2/10/11 - obsessed with Justin...

No, not Bieber...

Justin Vernon. As in the frontman and brains behind Bon Iver.

I recently was introduced to the band DeYarmond Edison, which was Vernon's previous endeavor prior to secluding himself and creating Bon Iver. Turns out, the other three members of DeYarmond Edison went on to form the experimental folk outfit Megafaun, a band I actually saw a few years ago in Virginia when they opened for, and ultimately played with, Akron/Family. The result is something pretty fantastic, a little more straightforward than many of the loose, airy Bon Iver tracks. It's good to hear Vernon's voice in a more rock setting. (side note: according to an article I read, "DeYarmond Edison" are Justin Vernon's middle names)

But wait, it gets better. Further research led me to discovering two self-recorded (I believe) Justin Vernon solo albums. They. Are. Awesome.

Do your homework here and look for these great albums:

DeYarmond Edison - DeYarmond Edison (2004)
Justin Vernon - Self Record (2005)
DeYarmond Edison - Silent Signs (2006)
Justin Vernon - Hazeltons (2006)
DeYarmond Edison - Unreleased EP (recorded 2006)
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (2008)
Bon Iver - Blood Bank EP (2009)


Justin Vernon

2/2/11 - 1, 2, 1, 2, this is just a test...

It worked! (the test here was whether or not I could figure out how to embed a player for this file, and as you can see above, I nailed it.)

So I decided to record my band's practice session last night in my apartment's attic as we are preparing for this Saturday's show at World Cafe Live in Philly. For this show, the "band" consists of Chris Haus on electric guitar; Dominic Billett (Toy Soldiers, el el, Ghost House) on drums; Joey McMonagle (Slimfit) on bass; and myself on acoustic guitar, harmonica and vocals.

Here's one of the tracks that actually recorded; apparently the computer stopped recording after an hour or so.

As for the Wild Irish Rose reference... Well, that's what the official practice beverage was last night. I don't make the rules, I just follow 'em...

1/27/11 - music for a snowy day

The last 36 hours have been snowy here in Lancaster. This morning, the city awakened to yin and the yang that is the post-snow morning: the aesthetic beauty of a snow covering carries with it the grim realization that your car is buried and plowed in.

So when creating a snow list, I feel it's important to identify which aspect of it you wish to focus on. For example, my shovel-my-car-out playlist would likely be the Rocky IV soundtrack on repeat.

On the contrary, my today-is-a-post-print-day-so-there's-not-much-to-do-but-look-at-the-snow-outside mix is consisting of:

Kurt Vile - Childish Prodigy
Karate - Some Boots
Randall of Nazareth - Randall of Nazareth
Lia Ices - Grown Unknown
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
Iron & Wine - The Creek Drank the Cradle
Jose Gonzalez - In Our Nature


Lia Ices

12/20/10 - resolutions

It's been a busy month. Between moving, settling into a new apartment, getting the magazine out on an abbreviated production schedule, playing music and Christmas shopping, I've been wearing myself a tad thin.

Through it all, however, I've really taken to living in a place where I can listen to music late into the night, and to finally explore the record player I purchased last year. The thing is, I somehow lost my record collection (which consisted of mostly albums I lifted from my Mom's collection).

To remedy this, I'm resolving to - over the next few months - populate my vinyl collection with the albums I consider to be in my "Top 10" list. The trick here is to first finalize a list of albums.

Today, I purchased from Amazon two LPs from Karate, a band that has been for a long time one of my favorites. I intend to also buy Jeff Buckley's Grace, Jimmy Eat World's Clarity and Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago.

So I guess that's the start of the list. I'll update soon with a more complete attempt.


Karate

12/10/10 - holycrapwheredidthelastmonthgo?

I haven't forgotten about this project. In fact, I think about it every day. Every time I open up Firefox for my Internet browsing, it's there, bookmarked in the toolbar, looking at me like a forlorn and starved pup that can't, for any reason whatsoever, figure out just when, or, more importantly, WHY, I stopped loving it.

