The Silos - US Tour

I don’t know if you remember but, last December, The Lucky Girl - our dearest German contributor - enjoyed very much the show of The Silos in Cologne (read). Since then, the group returned to Texas and now is ready to promote there latest work in the States (already out in Europe since last June on a German label): “We're gearing up again. Our new album, Come On Like The Fast Lane, will be released (in USA) by our new label Bloodshot records on February 20. We're psyched to be part of the Bloodshot scene. Besides being very solid people, they've put out a lot of great music over the years. The US tour starts March 3 in Gainesville, Florida.”

Web : thesilos.net
MySpace : myspace.com/thesilos

The Silos - Behind Me Now .mp3

The Eagles - Life In The Fast Lane .mp3

Queen Christina Rosenvinge

Not only the curiosity to discover Christina Rosenvinge pushed me to buy the haunting Frozen Pool in 2001, but more the wish to find a new Cat Power. For this album Christina’s backup musicians were Tim Foljahn (Two Dollar Guitar), Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley (both from Sonic Youth), the same gentlemen who helped Miss Marshall to released her first two solo albums.
Five years later, it is still with the collaboration of those American goldsmiths that Christina Rosenvinge (born in Madrid of Danish parents) released Continental 62 a mixture of sunny and cold introspective songs (out since January on Smells Like Records).

Web: christinarosenvinge.com

Christina Rosenvinge - A Liar To Love .mp3 from Continental 62 (2006)
Christina Rosenvinge - 36 .mp3 from Foreign Land (2002)
Christina Rosenvinge - Expensive Shoes .mp3 from Frozen Pool (2001)

You can watch the video of A Liar to Love here (requires QuickTime 7)

Two Dollar Guitar - The Wild Night .mp3 from Wear And Tear Of Fear: A Lover's Discourse (November 2006 - Midheaven)

Low Waves

I have spent hours listening to Low. I must admit that I have the complete discography including the beautiful box set A Life Of Temporary Relief (2004). Also, I stopped counting up the number of times I saw them live. So, you must understand how much I am looking forward hearing the new CD.
Drums and Guns is the latest collection of songs by Low. Recorded with Dave Fridmann and joined by Matt Livingston on bass (Livingston, the latest addition to the band, replaced longtime bassist Zak Sally, who previously replaced original bassist John Nichols); Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker have created a soundtrack for post-traumatic shock.
Drums and Guns will be released March 20 on Sub Pop. Breaker is the first single.

Web: chairkickers.com
MySpace: myspace.com/low

Low - Breaker .mp3 from Drums and Guns (2007)
Low - Blue-Eyed Devil .mp3 from A Life Of Temporary Relief (2004) via thehopelessjazzwerewolf.vox.com
Low - When I Go Deaf .mp3 from The Great Destroyer (2005) via Moustache

Mark Erelli With Hayes Carll

As I sat watching these two young songwriters perform last night I couldn't help but be thinking about what was happening that night at the Pomme d'Eve in Paris. Singers singing songs. You'd think it was something simple as pie but songs aren't simple are they. All the different ingredients that get put into one single 3 or 4-minute sung novelette is enough to stagger the modern mind. THEN to have profound gift luck that the songs you're listening too are indeed great creatures of themselves created by more then mere mortal men (or women as the case may be although this night wasn't) is too special to hardly even write about like I'm feebly attempting here. A long way to come to the point that yet again Acoustic In Paris scored another hit with its songwriters concert series.
Last nights show was study in contrasts. Massachusetts's bright-eyed writer and guitar picker extraordinaire Mark Erelli sitting opposite and trading songs with shambling Texan tunesmith Hayes Carll. Each seemed to inspire the other to greater and greater heights and it didn't let up until the very end. Certainly there was no contest between them though (thankfully) but a friendly dialogue with lot's of dry wit and humor that kept the show moving along nicely. Both artists freely delivered of those wits and wisdoms up and down the emotional ladder during the 2 hour concert and did so with much generosity and grace. Two young songwriters of exceptional skill and talent. Well done both of you and thanks so much for having the courage to come out and share it with the world! Much needed!!

