#Heron Oblivion

[omegaremix]

Omega Radio for September 24, 2016; #122.

Summer Hits, The Stony Creation

Neaux “Make Me Stay”

Deep Throats “Dirty Secret”

Sun Days, The “OOO”

Milk Lines “Suicide Note”, “Can I Stand In Your Sun”

Adult Books “Suburban Girlfriend”, “Nihilism For Beginners”

Nots “Entertain Me”

Doe “Corin”

Kitten Forever “200x”, “Static Static”

Teen Brains “In A Haze”

Salad Boys “No Taste Bomber”

Happy Diving “Holy Ground”

Sauna Youth “Monotony”, “Transmitters”

Foreign Resort, The “Skyline”

Allah Las, The “Better Than Mine”

Heaters “Honey”, “Propane”

Surveillance “Death”

Fate Vs. Free Willy “I Am A Fire Extinguisher”, “Make-Up Song”

Titus Andronicus “My Time Outside The Womb”

Black Panties “Prophet Of Hate”, “(I’m A Goddamn) Trash Can”

Heron Oblivion “Faro”

Dirty Nil, The “Bury Me At The Rodeo”, “Bruto Bloody Bruto”

Weird Womb “Tanned Tits”

La Casa Al Mare “Sunflowers”

Jezabels, The “If Ya’ Want Me”

Deluxe broadcast; indie and garage.

[rastronomicals]

Heron Oblivion

[dollarbin]

Dollar Bin #28:

Mike Heron's Smiling Men with Bad Reputations

In 2003 I spent a day with two way-out-of-my-league hipsters. I was not cool: a social worker married with a 1 year old; I had no thoughtful facial hair or ironic t-shirts; they were the epitome of cool: screenwriters and poets by day and ladies men by night; it goes without saying that both had very thoughtful facial hair and very ironic t-shirts. Together we visited one of San Francisco's hippest independent music stores.

Once in the door, we split up. My peers thumbed and nodded their way through the Stereolab and Flaming Lips sections while making confident small talk with the shop's owner about how Jeff Tweedy had plagiarized him on basically all of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot (the store had a big, loud, handwritten editorial on this subject on prominent display: according to the shop, they'd turned Tweedy on to the source for all the background noise on the record - you know, the lady repeating the call sign title and the swirling jet streams of periodic chaos - and therefore they deserved co-songwriting credits for everything; but they were way too cool to consider legal action, and, what's more, they considered the music Tweedy and Co had made detracted from and trivialized the original, CD collection of white noise, which they still exclusively sold for only 28 bucks) while I hit the shop's very small and disregarded Dollar Bin on the floor in a corner.

2003 was, as you know, still the height of the CD era. Only cheapskates like me still bought records, let alone still owned a record player. I had that Dollar Bin all to myself.

Similarly, the Incredible String Band was not enjoying any kind of renaissance at that point. (They've never really had one. I'm starting it right now.) In 03 people were still very much reeling from 9/11, wrestling with the Bush presidency and downloading Nabster. Everyone was listening to Outkast and Radiohead, not hippies who sang about minotaurs.

And so when I passed a Dollar Bin copy of Mike Heron's Smiling Men with Bad Reputations across that august shop's counter for purchase everything got real awkward real fast. The owner rang me up with disdain and great reluctance, like he was worried that Tweedy might show up at that very moment, his full, written apology in hand, and then see my transaction going down and change his mind. My hipster friends took deep breaths and suggested I get a bag with which to carry the record back to their squat; after all, flashing Mike Heron on vinyl was gonna cut our cool factor in front of the SF ladies down into the negatives.

Happily, the only lady I've wanted to impress since 1992 is my wife (only she can tell by the way I use my walk I'm a ladies man, no time to talk). And happily, I have no pride. So I declined the shop's bag and told everyone present that Mike Heron's first solo record rocked - think VU's third record, I told them, if Cale had fired Reed and replaced him with Brian Wilson and everyone was way into Scientology. The embarrassed sighs that greeted this speech were collective; had I asked for a copy of their white noise album the owner dude would have claimed they were sold out.

Listen: I am never shy about making a fool out of myself when it comes to Mike Heron. I once sat at a bar for an hour with the great Meg Baird before one of her Heron Oblivion shows. We were the only people there; I was so excited for their show that I showed up ridiculously early (again, I'm a no pride person).

Meg and I talked about her music for a bit, then I name dropped my famous brother, who she totally knew, because, you know, he's famous. Once discussion of his fame petered out, and after she'd politely asked me this and that about my own life, I got down to the most important topic of that or just about any other evening: Mike Heron.

Me: So, Meg, I'm guessing your band's name, Heron Oblivion, is a tribute to the great Mike Heron, yes?

Meg, who was fingering her Led Zeppelin necklace and thinking big deal rock and roll thoughts: Uh, Who's Mike Heron?

Me: You know Meg, from The Incredible String Band! Mike and Robin Williamson were Paul McCartney's favorite musicians in 1968. Paul's a smart guy, some of the time. Jimmy Page played on Mike's first solo record!

Meg: Oh yeah, right, Mike Heron. No, we definitely did not name our band after anyone in the Incredible String Band. We were thinking about the bird actually. You know, herons.

Me: There's a bird named after Mike Heron?

Okay, so I admit it: I didn't say that the last line. But I wish I had! And the rest of my story is true. Finally, who knows, maybe herons really are named after Mike, pictured flush left, who wrote about so masterfully about amoebas living the timeless life.

What song can you name that's more unique, bizarre and wonderful? That's right, none. Here's what I think: if indeed there are not already birds named after Mike Heron, then I think we should find some new ones and name them Mike Heron.

Back at the bar, I did go on to suggest, very earnestly, that Meg and her bandmates consider covering Feast of Stephen, the final track on the A side of Smiling Men with Bad Reputations. The track is totally ready for Heron Oblivion's twin guitar attack under Baird's howling vocals. Baird very nicely decided that she needed to get a life and stop talking to me at that point. I don't blame her, but I stand by my suggestion. Feast of Stephen is an under the radar platter of sonic sweetmeats ready for everyone's consumption. Eat it now.

Let's get into a little background on my man Mike and the story behind this record from 71.  ISB had made 6 or 7 (or maybe 8?!) records in the previous 5 years, records that are alternatively silly and deeply spiritual.  Heron typically wrote the lighter and more joyful tracks, except when he didn't.  Williamson wrote droning, brooding epics that turned delightful corners, except when he didn't.  The two men sounded as good together as they look on the cover of The Big Huge: clear eyed young geniuses sharing a double bill, like a behind the looking glass version of Lennon and McCartney with all their angst and megalomania swapped out for earnest, unbridled joy, plus kazoo solos. 

The boys played every instrument imaginable and included their lady friends, Rose and Licorice, who sang and played bass like they were in The Shaggs.  Song topics ranged from the joy one can find in a box of paints or new puppies to the meaning of life.  Imagine Robyn Hitchcock and Rafi dropping LSD and then sharing a jet ski. Why isn't everyone into the Incredible String Band?

But somewhere right before Heron slipped away on his own to make Smiling Men with Bad Reputations, Scientology slipped its slimy, parasitic hooks into the duo. It would quickly suck them dry.  Under evil uncle L. Ron's sway, Williamson's songs got longer and wilder, almost unlistenable.  Heron, his head at least momentarily more firmly in place, decided it was time to rock. And so he called his famous friends and admirers. They all came. And I mean all of them: sessions for Smiling Men with Bad Reputations featured most of The Who, Elton John, most of the Fairport/Fotheringay crew, and Stephen Winwood. Oh yeah, and Jimmy Page.  What's more, John Cale arranged much of the record, filling in all the cracks with his signature swelling grace; the ubiquitous Joe Boyd produced. 

