Having heard the lovely and subtle "Around the Lion Legs," I felt compelled to purchase this extremely inexpensive EP from DM Stith, a record that has quickly become a favorite. David Stith has a voice that's vulnerable yet mysterious, and though comparisons will be made to Nick Drake (ugh), his style is much darker than that; he's aided by several friends with big reputations, though their influence on his sound is minimal. There are three big tracks here, with two shorter bits in between. The big one here is "Just Once," a large, grandiose yet humble seven minute epic. The rest of the songs are all darker folk, with guitar picking that reminds me of James Blackshire and a sound that's very reminiscent of This Mortal Coil. "Hoarse Sorrows and the Whole Blind Earth..." has some wonderful whistling and a sad feel to it; it sounds like the closing scene to a melancholy Bergman film.

Something tells me this guy is going to be BIG in 2009. I hope so! Curtain Speech is a lovely little introduction to a very talented young man. Hope so! I like this little record.

Listen To: "Just Once"

Just Once is available now on Asthmatic Kitty

Labels: Asthmatic Kitty, DM Stith, Reviews S

posted by joseph kyle @ 9:25 AM 0 comments

Slow Dancing Society Priest Lake Circa '88

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Last night a New Age record saved my life.

Okay, so maybe it didn't save it, but it certainly enriched an atmosphere in need of relaxation. Priest Lake Circa '88 (a title that sounds like it belongs on a Flaming Lips bootleg) is the latest record by Drew Sullivan, who records under the moniker Slow Dancing Society. This latest opus is a collection of gentle but occasionally restless instrumental pieces that tread the line between new age and ambient. But those are silly titles, have nothing to do with the music. For me, though, records like this are more about the mood than the compositions; the eight numbers found here are all wonderfully beautiful pieces. There are a number of epics, like "Sun Spots" and the utterly fantastic "The Iridescence of Innocence," that will simply melt your brain. Honestly, I put this album on and I'm instantly relaxed. This is a good thing, my friends--especially in stressful times like ours.

Listen To: "This Lilac Life"

Priest Lake Circa '88 is available now on Hidden Shoal Recordings

Labels: Hidden Shoal, Reviews S, Slow Dancing Society

posted by joseph kyle @ 7:45 AM 0 comments

Strategy Music for Lamping

Monday, May 19, 2008

As much as I liked Paul Dickow's last Strategy album, Future Rock, I like his new one, Music for Lamping, a bit more. The previous album was a curious blend of World Music-style rhythms blended with electronica, and it worked in a way Moby's styles theoretically should have worked. It was funky, but in a rather intellectual way. If Future Rock's modus operandi was to get your feet to move, Music for Lamping is the exact opposite; its charms are pure overcast, downbeat drone and foggy atmospherics. It's what some might call "space music," and rightly so: this is the sort of music that soundtracks starry nights, rainy nights, cloudy nights, moonlight nights, snowy nights, stormy nights. I think that's what Paul was going for; hence the connotations in the title! Heck, I'll be honest; when I first gave this record a go, I did so during the afternoon, and it didn't really reveal its inner beauty; as soon as the sun went down, though, well…hello sailor!

None of Music for Lamping clocks in at less than five minutes, and is bookended by two beautiful fourteen-minute compositions. But time isn't important here; like the best records of this genre, Music for Lamping is a record that flows seamlessly, and you don't really think about trivial things as songs or song titles or "gee, what is he going to do on the next track?" If you listen to Music for Lamping properly, you really won't care about such trivial matters. None of the songs are particularly assuming; there's not much activity within their melodies, but don't worry; the album won't bore you, though it will compel your senses to relax. If I were to describe what he's going for on songs like "I Can't Stand the Rain" or "Cathedral Spark," it's that he's trying to capture the sounds of a city at night. Of course that might be exactly what he's going for. If so, he's succeeded! Music for Lamping is one of the better 'chill-out' records I've heard in a while, and is a gorgeous though unsurprisingly lovely little treat from one of today's more prolific electronic composers.

