#tried to find the song on bandcamp and failed

[lastchancevillagegreen]

Friday, 24 March 2023:

‘Sno Angel Like You + ‘Sno Angel Winging It Howe Gelb (Fire) (released in 2016)

In the ‘90s I bought a few Giant Sand albums, the band from which Howe Gelb made his name.  They never did a lot for me and for that I always felt terrible.  Truth be told, I doubt I tried very hard.  But Gelb was so prolific and he had an endless array of albums that always sounded like they’d be interested.  My brother was/ is a big Giant Sand fan, another reason I always felt I should have tried harder at appreciating Giant Sand.  Their catalog was oft confusing and diverse, with Gelb recording under various names with a multitude of different people (including one of my favorite artists, Lisa Germano, an album I st5ill somehow fail to own). 

When this album came out in 2006 (on the tiny Chicago label Thrill Jockey) it was a revelation.  Howe teams up with The Voices of Praise Gospel Choir and I would say the combination is incongruent but that would mean I know something about Gelb’s music, which I know very little of.  What little I do know of it, he ain’t never sounded like this before.  As an atheist, you might think I would have an aversion to gospel music or anything associating with the genre.  Turns out I have a keen love for religious music (proving once again just how complex people can be) especially old timey religious music of which I seem to have far too many boxes of.  But religion does not figure in this album.  In my write up of this album at year’s end in 2006 (it finished the year at #18 on my Top 50 and it came in at Number Three on my Critical Top Ten and I continued playing it into 2007) I indicated, “the songs do not prescribe to a particular religion or god (nor do they ever mention a particular religion or god by name), rather the album works as a series of songs meant to push us to believe in ourselves and to achieve all that we can.”   The live album, ‘Sno Angel Winging It, originally was packaged with a DVD of the concert.  My brother gave me a CD-R of the live set as I was adverse to buy a DVD with a live album coupled as an after thought (or some such nonsense prevented me from buying the live album). 

In 2014 I bought the Howe Gelb box Little Sand Box on CD which contained eight of Gelb’s solo albums.  I did this predominantly to secure an actual copy of the live set which was now packaged as ‘Sno Angel Like You + ‘Sno Angel Winging It.  This set contains both bonus tracks found on the first LP that are only available as downloads (Get To Leave--Holy and Nail In The Sky--Original) so I’m pleased I’ve kept Little Sand Box, a box I have yet to play outside of the opening track of the first album, Brown Recluse Spider.  I also still have my original Thrill Jockey CD of ‘Sno Angel Like You.

I bought double album impulsively when Fire Records had a sale on bandcamp.  Since their stuff (via bandcamp) is shipped from the UK I rarely buy anything of theirs despite them having a roster of artists I do enjoy.  When I discovered they had this on vinyl paired with the live album (which I must admit sheepishly I have never heard, if I have I certainly do not recall it) I snapped it up!

Above you will find the album cover, the gatefold and then the back of the album.  Fire Records does nice work with their artists and packaging, so below you will see the inner sleeves (front and back followed by the labels for the album which fits inside.  First up, of course, is Record One.  In the photos the record labels almost look void of any imagery but it is there.

Next you will see the front and back of the inner sleeve for Album Two followed by the record labels for both sides.

Next up you will see a close up of the hype sticker on the front of the album. 

This includes, as you saw on the hype, a download card.  Fire does a marvelous job with their download cards, giving you a nice postcard sized card with a front and back.  The artwork here is unique to the album.  Check it out below.

Yes, even though I won’t be using the download since I have the bonus tracks on the double CD version from Little Sand Box, I did void out the usable code.  Don’t want to take money from Gelb’s pocket, you know. 

[musicarenagh]