Heron may not be on any hipster's radar this century but he was, for a moment, the leading hipster in England in 71. Everyone wanted to spin in his wacky orbit. I imagine Lennon and McCartney showed up hoping to contribute but were simply not needed. (Stephen Stills, who, dedicated readers of the Dollar Bin will remember, was living in Ringo Starr's mansion at that point, surely heard that Heron had a song in development entitled Feast of Stephen and assumed the song was dedicated to his mastery; when he showed up to grace the sessions with his presence I trust Richard Thompson karate chopped him in onto his keister.)

Happily, Heron didn't simply bask joyfully in his famous friends attention.  He brought his best work to the table.  The album opens with Call Me Diamond, a joyful, flinging horn ride; it's weird the B52's never covered it. 

Flowers of the Forest follows, featuring Richard Thompson's unmistakable gurgling guitar leads; the song is very nearly perfect.  All that's missing is Cale's polish; he appears on much, but not all, of the record.  Why, oh why, didn't Joe Boyd insist that Cale get his hands on every single song?  Even so, I encourage you to listen to Heron's passionate track alongside another masterpiece Cale did in fact arrange that same year, Nick Drake's Northern Sky.  What are better love songs than these?  

All of Side 1 is packed with equally good ideas, the tone jumping from wild to earnest to gentle then epic.  Unfortunately, much of the flip side is dedicated to Warm Heart Pastry, Heron's paean to the kind of meat that is placed inside dough. Mike fronts The Who on the track which sounds awesome on paper; but the results don't fully justify its 6 minute run time.

Still, let's cut Mike a break. Smiling Men has got everything, even has a goofy, incomprehensible cover.  (What the hell is the story being told on the gatefold, anyway?  Heron joyfully presents a pineapple to a chaotic mod of Halloween Saudi sheikhs; there's enough aluminum foil on hand to cover a whale sized burrito.  I can't understand any of what is going, but I sure wish someone had invited me to the party.)

So, why isn't this record famous? Why didn't Heron sell enough copies to instantly become chief captain of Scientology's battleship and crash all those John Travolta-look-a-like aliens that are secretly controlling our thoughts into the sun? As near as I can tell - and I'd love to hear from someone who knows better - Heron escaped the cult in the early 80's, but he hasn't made music of note in 50 years. What happened?

I don't know, but Mike is still alive and well. Rick Rubin, Heron Oblivion or Jeff Tweedy should get their act together and lure Heron back in the studio with them for a final run of genius. I have no doubt that the music they could create together would finally bring Heron the recognition he deserves.

And hey, Rick/Jeff/Meg: when you settle into the studio to record it all, let Mike know that I will graciously keep quiet about how the entire project is essentially plagiarism of The Dollar Bin (so long as I'm granted co-songwriting credits, of course). 

[sinceileftyoublog]

Six Organs of Admittance Interview: More Than a Couple Chairs

Photo by Kami Chasny

BY JORDAN MAINZER

When Ben Chasny dives into something, he usually dives deep. Upon answering the phone in February, when I called him to talk about his new Six Organs of Admittance album Time Is Glass (out today on Drag City), he seemed a bit scattered. Despite mentally preparing himself all day for the interview, he got distracted by a "What are you digging lately?" Bandcamper compilation Drag City asked him to put together to advertise his record release. (A music fan with a voracious appetite, Chasny was rediscovering music he had purchased a couple years prior and forgot about.) Six Organs records often occupy the same dedicated headspace, Chasny setting aside blocks of time to think about nothing else. That is, until Time Is Glass. On his latest, Chasny blurs the lines between his outside-of-music life and the music itself, the album a batch of songs that reflects on the magical minutiae that sprout during a period of needed stasis.

The last time I spoke to Chasny, he and his partner [Elisa Ambrogio of Magik Markers] were still settling in from their move to Humboldt County in Northern California. "When Elisa and I first moved here, we didn't have any friends," Chasny said. "But there's a group of us that live in Humboldt now. A bunch of my friends moved up since the last time I talked to you." That includes fellow Comets on Fire bandmate Ethan Miller and his partner, fellow New Bums musical partner Donovan Quinn, and folk singer Meg Baird and her partner. "Every New Year's Day, if it's not pouring rain, we take a walk on the beach," said Chasny. One such photoshoot on January 1, 2023 yielded the album cover for Time Is Glass: That's Miller and his poodle, along with Baird's Heron Oblivion bandmate Charlie Saufley. This unintentional artistic collective meets up often, whether for coffee or as Winter Band, a rotating cast of area musicians who form to open up for musician friends when they come through town, like Sir Richard Bishop of Sun City Girls. As such, according to Chasny, Time Is Glass is a celebration of community.

Perhaps the supportive strength of his artistic family gave Chasny the willpower to incorporate elements of his daily life into Time Is Glass, something he couldn't avoid. He didn't share with me exactly what in his personal life made it impossible to separate the two, though he mentioned his dog, a difficult-to-train puppy that was a mix of three traditionally stubborn breeds. Said dog inspired "My Familiar", a song that uses occult language to inhabit the mind of his obstinate canine companion. "And we'll burn this whole town / No one says there's good," Chasny sings, alternating between his quintessential hushed delivery and falsetto, his layered vocals atop circular picking exuding a sense of sparseness. Indeed, you wouldn't expect a Six Organs record about home life to sound totally blissful; Time Is Glass is at once gentle and menacing. The devotional "Spinning In A River" portrays the titular carefree act as lightly as the prickle of Chasny's guitar or as doomily as the song's distortion. "Hephaestus" and "Theophany Song" imagine their respective mythological characters as gruff and voyeuristic. "Summer's Last Rays" indeed captures a sense of finality, Chasny's processed guitar and warbling harmonium providing the instantly hazy nostalgia before the fade-out. The album is bookended by songs more straightforwardly hopeful, the opener "The Mission" a dedication to friends falling in love with their new place of residence, the closer "New Year's Song" a twangy ode to dreaming. But it's the moments in between that Chasny was forced to capture on Time Is Glass. And thankfully, what was born out of necessity yielded, for him, new ways to interpret the same old, same old.

Read my conversation with Chasny below, edited for length and clarity. He speaks on domesticity, mythology, playing live, and Arthur Russell.

SILY: You've lived in Humboldt County for a bit. Is Time Is Glass the first Six Organs record in a while you made while situated in one place?

Ben Chasny: I did do a couple records here before. The first one, I was in the process of moving here, so I wasn't really settled. The second was at the beginning of lockdown. This is the first one I felt like was recorded at a home. Everything was settled, I have a schedule. When I was doing the first one, I didn't even have furniture in the house. I had a couple chairs. [laughs]

SILY: Do you think the feeling of being recorded at a home manifests in any specific way on the album?

BC: I started to incorporate daily domestic routines into the record, more often. A lot of the melodies were written while taking the dog for a walk, which I've never done before. There was always stuff to do as I moved in. The times weren't as separate. Before, it was, "Now I'm recording, now I'm doing life stuff." There was a merging of everything here. I would listen to it on my earbuds while taking walks and constantly work on it for six months.

SILY: It definitely has that homeward bound feel in terms of the lyrics and the sound, like you've been somewhere forever. There are a lot of lyrics about the absence of time, and there's a circular nature to the rhythms and the guitars. Does the title of the album refer to this phenomenon?

