Go check out Ryan’s Smashing Life to download a new track that they recorded at The Grinding Tapes House in November. It’s a fantastic cover of Bob Dylan’s “Girl from the North Country”.
Also, you may know that The Points North are currently touring Australia. Check out this video from their first night Down Under!
Posted December 31, 2009 by Jason at 11:59 pm ·
Filed under General
Best Album: Bruce Peninsula’s A Mountain is a Mouth
Albums released early in the year often fade out of memory and miss out on well-deserved slots on end-of-year lists. Bruce Peninsula’s A Mountain is a Mouth, however, was just too remarkable to forget about. Here is what we said about it back in March:
Bruce Peninsula is one of my new favorite artists. I heard their song, “Steamroller” on WERS at like 1:00 in the morning last week and immediately went to their website to buy their debut album, A Mountain Is A Mouth.
Bruce Peninsula is folk that isn’t afraid to get loud and noisy. Singer Neil Haverty’s voice isn’t necessarily pretty, but it’s unmistakably earnest and entirely unignorable. The most immediately noticeable element, however, is the gospel choir that instantly gives each song an epic quality.
I know that 2009 is still very young, but I honestly believe A Mountain Is A Mouth is a solid contender for album of the year.
Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tenenbaums and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou are two of my very favorite movies, but 2007’s The Darjeeling Limited left me wondering if Anderson had peaked with Tenenbaums. Fantastic Mr. Fox, based on the children’s book by Roald Dahl, is Anderson’s first stop-motion film, and the visual presentation is simply gorgeous. This, combined with Dahl’s endearing writing-style (not just for kids) and Anderson’s hilarious retro quirkiness makes this my favorite movie of 2009 and one of the best moves I’ve seen in a very long time.
Best TV Show: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (season 5)
Anyone still mourning Arrested Development’s untimely demise should find solace in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s dysfunctional family. Dennis, Mac, Charlie, Dee, and Frank (played by Danny DeVito) are all varying degrees of manipulative, incompetent, pathetic, and vain and manage to find new and hilarious ways to engineer their own downfall each episode.
Honorable Mention: 30 Rock (season 4)
Best Video Game: New Super Mario Bros. Wii
I always get a little nervous when someone tries to remake any kind of classic with a modern twist, but Nintendo has pulled it off beautifully with New Super Mario Bros. Wii. The key update was not to graphics or level design—frankly, they could have just as well left those the same as the NES or SNES Mario games. Rather, the most important inclusion is the 2 to 4-player simultaneous cooperative gameplay, which is both super-fun and relentlessly addictive.
Honorable Mention: Smash Bros. 64 (rereleased on Wii Virtual Console)
We are very excited to announce that Vinegar Socks’ self-titled debut album is now available in CD and mp3 format our store. Vinegar Socks are establishing themselves as one of the most important indie projects in Italy with their sophisticated and lyrical music that draws from a number of musical forms, including Irish folk, gypsy, and punk. This album is a fully-embellished work of stunning beauty. Check it out!
Edinburgh, Scotland’s eagleowl are releasing a new single this upcoming December 14th on Kilter Records. The song is entitled “Sleep the Winter” and will also include the B-side “Laughter.” This band plays drum-free dirges that captivate and enthrall the listener from start to finish. This is music for a sleepless and anxious evening, one of those long winter nights where you wear your thickest socks and mittens, have a long sip of whiskey, wrap your face in a scarf, and walk through the snow and try to understand your existence. Eagleowl is both a place of introspective empowerment and a faithful shoulder to cry on.
Posted October 29, 2009 by Matt at 5:09 pm ·
Filed under Lost Classics
Phosphorescent is an overlooked artist to begin with. Being on the very new and exciting Dead Oceans label did help that fact a little bit, and he got some decent press for 2007’s Pride. But this album, 2005’s Aw Come Aw Wry is certainly a disregarded nugget which brings this music lover much joy.