Gary Dranow Gets Personal With 'Mellow Drama' Gary Dranow stylishly admits to being the pivot of 3 failed marriages and many relationships, the dust was cleared off his eyes after he was diagnosed as a Bi-polar 1 with Mania. After the revelation, he started to recount many incidences and tried to imagine how his condition might have affected those around him, his friends, and his partners. “When I was in my late 40s I had just been diagnosed as a Bi-polar 1 with Mania and for the first time I had a reference for why I acted out as I did from early childhood until I started to be managed Pharmacologically,” - he states, His new song Mellow Drama strikes as the point of view of a 3rd person in his life during those phases of his life. Gary admits it’s by far his most vulnerable song yet. The song invites fans and listeners into Gary’s mind and life. His life story is a testament to the power of passion, perseverance, and the human spirit, and “Mellow Drama” is the best example of perseverance for Gary and the band. Gary's unwavering commitment to his craft serves as an example for both admirers and aspiring musicians because his music vividly depicts his life. The existence of Gary Dranow, a musician, artist, and sportsman, is a testament to the strength of desire, tenacity, and the human spirit. Mellow Drama reeks of guilt, acceptance, forgiveness, and sacrifices, knowing Gary Dranow nothing less than this was expected from him, nonetheless paying rapt attention to the lyrics of the song the listener can find inspiration from the song on how to deal with other people living with similar conditions. Gary secretly shared the importance of seeking early medical care, maybe things would have been a little different. Enjoy Mellow Drama below Follow Gary Dranow on Facebook Spotify Soundcloud Bandcamp Youtube Instagram Songkick  

[mulberry-ink]

Kalmia Kid by chloe moriondo

🐝 /🐝/🐝//🌳/🌳/🌳//💛/💛/💛

[sometimesalwaysmusic]

SPACE COYOTE

Space Coyote (SC) is Ashton Cavanagh (AC), Paddy Greene (PG) and Ryan Dempsey (RD). The indie-rock band, who occasionally incorporate flute and brass, released their debut EP You’re Living in the Past in December 2018. Read on about their love of Midwest Emo, their favourite parts off the new release, and of course their thoughts on Spider-Man.

VITALS

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spacecoyoteband/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spacecoyoteband/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/spacecoyoteott

BandCamp: https://spacecoyoteband.bandcamp.com/

Latest Release: You’re Living in the Past (EP, Dec 2018) 

Upcoming Shows: Saturday, April 27 - My Friend PJ & Space Coyote. Queen St. Fare, Ottawa, ON.

SA: How did Space Coyote start as a band? SC: Ryan was fresh out of the pop-punk band “Remember the Arcadians” and was looking for a new project back in late 2016. It just so happened that Ashton was also fresh out of his old emo band “Bankshot”. The two knew each other from occasionally playing shows on the same bill with their old bands so Ryan messaged Ashton with their similar musical interests in mind.

We jammed a few times and honestly it was pretty awkward and not very good, haha. Two or three talented but uninterested bassists later, then high schooler Ryan finally turned to a trumpet player in the school's band that he was in. Fortunately, this trumpet player (Paddy) enjoyed similar music, and played guitar outside of school so Ryan convinced him to learn bass. Months of on and off jamming in between everyone's schooling led to writing and recording the recently released EP “You’re Living in the Past” with Scoreboard Recordings.

SA: Who are your biggest influences, musically or otherwise? SC: We all started off being inspired by Midwest Emo music (e.g. American Football, Cap’n Jazz, Mineral, Sunny Day Real Estate, The Appleseed Cast) and then took more inspiration from the Emo Revival scene (e.g. Foxing, Tiny Moving Parts, Modern Baseball, Snowing). Ryan and Paddy share a love for Jazz and Paddy and Ashton share a love for experimental music. Lyrically, Ashton draws from folk music and singer songwriter with direct metaphorical lines. (e.g. Elliott Smith, Conor Oberst, Nick Drake, Bob Dylan, Mount Eerie, The Microphones)

SA: Thus far in your career, what has been your biggest success? SC: Honestly, we’ve been blown away by the warm reception we’ve received from the music community in Ottawa when playing shows and in general. Playing shows and getting our music out there has enabled us to meet some amazing and like minded people in the music scene, who have helped us along the way. More specifically, our track Homebody has received many compliments so we're very proud of the stuff we've created.

SA: On the other hand, what is the biggest challenge you've faced, and how have you dealt with it? SC: We all live far apart from each other so practices and gigs have been hard to organize since day one. We have be very diligent to make sure the band keeps going. Additionally, with everyone in post-secondary and secondary schools, it can be hard to find the time to get together. Ashton’s car is also horrendous bucket of bolts, which makes getting to Stittsville (where we practice) from Merrickville slightly more than a jaunt and a half.

SA: How do you approach the songwriting process? SC: Ashton typically writes a skeleton of a song with a basic structure of rhythm guitar and vocals. He then usually brings it to the jury of Paddy and Ryan for their approval. If it fits our sound enough and actually sounds better as a full band, we then work on fleshing it out more. Ryan tries to find drum parts that complement the music and tie everything together. Paddy then writes bass parts, as well as occasional lead guitar, piano, horns and backing vocals. Ashton writes the majority of the lyrics with occasional creative input from Paddy if the song is about something they both have experienced. All three of us add inputs to the specific structure of the tunes.