BC: A little bit. Time does seem, in general, post-lockdowns and COVID, different. The lyrics on the record have a bit more domesticity. It always seems like there was something that had to be done, that would normally keep me from doing music, that I tried to incorporate here. Maybe I'm just getting older, too. I'm getting more sensitive towards time. I'm running out. [laughs]

SILY: Was there anything specific about your domestic life that made you want to include it in your music?

BC: Just that I had to include it in order to do anything. It was no longer separate. The way life ended up working out, I could no longer separate my artistic life from other life. I had to put the artistic aspect into it in order to work. Instead of getting frustrated, I brought [music] more into the house.

SILY: Did working on the record give you a new perspective on domesticity?

BC: I don't know. A little bit. I was just trying to come to terms with basic life things. Let me look at the record, I forgot what songs are on it. [laughs] The song "My Familiar" is about my dog. I got this book called Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits, which was sort of taken from transcriptions of witch trials from Scotland in the 1500's. A lot of dealing with things like witches' familiars and demon familiars. I found a very strong similarity between that and my dog, which seemed like it was maybe a demon. She's a Husky-German Shepherd-Australian Shepherd mix, so as a puppy, she needed a lot of work. So that became a song. That's a more humorous way everyday life made its way into the music.

[With regard to] the last song, "New Years Song", Elisa and I have a contest on New Year's Eve when we're hanging out where we go in separate rooms and have one hour to write a song. We come out at 11 or 11:30 and play the song for each other. We've done it for a few years now. This was the song I wrote for New Year's Eve going into 2022.

SILY: You talk about God on Time Is Glass and delve a little bit into mythology. Was that something you were thinking about on a day to day basis when writing?

BC: The “Hephaestus” song was just a character. That was a rare song for me in that I was trying to make sounds that particularly evoked a mythological figure. I've made nods to mythology in the past, but the titles were almost an afterthought. This particular song, I was trying to make the sounds of that character in their workshop with the fire and anvils. I was trying to evoke that feeling. That was kind of a new one for me.

SILY: Maybe I'm reading into it too much, but you also seem to talk a bit about your state of mind on "Slip Away".

BC: It's funny you caught onto that, because I wasn't really expecting to bring it up during interviews. I wouldn't say that I came close at times in the past couple years to schizophrenia, but I could see way off in the distance and horizon what that would be like. I...was trying to write about that. At the same time, the lyrics that have to do with two minds and the splitting of the mind are also somewhat of a reference to the idea of a celestial twin or Valentinian gnosis, how you have a celestial counterpart. That idea [is behind the concept of] someone's guardian angel.

SILY: On a couple songs, you sing to someone or something else. "The Mission" you've mentioned is for a friend and their new partner. What about on "Spinning in a River"?

BC: Maybe it was more of a general idea. It wasn't so much to a person as to a general concept of Amory.

SILY: What were all the instruments used on the record?

BC: I had some guitar, I was singing, and there's some harmonium on it, which I did a lot of processing on, lowering it octaves. I've got some really basic Korg synths. Electronic-wise, there's a program called Reactor I like to use a lot. I do it a little bit more subtly than electronic artists. I use it more for background.

SILY: I picked up the harmonium on "Summer's Last Rays"! I feel like you never truly know when you're hearing a harmonium unless it's in the album credits. Sometimes, that sound is just effects.

BC: There are two different harmoniums. When the bass comes in, that's also a harmonium, but I knocked it down a couple octaves and put it through some phaser. It has a grinding bass tone to it. This is actually one of the few Six Organs records with bass guitar on it. Unless it's an electric record with a band, there's never really been bass guitar. I was really inspired by Naomi Yang's bass playing in Galaxie 500 and how it's more melodic. I told her that, too.

SILY: On "Theophany Song", are you playing piano?

BC: Yeah, that's at my friend's house. I just wanted to play a little melody.

SILY: Was this your first time using JJ Golden for mastering?

BC: I've worked with JJ before. He did Ascent and a few others. I particularly wanted to work with him this time because I had just gotten that Masayuki Takayanagi box set on Black Editions and saw he had done that. I have the original CDs, and I thought he did such an amazing job that I wanted to work with him again.

SILY: Is that common for you, that you think of people to work with and you dig a record they just worked on and it clicks for you?

BC: That's the first time I had just heard something and thought, "Oh, I gotta work with this person." I usually have a few mastering engineers I work with and think, "What would be good for them?" or, "What does this sound like?" I usually like to send the more rock-oriented stuff to JJ, but I was just feeling it this time.

SILY: Have you played these songs live?

BC: The instrumental "Pilar" I have been playing since 2019. That's the oldest song on the record. I did do one show last September where I played a couple of these songs live. I have some ideas on how to work it out. It will be a solo acoustic show, but I [hope] to make some new sounds so it's not so straightforward. One thing about this record is I tried to write songs in the same tuning. On previous records, I used a lot of tunings, and it was a real pain to try to play the songs live. I did write this record with the idea that most of these songs would be able to be done live.

SILY: What have you been listening to, watching, or reading lately?

BC: I just got the Emily Robb-Bill Nace split LP. I just saw her live a couple nights ago. The latest one on Freedom To Spend from Danielle Boutet, which is awesome. Freedom To Spend is a go-to label for me. Also, this split with Karen Constance and Dylan Nyoukis.

I've been reading Buddhist Bubblegum by Matt Marble, about Arthur Russell and the systems he developed, which I knew nothing about. His compositional systems have almost a Fluxus influence. The subtitle is Esotericism in the Creative Process of Arthur Russell, so it's also about his Buddhism as well. When I first heard about the book, I didn't know if I needed to get it, but I heard an interview with Matt about the detailed systems Arthur Russell came up with. It gives me a whole new level of appreciation for him. It's so good.

SILY: Did you listen to Picture of Bunny Rabbit?

BC: It's so good, especially the title track. It seems like when he has us plugged into some kind of effects or delay, he's switching the different sounds on it, but it makes the instrument go in so many different areas. To me, the title track is worth the price of the entire record, even though the whole thing is good.

SILY: What else is next for you? Are you constantly writing?

BC: This is gonna be a very busy year release-wise. I have a couple more things coming out. It's hard to write stuff because I always think it'll take so long for it to come out. I'm halfway working on something, but I have no idea when it will come out.

[dustedmagazine]

Dusted Mid-Year 2024, Part I (Oren Ambarchi to Loma)

Oren Ambarchi and crew

Half the year is gone already, and how did that happen? At Dusted, we’ve spent six months listening to good records and bad.  We’ve picked our very favorites, the top two from this year’s pile.  And now, in an annual tradition, we turn them on our fellow writers.  Hah, take that!   

Some of our Mid-Year switcheroos have been highly contentious.  We may have lost a writer or two in the aftermath.  Others have been remarkably collegial and full of positive discovery.  This one falls more or less in the middle.  Only a couple of reviews are notably grumpy.  A slightly larger (but still not large) number show evidence of newly awakened fandom.  For the most part, we came out with the same favorites we brought with us, though perhaps a little wiser about the music that we’re missing. 

For this reason, it is harder than ever to identify winners.  There’s no universally admired album we can call ���this year’s Heron Oblivion.”  Rosali and Winged Wheel each got four votes, as close to a sweep as this year brought.  Oren Ambarchi’s Ghosted II notched three.  There were lots of lone pics—which is fine.  More music to check out. 

