LISTEN: Nightlands - Suzerain (A Letter to the Judge)

Nightlands - Suzerain (A Letter to the Judge) from Mark Schoneveld on Vimeo.

Just discovered this over on Trippin Through The Dew and loved it on the first listen. Time to head over to his bandcamp and listen to the other tracks available from the album, 'Forget the Mantra.'

"Nightlands is the recording project of Philadelphia-based multi-instrumentalist Dave Hartley. The music he creates in his bedroom is itself a bed of delicate, chiming strings and bubbling synths beneath a blanket of choral vocal arrangements. It's dreamy in the literal sense -- the seeds for the album were sown when Hartley began archiving musical ideas that occurred in his sleep with a simple bedside tape recorder. As a result his debut album Forget the Mantra is, in essence, a field recording of Hartley's dreams -- a travel journal through pop music and a collection of psych-hymns from the first human lunar colony. The songs sound both huge and intimate, breathy and cavernous like massive echoes of a faraway concert. It's the big, shadow music from just across the lake.

The album deals with themes of anxiety, fear and the limits of concentration. Therein, it mines Hartley's personal history as often as it does influences The Beach Boys, The Traveling Wilburys and Hawkwind. Side A pulses with layers of tom tom drums on wide-open standout slow jam "300 Clouds" and nimbly-picked acoustic melodies on "Suzerain (A Letter to the Judge)," like Crosby, Stills & Nash gone comsic-kraut. The songs roll and gallop then stop to breathe, always exhaling with what sounds like a thousand voices. Through its experimental back half -- reminiscent of Bowie's Low or Kate Bush's "The Ninth Wave" from Hounds of Love -- full of vocal samples from Hartley's real life, the more pop-leaning front end is given greater context, like a close study of a plant's blossom before traveling down through its root architecture.

Hartley, who for years has been a prolific sideman in many Philadelphia ensembles (most notably The War on Drugs), laid these songs to tape on a Tascam 388 insularly over several months, inviting friends along for feedback and ultimately, some additional tracking."

via Secretly Canadian

WATCH: Neil Young - Journey Through the Past (Live 1971 for the BBC)

LISTEN: Doug Paisley - Constant Companion

No One But You

Don't Make Me Wait

O'Heart

Like The Band? (The album features Garth Hudson on keyboards) Enjoy a bit of JJ Cale? A fan of Bonnie 'Prince' Billy? Love Neil Young? A Dylan fanatic? Or do you just need some new autumnal music?

Give this a listen...

http://www.myspace.com/dougpaisley

LOOK: Neil Young by Henry Diltz

Neil Young - When You Dance You Can Really Love

Neil Young, California 1971

1971

Neil Young Woody, 1970

 

Neil Young & his dog, Harte, Broken Arrow Ranch, Northern California, 1971

Add caption

 

"Neil Young going home to Broken Arrow Ranch, Northern California, 1988."

  

See more here.

Henry Diltz on Wikipedia.

LISTEN: Neil Young - Le Noise (2010)

You can now listen to Neil Young's new album, 'Le Noise', for free over on NPR. The album is produced by Daniel Lanois, who gave Young an electro/acoustic guitar, with which he'd spent years working on it's electronics.

"I wanted to give him something he'd never heard before. He picked up that instrument, which had everything — an acoustic sound, electronica, bass sounds — and he knew when he played it that we had taken the acoustic guitar to a new level. It's hard to come up with a new sound at the back end of 50 years of rock 'n' roll, but I think we did it."

LISTEN: J.Tillman Sings Neil Young's 'Tonight's The Night'

More magic from Aquarium Drunkard! Listen to the whole album here.

J.Tillman - Tonight's The Night

Out On The Weekend

Clear Lake Hikers 1975

Neil Young - Out on the Weekend

Coffee Table Books

On her last visit, my mum brought over a few of our coffee table books from England to add to the ones we already had here. We've still got a few to bring over, but are slowly building our collection!

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Our House

Dennis Wilson - Carry Me Home (Demo)

DOWNLOAD: Aquarium Drunkard: L.A. Burnout

Aquarium Drunkard just posted up Part II of there download compilation 'L.A. Burnout' and it's the follow-up to one they did a while back. Just read the decriptions below and you'll get the picture. Pretty much two compilations covering my all-time favourite period in music, closely followed by 90s hip-hop.