(Sidenote: the flute part in Running Red Lights arose when Ashton said “This needs a flute part, something like:” then proceeded to sing a line. Ryan then played that part on flute, and it was finalized.)

SA: What are your thoughts on the Ottawa music scene? SC: It's a really great community. We meet unforgettable people at every show, without fail, and always have a great time. It's really easy to enjoy yourself when everyone around you is kind and having a common passion, bringing everyone together.

SA: If you had to choose, what is your favourite moment off of “You’re Living in the Past” and why? AC: I’ve always loved the instrumental with trumpet at end of Homebody. Out of parts I’ve written I’m decently proud of the way the two lead guitar lines mesh on the second verse of January. Lyrically, the second verse of Norman! You’re Out! RD: I really like the way the first verse of Norman portrays a sense of dreary hopelessness, mostly by the timbre of the vocals and by the imperfect movement of the melody. The way the piano ties it all together by the end adding major tonality kind of adds hope and I really enjoy that. The gang vocals at the end of Homebody are also a really fun ending and were really fun to record too. PG: The drum opening of Static is a cool start to the EP and the piano at the end of Norman! You’re Out was really enjoyable to write. Both are quite memorable for me.

SA: Do you guys love Spider-man genuinely, or jokingly? What is it about Spider-Man that inspires you so much? SC: 99% genuinely, 1% jokingly. RD: For me, I just love Spider-Man because he's the most down to earth superhero. He's got grades to worry about, a job, a love life, his aunt May to worry to about, and all the usual yet considerable struggles of an average kid. With all this on his shoulders, he still chooses to use his powers for good and add more to his plate because it's the right thing. There can honestly be something learned from his sense of responsibility. On the other hand, he screws up like anyone else--he's not perfect, and he knows it. There's something great about the genuineness of it. The Sam Raimi trilogy captured this pretty well (except for the third) and honestly their cheesiness is part of the charm. His powers are also, simply put, fun. (The meme videos are great too). AC: Yeah, what he said. Also, those Sam Raimi movies were my entire childhood and I’ll fight anyone who takes a shit on my childhood by saying the Andrew Garfield ones are better. I love em completely unironically (except 3 I probably do love that ironically).  PG: Little of both, they're fun stories but can be a bit cheesy at times.

[sinceileftyoublog]

Yorkston/Thorne/Khan Interview: Art Is Emotional

Photo by John Pountney

BY JORDAN MAINZER

The Navarasa, the nine expressions that humans show, or the the nine (nava) emotions or sentiments (rasa) of the arts, is the concept behind the latest collaboration of guitarist James Yorkston, double bassist Jon Thorne, and sarangi player Suhail Yusuf Khan. The trio, who record as Yorkston/Thorne/Khan, released Navarasa: Nine Emotions in January, each song paired with an emotion. The result is more natural than it sounds like it might be. On the surface, as I listened, it certainly appeared that the timbre of many tracks corresponded to the feel of their subsequent emotion. “Sukhe Phool”'s sorrow is reflected in Khan’s weary vocals, and his gentle singing turns into wailing on “Thumri Bhairavi”‘s anger. On the other hand, the upbeat claps of “Waliyan Da Raja” reflect its heroism, while gorgeous folk tune “Westlin Winds” combines a Robert Burns poem sung by Yorkston with vocals from Khan inspired by Muslim devotional chants and Hindustani poet-philospher-musician Hazrat Amir Khusrau. In sequence with the plucks of Yorkston’s guitar, it sure delivers a sense of wonder. And the laughter of “The North Carr” is made possible by the alternating moments of quiet and chaos, as Yorkston’s guitar and Khan’s sarangi battle. Really, though, the album is less natural than it is spontaneous. Tying the songs into the Navarasa was not the initial plan and only became the idea behind the record after many songs were finished. What’s most apparent after learning the context of the record is that it’s one of pure collaboration, an unforced melding of musical traditions. Disgust is an emotion normally shied away from by Indian musicians, but YTK tackles it head-on on traditional tale “The Shearing’s Not For You”, another upbeat feature of interplay between guitar and sarangi. And the standout is “Twa Brothers”, a traditional Scottish ballad about accidental fratricide. An a capella performance, Yorkston’s matter-of-fact vocals fail to belie Khan’s percussive vocal expressions; not only does it capture fear, but it mirrors the emotions behind the facts of life.