As always, we’re breaking the mid-year into three parts.  This one covers the front of the alphabet, a second will deal with the back.  The third, as always, provides longer lists from participating writers.  We hope you enjoy it. 

Oren Ambarchi / Johan Berthling / Andreas Werliin —Ghosted II (Drag City)

Who recommended it? Bryon Hayes

Did we review it? Yes, Tim Clarke said, “They cleave closer to the meditative, exploratory grooves of The Necks, laying down intricately detailed and gradually evolving parts… Sublime.” 

Bill Meyer’s take:

Count me among the Dusted writers who hold this trio in high esteem. Ghosted II strikes so precise a balance of texture, stillness and motion that it’s easy miss how fragile it is; one misplaced note or beat could bring it all down in a second, but the trio sustains each of the album’s four tracks for ten minutes or thereabouts. While it’s easy to appreciate the tidal flux of Oren Ambarchi’s guitar>>table of boxes>>Lesley speaker signal chain, and Johan Berthling’s immovable bass presence, if you are about to put this record on the hi-fi for the first time (PLEASE listen in stereo), consider focusing on the infinite mirror effect of Werliin’s percussion. Your third eye will thank you.

Olivia Block — The Mountains Pass (Black Truffle)

Who picked it? Bill Meyer

Did we review it? No

Ray Garraty’s take:

This has actually none of the pretentious stuff you expect to find in a work by somebody who has been dubbed a “media artist.” The second part of The Mountains Pass is especially stunning where ‘f2754’ has clearly a Giallo-esque feel to it, fast paced and a tad prog rock-ish. “Violet-Green,” perhaps the best composition on the album, brings in mind those creepy soundtracks, with synths and bells, which we usually hear on bad horror movies. And even when Olivia Block, on the same track, begins to sing, her voice is outlandish enough to think that she was abducted by the aliens. 

Camera Obscura — Look to the East, Look to the West (Merge)

Who Picked it? Andrew Forell

Did we review it? Yes, Andrew said, “Campbell writes movingly about memory and friendship. Looking at what was rather than regretting what might have been with an honesty that goes directly to the heart of things.” 

Bryon’s take:

This record makes me realize that I should listen to more Camera Obscura. The Glaswegian indie pop group is a delight to take in, especially Tracyanne Campbell’s lovely voice. Look to the East, Look to the West is a comeback album, the band’s first since they went on hiatus following the death of keyboardist Carey Lander in 2015. The most striking aspect here is the use of pedal steel and organ, which lend the album a country and western flair. This seems to be a new development for Campbell and company, but they pull it off well and the new sounds really suit the band. Similarly effective are the digital drums that the band employ on tracks like “Liberty Print.” Camera Obscura have altered course slightly but retain the loveliness that lies within their core.

Chief Keef — Almighty So 2 (RBC)

Who nominated it? Patrick Masterson

Did we review it? No.

Jennifer Kelly’s take:

Six years in the making and continually delayed—a fact the artist refers to several times during the run-time—Almighty So 2 is massive and ambitious, with operatic hooks and wall-shaking, body-pummeling beats. A mountainous swagger rocks, “Grape Trees,” the cut with Sexyy Red, a machine-gun ratatat thundering under brutal lyrics about gender relations. The politics are embedded in the subject matter, in the screaming sirens, the South Chicago gangland scenarios, the profanity, rage and cynicism. “Jesus Skit,” though, gets a little more explicit about it, positing a sliding reparations scheme that depends on skin color; light skinned rappers like Drake and Chance the Rapper lose out big time, while darker ones, like Sosa, get millions. The violence comes in the shattering beats, as in “1,2,3,” a slow-motion eruption. Here the artist sketches the bleak world that made (and continues to make) him, chanting, “I always believed I was gon' get paid/When I got to hustlin' up in sixth grade/You ain't givin' off that nigga, you won't get laid/Sleep for the weak, I been up for six days.” The track, like the rest of Almighty So 2, is gritty and nihilistic and undeniably powerful. So glad I got to hear this, non-expert though I am.

Cindy Lee — Diamond Jubilee (Realistik Studios)

Who nominated it? Patrick Masterson

Did we review it? Nope (and shame on us…)

Jonathan Shaw’s take:

Diamond Jubilee commences with three dazzling songs: the title track, “Glitz” and “Baby Blue.” Even if the rest of the record weren’t so excellent (it is, and at over two hours, there’s a lot of it), the strength of those three songs would propel it into frequent rotation, on my various devices and in my head, and likely onto the year-end list I will eventually compose. “Baby Blue” is the crucial track: it’s one of those songs (along with Warren Zevon’s “The French Inhaler,” Townes Van Zandt’s “For the Sake of the Song” and a few others) that is so ruthlessly fine in its execution and so suited to some of the least comfortable angles in the emotional furniture in my head that it requires a kind of commitment to listen to. Beyond that irretrievably subjective response, Diamond Jubilee commits, as well: to gorgeous melody, without entirely smoothing out the sharp edges that distinguished Lee’s What’s Tonight to Eternity (2020); to the reverb-saturated aesthetic of fading girl-group harmonies, clubland at 3 am, spangled cocktail dresses of motheaten satin and the pleasures of the last cigarette in the pack when there’s no money for another; and, it seems, to love, in social conditions that make love nearly as unthinkable as it is completely necessary. The surreal, in its modernist avant-garde iteration, emerged in similarly extreme social conditions, after the slaughter of the Great War and amid fascism’s rise. Those forces were enough to distort human relations into monstrous shapes nigh irrevocable. Lee’s music has strong relations to the dreamlike quality of the surreal, and we have our own terrors now: climate’s awful and furious change, social media’s psycho-social poisons and fascism, once again. Those terrors’ spectral presences are audible all over Diamond Jubilee, but they can’t blunt the sharpness of human longing in songs like “All I Want Is You” or “Don’t Tell Me I’m Wrong” or “Government Cheque.” Love’s intensities may not be sustainable, or even particularly livable, but they won’t be denied. Cindy Lee captures that set of truths with that aforementioned dazzle, and with depth.

DIIV — Frog In Boiling Water (Fantasy)

Who picked it? Tim Clarke

Did we review it? Yes. Tim Clarke said: “Despite the music’s dense layering and the overall feeling of frustration and confusion, Frog In Boiling Water thankfully leaves the listener with a feeling of hope and eventual redemption.”

Ray Garraty’s take:

If I were given this with no title and artist’s name I’d say this was written by a no name indie band circa 2016. It’s the same shoegazy guitars and sweet and melancholy vocals we’ve been hearing since when, 1994? The songs like “Reflected” got things moving but it’s far from boiling temperatures, merely lukewarm. It’s been written somewhere that the DIIV’s album is about “coping with capitalism,” yet it’s evident that it’s feeding the same capitalism, giving the fans the same thing over and over. And that is how capitalism works. 

Nomi Epstein — shades (Another Timbre)

Who picked it? Christian Carey

Did we write about it? Yes, Christian said, "Epstein’s music is unfailingly attractive and elegantly paced. Shades is an excellent introduction to her work."

Bill Meyer’s take: 

Since Nomi Epstein leads the Chicago-based new music ensemble a.pe.ri.od.ic, I’ve had plenty of opportunities to hear her guide performances of other people’s music. But shades is only the second album devoted to hers. Its three long pieces are, like the Wandelweiser and minimalist composers that a.pe.ri.od.ic has often supported, sparely arranged and deliberately paced. She puts intriguing sounds — some prepared piano notes, or a barely-there vocal tone — just far enough inside the frameworks of the music to invite one to listen in. Once your consciousness is inside the music, the slow movement of what surrounds you mesmerizes. Music this reserved and respectful is a welcome respite in a world where reality smacks you upside the head every day and even that influencer babbling on the phone belong to the person sitting next to you on the train insists on staring you in the eye.

