microphones in the trees: April 2010

Thursday, April 29, 2010

equinox, the peacekeeper

equinox, the peacekeeper | we could wake each other up
[self-released 2010]

"Equinox, the Peacekeeper is the moniker of Wouter Buyst, born in Belgium, often residing elsewhere. Travels in and outside the mind all had their effect on the music, containing a mixture of acoustic, electric, psychedelic, soothing and melancholic elements.

The past years Equinox, the Peacekeeper has been recording with a full band which resulted in the first official album “We Could Wake Each Other Up”. It’s available at gigs and at www.equinoxthepeacekeeper.be. Instruments such as guitar, bass guitar, drums, piano, cello, harmonica, melodica, singing saw, glockenspiel, mouth harp and samples are being used. The poetic, mysterious and moving lyrics, sung by Wouter, guest singer and choir are the most important elements in Equinox, the Peacekeeper’s music. In 2010 the album “We Could Wake Each Other Up” will get an official release with a releaseparty and a tour to be confirmed." el nejo

download | buy

toma las llaves, la sonrisa y las ganas
encendamos el coche y montemos carreteras
'if you don't mind, i'm going home'
:)

fotola: el nejo

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

best coast

Añadir imagen

our deal

'...I wish you would tell me how you really feel'

canción del año, de la vida, fleetwood mac meets neko case

"Here's a nice surprise for a Tuesday afternoon: a new song by Bethany Cosentino, a.k.a. lo-fi beach-popper Best Coast. "Our deal" from her forthcoming full-length debut. The tune is of considerably higher fidelity than what we're used to from Cosentino, and features a lovely country-ish melody"

Monday, April 26, 2010

michael yonkers


"Utilizing original photos and the exact layout and notes of the planned 1977 "Lovely Gold" release, a lost classic at last becomes available. As of late 2009, the legend of Michael Yonkers has taken its place among the great stories of underground rock and roll music. He’d been playing rock and roll for nearly forty years when “Microminiature Love” was finally issued in 2003 (Sire had taken a pass way back in 1968). A thousand noise-rock ears pricked up, as Yonkers, a reclusive Minneapolis dancer-musician with a handful of self-released records over the years, had seminally prefigured proto-punk/metal/noise through his own brand of amped up garage rock. Since the revelation, Michael has picked up where he left off, exploring blown-out frequencies with collaborators around the globe, and his work has claimed a seat next to immortals like The Fugs, Velvet Underground, Sonic Youth and even Jimi Hendrix.

What a lot of folks still don’t know is that Michael put aside his hand-built fuzz boxes and bellowing vocal style in the 1970s to record and self-release some truly curious albums of lilting loner-folk music, including “Grimwood”, “Goodby Sunball” and “Michael Lee Yonkers”. Of this holy trio of albums, only “Grimwood” has yet seen reissue. Throughout this time, Yonkers layered madrigal-like vocals, simple acoustic guitars, and used electricity in only the most subtle of ways - all to serve his sombre, mesmerizing songs.

This brings us to “Lovely Gold”. Planned as the fourth LP in his 70s trilogy, it was never released - a true crime, because it is an exotic work of homespun brilliance. Recorded in 1977 on a four-channel ‘tube type’ tape recorder that Michael built himself by combining parts of other machines, it is perhaps his most multi-faceted solo album. The trademark Yonkers chug appears (though more stripped-down and dreamlike) and even some spraying acidic guitar on the title track, but the sweeping choral voice arrangements on gorgeous hymns like “Will It Be” are entirely unique and indeed lovely creations. What’s more, while digging through his archives Michael located previously lost cuts intended for the album, including the harrowing, near- Krautrock glide of “Nevermore”." piccadilly records


no sé ustedes pero entre el sol, viento y carambolas se antoja un mucho de rock, o no?

