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Other Music MP3 Gift Cards This Week's Free Song Download
Free song download of "Polly on the Shore" taken from the first volume of Bo 'Weavil's Wooden Weavil compilation. This spine-tingling reworking of the folk traditional comes from Black Flowers -- a "super group" of sorts featuring Alex Neilson, Lavinia Blackwall, Michael Flower and Alasdair Roberts -- and is one of the many highlights on this comp celebrating five years of great music from the London label. The stellar Wooden Weavil collection itself finds the haunting, operatic folk of Josephine Foster ("All I Wanted Was the Moon") and the trio of Sharron Kraus and Espers' Meg Baird and Helean Espvall (whose hair-raising "Bruton Town" recalls Shirley Collins, and is simply not of this time) sitting alongside greats like Robbie Basho, and even Kurdish musician Zadik Zecharia. Notables C Joynes, Dredd Foole & Ed Yazijian and Victor Hererro are also featured, for a total of eight tracks at the nice price of $3.99. Also not to be missed is the Wild Weavil collection, which spotlights Bo 'Weavil's experimental side, moving from the twisting-turning avant-rock of N.E.W. to spirited free jazz from ensembles consisting of Alan Wilkinson, Steve Noble and John Edwards and Peter Broztmann, Simon H. Fell, Alan Wilkinson and Willi Kellers, to Cali noise/drone outfit Starving Weirdos, and more. Seven tracks just shy of an hour's worth of music, also for only $3.99! This Week's Featured Downloads
Pretty remarkable second album from husband and wife duo Cath and Phil Tyler, who seem to be doing for North England border ballads what Gillian Welch and David Rawlings have done for the music of Appalachia, namely shaving off some of the rough edges of those musics, while retaining just the right amount of spirit to make it ring authentic. I do have to say that in the case of the Tylers, it does seem a little strange as I believe they're from New Jersey, but regardless, they've obviously deeply felt this music and wear it like a broken-in set of old brogues. Cath, who has studied and taught Sacred Harp shape note singing, provides the vocals, while husband Phil supplies the low-key and sympathetic arrangements. It's a marvelous time of year to listen to music like this, a somewhat melancholic set that is nevertheless filled with the warmth of a handcrafted stone fire pit, and imbued with a sense of history that's sorely lacking in so many contemporary releases. Give this one a chance, as it seems to slowly reveal more and more of itself with each successive listen. -Michael Klausman
Other Music Digital has just received a slew of titles from Robert Wyatt's back catalog, which will certainly be a nice way to fill in some holes in your Wyatt collection, or become acquainted with this great musician's body of work. With a career that spans five decades, the man is still creating singular, forward-thinking music; for proof, Wyatt's Comicopera from 2007 was included in our Best of list for that year. This is what OM staffer Daniel Givens wrote when the album was first released: To me Robert Wyatt is, for lack of a better categorization, the perfect pop star. Definitely an overachiever and survivor, he possesses a true creative spirit, never making music for selfish reasons; his upfront and almost confrontational approach to voice and song is unmatched. The arrival of a new Wyatt album is always special, and feels like I have just received a gift. Thanks to Domino, we are given a fresh take on Wyatt's classic sound, his latest ranking right up there with other great releases like Rock Bottom, Shleep, and, of course, his work with Soft Machine and Matching Mole. Comicopera is just that, an opera in three acts about "human foibles"; it's whimsical, light yet provocative, dramatic, and overall quite beautiful. Wyatt chose to collaborate with friends (including Brian Eno, Anne Whitehead, Paul Weller, Karen Mantler, Yaron Stavi, Orphy Robinson, and Monica Vasconcelos) whose voices and instruments became characters of sorts in the material. The album is filled with diverse textures, including some odd (though strangely fresh) electronic manipulations of Eno, Mantler and Vasconcelos' vocals. Of course, Wyatt multi-tracks himself throughout, playing an array of instruments like piano/keyboard, trumpet, guitar and percussion, and even spends a good part of the third section singing in Italian and Spanish, including album closer, "Hasta Siempre Comandante," an homage to Che Guevarra by Carlos Puebla. Comicopera is no doubt a complex report on the human condition, but very few would have been able to assemble such a nuanced, melodic (and accessible) response as Wyatt. At age 62, he continues to be a refreshing voice in music, and there's no doubt that avant-pop's elder statesman is as much of an adventurist and pioneer today as he has ever been. This man belongs in the same pantheon of innovation as Arthur Russell, Tom Waits and, of course, Brian Eno. -Daniel Givens
Seems like it's been awhile since we listed an album by acoustic guitar virtuoso Steffen Basho-Junghans, but one listen to his latest record made me realize that now was an excellent time to reconnect with his work. Is finds the man at his most reflective and melodic, and seems to harken back to what would be my favorite albums by him, the two volumes of Fleur De Lis, which were released all the way back in 1996. He still shows off his prodigious chops here on occasion, but many of these tunes are pretty slow-paced, ruminative, and immediately accessible. When he does pick up the tempo, he does so in a manner that gives his songs an almost intangible, shimmering quality which is instantly beguiling. -Michael Klausman
Originally released in 2007 as a square 8" lathe-cut EP limited to 150, these two tracks find Dominick Fernow at the top of his game. The foreboding drones and underlying dark melodies recall his Pleasure Ground LP from the year before, a high point in his career so far. Digital versions of these tracks allow their detail and grit to shine, a step up in sound quality from their original, delicate format. Fernow's sense of composition will ensure that his work will stand the test of time and these two instrumental tracks confirm him as an innovator, head and shoulders above contemporaries. Clearly, he doesn't treat limited editions as throwaway exercises. Fernow has a way of producing tracks that sound epic, even though they're only about five minutes each. If you loved Pleasure Ground, you need these two tracks for a more complete picture of this highly prolific, hugely successful period for one of the modern masters of noise music. -Marc Moeller
Daniel Menche: waterfall recordings and electronics. Need we say more? Menche began this album by making some powerful field recordings of America's Pacific Northwest waterfalls in their raging glory, then strung together one 40-minute track from it, and began his high-end electronic processing -- the results are ferocious and often overwhelming, moving well beyond "noise" and towards concrete composition with a gorgeous attention to detail.
While always a big Wire fan, I had stopped following Bruce Gilbert as he struck out on a solo career. Big mistake, as this reissue of Gilbert's first solo work by Mego has proven me wrong. Originally released in 1984, This Way featured two massive soundscapes originally commissioned by experimental dancer Michael Clark. Dark, nuanced, industrial and ambient all at once, these slabs of sound inject white noise with baby cries, metallic percussion, and other sounds to great effect. Nice to have it back around and well worth checking out. -Adrian Burkholder
Digital edition of an already long-gone six-track 10" Siltbreeze comp from last month. The whole thing's pretty great, but I'm all about Side B, with unstoppable tunes from Ohio lo-fi, loner-folk-pop legend Tommy Jay, Sic Alps, and Kurt Vile and the Violators. If you missed that killer Tommy Jay comp from last year on Columbus Discount then "Bug Men" is a perfect opportunity to become acquainted with the man's genius, Sic Alps provide an out-of-pitch perfect take on a killer Kevin Ayers' tune, and "Denial" finds Kurt Vile and company at their most blasted and expansive. Tops all around, with Chickins, Dan Melchior, and Puffy Areolas rounding out the A side. -Michael Klausman |
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