
• Fellow Canadian Blog Chromewaves posted links to all three of Portishead’s videos for their “Third” Album.  Of course you can all find them on Youtube, but here they are getting some good words and conveniently located links all in one place!
• For all you Comix lovin’ indie nerds, the good folks at Cable & Tweed have their top 10 for 2008 and only 3 posts earlier is the new X-men Trailer….now that is some good readin’!

Well that is all I can think of at the moment, hopefully everyone is not back to work yet (unlike myself) and still have the rest of the year to relax and drink in what is left of ‘08.  The next installment of “New on the ‘Nets” to hit sometime in 2009!

~Smansmith

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Seagull is not a band nor a boy, it is a sound that comes out of your speakers to remind you of your first love and how much you thought you knew.

That description comes from the Two Bright Lakes page in the bio for Seagull, a band, sorry, a project from an Australian foursome that create sombre, grey, expansive skies through music.  Some may feel grey skies could be a bad thing, but just let this album suck you in and drag you along the horizon of the folk inspired soundtrack.  Seagull gets it’s writing and vocals from Chris Bolton (who’s bullet point fact sheet would highlight that he is classically trained in the use of a guitar).  Bolton definitely sets the stage with ominous sounds, laid back vocals and is generally your tour guide through the sounds of his residence that is Seagull.  Along for the trip comes Ed Bolton, Kishore Ryan and Michael Zulicki to assist in filling out the sounds that keep me (and soon, you) coming back.

Don’t get me wrong here, there are times of energy, so don’t think it is all about taking too many Ambien and drifting off to sleep.  Great examples are tracks “Baby” and “Joy”, which could almost be a post punk tracks a la New Order/Joy Division.  Some tracks walk the fence between electro-indie and simply indie ballad, such as “Half Asleep” which is one of my favourite tracks on the release.  A release that actually saw the light of day many months ago (April 2008), but is seeing more love over ’round these parts in the last couple of month I believe.

If I have to single out a couple of tracks from “Goodbye Weather” of the solid 11 tracks in total - stellar listens include “When”, “Trucks Are Sheep”, “Crow” and the pounding instrumental “Joy”.  I have to say I am glad to have picked up a copy of the album.  To be quite honest, I mostly notices due to the great album cover, I quickly followed with a couple of listens on their MySpace page, which quickly led to a purchase.

Visit Seagull on their MySpace Page, or swing by the label page and even iTunes if you can’t wait to have it sent from the land down under.  Don’t forget about their self titled EP from last year as well; while I haven’t tasted it yet, if it is the start of “Goodbye Weather” it would definitely be finding it’s way to my collection soon.

~Smansmith

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Let’s open up with a nice acoustic video shall we…

Live at Lime - School of Seven Bells from Matt Huard Productions on Vimeo.

So far so good??  I think it is great performance, almost ethereal at times.  If that is not good enough, you can always try their performance on KCRW as well.  If that radio performance wasn’t enough, try the (audio only - one large track unfortunately) from KEXP over here.  With that transition to audio only, try some tracks from the “Alpinisms” album that was released this past October.

I have three tracks that have been circling the internets for a bit, and they show the band influences spanning electro, indie and pop and as well as how describe themselves on MySpace as “psychedelic”.  I think that last description may be more of a vibe you get rather than an actual sound you hear…ya know?  I am also including School of Seven Bells on my blog as they are a little outside my Slowcoustic comfort zone.  It may be as they are a little bit….well, happy sounding (despite what lyrical messages they send)..it is the sound I speak of.  If it makes the long time readers feel a bit better, I do appreciate their acoustic performance from the “Live at Lime” a bit more than the actual album release, but that should come as no surprise!

School of Seven Bells
“Half Asleep” (mp3)
from “Alpinisms”
(Ghostly International)

“Connjur” (mp3)
from “Alpinisms”

(Ghostly International)

“Chain” (mp3)
from “Alpinisms”
(Ghostly International)

More On This Album

You might find yourself humming along, or simply devouring the earthy electro-folk-pop tunes of this trio.  You can also find them on their website here or on the Label site for Ghostly International here.  Also you can check their MySpace page here, to find a bit more about them and take a look at this Brooklyn based band’s EXTENSIVE tour through the U.K..

Immerse yourself in the School’s, breezy weekend soundtrack…

~Smansmith

p.s.  Does anyone hear a less guitar driven, more 60’s version of Tegan & Sara in their sound??

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I have been listening since mid last week or so and I have to say, besides the album sounding very much indie and very much Scottish, it is most definitely a great ride.  I don’t really have anything to say about them as they are more or less a new band to me, despite what many other bloggers have been saying. I am just a bit daft and slow apparently to listen to my own brethren and am trying to catch up!  While Frightened Rabbit are not the poster band for “Slowcoustic”, I can recognize a great album when I hear it, and this is one (so far - hehe).

So, just to make sure we are all on the same page, I am heading back to listen now, but to ensure you don’t all have the same epiphany as I recently had until next week/year - here are a few tracks.  At least we will all be able to say we were listening in 2008…technically.

~Smansmith
Frightened Rabbit
“The Modern Leper” (mp3)
from “The Midnight Organ Fight”
(Fat Cat Records)

Frightened Rabbit
“Head Rolls Off” (mp3)
from “The Midnight Organ Fight”
(Fat Cat Records)

More On This Album

….and bonus…Frightened Rabbit
“Old Old Fashioned” (mp3)
from “Liver! Lung! FR!”
(Fat Cat Records)

More On This Album

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So here we are on December 25th and I have slipped away to get online (sparse during this time of the year as sitting next to the glow of the world wide web is not considered festive….pardon me??).  So basically just a quick post to say thanks to all those readers and vistors of the blog and fellow friends and family.  Slowcoustic thanks all of ya!

Well Christmas (or Xmas as I know it…long story) was good, my mother flew in to visit and so it is nice to see family this time of year.  Of course endless courses of food and flowing wine helps!!  Well as I type this on my new keyboard (thanks Santa or “wifey” as I know her), I am getting ready to watch western movies and drink sparkling shiraz!   Note: The key to still look masculine while drinking sparkling shiraz is to ensure your pinky finger stays down while drinking, tape it down if needed boys!

Lots more in the new year to come, (2009 is shaping up nicely), and more regular posts are on their way.  So while you wait look at some of the archives as there are 100’s of mp3 on various pages, and be sure to zip over to my blogroll, they are great folks with great tunes.

Talk soon everyone, enjoy the holidays.  I leave you with an eclectic list of tracks starting with - Erran Barron Cohen’s Songs In The Key of Hunukka’s “Dreidel” - and yes he is releated to Borat.  I’m So Look You’s “Last Christmas” which somehow made it to my inbox from a Japanese DJ covering a Wham! Christmas track (I think).  The other track is actually a great song entitled “Christmas Song” from a great couple of guys (Tim and Brad) who record as Trudgernaut from Texas who can be seen over on Ocean Drive Recordings HERE.  I have been listening for a few years and I can’t recommend them enough.  Don’t forget to check out their Audio Simplicity stuff as well, recommended mellow (not so) holiday music!!

~Smansmith

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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)