Navarasa: Nine Emotions is a wonderful record that each listener is bound to react to differently. I was able to ask each band member questions over email about the record, and that each often had a different response to the question, not even touching on something the other one said, is telling of the record’s true depth. Read their responses below.

Since I Left You: Why did you decide it was the right time to create an album like this, that centers around emotions?

Jon Thorne: We were just writing spontaneously, when it became apparent that the songs seem to express a wide range of emotions. Suhail picked up on this and suggested the Navarasa concept.

Suhail Yusuf Khan: I think all art is emotional, anyway. During the working process of our third album, the theme of Navarasa matched well with our songs, and the three of us resonated instantly with it.

SILY: Were there any specific tracks on which you tried to capture the emotion it was paired with? Were there any on which you specifically tried to stray from it?

JT: The concept was applied after many of the tracks were finished. The songs fit the idea without us having to capture or keep away from anything in particular.

SYK: I don't particularly remember staying away from any of the emotions, but the ones that I thought would be challenging in terms of finding the right sound for were terror (bhayanaka), laughter (hasya), and disgust (bhibhatsya). Regarding the tracks getting paired: There were a few overlaps in the initial stages of composing, but they got cleared as we moved on.

SILY: To what extent did you try to remain faithful to the denotation and connotation of each emotion?

James Yorkston: There was a lightness to it. We didn't try to force anything.

JT: We didn’t deliberately try to stay within any confines. Each track grew organically.

SYK: The songs were written first and then assigned to the emotions. This gave us creative freedom. However, as far as the actual 'denotation and connotation' behind the navarasa is concerned, for a better understanding, one has to delve deep into the ancient Indian treatises on arts. In the case of our album, these emotions are used as a direction to take the listener on a journey that is narrated by YTK.  

SILY: What's the inspiration behind the sequencing of the record? At some points, it feels like the "positive" emotions are grouped together and the "negative" are grouped together.

JY: That's interesting to hear. No, I just sequenced it as I would a mixtape in the old days--just to make the album as a whole a good listen, with each song complementing the one before and hopefully after. After discussion with Jon and Suhail, it took a few attempts, but we got there.

JT: The songs were sequenced according to how well they flowed rather than any particular positive or negative groupings.

SYK: The sequencing was mainly done on the basis of how well the songs transition and flow within themselves.

SILY: What's the inspiration behind the video for "Sukhe Pool"?

JY: I'd been listening to Sabri Khan's version of Raag Darbari on YouTube, and the next video that came on was of Indian Classical Dance. I loved the way the dancers were at the front of the stage and the musicians on the sideline. I don't particularly enjoy being in videos, so I suggested it to a friend of mine who works in the Asian dance world, and she put us in contact with some dancers she could recommend. The dancers, of course, being creative people, had ideas of their own, and choreographed a piece so it fit with the feel of the song. Domino were happy to suggest a production team to film it, etc. I think it is a beautiful video. I love it. My part in it was only the initial spark. From then on, a great many creative people helped steer it to where it is today.

JT: James wanted to incorporate physical interpretation of the piece through traditional Indian dance. I think it worked very well. It certainly was an interesting experience on the day watching it unfold.

SYK: “Sukhe Phool” is based on a story of two lovers being separated from each other, and that's the inspiration we've used for the video as well.

SILY: What's the inspiration behind the album art?

JY: I was in Dunfermline, meeting the artist Jonny Hannah, who had designed the cover of my last solo album. On the walls of the cafe were the works of Olga Krasanova. I loved her work, so took a card and kept it in mind for YTK. When I met up with her, I explained the friendship aspect of YTK, how we'd met, how we compose, and I also explained, to my knowledge, the Navarasa, and the concept behind the album. Mostly, though, I asked her to be free with her art, that we were asking her as we loved her art and we wanted her to be her. We see all things like this--be it the covers or the videos--as a collaboration. We are not the clients; we are working in tandem with them.

JT: James sent us a few pieces from different artists, but the work of Olga Krasanova seemed to resonate particularly well with YTK. She sent various pieces, and we selected our favorites. I really love the results. It’s very striking when on display in record shops.

SYK: It is aligned with the concept of Navarasa, but in a subtle way.