Fuera de Sektor — Juegos Prohibidos (La Vida Es Un Mus Discos)

Who nominated it? Jonathan Shaw

Did we review it? Yes, Jonathan wrote, “It’s a singular sound, by turns compelling and bewitching—like the beautiful face you can just about discern across a dim and crowded room, a set of lines and textures briefly lit up by occasional drags on a cigarette. Not quite (or not just) postpunk, pop or dance music, the songs on Juegos Prohibitos itch at your hips and scratch into your brain.”

Christian Carey’s take:

Barcelona band Fuera de Sektor released a demo in 2022, but Juegos Prohibidos is their first full length recording. No Wave is a significant influence, particularly in the fiercely intense sing-shout vocals from Andrea Jarale. If you visit the band’s Instagram, it includes an amateur video that is an homage to Richard Hell, replicating a 1970s comic from NY Punk Magazine in which he starred. But there are many more reference points. The guitars channel the chops and soloing of eighties New Wave, and the rhythm section provides relentless uptempo playing. The defiant demeanor of the songs themselves depicts an unstoppable wall of intensity.

Daryl Groetsch — Above the Shore (self-released)

Who picked it? Andrew Forell

Did we review it? Yes, Andrew called it “a 75-minute floating symphony that insinuates its way into your subconscious with almost imperceptible stealth.”

Ian Mathers’ take:

Whether approvingly or not, works like this 75-minute composition/album are often described as if they were very static in nature; as if even when there are changes they happen in rigid, predictable ways. It may be that if you poke around under the hood of Above the Clouds enough you might be able to diagram out the way elements meld, progress, and separate again, and possibly under that light the whole thing looks regular. But in terms of the way it feels when you listen to it, there’s something quite different going on with Groetsch’s work. The whole thing does feel quite immersive, almost environmental. But as opposed to any number of ground-level or even underwater vistas that come to mind with similar works, here I feel suspended in the air, very far above any shore indeed. The listening experience feels akin to endlessly falling, eventually not so much above as through softly glowing clouds. It’s somehow soothingly vertiginous, and more captivating (and attention-rewarding) than most of its peers.

Icewear Vezzo — Live From the 6 (Quality Control Music)

Who picked it? Ray Garraty

Did we review it? No.

Patrick Masterson’s take:

Chivez Smith has been a familiar name to anyone keeping an eye on Detroit rap for the last decade — longer than you might think and long enough, now, to make him an elder statesman among the city’s spitters. What better time, then, to take a step back and assess not just how far you’ve come, but what all that hustling has amounted to? So goes Live From the 6 (not a Drake reference, in case you were momentarily confused; Vezzo’s from 6 Mile on McNichols north of Hamtramck), which isn’t quite a career retrospective but carries the themes of one. Vezzo’s in a reflective mood over the course of these 13 songs, his slightly frayed vocals forever unhurried and his beat selection consistently nodding to the high West Coast era; you could put Ice Cube or Snoop (or, for that matter, YG or Nipsey) over most of these productions and it wouldn’t throw you off. It’s not totally insular bars-wise, either; a questionable DaBaby feature aside — his double-time admission that he sees a therapist is heartening given how deservedly he got shunned by the establishment just as he was fixing to peak — Memphis artist YTB Fatt also shows up. Fellow Motor City emcees Babyface Ray and Chuckie CEO provide the remaining color, but end to end, this is Vezzo’s show and he shows up. There’s no lack of entry points to Icewear Vezzo’s discography by now, but if you were hesitant before, Live From the 6 is merely the latest display of his acumen. Hear why he’s the one.

Loma — How Will I Live Without A Body? (Sub Pop)

Who picked it? Tim Clarke

Did we review it? Yes, Tim wrote, “Yes, this is a heavy album, but luxuriously so. It’s music that stares death in the face and instead of running, hunkers down and gets comfortable.”

Alex Johnson’s take:

Listening to How Will I Live Without a Body? is like eavesdropping on a collage of someone else’s thoughts. Contemplation or confusion or a eureka one moment to the next. It’s theatrical, passionate music that, to me, shares a heavy sensibility with the operatic post-rock on Portishead’s Third. Like an unsettling daydream, the lyrics blur the mundane and existential. In “Affinity,” the narrator stares “into the dark,” finding herself multiplied but disconnected – “my shadows move/with and without me.” In “I Swallowed a Stone,” a“kettle boil[s] forever” and she “can’t live this feeling anymore.” Given the song’s tense, foreboding percussion and muted guitar “can’t” sounds like “might have to.” 

Might, but not necessarily will. Despite the doses of dread, How Will I Live Without a Body? never feels resigned. You’re treated to interjections of sound, instrumental and otherwise —  flashes of illumination, portals to enter. “Unbraiding” fits sheets of strings, bird song, and burning punches of guitar fuzz around a simple, repeated piano, illustrating the line “bring somewhere out of nowhere.” Loma is working with a robust sonic palette here, but the album’s ethos seems grounded in a DIY curiosity. That “Broken Doorbell” features what sound like actual broken doorbells and then ends with waves hitting a shore is emblematic. It’s a lovely, if perhaps temporary, moment of arrival, having followed the shadows wherever they led.

[mycological-mariner]

🌤️ for the fic asks!

Cutting out descriptions etc. So I know the original ask said “PIECE of dialogue…” but it’s not. This is for a short fic I came up with, just kicked around the idea. I’ve not posted it, it’s just on my laptop.

Spoilers for The Flight of the Heron.

“Has he gone?”

WHO?

“Ardroy, did he get away?”

I HAVE NOT CROSSED PATHS WITH HIM YET.

“I see. That’s good. He’ll be safe, now.” […] “May I ask, sir, who you are?”

GUESS.

“Oh. Oh, yes, I see. I suppose there are some tells. […] Was it worth it, in the end? Was it an honourable death?”

[…] FEW HAVE THE PRIVILEGE TO DIE IN THE ARMS OF THEIR GREATEST FRIEND. BUT THAT IS JUST IN MY EXPERIENCE, OF COURSE.

“Friend… […] Are those mountains on the horizon?”

I AM AFRAID SO.

“They might almost look like… like the ones surrounding Loch na h-Iolaire. They can’t be, surely?”

NO, IT IS LIKELY THEY ARE NOT.

“Well, what is beyond this desert? Surely you can answer me that.”

I CANNOT.

“I have to walk there on my own?”

YES. ALTHOUGH, I HAVE KNOWN SOME TO HAVE WAITED.

“Waited for what?” […] “I don’t know if I’m ready, just yet. It has been a long night.”

I CAN IMAGINE.

“May I wait here a little while?”

WAIT FOR WHAT?

“A friend.”

TIME DOES NOT EXTEND TO HERE. YOU MAY WAIT LONGER THAN YOU EXPECT, MAJOR WINDHAM.

“Good. I hope it is a very long time indeed. […] “I do not know what lies beyond this desert, nor do I know for how long I must walk until I have discovered it. Perhaps it is oblivion. I should like to walk alongside my friend. We never had a chance to simply walk together before…”

EVEN IF THERE IS NOTHING?

“Yes.”

