[warning: the following is crass, and not for the sensitive nor is it the crybabies, please do not email me about your distaste for profanity]

The Mel Gibson of music journalism, Rolling Stone’s Chris Weingarten, is best known for his profane rants against music bloggers, calling it the end of valid cultural criticism, calling it the “bland middling taste of the internet mind hive”. Or more accurately, “the ugliest, most insidious Ebola virus”,  and that “you’re gonna want to shoot yourself in the fucking face”. I run a music blog and sure, I have my own criticisms of the incessant parade of claiming “firsties” on an artist, all of this chillwave obscurity, and hearing myself sound like an asshole when I start talking about RSS feeds and Google Analytics. But I also see it as the DIY culture saying “fuck you” to the so-called Tastemakers in music journalism who are propelled by publicists who shove artists’ campaigns down their throats because their publications are on their last leg. Ahem, Rolling Stone. I wouldn’t even put blogging and journalism in the same category, mostly because I don’t care about what it is, but that it’s an evolution of the way we consume music so you’d be wise to stop whining and embrace it.

I finally realized I’d arrived when I was invited to a Music Blogger’s Luncheon last week, with the likes of such mythological bloggers as Frank Yang of Chromewaves, Chris Budd of Indie Music Filter, and infiltrated by a few folks at the Globe and Mail, National Post, Spinner, MSN, and some publicity companies. I was going only to confirm that Yang was real, because I always saw him as this sort-of Wizard of Oz, operated by a small staff that claimed they were just but one Asian dude in his bedroom. Put it simply, I’m consistently in awe of him. I was bringing a publicist friend and told him not to embarrass me in front of my new friends by trying to pitch his artists. Forcing these people into social situations is no small feat, so I wanted to document it by pulling out my recorder and let them talk it out. The result was an messy conversation with two many voices that didn’t translate all too well in terms of flow, but I got a few interesting insights from it.  Continue Reading »

Cotton Jones‘ new album Tall Hours in the Glowstream just came out the other day and it is fantastic! You really feel like you’re listening to a piece of Americana lost and buried in a pile of old vinyl, only to be dug up by you and only you, and you think to yourself, geez, those were the days. The days when twangy country, and dreamy folk were real and true. Michael Neu and Whitney McGraw are like magic together with tracks like Glorylight and Christie. It’s a little gospel, a little honky tonk, a bit campy, but all thoroughly enjoyable. There is nothing quite like the voice of Michael Neu, it’s got that pastoral buttery sound. Makes me miss the South.

Cotton Jones- Glorylight and Christie

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Cotton Jones- Song and Numbers

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Ricky Eat Acid is not only a sweet band name, but a coastal lo fi trip into summer serenity with tracks like Hhhhappy and Balloons. Although I can’t say I’ve ever eaten acid, I have been indulging in some late-night snacks lately, sugary enough to induce some real hyperactive dreams. You know the kinds that don’t make any sort of sense and you really begin to question your subconscious and what the hell must be swimming in your brain to produce such states. Maybe I’d be a little more calm with these songs to lull me to sleep. There is a peacefulness in them, they’re easy to consume and soothing to the soul. And they’re free!  So go to the bandcamp and grab em.

Ricky Eat Acid posts some little descriptions to go with his tracks, this one really jumped out at me. I feel this way often, taking the hard road and really living this life to arrive to your salvation kicking and screaming, all dirtied and exhausted from the trip, but glowing with satisfaction.

“I stood in front of her with dirt in my hair, dirt on my clothes, dirt beneath my fingernails, dirt in my eyes and my mouth, my shirt ripped from the branches constantly entangling me, and my eyes filled with tears.
“You don’t know what I went through to get here.” I said.”

Sweet dreams, friends.

Ricky Eat Acid- Hhhhappy

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Ricky Eat Acid- Kiss

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I recently did a piece for Vice about a Backyard Axe Throwing League which should be up tomorrow and it was a sport invented by a bunch of Canadian axe-slingers that had an affinity for beer, too much time on their hands and a backyard. This spurred the genesis of the BATL. I feel like had J. Tillman been around, he would’ve slung an axe or two because he just seems the type. He’s categorically Canadian simply by the coarse beard he wears, on top a wrinkly flannel. He’d be the kind of quiet and composed man with little words, but swift manly accuracy, at least in my mind. His new release, and 7th full length record, Singing Ax out September 14th was recorded in three days (see? swift!) in February of this year.

To me, Tillman can do no wrong, much like previous Messiahs of acoustic, blues and folk like the great Bazan. There is an aesthetic in his voice and style that he’s built that nearly guarantees a certain beauty to all of his songs. There is holy silence that permeates so that you could clearly hear the words, “who would love a loveless thing?” and the pain just hits you square in the chest with unbelievable aim. He is unlike any other songwriter out there trying so fiercely to emulate the natural prose that leak out of him, unstoppable. This record is expectedly full of the kinds of songs you’re going to want to listen to alone. So that you can bathe in them, soak them in and perhaps even catch a glimpse of that truth that he sees and writes about.