SILY: How are you playing these songs live? Faithfully, or with some improvisation?

JY: There is a lot of improvisation. There has to be, really, partly as Jon's memory is so bad now, he often forgets where he is, let alone where we are in the song.

JT: The songs have a template, but we always stay wide open to improvisation in the moment. The essence may remain the same, but the shape rarely does. We remain faithful to the spirit of them more than the form.

SYK: Ha, who says improvisation doesn't involve faith! Well, to answer your question, YTK's music especially, in certain sections of our songs, applies improvisation. However, we make sure this doesn't interfere with the integrity and the meaning behind our songs. It's hard to explain this in words, and thus, for a lack of better understanding, I encourage you to witness our live performance.

SILY: What's next for Yorkston/Thorne/Khan?

JY: This is under discussion, but there are a lot of ideas that we're musing over...

JT: Hopefully, a fourth album, possibly featuring a range of collaborators. It’s still being discussed. And more gigs once the world recovers from the trauma of COVID-19. We need to resume the tour that it cut short and re-schedule as many of the festivals that we had, too. It’s a unique opportunity to explore new and unknown territory musically, and I’m very much looking forward to the next chapter.

SYK: Another album and a potential tour of the U.S. whenever the world comes out of this pandemic.

Note: You can pick up on Bandcamp a live album released by the band in March (from a 2017 performance in Brussels) and a new compilation of “demos, duets, covers, and soundtrack work” from Yorkston.

[helafontrecs]

rejoyced

She was 1 of the un/ucky ones. She was also getting tired of playing her wavatar on the side of the street & decided she might as well leave because nobody was leaving her any dits anyways. So she packed her instrument, zipped up her plastic coat & headed across town. She was sad as per usual, yesterday had been her birthday & she had spent it alone ( birthdays were never great for her growing up so she didnt expect anything really, but somehow she still felt it more ( the loneliness that is ), but nowadays she was always alone, also now with regular frequency she would jolt awake at night after having dreams/nightmares of that day 3 months ago when a sortie from the dark palace ransacked her humble hideaway nestled in the mountains. A couple of her friends got out like she did, but most were either detained or killed. That mountain hideaway had been her sanctuary & it was also the first time she had been clean in as long as she could remember. It took her 2 weeks to find the seedy little town she was currently laying low in & on the second day she was already so stressed out from keeping an ever vigilant eye out for the palace patrol that she had to score some flooid capsules just to settle down her screaming nerves. She had managed a year & a half clean in hideaway ( the shakes were an absolute bitch in the the beginning, but she persisted ), it was the most lucid & content she had felt in her entire life, which wasnt saying much because her life had been fairly abysmal up until that point. She was what was commonly called a flooid baby, due to the fact that her mother was severely hooked on pure flooid all throughout her pregnancy. When she was born she had to be fitted with an injector in her arm because at 6 weeks old she was already going through intense withdrawals & the med-bots were afraid she would succumb to the pain unless they could ween the toxic stuff out of her system with anti-floo. She was 13 when she first tried flooid on her own, just after her mother ODd when mom finally graduated from flooid & started injecting straight hypr ( her father had never been in her life ). As she walked across town she kept flashing back to that deadly day at hideaway. The scene that had been seared into her mind was when she watched ( hidden in a toilet ) a patroller wrestling with her chum chez on a high bridge. Chez was struggling against his opponent & was even able to wrestle the patrollers stun gun into his hands & turn it on him, but before he could pull the trigger another patroller snuck up & clubbed chez from behind, the two took a moment to collect themselves then causally kicked his lifeless body off the side of the mountain. As she walked silently through the grey streets smoking a stim stick she cursed that fucking phaser who brought that dimensional drifter into her town. She knew that lil punk was trouble from the get go. She ducked into a subtube to save time on her cross town hike. The tube was mostly empty expect for a couple floozies slowly shuffling to keep themselves from full body lock. She knew that would be her eventual fate, but she just could not seem to muster up any sympathy for them.

The tube let her out just 3 blocks from the spot downtown where her hook-up posted up. The pusher ironically set up shop in a dark alley behind a church of the Infine. Her mother had been a disciple of the infinite when she was a child (& by default so was she ) but seeing the church fail them over & over again while her mother was trying to kick her 4x a day injection habit really left a sour taste in her mouth. Deep in the back or her mind there lived a belief that the Infine were real, but the actual organization around it seemed to be complete bullshit in her estimation. Without even looking its way she casually elevated her middle finger as she walked by the enormous crisscross haloed in green that was erected at the front of the building, then snuck around the rainbow tinted ornamental architecture elements that encompassed the church cloister to the back where she found her hook-up.