Bookerfatz2

Web: markerelli.com
MySpace: myspace.com/markerelli

The new CD of Mark Erelli, Innocent When You Dream, was released November 29th, 2006 on Hillbilly Pilgrims Productions! / Signature Sounds Recording Co.

Mark Erelli - Comfort (edit) .mp3 from Innocent When You Dream (November 2006)
Mark Erelli - Seeds Of Peace .mp3 from Hope & Other Casualties (2006)
Mark Erelli - Birches .mp3 This track is a bare-bones cover of Bill Morrissey's Birches. It's available for free this February.

Web: hayescarll.com
MySpace: myspace.com/hayescarll

Hayes Carll - Naked Checkers .mp3

Live Is A Carnival (Last Part)

This is almost the end, one more day and the Köln Carnival 2007 is over. Mardi Gras is tomorrow. After, everybody will place their costume in a drawer until November and their musical instrument will wait until the next party, who will come soon in no doubt.

The Band - Life Is A Carnival .mp3 (live Jersey City, 1973) via The 3rd Base Line
Mark Lanegan - Carnival .mp3 via Sweet Oblivion

Live Is A Carnival

It’s time for carnival now, time to be crazy, to wear strange costumes and drink beer. For me to drink lots of Kölsch – the local beverage - because here I am in Cologne (Köln) the place to be to celebrate Mardi Gras.
Everywhere music, sometime strange music, and singing.

Tori Amos - Carnival .mp3
Low - Carnival Queen .mp3 from Naked in the Afternoon – A Tribute to Jandek (Summersteps Records)
Natalie Merchant - Carnival .mp3 via no more radio

Single Of The Month - +81, Deerhoof

I know, I’m a bit late. Released December 19, 2006 as a download-only EP, +81 is the first single taken from Friend Opportunity the ninth opus from Deerhoof (San Francisco). Friend Opportunity was released last month on Kill Rock Stars.
+81 symbolize for me what Deerhoof have been doing with every album since 1999, always with something completely different: perfecting the bitter-sweet art of marrying melody and noise.

Web: deerhoof.killrockstars.com
MySpace: myspace.com/deerhoof

Deerhoof - +81 .mp3

Iain Matthews - Acoustic Evening In Paris

A very impressive concert last Tuesday night in Paris. Iain Matthews showed us a true pop/folk music master at work. With a recording career stretching almost 40 years it's not a wonder at the huge catalogue of songs he has to choose from. I'm not all that familiar with his recorded work (mores the pity) but he prefaced a lot of the tunes that night with little stories about the songs which really enriched the concert. It seemed he really skipped back and forth in time as he sang his set list. I liked how he'd get real quiet and intimate for a song or two and then kick out a foot stomper to bring us right back up. Certainly he paces his audience with expertise!
I'd never seen at La Pomme d'Eve audience so quite or attentive either. Not one word was spoken during the more than 90 minutes set and more then a few folks were singing silently along on many of the songs. Really, I can't say enough about the show. Excellent singing, great songs, fine guitar playing and a comfortable stage presence really made last Tuesday a night to remember. Iain Matthews has got it all folks. It was a real lesson about the wonder and beauty that can happen on a stage when dedication, talent and skill are brought to bear.
First up for the evenings festivities were a short set each by singing songwriters Kreg Viesselman (Wells, MN.) and Danny Schmidt (Austin, TX.). Schmidt's easy grace, intricate and interesting finger picking and word-smithing deserve special mention and a recommendation.

Bookerfatz2

Iain: iainmatthews.com
Kreg: kregviesselman.com
Danny: dannyschmidt.com

Iain Matthews - Cartwheel Avenue .mp3
Iain Matthews - One Door Opens .mp3 both songs from Zumbach’s Coat (Binky Records, October 2006)
Fairport Convention - She Moves Through The Fair .mp3 from What We Did on Our Holidays (1969)
Fairport Convention with Sandy Denny - Who Knows Where The Time Goes? .mp3 from Unhalfbricking (1969)

Danny Schmidt - Dark-Eyed Prince .mp3 from Parables & Primes (July 2005)
Kreg Viesselman - Honey of the Vine .mp3

from The Pull (August 2006)