VERY WELL. YOU MAY STAY HERE FOR AS LONG AS YOU WISH. AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, I AM QUITE BUSY AT THE MOMENT AND MUST LEAVE YOU. […] YOU ARE AN HONOURABLE MAN, MAJOR WINDHAM. GOOD DAY TO YOU.

“Good day.”

[emulation-0]

Seven Sentence Sunday

ty @cursedvibes for tagging, ik its been like two months sorry 💀

And then she is in the circle, and the dancer’s eyes are on her although they continue to spin, and the both of them are spinning though they are looking at each other, though the dancer has no eyes and their face is of a sunlit moon, though the smoke around them obscures their face into oblivion, and their tresses alight golden amidst feverish flames even while they are dark as an oil spill, as the midnight embedded ocean. The dancer’s hair swings to their movements, alive like its own curse. Wild but graceful, a heron in flight. Control and composure is but a passing suggestion here, one wielded nonstandardly. They dance in unison, gliding to smooth down the sharp tinkling of their bangles, that which plays to the beat of the concrete. Knife-like hands slice the air and return, waving and spinning with certain control. They part this oxygen-less area like the sea, converge, intersect, and part once more.

its always the same tsumiki wip 😭but at least im almost done with the second chapter. so 🤞

tagging: idk whoever wants lol

[meddow]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you! get to know your mutuals and followers 💗

Listening to a good audiobook while knitting.

The local wildlife: the foxes that are so used to humans they just stare at you while you walk past, the big heron who lives in the park that looks like an grumpy old man surrounded hyperactive kids (all the other, smaller waterfowl), the parakeets that happily swarm on London Plane trees and provide colour on a cold February day, the psychotic squirrels that jump out at you as you walk down the street, and the crows that are likely secretly running the city.

Sitting down with good tasty bowl of ramen with a broth I’ve made myself and some interesting long read article about hubris leading to disaster.

Being in a massive crowd of people at a gig and the singer yelling out that the current Tory government are a bunch of fascist cunts and everyone cheering in agreement and being reminded that the UK may be a shithole at the moment, but we’re all in that shithole together and just maybe those fascist cunts will finally meet electoral oblivion this year (that one is specific as it happened last night).

Lip-syncing in the mirror to a song I love.

[iviarellereads]

The Eye of the World, Chapter 33 - The Dark Waits

(THIS PROJECT IS SPOILER FREE! No spoilers past the chapter you click on. Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Wheel of Time, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

(Heron-marked sword icon) In which the timeline gets hecky but it's okay, we're all grownups and able to handle that, right?

Under a leaden sky the high-wheeled cart bumped east along the Caemlyn Road. Rand pulled himself out of the straw in back to look over the side. It was easier than it had been an hour earlier. His arms felt as if they might stretch instead of drawing him up, and for a minute his head wanted to keep on going and float away, but it was easier.(1)

Rand and Mat are riding in a cart belonging to a Hyam Kinch, suspicious of any and all passers-by, particularly merchant carts. Mat's still light-sensitive after staring straight at that Power-strong lightning, wearing a scarf over his eyes to dim the light a little. He asks if Rand is feeling better. Rand worries that feeling better so fast might not be a gift of the Light.

Thirty two men on horseback pass them by, nodding respectfully at Master Kinch. Rand asks who they are, and Kinch says they're Queen's Guards, keeping the peace and the Queen's laws. Where are they from, that they don't know what Queen's Guards look like? Rand slips and says the Two Rivers. He's still not thinking clearly, after his illness.

Kinch stops and tells them this is as far as he goes. He offers to let them rest with him for a day or two, they won't miss much in that time and he and his wife have had near about every illness before. Rand thanks him for the offer, but they do have to get on, and Kinch tells him where his farm is, and that nothing's like to find them there.(2)

Flashback to escaping Four Kings. Mat is nearly blind in the darkness after the lightning strike, and can barely walk upright. They make it out of town, far enough to hide in a bush and sleep. Rand dreams of Baa again, who shows him a dead-looking Gode figure, and says Rand belongs to him, one way or another. Rand says no, he belongs to himself, not the Dark One, not ever. Baa rewards the Gode-shade with oblivion to make a point that he has more control over death than life, but even if Rand dies, one way or another, he'll be in Baa's hands eventually.

Rand and Mat wake, Mat crying that Baa took his eyes, and Rand comforts him, that he can't hurt them.

About an hour's walk outside of town, a farmer stops to offer them a ride. Rand was too distracted to hide, and can't refuse without possibly offending him, so he helps Mat up beside the farmer up front, and Rand in the back. The farmer, Alpert Mull, mostly just wants some company on the ride, and someone to talk to. When he has to turn off the Caemlyn Road, he gives them two scarves, saying it's hard times, you never know who to trust, he's not a good man and can't offer them a place to stay, but he can give them something to keep the dust out of their mouths. Rand tells him he is a good man, and they part ways.(3)

That night they do stop at an inn, but they don't offer to play flute or juggle. The price is steep, but they need the food and the rest. In the morning, all's well, and Mat can see a little again. They're eating breakfast, when a young man comes in and asks to sit with them. When he says this isn't his idea, and he doesn't want to be here, Mat growls "Darkfriend." They tell this Paitr to leave them alone, and tell his friends to leave them alone, too. Paitr yells that the Shadow will swallow them, and the innkeeper drops his broom, finally hearing the conversation. The boys get out of the inn, and Mat worries that they knew they were there. Rand says if Baa knew they were at that inn, he wouldn't have left the job to some snivelling kid like Paitr.(4)

They hear rumours about the incident from each of the six short rides they get through that day, never realizing that these two are the ones who exposed the Darkfriend, and each rumour more ridiculous than the last, some even saying that if the Queen won't stop the Darkfriends, maybe the Children of the Light should be asked.

They reach another village, with just one inn, and Mat says he's up for a juggle as long as he doesn't get too fancy. Rand's getting really tired, so they offer their performances to the innkeep. The inn's full but he'll do what he can.

The cook and his helpers ignored Rand and Mat. Mat kept adjusting the scarf around his head, pushing it up, then blinking at the light and tugging it back down again. Rand wondered if he could see well enough to do anything more complicated than juggle three balls. As for himself. . . . The queasiness in his stomach grew thicker. He dropped on a low stool, holding his head in his hands. The kitchen felt cold. He shivered. Steam filled the air; stoves and ovens crackled with heat. His shivers became stronger, his teeth chattering. He wrapped his arms around himself, but it did no good. His bones felt as if they were freezing. Dimly he was aware of Mat asking him something, shaking his shoulder, and of someone cursing and running out of the room. Then the innkeeper was there, with the cook frowning at his side, and Mat was arguing loudly with them both. He could not make out any of what they said; the words were a buzz in his ears, and he could not seem to think at all.

Mat leads Rand outside and explains that if the innkeeper kicked them out, Mat promised to lead Rand through the common room, and show that someone sick had been there. So they've got accommodations in the stable, at least. Rand cycles through fever and chills. Mat runs off, and comes back with some food and water. There's no Wisdom here, but the woman who's their equivalent is off birthing a baby somewhere.

Rand has nightmares and hallucinations. First he sees Baa and some Myrddraal. Egwene saying they're all dead because he abandoned them. Moiraine telling him he has no choice but to go to Tar Valon. Thom telling him he should do anything but trust Aes Sedai. Lan asking if he's worthy of the blade. Perrin, the people from Baerlon, but the worst vision was Tam, just staring at him, frowning.