The flooid dispenser was a dark wiry man with a cool looking heavy jacket & long black hair that covered ½ of his notably pale face. She had scored off him before. He was expensive, but his stuff was quality ( she hadnt had a rejection even once using his junk ). He sported a small green drop pin on his left breast pocket ( a signifier to anyone in the know that he was a “licensed” flooid dealer ). The dispenser had already sold her enough that he recognized her face so he skipped any pleasantries & she put up 3 fingers ( for 3 vials ), he pulled them out so fast it seemed like a magic trick. She rummaged through her pockets & pulled out all the dits she had on her, but her attention was instantly taken by a noise coming from her left. She turned her head to see a women dressed in priestess robes shouting at them. Realizing the jig was up the dude instinctively grabbed all of the dits out of her hands & took off. Before she could even grasp what happened the priestess was by her side. She instantly began lying about what they had been doing, but the priestess silenced her & explained she was not mad at her, only the filthy dispenser & that she had a disease, the dispenser was only trying to exploit it & that their church had been working on a cure for the blight that is flooid. She was confused, but she followed.

Inside the cloister was beautiful, the priestess droned on for a bit about the many benefits of Infine life ( the same empty garbage she heard when she was young ), but after a while the priestess pulled something out of her pocket. It was a blue vial that contained a substance called joy.ce & it was a new form of anti-floo that had some interesting side effects. She was skeptical, but she could feel the flooid shakes starting to creep through her body & the dispenser had taken off with all of her credits so this seemed to be the only solution presenting itself. She poured the new floo into her injector & sat back. The room fell away & suddenly she was in the sky surrounded by beings made of clouds, most were around her height, but there were a couple that were much larger & off in the distance she could see a massive being that towered over everything which she guessed was one of the Trifine. A wave of euphoria splashed over her & all her troubles & pain washed away. The cloud beings were beginning to notice her now. They began moving towards her & embracing her. At first she was weary of their touch, but it was clear they meant her no harm. The group was quickly enveloping her, but she felt no claustrophobia, she wanted more, more connection, more love. She peered up & saw the visage of the Trifine looking down on her & then she awoke. She felt a newness that she hadnt experienced since she was 13.

rejoyced is a Rearrangement of Julien Baker's song Rejoice by Continuum Kingdom for the mixtape 7 dmnsns which you can listen to & download on BANDCAMP

[mrcncb]

Growing

marc encabo growing (mar ep 2017) [005/xxx] compiled 03/31/17

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XHIxTa5QI4 Bandcamp: https://marcencabo.bandcamp.com/album/growing

—

growing up is finding your inner child again.

—

[liner notes]

—

i definitely hit a trump-sized wall on this 3rd month, lol. aside from this project, i felt like march was a pretty productive and fruitful month for me, musically, emotionally, physically, spiritually… all that good stuff. creatively, i felt that i was trying way too hard to be artificially artistic and that made for many nights of failed writing and composing sessions and a lack of good sleep (double whammy). this month was definitely a learning moment in how to center yourself as a composer and how important it is to have a grasp of your own abilities and the influences around you in order to find yourself in the creative zone more often than not. i’m sure my musician performer friends know what this is like when we are performing- we kind of have a switch that goes off or a place that we go to in order for us to find ourselves in our best place to express ourselves in the more organic and excellent way possible. that’s the goal anyway haha. it’s also hard to find a reserve of energy for our own music when we are pouring ourselves out into other creative projects as well, and i think that’s a factor that i have to come to terms with and find a way to break through the tough moments of creative drought and produce.

