Songs of Interest
Drag City's fall lineup is ridiculously good this year. The Silver Jews album alone would have sufficed, but with releases from Will Oldham, Edith Frost and The Howling Hex, we are spoiled fan-boys and -girls, indeed. Courtesy of Drag City, here's a few samples:
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Hearts (live)
I'm not usually a big live album fan but, for Will Oldham, I'm willing to make an exception. When I saw Oldham play solo a few summers ago, it was easily one of my most memorable concert experiences. He managed to completely transform some of my favorite songs, often approaching them from a totally different perspective than on the album by singing them in different keys, playing totally new chord progressions, or even just by placing a different emphasis on certain lyrics. The live album, Summer in the Southeast, documents a tour done a few months after I saw him and, although it's with a full band instead of solo, it seems to hold out some promise. This particular recording is fantastic sounding and, aside from the not-so-good backup singing, the track comes across as being a pretty solid performance in its own right.
The Howling Hex - Apache Energy Plan
The drum and guitar sounds on this song are so fucking good. It helps that the song itself is awesome, but I would probably be satisfied with just the drums and guitars playing random sounds for 3 minutes. It's like they were filtered through honey, pressed onto vinyl, and then recorded onto a solid gold cassette tape.
Edith Frost - Emergency
I'm a sucker for sad songs but I'm an even bigger sucker for sad songs that are played in a kind of upbeat sort of way. I'm also a sucker for Edith Frost. She sings low end like nobody else, but she has this awesome fragile/enormous quality to her voice that I can't quite explain. I just know that I likes it a lot.
[You can buy all of these albums here]
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Hearts (live)
I'm not usually a big live album fan but, for Will Oldham, I'm willing to make an exception. When I saw Oldham play solo a few summers ago, it was easily one of my most memorable concert experiences. He managed to completely transform some of my favorite songs, often approaching them from a totally different perspective than on the album by singing them in different keys, playing totally new chord progressions, or even just by placing a different emphasis on certain lyrics. The live album, Summer in the Southeast, documents a tour done a few months after I saw him and, although it's with a full band instead of solo, it seems to hold out some promise. This particular recording is fantastic sounding and, aside from the not-so-good backup singing, the track comes across as being a pretty solid performance in its own right.
The Howling Hex - Apache Energy Plan
The drum and guitar sounds on this song are so fucking good. It helps that the song itself is awesome, but I would probably be satisfied with just the drums and guitars playing random sounds for 3 minutes. It's like they were filtered through honey, pressed onto vinyl, and then recorded onto a solid gold cassette tape.
Edith Frost - Emergency
I'm a sucker for sad songs but I'm an even bigger sucker for sad songs that are played in a kind of upbeat sort of way. I'm also a sucker for Edith Frost. She sings low end like nobody else, but she has this awesome fragile/enormous quality to her voice that I can't quite explain. I just know that I likes it a lot.
[You can buy all of these albums here]
posted by ian at 7:56 AM
5 Comments:
MOR ballad to me.
love the howling hex song. what's their story?
Hey Ian.
I've got a chance to see Akron/Family play here in Denmark. Is it worth a long drive on a Wednesday evening to go see them?
Hey Joey,
The howling hex is fronted by Neil Michael Haggerty of Royal Trux fame. They've put out a few pretty solid albums.
Shawn:
I don't know how much you'll like them. Lots of noise and feedback, which I know isn't really your thing. I thought they were pretty fun when I saw them, and they did an outstanding cover of Neil Young's "For the Turnstiles".
Thank you for posting Edith Frost: a revelation.
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