Category: Folk

Treetop Flyers: “To Bury the Past” EP

Treetop Flyers fell right out of the blue on me.  Honestly, I’m not even sure how I found them.  But I’m really glad that I did!  I will say is that I’m beyond surprised.  I mean, just look at those guys.  Where would you say they’re from?  You might have listened to their EP (freely available for preview on Last.fm, and purchase on iTunes) – To Bury the Past – and thought, as Artrocker did in September 2009, that “They can all certainly sing and play as if they were raised on the Mississippi Delta, plucking sounds from the ether atop a dusty porch.”

Imagine how you’d feel to learn they’re from London.  Then, you can finally soak in the relief of realizing that singer Reid Morrison and drummer Tomer Danan are Americans who have come to London.  Phew!  Still, it’s the last place you’d expect to find a band that exudes so much Americana.  I mean, heck, as a prisoner student on this island, I’m still dismayed by the fact that I can’t even find any decent barbecue.  (Oh, Redbones, how I miss you!)  To find music that recalls so many of the AM/FM classics of my childhood here… well, it’s wonderful and astonishing.

Let’s get right to it, shall we?  You can read an interview with singer Reid Morrison over at The Daily Growl, and hear more on their myspace page.  I’ve put the 70s-esque “Mountain Song” after the cut, along with a live video.  Enjoy!

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Message to Bears, “Departures”

Sometimes, we need a break.  As someone who is nearing the end/seventeenth fresh start of his Ph.D. thesis, this statement applies to me most of the time.  In moments like this, I like to turn to bands like The Album Leaf, Sigur Rós, and similar masters of ambiance.  But every now and again, I need something new to help me take the edge off.  Enter: Message to Bears.

Message to Bears is actually Jerome Alexander, a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter from the U.K.  Those instruments, myspace tells us, are “acoustic guitars, pianos, glockenspiels, samples, drums, loop pedal, melodica, toy piano, harmonium, [and] voice.”  The result is a collection of beautiful, gentle acoustic songs that curl around you like a misty, English twilight (as I am currently experiencing one, I stand by this claim as 100% true).  The melodies evoke a sense of wistful nostalgia, and remind me of staring into a deep, night sky.

Taken from the debut album Departures (Out on Dead Pilot Records and iTunes), “At the Top of this Hill” and “Running through Woodland” evoke dramatic, melancholic landscapes.  The former, through children’s voices, recalls long-gone days of youthful innocence, and the latter conjures a forest crowned by grey clouds.  Absolutely lovely, and both very effective in their own way.

I’ve also included “Unfold” from EP 1.  To me, tracks likes this make me feel that I’ve stumbled into someone’s diary.  Even wordless, they are clearly attempts to capture very particular moods and impressions.  Just the sort of thing to help you relax by replacing your troubled thoughts with other, softer ones.  Come on in and have a listen, won’t you?

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Sonya Cotton: Red River

Sonya Cotton is a San-Francisco based singer-songwriter with a beautiful voice, and a singular vision, who describes her work in this way:

Sonya’s compositions are deeply personal, drawing upon her dreams, family, and love; they often come from a place of profound reverence for the natural world and the creatures of the earth.  In singing about wild spaces (rivers, woods, mountains,) and the animals that inhabit them, she hopes to bring herself and others in touch with the sacredness of these spaces, and to contemplate and critique our culture’s compulsion to exploit and destroy these creatures and spaces.

The music is right in my comfort zone – eliciting memories of Joanna Newsom, Laura Gibson, Fleet Foxes, and even Joan Baez.  On Red River, a showcase of San Franciscan talents – “…including Ezra Lipp (drums; Sean Hayes, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, Stitchcraft) Joey Chang (cello, Cello Joe) and Wayne Van Lieu (french horn, Monterey, Marin, and Napa Valley Symphonies)” – produces deep, languid arrangements of folk and Americana.  Sonya’s tenderness and reverence for the world around her really shine on “Red River,” which has a gentleness that I find mesmerizing.  But perhaps most intriguing of all is the way in which this music feels old.  Old in a sense that it plumbs the deeper corners of the soul, and finds sparkling gems of natural beauty and humanity amidst the dark.

So, if you’re in the mood for a little reflection, or if you need a bit of quiet, go ahead and follow me:

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Ólöf Arnalds: Við Og Við

On my recent trip to France, I decided to pass the time reading the French edition of Rolling Stone.  In its April issue, a review for Ólöf Arnalds‘ Við Og Við grabbed my attention with this description: “Imaginez une soirée au coin du feu, dans un salon cosy, en plein cœur de l’hiver” (Imagine an evening by the fireside, in a cozy lounge, in the heart of Winter…)  Few things have been so evocative to my imagination, as settings like this, and so I pulled out my trusty iPod touch…and I was immediately transported.

I have long enjoyed the dramatic splendor of Icelandic artists like Bjork, Sigur Rós, and Amiina.  Ólöf’ is a touring musician with Icelandic stalwarts Múm, and she also worked on this album (as well as her anticipated second album Ókídóki – out sometime this Spring ) with Kjartann Sveinsson of Sigur Rós. Her music is a perfect complement to these.  Featuring simple arrangements, traditional instruments (with a few unusual additions like the ukulele), and a lilting, sprightly voice (what Rolling Stone called: “…la musique pour les elfes…), her music exudes calmness and gentility.  And yet, in spite of this, it’s not ephemeral.  There’s a love of craft, and a seriousness of purpose, that curls about these sounds.  It is, as Rolling Stone concluded, “bewitching.”

Have a listen to her song Klara, and then check out some wonderful videos after the cut.  You can also hear more of her music at her myspace page.

[audio:https://www.shh-listen.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Olof_Arnalds-Klara.mp3|titles=Klara]  Ólöf Arnalds – Klara

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!  I’ve thrown together a few things to help make the day a little more musically satisfying.  There’s a nice playlist I put together over at Grooveshark, some videos on YouTube, and some links to other fine sources of entertainment.  Hopefully, there’s something for everyone!  As for me, I’ll be passing St. Patrick’s Day in that most traditional of places… an English jail.  (Well, all right, university.  But there’s not much aesthetic difference, I’ll tell you that!)

Now, just click the link to see the good stuff, and enjoy!

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