Tracklist:

01 Three Sisters
02 Diamondback
03 Love No Less Worthy
04 One Task
05 Our Beloved Tyrant
06 Tillman’s Rag
07 Mere Ornaments
08 Singing Ax
09 Madness on the Mountain
10 Maria
11 A Seat at the Table

J Tillman- Love No Less Worthy

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J Tillman- Tillmans Rag

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I’ve been meaning to write about unouomedude ever since I included one of his tracks on my birthday mix but I just haven’t gotten the chance. I fucking love the song Buildings and consider it one of my favorites of the summer, so I checked out his bandcamp and it was more of the same breezy, echoey stuff that makes me want to eat popsicles and burritos all day. For those of you who are having a hard time trying to say the name think- you know you owe me dude. Which is what I say to every artist that so passive aggressively makes me write about them. KIDDING! He’s also got a pretty kick-ass tumblr you should follow because it’s full of mixtapes and nice photos.

This is Craft Spells, this is not Cast Spells as I first thought. I thought, wow this sounds NOTHING like Cast Spells. Oh right, because it’s not. His 7″ Party Talk is coming September on Captured Tracks. Check out the track below:

Craft Spells- Party Talk

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If you look up “NYC UFOs” on Google you get some pretty interesting results. Strange phenomenons and mystical universes, ET-esque Coast to Coast kinda stuff. But then you’ll find the bandcamp for NYC UFOs and you’ll fight the urge to make lame jokes like, geez, this is outta this world! So, I’ll resist. NYC UFOs recently reached out to me and after checking out their free 10-track demo I was so thoroughly impressed but what I found.

They’ve got a decent amount of that psychedelic garage rock sound that sounds a little like Wavves or Harlem, but then you’ve got these folk-tinged tracks like ‘Teeth’ and ‘Little Bird’ and you’re hit with this nostalgic, Cat Stevens, Stillwater sound that is just absolutely gorgeous. I’ve been playing Little Bird a lot lately, how on earth is this just a demo? It’s too good.

This is the kind of stuff that still gets me excited to write about music and share it with all of you. I urge you to grab this one:

NYC UFOs- Give It To You

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I don’t know who Kyle Knapp is but he just became my new best friend mostly because his musical suggestions via the internet don’t suck, and in fact, they rule. Therefore, this is my public request for more suggestions, Knapp. Read below:

[via Kyle Knapp]

The summer has been churning out some really great hits so far, where surf style is prominent; understandable.  Summers are meant to have a fun vibe, something you can share while spending quality time with friends.

I would be gladly to share The Love Language with my friends.  The Love Language put out their second album “Libraries” back in July, and I wish to have found out earlier.  This North Carolina based band sounds of surf music, pop, and a twist of southern.  In essence their music is like blending Fleet Foxes, Surfer Blood, The Hold Steady, and Grizzly Bear together.  “Libraries” will get you dancing with friends, relaxing on a sun drenched beach, or getting lost in the moment; all of which are quite nice if you think about it.  If you listen closely to the lyrics you can sense the regaling of past memories and professing feelings that have been bottled up.  It’s hard to pick a favorite because they are all so excellent, but maybe that’s just me.  Have a listen for free at http://www.thelovelanguage.com/.  Definitely worth your time.

The Love Language- Horrophones

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The Love Language- This Blood is Our Own

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The Love Language- Heart to Tell

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This is the kind of record I’m going to swiftly be telling all my friends about. And they mostly listen, because well, if there were any department I’d have a little authority in, it’d be humour (OBVIOUSLY) and an ear for the good stuff. And this is real good. His name is Jordan Irvin Dally, and he plays the kind of heartbreaking folk that rivals (or can be compared to) the honourable Jeff Buckley, or more recently Jesse Woods. With that smooth, soulful voice that allows us to drift along with him. This is the kind of music that’s gonna ruin a few young wild girls, a tame young man with a modest disposition and a few sweet songs. There is a new class of dreamboats in music, the revivalists that are bringing back beautiful ballads.

With an ethereal glaze over his rising and dipping melodies, experimental tinkering of guitars, you get the sense that it’s got that warm, shimmery tropical feel to it. His EP Despistado was released via Parisian label Camaraderie, but he resides somewhere in California.My other home state.

He’s looking to book some shows on the West Coast for this fall, and had I been around, I would’ve had an open living room for him. Alex Collins, get on this- your Dave Bazan show was legendary.

J. Irvin Dally- Salt Water

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J. Irvine Dally- The Little Ones

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Do you remember that song City Kids sometime ago that was floating around by  Boston’s Boy Without God? Well he’s got some more tracks and they’re just as sweet. His EP “Walking On Water Wasn’t Built in a Day” is up on his bandcamp for pay what you want download.

He describes the tracks as, “Some more minute-a-day work, done in November 2009 in my brother’s old bedroom while I was finishing college/reading a lot of Kerouac. This is the origin of City Kids!” Or you can choose to buy the handpainted watercolour CD version for only $5.

Boy Without God- Spiritual Sucker

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