Earlier this year we were blown away by Finnish songstress Mirel Wagner’s spare, haunting self-titled debut EP (stream it). Now the Ethiopian-born Wagner offers up EP closer “The Road” for free. Listen as Wagner manages to somehow cast lush imagery with little more than her dry rasp and hollow, wandering guitar. It’s gripping without being clingy. It’s subtle without being soft. “The Road” isn’t the strongest cut from her debut, but it’s pretty cool.
Twenty-three year old Finnish songstress Mirel Wagner hit our radar this week with several disarming, deadpan and dour songs from her haunting, self-titled debut (out now on Bone Voyage records). Fans of Rio En Medio, Jose Gonzalez and Tiny Vipers will find a lot to cling to in Ethiopia-born Wagner’s spacious, wooded approach to overcast folk. We did.
San Francisco, um, what’s another word for “singer songwriter”? We’re tired of typing that, but we’re not smart enough to think of another word and not creative enough to put together other words that would say the same thing. Anyway, San Francisco’s Donovan Quinn is kicking off 2012 with a sunny, hung over song called “Shadow On the Stone” from his latest, Honky Tonk Medusa. You may remember Quinn from Skygreen Leopards, and you may notice the playing of Papercuts front guy Jason Quever in the background.
Willowy, ethereal folk chanteuse Marissa Nadler is still releasing singles from her latest album, a self-titled effort released back in June. And we’re okay with that. We like Nadler’s fragile, strange delivery and we thought her latest album was totally awesome. You should grab it because it’s good for road trips through the country or falling asleep in an orchard. Anyway, here’s the clip for “In Your Lair, Bear”…
Marissa Nadler “In Your Lair, Bear” from Alec K. Redfearn on Vimeo.
American Primitive godfather John Fahey echoes in the beautiful, awe-inspiring “Of Its Own Kind”, from Glenn Jones latest LP, The Wanting. Rumor is the LP was recorded in a Massachusetts apartment, somewhere in Boston suburbia. And if you listen close, it’s said that you can hear trains rumbling softly in the background. We didn’t hear any trains on “Of Its Own Kind”, but our mind was filled with flashes of sun breaking through trees on a road trip through the mountains and a lonely creek cutting through the deep woods near some lost trail.
On the second free download, “The Eagle or the Serpent”, from Case Studies (very good) debut, The World is Just a Shape to Fill the Night (you should stream it), we find the band embracing a busier, more dour strain of folk. Sure, the whole album is wonderfully, er, downcast. But the first free download off The World is Just a Shape, “Lies” (grab it), was delivered with a wry sense of humor. On “The Eagle or the Serpent”, there’s really nothing to laugh about…
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Case Studies take us on a hollow, brooding road trip by beautiful, pale blue moonlight on The World is Just a Shape to Fill the Night. It’s spare, yearning (sometimes agonizing) folk from Seattle’s Jesse Lortz (formerly of The Duchess and the Duke).
The landscape here is sweeping and barren, though it’s occasionally decorated with harmonizing vocals, piano, violin and a melodic guitar lead. It’s a land of cold comfort that reminds us of Nick Drake without the desperate wonder or a deep-woods version of Leonard Cohen. If The World is a Shape sounds a little too dark for you, we’ll be honest with you, it probably is. Right when you think the sun is about to come up, on album highlight “Lies”, it doesn’t. “Ask me if I’ll ever hurt you again, well I’ll tell you that I’d rather die… don’t ask me ’cause I’ll only lie.” That’s so awesome. True, broken love. Deep into the second half, The World is Just a Shape starts to drone a bit. But there’s just enough melody in the vocals and a couple of cool maneuvers (dueling whistles, piano) to keep things interesting. Standout Tracks: “Lies”, “Silver Hand” and “Dagger” More Case Studies
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You may know twins Sair and Romy Lightman from their day job backing avant-dance project Austra (essential free download), or maybe you knew their old band Ghost Bees (great name). But the sisters recently found time to concentrate on a strange, folk-leaning project called Tasseomancy. Checkout the lead single below. It’s haunted, it develops nicely (hang in there and some keys, percussion kick in) and we’re anxious to hear more from their new album, Ulalume.
Boston-based folk songstress Marissa Nadler debuted a video this week for “Alabaster Queen”, one of the standouts on her self-titled, sixth studio album (which is actually packed with standouts… download a couple of them, “The Sun Always Reminds Me of You” and “Baby, I Will Leave You in the Morning”, for free, here).
Also this week, Nadler added some US and European tour dates (see details below the video).
Marissa Nadler 2011 Fall Tour Dates
09-09 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
09-10 Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
09-11 Montreal, Quebec – La Sala Rossa
09-13 Toronto, Ontario – El Mocambo
09-15 Chicago, IL – Hideout
09-16 Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall
09-17 Minneapolis, MN – Cedar Cultural Center
09-23 Philadelphia, PA – World Cafe Live
10-04 London, England – Bush Hall
10-06 Berlin, Germany – Comet
10-07 Hamburg, Germany – Uebel & Gefährlich-Turmzimmer
10-08 Copenhagen, Denmark- Pumpehuset
10-09 Stockholm, Sweden – Debaser
10-10 Gothenburg, Sweden – Hendriksberg
10-11 Oslo, Norway – Revolver
10-12 Bergen, Norway – Perfect Sounds Forever
10-14 Tampere, Finland – Klubi
10-15 Turku, Finland – Dynamo
10-16 Helsinki, Finland – Kuudes Linja
John Fahey (1939 – 2001), the almighty godfather of the avant-folk “American Primitive” guitar movement, has a massive 5-disc box set on the way, Your Past Comes Back To Haunt You (The Fontone Years 1958-1965). (Pitchfork)
Fahey’s richly complex finger-picking ranges from soaring and sentimental to mystic and otherworldly, and it’s the kind of material we can play for hours at a time before getting bored, so we’re actually pretty stoked for this ridiculously huge box set.
Not familiar with Fahey? You may know of his understudies Leo Kottke (who later influenced Jimmy Page) and Robbie Basho, both of whom recorded for Fahy’s Takoma Records.
Here’s Fahey playing one of his haunted, beautiful standards, “On the Sunny Side of the Ocean”…
Tennis – Origins – free mp3
Katy B – Witches Brew (Diplo remix) – free mp3
Shabazz Palaces – Swerve (Signal Path remix) – free mp3
Xiu Xiu – Hi – free mp3
White Rabbits – Temporary – free mp3