Part II:

Sean Howe and Aquarium Drunkard are back with L.A. Burnout 2: Still Burnt. Continuing in the vein of last year’s L.A. Burnout, the 25 tracks compiled within exemplify the not-quite-there nature of the city, particularly what was being laid down in the 70s. Play this mix around dusk while driving through Topanga with the windows rolled down — it’s the next best thing to time travel.  Get Burnt after the jump……

Part I:

The genesis of this post goes back to the end of 2006 via a longtime AD reader (Sean Howe). If you’ve been around a minute you may remember L.A. Burnout from January of 2007.  As I mentioned a couple of years ago, these are the tunes I was spinning while reading both Laurel Canyon: The Inside Story of Rock-and-Roll’s Legendary Neighborhood and Hotel California: The True-Life Adventures of CSN, etc.

L.A. Burnout is made up of the sounds floating around Los Angeles in the late ’60s and ’70s; a faded aural imprint of the canyons, beaches, wildfires, neighborhoods, late-nights and early mornings of a bygone L.A.

Play this mix around dusk while driving through Topanga with the windows rolled down — it’s the next best thing to time travel.  Grab it after the jump….

LISTEN: Neil Young - Chrome Dreams (Rust Edition)

"I am just a dreamer and you are just a dream" 

Will To Love 

Like A Hurricane 

Too Far Gone 

Captain Kennedy 

Look Out For My Love 

 Neil Young was on a creative high in 1975. By the end of the summer, Zuma was finished, though still not released. Yet Neil carried on recording his new songs. Sometimes he recorded solo and sometimes with Crazy Horse. Lots of these songs would remain unheard by the public until quite a while later, but by late ’75, Neil had already written and recorded versions of such future classics as Like A Hurricane, Powderfinger, Sedan Delivery, Pocahontas and Ride By Llama.

He carried on recording in 1976. More great songs were put down on tape, such as Will To Love, Stringman and Campaigner. Some of us may feel that the Long May You Run album with Stephen Stills robbed us of the natural successor to Zuma, but Stills always suspected that Neil was holding back his best stuff for his solo album. That solo album was a work in progress throughout this period. Titles were reported in the press: Ride My Llama, In My Neighborhood, American Stars ‘N Bars, Chrome Dreams.

When American Stars ‘N Bars was released in 1977, Neil had scrapped most of the material he’d been recording since late ’75, replacing much of it with a series of rough hewn cowboy songs. Fun stuff to be sure, but had Neil committed the latest in a series of difficult to explain career suicides? Who else, except maybe Bob Dylan, would sit on a stash of such quality songs and not let the public hear them?

Tracks 1 to 12 of this compilation are thought to be the unreleased Chrome Dreams album, readied for release weeks before Neil recorded those country hoedowns and rethought his strategy. Some of these song titles will be more than familiar to you, but the actual performances may surprise you.

Powderfinger is performed as an unadorned solo acoustic song; Sedan Delivery, a second song destined for Rust Never sleeps, is presented in its pre-punked up arrangement and, in many people’s opinion, sounds all the better for that. You’ll also find the definitive Stringman, a song not given an official airing until Neil’s Unplugged set, heard here in a 1976 live performance enhanced by subtle yet beautiful studio vocal and guitar overdubs; Hold Back The Tears is another solo performance, longer and more ghostly that its later remake for American Stars ‘N Bars; Pocahontas is the same performance as the one that made Rust Never Sleeps, but in its original "Naked Mix;" Too Far Gone wouldn’t be officially released until the Freedom album in 1989, yet here’s a version from 14 years earlier with Poncho Sampedro adding a tasty mandolin part.

The other six songs from the album were released unchanged on the albums American Stars ‘N Bars, Comes A Time and Hawks And Doves, yet you may still be able to pick out slight differences in the mixes. Homegrown, for one, would seem to have a little more fire in the guitars. Have a listen and see what you think.

We’ve chosen a select batch of bonus cuts to give you a further taste of just how creative Neil was during this fertile period. If the version of White Line (here retitled River Of Pride, maybe because Neil forgot to sing the actual White Line lyric) didn’t make the Chrome Dreams shortlist, then its continued circulation among collectors is something of a mystery. Maybe it was pressed onto acetate as a possible contender for Decade, which Neil was also preparing at this time. Whatever the truth, it’s a stupendous version of the song, recorded in 1975 with a loose and joyful Crazy Horse. Neil’s remake for Ragged Glory in 1990 may have been fine but it doesn’t quite capture the spirit of this earlier version. Campaigner did make Decade, but not before losing one of its verses. You can hear the full-length version here.

Three live cuts follow. No One Seems To Know is an aching piano ballad that Neil once described as Part 2 of A Man Needs A Maid, it’s first class but remains unreleased; Give Me Strength dates from an earlier ill-fated album called Homegrown (an album that would have also featured Star Of Bethlehem, the oldest cut in this collection) and is another lost classic; Peace Of Mind is heard as an electric rock song played with the Horse and very different from the version Neil released on Comes A Time.

