unpiano: music

//photo by gregory carafelli

Bonus Interpol song from the Japanese import of Antics. Maybe it got released here too? I forget. Anyways, it’s Interpol, it’s a good song, what else can I say. I think I’ll put it on repeat on the way to the bar tonight.

Interpol - Specialist

Bonus:
Interpol - Specialist live on KRCW (video)

Remember this Sebadoh album? Of course you do.. You probably have a memory associated with one of these songs at some point in your life. If you don’t, you should get out there and make some new ones. Been trying to find this (Bakesale) on vinyl for a minute now. If anyone knows where to find it, let me know. Also, Lou Barlow always cracks me up for some reason. He’s so surly sometimes. When I was living in Portland, I was saw him open solo for Quasi and it was really awful. People kept booing him and he started insulting the crowd during almost every song and telling us we were fucking ungrateful idiots. It was awesome.

Sebadoh - License To Confuse
Sebadoh - Careful
Sebadoh - Not Too Amused
Sebadoh - Got It
Sebadoh - Drama Mine

I’m pretty juiced on this collection of Roky Erickson home recordings right now. Never Say Goodbye is mostly rough, unreleased acoustic songs from 1971 to 1985, some recorded while he was in a mental institution. It reminds me of a lot of the early Guided By Voices and Mountain Goats recordings that I loved.

Roky Erickson - Unforced Peace
Roky Erickson - Birds’d Crash
Roky Erickson - @2 Gone And Number

When anyone asks what’s going on in San Francisco these days, I hold up a Sic Alps record and say “This shit, right here”. Since the two-piece membership solidified a couple years back, the Sic Alps sound has evolved steadily over a barrage of releases. One part loose lo-fi minimalism, one part West Coast experimentalism, one part impish Syd Barrett-y weirdness and whole heaping fuckload of rock and roll. Their latest, the limited, vinyl only Description Of The Harbor 12″ is a must if you can still find it, if for the hand printed Chris Johanson artwork alone. Look for something new on the legendary Siltbreeze label soon.

Sic Alps - Message From The Law
Sic Alps - Love Is Strange
Sic Alps - A Story Over There

Bonus:
Sic Alps - Semi Streets (video)
Sic Alps - A Story Over There (video)
Sic Alps - Arthur Machen (video)

The Davis CA based project, The Standard Tribesmen, is a fun romp through the stripped down, lo-fi blues-punk of the Gories, Sexareenos, Doo Rag and the Coachwhips with a noisey, frenetic twist. Originally a one-man band (think Mark Sultan/BBQ Show style), Julian Elorduy IV has been adding members over the last year, settling on the current four-piece line up that’s been blazing. Here’s a few tracks off the limited, self-released 7 inch that’s been going around.

The Standard Tribesmen - Riverside Strangler
The Standard Tribesmen - I Could Tell You More

All three of these tracks deserve their own write up, but I have ADD which means I have to do everything impulsively. So now you get..

Three different tracks and three different emotions to go along with them. The Public Enemy track is off their 2007 release and is one of those feel good tracks. Makes you want to go and do some shit right quick. Then you have Devin The Dude with Snoop and Andre talking about the rap game being hard work. The whole song sounds like an exhale and while it’s upbeat, it’s still pretty mellow. (Andre absolutely kills that track by the way - As he does with every guest spot). Finally Lil’ Wayne picks himself off the floor and manages to mumble half a verse into the mic. Seriously, that shit is hilarious and sad all at the same time. He actually says, “Why did I say that, I dunno..”. I prefer to listen to them all at the same time to get the perfect combination of mood swing.

Public Enemy - Harder Than You Think
Devin The Dude - What A Job (ft. Snoop Dogg & Andre 3000)
Lil’ Wayne - Crank Dat Weezy Wee

Bonus:
Public Enemy - Harder Than You Think (video)
Devin The Dude - What A Job (chopped and screwed)

(I usually don’t like screwed remixes, but this one sounds pretty sick. I can see myself liking this around 4AM.)

Singer, songwriter, producer and composer Margo Guryan released her one and only album, Take A Picture in 1968. A gem of 60’s California soft pop (recorded on the east coast), the album pretty much fell into obscurity until it was unearthed and reissued again in the early 90s as the indie-pop wave began to gain steam (the Siesta label from Spain did an excellent reissue on CD and LP, with extra songs). As the story goes, Guryan was a budding jazz pianist and composer in her youth until she heard “God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys and immediately redirected her career towards the sunshiney California sound. The performance shy Guryan’s recording career didn’t get far, but her career as a songwriter and producer was successful, with her songs performed by the likes of Mama Cass, Harry Nilsson, Dion, Astrud Gilberto and more. These tracks are demo versions from Take A Picture, and as a bonus I found the recently recorded “16 Words” she wrote about the beginning on the Iraqi war.

Margo Guryan - Sunday Morning
Margo Guryan - Timothy Gone

Bonus:
Margo Guryan - 16 Words (video)

One of my favorites of the freaky folk revivalists, Marissa Nadler’s haunting voice and acoustic guitar work slay me. Her latest Songs III: Bird on the Water is a gorgeous follow up to one of my favorites of 2005, the spooky and beautiful The Saga of Mayflower May. She layers in some additional instrumentation and vocals this time around, but still stays rooted in husky voiced folk guitar ballads of heartbreak and death.

Marissa Nadler - Diamond Heart
Marissa Nadler - Dying Breed

Bonus:
Marissa Nadler - No Surprises (video, Radiohead cover)

I’m still down in Austin so I don’t access to a bunch of music, but I’ll be back on Monday and put up some good stuff next week. In the meantime, enjoy this Beirut song that’s been around for a while. His voice is amazing and it never fails to make me optimistic every time I hear it. Play it on the way to a job interview or on the way to get your heart broken.

Beirut - Nantes

Bonus:
Beirut - Natnes (live from the Take Away shows)

Three sisters from New Hampshire who couldn’t sing, couldn’t play, and put out an LP in 1969 where 90% of the copies disappeared before it was released, played for 5 years almost exclusively at an old-folks home in their hometown, yet somehow managed to inspire and influence everyone from Zappa to the Raincoats to Beat Happening and everyone in the d.i.y low-fi movement of the late 80’s/early 90’s. Some people think The Shaggs are the worst shit ever, and to those here’s my middle finger.

Shaggs - Philosophy Of The World
Shaggs - My Pal Foot Foot
Shaggs - Why Do I Feel

EDIT: I had to include my favorite Shaggs song on this post as well. So pure.. (-jp)
Shaggs - Love At First Sight