Listen To: " World Service"

Music for Lamping is available now on Audio Dregs

Labels: Audio Dregs, Reviews S, Strategy

posted by joseph kyle @ 8:52 PM 0 comments

The Sharp Things A Moveable Feast

Saturday, March 8, 2008

I must confess, for the record, that I neglected a really good band, New York's jazz-pop orchestra The Sharp Things. Okay, so they're not really jazz, they're definitely pop, and they're certainly an orchestra-sized collection of sharply dressed musicians. Their third album, A Moveable Feast, came out last fall, and I had a very lovely and insightful conversation with the well-respected Jim Santo. Unfortunately, due to the realities of cancer treatments and surgeries and recoveries, a lovely Sunday afternoon interview with The Sharp Things' Jim Santo hasn't seen the light of day. It's a good interview, too, and I have the tape player at my desk to guiltily remind me of my neglected duties.

Enough about that--how does the record sound? Amazing. Their previous record, The Fox & Hound didn't do anything for me, which was a disappointment given their excellent debut. But it took exactly two seconds of the second track, "Through With Love," for me to realize that this new record was an amazing leap forward. This song is one of the best angry-at-love love songs I heard all year, and it's helped by a grand orchestra accompaniment. It doesn't hurt that lead singer Perry Serpa channels the spirit of vintage Richard Butler, either; this is the sort of song an aging Psychedelic Furs should be releasing. Sadly, they're not. But someone is, so that's all that matters, right?

Other highlights for me include the wonderful Motown-style arrangement on "Cruel Thing," with Serpa becoming the blue-eyed soul singer some of us always expected him of being. Then there's "Don't Hold Out Hope," a touching piano ballad that is made even more powerful by Serpa's plaintive singing. "Driving In Manhattan In My Car" is another slow one, but it's a very romantic song, and though I've never been, I can't help but feel it captures the essence of Manhattan. The chorus of "I am home" makes it even sweeter.

The rest of the record has this beautiful, sitting-in-a-cafe-on-a-rainy-Sunday-afternoon vibe I like. In other words, we're talking about a mellow, melancholy, but hopeful and relaxing style that makes me hate most other music not as good as this. If I were David Dye, I'd be euphoric and obsessive about promoting A Moveable Feast, because this is David Dye's kind of music. And what I like about this record is it's so...so...adult. This isn't meant for "the kids" out there; as someone who is disillusioned about most "pop" music and "indie rock" in specific, it's nice to hear a record that doesn't pander to styles or genres or movements or those damn hipsters out there.

Listen To: "Through With Love"

Labels: Reviews S, The Sharp Things

posted by joseph kyle @ 10:15 AM 0 comments

subtractiveLAD Decay as a Lifestyle

Monday, March 3, 2008

Downloaded this one as I'd heard a subtractiveLAD song a while back, and I'm glad I spent the two and a half for this one. Decay as a Lifestyle is a three song digital EP that serves the purpose of whetting the palate for the forthcoming subtractiveLAD LP; two of these songs (well, "Mayfly" is a remix, but that's splitting hairs) appear on the album, and after hearing these songs, I think it's safe to say that album must be a mindblower. The title track reminds me of Ulrich Schnauss, but with a harder edge; it's electronica and it's ambient, but it's also heavy on the "rock" side. "Ashes" removes all vestiges of rock, and is a glacially-paced ambient track not unlike Roger Eno or Harold Budd. "Mayfly" is a bit like the title track, but with a funky Japanese influence I like. It sort of has a TV soundtrack feel--specifically a detective show. You just have to hear it to understand, I guess. And by the way, why don't you hear it? The single is available for super-cheap at n5md! Can't wait to check out that album, though.