Photo: Elliott Murphy (left) joining Iain on stage last Thursday during Iain Matthews second Acoustic In Paris evening. (Photo: Hervé Oudet)

Milenasong - Family Tree

Milenasong is Berlin-based Sabrina Milena, a Norwegian/Slovenian/Croatian, and Seven Sisters is her debut full-length album on Monika Enterprise (February 2007). The record was mixed in Bernd Jestram's (Tarwater) studio together with Milenasong and legendary folk pioneer Jeff Tarlton. Milenasong's music weaves together Norwegian folklore, English folk-rock, forgotten memories and poetry.
Ok, this is what you can read on the official press release. What is not said is that - like some well-informed people pretend - her mother is Vashti Bunyan, her father Tom Rapp (Pearls Before Swine) and her brothers and sisters are dealing with groups like Animal Collective and Espers… What a family! Any confirmation?

Web: milenasong.de
MySpace: myspace.com/milenasong

Milenasong - The Choir .mp3
Milenasong - Thirty .mp3

Vashti Bunyan - Somethings Just Stick In Your Minds .mp3
Animal Collective - Polly (Nirvana Cover) .mp3
Espers - Children of Stone .mp3

Terry Lee Hale - Shotgun Pillowcase

Shotgun Pillowcase is the eleventh solo album from Terry Lee Hale and it will be released on Borderdreams the 15TH of February. Produced and recorded by Chris Eckman (The Walkabouts) and mixed by Tucker Martin (Jesse Sykes, Laura Viers), Shotgun Pillowcase will be a milestone in the already creative career of Terry Lee Hale who started in 1993 with the critically acclaimed Oh What A World. With this last CD, the Texan offers a new vision of his songwriting. Like he says “It is a record of risk taking, adventure and sharing. It is not about an artist running away from where or what he's been before but perhaps more about taking those pieces and parts into another room. This album is an affirmation.”
To capture part of the value of Shotgun Pillowcase, the best is to listen to the amazing opening track called Hearts and to read the answers that Terry Lee agreed to give to Leaky Sparrow when he was in Paris for the Townes Van Zandt Homage. And then, go and buy the record at your favorite music store.

Terry Lee Hale - Hearts .mp3

Leaky Sparrow: Shotgun Pillowcase sounds unlike anything you've ever recorded before. What did you change about your writing or the way you approach your music?
Terry Lee Hale: The sound of Shotgun Pillowcase is I think more about the recording techniques then the songwriting itself. The majority of the songs were loop driven rhythmically which automatically sets the song it what could only be described as a "modern" (bad word I know) framework - at least compared to what I had previously recorded. The nice thing about this record though is that the loops sound organic, almost like a real drummer. So first we laid the loops and then recorded the songs afterwards. I've never made music like this before and it is a difference you can hear. And in this instance at least a positive one.

LS: It's a very crafted record with some inspired arrangements. Was it a tough record to make?
TLH: Thank you for the compliment. I'm not sure how Chris Eckman would answer this question but for me at least the sessions went fairly smoothly. We both worked at it hard though and Chris had done a lot of pre-production work which helped the sessions enormously. My main difficulties were, as always, centered around my own limitations as a musician AND a tendency to "tighten up" in studio conditions. Being able to work with a musician and producer of the caliber as Chris is an enormous asset to have though. Chris has always seemed to be able to find a way to bring out the best in me and the material.

LS: Glitterati is a song from your producer Chris Eckman and No Distance Left To Run is a song from Damon Albarn. What made you decide to include on your record for the first time somebody else's material? Why this song from Blur?
TLH: Chris challenged me to step outside of my own work and into someone else's. It turned out to be a truly liberating experience. Those two songs colored not only the whole recording but I believe shaded my songwriting for this record as well. I think Chris recognized this "blockage" in me and sensed what some of the beneficial effects could be. He wanted me to get outside the "safe" zone. The Blur song is simply just a wonderful song that Chris liked from their CD 13. Graham Coxon is an awesome guitar player and it's an inspired performance by the whole band.

Web: terryleehale.com
MySpace: myspace.com/terryleehale