And, as a nod to Zuma, we close with Crosby Stills Nash & Young. Human Highway was recording during the Stills-Young sessions in 1976. The song was always meant to be a CSNY track, but Neil had run out of patience by the Comes A Time LP. Now you can have a glimpse of what might have been, which, come to think of it, is also true of the whole collection. 

- Jules Gray (May 20, 2004), in the sleeve notes to Chrome Dreams (Rust Edition)

NEW DISCOVERY: Nathaniel Rateliff

Aquarium Drunkard never fail to bring awesome people I've never heard of to my attention and after watching the video they just posted of Nathaniel Rateliff and friends performing it doesn't look like they're going to stop anytime soon. This song is apparently unreleased, but Nathaniel recently released 'In Memory of Loss', which has been compared to the work of Cave, Young, Diamond and Parsons by one reviewer. He apparently went by the name The Wheel before and is also in Born in the Flood. He's also currently touring the US with MWW Favourite The Tallest Man on Earth. Watch the videos below, then check out the songs on his myspace and see what you think.


Nathaniel Rateliff "Laughing" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.


Nathaniel Rateliff "Boil & Fight" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Avi Buffalo - Avi Buffalo (2010)

 
The Shins. The Byrds. Neil Young. Band of Horses. Daniel Johnston. Mark Linkous. Johnny Marr. Tortoise. Fleet Foxes. Mercury Rev. Flaming Lips. Love. Syd Barrett. Beach Boys. Weezer. Joanna Newsom. Wilco. Built to Spill. Deerhoof.

I'm just over half way through my first listen of Avi Buffalo's deut album for Sub Pop and was reading through a number of reviews I found through metacritic and thought I'd compile a list of artists mentioned during the reviews. Avi Buffalo don't necessarily sound exactly like any of the above bands, but take various elements from each and you've got Avi Buffalo. Whatever the comparisons may be, this is a summer album and is full of sweet melodies and sunshine guitar licks and makes me wish I was in California, kicking back with a Corona. I'm still only on my first listen and whether or not it'll be a favourite of the year, it's probably too early to say, but I do know this will get some serious playtime over the coming weeks. RYM has it at 3.27, whilst the critics have been much more generous, with a score of 81 on metacritic. The obvious stand out for me is the insanely catchy 'What's In It For?', which you can watch the video for and download below, as well as 'Remember Last Time.'

Avi Buffalo - Remember Last Time

Avi Buffalo - What's In It For?

A SPOTIFY PLAYLIST: Forty-Two Songs to Fika to

"Fika, a social institution in Sweden, is both verb and noun in Swedish and has a broad definition. Essentially, it refers to a break from one's activities in order to drink coffee or other drinks with friends, family or acquaintances. This tradition of a coffee break with a snack is central to Swedish culture, and Swedes are one of the world's top coffee consumers."

The mix includes tracks from David Crosby, Neil Young, The Beach Boys, The Zombies, Real Estate, Devendra Banhart, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Fred Neil, Traffic, John Phillips, Kurt Vile, Old 97's, The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Grateful Dead, The Felice Brothers, The Strange Boys and many more.

Invite some friends over, stick this on and fika Swedish style. Perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Open 'Forty-Two Songs to Fika to' in Spotify 

1969...A Spotify Playlist

 
I've not made a post for a while as I've just started a new job and had some visitors over last week. I've kinda lost track of new releases over the past couple of weeks, so thought I'd kick things off again with a playlist from another favourite year of mine...1969.

1969 is a really interesting year, as it's the beginning of the end of the hippie movement of the previous year. There's a perfect blend of all my favourite genres with classic releases all over the show and of course, this is the year Woodstock happened.

 The psych scene was slowly dying, with bands like The Grateful Dead and Quicksilver Messenger Service turning more towards lengthy jam based material, whilst Jefferson Airplane and Love both released what may have been their last great records. Whilst The Doors opted for a record that included brass, strings and a full orchestra and although often seen as their worst album, I still think it's a great album with some classic tracks.

Artists such as Neil Young, Nick Drake, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Tim Buckley and CSN  all helped pave way for the singer-songwriter scene that would explode in the early 70s.

Whereas artists such as The Band, The Byrds, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Poco, Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt and The Allman Brothers helped pave the way for country and roots based rock.

There were some great classic rock records from the like of The Rolling Stones, CCR, The Beatles and Blind Faith.