fotola: **meagan

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

pothole skinny

"Pothole Skinny is a psych music project founded by Stephen Connolly. Other musical projects and/or collaborations include: Tower Recordings, P.G. Six, Emerald Tablets, Marianne Nowottny, Julia Vorontsova, and various improvisational collaborations. The Old Bergen Vault ep Series is a 9 ep collection of unreleased, rare and live recordings from the 'Hutton House' era of Pothole Skinny. Some tracks were originally released as a free podcast through iTunes. After discontinuing the podcast, more tracks were mastered, collected and packaged for a digital download release as a since discontinued 'pay your price' option through Bandcamp." perhaps transparent

Thursday, April 15, 2010

magic lantern

"It’s been a while since Magic Lantern shined its High Beams out into the world but life’s a maze of alternate paths (marriage, children, Portland Oregon, etc) and that’s just the way it goes/went. Fortunately for all lovers of heavy male psych brotherhoods the ML gang convened back in 2009 before parting ways temporarily to track their second full-length, Platoon, and here it is. As oughta be expected, it's a monstrous hot-rod cruise into screaming dual wah distortions powered by the poker faced Gavin/Chip rhythm section and splattered with jazzy freak-out organ and the occasional Stallones echo yelp. Featuring most of their live classics from the pre-hiatus era (“Dark Cicadas,” “Friendship,” etc) and tracked/mixed by Best Coast Bobb Bruno, this fills the hole in yr heart left by High Beams..." not not fun

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

woods

"The distance between 2007's At Rear House and 2010's At Echo Lake may at first seem only semantic, but it more properly represents a move from a kind of informal back porch jam ethos to a fully-committed vision of the infinite possibilities of group playing. Over the past few years, Woods has established themselves as an anomaly in a world of freaks...But despite the instrumental innovation the album heralds guest musician Matthew Valentine's harmonica and modified banjo / sitar on Time Fading Lines, At Echo Lake is all about the vocals. Woods secret weapon is the quality of Jeremy Earl's voice, absorbing the naïve style of Jad Fair, Jonathan Richman and Neil Young while rethinking it as a disciplineand a tradition. Here he is singing at the peak of his powers, in a high soulful style bolstered by heavenly arrangements of backing vocals. At Echo Lake feels like the transmission point for teenage garage from the past to the future. Deformed by contemporary experiments, bolstered by magical traditions, it's the sound of now, right here, At Echo Lake." Dave Keenan
foto: árbore

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

sun araw

"...The latest from Mr. Araw is easily his least compromising audio self-portrait to date. Three minute rhythm sketches are stretched into ten minute loop pedal odysseys. Organ solos last for entire vinyl sides. Ambiguous law enforcement themes are toyed with then abandoned in a haze of hypnagogic sleaze. Gone is the sweaty orchestration and funk of Heavy Deeds, extra long gone is the sun-kissed pop smoke shuffles of Beach Head. In its place is a heavily casual, zoned, patient 85 minute drum machine burro-ride accented by phasered organ gasoline, echo guitar sparkles, funny flute trills, tried/true Stallones vocal exclamations (“Whaaaah Ohhh”), and oddball FX. Magic Lantern cornerstone William Giacchi drops by to jam on one track but it doesn’t much upset the overarching On Patrol thesis: Ride It Out. The sound of one man’s conga mind soaking in its own juices, refracted down a hall of mirrors, and allowed to ferment..." not not fun

Saturday, April 03, 2010

the wrestler

esto es cine y lo demás son tonterías, y en "demás" metan todas las películas de antihéroes que hayan visto hasta ahora. llego tarde a randy "the ram" (cordero) robinson, pero lo hago casualmente (o causalmente) en semana santa y me doy cuenta que esto no es una película, es un vía crucis que aronofsky (judío) decora con luces, tintes, sombras, esteroides, caravanas y vítores pugilísticos, pero también con sudor, sangre, redención, espino, y hasta una maria magdalena reconvertida a stripper. no soportaba a aronofsky, pero tras aplaudir el final a base de lágrimas no queda otra que redimirlo. si saben de alguna procesión cuya imagen sea la de marisa tomei o mickey rourke, avisen. me ofrezco de costalero.