Sigh.

Perhaps daily posting was a little too ambitious of an idea. I'm not cut out for it, I guess. In my undiagnosed-A.D.D.-riddled world, I suppose my focus has been elsewhere. Like, for example, totally immersed in discovering, acquiring and listening to new music. I've also been really into amassing random playlists, usually track by track - and sometimes by albums/artist - which is, quite frankly, more difficult to catalog.

So, on this tenth day of December, I am officially stating a re-purposing of this here mlog. Posts will be random and on an as-inspired basis versus the daily routine. For anyone who actually takes the time to peruse, I hope you understand. Quality over quantity, eh?

In any case, here's a video by my good bud RayLand Baxter. He's an artist from Nashville who's been doing it, doing it and doing it well. Give him a listen, and check out his stuff.

Rayland Baxter | "Willie's Song"

11/2/10-11/9/10 - holycrapwheredidthelastweekgo?

The excuses could be endless. I could list a litany of reasons why already, just a month or so into this whole project, I'm slipping on posts.

All bullshtick aside, I do have some rather legitimate reasons for my absence, including, but not limited to, I've been way Freakin' busy. Without divulging too much on the upcoming issue, the article I'm working on right now involved a whole lot of coordinating, a little bit of me wearing tights and great deal of pride-swallowing.

Exerting this much effort into one thing usually demands the minimizing of effort into other areas, i.e. this here blog. So, to simplify things, I concocted an idea that evolved into me expanding my musical library a good deal. In short: Daytrotter.

If you aren't familiar, you need to stop reading this sentence and click the link above. I know I've mentioned the website before in previous posts, but last week, I dived headfirst into their extensive archives and downloaded ferociously (hooray for legally free music!) a shitload of bands I have been too lazy to check out but have been meaning to. Keeping with the free music download philosophy offered by Daytrotter, I will be heading to Philly tomorrow night to check out one of the bands - The Morning Benders - and will probably buy a CD there.

So, here's the master list of all the Daytrotter sessions I now have (contains both previously downloaded and recently acquired session). The last week has literally been a constant listening of these bands, either one at a time, or in a master list on shuffle. In lieu of linking to each session, here's the link to Daytrotter's archive list. Go check it out, find something you like, or something new. And for God's sake, support live music! (they also do some pretty cool drawings for each artist, as well as a write up by Daytrotter's founder, Sean Moeller, that usually doesn't make any sense)

A.A. Bondy
Adam Arcuragi
Akron/Family
The Armchairs
The Avett Brothers
Bon Iver
Born Ruffians
The Bowerbirds
The Cave Singers
Damien Jurado
Dawes
Deer Tick
Dirty Projectors
Dr. Dog
The Duke and the King
The Everybodyfields
Fleet Foxes
Freelance Whales
Frightened Rabbit
Fruit Bats
Here We Go Magic
Hoots & Hellmouth
Jessica Lea Mayfield
Joe Pug
Justin Townes Earle
Mia Riddle
Mieka Pauley
The Morning Benders
Neon Indian
Noah & The Whale
Richard Swift
Sea Wolf
The Tallest Man On Earth
These United States
Tim Kasher
Two Gallants
Vampire Weekend
White Rabbits
William Fitzsimmons
Willy Mason
Yeasayer


Dawes



Bon Iver



Fleet Foxes

11/1/10 - Enzo of a Monday

Didn't quite get enough of that mega playlist from Enzo, so I decided to rock it again. Really getting into the Pat MacDonald, Casiokids, Avi Buffalo and Here We Go Magic. Everything else is pretty solid as well, but those four have received extra playtime fo sho.

Oh, and I also finally got ahold of the I'm From Barcelona "Let Me Introduce My Friends" album. They fit very well into the Enzo mix.

(side note: I tagged just three of the bands from Friday, since I exceeded the character limit for labels last time)


I'm From Barcelona