Blues based, heavier stuff was also starting to creep in with Free, High Tide, MC5, Deep Purple, Zeppelin's first two albums and The Stooges debut.

Elements of prog (Yes, King Crimson) also started to appear, as well as early signs of krautrock, with Can and Amon Duul 2 both releasing albums in '69.

The soul and funk scene was really starting to change direction and would explode in the 70s with classics from Sly Stone, The Meters and Isaac Hayes released in '69.

Take a look through the Rate Your Music list below and stick the playlist on shuffle on Spotify and I'm 100% sure you'll find a new favourite or something you'd never heard before. The playlist doesn't include everything, as some albums have not been added to Spotify yet, either due to their rareness or in the case of The Beatles, a greedy record label. Let me know if I've missed anything obvious and please leave a comment! ENJOY!

Listen to 1969 Playlist in Spotify

Rate Your Music - 1969

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Down By The River (live at Big Sur Folk Festival, 1969)

I started listening to the 4 disc Crosby, Stills & Nash box set yesterday and forgot how much I love them. If you've not heard the box set before, it basiscally contains some of the greatest music ever made and includes a mixture of solo work from the 3 of them and group recordings both with and without Neil Young. After listening to it again this morning, I decided to watch a few of my favourite videos of the guys on You Tube and came across one of my all-time favourites, 'Down By The River', live at Big Sur, California, September 14, 1969. The performance was part of the 'Celebration at Big Sur', a film of the 1969 Big Sur Folk Festival and is up on You Tube for those interested. The festival was held yearly from 1964 to 1971. You really can't beat seeing these four brilliant musicians playing live together...there's so much energy and they look they're having a great time. Anyway...here it is!

Alex Bleeker and the Freaks

 Real Estate's album was one of my favourites of last year and I've recently got into Ducktails' album, 'Landscapes'. All of these guys went to high school together in new Jersey and have played together for years. Now we have Alex Bleeker and the Freaks. Alex plays bass in Real Estate and is joined by Martin Courtney on bass and Matt Mondanile (Ducktails) on drums both also of Real Estate and Julian Lynch. Julian Lynch also released his full-length debut last year ('Orange You Glad'), though I haven't heard it yet.

I haven't heard this album yet, but have listened to several tracks on You Tube/Vimeo and really like what I'm hearing. All these guys seem to have a similar sound, but each has their own take on it. Maybe it's just a perfect way for them all to express themselves. Although these are still early days, they kinda remind of Crosby, Still, Nash & Young in the way all the members had solo projects alongside various group offerings. So here are a couple of nice tracks I found on Vimeo...the first being a cover of Mountain Man's 'Animal Tracks' (also included below) which is kinda like a more Crazy Horse style take on the song. The second song, 'Summer>Epilogue' sounds a little Neil Youngesque, mixed with some almost country-style singing and a little Grateful Dead style haziness.



Alex Bleeker and the Freaks - "Animal Tracks" from Elise Oh on Vimeo.


Alex Bleeker & The Freaks - Summer > Epilogue from Chocolate Bobka on Vimeo.

Blitzen Trapper

The first song I heard by Blitzen Trapper was 'Texaco' a couple of years ago and it's still one of my favourite songs. It just sounds right and is a perfect song for driving through the countryside or just kicking back with a beer.



Since then they've released several new albums, including the recent 'Black River Killer Ep' earlier this year. The title track was included on their 2008 album 'Furr', who's title track also joined 'Black River Killer' as 2 of the bands other favourite songs of mine.





This is more a post for those of you who haven't yet heard these guys. They  cover a range of styles, from folk/country to more indie sounding jams. My favourite tracks tend to be the former, but their albums are always rewarding and never get boring. Another favourite of mine has to be 'Not Your Lover', which kinda sounds like a Neil Young outtake from 'After The Goldrush'.

Kurt Vile

I've heard his name around before and often cofused him with the inspiration behind The Doors' 'Alabama Song (Whiskey Bar),' Kurt Weill:





His latest album, 'Childish Prodigy', was included in Uncut's Top Albums of 2009 and he has compared with everyone from Ariel Pink to tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen. I'd listened to his band 'War On Drugs' once or twice a while back and remember enjoying them, but not returning to them. I decided today that I'd set some Kurt time to one side and listen to his 2008 album 'Constant Hitmaker.' The first song on the album is 'Freeway' and is instantly likeable:





I'm only a few tracks into the album and can already understand the various comparisons made. The album jumps from style to style with the first radio friendly track 'Freeway' making way for a dreamy Neil Young meets My Bloody Valentine track ('Space Forklift') before the fingerpicked 'Slow Talkers' floats over my speakers....