Cut from the same cloth as country tinged folk artists as Bonnie “Prince” Billy or Damien Jurado, Matthew Houck (the man behind the magic) also incorporates recurring themes and some orchestration (horns, piano, accordion, and slide guitar) into his music. The result is a soothing yet provocative blend of beauty and balladry.
Organic, authentic, haunting, heartfelt and fun, this album is really something to behold. Whilst maybe not as immaculately produced as Pride (which I also suggest checking out), Aw Come Aw Wry really has something going on that just keeps on bringing me back. It may or may not have something to do with the repeated utterance of the albums title on three of the album’s tracks.
If you already enjoy the stylings of the one they call Phosphorescent, and are looking for something else juicy to chew on, why not try Grinding Tapes’ very own The Points North, who’s new album I Saw Across the Sound came out earlier this month. Similarly tuneful, haunting and beautiful, these lovely folks from Boston’s Jamaica Plain are certainly going to be considered classic, but will not be lost if you simply take a minute to listen.
Posted April 7, 2009 by Jason at 7:50 am ·
Filed under Live Recordings
As previously reported, Amelia Emmet of Mr. Sister played at The Whitehaus this past Friday. Check out this live recording of her stunning opening song, “The Pest”, which is performed entirely a capella.
Richard Swift is one of the most underrated talents going.
Having seen the guy three times, I can say that he puts on a stupendous show. But his recorded work is nothing to snuff at either. In fact, I would say it’s cause for commotion.
This collection of EPs, titled The Richard Swift Collection Vol. 1, may be understated, but is an extremely good place to start appreciating this artist’s music. Much of what Richard goes on to explore in his very diverse later catalog begins here. Richard plays most of the instruments on this release– and their are quite a few. He also recorded and released the EPs on his own before signing with Secretly Canadian in 2005 and reissuing them as the Richard Swift Collection in the late fall.
The Novelist is a study in early lo-fi recording styles and raspy-jazzy jams that fall not far from Tom Waits, or crate-digger sound studies from yesteryear. “Lovely Night”, despite a very clean chorus, sounds very much like a 1930s New Orleans jam session, and could have easily found its way on to some of Mr. Waits earlier 70s albums. “Sad Song St.” finds a ukulele and organ telling a kitschy story of a rather humorous lifestyle of depression and love lost. Fans of this style will not be disappointed as the rest of this disc plays out like a truly satisfying night sitting in front of the radio when your grandparents were kids.
What’s truly impressive, though, is that the joy does not end there. Throw in Walking Without Effort and you will find a more modern Swift embracing classic instrumentation (acoustic guitar, horns and piano) and textures in a way that is very clean and new sounding. Not to mention proving himself as truly gifted and moving songwriter. “Half Lit”, “As I Go” and “Above and Below” are not only true standouts here on this disc, but also stand out as a few of my very favorite recorded songs in recent memory. Fans of Andrew Bird, Denison Witmer, Sufjan Stevens and Elijah Wyman should definitely take notice.
Richard has an album coming out this week entitled The Atlantic Ocean. And has toured previously with The Walkmen, Wilco, The Cold War Kids and My Morning Jacket. If you like this album check out Dressed Up For the Letdown, his surf rock experimental record Richard Swift as Onasis or his electronic album as Instruments of Science and Technology.
Posted April 1, 2009 by Jason at 7:43 am ·
Filed under New Releases
I received my copy of the limited Rock Plaza Central EP yesterday. It’s called ‘Neath the Lion’s Paw and features three tracks from their forthcoming album as well as alternate versions of old songs recorded for Daytrotter.
There are only 200 copies of this EP, 100 of which were sold at RPC’s Ontario shows last month. The remaining 100 were made available for order online by special request. Here’s the tracklist:
Handsome Men
O Lord, How Many are My Foes?
Good Enough
Mount up and Ride
Stereotrucks
Excellent Steel Horse
I Hope You Live Long
My Children, Be Joyful
Here’s a picture of my copy of the EP. The artwork for the EP zooms in on a tiny part of the cover art for their upcoming album.
The name of the new album that we are so anxiously anticipating is …At the Moment of Our Most Needing and is expected to see release in late May. Exciting stuff!
