The Barr Brothers

The Barr Brothers are causing a buzz in the Indie world. Their self-titled debut release is a mostly acoustic journey into the duality of human emotion. They explore the context of our true feelings, and the complex emotions that make us betray them. The Barr brothers are not new on the scene, they are the founding members of The Slip. They have dropped the theatrical nature of their former band for a more stripped down, yet complex sound. The album’s ethereal undertone is accentuated by inclusion of the harp played by Sarah Paige.

Though mostly acoustic, there is some gritty Rock & Roll, like the Electric Blues on “Lord I Just Can't Keep From Cryin’”. Another interesting track is “Give the Devil Back His Heart”, which mixes in Native American influences. However, the song that really stands out, and is one of the best songs I have come across this year is the opener, “Beggar in the Morning”. The song is perfectly arranged with poignant lyrics. The song provides a very dark but true picture of how relationships can evolve over time. “Hello I’m a monster too and what poisons me is what poisons you too. Into these animals we grew, but when we were young our eyes were blue”.  Although they are veteran musicians, their debut as the Barr Brothers is impressive and full of innovation.

January 12 - Release Highlights

While not a complete list here a a couple of releases I am excited about:

Ray Wylie Hubbard - A. Enlightenment, B. Endarkment (Hint: There Is No C) (Bordello) Here is an excerpt from the press release. (I'm sure it will be the dark but entertaining effprt we expet from him.)

Ray Wylie Hubbard will release A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment (Hint: There is no C) on January 12, 2010 on Bordello Records with marketing and distribution provided by Thirty Tigers/RED. The album was produced by Hubbard with help from George Reiff. With a keen eye for observation and a wise man's knowledge, Ray Wylie Hubbard composes and performs a dozen songs that couldn't spring from anywhere else but out of his fertile rock and roll bluesy poet-in-the-blistering-heat southern noggin. "I like to look at both enlightenment and endarkenment," he declares. "I feel comfortable observing each." A. Enlightenment
B. Endarkenment demonstrates the kind of talent that every great songwriter yearns for. Throughout the album, his focus remains on the song- constructing and performing stories set to music that resonate in a way that is completely his own.

Vampire Weekend - Contra - The best new indie band of 2008. This should have the quirkiness and understated World Music influences fo there previous release.

Cousins:

No. & M. Ward Hold Time

Since numbers 3-7 on my best of list have been covered previously, I am going to forgo posting on them. However, number 7, M. Ward - Hold Time, did not get the coverage it deserved here on AWT, even though it is high on my list. The album is simultaneously, Folk, Indie and Americana. The sound is wispy but not too ethereal. Just listen to the duet with Lucinda Williams, which is a cover of Hank Williams "Oh Lonesome Me." He captures all the pain of the original but makes it uniquely his own. The album is permeated with passion and exhibits clever lyricism.

Check out this ACL performance

Mary Kate O'neil Video - Nashville

I ran across this video released in advance of Mary Kate O'Neil's forthcoming Nettwerk release Underground. I am not familiar with any of her previous work but this is a catchy Indie - Pop song. The album was co-produced by Jill Sobule and has a cadre if indie rock veterans as guests. Check it out.

Bel Air - Pole to Pole

Check out Kelly's review over at Twangville. This band is definitely worth checking out for fans of Iron & Wine and like minded neo-folkies.

On MySpace

Watson Twins - How Am I to be Video

The Watson Twins Brand of Americana infused Indie-Pop has got me hooked check out their Video:



Then liste on MySpace

The Basement - Illicit Hugs and Playground Thugs

The Basement generated a lot of hype among the UK press before they released their first album. Early singles hinted at something special and they generated quite a following among fans. For some reason the buzz has been a little slower to build in the US, but they have released their first US CD on Zealous Records, Illicit Hugs and Playground Thugs. A recent article in No Depression should help also. The album is an instant classic mixing Americana influenced Roots Rock with British influenced Pop. The songs by the Irish born Liverpool based quartet are infectious. The album bridges a gap between their British and Irish upbringing and Americana Twang. It is evocative of the way Gram Parsons tried to fuse rock and country in his day. In fact you could alter Gram’s description of his own music slightly and call it “Cosmic British-American Music.”

The album starts out with the Alt-Country of “Do You Think Your Moving On.” Other songs like “Summertimes” have more of a Pop style. The Basement is influenced by Old 97s as can be heard on 2 tracks in particular, “When Tomorrow Comes” sounds like Satellite Rides Pop, while “Just a Dream” is redolent of earlier Old 97s. One of the band’s key attributes is the ability to sound upbeat even when using melancholy lyrics.