—

“growing” is a collection of rough ideas and extremely raw song sketches. i tried way too hard to be artsy with this but decided that this was the most organic way to present this music. i’m slowly getting to know this new guitar that i’ve recently gotten, so a majority of the textures and palettes of these particular tracks are expressed through that instrument. i’ve included a couple of voice memos that i’ve had saved on my phone that i feel like would have never left if i hadn’t forced myself to include them. i feel that they show a different perspective on how i like to sketch out ideas musically. the main tracks themselves might be a little bare but i hope you can enjoy the simplicity and rawness of the tunes. i would have loved to keep them for a little longer and try to paint more with them, but for me the exercise of this ep-a-month project is to have to release these songs into the world when they are calling to be… definitely a lesson in livelihood as well. as always, thank you for listening :)

—

[pup]

this was the first track i recorded for this project. i’ve always loved that c6/9 chord shape on guitar and have written a bunch of different grooves based around it. this one was just an improv take that stuck lol. i kind of envisioned a snarky puppy-esque groove and melody on this demo (hence the name haha) when i hit record. this track and “oh susanna” are an exploration for me to get comfortable on this particular instrument and as a guitar player. it’s been an adjustment after being a “bass player” throughout college and being a piano player growing up in church, but i’ve grown to really embrace the intricacies and the roles that come with the instrument.

—

[th (diddle 1)]

this voice memo is one from a couple months ago that i caught of gracie playing piano in the living room at the house. i was sitting outside on the porch couch and thought the distant piano was a delicate backdrop to the rush of cars during the early evening.

—

[usually]

my go-to loop chords and vibes lol. i’m probably gonna use this track for something else, but i decided to leave it bare for this project. nice and simple.

—

[too bright to sleep (diddle 2)]

this voice memo was a tune i was working on late last year for the first EP project that didn’t quite make the cut. i don’t quite remember the direction i wanted the song to go in but i liked the vibe it created especially with the voice memo-y quality on it, lol.

—

[oh susanna]

i’ve always wanted to flip this one! this isn’t quite the version that i’ve been trying to arrange for a full group, but i wanted to groove a little bit on the guitar. this is one the folk songs i’ve heard growing up that i’ve always had the melody stuck in my head.

—

[oyasumi]

this tune was one that i brought in for a reading session that lawrence put together this month in my bedroom lol. we didn’t get to record this one during the session, but i figured i could record a demo take for this record especially since i wrote this one on the guitar. i originally wrote this particular version of the song in 6/8 but i felt that the stripped down nature of the recordings on this EP didn’t translate into the playing, so i smoothed it out into a more 4/4 groove to feel the time better.

—

[desu]

this memo is actually the original capture of the “oyasumi” melody. just recorded it in the living room real quick and obviously you can hear where i kind of drift off into a different melody and direction, but i loved the original melody that i had.

[ductuspop]

PLAYLIST: CANDY

Which songs has Candy (Cf. new Ductus pop!) been listening to these past few months? Check out his playlist below! You can also buy his new album at Z tapes store.

1. Mum Smokes - Useless A friend of mine shared this the other day and i hadn't heard about these guys till i had a proper search of their stuff. this song is a total killer. It's kind of hard to find their stuff though cause i'm pretty sure they haven't done much for awhile but if there's a few things hanging around on youtube. Super nicely depressing pop gems. 2. Teenage Fanclub - Everything Flows A super nice song i've been listening to a little bit. I haven't really listened to much other stuff by Teenage Fanclub but this song is super good that I almost don't want to listen to anything else incase it spoils it for me haha. 3. In Love With A Ghost - We've Never Met But, Can We Have A Coffee Or Something? This artist is on Z Tapes, the label that put out a couple of my albums on tapes, so i kind of stumbled on her (i think haha not 100% on that) stuff. It is soooooooo good! After listening to it I instantly tried to recreate the same vibe but failed hard. It's super interesting found sound samples it seems like but it's real hard to make those samples into something as interesting as this person has done on their tracks. Definitely give it a listen if you're looking for something hella chiller.

4. Twin Peaks - Heavenly Showers Just a beautiful song.

5. Twerps - Bring Me Down When i listen to that Twin Peaks song i usually listen to this as well. It's also a gorgeous song.

6. Sandpit - Drawing Straws I once recorded a song with the drummer from Sandpit before i'd heard of them. He gave me their two EP's and an album and it's real interesting stuff. I really dig the vocals in this band. Greater Expectations is also another sick song.

7. Slowdive - Star Roving New Slowdive is dope. 8. DIIV - Healthy Moon Maybe my favourite track off the most recent album. 9. SALES - Pope Is A Rockstar Stumbled onto this guys checking out the best selling section on bandcamp's discover thing. Super great way to find stuff. Deffs would recommend giving it a go next time you're keen for a new music search.

10. Bedroom - Nothing Lasts Nothing Lasts including this playlist. Might as well finish it off with a melancholic sad boy song. So goooood.

--- Thanks Calumn !