In the morning, Rand's fever has broken. He wakes to a woman(5) coming into the stable, she says to look at her horse, but… is he ill? She has some knowledge. Her manner doesn't belong here, and he doesn't trust her, but he can't stop her coming near, feeling his forehead. She says he was sick, but still weak as a kitten, and if not for Mat waking at that moment, she'd have killed Rand easily. Mat restrains her, and Rand notes that her dagger is burning the wood it dug into.

Mat threatens her with his own dagger, and she doesn't move as he retrieves her knife. Rand tells Mat no, as he realizes Mat means to kill her. Mat argues that she's a Darkfriend, and Rand says that's so, but they're not. Mat pushes her into the tack room as she talks about why they need to give in, etc etc. When she mentions a Myrddraal, Mat closes the door in her face and bars it.

Mat pulls Rand to his feet, and between them they make their way out of town, nobody paying them much attention, with all the other strangers making their way to Caemlyn, too. Just a mile out of town, though, Rand's strength gives out. That's where Hyam Kinch picks them up.

=====

(1) So, Rand definitely Channeled and his sickness is probably intense because that was a real big'un. (2) There are good people in the world, even in dark times, and even when all seems lost. (3) A lot of people get a little confused here, because that's exactly the line Rand thought of when the scarves were first mentioned in the first page of chapter 31. There's a little timeline wibble here, but I believe RJ wanted to play with our sense of time on this long stretch of road, the same way Rand's channeling sickness and Mat's dagger taint are playing with theirs. It's fine, it's vibes, don't worry about it too hard. (4) Rand is smarter than some folk give him credit for. (5) Every Darkfriend in Andor seems to have been put on alert to keep an eye out for these two, poor souls. I'm gonna have to tag it, so: despite us not being told her name in this chapter, the truly obsessive about the series know this is Mili Skane. She gets her own entry in the encyclopedia and everything. (We're a thorough bunch, even with 2700 characters to keep track of.)

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Meg Baird + Chris Forsyth - Third Man Records, Detroit, Michigan, November 1, 2022

Thanks to the mighty Detroit Lightning blog for these tapes of one of the best double bills of 2022 — Meg Baird and Chris Forsyth! Meg has a new one coming out early next year and it is incredible. Just check out "Will You Follow Me Home" which, in a just world, should be a major hit. Chris, of course, just released Evolution Here We Come, another in a long string of masterpieces. You need it.

The rhythm section for both Baird and Forsyth during this tour is worth noting, too — drummer Ryan Jewell and bassist Doug McCombs. Both legends! Throw Charlie Saufley (Heron Oblivion, Assemble Head In Sunburst Sound) into the mix and we've got one incredible night of music. I think there might be a west coast Baird Forsyth tour in the works for 2023? Keep your eyes peeled.

Sign up for the Doom & Gloom From The Tomb Substack newsletter — Doom & Gloom delivered to your inbox every Friday!

[woodencup]

Celestial Jest

A playlist of old and new Psych rock, pop and folk

The Black Angels - Empires Falling Heron Oblivion - Your Hollows Quicksilver Messenger Service - Who Do You Love (Demo Version) Pisces - Dear One Ghost Woman - Broke Black Market Karma & Tess Parks - The Sky Was All Diseased Allah-Las - Prazer Em Te Conhecer Lyme & Cybelle - Follow Me RF Shannon - Badlands The Deep Six - Rising Sun Haunted Leather - Quaaludes Spencer Cullum's Coin Collection - Road

[rastronomicals]

1:32 AM EDT March 25, 2023:

Heron Oblivion - "Seventeen Landscapes" From the album Heron Oblivion (March 4, 2016)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm

--

[dollarbin]

Nickel Bin #2:

The Roches' Hammond Song

Some songs have no peers.

There's nothing comparable to Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone: while his efforts to write another anthem are many, and they vary from the successful (Knocking on Heaven's Door) to the underappreciated (Changing of the Guard) to the overrated (Gotta Serve Somebody) to the annoying unless you are in a very weird mood (Brownsville Girl), he, and everybody else, has never come close to a comparable synergy of warmth, anger and energy.

I think The Roches' Hammond Song is equally unique. Suzzy, Terre and Maggie Roche never climbed a musical mountain like it again in their fitful, joyful and far too short career together, and I don't know any other song or group that presents such bizarre and daring vocals (they range from startlingly androgynous to winningly effete and back again); where else can you hear three such utterly distinct voices sharing a space with such elegance? Add to that mix the unique layers afforded by the song's length and its guitar solos, plus its confusing but vital story, and you've got yourself a masterpiece.

Let's listen.

First of all they're not singing about Heaven. They're singing about Hammond, Louisiana and Maggie and Terre's decision, years earlier, to ditch their budding music career altogether. It seems there was a Kung Fu school (seriously!) in Hammond that a friend was running and that seemed like a better place to be than in New York City, wearing clothes assigned to them by their record company.

The song is a natural cousin to Cat Stevens' Father and Son: In Hammond Song The Roches present a musical debate between the patriarchs in their life and themselves; they sing both sides of the argument and they let you choose the winner.

The song opens with a long, suspenseful opening that gives way to warm strumming and then the refrain's three part harmony. But then it swerves for the first wild time into Maggie Roche alone, and she's telling the band they're "on the wrong track". What other voice is like hers? I'm afraid my sexist biases hear her unique contralto and summon up a woman on a motorcycle with arms the size of my thighs who smokes six packs a day and would happily kick my ass while having yet another. But here she is:

Maggie died 6 or 7 years ago. My famous brother's friend Ryan, who recently bought me a very delicious beer at a Yo La Tengo show, sobbed when he heard the news. The more time I spend listening to Maggie's music, the more I understand where he was coming from. Just take a listen to Quitting Time from the same record:

At the end of each section of Hammond Song The Roches hit and hold a high, odd and transfixing note. You can hear it for the first time on the Ooooo after the first section, soon after Maggie's introduces her voice. That same note, or one close to it anyway, comes back again before the first guitar solo on "you're LYYYYYYing to me", then again on "don't be a FOOOOL."

When CS&N reach for a note like that I wonder just what the hell I'm doing with my life. When Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris finally threw off the concerns of their record companies in the mid-80's and came together as a bluegrass version of The Roches they hit some angelic notes, yes, but they never sounded weird. Such weirdness is a big part of Hammond Song's, and the band's, genius.

And capturing that weirdness, and that note, is still a goal for a new bands. Check out Meg Baird search for and then find it - and then keep it for an impossible, audacious length, at 3:15 mark of Heron Oblivion's seismic Your Hollows:

Next time I get an hour with Baird in a bar I'll ask her about Hammond Song as a basis for Your Hollows instead of quizzing her on Mike Heron. Poor Meg. I suppose she's been warned.

And now that you have Heron Oblivion in your ears, let's talk about Hammond Song's guitar solos. That's Robert Fripp, of King Crimson/Eno/Bowie/Talking Heads fame, making himself known. He walks a careful and skillful line in his production of the song and the record around it: you never forget he's there but he never gets in the way. This is the sisters' record and the sisters' song. But wow, what a guitar sound he achieves: it's nearly as weird as the vocals, part theremin, part Hendrix, all magic.

Finally, Hammond Song avoids easy cliche in its storytelling as well. Okay, their male authorities wanted them to put on sexy dresses and stop being weird, but the girls said no and became their awesome selves instead:

Lesser artists would have wrapped the story up with victory. But Maggie and her sisters know it's not that simple. When they released Hammond Song their story was far from over: the record could have tanked; it could have proved the record company right.