Check out some of their music:
http://www.zealousrecords.com/thebasementplayer/index.html

This review also appears on: http://twangville.com

Justin Trawick: Live 9:30 Club DC

My friend Tom, who runs AWT's favorite blog Twangville, which I write for under the name "CrackerSoul," turned me on to Justin Trawick. Tom and I went to see him at the 9:30 Club friday night, June 29th. It was a great show. The 9:30 Club is also a great venue. Trawick is a real up and comer who has already developed a loyal following in the DC area. Here is a link to the Twangville review and a link to video Tom shot during the show:

http://twangville.com/580/justin-trawick-rocks-the-930-club/

Settin' the Woods on Fire: This Week's Charts

This is a weekly feature in which I post on AWT the top albums and debuts in the airplay charts from Americana Music Assoc., XM Cross Country and FMQB Non-Commercial Adult Alternative chart. Links to all of these charts are found to the right in the AWT favorite links list.

Americana Music Association - Airplay Week of June 25th
1) Jimmy Lafave - Cimmaron Manifesto
2) Gurf Morlix - Diamonds to Dust
3) Marty Stuart - Anthology of Duets
4) Son Volt - The Search
5) Adrienne Young - Room to Grow
6) Amy Lavere - Anchors and Anvils
7) Wilco - "Sky Blue Sky"
8) Ryan Adams - "Easy Tiger"
9) Elizabeth Cook - "Balls"
10) Kelly Willis - "Translated from Love"
Debuts
36) Pam Tillis - Rhinestoned
37) Marc Olson - Salvation Blues


XM Ch.12 Cross Country - Cross Checking week of June 25th
1) Todd Snider - Peace, Love and Anarchy
2) Elizabeth Cook - Balls
3) Renegade Rail - Ragged
4) Dale Watson - From The Cradle To The Grave
5) Olav Larsen/Alabama Rodeo Stars - Love’s Come to Town
6) Jimmy Lafave - Cimmaron Manifesto
7) Kendel Carson - Rear View Mirror Tears
8) Wrinkle Neck Mules - Wicks Have Met
9) Avett Brothers - Emotionalism
10) Gurf Morlix - Diamond to Dust
Debuts
49) Jeff Finlin - Angel in Disguise
50) Blackie and the Rodeo Kings - Let's Frolic


FMQB AAA Non-Commercial - Airplay Week of June 25th
1) WILCO - Sky Blue Sky
2) PAUL MCCARTNEY - Memory Almost Full
3) FEIST - The Reminder
4) R.THOMPSON - Sweet Warrior
5) RYAN ADAMS - Easy Tiger
6) SUZANNE VEGA - Beauty and Crime
7) TORI AMOS - American Doll Posse
8) SPOON - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
9) GRACE POTTER - This is Somewhere
10) BRIGHT EYES - Casadaga
Debuts
14) WHITE STRIPES - Icky Thump
26) STEVE FORBERT - Strange Names and New Sensations
29) MARC BROUSSARD - SOS: Save Our Souls

Best of 2007

This is My updated Best of 2007. Wilco is still #1 The artists with the highest debuts are White Stripes and Wrinkle Neck Mules at 3 and 4 respectively. The Hackensaw Boys and JohnDoe also debuted in the top 10. While Paul McCartney and Sarah Borges entered just outside the top 10. This list does not inlcude any albums released on June 26th. So Ryan Adams and Kelly Willis will have to wait until next month. Also, as usual, I did some rearranging based on further reflection. Enjoy the list and feel free to tell me how you agree or disagree. Also, make no hesitation to trash me or my intelligence in any way you see fit. I'm used to it.

1) Wilco - "Sky Blue Sky"
2) Patty Griffin - "Children Running Through"
3) White Stripes - "Icky Thump"
4) Wrinkle Neck Mules - "Wicks Have Met"
5) Assembly of Dust - "Recollection"
6) Hackensaw Boys - "Look Out"
7) The Broken West - "I Can't Go on I'll Go on"
8) )The Shins - "Wincing the Night Away"
9) Son Volt - "The Search"
10) John Doe - "A year in the Wilderness"
11) Paul McCartney - " Memory Almost Full"
12) Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles - "Diamonds in the Dark"
13) Willy Mason - "If the Ocean Gets Rough"
14) Dale Watson - "From the Cradle to the Grave"
15) Modest Mouse - "We Were Dead Before he Ship Ever Sank"
16) Feist - "The Reminder"
17) Charlie Louvin - "Charlie Louvin"
18) Infamous Stringdusters - "Fork in the Road"
19) Nathan - "Key Principles"
20) Olav Larsen and the Alabama Rodeo Stars - "Loves' Com to Town"
21) Adam Hood - "Different Groove"
22) Elizabeth Cook - "Balls"
23) Rocky Votolato - "The Brag and Cuss"
24) The Basement - "Illicit Hugs and Playground Thugs"
25) The Greencards - "Viridian"
26) Pela - "Anytown Graffiti"
27) Joe Ely - "Happy Song from Rattlesnake Gulch"
28) Cadillac Sky - "Blind Man Walking"
29) Martin Sexton - "Seeds"
30) Two Cow Garage - "Three"
31) Hoots & Hellmouth- "Hoots & Hellmouth
32) Norah Jones - "Not Too Late"
33) Bill Kirchen - "Hammer of the Honky Tonk Gods"
34) Adrienne Young - "Room to Gow"
35) The Dexateens - "Hardwire Healing"

Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter

The amazing atmospherics of “Like Love Lust and the Open Halls of the Soul” are apparent from the outset of the album. The ambience of the album is due as much to the subdued jazzy vocals of Jesse Sykes as it is to the instrumentation. At times, Sykes sounds like a more throaty Billie Holiday. At other times, her voice has a Grace Slick tone. The album's first three songs set the tone. It starts with the slow acoustic melody and eerie harmonica of “Eisenhower Moon.” “LLL” is a more upbeat tune that has Sykes smoky Blues vocals layered with psychedelic overdubs. “You Might Walk Away” has catchy hooks and is great pop tune with Jazzy keyboards in the backgrounds.

Sykes aforementioned Grace Slick on a mellow trip sound is most apparent on a couple of songs that take on the feel of Jefferson Airplane. The Sixties era Haight-Ashbury scene is explored most notably on “How Will We Know” and “I Like the Sound.” These are not banal tributes. The band never loses its originality as it crosses genres. To be sure, the atmospherics are overdone at times. For example, on “Spectral Beings” a droning melody is trying too hard to create the ambiance. However, the best songs on this album are truly memorable. The production team of Tucker Martine (The Decemberists and Long Winters) and Martin Feveyear (Mark Lanegan and Kings of Leon) also deserve kudos for the way they created the album’s rich textures without masking the music at its core.

Link to this free MP3

*Posted with Permission from Barsuk Records

http://barsukmusic.blaireau.net/JesseSykes_LLL.mp3

This review also appears on: http://twangville.com

Through The Sparks

There is a lot of buzz around the local Birmingham indie band Through The Sparks. Paste magazine put them on their most recent sampler and has featured the band online. Pitchfork gave them a good review also. I am certainly going to buy it. My initial streaming on the band’s website found it to be extremely well crafted. I'vs also seen their name crop up on several blogs.

Stream the album on the band's website.
http://throughthesparks.com/

Download it on emusic
http://www.emusic.com/album/Through-The-Sparks-Lazarus-Beach-MP3-Download/11032812.html

Or think Indie and get it at your local record store: http://www.cimsmusic.com/

Rocky Votolato - "The Brag & Cuss"

Rocky Votolato has come full circle. Prior to going solo he was in a post-punk/emo band called Waxwing. On his new album Brag & Cuss, set to be released on June 19th by Barsuk, the influences of his Texas childhood are more apparent. Votolato was born in and spent his early childhood in rural Texas. His father was a member of a motorcycle gang called the Scorpions, who at the time were rivals of Hell’s Angels. The songs on Brag and Cuss involve characters that could just as easily appear in the songs of fellow Texans like Guy Clark, Joe Ely or Robert Earl Keen. Lyrically the songs could also easily fit in a Texas roadhouse. Musically though instead of roadhouse rockers the songs on Brag and Cuss are well crafted low to mid-tempo songs that mix his Texas influences with a mature singer-songwriter style.

The connection Votolato feels to his own personal history show lyrically as in “Red Dragon Wishes” where the protagonist laments “There’s some demon way down South some kind of confederate ghost. It holds me close and shows me where to go until I’m sure I’m lost…but some mistakes can’t be undone it’ll never be like it was and wishing for it only makes it worse.” Votolato hooked up with a group of talented friends on this album. Brag and Cuss features James McAlister (Sufjan Stevens) on drums, Bill Herzog (Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter) on bass, Case Foubert (Pedro the Lion) on Electric Guitar and Rick Steff (Hank Williams Jr.) on Hammond B3 and keyboards. The result is a collection of songs that together make a unified body of work.

http://barsukmusic.blaireau.net/RockyVotolato_PostcardFromKentucky.mp3

I originally published this review on: http://twangville.com/