Listen To: "Decay as a Lifetyle"

Labels: n5md, Reviews S, subtractivelad

posted by joseph kyle @ 12:32 PM 0 comments

Soft Circle Full Bloom

Monday, February 4, 2008

Soft Circle is the project of Hisham Bharoocha, former Black Dice drummer, and I have to say that it's a wonderful project, too. His music is drone, but unlike his former group, his drone isn't based in the electronic noise of the Twentieth Century; it's the sound of ancient musics and instruments. Unlike his previous band, his music is tranquil, quiet, and meditative. Now, I know some people who find Black Dice to be soothing, and some of their music is quiet, but Soft Circle is a wholly other dimension of sound.

Thankfully, Full Bloom never overloads your eardrums with high decibel-level noise. When Hisham does get loud, he's not trying to imitate the sound you'd hear if you stand next to a jet engine. Instead, he's trying to capture some sort of postmodern tribal new wave native bonfire ritual that will make you dance. It's not hippy-dippy rave electronica, but it's close; the groove of "Earthed" sounds a lot like the grooves found in early-90s Wax Trax releases; specifically, Greater Than One, but I'm not trying to be pedantic. Other songs, like "Shimmer" and "Whirl," sound like a 21st Century take on World Music; heck, if they were so labeled, I'd believe these were Mickey Hart recordings.

Overall, Full Bloom is a beautiful trip in a sonic world that beautifully mixes drone and tribal sounds. My interest in Hisham's music is definitely piqued; this recording is beautiful, and I anxiously await his next record.

Listen To: "Shimmer"

Full Bloom is available now from Eastern Developments

Labels: Eastern Developments, Reviews S, Soft Circle

posted by joseph kyle @ 12:11 PM 0 comments

Stephenhero "57 Stars of the Air Almanac"

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Wow, talk about coming out of nowhere! Stephenhero is the ongoing project of Patrick Fitzgerald, the former lead singer of the wonderful and well-missed Kitchens of Distinction. But it's been several years since his last record, so I wondered if he even still made music. Glad to know that he is.

If you have never experienced the utter brilliance of their 1991 album, The Death of Cool, you need to stop reading and discover this unfairly obscure masterpiece. It's one of the best records I've ever heard, period. After the band split, Fitzgerald formed different projects, Stephen Hero being the most notable. The music he released was quieter, mellower, and often instrumental--none of which ever reached the heights of The Death of Cool.

Until now.

57 Stars of the Air Almanac, now credited to Stephenhero, is a paraphrased return to The Death of Cool's majestic heights. I say he's "paraphrased" because these songs cover the same kind of lyrical themes, and are as emotionally powerful and painful as Death of Cool except...the powerful wall of guitar has been replaced...by piano! We're talking about a guy who wrote beautifully melancholy lyrics on a par with Morrissey, tempered with the noise of My Bloody Valentine.

When I read a few descriptions of this new record, I never would have expected such, would never have expected much, and, honestly, before I heard it, I was skeptical that he could really replicate his storied past without his powerful guitars. But Patrick can, Patrick has, and my mind has been...well...blown. Now, mind you, 57 Stars of the Air Almanac isn't trying to be Kitchens of Distinction mach 2, and I'm glad, because otherwise, it all would sound a bit too forced. Patrick was and is an excellent songwriter, and that's what is on display here. Whether it's a love song, or a not-in-love song, Patrick can write a song that aims for the jugular.

I've rambled around a point, a very simple point, and that is this: Patrick Fitzgerald is one of the finest songwriters of our time, bar none. That he's released a potent and beautiful record in painful obscurity isn't his fault, nor should it be a reflection of the quality of his art. I've loved the man's music for nearly two decades. 57 Stars of the Air Almanac reminds me why I fell in love with his music in the first place: powerful words and beautiful music. And, well, "58 Stars" brings a tear to my eye every time. That's all that matters to me…

Listen To: "58th Star"

Labels: Reviews S, Stephenhero

posted by joseph kyle @ 12:11 PM 0 comments

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