uninvited, like the clouds

Its been 25+ years, nearly 20 albums and dozens of side and solo projects that have brought the Church to where they are today. They have a more than impressive back catalog, and yet, they continue to have surprisingly strong releases year after year. How on earth do they do it?!

Today is the release of their latest, 'Uninvited, Like the Clouds' on Cooking Vinyl. And if you haven't heard them in a decade or more, not much has changed- and thats a good thing! The chiming Rickenbackers are present, the daydreamy lyricism, the soaring melodies. We are all truly lucky that there still exists a band doing this and doing it well.

While it seems ridiculous to compare a band thats been around for over two decades to anything else, its a necessary evil. The album opens with Block, a classic track that is part Floydian dream and part Spaceman hypnotic downhill acceleration to lift-off. Easy is MBV meets Maggie May. Song to Go is Tom Waits as covered by Air. Go visit a very wonderful Church fansite and learn more about all the time you've missed of this wonderful band that is still doing it.

the Church - Block
the Church - Song To Go

villa claustrophobia

Ardent Fevers is Jesse Poe's fourth release under the Tanakh moniker. It came out last week via Montreal's Alien8 Recordings. Recently transplanted away from Virginia, this is the fruit of his time spent living the past couple of years in Florence, Italy. A recent invitation to perform at the 6th Annual Terrastock Festival, this year in Providence, RI, brings he and a group back to my hemisphere for a two week tour, as well.

Fans of Leonard Cohen, Badly Drawn Boy, Calexico, David Sylvian, Elliott Smith, Tindersticks, Lambchop, the Church, Lee Hazelwood, Talk Talk... you get the idea. Spacious arrangements, rural roots, beautiful accents. Closing track "Take and Read" builds over 9+ minutes into a Crazy Horse jam. Understated, personal, serene.

US Dates
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04/21/2006 - Terrastock 6 - Providence, RI
04/24/2006 - Cake Shop - NYC, NY
04/26/2006 - PA's Lounge - Sommerville, MA
04/27/2006 - Mezzanotte Lounge - Syracuse, NY
04/28/2006 - Mohawk Place - Buffalo, NY
04/29/2006 - Drake Hotel - Toronto Canada
04/30/2006 - Big Car - Indianapolis, IN
05/02/2006 - Lager House - Detroit, MI
05/03/2006 - Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL
05/04/2006 - Landlocked Music - Bloomington, IN
05/05/2006 - Huntington Youth Art & Music - Huntington, WV
05/06/2006 - The Velvet Lounge - Washington, DC
05/07/2006 - Knitting Factory - NYC, NY

Tanakh - Drink to Sher

photogenic, schizophrenic you

There isn't much more to say that hasn't already been said about this track many times over from others over the years.

from Wikipedia: Napoleon XIV was the pseudonym of record producer Jerry Samuels (b 1938 New York City) who had moderate success with the song "They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha-Haaa!", released in 1966 (reaching #4 UK, #3 US). The song deals with mental illness brought about by the lover of the vocalist leaving him and was controversial at the time for its willingness to confront the subject directly—albeit humorously:

"Remember when you ran away and I got on my knees and begged you not to leave because I'd go berserk? Well, you left me anyhow, and then the days got worse and worse, and now you see I've gone completely out of my mind!"

Musically, the track is significant in that it does not actually feature any musical notes being played, although a melody was, quite naturally, planned for it. Instead, the backing is provided by a combination of drums and tambourines overlaid with a siren—presumably that of the authorities' vehicle "coming to take me away". The pitch of the vocals also raise and lower throughout the performance to signify the increasing insanity of the vocalist. The vocal effect was accomplished via a tape recorder modified by Samuels himself.

from AMG: Samuels went on to a career as unpredicable as his hit smash, making his living for a time selling marijuana roach clips to head shops. For the past couple of decades he's worked the piano bars of the Philadelphia area; on the recent Napoleon XIV reissue CD, he proudly notes that "I became probably the most popular entertainer at nursing homes and senior facilities in the Philadelphia and Delaware Valley area." (Presumably he didn't play his hit single for those audiences.) That reissue CD combined the 1966 Napoleon XIV album with some additional material from the '60s and some newly recorded tracks from 1995.

Here is WFMU's excellent post about the 21 Variations on the hit single. Included in this is Lard's version, which makes total sense to me since the vocals seem reminiscient of Jello Biafra in the first place.

Napoleon XIV - They're Coming to Take Me Away Ha-Haaa
Napoleon XIV - Doin' the Napoleon
Napolean XIV - The Place Where The Nuts Hunt The Squirrels

letter from the past

Its probably been enough time that "folktronica" can now officially be the new "post-rock". Except that term is already dead. Now the new rage is "ambient pop"? Whereas "post-rock" incorporated loosened "jazz" structures into "rock", kinda, the others bring acoustic instrumentation and "pop songs" into the "electronica" world. Whoopdeedoo!? The list of bands recording their acoustic guitars into their laptops and adding glitchy beats behind it is growing ever longer these days. Too long.

However, City Centre Offices in Germany is doing a great job about choosing tasty ones to release. And their fancy new website has transfixed me nearly as long as their recent releases. Warm and spacious. The result of hours of daydreams. Lovely. They are quickly becoming one of my favorite labels to watch.

I'm Not a Gun's new album, 'We Think As Instruments' is the third album for this duo. John Tejada is one of the most prolific DJs and producers in the Techno world. His remixes and DJ-sets are well sought after, his label ”Palette“ is pumping out 12“ after 12“ of quality electronic music. Takeshi Nishimoto, classically trained guitarist and sarod player has been a long-time member in the jazz/improv scene in Los Angeles. He recently re-located to Berlin.

Their Venn Diagram is the spot where these bands circles cross: Bark Psychosis, Album Leaf, Dntel, Lali Puna, Notwist, To Rococo Rot, Bows, Oval, Remote Viewer, Múm, Tarwater, Mountains, Pole. In 2004, Iʼm Not a Gun was nominated for Best Instrumental Band by L.A. Weekly Music Awards. While they are often classified as the next step past Chicago's post-past, they are more than just a German version of the Hefty roster. Out on April 17th via Forced Exposure.

I'm Not a Gun - Move