And so The Roches bring us into the debate; they let us decide whether their defiance in life and in the song are justified. "Tell me," they appeal to us in the song's conclusion, "I'm okay."

Dear Suzzy, Terre and Maggie,

You are not okay. You are the best.

Sincerely,

The Nickel Bin

[screamingforyears]

IN_A_MINUTE:

AN INDIE EXPRESS…

“FOUND” is the second single from FUCKED UP’s forthcoming LP titled ‘One Day’ (1/27

@mergerecords

) & it finds the Toronto-based quintet of vocalist Damian Abraham, guitarists Mike Haliechuk/Josh Zucker, bassist Sandy Miranda & drummer Jonah Falco bringing a charged-up piece of indie-tinged & anthemically roused PunkRawk.

//

THE GOLDEN DREGS are here w/ “SUNDOWN LAKE,” the second single from their forthcoming LP titled ‘On Grace & Dignity’ (2/10 4ad) & it finds the London-based songwriter/producer Benjamin Woods teaming up w/ vocalist Issie Armstrong to wax nostalgic across a 3:49 clip of stoic yet funky ArtPop that divulges our narrator’s hometown coming-of-age tale.

//

“TRAIN TO HARLEM” is the latest single from KORINE’S forthcoming LP titled ‘Tear’ (2/17 Born Losers Recs / Avant!) & it finds the Philly-based duo of Trey Frye & Morgy Ramone unleashing a saccharine rush of all-up-in-the-feels NuWave that never shies away from the poppiest of moments while simultaneously wrapping itself in a warm cloak of 80’s sonic nostalgia & upping the danceability.

//

MEGAN BAIRD is here w/ “STAR HILL SONG,” the second single from her forthcoming solo LP titled ‘Furling’ (1/27 Drag City Recs) & it finds the San Francisco-based artist teaming up w/ her longtime Heron Oblivion bandmate Charlie Saufley to flicker through life’s memories over some sweetly strummed, moodily hazed & Mazzy-esque DreamPop.

//

I’VE POSTED THESE TRACKS BELOW FOR YOUR LISTENING PLEASURE...

////

[odukora-lore]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

✧ OC MASTERLIST ✧

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

↓

Genesis Era

The Goddesses

✧ Revontulet

❀ Borealis

Before the Fall

🕯️ Lightcatcher

💎 Elouise

Rulers of Cloud Cliffs

🌧️ Lufiere Hyetal Seraph

⚡ Raiko "Kaori" Fragor

Royal Assistants

-Halo

-Murk

The Guardian Guild

🪐 Airiwn Fylios

🏔️ Kimoru Serenity

☕ Dusleth Nocturne

🍰 Rurene Pekoe

💐 Meraki Amaranth

🍄 Kahdeina Luster

Former Keepers of the Empyrean

-Azimuth/Aerolite (Marzipan)

-Cliff (Zingiber)

- - - - - - -

Medieval Era

[Swan Feather]

🌨️ Heron Solstice

🗡️ Dulcet Plumehart / 🍊 Tangelo "Tangerine" Yuzu

-Lychee Kasturi

-Gyoza Enoki

-Jay Warren

-Cayenne Cassia

-Marimo

-Falene Sonnet

-Anise Azolla

-Pomelo Yuzu

-Hyacinth

-Bonsai

The Last Monarchs

🌕 Gandoline Lunaris

🦋 Mariposa Solstice

Ancestors of Elwood

-Rogue

-Aurrea

- - - - - - -

War Era

[Sundowner]

-Budgie

-Enoki

-Lentil

-Puddles

-Daffodil

-Carvin

-Keybolt

-Pretzel

- - - - - - -

Modern Era

[The Eternal: Fallout]

🌻 Helio Gaharu

🌷 Jingle Tinsel

🪶 Truffle Elnath

🌙 Sereina Skyscape

🍀 Clover Rowan

🌿 Lyrin Tinsel

🌲 Juniper Penzai

☄️ Pepper Flint

🌼 Mallow Cassia

🌟 Orion “Rigel” Skyscape

🪵 Oak Elwood

🍃 Birch Elwood

🔮 Etamyal / 🕯️ Atcher Lucerne

💫 Asteria Polaris/ 🪷 Eureka Elnath

👑 Eridani/Cygnus Polaris

🧊 Conifer Penzai

🍁 Maple Elwood

🍂 Red Elwood

🌳 Cedar Elwood

🍯 Chamomile Cassia

-Harper Tinsel

-Marmalade

-Crimson

Team Pets

🍬 Toffee

🥖 Churro

---

[Paradigm of Empyrean]

☁️ Cinnamon Swirl

🪴 Bramble Carver

🌖 Nyxium Lunaris

🗻 Aaron Reneirre

🔖 Reese Dominique

🌀 Zephyr Whirlwind

🌸 Whisper Himiko/Lullaby Larkspur

🌋 Topaz “Shade” Reneirre

🌒 Mythical Lunaris

🌾 Peachi Fernweh

📜 Aspen Elwood

🌹 Ashling Crimson/Hawthorn Oblivion

🌱 Aichi Fylios Serenity

🌺 Amber Reneirre

🪨 Slate Brickedge

🪽 Feather Brooke

🍒 Cherry Parfait

Team Pets

🖍️ Crayon

---

[Where Time Meets Destiny]

🫐 Sparklyn Neptune Dreams

🍪 Koru Choco Pudding

🍈 Honeydew Droplet Springs

☀️ Horizon Dusk Skies

🧁 Macaroon Chiffon Cake

❄️ Winter Southwest Snow

🍮 Caramel Flairne Ryunashi

🌰 Gingersnap Ralfie Breeze

-Ace

-Carrots

-Snowball

-Snowdrop

-Shamrock

-Slither

-Marigold Dawn Skies

-Daisy Dawn Skies

-Simnel Chiffon

-Suzette

-Madeira

-Archer

-Estrella "Star"

- - -

[Cupid's Serenade]

🎀 Angie "Cupid"

🎵 Azalea "Siren"

-Whitney

-Erina

-Berry

- - -

[Cabbage Peak]

-Zest

-Basil

-Mace

- - -

[Weather Headquarters]

-Snowfall

-Sunshine

-Raindrop

-Windbreeze

-Cloudskies

-Thunderstorm

-Lightstrike

-Moondust

-Aeris

- - - - - -

Future Era

[The Sun is a Star]

🫧 Marble Meredith

✨ Skylar Altair

-Soleil Altair

🚀 Cirrus

⚙️ Periwinkle "Vinca"

-Crocus

[Tales of Iridescence]

🫐 Sparklyn Neptune

☘️ Arctic "Bonbon" Marlowe

🐾 Gale Luscinia

🍨 Vanilla Sundae

🌑 Shadow Lune

- Wisp “Auster” Chronos

- - - - - - -

[ Misc ]

Liru's Explorers of the East

-Drake Verano

-Matthew Agaros

-Nemui Kou

-Heather Aki

-Gray Brickedge

-Solar Bituin

-Thunder Raiden

-Faye Miyako

-Elaine Trinidad

-Echo Chronos

-Lukas Eunil

-Celine Meowth

-Katsuri

-Bluebell

The Youngsters

-Tirami Tinsel

-Jayde Penzai

-Parsley Flint

-Dahlia Gaharu

-Autumn Skyscape Elwood

-Melody

-Creampuff

-Crystal

-Beatrice

-Hope Miraclella

-Fauna Lavendery

-Meadow Juniper

-Dreamy Cottontail

-Penelope Blossom

-Amber Crystalline