Tallest Man on Earth (Deerhunter)

I saw Tallest Man on Earth last night at Webster Hall. Tickets were available over the weekend, but I guess it sold out, line around the corner and up 3rd Ave. For those that don't know, Tallest Man on Earth is Kristian Matsson, of Sweden, and the first time you hear him you think "Bob Dylan". But he's got his own thing going on and the more you listen the more that comes out. I really liked his first album "Shallow Graves", but his newest one, "The Wild Hunt" is even better. Really great show, and I have such respect for the guy to be able to play solo and totally capture everyone's attention in that place. He said it was the "biggest indoor show" he'd ever done, a sold out night in NY as the guy is blowing up, so it kind of had a special feel to it. He's a killer guitar player and he's got such a strong vocal presence. I got all my favorite songs--"I won't be Found", "King of Spain", and "the Wild Hunt"--early on so I was psyched.

BTW, anyone got the new Deerhunter record yet? I haven't even captaincrawled it but I would guess the record companies are going to be working the blog patrol pretty hard on this one.

Good Records

Scored some good records today:







DC

Blues Control

I hit up a record show at the Brooklyn Flea this weekend. Got a bunch of stuff: Doug and Jean Carn "Higher Ground" OG in shrink wrap for $5? Anyone feel that? A couple of really good Ravi Shankar records, and this Albert Ayler CD Box Set that has really cool packaging. Some jazz records.

But the main score was this little gem by Blues Control. I feel like I've heard the name but never checked them out. Think they are connected through the Not Not Fun scene out of LA, maybe? I have no gauge if anyone out there in the omniverse understands these references or even knows what the fuck I'm talking about.

Anywho, this album, "Puff", was "Woodsist #3", third thing Woodsist label ever put out, way out of print, and as I mentioned before I'm publicly on this labels' jock so I picked it up. Lucky for you I found it on the interwebs, because I'm too lazy to record the vinyl. THey also have another new one that's good called "Local Flavor" that may be a little more accessible.

Is this one of those extremely esoteric posts that turns people off the blog? Download it and check it out, let your ears decide. Track #3 is my jam "Behind the Skies".

Blayyyyter.

DC

P.S. Oh, I also checked out the new No Age CD which I was really psyched about, but it was kind of gay. I hate to say that because those guys seem super cool and I love their older stuff so much but it sounds like they were writing it to get picked up for a show on the WB like Gossip Girl or some shit.

Aglaia

Not sure which blog I even found Aglaia on in the flurry of some downloading this weekend, but it's been a huge score. Aglaia are an Italian duo making ambient music and they sounds a lot like some of Brian Eno's records in that it feels like alien landscapes with some essential terrestrial sounds. I recommend "Three Organic Experience" and "Unprofaned Twilight". Enjoy, and good night.

Guitar Nerds & Salsa

Just found one of my favorite bootlegs from the vinyl days, "Arrow" by Television, and from the guy who originally recorded it. Pretty cool. Interesting little read about it's history and how it was the original tape source of the famous "Blow Up" Roir casette. If you're not a fan it's probably not the place to start, though actually they do have a little of the "never quite got it on tape" legend, and though the vocals are weaker than the studio stuff the guitar playing is a feast. Lot's of highlights on this, Richard Lloyd's electric jug imitation on "Fire Engine", The great "Little Johnny Jewel", and one of the best Dylan covers ever(really). I did a little Cap'n Crawling and dug up the Cd version of the Roir release, which actually has twice as much stuff. So you know, go with that one.....



Watched a nice PBS special about the history of Latin music, which of course made me want to hear some, particularly Salsa. Admittedly when I lived in Chicago I had a terrible reaction to this stuff because it was never my choice to hear it. It was thing keeping me up all night or the thing that was louder than my headphones blaring from some passing car. Here in the burbs though, it's flavor is most welcome. Anyway, I found this nice Fania set which seems pretty comprehensive. It's pretty straight up Salsa BTW, not really the more groove oriented stuff you'd get on some hipster compilation, hipsters....

It is quitting time yet?

Haven't posted in a while, feeling bored and apathetic at work and concerned that I'm staring too long at pictures of Inez Sainz so I thought posting would be a good idea.

I went to Glasslands last weekend to check out Twin Shadow, but I left after just checking out one band, Distraction I think they were called, from Chicago, because Twin Shadow was going to go on at like 1:30 in the morning and there were more important things (ACV) to attend to. So, DC, Twin Shadow ain't for you so stop reading. Dude's on the laptop-electronic-depeche mode tip, his album "Forget" is kind of hit or miss for me, the best tracks are the fist one "Tyrant Destroyed" and "Castles Made of Snow", I like the vibe on those. Captaincrawl that if it sounds interesting, he's a moody brooklyn dude into muscle cars.

Saw some abstract ambient laptop stuff at Zebulon last night, best one was Lawrence English, Australian dude, kind of on the William Basinski tip, I love that stuff, the whole room got hushed (except for a bunch of pierced, pale girl-with-the-dragon-tatoo nordic kids sitting next to me) and the music was meditative, swelling and fading in and out, really beautiful. And speaking of that kind of stuff, I got this program on my Mac that is an alarm clock that fades in music to wake me up, been exlusively listening to Koen Holtkamp's album, "Field Rituals", I think someone posted about that on here, he's one of the two dudes in Mountains, great record, highly recommeded for waking up or going to sleep to.

A'ight, that passed some time. Have a good weekend.

New Das Racist Joint!!!

Damn! Good week for free music!

Das Racist drops another "beat tape"! Woo Hoo! I haven't checked it yet, but if you, like me, bumped "Shut Up Dude" non-stop this summer, then this is automatic.

Kick ass!

dc

http://djshadow.bandcamp.com/

http://djshadow.bandcamp.com/

This is via my man Danger Pup. 2 new Shadow tracks (that are really good, I should add)... free download for next 24 hours, or you can stream them.

Hope this is going to be the Shadow comeback album! I know, i know... don't call it a comeback, The Outsider was him telling the world that he is beyond samples, blah blah blah... but i like the direction on these two tracks.

Late.

dc

Sufjan EP, Julian Lynch "Mare"

Emusic makes me stoopid sometimes. I took a risk on these two darlings and I crapped out. I have most of Sufjan Stevens' prior records (except for BQE, I couldn't stomach that concept). This new one just doesn't do it for moi. Some long-ass songs that sound... well... long. The tweeness just ring hollow this time. On some of he previous efforts, there's real emotion (I know cheesy, but true). I don't get that here.

The Julian Lynch record, "Mare," suffers a bit from the same thing, it just feels calculated. According to wankfork, he's going to be collaborating with Kanye--I'm not sure what that says, but it says something. I should say, however, that this one has a chance to grow on me. I kind of despised the big Bon Iver record the first 4-5 times I listened to it, now I love it.

On the same emusic binge I bought The 'Mats "Don't Tell a Soul" and the Wilco/Bragg "Mermaid Avenue" thingamajig. "Don't Tell a Soul" was kind of disparaged when it came out, but dang it aged well. The Wilco/Bragg thing isn't as good as I remember it being, but the song "One by One" is an all-timer, worth the price of admission.